#Anne Rice was so right about this movie lol

[sunanthrope]

My favorite gay vampire couples from media

top row: Not canon. But look at them. So implied. middle row: WAS canon. They broke up lol final row: implied to be canon at one point maybe?

rambling below cut

Lost boys. Dwayne and Paul. They're gay. So so gay. So gay. so incredibly gay. this whole movie is gay. this whole movie is about beautiful gay vampires in the 80's. Look at them. obligatory tag @sock-pvppet because you inspired me to make this after mentioning the lost boys right after i'd watched it

i very much recommend interview with the vampire (2022, bottom 2 rows). chock full of incredible storytelling, views on race and sexuality from the perspective of a black gay man from the 1920s who lives in the 2020s, such incredible acting and attention to detail, and not to mention ACTUAL CANON QUEER BIPOC/INTERRACIAL VAMPIRE ROMANCE THAT IS THE CENTER OF THE STORYLINE. not to mention the the book series (The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice) was also VERY MUCH GAY despite being written in the 1970's-90's. RIP Anne Rice you were my hero

[persepinas]

Did you know that if you find yourself a bottle of wine, queen of the damned will become award worthy?

Just a fun tip!

[tryingtimi]

Books of 2024 (2023 or close to it)

Thank you for the tag @barbex it sounds like a fun one hehe. 9 books should be listed that were read in the last 12 months (or alternatively liked when you read it) if I'm right. And when I read the rules I had the same reaction: mind went blank on if I ever read a single book lol. Luckily I keep track of my reading because I like watching them back.

No pressure tagging: @aninkwellofnectar, @bloodlessheirbyjacques, @the-void-writes, @circa-specturgia, @aalinaaaaaa, @dyrewrites, @italiangothicwriteblr, @cherrybombfangirlwrites, @blind-the-winds and anyone who wants to join.

All of the listed were read last year and which I liked especially.

When The Stars Alight by Camilla Andrew (@aninkwellofnectar). Bi MC, gaslamp fantasy, gothic, court intrigue, delicious spice

You've already seen this many times on my page, because I really enjoyed this book and it was a window to many things I didn't know I'd enjoy in a story. So many beautiful description, beautifully emotional and sexy sex, rarely seen complex character dynamics and so much mouth watering food.

Éjféli Iskolák (Midnight Schools) by Attila Veres. lovecraftian horror set in Budapest

It's a horror short story collection by a hungarian author who I got recommended by a collegue. Attila Veres has a talent to capture that melancholic, sometimes surrelistic feeling living in Budapest which makes his work so authentic. But also very Big Ew for all the horroristic shit he created (in the best way.) My favourite one was the 'Porn After Midnight'.

Yumi and The Nightmare Painter by Brandon Sanders. M/F romance focus, sci-fi/fantasy, anime-esque

You all know I'm a Sanderson trash. And the fact I, the slowest reader on the earth, read this book in two days, proved that very much lol. It felt like watching an anime, I swear to god. There's magic, time travel kinda thing, pretty innocent humour, loads of painting in it.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickenes. christmas nostalgia, historical fiction?

We all know this, but I'm very behind on classics book-wise so I began to catch up last year. Espceially because I love the animated movie so much. It was a lovely and educative read.

Y/N by Esther Yi. litfic, kpop fandom and industry satire basically, comteporary

It was one of my favourites from last year tbh, because I couldn't put down the damn e-reader. A very strange little read, 100% unhinged, but made me realise I might enjoy litfic, so I'll read more this year. Also, the story is not "summarizable" but the fact that this is the first two review on GoodReads tells a lot I think: reading this feels like that one night when i accidentally smoked weed for the first time I sort of feel like I just hallucinated this entire thing Yeah.

Even Though I Knew The End by C. L. Polk. F/F romance, fantasy, novella

Lesbian magical detective. Done, sold. I wanted to read this a while now, and it did not disappoint. It gave exactly what it promised. Fast paced little adventure with some humour and a lovely couple. Not a life-chaning read but as I mentioned, it gave what it promised. I enjoyed it anyway.

Interview With The Vampire by Anne Rice. M/M romance kinda, supernatural, philosophical

Finally started to read the books my all time favourite movies are made of. Loved every bits of this, though sometimes it got way too wordy or I don't even know what. Overall though, it got me. Full of contemplation about human nature, God (though I could do a bit less without that) and death, plus the iconic vampire husbands and their arguments. It's just a real long broody monologue of Louis tbh. I'm fine with that it seems, though.

Legend & Lattes by Travis Baldree. F/F romance (not focus), cosy fantasy

Read pretty fast too. It's very much what it promises also. Cosy, and relaxing, and endearing. Love the concept of how a stoic warrior woman can settle finally and do something other than fighting. It was cute.

Tress of The Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson. M/F romance (not that important i think), cosy fantasy, Princess Bride-vibes

Yes, I got all the secret project, because of course I would. This one was also something like Legends & Lattes imo. In Sanderson style tho. I'm also loving when the narrator is a third person telling the story. Those are always fun. Oh and the story had many cuteness, humour and Our Flag Means Death kinda pirates.

[milfzatannaz]

Hello, so taking your offer about the NOLA questions, though it might be more speculation than anything (or maybe not, I've only seen the show and the 1994 movie and not the books so who knows). I'm from Brazil and I only know NOLA from movies and TV shows really, but there are some social and cultural aspects that feel somewhat similar to my country... Brazil has a large Black population, famous musical genres, traditional dishes etc created by Black people and even though most of the country is Christian (specially Catholic), non-Abrahamic, Afro-Brazilian religions are quite present here too. Now, I'm not religious at all, I have a weird and maybe even complicated relationship with religion/faith/spirituality in general, maybe for being queer and neurodivergent, but that's another convo lol... But I do think it's nice to represent other kinds of faith. I know most of the main characters were raised Catholic, but do you think they could do that on the show with Africa diaspora religions to some extent? Even if it isn't the main focus? And do you think they could do it in a respectful way that doesn't feel like dismissing, stereotyping and demonizing them like we see on fiction (specially fantasy) all the time? Obviously, I'm not making assumptions about your religion or if you even have one, and if you don't know what to answer it's okay, I just think this is an interesting topic that nobody ever talks about. Specially when it comes to American media, because it seems to be more based on Christianity and Judaism, but having a show that is so heavily set in NOLA could maybe explore other types of faith we barely get to see. I think it could be a good opportunity if they can do it right. Anywaaaaaaaay lmao, sorry I rambled so much and this got too long. 😅 Thank you. 🙃

Hi!!!!!! Thank you for your question!!! It wasn’t too long, I loved reading every line.

