#and i don't think she feels the same ties to humanity in the way louis does

[pynkhues]

I keep seeing posts about Louis being a very incurious person/vampire and I wanted to know if you agreed on that but more so where that comes from? Is it a that’s none of my business thing or a I really don’t care thing. Maybe it’s something else entirely. I feel like there’s a touch of Gabrielle in that… am I reaching?

Oh, I really disagree that Gabrielle's incurious, anon. I think she's one of the most curious vampires in the series, and if anything, I'd say that I personally feel the show's made Claudia a more curious vampire and a natural explorer to parallel her to Gabrielle, not Louis.

As for Louis being incurious - - I've seen a lot of those posts too (some of them are really funny!), and I think they're kind of true, but also not really? I think Louis' incredibly intelligent, and I think he actually has a pretty insatiable curiosity in certain respects. He reads a lot, and he reads broadly - from Charles Darwin to Edward Carpenter to Gustave Flaubert, Colette to - as eagle eyed fans noticed in the BTS shots - Simone de Beauvoir, and has obviously a specific interest in art, and I don't think you read that widely or engage with art that deeply if you're not a fundamentally curious person.

I think from a fandom standpoint that the theory comes from Louis never sharing Claudia's hunger to know about the vampire world, and his resistance to learning more about them in Europe, as well as Louis seeming to not have asked Lestat all that much (which I actually disagree with - he clearly asks Lestat a lot of questions throughout 1.02, and both scenes where Claudia asks Lestat who turned him I think imply that Louis had asked and been similarly shut down before) - but I don't know if I'd necessarily describe that as a lack of curiosity so much as a symptom of Louis' initial denial of his vampirism, and then his rejection of vampire society.

Louis doesn't see himself in other vampires. He denies his vampiric needs in Rue Royale, pretty clearly has an issue with the fact that Claudia takes after Lestat when it comes to both her efficacy as a hunter, and her embrace of her vampirism. He certainly doesn't identify with the 'Catfish-with-Teeth' that they find in Romania, and he pretty much hates the Coven, from the work they do, to the way they hunt, to the individuals within it. I think he feels detached / alienated from vampire society, and by the end of s2, I think he likes it that way. I talked about it a bit in my Byronic Hero post, but it's very common with this sort of character archetype to live either in exile, or in a self-exile, and Louis' both - he's cut out from the human society he wants to be a part of in New Orleans, and he chooses to remove himself from vampiric society in Paris.

And to me, that's what sits at the root of Louis' curiosity.

I think that he has an enormous amount of curiosity around the human society that cut him out - again, he's reading Darwin, Carpenter, de Beauvoir, he enjoys the human opera with Lestat, is following people around Paris trying to photograph them, engaging deeply with human art, taking fascinating human boys to fuck and eat in San Francisco - and a fundamental lack of curiosity in vampire society - he never really follows up with Lestat about vampires, is disinterested in Claudia's research, tries to pull the pin on their trip, doesn't want to engage with the Coven, hates the vampiric theatre, hates his own photographs of the vampires, finds Armand boring! The world's softest, beigest pillow!

Louis' fascinated by humanity and bored by vampires, and I do think that's partially a reflection of how Louis' internalised his' feelings about being rejected by one, and rejecting the other, just like I think his capitalist climb has been about gaining social power in a society that tried to disempower him. So yeah! I think he's curious, he just doesn't care about vampires, haha.

[raven-undergrove]

I think the reason why I sympathize with Louis the least out of every character in AMC's IWTV is because his toxic traits don't typically come from his trauma. I'm not saying nothing traumatic ever happened to Louis. The death of his brother was absolutely traumatic, being dropped out of the sky by Lestat was absolutely traumatic, losing Claudia was absolutely traumatic, enduring racism was absolutely traumatic. But his toxic traits? Those primarily all tie back to him being a pimp. When he drags Claudia across the floor begging Lestat to turn her and feels entitled to her throughout the rest of her life, that's Louis the Pimp viewing Claudia as nothing more than a doll rather than an individual with her own life and agency. When he initiates the Maitre-Arun dynamic between him and Armand and casts Armand into the role of Rashid while Daniel is in the penthouse, (he even continues to call him Rashid and order him around when Daniel is asleep), that's Louis the Pimp viewing Armand the former child sex slave as someone he can manipulate and control, not as a person with feelings. Meanwhile, Lestat's toxic traits come from the trauma of having an abusive family growing up, being kidnapped and turned into a vampire against his will, and being abandoned by his maker. Claudia's toxic traits come from the trauma of an abusive mortal family in poverty, a controlling and abusive vampire family, infantilization and being trapped in a teenage body forever, being raped by Bruce, almost being burned alive while she was still a mortal child during a race war Louis incited, and experiencing racism. Armand's toxic traits come from the trauma of an abusive family, being kidnapped and sex trafficked, being raped by multiple people and viewed as a commodity to be sold, being purchased by Marius and groomed by him, experiencing racism as seen by the whitewashed paintings of him and the slur Nicki used to refer to him, and then being abducted by a cult that he believes killed Marius, burned his brothers alive, and then tortured him into compliance. Whenever Lestat, Claudia, or Armand do something that could be considered toxic/abusive/evil, I can always tie it back to their unique traumas. But Louis? Very little of his abusive behavior can be tied back to the traumas he has experienced. Most of it can easily be tied back to his work as a pimp, and his seeming belief that some people are just beneath him and not worthy of the same respect and humanity he applies to himself and others. Claudia is a Black woman from a poor family, just like the people he exploited. Armand was forced into sex work, just like the people he exploited. As a result, he doesn't seem to view them as individuals who matter, just as something for him to possess and own. This doesn't mean he didn't love them, but he clearly did not know how to love them properly, and as a result, Claudia left him and Armand betrayed him to the coven. The only way Louis's actual trauma seems to come into play is in his relationship with Lestat - the one character who isn't like the people who Louis exploited - and that comes from his inability to tell Lestat he loves him, as that was the last thing he said to Paul.

