#and ofc i think armand knew this

[honeytrap-graham]

jacob saying leaving with armand was a mutual punishment to both louis and lestat bc their connection is so unique it could never be matched…

[rendnotmyheart]

Soulmate aus are so interesting in an iwtv context. Like for humans it's easy, right? They get their soulmate mark, they find their soulmate, or maybe they don't, and they live their life. For vampires though? Do vampiric soulmates even exist? How could they when the soulmate marks are relics of their human life? When the other person who has the mark will be dead before their life as a vampire has even begun? Or were they always fated to become a vampire? Did the universe take that into account? Will they have to wait some hundreds of years for their soulmate to be born? Their soulmate could be anywhere, any time. Hell, their soulmate could be the person they just drained. Who knows. Even if they were somehow able to find them, what are the chances they'd stay together for eternity? It is eternity after all. Not even the universe or fate can guarantee that.

[frigidwife]

did i misread the arun/maitre stuff or was that whole thing designed for armand's gratification, not louis'? the "armand was a sex slave ofc he's good in bed" take is crass imo, but also misses the point? louis is the one bartering w desire now for his own (& claudia's) survival. he's the one adopting a fake persona & going through the motions to appease a partner who threatens him. if the sex is mid it's not bc armand lacks "technical skill" or w/e it's bc he doesn't care abt louis' pleasure, agency, or even his waning interest so long as he toes the line. & yes 2 things can be true, sexual chemistry can co-exist w abuse/coercion. but if l0umand's sex was fire the show didn't convey that? in the closest we get to a sex scene (ep6) louis was grimly disengaged & armand was midway through scripting his lynching. i doubt the writers did this by accident?

yeah exactly exactly …people literally do seem to think it was by accident😭 the takes when episode six aired that were like “you guys just aren’t ready to see gay men who are switches in a bdsm relationship” Like woah this isn’t found fucking footage This is a constructed narrative with deliberate framing 😭😭😭 and they reallyyyy wanted that narrative to be l/a romance and it’s simply not . WHICH is why the service-oriented “””””””wife guy””””” fan characterization of armand pisses me off so much like neither armand’s control nor his “submission” are for louis’s benefit and it’s a huge and obvious lie he tells (for the control; i don’t even think Armand pretends the roleplay is for louis’s benefit people just ran with that) that anything he does makes louis happy. Or honestly even the idea that he wants to make louis happy and just doesn’t know how lets armand off the hook . It’s killing me actually we’re literally given a scene w armand w big wet eyes saying it was love about the events leading to louis’s lynching, in the episode after we see him torture louis and then erase it from his memory. and now i have to see 9 million posts like It was love guys it was loveee armand just didn’t knowwwww any better bc he was born in a cardboard box and only knew cults 🥺 No it was strategic from the start his veneer of generosity is so fucking transparent !!

[murfpersonalblog]

IWTV S2 Tentative Timeline (Pt2c) - Unreliable Narrators, Armand & the Trial

Thanks for the response to Pt2b, @usuallydeepalpaca-blog! I really want people to talk to me about the IWTV timelines, cuz this show is SO confusing! 😩😭

"I think if you create the timeline with info the show doesn't provide, i.e. Armand was involved from the start, then you're bound to get it wrong."

Absolutely. I fully expect that I got some stuff wrong, which is why I said it's a TENTATIVE Timeline.

I've in no way said it's THEE CORRECT™ timeline, cuz chile IDKWTF is going on. 😅 I openly say what confuses me, questions I have, and how I come to the conclusions that I draw. I'm being as transparent as possible to let y'all know that I DON'T know. 🤷 The show doesn't provide EVERYthing, so I'm just piecing things together in a way that makes an iota of sense to me, following the logic of what the show HAS provided. The only solid details we have are diehard IRL dates, that gave us a time range when certain events can/can't happen. AFAIK I'm working with the same set of details everyone else has, until AMC gives us more info in S3+. And unfortunately, the 2 biggest unknown variables are Lestat & Armand, and to what extent they were/weren't involved in the Trial that got Claudia killed & Louis buried alive.

"saying Armand messed with Louis' memories re: the trial is also something not supported by the show."

The show obvs. wants us to assume that Armand made Louis hallucinate Sam guarding him in the theatre box (thus painting Armand as a "captive" along with Louis & Claudeleine).

Even if Armand didn't use the Mind Gift on Louis, he lied at least twice:

lies by omission: letting Louis think a hallucination of Sam was real

lies to Louis' (& Daniel's) face: going along with the premise that he was Sam's "captive" & Armand sat there the whole time thinking of a way to rescue Louis

And we KNOW this is a lie, cuz Daniel calls it out explicitly, asking how Sam can be "in two places at once," allegedly "guarding" Armand, but ALSO helping to torture Louis in the Wet Room.

Armand never denied or contradicted Louis saying Sam was in either place. Maybe Louis really did misremember Sam being in the wet room--the ONLY one who can corroborate all this is SAM--whom Armand ALSO lies on, throwing Sam, Daniel & the Talamasca all under the bus by saying the script with his handwriting all over it was forged! No honor amongst thieves I guess! 🤣

(Eff Lestat's POV in S3--when is SAM gonna give HIS POV of the Trial?!)

So I'm operating on patterns of behavior, and the logic that if he's deliberately lying about one thing (a VERY BIG THING, actually), then what else is he lying about? How are you "atoning" for anything, when you're just heaping lies on top of gaslighting on top of manipulation?

Armand has used Louis' obvious confusion to his advantage, just going along with whatever will make him look better & more sympathetic. Which ofc, is the exact same thing he does with the "Banishment" lie. "They gave me a choice...I could not prevent it" is the truth and a lie all rolled into one incredibly manipulative cocktail, cuz if it was just a simple matter of Armand selling Claudia out to save Louis, that would be one thing--but Armand KNEW the script planned LOUIS' death the whole time. The "seismic lie" about "Banishment" effs up Armand's whole defense.

Cuz Sam already wrote the script in April 1949 (and I said this is confusing, cuz if it's the WHOLE script, then this implies Lestat's half was written by then, too, and NOT in September after the Eiffel Tower crime--which means he was ALREADY in Paris & working with the coven; inc. Armand (which would also explain WHY Armand took Louis to the library so much--perhaps anticipating that Loustat would feel e/o's presence if Louis was around the theatre too much? But that doesn't explain Claudia)--omfg I'm confused). Wtvr--we KNOW that at some point b/t April & September 1949, Armand made his edits & directed the entire production--from Santiago to Lestat to Tuan's projections--ALL of it. And we know Tuan's projections started being made in June/July 1949.

Armand KNEW Daniel had been given the OLD script from the archives, WITHOUT Armand's edits & directions, and LET Daniel AND Louis think that was the truth--

--same way he went behind Louis' back and removed extra pages from Claudia's diaries that would reveal MORE of his shenanigans--

--and the same way he lied about Nicki (& Gabrielle) in 2x3.

The show ALSO provides us with quotes like this:

And this:

And this:

Which in retrospect make Armand look even more insidious, esp. when we wonder to what extend Louis' been "driven to form new conclusions about myself" when he doesn't even KNOW himself; let alone WHAT memories he has that are real or false.

It's so effed up, and it makes me side-eye all the insistence that LOUIS is the one mostly at fault, when he's got literal double-hypnosis Brain Scramblies from WWDITS. 😭🤦

Ofc there are unknown-unknowns when dealing with unreliable narration. But there are also known-unknowns, too, that also make Armand sus.

Sure, Loumand was away at the library in July (IF that memory's even real, Mr. "I Had A Hunch")--but how on earth would Armand have NOT known that the coven was working on the Trial right under his nose for MONTHS prior & after July--Luchenbaum sewing new barrister costumes & wigs; Tuan painting projections & testing new lens/film tech; and Sam writing a new script (when we already KNOW Sam can't multitask when his "head's in a hat")?

July is only ONE month in over HALF A YEAR of Trial prep. Louis was never around the coven to know what was going on--but ARMAND was; it's where HE lives.

Whose POV was it that showed the whole coven passing around Claudia's diaries? Whose POV was it that revealed Santiago being called Maitre in every scene that ARMAND was also in?

Armand was in the park with Tuan when Tuan called Santiago Maitre; and Armand was in the theatre with Sam when Sam called Santiago Maitre--so this is clearly either Armand's POV telling on himself; or it's AMC screwing with us.

It's TRUE that Turning Madeleine was the straw that broke the camel's back, as Armand was like I can't keep THAT a secret from the coven, too (and ofc he couldn't--they're VAMPIRES; they'd FEEL a new vamp in their territory). But Loumand's problems PREDATE Madeleine; the same way Loustat's problems predate Claudia. I blame Les for not dealing with Lou's BS, just like I blame Armand, cuz THEY are the Coven Masters, NOT Lou--esp. cuz Armand had 14 other vamps in his coven he SHOULD be prioritizing over Lou. The same way Loustat's guilty of being bad fathers (which they BOTH admitted to), Armand's guilty of being a bad coven leader (which HE admitted to).

IMO, all this makes any & all discussion about Armand's trustworthiness difficult, when his "seismic lie" throws EVERYTHING else he's done into question. Esp. since the show ALSO provides us with the FACT that Armand knew from DAY ONE that Claudia lied about "Bruce"/Lestat; and that Louis was a terrible liar & terrible with the Mind Gift; and that he'd ALREADY planned on killing Louis in 2x3! Armand knew from the get-go that he couldn't do EFF ALL to keep Louis & Claudia out of danger, and TOLD Louis so.