I think the similarities between black cultures is fascinating, even if our people are separated by entire continents.

As for the inclusion of folk religion into the show, I’m setting that at a firm “maybe…?”. In the 1994 movie and in the original book, voodoo, or voodun, is loosely included. Anne Rice took mild inspiration from that part of New Orleans culture but I think it might be a bigger part of the Mayfair witches, I don’t know.

Louis is a creole Catholic but as an upper class man he wouldn’t have participated in what we call “African folk Catholicism” , considering the time period he was introduced in. Like Brazil, New Orleans has a version of Catholicism heavily informed by the African diaspora. in the show, he attends historically majority black church. St Augustine has always been the church where free people of color and even slaves attended mass.

So Louis’s religion is probably more in line with traditional Catholicism. St Aug as I know it does not perform any rituals outside of typical mass. If season 3 is in the modern era, I’m not sure if the voodoo informed practices would be included. I do trust the showrunners to be accurate and informed, it just probably won’t be necessary to the plot. I’m not sure.

[mermaidsirennikita]

I really like The Interview With The Vampire adaptation they are making and omg I hope they get to make the Queen of The Damned

IWTV is my favorite TV series a the moment--one of my all time favorites, tbh. And this is coming from someone who was not going to watch it because I disliked the book and the 1994 movie (which I'd rewatched fairly recently for the first time in a while when the show premiered--and I'd had fond childhood memories of it, so I was kinda shocked by how BAD it is?). So when I tell y'all I'm happy to be proven wrong when I think something is going to be bad.... I mean it lmao

I know that a lot of fans are worried about s3 right now, and not without reason; but based on the way AMC seems to be viewing Anne Rice adaptations and its relationship with Rolin Jones, my PERSONAL theory is that they may be hurtling towards a situation wherein the Rolin vampire stuff is essentially one series with different titles or subtitles. So s3 may be "The Vampire Lestat, or Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Lestat" (Jesus that's a lot).

And that may be how they'd roll out QotD. Again, I'm kind of not a fan of the books lol, but I do think there are some stories in the series that could be adapted into super compelling TV, and QotD is one of the ones I see reeeeally being cool.

Akasha is also one of the only non-Louis Lestat paramours I'm interested in, soooo lol

[lazyypumpkin]

Vampire movies I have been watching to keep me sane until season 3 of iwtv (Part 2)

Moving on to the sapphic vampire movies I’ve watched thus far

Wir Sind Die Nacht/ We Are The Night 4/5🌟

•does this movie really deserve 4 stars? Maybe not but I love it dearly anyway

•has the same feel as those slightly shitty fantasy books one consumes as a pre teen when one grows up in the 2010’s (based on a purely hypothetical example of course, I personally obviously never did that haha ha ha)

•could be SO good if they would’ve had the balls to make the main character bi

•shitty cop character that you just have to ignore to enjoy the movie

•One of the characters (Louise) is low key a genderbent Lestat?? Blonde ✔️ Obsessive about her love interests ✔️ Also insane but in a glamorous way ✔️

And did I mention a lesbian???????

•anyhow can you tell I’m obsessed with her

•loved the other characters as well, specially Nora and Charlotte (the main character is ok too)

•loved the atmosphere& cinematography

•the first 2/3rds of this movie are fantastic

•one of my favorite vampire turning/transformation scenes

•one of my favorite vampires being vampires and messing around montages

•this could really be a cult classic imo (specially if they just would have committed to the gayness even more)

•LESBIAN VAMPIRE YEARNING!!!!

The Hunger (1983) 4/5🌟

•didn’t like this one much either on my first watch and then rewatched it and was utterly convinced I loved it until right before the ending happened lol

•starts off with a goth club scene where Bela Lugosi Is Dead is playing (it’s so iconic)

•very cool cinematography

•Bisexual Vampire Yearning& Angst

•like seriously this movie is beautifully queer

•thought all the characters were interesting but did not buy that Catherine Deneuve was a vampire from ancient Egypt lmfao

•honestly feels quite anne rice-esque in essence to me

Carmilla (2019) 3,5/5🌟

•didn’t like it the first time I watched it but appreciate it more upon rewatching it several times

•i loved the idea of this movie but am not sold on the execution

•needed more scenes to build up the romance

•actors sort of have a face that looks like it knows what an iPhone is and that took me out of it

•Miss Fontaine was low key annoying and not in an intentional way

•loved the anatomy scenes, the insects& scenes of slow decay

•loved the cinematography& visuals

•BLOODY! SAPPHIC! KISSES!!!!!

•like genuinely when the movie was good it was very good but when it wasn’t good it was kind of meh???

•it could have been such a good movie smh

I still have a lot of lesbian vampire movies from the 70’s on my list so I will expand this sapphic section considerably (and probably cringe at a lot of male gaze-y shit lol)

[elizabeth-karenina]

AY YO I GOT TAGGED

by one of my longest and dearest Tumblr friends, @octoberinflorence Thank you, Jen! Hope all is well with you, my dearest.

*cracks knuckles* A'ight, let's get into it:

LAST SONG: That's What I Want - Lil Nas X (I love that album, I'm not sorry)

FAVORITE COLOR: royal blue, royal purple, emerald green, and light pink.

CURRENTLY WATCHING: Well, I finished the second season of Interview With the Vampire last week; it's literally my favorite show! And now I don't know what to do with myself, AHHH! Except wait for season 3 (which I am SO looking forward to).

LAST MOVIE: I just saw Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings yesterday at a cook-out at my friends house, and I have to say, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it! I'm surprised a sequel hasn't come out yet.

CURRENTLY READING: The Vampire Armand by Anne Rice, since Armand as a character really intrigued me this second season. It's beautifully written, even though it's such a sad story already. I'm also reading The Puzzle Wood by Rosie Andrews. It's a creepy book about a woman going undercover as a governess to find out what happened to her sister.

I'm also re-reading Dracula by Bram Stoker (yeah...I'm very much in a Gothic horror state-of-mind, if you couldn't tell), along with some history books: Mona Lisa: A Life Discovered by Dianne Hales, Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert Massie, and Marie Antoinette: The Journey by Antonia Fraser.