[murfpersonalblog]

IWTV S2 Ep3 Musings - Daniel & the Talamasca (SPOILERS)

I can see what the reviewers meant when they complained about the Talamasca & Daniel.

We start off with Daniel nervous AF, tryna keep tabs on all the mindscrewy shenanigans (at the sushi restaurant on his lunchbreak or whatever).

Today's... etcetc Cell phones, google -- Daniel, your handwriting effing sucks. San Francisco. Polynesian Mary's Playboy magazines as a doorstop? doorstep? |CLAUDIA| Mary's cab. Coke...etcetc. Alice. They'll come for me and Kate next--you bet your arse they will! XD THIS TIME I WON'T SAVE YOUR LIFE

He draws an arrow from Save Your Life up to Playboy--I assume cuz those are two incidents with Armand that took place in SanFran?

I really like the Omakase bit--

About how many risks Daniel's subjecting himself to under the whims of these vampires--but also about Daniel's hubris/arrogance breaking the rules of engagement by thinking he has any say over what they do and what he gets out of it, by stepping onto their turf. If you can't take the heat, GTFO their kitchen.

I'm only just now noticing the foreshadowed titles of Dan's books. 🤦 Burning & Blood--AMC swears they're hilarious.

OK, Raglan's been stalking Daniel's career just like Louis did. So my early suspicion about Daniel breaking the NDA was right.

Which is SO EFFING STUPID OF HIM. They're gonna find out! Loumand's literally drawing out this giant tragedy about what happens when vampires--Armand, specifically--are LIED to, and you're gonna pull this mess on them!? You're not even being SUBTLE!

AGREEMENT.pdf--Daniel, you in danger girl.

Raglan, stop tryna gas Dan up b4 they put him off commission permanently. He's no body-snatching psychic CROOK like you.

Get this nosey bish offa my dang screen.

Oof, right in the Devil's Minion feels. U_U

O__O WOAH!? OK, so aside from Dan (played by EB, a white Jew, along with JK) throwing shade at Caucasian European Israelis (which we been knew), he's implying that Armand & Louis might be persons of interest in the UAE by the Israeli gov't & assassins, esp. cuz of their ties to powerful people. But it's funny cuz that's the exact same thing Lou asked about him.

So Dan's telling the sushi patrons there's Israeli spies/assassins crawling around Dubai--STOP, b4 you get that place John Wick'd! XD

Not MI6. 😭 I said JOHN WICK, not JAMES BOND. XD

Raglan's gone full rogue then--if he was still working for the Talamasca he'd have darn near unlimited funds--they got that dirty TEMPLAR money. 💰💰💰

Yeah, and they don't actually call the Talamasca by name in the ep itself--only in the Insider interviews the producers give.

Daniel, why TF are you talking SO EFFING LOUD, when Raglan's whispering, tryna act like he's on the phone NOT talking to you in case y'all ARE being bugged. 🤦 SUBTLETY, my guy. What kinda investigative journalist are you?

I'm starting to suspect they're not gonna do the rockstar!Lestat, and instead this stupid Great Conversion's gonna be what wakes up Akasha/Amel, when their blood/consciousness gets stretched way too thin with all these new vamps being made.

To attempt an interview...? I believe that. We already know Marius & Lestat stalked Talamasca members for decades upon decades. Ain't no way NO vampire ever tried getting close to humans & talk about their lives to someone out of loneliness or something. Esp. the ones not attached to the European covens & all their stupid Great Laws.

Rest in Preternaturalism, Raymond Gallant.

BLENDERS! XD But this is THE most Anne Ricean answer imaginable, cuz everyone lost their ish when she had her vamps flying around with GPS-trackable cellphones in their pockets as they KILLED people. Rookie mistake. 😂

Armand was on a cellphone in S01E07, and he is LITERALLY married to his iPad, so PLEASE, sir. 🙄

There's Santiago's COMPLICIT speech coming back. Ain't no moral high-ground here!