"It also ignores that Louis softens his participation in certain things because he can't live with the guilt of his full participation, e.g. Claudia's turning, which he continued to lie to Claudia about even during the trial and only accepted the extent of his involvement in Dubai"

The Trial Timeline's purpose is to pinpoint when the preparations took place, NOT to hash out how bad of a father Louis was to Claudia. 🤨

And it certainly isn't meant to provide a timeline for the events in S1 wrt Claudia's Turning--we already know the dates for all of that, that she was made in 1917. I focus on the 1940s in S2, and the European dates, NOT the NOLA dates. LOUIS did not participate in the Trial's preparations, ARMAND & LESTAT did. My timeline has ZERO bearings on Louis' guilt for not warning her, etc.

But on the subject of Louis & Claudia, I've cussed Louis out for not telling Claudia about Armand b4 (x x), I don't ignore it at all. I fully understand & even agree with Armand being fed up with dealing with Louis' BS. But HE CHOSE not to kill Louis when he had the chance, and it's obvs that whatever arrangement they made when they had sex in 2x3/2x4 allowed Louis to TRUST that Armand would keep "the secret" & keep Louis & Claudia SAFE from the coven. (Which is a BOGUS claim for him to make, when Santiago'd ALREADY peeped that they were lying about Lestat & being from NOLA, but wtvr). I've called Louis a naive idiot 1000x for overestimating Armand, putting his life in Armand's incapable hands--just like he would AGAIN by trusting him about "Banishment;" and AGAIN by asking Armand to wipe his memories in SanFran (and LIE by omission about Les saying "I love you, Louis").

"Louis remembers the trial, he remembers what was said and what Lestat showed him."

HOW can Lestat have showed Louis ANY memories during the Trial (inc. the Ep4 revisit), when Makers/Fledglings CANNOT read each other's minds???????

I love this show so much, but I effing hate this show--they don't even give us an answer, Daniel just moves right past it, like wtf are we supposed to do with that, AMC? There's plot threads, vs plot HOLES. Louis' TOO unreliable, Armand's a shysty liar, white savior Lestat to the rescue~~~! "BANishMEnT~!" As if Lestat's any less impartial?

Esp. when at least SOME parts of the Ep4 Revisit were OBVIOUSLY Scripted lines written by the coven to implicate Louis in breaking the Great Laws that Lestat allegedly taught him AND Claudia to follow?

Like, Louis HATES himself, and is quick to blame himself for things beyond his control (a la Paul, a la the Ordinances; "Can we be forgiven if we do not forgive others ourselves?"); so if one is determined to see him bad faith then of course one can easily pounce on him Florence DPDL style / Santiago style, and blame him.

(Esp. since in 1x4 we literally SEE Louis admit to begging & emotionally baby-trapping Lestat into turning Claudia--the revisit in 2x7 is more (melo)dramatic & extended, sure, but it does NOT contradict Louis' account in S1. So I get REAL confused when people say he lied about 1x4 or wtvr.)

Louis invalidates his perspective cuz he KNOWS he's an unreliable narrator--he spends 2x1 sobbing about wanting to remember & "get every detail right"--and ARMAND is there constantly tryna STOP the interview; having directly contributed to his already deteriorated (& inherited?) mental illness, by bending Lou's trauma into "a Lestat shaped-effigy" with all that "I will not harm you" bullcrap.

TL;DR: We won't know for sure what the Trial timeline actually looks like, unless S3+ revisits it with more context.

But as things stand at the end of S2, NO, I don't trust Armand as far as I can throw him, cuz there are waaaay too many instances where he's deliberately lied & obfuscated & omitted in ways to deliberately confuse the narrative surrounding the Trial--that go beyond Louis' already confirmed trauma, PTSD, mental illness, repressed/faulty memory, and guilty conscious.

If y'all want a timeline of S1 events, those have already been made by other people in the fandom (this one is goated).

I wanted to know what was going on in S2; so I used every single date and IRL reference possible, and put them in chronological order in a way that makes sense based on how I TENTATIVELY understand things currently; NOT how AMC has confirmed yet--if they ever will.

If anyone has more relevant in-show references & IRL sources we can cite, to help make better sense of S2 than I did, let us all know!

[mschievousx]

now and then | b.b.

pairing: benedict bridgerton x ofc, anthony bridgerton x ofc (platonic)

summary: loraine silva always knew she was not normal. she loves unusual things. she love her father's guns, horses, boxing, climbing a tree, falling from a tree, engineering, astronomy... oh, and a man eleven years older.

series masterlist

i. one: when we were together

"i look funny."

raine grumbled as she turned to her father who just arrived earlier from god knows where after being away for months. she's not complaining though. she loves her father dearly. that and the fact that her mind is preoccupied at the moment. eloise was right. this does look like being presented for sale, and she hates it.

"you look beautiful, my love." her father reassured, pulling his own fit to compose himself as they are next in line.

"the headdresses are too much."

he laughed at the continuous rant of his only daughter, offering an arm, "don't we just love being too much?"

both stood up straight, back arching and head facing the closed doors, "they'll think we're crazy."

raine exhaled twice, the silence defeaning befor she turned once more to her father.

"are we crazy?" the patriarch only gave out a smirk as he nudged his daughter and whispered 'right face'.

"viscountess loraine silva, presented by her father, the right honourable and gallant, lord silva!"

the doors opened, revealing the very first surprise of the season. as the initial shock set in and the pair walked forward, the ton immediately turned to each other with whispers they did not bother to hide.

"they're insane!" anthony whisper-yelled to his family on the side at the sight of the pair.

"lord silva, good god." colin muttered in disbelief with a laugh.

"i thought it would be lady danbury since it's not mother." voiced out eloise with a grin as she watched them walk, certainly carrying an air of elegance and valiance, very fitting for the pair.

benedict smirked in reply, "well, we should've known really."

upon reaching the queen, both bowed with respect—which, one can argue is lost at what they just did.

"i should have you know you can both be beheaded by this... stunt." the ton held their breaths in anticipation of what will happen next. on the contrary, the concerned pair stood up straight, their smiles borderlining to smirks never leaving their faces. raine definitely took after someone.

"oh, my queen," lord silva began with a chuckle and familiarity dripping in his tone, "i ask you let me savor the very few days i have left in this world."

the queen narrowed her eyes at them before ultimately speaking with a sigh, "go on. i do not want two souls to haunt me tonight."

small gasps can be heard at the mention. lord silva only chuckled as he and his daughter walked to the side, ending their turn of presentation.

"yes, my love. we are crazy."

━━━ ✦ ❘ ☽ 【❖】 ☾ ❘ ✦ ━━━

"armand!"

the man turned to them and opened his arms for a light hug. the act could have been scandalous, really, yet the ton somehow chooses to brush off anything that the quirky silvas do. surely two widows are not worth the gossip, are they?

the presentation to the queen has ended, thankfully, and everyone finds themselves enjoying the rest of the day outdoor.

"oh, loraine, you look beautiful, my dear." the debutante neared the woman for a hug herself as she said her thanks.

"violet, i see you have your hands full this season." raine's father greeted with an observation.

"well, i do hope i can manage two daughters."

"and of your sons?"

lady bridgerton laughed at that as she took the arm that the man is offering.

"would you really like to involve yourself on that matter of our children?" she replied as they both share a chuckle before strolling away.

francesca and raine have chosen to stroll themselves with linking arms, "eloise told me what happened. i wish i was there to see it."

she went out first before the silvas, missing the earlier show. raine, however, was able to take a glance of her before she went out.

"you were perfect earlier, francesca, and do not fret. you will see quite a lot of my mischiefs this season. my debut means the debut of my antics on a higher level."

the kind girl took a hold of her hand with her eyes full of concern as they continue to walk, "raine, i fear you will get into something you cannot get out of."

she smiled warmly at that. raine is close with everyone in the bridgerton family, but she did interact the least with the girl beside her. francesca is quite reserved, but that was definitely not enough to stop loraine in forming a friendship with her as well when they were still children.

"then i will just stay there."

she sighed upon hearing her response, but ultimately smiled, "we are polar opposites."

raine nodded in agreement with a grin, "yet here we are, arm-in-arm."

"such flawless debutantes, spending the day with each other." lady danbury appeared in front of them with narrowed eyes.

"one would think you're shy, which i presume must be true with miss bridgerton but an utter lie with you, miss silva."

the younger lady turned to her with mock surprise, "i am shy, lady danbury. this is my first season after all."

the woman rolled her eyes as she got in between the two debutantes, turning to francesca, "have you talked with the other ladies? they are good company and might share an interest or two with you."

francesca nodded and smiled as she spot the ladies who seemed to be eager to make her acquaintance. lady danbury turned to loraine this time as the latter whined.

"why did you do that? i am good company. we both share an interest in the pianoforte."

"you have enough of socializing with the ladies. now, it's the men's turn."

she said as she guided the silva with a seemingly friendly walk. raine's eyes, however, opened wide as she realise the group she's being guided towards.

"lady danbury," she began, immediately stopping in the middle of their walk as she wasted no time to speak, "i will wipe the floors of your house, lower and upper, inner and outer, do not send me to them of all people."

the older woman tried to give a push at her lower back but her feet did not move an inch. damn this child's upbringing, she thought.

"you have not spent enough time with other gentlemen, that is why you are still so keen on violet's second born."

"i'll include the walls." she threw that in, hoping it will change the woman's mind. raine turned to her to make her point clear, "i have spent enough time with them to know i don't like them."