SWEET, SPICY OR SAVORY: Gonna reveal myself to be the truly gluttonous person ever and say the best combination is spicy and savory together, with something sweet to top it off.

RELATIONSHIP: Empress Elizabeth of Singledom, if you please. *extends hand for you to kiss*

CURRENT OBSESSION: continuing my Spanish and French lessons; Gothic horror; Renaissance and 18th century history; Jacob Anderson, Sam Reid, and Assad Zaman (I have a three-way crush on them and I've reached a level of harlotry I didn't even know I possessed, LOL); Studio Ghibli movies (I've been re-watching them lately; and That's Spooky podcast, which is such a great podcast.

LAST GOOGLED: For some reason, I Googled The Addams Family??? Who knows why my brain does the things it does at 2:00 in the morning, LOL.

CURRENTLY WORKING ON: Absolutely nothing, because my students are on summer vacation, and so am I! I don't have a care in the world right now and I'm savoring it. However, I'm starting to pack for my annual trip to the Hudson Valley in New York to visit my mom's side of the family. I'm leaving on Wednesday and I'll be back on Sunday, but I'll be in and out during that time.

Tagging: @1980s-jean-ralphio, @laprofesoratinacita, @becauseismellgood, @perpulchra, @shvkespearc, and @wifeofbath

[wellhalesbells]

TAG SOMEONE YOU WANT TO KNOW AND/OR SOME OF YOUR BESTIES

Tagged by @kikiroo - thank you, my darling!!! *friendly shark bites at you*

Last song: Probably either The Man or Anti-Hero by Taylor Swift. I just spent a week with my sister on vacation and she had just watched the Eras Tour movie so she was getting both of those stuck in my head all the time, and then we'd have to listen to them ofc.

Last movie: It was Host by Rob Savage (or at least it was when I started this, lol). I watched it 'cause I saw something on Insta about the Top 10 Scariest Movies according to what the average resting heart rate is for it. I didn't find it very scary (got me at the end though, woo boy) but I did love it - but then I love things that use the pandemic well and this definitely did imo. Plus it's all structured around (and shot through) a Zoom interface so it's only, like, fifty-seven minutes long because that's all you get when you don't pay for Zoom, haha.

Currently watching: Goosebumps, Last Week Tonight, The Fall of the House of Usher, Two Sentence Horror Stories, Our Flag Means Death and Ghost Files and I am half-assing all of it. I've either only started the first episode or only watched the first episode on all of those. I have no staying power these days. Though I am only one ep behind on Last Week Tonight \o/

Other stuff I watched this year: Unfortunately for you guys, I write fucking everything down and it is now the tenth month of the year. I GOT RECS. Well, Meg 2: The Trench, which is a cinematic masterpiece and I will take no questions on that (unless they're Joming related). (Cognizant of the month) Here are spooky things I watched this year and liked a lot: X, The Black Phone, The Menu, Terrifier and Terrifier 2 (this is definitely only for gore fans though), Bodies Bodies Bodies, Cocaine Bear (also a cinematic masterpiece, also not taking questions), Interview with the Vampire, Wednesday, Severance, Evil, The Last of Us, Over the Garden Wall, Magpie Murders, What We Do in the Shadows, and Shining Vale (haven't started the second season yet!). Also really liked: Paddington, Nimona, Barbie, Spider-man: Across the Spider-verse, Vivo, Derry Girls, The Bear, The Boys, Mythic Quest, Only Murders in the Building (I haven't watched the new season yet though but I expect great things), Reboot, Tuca & Bertie, Los Espookys, Barry, Extraordinary, Crashing (I literally watched it three times in a row - watching Sam and Fred fall in love 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻 plus I fucking love Jonathan Bailey - I consistently find him ridiculously charming), Hacks, Avenue 5 (so sad this got canceled when I feel like it just hit its stride), Staged (I've watched it probably six times now), Abbott Elementary, A Black Lady Sketch Show, Ted Lasso, I Think You Should Leave Now (just for that one sketch, you know the one and, if you don't, I am HAPPY to tell you about it!), Unstable (petition for Fred Armisen to be in everything though, right?), Black Mirror, Central Park, Elite (I haven't watched the new season yet!), Reservation Dogs (ditto), The White Lotus, Good Omens, Letterkenny, Minx (what's ditto but for the third time?), Heartstopper, Sasaki and Miyano, and The Other Two.

Shows I dropped/didn’t finish: I'm behind on everything all the time so I'm only going to answer for shows I dropped and I don't think I've dropped any this year?

Currently reading: The Dead Take the A Train by Cassandra Khaw & Richard Kadrey (about halfway through), House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski (I'll be reading this until I die, I think), Cunk on Everything by Philomena Cunk, The Fragile Threads of Power by V.E. Schwab (nearly finished!), The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith, My Darling Girl by Jennifer McMahon and The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice (decided to do a reread of the IwtV series this year since I never actually finished it and only got to book ten and I read it way too long ago to remember anything that's happening if I just picked it up now).

Currently listening to: My calendar alarm telling me to go to my dog's vet appointment.

Currently working on: getting at least a third of the way through My Darling Girl

Also absolutely no pressure tagging @andavs, @callunavulgari, @piratefalls, @clotpolesonly, and anyone else who wants to do this!

[graygiantess]

Thank you for In Hell Together After All, it absolutely crushed me (in a good, painful way). ❤️ It made me wonder what is your history with IWTV/The Vampire Chronicles: how did you become a fan, what caught your attention and what made you want to "stay"?

And also, you probably write a lot of your headcanons into your stories, but do you have any specific headcanons of any of the characters/relationships in the series?

Hey Nonny!

Sorry for the late reply. Covid broke my brain and I can only focus on reading/writing for very short stretches of time.

(I love getting these asks, though, so please no one feel deterred by this, lol!)

I'm so glad you enjoyed In Hell Together After All! And thank you for your ask. 😊

Putting my answer under the break again so as not to clog up people's dash with my novel-length ramblings.

Luce and TVC

I first got into TVC when I was 14, which is almost 21 years ago. My 13yo foster sister and I were completely obsessed with Buffy the Vampire Slayer. 

I was aware that there was a vampire movie with Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt and wanted to see it. I have a much older half-sister and the three of us ended up having a movie night at her house. We watched Interview With the Vampire and The Blair Witch Project.

