#armand....u and i are meant to be

[ctadiablotin]

armand's reaction to daniel ripping his (failed)marriage a new one. imagine lestat posts shit like this to his social media.

except it was me. don't worry i was just a quick conduit for lestat's soul as he watched that episode with me

[cthulhum]

did u save my life in paris ? i gave u to armand u tell me if that was saving. why didnt u say it was me who saved u not him ? i dont like to point out my virtues. besides i knew ud figure it out and look. u have. i was right. all hail me. been enduring here ? not enduring. living. here in new orleans the whole time ? its my home. i am she she is me. i didnt know it was a gift. i wore it like a curse i was selfish. i- i tried to make the nights awful for u. i see. i wanted u to suffer cuz i was suffering. oh shall we list all the ways we have wronged each other and why it will never be right between monstrous- i came to thank u. for the gift u offered me. the gift i denied. for the nights in front of me where i might learn to live honestly. thank u. spetember 8th. 1973. september 8th 1973. it was 11:07 here. it wouldve been 9:07 in san francisco. armand called me. where u there ? yeah. did u hurt urself ? i was lost. i was in a dark way and i was thinking about- i cant i cant get her out of my mind. u have the same problem ? yeah. i cant louis- i cant-. hey hey its not on u u hear me ? i carried her home i made u turn her. i saved her from a fire so a half century later she could... she looked at me at the end... like a child looking to her father... but i was never-

[idontwikeit]

Black Sails 3.03 XXI Interview with the Vampire 2.04 I Want You More Than Anything in the World

for @nonbinarybriarmoss

[covenofthearticulate]

wait a fucking second I am just now putting the dots together and realizing all these short sentence drabble prompts are all coming about because I reblogged that sentence starter meme originally on my Louis RP blog LMFAO. It is so jarring to see niche tumblr rp things make it into the wider fandom and I was so confused but now I'm mostly delighted LOL

[hechose]

the post-divorce wardrobe glow up both armand and louis go through,,,

[nile-the-empathy-cleric]

I'm a huge fan of your work, your writing is so beautiful, and the way you add your own personal love of art is just; it's genuinely amazing. I was wondering if you have any paintings that you think each of your favorite characters would represent or maybe even what u see when u look at them. ❤️🖼🎨🖌

Oh boy do I love this ask! Firstly, than you 🥺 you're too kind 💕

Second I have so many paintings that spring to mind for various characters! Immediately off the bat my brain went right to Lestat and how his presence and aesthetic (especially in 1920s New Orleans) gave gigantic J.C. Leyendecker vibes.

(left) The Sleuth J.C. Leyendecker, ca. 1906 and (right) Arrow Shirt Collar Ad, 1916. By J.C. Leyendecker For Arrow Shirt Collars, 1916

The way Leyendecker plays with shadow, light, and color to project an air of seduction and power is just *chef's kiss.* He is a master at depicting an idealized masculinity that still has a level of vulnerability. I don't think it's just the styling/ fashion of the men in Leyendecker's illustrations that remind me of Lestat, but the features as well. J.C. gives them this attitude of nonchalance but there's something deeply concerned with appearances underneath. Is that not Lestat?

For Claudia there are a couple. First (not a painting but a sculpture) is Degas' The Little Dancer Aged Fourteen. I look at this piece and think of the history of ballet and the connotations of ballet at the time Degas was working. In France at the time ballerinas were highly taken advantage of and exploited. The exploitation was sexual in nature and simultaneously adultified and infantilized. They were highly fetishized. It's very sad and tragic and it reminds me of Claudia. The Little Dancer has an almost defiant energy to her, like there is a sense of pride and restraint, something dignified despite her lesser social standing.

I also see something of Claudia in this piece: Girl in Pink Dress, ca. 1927 by Laura Wheeler Waring. I also think this girl embodies the qualities of both Bailey and Delainey's Claudias–– there's simultaneously an innocence and maturity. I see something similar in Isabella, (aka Young Woman with a Fan), 1906 by Simon Maris and I just think it's neat to see art of Black people done by a white person from the early 1900s that isn't fetishizing or racist (don't look at J.C. Leyendecker's art of Black people, yikes!)

For Louis, my first thought was Derek Fordjour's STRWMN, 2020. It gives NOLA Louis to me in terms of style, but also the colorful and fun energy has the vibes of his little journey of gay self-discovery in Paris. I also see Louis in Lois Mailou Jones' Negro Youth, 1929. It mirrors depressed Louis for me. There is something very fragile in his expression, but you can tell he's trying to be strong, much like Louis.

As for Armand? Well, the number one is Botticelli's Saint Sebastian (it just has an uncanny resemblance to Assad) and the metaphor is too apt to not point out. The other that immediately make me think of Armand is The Abduction of Ganymede by Correggio. It's less the painting and more the myth it's based on, but out of all the Ganymede paintings, Correggio's is my favorite.

And Daniel is just like... any Nan Goldin photo, but I'll pick Heart-shaped bruise, 1980. I don't think I need to give my thoughts here 😂

Thank you again for such a fun ask! I appreciate every message I get from anons and mutuals alike 🥰

[*Edit: Being transparent––I went back and corrected a mistake I made in the original because I don't want an inaccurate/ racist post going around, even after a correction in the reblogs if people aren't seeing the original. I accidentally implied that Laura Wheeler Waring was white. I meant the statement about Simon Maris, who was a Dutch portrait artist. Laura Wheeler Waring was a prominent Black artist. Lesson to self: do not write deeply thoughtful posts at 1 am while you have a fever.]