"the bridgerton boys are rakes." despite the dowager's love for violet, and by extension, her family, there was no lie in what she said at all.

raine did not miss a bit in replying, "i know. i grew up with them."

"and the said rake would like to steal a moment of your time, miss silva." she turned to see benedict with that familiar smirk again before the man turned to the elder woman in greeting, "lady danbury."

"mr. bridgerton, quite the coincidence." she sighed, yet her words were said as if she knew something.

"it must be fate." he corrected with a grin as he offered an arm for raine to take.

"we'd like to excuse ourselves. mother and the viscountess are on the left turn." he said, both of them bowing—quite in mockery because they're little shits, but they will not admit that—before taking a new path.

"i never thought you can be more charming." she turned to her right and grinned.

benedict chose to play humbly as he replied, "i try."

"you don't even have to."

he smiled at that. it always amuses him how she never seems to run out of things to say to him, "quite a show, what you did earlier."

raine laughed, remembering the ton's faces when the grand doors parted, revealing her with her father, "oh, the look on everyone's faces!"

"i must say, your father's looking better now."

"he jests he wants to pull a lady this season. i will seriously shoot him in the leg if he introduces someone my age to me."

thinking a few years back, benedict chuckled as he can totally see that happening now if ever, "your skills will finally come in handy."

raine turned to him genuinely as they continue to walk, "how about you? i am completely asking this in curiosity. are you marrying this season?"

"mother would collapse in joy of having three successful weddings in one season."

once more, there was no lie to that at all. francesca will wed this season. colin, with his newfound personality and interest in the ladies' interests in him, may marry as well. if he adds on top of that, violet will faint. he loves his mother dearly, so he will have to pass for now. that and the fact that he has really no interest in marriage.

he continued, "besides, i'm perfectly in love with my art these days. now that anthony is back, i can pour my time on painting again."

"are you going to enrol in the royal academy again?" she asked, beaming hopefully for a positive answer.

"i might."

"you must." she insists.

"perhaps."

raine narrowed her eyes and slapped his arm lightly, "stop playing coy, ben. it doesn't suit you."

the man turned to him again with a teasing smirk, "everything suits me, as you have said multiple times in the past."

"have i grown your ego too much for your head to contain?" she deadpanned at him before turning to face where they're walking toward again, "but touché."

he laughed at her admission. she was direct and bold, but there were times she's simply comedic. his laughter didn't last long though, as he spot the father of the lady in his arm quite exactly on their path. benedict looked around to disguise his rapid muttering, "your father is burning a hole through my skull with his eyes. i sometimes forget he can enforce a siege on the entirety of mayfair and beyond."

"lord silva... sir," he greeted as they finally reach him, acting as if to raise his right hand, and down again, and up, and—well, honestly, he has no clue what he's doing.

raine laughed at him. she turned to her father, "see, you have been away for so long that everyone believes they must salute to you."

lord silva raised an eyebrow, his gaze still at the bridgerton son but addressing his daughter, "and why should they not? i am a maj—"

"yes, father, a major general," she rolled her eyes at him and dugged even a greater hole, "and above all else, this is your son-in-law."

both men immediately turned to her that she thought they would snap their necks. well, they agree on one thing—their facial expressions of utter shock and betrayal were similar.

benedict, lips parted and mouth still agape with wide eyes, mouthed to her silently, "do you want me to die?!"

raine grinned, turning to her father again who has the same expression and dugged the greatest hole ever, "i jest. he does not like me."

the eyes of the concerned 'he' grew wider than they were before, which he didn't know they could even grow wider than that, as he immediately turned to armand to resolve such misleading implications.

"i—you—i... uhm, you—your daughter is delightfully wonderful... in all aspects! and... i am fond of her a great deal!"

raine snickered from his side as he stutter, while lord silva spoke in a matter-of-fact tone, "she is."

"i most certainly agree." bridgerton nodded with no problem at all, trying to regain his composure.

"has edmund taught you well with guns?"

benedict turned to raine in pure confusion as to where the conversation is going, "i believe so. although, i find myself lifting brushes, sir."

"oh my—stop scrutinizing him." she stated, taking a hold of her father's arm, "you both act as if you've never met each other, went to hunts, and spent leisure time on the backyard," her eyebrows suddenly raised as a thought entered her mind, "or gentlemen's clubs."

"how do you know that?" armand turned to her, shifting his inquiring and quite strict look from ben to his daughter.

rain chuckled at the memory, completely forgetting the supposed secrecy of what she's about to say, "i have snucked in a brothel before. is knowing about clubs above that?"

"you have what?!"

"oh, uhm," realising it now, she laughed awkwardly and let go of her father's arm slowly. she turned to benedict for help, but by the look of it, he was currently not on her side.

seeing the two ladies upfront, she thanked the heavens promptly, "it seems like lady danbury and lady bridgerton wants me to meet other bachelors. we must go."

raine took hold of benedict's hand at once, slowly walking away as armand spoke in a low voice, one she has taken to call as his 'military voice'.

"loraine silva."

her eyes widened, her grasp on his hand tightening. raine did nothing but simply call back to her father, hoping that it will still do the trick.

"i love you, papa!"

she wasted no time to dash, pulling benedict with her towards the safety of the society's mothers.

and to think this is only the first day of the season.

[nalyra-dreaming]

Hey I got some questions about the show and thought you may got some answers. I already rewatched the show a few times but I still don’t understand everything. (Feel free to ignore if this is too much ofc) Thanks in advance!

Does Armand love Lestat or did he ever? Or is he over him now? Cuz he still seems kinda obsessed with him sometimes.

Did Louis ever love Armand? I always thought he was trying to convince himself and everyone else he did but I never got the feeling he actually did love him. At least not like he loved Lestat. It always seemed like Louis and Armand were putting on a show for Daniel but even he clocked him.

Why didn’t Lestat tell Louis the truth and let him run off with Armand after the trials instead? He knew all of this was Armands fault and he still let Louis go with him without saying anything. Why?

(Talking about the show)

Hey!

All good.

Yes, Armand loves Lestat, we'll see more of that relationship in s3.

2. I think... given Jacob has been so very clear on Armand being a rebound for Louis and Louis' inner "Dreamstat" being so biting with the commentary that this one is difficult. I think Louis was definitely attracted and infatuated - but that died, when Armand almost burned him in the sewers. He did not start the relationship out of love. And he did not continue it later bc of that either. And Dubai was a farce - a farce put into Louis' mind by Armand. Re-edited at times, too, and Daniel did call that out, quite clearly.

3. I said it before, but I don't trust that "tower scene" to have happened as we were shown. I really don't see Lestat just hanging out in Paris while Louis is screaming and starving, and definitely not in the place he himself was tortured in. Like, no. Also, Sam hinted at something there in an interview, he said Lestat thought Louis knew - but Louis was likely too "whammied" to be able to really think at the trial. I think Armand probably went to Lestat to tell him he's leaving with Louis - and I don't think Lestat was able to do much about it. Whether he was too hurt/tortured or locked up, will remain to be seen. There are hints in what they gave us at the trial. And we know they are very deliberate with these things.

[crazykuroneko]

My IWTV S2E4 Watch Notes

Love the episode! I think this is my favorite so far, followed by E3 and E1.

Anyway very long note after the cut. But my main complaint now is: I miss the voice-over narration! It's basically gone after Ep 2 (except for Armand's flashback). I know it's probably a sign of how Loumand have "defanged" Daniel the Journalist and it's part of the mystery, but still! Without it, we don't get much idea about how current Loumand think on certain parts in the flashback. We don't know what exactly Claudia has said in her diaries. I feel so lost without it 😭

Oh, also, my fix-it fic for this episode would be Eglee helping Claudia get out of the coven and leave Paris along with Madeleine. Women support women 😌

• the difference of Loumand's accounts on the reactions to Claudia's play 🤭

• NOT EGLEE GIVING SANTIAGO A BLOWJOB BACKSTAGE

• I love how the founders of the 1927 company got to show off their acting as well

• God @ Claudia being so open with the coven about her hangup with the play and yet. And Louis just sat there being bitchy, giving her "well, /this/ is what you want" look.

• "This is not about Louis" Poor Claudia. people tend to talk about the men around her not her. Many such cases, even out of the screen, unfortunately.

• Santiago creating cracks in Loumand's mind. you have to give it to him

• No @ Eglee my princess catfighting over Santiago's dick.

• Dreamstat came up when Louis is unsure about their relationship. Louis is desperately trying to keep this casual because how bad it was for him the last time. Meanwhile, Armand has history of being abandoned multiple times. Ofc he wants Louis more committed to him. On top of the coven. Like, yknow, he has to risk it for Louis at least he wants to be sure the relationship is real.

• "Only works when I remember shit that pisses me off". Oh, Louis is pissed Armand hanging his history with Lestat over his head. Then Armand goes, "I try to find the vulnerability within the material". The balance is so precarious here

• Ngl the "i love you" sounds so ridiculous. LOUIS PLEASE

• "The fire?" Louis forgets about That?

* Claudia is their current biggest star yet she's still doing the wet room????! Oh fuck off

* Madeilene really matches Claudia's weirdness.

* The restaurant scene. That's what you got when you make a problem with a Black man growing up in Jim Crow NOLA! he's so done with the coven.

* Louis and art. He went into art once he arrives in Paris. I think it's to connect to humanity more. He said it helps freeing his mind as well. I wonder how much seeing Lestat connecting to humanity through art affecting his drive here. Whether consciously or not. But alas, he is businessman at heart. He's good at management and trades. Anyone has tried to guess AMC Louis MBTI?