We were all very 👁👁 throughout the entire movie. Then I bought a boxset of the first four books, foster sister and inhaled the first three books, watched the QotD movie and got very pissed off by how terrible it was. 😂

We were like, "Guess we'll always have the books 🤷‍♀️". I ordered TVA, because QotD had left me completely Armand-obsessed, and started reading Tale of the Body Thief.

I don't remember quite what it was, but Lestat says something at the start of TotBT that my 14yo self just thought was so stupidly retconny that I went, "Yeah, fuck that". I think it was something about how he only ate bad guys and that that was somehow in service of Jesus? Whatever it was, I wasn’t having it, so I put it down and never picked it back up. 😂

Then in my late teens/early twenties I followed Anne Rice on Facebook for a while, but I got kinda creeped out when she started addressing everyone with 'dearest People of the Page'. I distinctly remember thinking, "Lady, I'm here for gay vampire reasons, not to be in a cult". 😅 So I unfollowed her and spent about a decade not thinking about TVC very much at all.

AND THEN in early summer of 2022 the YouTube algorithm informed me that AMC was making an IWTV show. I reread IWTV and in October thought, "Let’s give this a go."

I had my reservations because I still remembered my teenage rage at the QotD movie, and I wasn't sure how I felt about them changing the time period and casting 'some old guy' as Daniel (sorry Eric! 🙈).

BUT THEN Jacob came on all, "Dear Mr. Molloy, did you know you can orgasm just from hearing a man's voice? Wanna finish what we started half a century ago?" and my head just about exploded!

This is the second interview?! They’re revisiting it 49 years later?! OMGGG, that's the most genius storytelling move in the history of storytelling! 😱

I watched ep2 right after and then desperately needed to yell about the show with other sickos. So I joined Twitter and started reading fic again (which I'd only really done when I was 17 and obsessed with that wizard school franchise), started writing fic, joined fic-themed group chats/Discords and made a Tumblr so I could (lovingly) yell at other fic writers.

And now I've published over 150k words in fic and there's IWTV fan art all over my house. 😂

So it was really the show that made me come back to stay. It's just thee best TV show of all time to me.

And as much as this fandom can be a shit show, it's really helped me stay sane while grappling with my long covid, which has left me very incapacitated in many other areas of my life.

Luce's headcanons

Asking me for my headcanons has the same effect as asking me for my favorite movies or songs in that it immediately makes me forget any headcanons I ever had. 😂

You're right that I write a lot of them into my fics, which are mainly me exploring my headcanons and asking myself what if...? I have a couple others, though I'm not sure these are really headcanons or more actual theories, though, so I apologize if this wasn't what you were looking for.

- I've mentioned this one before, but Louis and Lestat had a grand old time during their honeymoon phase between Louis getting turned and Louis almost eating Grace's baby. I think people tend to make too big a deal out of Louis being an unreliable narrator but it's a little too convenient how quickly he skips over those 6-7 years. I think he doesn’t like to think about how much fun he had with Lestat just having all the sex, getting super rich and eating whoever the fuck he wanted.

- Daniel isn’t going to give a single fuck about the ethics of killing people in order to survive once he finally becomes a vampire. We already know he’s selfish and a hypocrite. I can just see him fully ready to view all humans as savory inferiors once he’s no longer one of them.

- If show!Daniel ever met Marius, he would punch him in the face. 🤭

- Santiago is going to be SO jealous of Louis's relationship with Armand. I don't care if Santiago and Armand end up having zero homoerotic tension between them on screen, they're fucking to me.

- I'm also a Claudeline truther. Show!Claudia doesn’t need a parental figure the way book!Claudia does but she very much yearns for romantic love, and she did say Charlie was the last boy she'd ever love, and went after the woman when Lestat asked her if she wanted the Mr. or the Mrs. in ep7.

Kudos to anyone who made it all the way to the end of this answer! Your prize is getting to choose if I share:

A) A silly anecdote about that movie night I had with my sisters.

B) A shocking fact that might get me cancelled as an Armandaniel fic writer. 👀

(Though tbh, if you pick B, I'll probably still give you A for free.)

[monstersinthecosmos]

9, 19 and 89 for the writer game.

(writing asks!)

9. in an ideal world where you’re already super successful and published, would you want to see a tv or movie adaptation of your work? why or why not?

THIS IS TOUGH I DON'T KNOW. In the ideal world it means they won't like fuck my story up too much? Like I'm a huge movie nerd and I consider all the movies I watch as important to me as a writer as books that I read? I love movies? It would be so fun and cool to see ????

BUT LIKE I'M TRAUMATIZED BY BAD ADAPTATIONS THAT ARE SO REMOVED FROM THE SOURCE MATERIAL THAT THEY'RE UNRECOGNIZABLE LOL. So. """ideally""" sure! But who knows.

19. what are some books or authors that influenced your style the most?

sdgjakds what a great question; as a fanfic writer learning from other fanfic writers, my no. 1 influence would be fuckin SCARLETFEVER from FFnet whose work has been long scrubbed from the internet but that I have downloaded and I still revisit. They wrote these like EPIC NOVEL Resident Evil fics when I was in high school in like 2003 and I cannot emphasize enough how influential these were on me and how much I still am always going back to them when I ask myself questions about what type of writer I'd want to be and what type of fic I'm trying to write.

When I returned to fic writing back in like 2016 I was like exclusively reading YOI fic (bc there was like zero VC fic I wanted to read lol) so some of the YOI writers that influenced me SO MUCH: SuggestiveScribe, scribblywobblytimeylimey, and dance_across ! ALSO THIS FIC THAT HAS BEEN ORPHANED NOW IDK WHO WROTE IT BUT THIS FIC LIKE BROKE SOMETHING OPEN IN MY HEAD ABOUT NONLINEAR STORYTELLING ? HELLO?

And then from 2018-onward I've been reading almost exclusively Sheith fic and a couple people who really have influenced me so much are Rifa and an_aphorism/AphAfterDark !

(Every fic writer I linked is someone who helped me think meaningfully about the way I write porn LOL)

AS FAR AS REGULAR BOOKS; I think there's something a little unshakable about the authors I liked when I was a teenager because they sort of created a blueprint? In middle school I was reading a lot of Anne Rice and Francesca Lia Block and I think both of them are sort of opposite versions of sensual writing; Anne Rice tends to be quite verbose and go on and on and on vs FLB's writing is so tight and light but full of sensory words ! So I think like those two always made me want to like describe colors and smells and feelings etc.