And I figured Armand/AMC was gonna pin it on AMC!Lestat, and his jaded version the Savage Garden.

Armand says technology distracts humans from vampire crimes, but what's distracting vampires from psychic/Talamasca crimes, huh?

ISTG these are the laziest vamps I've ever seen; they care so much about their privacy & security, but aren't reading Dan's mind at all? I hope one of them just casually name-drops Raglan or catches Daniel in the act or something.

Raglan said Daniel's laptop was "comically vulnerable," and uploads a bunch of data files on it from the Bibliotheca Talamasca bestiary/archives--WHY? To help show Daniel he's helpful & trustworthy?

RJ: Omakase? Louis: The conversation was easy and flirtatious.... Armand: And combative. Louis: And combative, yes. Daniel: Arguing as foreplay. RJ: Peruse at your leisure.

I hate this effing show. 🙇🙇🙇

[vampien]

start quote:‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎please don't be angry.‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎i couldn't take it if you were angry at me, too.

the tone of the other sent a sharpness through her veins, a memory of a young girl begging for forgiveness from person after person who were put in positions to protect her‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎(the young girl is you, but are you still her?).‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎it leads to a softening of her features, empathy dancing across brows that fold in the center of her face‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎––-‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎a gentleness that is antithetical to the very creation of a monster such as a vampire, a monster such as satine.‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎she lowers herself to sit next to @survivores, one hand gently reaching out to hold one of claudia's, cold and colder skin against one another in a moment of warmth.

" i'm not angry at you. "‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎the words themselves seem so simple, an answer to the question that lied under the girl's question, but there's so much more there.‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎sitting across from satine is claudia, yet sitting across from satine is herself:‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎unknowingly acting as a vessel for apologies once owed to a much younger version of her girlhood.‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎" i think she's quite interesting, myself‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎...‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎pretty too. "‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎she nudges claudia's shoulder then, a bump that comes with a fully spread grin and a laughter that, if she focuses on it enough, always sounds just uncanny from the laughter she had once when she was alive.‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎" i think, perhaps, it wasn't the best way to lead her into our world but, what's done is done,‎ and‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎...‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎all i've ever wanted for you was someone who would put you first. "‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ violet eyes dip and ‎the smile falls slowly, fading into oblivion in an act of self pity, mourning the motherhood she could never have offered to the girl‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎––-‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎the ties provided by lestat too strong, the noose around claudia's neck by her own maker, tethered to a similar yet looser one around louis's, too much to break.‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎dreams of motherood die hard in the undead.‎

" i am happy for you, and while i'm not sure it's the exact opposite of anger, it feels close. "‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎she glances back up to the girl now, a gentleness encapsulating cold and pale cheeks‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎(and perhaps something almost human dances across her features).‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎she reaches out then, pushing a small strand of hair behind clauida's ear in a swift motion.‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎" louis will feel the same, give him time. "

[savagewilderness]

Oooh, I like this conversation, @ultrapoppet! Thank you for indulging this interesting Nicolas and Louis chat.

I agree that Nicolas doesn't see Goodness in God or in God's creation, but not that he is an atheist. Although, I actually forget... does being turned a vampire disprove God's existence to Nicolas? Well, my not being sure about that must mean it is soon time to re-read The Vampire Lestat again! I'll take that excuse!

Although I relate to Nicolas a lot, it is mainly related to his experiences with music and how he feels about himself as a musician being almost entirely the same as how I feel. With respect to religion, though I was Christened Catholic, I was not brought up religious and never remember even believing God really existed. God was always a story similar to Father Christmas, fairies, Unicorns and... Vampires to me! So I can't truly say I understand how it feels to be religious, or to believe. (Though, do we all really *not* believe in these things, hehehehe!!)

However, I think Nicolas' religion and the idea of eternal punishment has been so ingrained that he does believe in God, certainly as a mortal. I don't think he thinks God is good. I think he thinks God says the only way humans can be good is self-denial. I suppose it's exacerbated by Nicolas' Father having expectations of Nicolas which are not what Nicolas himself desires... and that's also I'm sure tied into the fact that Nicolas is from a lower class family than Lestat and it is recently that Nicolas' family have begun to find a way to lift themselves up through the family tailoring business - from poverty, into money and a new standard of living. I'm sure it is not only religion that has been ingrained in Nicolas, but how hard he must work and what kind of work he must do to succeed and make his family proud. That Nicolas was studying law suggests his family desired Nicolas to go one stage further than they had reached and they're surely putting pressure on him to take the family name one step further. His youth is almost an opposite experience to Lestat's.