* The addition in their archive though?? Is rashid a Talamasca agent confirmed? Or that's Armand miscalucating?

* Also that line about Daniel and a girl at high school. Once again a reminder that these men are misogynists first and foremost 🙂

* Oh I like the scene with Louis and Ghostat in the dark room. Ghostat really says everything Louis doesn't dare to admit to himself. He actually knew his weakness as photographer. There's also a meaning here Louis making those lines said by Lestat. Lestat likes to confront Louis about what he believes about himself, but he never does it the right way (which is the crux of their problems). Here he does it the right way.

* Sam giving 🥺 because Louis does that when they're good with each other is so 😭

* "Romeo!" Louis is SO mad about the restaurant if that's how he reacts to Armand romancing him

* "Are you their hostage?" Madeilene why are you so straightforward? (I like her)

* I know it sounds consensual, but Madeleine's body language when telling her story with that German soldier looks weird. Perhaps we'll see her more open later.

* "I don't enjoy using my power like that" he says, after flexing his power on security guards then float to the next floor. I think what Louis said in S1 that Lestat not using his power perhaps in consideration to not make Louis felt way weaker says more about his current situation than he was with Lestat. Like, I get him, you can't help comparing notes on your relationships.

* Oh, the Ghostat in the museum date is clearly Louis' reluctance to believe Armand completely. Or rather than believe, I think "putting his guard down" is more accurate. He did after Lestat told his story and yet he got betrayed. I think Sam does a good job here. As the story goes, Ghostat looks more anxious. Louis wants to let go yet there are still the coven, Armand's power, and the secret hanging over them.

* Assad's acting here 😭

* Going on a date with Louis then threatening Claudia. THAT IS WILD.

* I wonder if Delainey uses chest binder as Claudia. If not, I wish she did. ngl that line and the visual don't match.

* That period blood scene is something. Bet Rolin was very inspired when he read Memnoch

* "I pretended to be an actor for two years." When does Louis mean here? Lestat at Renauld's? He stayed there as an actor for two years before shit happened? I need an updated timeline already OML

* Not @ Ghostat aka indirect Louis calling Claudia a "poor decision"

* Louis knows it's doomed. But again, he's desperate to find happiness in Paris. Because him killing Lestat and choosing to go with Claudia has to pay off somehow. (Is she worth it?) He's desperate to make this work with Armand. He sees Armand is basically a lost child, shouldering this job he doesn't want just because he's older. So, Louis, good at running things etc, takes the wheel here. Trying to save the sinking ship that's the coven. Unbeknownst to them, the doom actually has started already (Santiago finding Lestat's last words). Louis also gives Armand a choice here, but Armand said he wants him. Well, we know what will happen with the coven members 🤭

* The Ghostat disappearing. Ngl the rain and special effects make it look ridiculous. And Hannibal (the show) did a better job with it by literally re-slit Abigail Hobbs' neck. But I understand that won't work in IWTV narrative wise. In Hannibal, it's not Will who slit her throat, so when they redid it it doesn't have added meaning. But Louis the one who slit Lestat's throat. And he doesn't want to re-kill Lestat. He has made peace with it. In fact, the fact he doesn't burn Lestat's side on that photo with Armand and his last words with Ghostat tell me that he's not forgetting Lestat. he's moving on, yes, but he puts Lestat safely in a corner of his heart. Just like Lestat did with his initials. And it reminds me to Louis' initials on the letter he sent Daniel in S2 look a lot like LDL, not LDPDL

* But anyway, isn't it sus Claudia just has her diaries out in the open like that? I mean, yes she doesn't live with Louis anymore, but there's a history of Louis reading her journal. If I were her, I'd at least save them in my coffin at the apartment for save keeping. This is sus.

* "Is that what makes you fascinating?" Oh, Armand is so insecure about their relationship for years. He saw Louis getting interested with this Daniel boy and he tried to crack his brain, finding the reason.

• Daniel isn't filed under suspected victims.

[apoptoses]

would you be so kind as to explain Daniel as the latin bro tiktoker and how it affects the household dynamic

okay SO off the back of your excellent Marius Discovers Tiktok posts-

Sometimes I like to think about how he originally got on the app because of links that Daniel or Armand or even fuckin Benji sent him, and he'd be patting himself on the back when he figures out how to stitch videos and make his own tiktoks 'correcting' historical information. And ofc because it's Marius he thinks he's the first vampire to be sneaky posting on there and he takes great pride in how modern he's being, doing right by his old Roman ancestors spreading the truth about history, etc etc

Until he finds Daniel's account scrolling his for you page lmao And for those NOT IN THE KNOW there's this dude on tiktok who's studying ancient linguistics and constantly getting stoned and like, rapping in old Egyptian lmao Or translating memes in ancient Sumerian and generally making ancient language shit posts in between actually making education videos where he gently reads people down for spreading incorrect linguistics facts.

and I JUST THINK that would be Daniel lmao He's learned all this history from Marius, all these old dead languages and how they were pronounced and he's bored and wants to do something with that. And he's just so personable that people eat it up, he's got like minimum 60k views on every post.

And it just eats Marius alive hahaha Like on one hand he taught Daniel all that he knows, right?? He's proud that his fledgling's fledgling actually absorbed his lessons and is out there able to put knowledge into the world.

But ON THE OTHER he's burnt up inside about how Daniel gets so many fuckin views and people praising his account in the comments when TECHNICALLY Marius is doing the same kind of stitches correcting people and getting crickets half the time, or horny comments from booktok people who are hot for what a cold, harsh professor he is and aren't actually taking in the facts he's trying to put out there😂

And like he's too proud to ask Daniel how to game the algorithm or what he's doing wrong, and just texts him links to his old Egyptian rap videos with disapproving emoji, and sometimes when they're on the phone he chides him for making a mockery of the great cultures of the past.

(Daniel isn't dumb though, sometimes he throws him a bone and stitches one of Marius's videos being like 'yeah this dude nails it, you guys should follow him'. And Marius doesn't acknowledge the thousand extra followers he gets from that, just tells Daniel he's not required to promote him simply because of their relationship, but Daniel knows that means 'thank you' in emotionally constipated old man)

So YEAH, Daniel's success causes a little tension at first but it settles into something nice because he knows posting something real dumb gives Marius an excuse to gently scold him when they're apart. And like when they're together maybe he takes a sneaky video of Marius trying to set up a fuckin ringlight or something so he can get better video of some old text he has, and Daniel holds onto that draft for blackmail purposes lmao

(Meanwhile Armand is off making 'watch me restock my guest room drawers' videos and everyone in the comments is bewildered by the lack of hygiene items and consumables. Like vampires don't need toothpaste and deodorant and mints, so it's all weird shit like the little toys you get from gumball machines and ink for fountain pens for the vampires who visit who prefer to use tools from the time when they were mortal)

Whew who knew I had so many thoughts on that, I could go for days on this subject lmao

[claudiablogger]

I think people mean Louis is so caught up in his emotions, he doesn't let out declarations of "I love you"s to those around him. Not Lestat or Claudia.

He says it to Paul and he kills himself immediately. I get why Louis is like that but also he's probably less direct with declarations of love. Many are like that in real life too. But it doesn't make their love less genuine imo.

right ofc i do get what ppl mean but i genuinely don't think louis' expressions of affection are distant or difficult to comprehend lol i meant it when i said "you did good getting off that boat," was implicitly a communication of love. lestat knew it too hence the smile as he walked backward towards the house. the reason lestat begins to feel louis doesn't love him is louis stops putting out after claudia leaves and becomes wrapped up in her journey and the prospect of her return + listens to her when she says lestat's love is a small box, not bc louis doesn't communicate his feelings directly. they're right there to see in his actions if lestat tried. it's true that louis has trauma associated w telling ppl he loves them but after being confined to rue royale for several decades and forced to grow hyperaware of every shift in breathing every heavy footstep on the stairs i don't think he's wrapped up in his emotions. initially his distress at how much he's lost in coming out and moving in w lestat (again, for love) after what happened to paul keeps him from saying it, but after claudia's leaving and lestat's assault he's simply too jaded and mired in his freeze response. so if anything it's the opposite he's rejecting his emotions and wrapped up in lestat's because of the nature of his abuse. anyway this isn't to say he's direct w declarations of love as you said that's definitely not the case, saying it doesn't come easy to him. but it doesn't come from or even cause distance, that's a different beast imo. just look at how he swallowed teeth to say it to armand bc he wanted to prove something to himself. and he keeps saying it for 77 impossible years. to what end....imo he does love armand but again the confession is never that simple for him. emotionally repressed women rise

[murfpersonalblog]

Weaker/smaller people can operate on sheer adrenaline/fear/righteous indignation/anger/protective instincts to try defending themselves and their loved ones. Protecting your "built-like-a-bird" daughter from almost having her neck snapped by her MUCH stronger father is not being abusive, mutually or otherwise--it's being a PARENT.

I bet the show won't pull back at all, not if Lestat's monologue during the Trial is anything to go by; or Loustat's reunion, or what Rolin & Sam have repeatedly said about Claudia's memory haunting Les in S3. Les outright admitted that he tried to kill Louis. Lou already knew that, and still took him back in Ep6--when Les wasn't even (sincerely) apologetic!--and caught hell for it from Claudia & Daniel.