Then in high school I was really into Wally Lamb (he only had 3 books at the time but I was really into all of them). Like his book I Know This Much is True was absolutely my favorite book for years. I haven't revisited it in a while so I get worried because sometimes I revisit books I loved in high school and I'm just appalled them LMAO. Like I revisited his book She's Come Undone last year and I hated it so much hkjdsgasdhjk. But I think like the way he wrote Dominick's voice was so influential to me because it just cuts through all the bullshit and there's sort of like a ruggedness to it that feels so sincere and human. (I remember around this time I also read some Hubert Selby, Jr which is like not at all something I aspire to write like LMAO but basically gave me a lot to think about when it comes to like, formal prose & grammar vs writing the way people actually speak.)

So I think I came away from these authors as this Frankensteined thing of like, trying to be sincere & human but also trying to use sensory words so that I can feel immersed????????????????

89. sarcastic narrators: entertaining or overdone?

GOD LIKE. IN THE RIGHT HANDS??? VERY GOOD. But possibly overdone. I'm actually in the middle of a book right now and I'm hating the narrator SO MUCH LOL and I'm just dying to like make it through enough of this book to figure out if it serves a purpose or if the author is just a cynical asshole lol. I'm so tired of cynicism man. Like obviously when it fits the character it fits the character but it's just so exhausting when it's thrown at you as a default you know? I've read a few too many cynical books lately and it doesn't bring me any joy LOL.

[barbwritesstuff]

I read it at midnight, when I saw it was 5AM, I can say it was a great time! I LOVED IT, I WANT MORE GIBE GIBE LOL!!! Probably out of nowhere but do you know or recommend werewolves books or even "choose your own adventure" type of game to read? I would love to know more, I am like, a sucker for werewolves story, big guilt pleasure lol

I'm so glad you liked it, anon!

@interact-if did a really great masterlist a while back for werewolf IF games. You can find that here.

I'd also add Wolfsbane by @wolfsbane-if (Leski) to that list.

I'm more reluctant to recommend novels because I actually haven't read that many werewolf books. I can't afford to buy books right now, and my local library won't give me a membership because I don't have an address (which is so stupid but whatever).

I did enjoy Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater and I also read The Wolf Gift by Anne Rice which was... interesting. I won't recommend it because I think she did vampires way better, but it was a wild ride.

I've heard brilliant things about Wolfsong by TJ Klune and the pages I've seen from Fangs by Sarah Andersen are absolutely adorable.

There is also a graphic novel called Can I Pet Your Werewolf by various writers which I've been dying to get my hands on. Oh, and Howl by Shaun David Hutchinson, The Wolf at the Door by Charlie Adhara, and Red Hood by Elana K. Arnold. Though, I haven't read any of those, so I have no idea if they're good or not.

There is also, of course, my novel Crying Wolf by Barbara Truelove if you're interested.

If you're keen on other werewolf media then my favourite werewolf movies are:

Ginger Snaps, American Werewolf in London, Dog Soldiers, Werewolves Within, and the Underworld series. I haven't seen it, but I also want to watch The Wolf of Snow Hollow.

The most famous werewolf TV show is, of course, Teen Wolf which I doubt needs an introduction on Tumblr.

And, finally, if you're into TTRPGs then there is Bite Marks by Becky Annison which I bought for myself for my birthday and have been waiting for a chance to play and Urban Shadows which is... also one I've been anxiously waiting to play. Honestly, the TTRPG hobby is 99% trying to get people together to play and 1% actually playing.

[maxellminidisc]

OK, so I finished my rewatch of ep 1-5 and I'm mainly going to focus on ep 5, but I'll also talk about some things that have bothered me through out, so putting this under a read more cause it will be long lol TW for mentions of ipv, abuse, assault, and racism.

I find it funny in some way that book fans are real mad about Lestat in ep 5 being "ooc" (cause episode 5's demonstration of physical abuse is not in the book, that's solely show shit as well as the assault they threw in for Claudia which I'll get to later cause THAT bothers me) despite him being canonically horribly emotionally manipulative and abusive and you know...a fucking serial murderer who relishes in murdering. Theres a reason Claudia and Louis end up plotting to kill him in all versions of this story so far and it's not cause Lestat is a nice lovable guy. Lestat is a character who you love to hate because he is so deeply fucked up and yet so talented at being charming. Frankly, most of Anne Rice's characters are enjoyable because as a reader, they are twistedly fun to spectate at in their violence and morally gray to just straight up accursed bullshit (some far more unforgivable than others though, there is some shit she is absolutely in hell for).

I think with ep 5, one of the things the show is simply trying to unflinchingly demonstrate is that Lestat has such a dangerous sense of entitlement over the lives of not just human beings but those he's chosen to manipulate into his vampiric world because he's such a prolific and powerful being in comparison to everyone in the story so far; because he feels the shit he's lived through gives him right to impose that power on others he's deemed less than. And also there is a period of powerlessness in Lestat's life both when he was human AND a young vampire that makes him drunk on power now that he has it over others; others challenging that makes him incredibly threatened as a result (which I hope they elaborate on in the show for the sake of character building, especially since I think this is alluded to a lot in his refusal to elaborate on not only his past but his past with OTHER vampires). Louis and Claudia are new to this world and their own monstrosity as vampires in comparison to him; their ties to humanity are far closer despite growing further out of reach at the level of Lestat and that angers the shit out of him.

It makes him angry because that closeness to their former humanity has helped them build a bond that Lestat craves above all others, that he cannot for the life of him gain from Louis the way he wants. His greatest fear is loneliness and with that loneliness the capacity to be unlovable. The irony is, that his sick and twisted desperation has ultimately rendered him so. And it angers him because they remind him that he brought this shit on himself, he made Claudia for Louis, he made her to not just entrap Louis, but to further try to gain Louis undying and immovable love in vain.

I think someone put it really succinctly that ultimately Lestat is the bratty prince taken to extremes. He picks people to be special or favored to him, on his and only his terms, and when he finds them lacking or unbending to his manipulation, he breaks them until their either dead or do what he wants. He is never portrayed in either the books, the movie, or the show as a flawed but still a positive character. He is supposed to be dangerously and genuinely sickly charming; only to be delighted at in witnessing the spectacle in his violence and flawed behavior. And I think narrative wise, the change made in the episode in terms of the ultra violence on his part serves possibly 2 purposes.