Even without Nicolas' mindset... and clearly he *does* have artistic talent to have done so well on violin in so short a time... how many families have pushed their child, thinking they were only doing the best for them, giving them opportunities they never had, pushing them to succeed, only for it to end in tragedy? Well... I have experience here. I'm a music therapist now, but I came from a family where nobody had ever been to University before me, but I went to Cambridge and studied maths. (It's very funny! I'm just a silly billy!) I wasn't pushed to do that myself at all, but I discovered at Cambridge that compared to everyone else there, I was rubbish... but thankfully I didn't get into one of the posh, old colleges and ended up at a smaller, newer, all girls college and made friends. But all the colleges have lectures together. Anyway... in the posh colleges there'd often be 9 boys and 1 girl and the girl would... if she was lucky she'd drop out. But, I tell you, especially in Maths - in the first year we were at Cambridge, SO many teenagers (or all genders) killed themselves. It became such that it wasn't even shocking to hear about anymore. And I am sure many of them were people who'd been pushed their whole lives to reach this - as some pinnacle... and then they found it impossible to cope once there and saw no other way out. It also wasn't shocking, because all of us could understand it. Most of us felt it, at least some amount.

Well, I've really digressed there... let's go back to your post! I agree with most of what you say. I think Nicolas didn't resent Lestat for turning him into vampire though, but he resents, as you say - Lestat's optimism and zest for life. He especially resents who vampire-Lestat is. I personally don't think every thing Nicolas says in that last meeting he has with Lestat is how Nicolas truly feels. It's a terrible argument and Nicolas says terrible things to Lestat, as you do in such a moment. Nicolas is mad as a vampire and basically his humanity is turned off hereon as he embraces evil now it's been confirmed evil exists and he *is* it, AND Lestat leaves him, but Nicolas wants Lestat to leave. We don't hear Nicolas' thoughts, but the way he embraces evil, Lestat must be at best an awful reminder of some possibility that no longer is. In a way, I think Lestat *was* hope for Nicolas. Nicolas was filled with darkness, Lestat with light. But I think they did love each other. But now, Lestat is just a reminder of all that Nicolas will never be, never have, never was. In that argument, I think Nicolas says awful things like people do in arguments so they hurt the other person the most. Not that there's no truth in it - there certainly is... but I don't think it's the full truth of what Nicolas felt for Lestat. Nicolas cannot bear that even as a vampire, Lestat has tried to Be Good. It's the opposite of his own response. They are worlds apart once Nicolas is a vampire. (And going back to my original point, had Nicolas survived, all Romantic love between the pair is at this point utterly dead forever. Though there's still love in a non-Romantic way because of what they once had, at least from Lestat towards Nicolas.)

I don't think Nicolas would have wanted to kill Lestat. But, that said, once Nicolas was a vampire, Lestat could not stand the sight of him anymore, so there was never a scenario where Nicolas would be in a situation like Louis and Claudia were, where they felt trapped and needed to escape Lestat. Lestat was relieved to be able to escape Nicolas. I don't think Lestat or Nicolas truly wanted the other dead, but they definitely never wanted to see the other ever again. Lestat has very complicated feelings here, because there is simultaneous relief and unbearable pain when Nicolas eventually does die. He still loves Nicolas... even though vampire Nicolas is no longer *his* Nicolas. But from Nicolas' side... I'm not saying he could not *be* violent (I agree - all vampires are violent), but there's no way to envision him in Louis' situation, as Lestat would never keep vampire-Nicolas held tight to him as he does with Louis. As from the second he's a vampire, it's OVER for them. So it's just a scenario that would never be.

Louis! I think that Louis is simply afraid to look too deeply within himself. His faith affects him in a different way to Nicolas. As you say, faith makes Nicolas a nihilist (I do relate to this aspect of Nicolas, even though most of my world-views are more akin to Lestat's), but Louis *needs* to believe he is Good in order to live with himself. But he is deeply afraid that deep down he is impossibly flawed. So when he does things like not feeding as a vampire, I think he is not doing this out of a deep love for humans. He is doing it as he is saying "If I do this *good* thing, then I *am* good. It is a right moral choice. I am good." But I think Louis is terrified that if he looks deeply into his own core he'll find Terrible Things. Exacerbated as Louis feels a lot of shame too for his sexuality.... In fact Louis feels a lot of shame for many things and so he has to deny much of his self.

I'd disagree that Louis isn't particularly violent for a vampire though. He chooses not to kill... but when he leans into violence, or when he simply snaps, Louis rips chests apart, rips jaws off, slams heads into walls - his very self becomes violence. He is uncontrollably violent when he isn't actively self-controlling. The first time Lestat saw Louis, he had a blade to his brother's throat and as a mortal Louis surely had to use a capacity for violence to survive and to get as far in life as he did. A capacity for violence is not the same as a capacity for evil. But I think Louis is deeply violent. But obviously Louis is not deeply evil! Not lovely Louis! Even the moment when Lestat first confirms he is a vampire and the violent nature of that, by killing the priest Louis is confessing to, the night Louis is turned - Louis immediately runs at beast-Lestat and stabs him in the back. Louis' capacity for violence is one of the reasons Lestat chose him. Just as Magnus chose Lestat after seeing him kill The Wolves. Louis' violence is towards humans though, so ought to bode a lot better for his vampire-self, really.