There's PLENTY of abuse victims who go back to their spouses--not just cuz they CAN'T leave, but cuz they don't WANT to leave. Cuz they DO love them, and they DO forgive them--regardless if that forgiveness is earned or not. I already mentioned Ray Rice cauight on camera knocking his wife TF out, and how she was talking big up in his face, just like Lou talked big to Les--right before he DECKED her with EASE and dragged out that elevator; just like Louis when Les dragged him across the courtyard by his effing jawbone & dropped him 1000 miles in the air. And guess what? Ray Rice's wife STILL married him afterwards, and AFAIK they're still married, and his wife keeps telling ppl to mind their effing business cuz she doesn't have to explain/justify her choice.

YES. 😂 Les realized that he'd grossly underestimated Claudia's intelligence, and the lengths Lou'd go to for Claudia--their daughter. Even so far as slitting Les' throat. He's PROUD of Claudia ("I see the best of my vampiric self in her"; "evil of my evil"), and he already said Lou was justified & and that he didn't deserve him (hence: letting Armand take his man).

AMC is developing Les's character--that's the whole point of TVC: watching his progression & redemption from the P.O.S. he was in IWTV, to becoming AR's hero & messianic savior in Blood Communion. We need to see him put in the work--coming to terms with how much of a trash husband he was to Lou, and how much of a deadbeat dad he was to Claudia. His backstory in TVL will show Les' misogyny towards his mother Gabrielle; and his insensitivity towards Nicki--Les taking accountability for everyone he loved but still FAILED. Les can be sympathetic and STILL be a crappy son, boyfriend, husband & father. "To have a think.... Why I do what I do."

Ray Rices got all kinds of therapy & talked thru his issues; and his relationship w/ his wife is apparently STRONGER & BETTER for it.

Eff them being vampires; that was Santiago's cop-out.

AMC is conveying a REAL MESSAGE about REAL LIFE. I've said a billion times that the whole point of GOTHIC HORROR is to hold a mirror to HUMANS so we can see the monster/beast WITHIN US.

Cuz this ish is REAL--people REALLY go through these things--and have to either OVERCOME their past trauma, or SUCCUMB to it and repeat the same vicious cycles of violence & abuse in the future. Loustat is endgame cuz Louis and Lestat OVERCOME. They learn how to be BETTER people--not necessarily "good" people, ofc, but they learn how to treat each other; and by realizing how bad the effed over Claudia (X X X), they try to do right by their next kids, Viktor and especially Rose.

Lestat tried to KILL Claudia, then threatened LOUIS with murder.

Les literally says that if Lou tries to fight him, "it will end in Louis' death"--LESTAT will murder Louis. As I've said 1000 times about Lestat as the Matador (meaning KILLER).

LOUIS' life is the one being threatened here. And he's in VERY serious danger, since Lestat has a century of advanced powers over Louis, plus Louis had been starving himself for the past 7 years. Lestat knew that once he got serious, he'd BREAK Louis for good.

Why on earth would Louis STOP fighting? Lestat was tryna kill their daughter AND him--out of petty spiteful jealousy and domineering Stockholm on steroids wife-in-the-freezer BS: if I can't have him, no one can--till DEATH do us part!

And why is it Lou's responsibility to lay down & take Les's behavior?

Just like I said--Lou's expected to just sit back and take being abused, insulted, harassed, ridiculed, demeaned & gaslit; but the second he stands up for himself (or for his daughter)? Omfg this wild animal's out of control; "disreputable, cold, violent!" He could've (read: should've) stopped at some point! Why didn't he walk away!?

Do y'all honestly believe that Lou "walking away" would've solved ANYTHING that night? Les asked over & over & over if Lou was gonna LEAVE him. Les was tryna keep Lou in that house--and he succeeded, crippling him & shattering every bone in his effing body. He BROKE Louis, cuz he was convinced that he'd already LOST Louis--to Claudia. Hence: Lestat tryna kill her! Hence: the fight! LES started it, and best believe HE ended it! 💀

I'm a Lestat fan, too. I've been reading TVC since the 90s, and AMC's only made me love these books & characters more & more. The whole point of personal journeys and character growth is that it's a PROCESS. Lestat IS a vampiric monster, yes--and he's also an abusive husband & father. He FINALLY apologized during the Trial & reunion; but how will he do BETTER going forward; to become a vampire WORTHY of Louis' love & forgiveness--unworthy in NOLA, unworthy in Paris; disregard!

I treat AMC's adaptation of these characters the way Gothic Horror as a genre treats monsters: as a WARNING; recognizing that they ARE human, reflecting the ugliness within all of US, IRL. In so doing, hopefully we can then do better by ourselves and each other; rather than pretending that things aren't a problem and ignoring/handwaving aside all the things that make us uncomfortable--or ruin the fantasy of the dreamy romantic fun hot guy we're in love with. Cuz he might just be a monster in disguise out to kill you, your kids, or anyone around you.

Seven years of compromise. Denial. It all gave way.

[murfpersonalblog]

IWTV S2 Musings - Tentative Timeline (Pt2: The Trial)

I've been struggling with this for a while, cuz this ish just don't make sense, AMC. (I fully expect S3 to gotcha/retcon/fix stuff, esp. since who knows what Armand's tinkered around with in Louis' head.) I split this timeline in 2 parts: Pt1 has everything from 2x1 - 2x6ish (text & chart versions of timeline); and Pt2 covers as much as I can understand from the Trial's shenanigans. (I'm just one person tryna figure out wtf is going on, so if y'all have any insights, please share!)

I've been grappling with the sequence of events that led to the Trial since 2x6 aired, when Armand "could not prevent" his CHOICE to stand back and let Louis' family be abducted & tortured & killed.

Armand was actually in cahoots with Santiago the whole time (writing/directing/editing the Trial script); so was he also lying/making excuses about why THE most powerful vampire with the Mind Gift wasn't reading his own coven's thoughts?

So, since we know Armand put false memories into Lou's head about the Trial (which ofc makes Louis' account more difficult to parse), and we know Armand knew all about Lestat/Bruce since the very first day, I've just been wondering how early the Trial was planned out.

Cuz the BIG question everyone's circling around is WHEN Lestat arrived in Paris, and WHY he didn't warn Louis that the coven was planning something.

Theories range from:

Les willingly participated in the Trial, deliberately acting with ill intent cuz he was mad about Mardi Gras; "it's their turn to hurt." Lesdaughter Truthers are wrong, Les DGAF about Claudia.

Les was unable to warn Louis or stop the Trial cuz he was captured, injured & manipulated/mind-fogged (a la the book canon)

Sam Reid (deliberately?) hemmed & hawed about Lestat going into the rehearsal/Trial acting on raw impulse, with no plan whatsoever, other than getting Louis (specifically) out alive

NGL, I think ALL of the above are to some degree true! 😅

But I lean toward Theory #2 most of all, cuz that's how the book events transpired. But I'll be the first to admit that #2 is deeply flawed & hard AF to defend/prove, based on what little we actually saw in 2x6, 2x7, and esp. 2x8. Cuz it really does seem like Les LET an awful lot of bad ish happen that he too could've prevented.

So I wanna put 2x6 into context this time, to try and piece things together. Cuz the math REALLY ain't mathin, AMC.

What we have thus far:

According to Armand in 2x8, he started lying to Louis about the coven preparing the Trial the night Madeleine was Turned in 2x6.

November 1945

Armand knew the FIRST NIGHT Louis & Claudia arrived in Summer 1945 that they were lying about Lestat/"Bruce."

Spring 1946 - Spring 1947

The coven was suspicious the entire time--it's esp. obvs. as Santiago grills them about "Chicago":

Santiago vs Claudia (2x3) around Spring 1946, "Stick with it, Puce! You're almost there."

Santiago vs Louis (2x4) around Spring 1947, "New Orleans!" (It makes sense that it would take Santiago longer to confront Louis, as Armand kept complaining about Louis never being around the Theatre x x)

Late 1947 / Early 1948

post-September 1947, Santiago had already stolen Claudia's diaries & passed them around to the coven; and Celeste & Estelle had already interrogated Roget about Lestat.

Did Armand know Santiago was in Louis' apartment going through their things (while Claudia would either be out with Madeleine, or at the Theatre under curfew) --

--and did he know the coven was reading her Diaries right in front of him while Santiago & Celeste & Estelle were interrogating Roget about Lestat?

Esp. since all of this goes down in 2x6 BEFORE Armand had even met Madeleine & Louis/Claudia asked him to Turn her!

We know that by late 1947 / early 1948 (when Louis bought the Wols, then came home to find Claudeleine in his coffin, then took them to Armand to ask for the bite), Armand already knows that Lou & Claudia wanna do their own thing with Madz; committing the same "crime" that got Santiago's Maker killed--making a vamp without the Coven Master's permission--but ofc, Louis is NOT in Armand's coven.

Late 1948 - Early 1949

In the very next scene, we get Santiago & Sam in cahoots about Godot's projections/scripts. Patterns of behavior indicate that Armand LET this all happen, and only pretended that "the buffoon was in the audience."

In my Timeline Pt1, I surmised that the very latest Sam could've finished the Godot script was early 1949, cuz IRL Sam Beckett wrote the play b/t October 1948 - January 1949.

Spring - Summer 1949

So by Spring of 1949, Sam would be free to turn his attention to drafting a NEW script...for the Trial.

April 1949: Sam writes the Trial script.

(Is it JUST his half, or is Les already awake & in Paris & writing the other half with him? OR is Les awake & just in telepathic communication with the coven, and has no idea they're asking him questions to incriminate Claudia & Louis?)

2x5 & 2x6 also give us some very important contextual dates! Loumand references a bunch of events that happened around the same time, which can help approximate when Tuan's projections were being made.