One of which is to make said upcoming plot by Claudia and Louis to conspire and kill him FAR MORE compelling to the audience, especially one unfamiliar with the source material. In the source material Claudia's gripes with Lestat and her ultimate campaign to turn Louis against him, read far more petulant than compelling because of the choices Rice makes as the author and the previous adaption in the film follows much the same tone. I think what the show has done has really shone a light on my next point.

I think ultimately what is trying to be done with Lestat in episode 5 IN CONJUNCTION with the above point is lay off on the far more subtle even romanticized actions of Lestat's cruelty and lack of humanity. If you think about him thus far, his masterful and predatory manipulation is even extended into charming the audience itself. It's trying to say: "Do not be fooled by this silver tongue and this cheeky brattiness, at the end of the day this is a MONSTER and this is a WORLD of monsters. The violence against everyone else that he has committed has gone unseen and normalized to you. But now that it's against a character you love, why is the violence now deeply uncomfortable? And does this not give reason to these loved characters to want to kill this bitch?"

Because that's absolutely what's happening, going by the reactions it's getting by people (mostly white people cause you KNOW why) who are only looking at the surface of this story or only hone in on the romance without realizing not all romance by virtue of being romance denotes a positive one. Especially again, because seeing people say its ooc is telling, despite Lestat literally murdering people violently over the course of the previous episodes such as: punching a priest through the head, having 0 empathy or kindness towards Claudia's vampiric naivety and heartbreak, and murdering Lilly and others when they don't serve their purpose to him anymore.

I WAS going to say that they possibly had a 3rd point in trying to prepare you to realize that Lestat is terrifyingly mild in his violence and monstrosity compared to others of his kind in future ventures to Europe, BUT, unfortunately this is one of the places where the episode fumbles because they added the completely unnecessary sexual assault of Claudia to instead make this point. Going by the producers take on this, it was an incredibly ugly way to humble or "wisen" her character and I think THAT'S what we should be criticizing here. I truly cannot understand this choice. I understand and do enjoy that they've made Claudia a far more compelling and empathetic character in comparison to the original Claudia's petulance and viciousness (imo of course) but like this Claudia is ALREADY humble and likable in comparison by making her empathetic.

They brought out a far more understandable and even relatable naivety and pretty age appropriate sense of existential crisis in Claudia by having her aged up. Putting her on the age akin of being halfway to the finish line towards adulthood makes her far more compelling and far more tragic because not only is she in vampiric limbo by her very creation itself breaking vampiric law, being an eternal teenager is fucking torture! Just thinking about let alone watching her struggle with it, draws you to her and endears you to her as a viewer. There was no need to do the whole "hat in hand" bullshit via fucking assualt because of this. The simple moment alone of her taking the time after spending time alone to really analyze her father Louis and coming to the realization of Louis' pain would've been a compelling enough motive for her to mature.

And as for my biggest grip with the show outside this move with Claudia, its the lack of REALLY leaping into the racial power imbalance with Lestat and Louis, and how it functions both on a societal level and their relationship as bother maker and made and lovers. I appreciate that the show consistently reminds you that despite Louis' new power he has to function STILL within a system of anti blackness. It is something he even in his undead state cannot escape without ramifications, it is not a freedom that vampirism has afforded him with. The dark gift can only go so far for Louis in comparison to Lestat. Which, speaking of, I think Louis killing the alderman and displaying him was also a huge narrative fucking fumble as well because do you REALLY expect me to believe that Louis, who multiple times in this show has expressed how much inner turmoil he's dealt with because of the humiliation and shame that comes with being a Black gay man navigating these upper classes is, would just like idk forget that his actions would have ramifications towards his community?????!!! Like you want me to believe that a Black man would just like idk forget that any violence towards a white person on part of a Black person despite just how justified it is, would have dire consequences? That he'd be so careless to not just put his lil world he's built to grasp on to his humanity at risk, but the lives of the workers he has repeatedly said he values as people, of the live of the larger Black community and especially his family??? UHH OK!!

But continuing what I was trying to get at, again, I do see the show reminding us that Louis has to navigate this system even as a vampire. But its so wild to me the way they just won't delve into the meat of how it applies to Lestat and him. Occasionally Louis reminds Lestat that his whiteness affords him privilege, yes, but why then is DANIEL the one consistently reminding or putting it in Louis face through out his narration that the racial dynamic between them DOES contribute to the toxicity of their relationship? And why if, again, Louis consistently talks about being aware of this system of anti blackness, of what that system does to force Black people's hands to survive under it, does he THEN deny or ignore that race plays a part in him and Lestat's relationship when Daniel pokes it with a sharp ass stick? Like it genuinely makes no fucking sense to me!!! If you're going to consistently remind your audience that anti blackness STILL effects a Black vampire and that he's aware of it, why ignore how that anti blackness still applies to his lover and his maker???

I hope frankly that I'm speaking too soon and they do end up diving much deeper into this as their relationship deteriorates but like going by present day Louis' attitude, I have very little optimism at the prospect. I hope am wrong though, especially because the ONE thing that does leave a really bad taste in my mouth about the beating of Louis is the racial element of what Lestat's white fucking violence, power, and previously mentioned sense of unquestioned entitlement in action and in full force means against Louis' given that glossing over without account to how Louis experiences as a Black gay man/vampire absolutely plays part in their relationship.

[aheathen-conceivably]

💕📖🎥 and 📝 for the ask game! :)

Oh hi there! A whole list of asks, thank you! 😻

1. 💕 Favorite Fictional Characters: This one is tough because I don’t have anyone that comes to mind? There’s a lot of overlap with my favorite movies/books but I’m a sitcom junkie. Basically I always have one sitcom in the background and I rewatch my favs every few years. I feel like I get super attached to the characters of whichever show I’m watching, so right now it’s Parks and Rec and like damn I just love Ben.

2. 📖 Fave Book: Can I just answer Anne Rice? lol The way she writes with such sensory detail is a huge inspiration to me. My favorite is probably The Witching Hour because the whole middle of the book is just a historical family odyssey and in case you guys can’t tell yet, I’m a sucker for that.

3. 🎥 Favorite Movie: Hands down, no contest, Cabaret. I have a suuuper specific taste in film and I get really excited about deep color tones, period pieces, and killer soundtracks. Bonus points if it’s from the 1970s too. Throw in some dark, meaningful existentialism and a unique take on a historic event and I’m in love. Specific, I know lol but Cabaret, she checks all the boxes.