I think Louis' inaction also stems from this terror to look within himself - he's afraid of his darkness, he's afraid of what he's capable of and he's terrified of his desires and since he's afraid of his desires I think he just chooses not to consider what he truly wants and often he chooses not to consider what he's even feeling and that leads to inaction. If you don't know what you really feel, how can you truly choose to act?

I love that the TV show is conveying Louis' story of self acceptance and self discovery and how he is learning to be all the beautiful things he is. Hopefully without apology, for all eternity!

WOW, I rambled on! Sorry! And it kind of has no point! haha! Oh well! The End!

I’ve been seeing “What if Nicki survived” takes, so, as I see it (trying my hardest to be succinct…!)

Nicolas & Nicolas & Lestat’s relationship is beautiful because he (& thus - it) is doomed.

Nicolas was never long for this world. Like your Shakespearean or Greek tragedies, you can ruminate on Armand’s role; Lestat’s role; Nicolas’ parents’ role*… but while Nicolas may have struggled through an extra tortured decade or so, even if Lestat had never been made a vampire & even if he & Nicki hadn’t ever broken up, I am almost certain that in time, likely as Lestat’s star inevitably would have risen, Nicolas would have sunk deeper into a disillusioned, resentful depression that would be all the worse as he wouldn’t want to sink into it & he’d want only to love Lestat & be happy for him & yet Lestat’s world would be opening up & he’d have shone ever-brighter as he would have had to watch Nicolas, his love most likely slowly & awfully self destruct, sinking deeper & deeper, inescapably into darkness. (And this post is about Nicolas, but I’m not sure a mortal Lestat would have survived experiencing a slow self destruction by Nicolas in this way either…)

Whatever the scenario, all paths led to Nicolas’ death. (I described just one scenario here - but that’s likely the best-case scenario for Nicolas?!)

What’s more - that’s the beauty! That’s the beauty of gothic literature. You don’t need happily ever after to feel the peace & resonance & satisfaction from it. In fact happily ever after is (certainly to me anyway! And was so as a child too, instinctively) depressing as it’s (fictionally) unrealistic. The satiation comes from the satisfying resolution when what you knew deep down was always the ending comes to pass. As it always had to. As it must. Sorrow is Nicolas’ end. Death, in the end is all of our ends & in fiction, some characters can be an articulation of that inevitability & Nicolas is that for sure.

Just as Claudia’s end always had to be as it is & was a way for Anne Rice to give at least some kind of closure to an unfathomable, senseless, never-resolved pain in her real life - that of her daughter’s death; so Nicolas’ death is cathartic.

Here is a beauty of art. In reality, death is always painful & senseless, often random, always meaningless & there is no understanding it or ever getting over it. It has no purpose. It is always cruel. It is incomprehensible to our mortal minds. Just as true immortality is incomprehensible, so is mortality - that those we love will die. And the planet will die. And every memory of every human who ever existed will be lost. And the one specific person you love most of all too, can just die. It is senseless. People kill. People die. Death.

But in art, we have a realm to shape our inexplicable & painful experiences into something that’s not only manageable, but pleasurable. We can shape meaninglessness into meaning. And as I see it it means WAY more & I feel way more deeply &, ultimately (as it’s truer) it makes me feel way happier when the deepest tragedy can be sharped into meaning by stories. It is resonant and cathartic - A Savage Garden created by art, you could say…? Or at least a true articulation of The Savage Garden.

I don’t fully have the words to articulate what I’m trying to say. But Nicolas is one of my favourite VC characters & he’s certainly the character I relate to most.

And I love that he’s dead. That’s the point. He would always have died. That’s his beauty & his tragedy & what Lestat felt in Nicolas’ music, yet never fully understood about Nicki in his idealistic youth.

* We might blame God’s role, though. Religion.

[fly-pow-bye]

Powerpuff Girls 2016 - “Green Wing“

Written by: Jake Goldman, Haley Mancini

Written & Storyboarded by: Julia Vickerman, Cheyenne Curtis

Directed by: Nick Jennings, Bob Boyle

"Superflyalicious!" Actual quote from the episode.

The episode starts with the Reboot Puffs and the Professor volunteering for a retirement home. Blossom, Bubbles, and the Professor are okay with it, but Buttercup isn't. The rascally little green princess would rather complain about how old people smell while a sad trumpet plays.

Bubbles disagrees, taking the position of Gallant to Buttercup's Goofus. She even says that she likes their smell. Buttercup invalidates her opinion by telling her that she likes the smell of earwax. In a normal cartoon, that should be the end of it.