LOUIS: The Berlin Blockade ended in May. The Geneva Convention was agreed in August. Some of the front pages from that year. But if you look in the filler, in the back pages. Strange crimes reported. ARMAND: A telescopic lens stolen from the Observatory at Meudon. A film company shooting the crime thriller 'Porte D'Orient' delayed when its inventory of color film stock is snatched. LOUIS: A gang of drunkards, hanging off of the side of the Eiffel Tower, all facing south by southwest, all muttering in unison--gone by the time police arrive by elevator. ARMAND: Crimes all left unsolved.

May 12, 1949: Berlin Blockade ends

June 21, 1949: Paris Observatory's missing lens reported stolen. (Because these are newspaper reports, we might also assume the actual time of the theft was the night before the article was published (June 20). But who knows.)

June 23, 1949: Oriental Port color film stock reported stolen; filming delayed. (Because these are newspaper reports, we might also assume the actual theft of the events was the night before the article was published (June 22). But who knows.)

The color film stock being stolen that delayed Oriental Port's filming is a VERY nice touch, cuz the movie was released in 1950, and was the first French film to use Agfa-Gevacolor film, which had only been available to the public since January 1949 (x x). So the film nerds at AMC really stay on top of their research! 👌

July 1949: Armand distracts Louis with library outings:

ARMAND: Ah, July, 1949. The reading room. LOUIS: Mmm. We broke into the same library every night that month, hypnotized security, as one does, flipped the lights, laid our backs on long tables and stared up at the ceiling. ' DANIEL: Hot. ARMAND: Iron pillars holding up terracotta domes, a light trick that made the ceiling appear higher than it was. LOUIS: And why not pass a month that way? An effortless, eternal life ahead of us. Funny thing, trying to remember what occupied one's time when one was ignorant of the plotting around him.DANIEL: Grab that. LOUIS: Santiago had broken into our apartme--I'm sorry. Grab what?

Louis implies that the "plotting around him" started in July 1949--or at least, that's when HE surmised (in Dubai, NOT Paris) that Armand had "started lying to me." Ofc, 2x8 would reveal that Armand was in cahoots with the coven since jump.

We can thus assume that this was when the bulk of the projector images based on Claudia's diaries were being drawn (whenever Armand wasn't distracting Louis with dates to the library). They already have the Agfa-Gevacolor film, and the Observatory's fancy projection lens, so that Tuan can animate whatever Sam had already written for the script. "But they had their Technicolor film. Tuan Pham's wizardry with it."

And ofc, they'd want to corroborate the diaries with Lestat's own testimony. (Esp. since it's clear from Claudia's diaries that Les ISN'T dead, just thrown in the dump--cuz Claudia KNOWS the only way to be sure you've killed a vamp is to burn them, and she's mad AF that they didn't do that to Les cuz Lou freaked TF out.)

Again: did they only call Lestat after they had Claudia's diaries (once they knew there was a chance he wasn't dead after all)? The dates seem to imply that this was the case--that Armand & Santiago & co. had suspected Lestat was alive ever since 1945, but it was only until 1949 that they bothered to contact him.

Fall 1949

September 5, 1949: report of Eiffel Tower climbed by "muttering drunkards." (Because these are newspaper reports, we might also assume the actual time of the events was the night before the article was published (Sept 4). But who knows.)

The September 5th date is the most telling: IF Armand is telling truth, this would be when the coven contacted Lestat, as seen in Tuan's projection during the Trial.

So, IF this is the truth & S3 doesn't retcon anything, the rehearsals with Lestat would've had to have started in September, after 3 months of Tuan's prep (the thefts started in June); and 5 months of Sam's writing & Armand's edits.

February 6, 1940 - September 5, 1949: Lestat's "state of repose" ends when the coven "wakes" him. (IF this is true, Roget was right that Les was just asleep, taking a long AF dirt nap. IF Les was awake before then, he was only motivated to come to Paris when the coven climbed the Eiffel Tower & told him the Trial was soon--likely still too emotionally damaged / psychologically injured to leave NOLA.)

Again, the big question is: what was Les up to while he was in Paris, b4 the Trial? Was he free to come & go as he pleased (in which case: why TF didn't he warn Lou?!); OR was he locked up (a la the books)?

post-September 5, 1949: Madeleine is Turned.

Right after the scene of Dubai!Loumand describing all the "strange crimes," we get the scene of Paris!Loumand in the park, discussing Madz, right b4 she's Turned that night (Lou's in the same clothes).

THIS is the night Armand claimed he started lying to Lou, ("They gave me a choice"). And again: we know even THAT was a lie too, cuz UNLESS Madz was turned the exact same night that Les arrived AND wrote his half of the script AND rehearsed it (meaning Les wasn't starved/tortured at all), then Armand had PLENTY of time BEFORE Madz Turned to work on the script & direct the rehearsals.

The same night of Madz's Turning, Armand moves into Louis' apartment (and Claudia's coffin 🤮), with his magnolia sprig. And speaking of plants....

September-October-ish, 1949: Claudeleine finds the X, planting flowers outside Saint Denis.

I assume "cold things" are the cold corpses Claudeleine is burying; that "become warm" metaphorically, when plants/flowers grow over their graves. I know nothing about autumn weather in France. Going by clothes, it looks like it's still nice & warm, cut comfy enough for light jackets. I also know nothing about flowers, or what seasons they grow in France. But apparently Claudeleine's Fall flowers are fine:

Lavender: usually stops flowering in late August or mid-September; definitely by mid-October.

Sweet Iris: has high cold resistance, and goes dormant from November - March-ish.

Peony: apparently there are regular peonies & tree peonies, and they both like colder weather--the regular ones go dormant around November. Plenty seem to be ok in Fall, up to October-ish, that you can get at nurseries. And they really like bone meal as fertilizer, omg. XD

(My headcanon wants to assume that Claudia only agreed to visit Louis in Paris either cuz it was gonna be her birthday (9/21), OR his birthday (10/4). 💔 Cuz misogynoir, I'd bet Monopoly money it was Claudia's; DOOMED by the narrative! 😭)

Late 1949 (September/October): The Trial.

(Guys. D'you reckon those nasty theatre kids held the Trial on frikkin Halloween? 🤣)

Late 1949 (November-ish): Louis is kept buried alive in the wet room for at least 1 month after the Trial, before Armand finally pulls him out the coffin.

The latest the Trial could've taken place is October, in order for OVER a month to have passed and the fire still happens in 1949.

VERY Late 1949 (November/December): Louis slaughters the coven, the "Great Fire of 1949" send the Theatre des Vampires up in flames. 🔥

(The Talamasca folder in 2x3 calls it the "Great Fire;" which makes me giddy, cuz we also have the "Great Burnings" in the books, related to Akasha. I love how Akasha & Louis are paralleled, just slaughtering vamps with the Fire Gift, bless.)

1950

May 24 - June 4, 1950: The French Championship of 1950 takes place at Roland-Garros. Spoiler: the Australians lost that year. 😂

[mschievousx]

now and then | b.b.

pairing: benedict bridgerton x ofc

summary: loraine silva always knew she was not normal. she loves unusual things. she loves her father's guns, horses, boxing, climbing a tree, falling from a tree, engineering, astronomy... oh, and a man eleven years older.

series masterlist

xi. eleven: every word you say

the sunlight did not reach her face. there was no sunlight in sight at all, aside from the most external door that shows a little hint of the visible spectrum. she stirred awake on the hard floor she slept, if she had any at all. she slowly sat up, finding the colonel on the adjacent cell, staring into nothingness.

they have yet to acknowledge each other's presence, trapped in their own battles inside. it was a surreal thing—to feel that it was both the end and the beginning. they have long let go of any hopes in receiving a lighter sentence, and that act is what made it possible for them to breathe despite the stifling feeling.

they have found freedom. losing all hope was freedom.

hence, the young silva raised her gaze to the ragged man across. his rank is not apparent on his current state, stripped off of dignity and proper legacy. she pulled him to the deepest ocean floor a man has never explored to.

"i am so sorry, raphael." raine broke the silence, feeling utterly apologetic for bringing the man with her in this fate.

"there is no need." he replied, closing his eyes as he leaned on the wall.

there really was no need. although his tone may have sounded frustrated, it was not directed to the girl. coming to think of it, he believes he would have done the same. he actually did, when he admitted to the suspicions just so she could be saved. the young silva, however, was hardheaded. a small chuckle left his lips as he looked at her in thought.

"you know, your father would be proud."

"oh, silence." raine rolled her eyes in jest, "i have not slept well with how much my eyes poured last night. do not make me cry again."

"but it is true."

"i know," she turned to him with weak eyes, "he asked me one time, if he was being too forceful in making me the viscountess or also the fact that he taught me things that a proper lady would not have preferred."

she laughed at the memory of her father teaching her how to hold a dagger at four, and her mother in utter worry as she caught them both.

"he was afraid he turned me into something he wanted instead of being someone I want to be."

the lady chuckled before continuing, "i told him I do not see myself embroidering at all. he laughed like crazy."

raphael weakly laughed at the story. by the mention of the girl's teaching experiences, a memory resurfaced in his mind as well.

"did you know that your father used to say you shoot like—i apologise for the term we use in the military amongst men—a virgin?"

despite being above average compared to the general public, her shooting really did not pass her father's standards. she could shoot, yes, but it would not have been enough for war. armand concluded that it was enough at the very least for self-defense.

raphael lifted one end of his lips, "i bet he would say otherwise now."

"that is because now i am not." she said with indifference, missing the way the man sat up from his leaning, turning to her fully.