4. 📝 Favorite Quote: This is super niche but it’s always been: “A heathen, conceivably, not I hope, an unenlightened one” from the 1973 Wicker Man. I went to a friend’s bachelorette trip a while back and everyone had wine glasses with cute Bridesmaids quotes on them and mine said: A Heathen, Conceivably. Hence my Tumblr username ;)

[madly-empirical]

@callicrocs The truth on the changes to the script is that Anne Rice took a lot of the homoerotic/kinkier elements out and Neil Jordan put them back in. This is confirmed by both Rice and Jordan despite being on opposite ends of a Screen Writers Guild arbitration over credit. (The Guild sided with Rice and she is the sole credited writer on the film)

Additional changes made by Jordan are noted by Rice in her looong reaction to the film which are things like 1) changes to lore (no blood tears) and 2) what she calls the “humor” but what I would say is the richer representation of Claudia and her relationship with Lestat (which does involve some humor like the killing of the piano teacher, etc.)

The only change requested from Cruise I can find is for the scene where Louis relocates him near the end of the film. According to the makeup artists, Cruise was strongly concerned about acting under the heavy makeup/prosthetics of the original design so they came up with a lighter version that is seen in the final film. (Note: I have a source for this but it will take me a while to find so watch this space lol)

Me personally? I don’t care. I don’t care if people are Martians. I really don’t care. Straight. Gay. Bisexual. Catholic. Jewish.” — Tom Cruise (src)

One of the reasons I think this myth is so persistent (in additional to the campaign that anne rice and her friends ran against him) is that entertainment/gossip writers of time 1) were stirring up sh*t on purpose as per usual and 2) had not read the books.

You can see quotes where the interviewer says things like “Tom Cruise downplays the homoeroticism, etc.” but the quote from him will be like “for vampires things like male and female don’t matter” and he’s right. He read the books and understood the assignment.

This is such an interesting example of people’s perceptions being affected by their expectations since in the film Tom Cruise’s character is clearly bisexual!

whether it’s the blatant eroticism of the murder of “that gorgeous fop”

to this line:

it’s hard to see what other interpretations there could be of this character

on the other hand, it’s Brad Pitt’s Louis has acquired (albeit briefly) a wife and child that he doesn’t have in the book and doesn’t have anything even close to these lines in the film:

“What would Christ need have done to make me follow him like Matthew or Peter? Dress well, to begin with. And have a luxurious head of pampered yellow hair”  “I allowed myself to forget how totally I had fallen in love with Lestat's iridescent eyes, that I'd sold my soul for a many-colored and luminescent thing, thinking that a highly reflective surface conveyed the power to walk on water.“

Brad Pitt was an up-and-comer so these changes are unlikely to have been from his side let’s not start a new rumour lol

I understand that some fans are still disappointed that movie!Louis’s initial grief wasn’t for his Lestat-coded brother and the removal of the scene where Lestat and Louis share a coffin, but I do think those changes are actually quite sensible decisions for the medium for length and for tone.

Anyway, there are about a million other things I could add like how being considered homosexual could ruin an actor’s career back then in the ancient nineties or how the producer David Geffen is gay and Cruise knew that having worked with him before on Risky Business (1983), but I got to go to bed.

The main point of this very long post is that the myth that Tom Cruise had the homoerotic elements of Interview With a Vampire removed or diminished is provably false.

"This is the way I feel about the homoerotic issue: I don't care either way," confesses Cruise. "It's nothing I worry about. I'm an actor and I play a character. I do find it a very sensual movie, because everything that Lestat does he does out of love and longing— yet he's sadistic. Lestat certainly loves Louis. He wants a companion. And Louis is beautiful; Lestat finds him so. But, also, Lestat created this creature that Louis has become, so he is very fatherly about it."

— Tom Cruise on Lestat (src)

[mrs-nate-humphrey]

it’s halloween month so I would love to know any and all of your dan/nate halloween headcanons (bonus points if milo’s there too) 🧡🖤🧡🖤🧡🖤🧡

you sent this on the first of october like the wonderful festive pumpkin pal that you are! but i have been sooo no thoughts head empty,,,, and i wanted to give this actual deliberation & thought before diving right in, so....

DAN, SPECIFICALLY:

ok. i think dan would have complicated & conflicting feelings re: halloween. we already know, canonically, that rufus was really into halloween, so this paints a pretty elaborate image in my head of halloween at the humphrey household - i bet it was a lot of fun! but then, of course: alison left. i think holidays in general become difficult for dan in the After, because they remind him of a time his family was truly happy that he cannot go back to.

so halloween is always bittersweet for dan, he'll carve all the pumpkins and get nate all the pumpkin flavoured stuff from all the cafes, and his wardrobe is so full of browns and sweaters that he's always ready for fall anyway, and he's happy! he is. but sometimes he'll remember another family he used to be part of that's all fractured & fragmented now, and he'll get a little sad. it happens less frequently over the years, but it never quite stops. (nate the ever observant always puts an arm around him and kisses his cheek, and says something silly to make dan smile. sometimes they talk about it; most of the time they don't. but nate is always there, quiet & non-judgemental, waiting for when/if dan needs him.)

NATE, SPECIFICALLY:

on the contrary........ halloween is natie's absolute FAVOURITE. much like the thanksgiving flashbacks we get in 1x09, i feel that halloween for nate, during his childhood, would involve being with blair & serena and all of them having the time of their lives. i think anne & howard would drop him off at the waldorfs, and eleanor would entrust blair & serena & nate to dorota's care. when they're younger they go trick or treating, and blair is very serious and very prim & proper and has on a perfect, sophisticated costume (she dresses as movie characters always) while serena's in a state of chaos, her costume for whatever she's dressing as (usually a witch or a ghoul or something like that) is a bit lopsided, the ribbons in her hair are coming out, her makeup is smudged (not deliberately!). nate, naturally, is sort of in between those two states - blair dolls him up and sets him to rights, serena takes his hand and runs around with him until his costume is a little wonky - by no means as much as hers, but definitely not in pristine, blair-approved state. blair just gives serena & nate a tired, Adult look, like they're toddlers and she's the babysitter (this doesn't change over the years, and this dynamic sets in remarkably quickly.)

once they're older, there's alcohol, there's halloween parties maybe, but nate still sticks with blair and serena, and they still hang out with him. halloween & the first of november are THEIR days, because they always do a sleepover on the 31st, and waking up together on the 1st of november is just something that makes the day Theirs, to nate. so unlike dan, for nate, he DID have that family feeling, and he had it consistently over the years, and he knows that it exists still.

