#and I'm so sad for louis

[louisliamforever]

What I love the most about Louis and Liam's friendship is that they were forged through the flames. Liam didn't even like Louis at first. I mean I'm sure Louis thought Liam was annoying sometimes, but I feel like most of the dislike was on Liam's end. Louis wanted them to work it out and be Liam's friend. And then they did and it's like Liam really started to understand Louis' magic. And they just kept building this friendship until it was bigger than they ever thought it would be. Louis awakened Liam's inner child and Liam felt safe around Louis.

It's so obvious as the years went on that their love for each other increased by leaps and bounds. By the time we got to late 2014 they were inseparable. All the recces and shenanigans built a truly amazing bond between them. They're soul family.

I love that no matter what went on between them be it a fight or argument they still found their way back to one another and truly loved and supported the other. To me they had the strongest bond in the band.

Frenemies to Best Friends. Their friendship was truly beautiful.

[mulderscully]

I resisted. Because I knew the wisdom of the great laws. Because I knew pain and anxiety would be her only birth right.

[isthatacalzone]

it's baffling to me the lengths to which people will try to frame anyone in iwtv as being better than anyone else. everyone who says they love each other is doing it poorly. Lestat apologised to Louis on that stage and it was real and it was also a performance. Armand feels genuine remorse for not saving Claudia, claims that he couldn't prevent it but we all know he could have. Louis loved Claudia and wanted the best for her, and she was a broken doll picked up and used to soothe his guilt. Even Claudia, who did love Louis, has a specific view of everything that happened to them, to her, that made her messy, that made her angry and awful at times. why would you flatten them? why would you take away what makes these emotions real and complicated?

[statementlou]

https://www.tumblr.com/louisupdates/754934426217152513/goodbye-faith-in-the-future-world-tour-272024?source=share

did he or did he not lose fans then?

I will answer this because this anon actually brings a concrete question to the table rather than just "hurhur but you're a larrie??" (tell me you can't actually refute any of our points…). Anyway this post shows the decrease in Louis instagram followers between the screenshots taken directly after the release of Faith in the Future in Nov '22, when he changed his bio to promote that album and the tour tickets, and now, when he changed it again to mention the current release. But I'm putting that response under a cut because I'm tired of the actual POINT of all this nonsense getting lost in a sea of made up things people insist are important:

There is no rational argument you can make to say that Louis has less fans now than he did 2, 4, or 6 years ago. You don't need a spreadsheet of details you need to USE YOUR EYES! He has gone from filling theaters to filling arenas and stadiums. His second album made a higher chart position than his first album. His festival has doubled in size EVERY year of its existence. And for that matter: his insta post engagement numbers remain about the same (despite the fact that older posts should have way MORE likes due to having been there longer, even aside from follower counts.) SO WHO FUCKING CARES ABOUT HIS INSTA FOLLOWER NUMBER???? Serious question: what does the word "fans" mean if these things aren't what matters? ALL of this quibbling about what he should do to make things better and people can't even see that THINGS AREN'T BAD.

Anyway to address the specific question- (con't......)