"...wait, what—you mean...?" he asked curiously, his will returning to his voice in spite of their current situation.

raine looked at him and she found it interesting how curious he was at the topic. she let out a short giggle before slowly nodding. his mouth noticeably went ajar at that as he pried more.

"the bridgerton son?" she nodded once again, raphael leaning back down in surprise, shaking his head in disbelief, "your father is going to kill you."

"no need. the crown is doing it for him."

both laughed in chorus—how they could still jest in a situation like this is lost. perhaps, it was there saving grace. little joys do really count.

"i cannot fathom what you could possibly find so amusing in a place like this."

the queen's voice announced her arrival, her face grimacing in disgust at the place. the two greeted her with respect, standing from their position. she looked around, as if assessing their surroundings before settling her eyes to the girl.

her majesty sighed resignedly, "why ever did you have to shoot him?"

"he talked too much."

"that he did." she had no problem agreeing with that statement at all. the lord had been bothering her as well before about royal familial matters.

she clasped her hands, forming the words to say, "i have spoken to have a private execution for you both. it was granted. this is the least i could do, considering everyone has voted for a beheading instead of hanging."

raine nodded thankfully at that. she did not care much. either way, they would be dead. she inquired further, "the soldiers?"

"all free from the charges."

the two released a breath of relief. that was one of their main goals—for the rest of the troop to be able to go home and spend the following years with their families.

"thank you, aunt lottie. that is all i ask." she smiled warmly to the older woman.

"it will be in an hour." the queen noted, pertaining to the execution.

it must already be five in the afternoon already. the young silva did not know how time flew by so fast. she neared the girl, pushing a hand through the bars of her cell. raine held her hand as she continued.

"make death proud to take us."

raphael and raine's ears perked at that, their brows crossing as the queen took back her hand slowly, "how do you know of it?"

charlotte offered them a smile before she turned away, "your father had been a good company."

after the queen, major gilbert and the viscount bridgerton also stopped to visit them. the former relayed the gratefulness of the soldiers by the news of their freedom, while the latter updated her on how the queen is working on for a proper investigation against the said involved people in the treason with the help of the papers that was left to him. they did not take long, of course. the prison had that effect. it was very suffocating.

yet, her breath came back at the sight of the man in front of her.

"what are you doing here?" she said in concern, her lips quivering as she scrambled on her feet.

benedict reached to her, cupping her face with a tearful smile, "i told you. i will always be here."

she shut her eyes in shame of her current state, "you should not see me like this."

he chuckled with tears in his eyes, "like painfully beautiful?"

"like dying." she corrected in all honesty as he went silent, his heavy breathing speaking for himself.

his lips formed a thin line, features traced with painstaking gaze, "you are so unfair."

"i know," she admitted, knowing exactly what he meant, "i am so sorry."

he hushed her, his palms still on her cheeks as he soothed—both tracing the tear marks that intensified their emotions.

"forget about me. let go of this grief completely." she bleakly uttered, torment clear on her voice.

benedict immediately responded a multiple series of 'no' with an intense shaking of his head in disagreement. he would do anything to not forget her, both the joy and painful memories. he would cherish everything that she was present in. he would cling onto every word she utters.

"and in case you do forget about me," she continued, cupping his face with the utmost care, "i hope you remember by my touch alone.

he nodded fervently, "i love you."

he leaned his head to hers, their breaths exchanging as if he was used to the taste of pain on a dead friday night.

"i love you too."

they wanted to be together for as long as they could, and if that's not very long, well, then that's just how it is. and so, they held each other for the last time, coming to terms that if this life will be this cruel, he would spend the rest of his life praying that the next will not be.

he wanted to badly stay with her, to stop the time and prolong this moment. but, it seemed like he had angered the gods as a guard knocked his truncheon on the door, calling for him to exit for the fifteen-minute preparation before the execution.

━━━ ✦ ❘ ☽ 【❖】 ☾ ❘ ✦ ━━━

no later, guards entered the cells, taking both prisoners with no austerity in their touch. it was so strange for them to the point that it was hard to swallow. they have seized and lead criminals of darkest crimes to their end, yet they find themselves wanting to break the two out.

a viscountess and a colonel, both still children in their own way.

they have never thought there comes a day they would dread their work, and the executioner would say the same. because just as they all arrived in the execution stage, the forty-five soldiers, four members of the bridgerton family, and the queen are in attendance. as she caught sight of them, raine offered a brief, forlorn smile. these people are the ones who she is most thankful of.

executions happen at a faster pace than the young silva thought. one moment they were walking, the next they were kneeling. the executioner bowed to the both of them when they arrived, now asking for forgiveness on the duty he must do in a while. loraine granted him that.

he stood back up, announcing clearly, "you have been granted to speak your final words."

she turned to take a look at raphael, the latter nodding as a sign for her to speak for them both. raine casted her head down in thinking of the words she must say for the last time. she looked back at them all, to no one in particular, and dared to raise her eyes to her terrible fate as she began.

"when a crime goes unpunished, the world is unbalanced. when the wrong is unavenged, the heavens look down on us in shame. we too must die for this circle of vengeance to be closed. we will leave this record of our courage so the world will know who we were and what we did."

as she ended, they both tied the cloth firmly to cover their eyes. at the absence of sight, fear started to creep in. she could hear the executioner stepping away from her and to the colonel first. he declared with resolve, a means of comforting the two souls.

"death is proud to take you."

raine exhaled peacefully at that. it was a reply to their previous convictions—a way of reassuring they have done well.

and so, she did not panic, even when the sound of a drop on the floor filled the place.

raphael had been a great friend, soldier, and a person. the silva would not mind having to fight beside him once again.

the room stayed silent, with no other noise but the small whimpers of the audience. however, it was immediately overshadowed by the sound of footsteps, nearing her one step at a time. she guessed this must be it.

loraine's mind became blank. she hurried herself to think of memories—those that she would love to relive. she had a strange belief that it would not be as painful if she was feeling happy. but, it was also strangely hard to be one in the moment. all she could think of was that maybe, dying is the best option for her in this life. there was no home for her anymore.

and when she greets death, she hoped it is gentle. she hoped it is like going home. she believed a great happiness awaited her somewhere.

and for this reason, she remained calm as the axe hit her neck.

the audience found themselves letting go of the prolonged silence, breaking out to their cries. however, one person did not have any tear or voice left in himself anymore as he stared at the trail of blood that was starting to accumulate and flow away from the body.

indeed, a lot can happen in a day.

he was annoyed by her in one, taken by her in one, and loved her in one. he is grieving for her in one, and he will long for her in one.

and so, he was left with nothing but to face reality—realising that a very frightening thought is now shadowing him intimately.

when tomorrow depends to a person, what should one do? when that person is lost, does that mean tomorrow is too?

love was there. it may have not changed anything. it may have not saved anyone. but, it still matters that the love was there.

because, raine did not need to be saved. she needed to be found and appreciated for who exactly she was. her father has taught her that this world was only a preparation for the next, that all they can ask is to leave it having loved and being loved.

and benedict, until the very last moment, made that known to her and everyone else. she was found. she was appreciated. she was loved.

all by him.

taglist: @aadu2173 @imgondeletedis @pumkiinpasties @rebleforkicks @perseny @everavenclaw @datingbtr @peetahpahkah @myo11 @idek-what-to-put @aysamuka

[nalyra-dreaming]

So I interpreted that comment from Raglan that others had tried and were either dead or undead a bit differently. It's a very vague comment in the first place - Raglan never actually says "others have tried to interview Louis". Imo I think he meant it in a more general sense - that others have tried to document vampire lives & lore throughout the ages (and interview them), which they likely have. I believe Khayman mentions this in qotd so they could be pulling that from the books.

Because would Louis really invite total randos to tell his very personal and traumatic story to? And even if he did, would any of them have been turned (like Raglan says)? Who would turn them, Louis? Unlikely. Definitely not Armand. Another vampire? When we see them in Dubai, we don't get the sense they are close to any other vamps, they seem pretty isolated. Just my opinion ofc! :) We don't get enough detail either way.

Oh, I definitely interpreted that comment as a mix of what you refer to, and other tries of Louis trying to free himself.

Like, I get what you're saying re "randos" :), but... Daniel would have been a trump card he knew of. The diary pages were removed before, when Louis and Armand talked about it, it seemed to me as if Louis had read them before, and then given them back, because he is taken aback by how much he misremembers. The incident with the photos wasn't a first time either (or something similar).

Just as in SF back then I don't think Daniel was the first, but he was the last (this show loves parallels). And while they are living isolated from most other vampires (that we know of at least) they do have contact with the world outside, go out to hunt, etc.

I mean, it could be there were none before Daniel (in Dubai, I mean). That is also possible. But I do think Louis has tried to free himself of Armand's influence before, and, in a way, the more he tried, the more he was "kept".

There is this moment in 2x05, when Louis pushes Daniel to remember, because "lunch will be over soon".

Louis is aware there that they only have a chance at remembering something while Armand is away.

Deep, deep down he knows.