DAN & NATE, FINALLY:

nate gets so excited for halloween! he goes full on into event-planning mode. he and jenny get really engrossed in designing costumes for the humphrey gang, and dan is like "who are you again?" and nate gives him the finger + an unamused look. halloween is a great bonding time for dan & jenny's gf, actually, because both of them get to watch their partner be an absolute dork over the holiday AND get really into designing (which is normal for jenny but not for nate, lol.) they just sit together and share drinks and act very, very cynical.

dan knows that halloween month is a special month for nate, and he's determined Not to be a grouch, so he goes out of the way trying to keep that cheer alive. he bakes sugar cookies that he ices to look like ghosts, he carves pumpkins, he does All The Things. but in a similar vein, nate knows that halloween month is a bit rough for his bf, so he is extra cuddly and patient, and goes out of his way to remind dan again and again that he loves him, that they're family now, etc.

i think halloween would also bring a lot of gender feels to dan, who gets this one holiday in which it's socially acceptable to wear makeup and doll himself up and dress up as whoever he wants to be. i think that'd give him a lot of euphoria, a lot of questioning, and a lot of anxiety, all at once, and i think nate would just be there like a stabilising force, because nate just loves dan that unconditionally, whoever dan is, even if dan is figuring that out - nate loves dan. i had more to say about This Point specifically but i am so tired, i kind of forgot what it was.

oh!!! vampire movies. all of them. nate and dan WOULD. they'd watch endless nights and they'd watch vampire porn and they'd definitely sleep together after THAT. nate would bite dan's neck and repeat some dialogue from the porno, and dan would laugh, but he would also be so, so turned on. (what! parts of this are literally canon!)

since dan also canonically reads anne rice (i wonder if he's one of the fic writers who got a cease & desist or whatever she was sending at them back in the day, that would be an interesting dan humphrey backstory) i think he'd read it aloud to natie. nate would just be lying there with his head on dan's lap, and dan would be sitting up reading aloud, one of his hands carding thru nate's hair.

at a blairena halloween party one time, dan and nate dress up as... *drum roll* each other. are you surprised? yeah, me neither. they keep making risque references to That Night At Yale, and blairena threaten to kick them out of the party (empty threats.)

MILO HUMPHREY MY BELOVED:

i wish i had more milo headcanons than just "jenny designs extremely elaborate costumes for milo, and nate goes trick or treating with him" but that's kind of it. milo would also end up wearing a LOT of orange-brown-maroons to school all through october (dan is like, nate, the kid is 5, is this the age to put your fall agenda onto him? nate is like, yes.) i think once he's older, milo would start getting these ridiculous mugs home in october - a pumpkin mug, a mug shaped like a skull, a mug shaped like a skeleton hand, etc. think mugs that look like THS thing that krysten ritter is holding:

dan looks at the collection of horror themed mugs they have with equal parts dismay and pride, and looks at nate like, yeah, you sure did raise this kid alongside me, didn't you? this is all YOUR influence, babe.

i also feel like milo would wear black nail polish ALLLL the time. he'd start during halloween and just never stop. i mean. if you're curious about this, i have two words for you: aunt jenny.

BONUS:

nate finds photos of a younger dan trick or treating - dan must be 7 or 8 in these photos, and he & vanessa are both dressed up as witches, with the hats and everything. dan is carrying a pumpkin shaped lantern, and marx is sitting in the lantern, peering out from inside it.

dan just smiles, and goes, "yeah, when i was a kid, all my costumes involved marx in some way." there's marx with angel wings (looking extremely disgruntled), there's marx with a green blanket around him ("he was a caterpillar that year," dan informs nate seriously), there's marx with a little bonnet on his head ("he hated that SO much," dan laughs).

the humphreys adopted marx when dan was around 7 - and given how unconcerned rufus is by lily's lack of pets - when he moves in with her, they do not discuss getting a cat or a dog or a bird or anything.. i'm guessing that maybe alison and dan went to pick marx out. i think dan and jenny have both seen marx grow from being a kitten to an adult cat, but because dan was older he remembers it slightly better. and dan and that cat were INSEPERABLE, to the extent wherein dan would often put marx in a pram and stroll him around everywhere. (there are halloween pictures of this, too.)

anyway, i'm just saying.

"he was my partner in crime," dan says fondly, looking at a picture of marx.

"i'm your partner in crime," nate corrects him.

"well, yeah," dan says. he raises an eyebrow. "but do you really need to compare yourself to my cat?"

/end

[sadbitchpictures]

Watched Blade Runner in B&W. Its a very different mood. Highly recommended it.

As it seems I'm the only one asking questions...

Best werewolf movie?

I'm torn between American Werewolf in London or Dog Soldiers.

Will definitely get to that this weekend 😁

I'm not partial to werewolves personally, but I love American Werewolf in London, I've seen it probably 6 or 7 times hahaha. I'm more of a vampire fan. Also zombies (Train to Busan is all I need to fucking say here in terms of modern, haven't seen Peninsula yet. Um The Kingdom??? Best fucking zombie show I've ever seen; in the 2 seasons it's had it made TWD look like My Little Pony.)

Vampires tho? Oh boy.

Everyone can hate Queen of the Damned ALL they want, but if we remove the fact it is "loosely" based on Anne Rice's novel, MAYBE JUST MAYBE we can appreciate it for being a musical (not breaking out into a dance scene bs) film and it just so happens to have vampires in the background, then it's fucking amazing. So maybe I'm a huge fan of it because I grew up lusting (lol) for Lestat and by god, Stuart was hot as fuck. That scene with Aaliyah & Stuart in the bathtub while Change (In the House of Flies) plays is one of the hottest scenes in film history. I'm biased, idc. I love it.

Interview with a Vampire, same thing. I know not everyone liked it but I honestly think Brad Pitt nailed Louis. I cry every time I watch it, esp when Claudia dies. Ugh Jesus chrsust. So good. Could it have been way better? Absolutely. The show being made right now..I will probably watch it but there's already quite a few changes I'm unhappy about. It's whatever.

I have more but I feel like I went way way off course here so I'll stop hahahaha.