NO- HE DID NOT LOSE FANS. HE LOST SOME INSTA FOLLOWERS. THESE ARE NOT THE SAME THING. As I said above, literally what does it mean to lose fans if that number change coincides with him having higher sales, more audience members, and higher engagement than ever before? Whatever he lost ISN'T FANS. I wouldn't be surprised if a significant factor was something like a bot purge, but also yes: I'm sure a lot of casuals followed him around the time of his big album release and later unfollowed him. That's extremely normal because that's how casual engagement works, and why the definition of fan really matters. Louis and his team understand this and have referenced it repeatedly, talking about how lucky he is to have *us* specifically, to have the kind of dedicated fanbase he has, to have the KIND of fans he does who will allow him to do what HE wants. @dogsliampaynedoesntinstagram named the issue of depth vs breadth with regard to fans a long time ago, and pointed out why having DEPTH is so much more important. It's like this- artists who are on top 40 radio have more numbers on things like insta follows, and for a time on sales and tickets. But those aren't FANS- they're people with a casual interest. And as soon as that person isn't being forced in their ears 10x a day, those people lose interest and stop supporting them, stop buying stuff and unfollow, and those artists end up doing the 'opener on the jingle ball' circuit rather than their own tours. One Direction as a whole, and Louis maybe most of all or near to at this point, have something MUCH MORE VALUABLE than that- DEPTH FANS. Louis has fans who will support him even if he takes years to release music, or stops parading around with a pretend girlfriend to stay in the headlines at least once a month, or completely changes his image and genre, and that is UNHEARD OF. It's ASTONISHING and worth SO MUCH MORE. And they get that! THAT is why he always bragging about us, why industry people he works with are always so agog about us, why he will do anything for US- not for randos. He is also growing his breadth- and it's OBVIOUSLY WORKING whatever his follower counts are, but that is always going to be secondary to doing things for THE FANDOM because that is his sustainable business model. That is what keeps him onstage and reaching number one. And not coincidentally, the things they do are also working to grow that- much more valuable- commodity. So the fact that that's exactly what these chuckleheads complain about- that he does things that are just fandom facing or serving rather than everything being aimed at recruiting casual fans- does nothing but betray how completely they, unlike Louis and his team, misunderstand the actual drivers of his (actual, existing, happening) success. Luckily for Louis, he and his team rely on their own data harvesting (they do a LOT of it) and growth metrics (they're off the charts) rather than the smug assumptions of random (mostly quite new to this) fans and the few bitter people leading the complaining about everything Louis does.

[leslutdepointedulac]

Reasons why Louis de Pointe du Lac is a messy af deranged as anything dude (despite hiding behind his sad boi exterior so we don't remember his messiness):

He beat up a priest cause he was chatting shit about his dead brother

He was turned on by killing a guy during his vampire initiation

He said that he would rather kill a child than part with his money

He set his house on fire

He ate a child (Claudia) after basically starving himself for 4 years living off only animals

He stood and watched Claudia kill Lestat before dumping him in a swamp

He set Lestat on fire

He ditched Claudia for Armand despite only knowing him for 2 seconds

He set the Theatre on fire

He drained Daniel, not caring whether or not he actually died, and then just left him half dead

He denied Lestat help cause 'he got himself into this mess, he can get himself out'

He said he likes it when his victims struggle when he kills them

He didn't give a single fuck when Marius killed Arjun and said they were 'disturbing his reading'

Feel free to add more if I've missed any. I probably have.

[hawkfuller]

the implications of lestat staying in new orleans post-paris... because his real home is louis and new orleans is the only piece of louis he believes he has left...

[ldpdluvr]

this iwtv shit is all fun and games until you read a fanfic that hits you so hard you can't stop crying

[collegeboysam]

we now have the modern devil's minion au detail that whenever armandaniel break up daniel would be calling louis to ask him if armand has posted any sad stories about missing him on instagram (since they mutually unfollowed and blocked each other, as they usually do after every fight)

[thequeenofsastiel]

How is it that I was completely in love with the Loustat reunion but the scene I can't stop rewatching is the Loumand breakup with a strange mix of heartbreak and satisfaction??

[oui-maitre]

god you know this whole show has been building up to the trial. in episode 6 we briefly see Claudia and Madeleine being happy and then the trial starts and you can't help but think 'Claudia had barely left the nest, she deserved to have more time'. but of course that's the tragedy. the parent burying the child, a perversion of natural order. Claudia was inspired (at least in part) by Anne Rice's daughter who died at 5 from leukemia. there is no version of this story where Claudia lives.

[lizardkingeliot]

my lestat pov fic is about to be so insufferable with the wolf imagery and religious symbolism and i'm not even a little bit sorry about it

[winepresswrath]

i am absolutely a nicki girl by the way it's just that much like show!lestat my love for him is so pure he doesn't even have to be hot. he can be an ugly crier with a floppy lil wig it only inspires tenderness.

[hermit-frog]

the most bizarre thing about ep8 is everyone repeating how this was Jones' best work

[theirloveisgross]

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[statementlou]

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[larrylimericks]

17Feb23

“Yes lad!!!” for Ni’s song! Hello, lovers! Just wait until Louis discovers Recent noteworthy acts (Which may merit congrats?) By the curly-haired one of his *brothers*.