[crazykuroneko]

okay, @lesfleursrouges' latest fic got me thinking.

in Ep 7, daniel read forward and said claudia resent louis in Europe, and we got to read claudia's diary where she said louis was haunted by lestat. she also said "lestat, whose body left dry and rotting somewhere in garbage dump". so, claudia realized where they would take lestat's body but she didn't have any idea he could revive? 🧐

louis, the biggest rat eater of them all, of course should have realized what was available for lestat in the garbage dump. so, did he leave New Orleans believing lestat was really dead or not? because louis was extremely shaken, i could see him putting lestat in his coffin both very aware of what could happen or doing it autopilot because lestat asked for it. there's no way of knowing louis being haunted by lestat due to his guilt for killing him or for letting the murder attempt happened.

now, if louis was aware lestat could go after them, what if he did go after them and found them near/in Paris. he tried to talk to louis, but claudia burnt him just what happened in the movie when they're still in NOLA. being in Paris, armand ofc knew lestat was there and meant to help him until lestat said he just needed his blood to go find his fledgings again. then armand dumped him in dungeons in worse condition when lestat left NOLA. at this point louis didn't really know lestat had survived or not.

anyway, that's only my speculation. another interesting point is why Dubai Louis tried to convince Daniel and us that lestat was really dead in NOLA? did he mean to finish off his whole story there? or did he mean to erase every lestat's involvement in the Paris arc? but for what? what is it you're trying to tell with this change Louis?

[apoptoses]

OK SO. After some careful consideration.... I think I'm going with Tokyo? Like you said, even when it's explicitly stated in canon that they spent time together in Japan, I don't think it's ever been explored in fic and by now you've firmly established yourself as a pioneer of sorts wrt lesser explored aspects of Armand and Daniel's relationship so this would completely make sense lol. Also, the possibilities with the food and the locations and the kink of it all are endless. Armand will be out of his comfort zone in the best of ways and WILL make sure to experience every single thing there is to experience with and through Daniel.

OTOH Night Island might be my favorite location of anything ever and I don't think I could ever refuse it in any way 😭 the NI-centric stuff you've written so far is definitely among my favorites. What you did with that Secretary-inspired fic of them was absolutely insane and I think of it often. Older, more rugged business man Daniel and extremely naughty Armand bent over a desk UGH just thinking about it makes me feel lightheaded 🥴

Right!! Like sometimes I think about locations where the two of them would be close to equals by virtue of the culture and language being totally unfamiliar, and Japan is one of those places. And like vampires can pick up language quickly but we've only seen them do so with languages that share a similar root- of course Armand, who learned an old dialect of Italian and who Marius taught Greek and Latin to would pick up Spanish and French and English. But what about a language with a writing system he doesn't know, that's unrelated to Western languages? I think for a minute they'd be totally adrift together.

And exactly, the food is new, the location is new, there's a lot to mine!! And I can manage it because I lived there long enough lmao I'm taking Anne's 'writing hotels and cities I've been to' trick to heart here.

So I think it's decided!

But ALSO man I love Night Island, I'm gonna be fucked up all night about your idea of Daniel doing business and bending Armand over the desk 🫢 Armand was pretty much in control in that one little fic I did with Daniel on the phone, he deserves the full Secretary treatment iykwim

(also ofc I knew it was you DA, how could it be anyone else ♥)

[lookatthestarrynight]

Laughter is the Best Medicine - Chapter Eight

Poe Dameron/Doctor!OFC: Poe Dameron has joined the Resistance at the request of General Leia Organa, and he’s finally arrived on the Echo of Hope, the Resistance’s floating base of operations. While on board, he meets the Medical Director of the Resistance and... falls in love? We’ll see.

I’ve also posted this on AO3. Check my masterlist to see what I write for. Please only like, don’t reblog.  Hope you enjoy, let me know what you think!

Warnings: Poe is a little sad. Otherwise very fluffy. 1278 words.

I spent the earlier part of the day in the med-bay, and after lunch I followed Nira to the hangar to watch her do mechanic things with X-wings. It was soothing and methodical, much like a well-done surgery, and she even bothered to tell me what she was doing and what every tool and part was. It was calm for a while, and then the familiar noise of X-wings filled the air and the Black Squadron came in for their landing. I watched, mesmerized, as the ships powered down and Poe climbed out of the cockpit of Black One. He bent down to speak with BB-8, and then the dedicated little droid disappeared off to do something I could only presume was important. Poe noticed me sitting on one of the crates by Nira and raised his eyebrows at me.

           I waved, hopping off the crate. “Hey, Commander!”

           He laughed, his smile not quite reaching his eyes for some reason, and he walked over to me. “Hello, Director.”

           I smiled at him, reaching out to hold his hand.

           He smirked. “I feel so special… you’re holding my hand.”

           I snorted. “How was the mission, flyboy?”

           “Eventful.”

           “You’re not giving me anything else?”

           “Nope. Classified.”

           I nodded and began leading us towards the med-bay, since I should probably be there again soon anyway.

           “Wait, wait,” he tugged gently on my arm, stopping me.

           I turned to face him, my eyebrow raised. He leaned forward and smushed his lips against mine, his other arm wrapping around my waist. My free hand wandered up to the nape of his neck, my lips parting just a little bit. After a moment, he pulled away, a little breathless, and let go of me, reaching up to push a stray hair out of my face.

           “I gotta go do the debrief with the General, but I’ll come find you around dinner-time, alright?”

           I smiled and nodded, walking backwards a bit. “See you soon, then, Poe.” I turned around and continued to the med-bay.

<> 

           My time spend in the med-bay flew by as I made my rounds and fussed with transfer paperwork on my holopad, and before I knew it, Poe was waltzing in to drag me to dinner.

           He leaned over the high counter of the main desk and looked at me. “Ready for dinner, Doc?”

           I looked up at him from my place curled up in the chair behind the desk. “Yea, yea, just let me put this down in my office.” I stood up and wandered over to my office, dropping the holopad on my desk before turning around and running straight into Poe’s chest. He’d followed me in, apparently.

           He wrapped his arms around me, pressing a kiss to the top of my head. “You’re my favorite person, you know that, right?”

           I nodded into his chest, pulling my head away to look up at him. “What prompted that?”

           Something passes behind his eyes, but he just shrugs. “No reason, just felt like it.”

           I hummed, skeptical, and tried to extricate myself from his hold, but his grip wouldn’t budge.

           “Poe?”

           “Yes?”

           “Can you let go of me now?”

           He frowned, but did so, opting to loop one arm around my waist to guide me to the cafeteria. I leaned into his side a little as we walked out of the med-bay and through the halls of the base. I could tell something was bugging him just a little bit, but I decided to press him about it later – after we ate.

           When we arrived in the cafeteria, we waited in line together and got our meals, and I waved to Shana and Ilia as we walked by them. I opted to sit with Poe and his pilots, since he still seemed awfully attached to me. Through all of dinner, he kept an arm around me or a hand in my lap, and I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what exactly was wrong. When I raised my eyebrows inquisitively at Jessika, she shrugged – as did Snap and L’ulo. I sighed, and I as soon as I noticed Poe was done eating, I gently pulled him out of the cafeteria with me, stopping when we got to a more secluded hallway.

           I reached up, my hand cupping his cheek and my thumb gently swiping across the top of his cheek. “What’s up with you today, Poe?”

           He shrugged noncommittally. “Just a bad day.”

           “Is there anything I can do?”

           “I just want to spend time with you.”

           “Do you want to talk about it?”

           “Not really,” he paused, his hand covering mine on his cheek, “I just want to hear you talk.”

           I laughed quietly. “Why don’t we stop by your quarters and grab some of your things and then head back to mine?”

           Poe nodded reluctantly, pulling me to follow him. When we reached his quarters, he disappeared inside before reappearing with a change of clothes in his arms a minute later. He followed behind me as I led the way to my quarters and stood awkwardly in the middle of the room when we arrived, until I gently guided him to the edge of my bed.

           “Let’s get changed, yeah? And then we can lay down and I’ll talk for a bit.” He nodded, and a few minutes later I found myself propped against my pillows on my bed with Poe’s head laying my stomach and his body slotted between my legs. Slowly, I threaded my fingers through his hair and gently massaged his scalp.

           “So, what do you want to hear about?”

           He grunted, lifting his head up just a bit. “Your whole life story.”

           I giggled. “Ask and you shall receive, flyboy.” He dropped his head back on my stomach with a smile.

           I stared at the ceiling for a minute, trying to figure out where I wanted to start.

           “Well, I was born in 8 ABY on Taris, in the inner city, and—”

           Poe lifted his head up for a moment. “I’m six years older than you?”

           “Yeah. Anyway—”

           “That doesn’t bother you?”

           “Uh, should it?”

           Poe shook his head and laid back down on my stomach.

           “Anyway, grew up in the inner-city skyscrapers, came to Senate meetings with my dad all the time, uh… oh! I have an older brother – he’s taking my dad’s seat in the Senate in the next cycle I think,” I twirled a strand of Poe’s hair through my fingers before continuing, “Uh, my dad’s name is Alrich, although you might’ve already known that, and my brother’s is Armand, my mom’s was Leta.”

           “Was?”

           “She was killed in the Talinn district when I was growing up, which is why I spent so much time with my brother and father.”

           “I’m sorry,” he said, muffled by my stomach.

           I hummed. “It’s alright… it’s been a while since then. I decided I wanted to be a doctor after that, and Dad was more than happy to ship me off to the New Republic Medical Academy on Hosnian Prime,” I shifted my shoulders, getting a little more comfortable, “And when I left the Academy, the General tapped me to work for the Resistance, so I got here about a year and a half, maybe, before you. It’s good experience, working in the Resistance. And I know I’m making a difference in the galaxy, doing my mom proud and all that.” I looked down at Poe and noticed his eyes were closed, his breathing slow and measured.

           I smiled. “Goodnight, flyboy.” I gently pressed a kiss to his temple and turned off the light in my room. Time to sleep.