In this cartoon, Bubbles literally shoves her stub into Buttercup’s usually non-existent ear, pulls out earwax, and sniffs it with magically appearing nostrils. It is often said that showing is better than telling, but I think I'd rather see Buttercup as exaggerating Bubbles' love for everything than having Bubbles prove that she is an alien. Also, they don't have nostrils.

Buttercup continues to complain, but the Professor assures her that hanging out with the elderly can be fun. Buttercup is forced to play Bingo.

At least, they call it Bingo. The amount of spots on the grid suggest the writers think Bingo only has four letters. Buttercup is not very happy, but the Professor is. When he gets a bingo, he gloats at the guy right next to him! They really are playing up the sitcom dad angle with the Professor in this episode, which would be more apparent later.

After his Bingo-fueled childishness, the Professor gives Buttercup other options: scrapbooking with Bubbles, or joining Blossom's jazzercise class. I guess nerd character equals Richard Simmons?

Getting as tired with Buttercup as I am, the Professor grabs her, and forces her to sit with an elderly lady named Edith, voiced by none other than Cree Summer. Buttercup introduces herself, only for Edith to make fun of her name. I approve, because it's Reboot Buttercup she's making fun of.

In an attempt to impress her, she throws bread in the air and burns it with her eye beams. Edith is unimpressed by burnt breakfast, not really caring that a 6 year old girl just fired death from her eyes. It does remind her of a time where superheroes were far better: 70's blaxploitation films!

At the Bank of Townsville, that latter word appearing in this reboot about as often as an actual fight scene, the "superflyalicious" Mackaderm is about to rob the bank. I thought it was Pack-A-Derm, because he steals things, but they really use the word "mack" with a character that is all but stated to be a pimp elephant.

Before he can get his "baddy daddy diamonds", another direct quote from the show...

...in comes Green Wing, the "grooviest superhero around"! She's essentially a superhero version of Foxy Brown, a character already parodied by Cree Summer's role in Drawn Together. Mackaderm charges with a "mack attack", which sounds wrong to me. She jumps over Mackaderm, who runs into a wall, and an explosion happens for no reason whatsoever. I guess this is their way to avoid having to animate an actual fight scene to avoid any "fantasy violence".

Buttercup is about as impressed by this as Edith was at her toast-burning skills. One of the reasons is that while the superheroine's name is Green Wing, she can't even fly! It's almost as if Buttercup doesn't know that being able to fly isn't a common thing among humans.

Then again, even the show tends to forget that.

After getting them tied up, how she did it being a mystery due to the show's aforementioned fear of actual fight scenes, she unveils who Elephant Pimp is by slapping his mask off. I am very glad to say that he is just person in disguise, because I don't have to put him in the same category as all the other talking animals that give Bubbles less of a reason to exist. The Mack Daddy Elephant turns out to be...

...famous 19th century chemist Louis Pasteur? Well, I guess they needed some educational value for the young'ns. Then a worm with a baby's face shows up to congratulate her. And then a talking disco ball tells everyone to party. And then the episode turns into Painbow for 3 seconds.

Chalking it up to "old people, am I right?", Buttercup doesn't believe her story, but Edith says she was there. She leans down as if she's going to tell a secret, after dozing off because, "old people, am I right?", and yells that she IS Green Wing! Buttercup still doesn't believe her, and tries to put Edith to sleep with a "beyond lame" record with someone named the Blue Jeanie. Edith tells her to not play that record, as playing the record will free him. Then she leaves.

Bubbles and Blossom show up to prove their existence, and are impressed that Buttercup met a superhero, as they are superheroes! If there's any claim the writers need to show instead of tell instead of Bubbles' earwax obsession, it's that claim. Since Bubbles is there, and Blossom essentially disappears for most of the episode, Buttercup tries to dress her up as herself.

Bubbles: Hi, I'm Buttercup! I'm mean! (makes grumpy old man face)

At least she didn't make a nose this time. This leads to a scene where the Professor actually confuses her for Buttercup. One would think a guy who can create life out of sweets and unknown chemicals, among many other things, would be able to tell the difference between his blonde "daughter" and his brunette "daughter".

Buttercup suddenly gets an interest in the Blue Genie album, even though minutes before, she thought it would be "beyond lame". They really had to find some way to get the plot moving. Right before she puts the needle on the record, Edith comes back in her Green Wing attire, proving that she is indeed Green Wing! This comes with a rather detailed vertical panorama shot of her wrinkly behind in spandex.

...

I have to make that, don't I?

This show won an award for best family entertainment from an organization that honored women in media. Just wanted to let people know that. Unfortunately, she’s far too late, and Buttercup plays the record, unleashing...

...the Blue Jeanie! He doesn't grant wishes, nor does he wear jeans, but he does have the ability to make people dance by shooting beams at them. Kind of reminds me of that one villain that I hope I will never see again. He even shoots Blossom and Bubbles with it, making this another episode where the most boyish character has to save the two girly characters. How feminist.

Buttercup attempts to fight him one-on-one, but his dancing is too fast for someone who had once flew so fast, she accidently travelled through time. He eventually grabs her, and, to no surprise...

Elvis Throw, Girl Down. Womp womp. Admittedly, the Blue Jeanie seems to have magical powers, but that guy can't be as strong as Terminator Unicorn. As Buttercup gets flung into the wall like the super-powerful superhero she is, Green Wing charges to the Blue Genie...very, very slowly. Because she's old. Run, Blossom, Run and The Wrinklegruff Gals did this exact same joke. This series has a issue with people older than 30, both in the cartoon and in real life.

Here's the entire fight scene: Green Wing throws a pitcher of water on him, ruining his outfit. She then tells Buttercup to use her eye lasers, which somehow just makes his clothes shrink. Well, I guess if he can fling a girl who can lift buildings full of people, I guess he could survive a frying. Green Wing plays the record again, causing Blue Jeanie to get sucked back in, and she attempts to keep the record in a safe place where nobody can play it.

Hmm, maybe she's just trying to ensure his spot on the rogue's gallery...

...or she could accidentally kill him by dropping his record. His soul even screams in a puff of smoke. Kind of brutal for a series that’s afraid to show a punch. The episode ends with a fist bump with choir text humor calling them "soul sisters", because they're not tired of that. Review over.

Does the title fit?

The title is clever, because Green Wing is the name of the superheroine in the episode! ...and that’s it. Honestly, I’d rather have titles like this than non-puns like the last one.

How does it stack up?

I feel bad giving this episode a worse rating than The Last Donnycorn, but it just didn't hit any of the high notes that episode did for me. The character of the week is better, but anything is better than the hell-horn.

Next, it’s an episode called 15 Minutes of Fame. If I were to guess, it’s probably going to have internet references. Oh boy.

← The Last Donnycorn ☆ 15 Minutes of Fame →

[pynkhues]

May I ask what you mean ‘Louis slightly whitewashed it telling Daniel’? Lestat was more wounded maybe? English is my second language I am sorry

(x)

You have nothing to apologise for, anon! To whitewash something in the context I was using it there is 'a deliberate attempt to conceal unpleasant or incriminating facts about a person in order to protect their reputation'. Louis whitewashes quite a bit in his retellings to Daniel, which the show makes a point of revealing - think about the reveal of the fact that he grabbed Claudia by the throat in 1.07 to save Lestat for instance, also Claudia's birth being so different to how he told it, and his and Lestat's fight before the drop. He's not lying, and I don't think he's doing any of it with maintent at all, but he's trying to conceal parts of himself from Daniel that he's ashamed of, or embarrassed by, which is a really normal, human thing to do.

What I mean about it in the context of that particular scene in 1.06 is that I think Louis had to be motivated to bring Lestat home in the way that he did in a way that he didn't disclose to Daniel. There was no reason at all for Louis to bring Lestat back immediately after the scene at Antoinette's (and we know it was straight after because Louis and Claudia are in the same clothes). He knew Lestat wasn't going anywhere, he could've easily left him there to heal overnight and had him come back to the house the following night where the evidence of their fucking was less in their daughter's face, but he doesn't, which to me begs the question, why?

A part of it is probably tied to not being able to stomach the thought of leaving him with Antoinette, I think - it's an act of possession to take him in her house and then take him from her house, after all - but he and Lestat are both also eyewateringly rich (again, the show's explicit about Louis still having investments in this period, plus his family's estate. He's independently wealthy, even if he's not as rich as Lestat). He could've gotten a hotel for them for the night, or taken him literally anywhere else, but he takes him home to Claudia.

And honestly, I do think that doing that was about wanting Claudia to see what he did to Lestat. I think a part of it is about his own ego and in his own defense - I think he feels he needs to show her that he's both 'punished' Lestat and 'taken control' of the situation (which of course, he hasn't, but that's neither here nor there for this post) - but I also do read it personally as a bit of a dig at her for trying to force them both to accept her as their sister. S2 makes blatantly clear that Louis never saw her as anything except his daughter (and honestly, I don't blame him for that at all! She is), and treating her as such was something between a placation and an indulgence. He literally punishes her for it in 2.01 by making her go play with the kids at the shelter, and I really do see making her sit opposite the father he's just done a number on as being at least a little bit in the same fashion.

When she was their daughter, Louis would sneak him into his coffin in the middle of the night! She doesn't want to be their daughter anymore? Fine, she can help Louis find a pillow for Lestat to sit on after he's absolutely wrecked him, when the memories in Louis' head are still fresh for her to see. It just reads as having been a petty choice to me on Louis' part to both Claudia and Lestat to have that conversation then (after all, Claudia has to sit opposite Lestat in that state, but Lestat, in that state, has to sit opposite Claudia too), but as someone who loves Louis at his pettiest, I think it's great, haha.

[insulanox]

(2/2)

Louis Despite it all I genuinely think that Armand tried very, very hard to make it work with Louis. Whether it was to be more like Lestat, to spite Lestat, to try to move on and be happy... he wanted it to work, very badly. But he didn't quite understand that Louis was never quite going to recover from everything he went through, and Armand couldn't fix him... even if in his mind, Louis helped heal and fix him. Interestingly, while Lestat 'saved' him from his philosophies and his mind... Louis, I believe also gave him the motivation and final push to actually leave the cult, abandon his children of darkness, and physically leave. To finally try to cut ties with all that and start living for himself. Louis helped 'fix' him, but... he couldn't really fix Louis, in return. I think it was a hard lesson for him to learn. Louis may have been with him and was trying, but he wasn't ever truly present, he was rejecting him in his own ways and it wasn't unnoticed. He desperately, desperately tried to spark a forever-flame between them and I do believe he gave it his all, poured his heart into giving Louis, what Louis gave Armand. But in the end, the guilt of what it took to achieve their relationship in the first place... I think was too much for him to bare, even if he never really regretted it. Armand knew they had to separate, even if it hurt and I think that was a very mature decision and spoke to his character growth. Sybelle I wish there was a little bit more information in the books as to what happened between Armand and Sybelle ... it seems to me that he loved her and their relationship felt very interesting, to me. She seems like a very interesting character and one I interpreted as Autistic as she seemed to have a hyper-fixation on the piano (rather...just one song? Over and over again?) and seemed fine with keeping a child, for company. The child Benji, was trusted to look after her... not the other way around. I desperately wish we had more information about her relationship with Armand, after she was turned, but there is very little. She also was described as going for DAYS and HOURS of time without speaking at all, being kind of reserved and in her own head, maybe dream-like..spacey. I interpreted that as she dissociated, often. He loved her, and I know he felt responsible for her ... I am not sure how the dark gift would have taken to her, given all we know. I don't want to believe that she went mad... I don't want to believe her relationship with Armand changed and became soured over long stretches of time. But I don't have a sense that she's not going to develop the same sickness, and madness, that Daniel had over the piano considering she already had it. How tragic would it be if one day she was little more than an automation, a living vampiric music box. ... Regardless... I am sure... Armand would do his best, his absolute best, to care for her, as much as he could and try to make her feel safe and happy. Should she go mad, even. But I must admit, it is difficult for me to see the two of them as romantic companions as vampires. He loved her so much, when she was human and never wanted that existence for her. He knew, she knew pain in her life and she was odd even for a mortal but he still loved her for it. She was not a good candidate and I understand why he felt so utterly betrayed and unforgiving for what Marius had done.

I'm one of those that vastly prefers Daniel with Armand, but I also understand that Sybelle, Marius, and Louis and even Lestat hold a special place in Armand's heart. Excuse my prattle, these are just thoughts mixed with a headcanon or two. (book spoilers ahead) (1/2)

Marius As much as I have my feral thoughts concerning him, Marius was his maker, and even if the nice time they had together was short-lived, I always felt their time together was vivid and memorable. There's always going to be a wound, there between them and a lot of tension and anger. They know that if the other willed it they could be happy together but they can't commit to that, because they know it wont be the same. Armand can't go back to who he was and Marius can not look at him the way he used to. Armand is important to Marius and always will be, but Armand is not Pandora and Armand knows that and there is nothing he can do, about it. They feel, to me... like that sad situation where time and fate, is never on their side. There is no good human comparison to being a new vampire, but I imagine his time with Marius felt like the happiest, most innocent and carefree days, of one's childhood. Imagining a time where the hardest part of Armand's existence was just missing Marius, when he was gone. Armand wrote so much about his time with him even though it was brief, than he did about the hundreds of years he spend underground in Paris and to me that speaks volumes. When he was the most miserable, there was little to say because his life was absent of true meaning and his carnal life was monotonous... he enjoys talking about being happy the most, but also the more interesting and eventful chapters of his life. Lestat Lestat I think will always symbolize some kind of hope, and alternative way to be and exist... because Lestat was living such a carefree, indulgent existence and in Armand's mind, he saved him from himself, from wanting to stay in his cult forever that was only making him miserable. He didn't have a plan at that point but I think Lestat cemented in his mind that he would eventually, leave. A part of him loved Lestat, but he also wanted to be like Lestat, in his mind made him a bit of an icon and savior. I believe a part of him will always want to be his companion, just to know what it's like. Their relationship interests me a lot because even when they fiercely hate one another they also know, they understand the others pain and don't want to lose each other either. If he wanted to I truly think the only reason Armand came to 'hate' Lestat and resent him as long as he did was because he was bitterly angry to be left behind, to be rejected repeatedly. I think he loves him but this love feels very fever-dream, the way you love a celebrity, the way you love the idea of someone and not the actual someone.