[nightcolorz]

While looking for the last post I found this one, and it ALSO feels like it works with the whole… god and their devoted sacrificial lamb theme going on. I am here for unbelievably gutting but also fascinating insights into Amadeo hours.

In the show I can definitely see Amadeo becoming more obedient as he nears 30, because of what you said about the like… choices to keep him in line becoming more intense. It’s one thing to act out and be punished at 17, and another for your very existence as an ageing boy-turn-man to be the problem, so he speaks out of turn less to try and minimize what he suspects will come anyway.

THIS POST IS SOOOO ARMAND/AMADEO!! I’ve seen it before and always thought that!! I think this post can apply to Armand’s relationship with Marius but also like, how he gets himself into a pattern of being a perpetual victim. Especially the part about how everytime he comes back and the priest always chooses him, it reminds me of Louis and Armand’s relationship (in the amc verse) where Armand kind of recreates his relationship with Marius and his history of being abused as a child in his dynamic with Louis bcus he misses feeling like he had a purpose or a reason for being around or someone to just tell him what he’s meant to do (be the lamb).

the ending paragraph is very Marius and Armand tho. “He always places one hand on my small twitching nose to calm me while he lifts the knife and he doesn’t do it for the other lambs only me because I’m his favorite” is INCREDIBLY Amadeo. It reminds me of that paragraph in the vampire armand where armand lovingly talks about how since he was Marius’s favorite he was the only boy to ever see his bedchambers. Like yeah I bet the priest is so gentle when he lifts the knife sure armand 😭. But yeah. When marius disciplined me by whipping my backside he always touched my private areas to sooth me until I climaxed and then he licked the blood from my back and he never did that with the other lambs only me because I’m his favorite 🥰—like no honey u were just sexually assaulted 🙏

[frigidwife]

First off, sorry if I'm about to sound utterly clueless. I've watched the show since day one, but only started properly engaging with fandom discussions recently so I'm probably missing a lot or being dumb. My question is, why do you think some fans were so scandalized by the reveal that Armand was seemingly going to let Louis die in the trial, but completely indifferent to the fact that he actively DID let Claudia die? I get why betraying Louis was a bigger deal to Armand himself, and why the reveal of that betrayal had the narrative ramifications it did. I even get that many fans had pre-emptively come to terms with Claudia's death to some extent, and were likely prepared for the possibility that Armand was (at best) complicit in the trial, if not outright responsible. Even the staunchest Armand fans weren't buying his "I could not prevent it" mantra as far as I saw, but they didn't seem bothered by it until they realized Louis was meant to die too? I know this particular twist wasn't in the book, but it felt plausible in context (to me, at least) and pretty much in keeping with how Armand was written the whole season. And yet some fans are still upset about it, even fans who claim to love Claudia. Is there an angle I'm missing here, or is it really a case of 'I can excuse daughter-murdering as long as it's in a romantic cause'??

you don't sound clueless you sound very very sensible! literally if ur paying attention to the season it’s a shock but not really a surprise like the escalation to physical abuse in 1.05 . was texting my friend this actually the other day the people who feel blindsided and betrayed by the twist just want armand to be lestat. Like there is a character who abuses claudia and fails her fundamentally despite loving her and seeing himself reflected in her. There is a character who is unable to pick her over louis even for louis’s sake because he wants louis so badly and loves him so selfishly . and that choice will haunt him forever and ever and both tie him and louis closer together and drive them forever apart. and people wanted it to be armand but this is the nuclear family gothic romance show so it’s not ! it’s lestat. which obviously isn’t to say lestats abuse is “better” or intrinsically more forgivable or whatever bc they don’t exist on a scale. but it is qualitatively different like u could read s1 as a study in how patriarchy couches abuse in family and romance . season 2 it’s not couched in anything but performance . & also not every man who wants to possess and control his lover is Heathcliff wuthering heights style devoted sometimes they just love control

[ca-suffit]

im sorry your takes are generally pretty great and i appreciate the space you make in fandom but i find the dismissal around lestat's queerness to be diminishing.

louis is a fantastic gay character and u r right about how he represents his queerness which is fabulously. he is mother he is fashion he is wife, a lot, and lestat is a lot more masc in aspects of their dynamic. louis also struggles with it, had internalized homophobia, and his relationship to his sexuality is fraught. now you can have that complexity and still be a "gay icon" sure but what i see here is a gay man existing. not every gay man existing has to be ~iconic~. louis is working on himself.

lestat is a different person and is going out there to make a mark on culture actively, regardless of why. he's not putting on a dress for five seconds (which btw was still pretty impactful in context but ok), he is being meaningfully gnc and making art. this is what queer culture is. it's frustrating to see this element diminished like it's just a meme or a bunch of people being thirsty.

im all for critiquing fandom being weirdos about it but i think the showrunners are doing something spectacular and pretending like fans are making lestat into something he is not just isn't the vibe.

reading this made me realize that I left out a sentence in this ask, so it did come off differently than I intended. I'd meant to say there's already been a lot of exploration of characters / ppl like lestat, but there's never been a character like louis before. I wasn't rly ever talking about lestat's queerness itself, I was talking about how he's prioritized bcuz he's white.

if u personally identity with him in this then that's ur right to, obviously. no group is a monolith and I was never trying to say one way is more "right" than the other. I rly do apologize if it came across like that, cuz I can see why it did.

"he's not putting on a dress for five seconds (which btw was still pretty impactful in context but ok)"

I don't rly know what u mean here bcuz within the show, nobody comments on the dress. ppl react to the baby but everything we know of the dress otherwise was only revealed by carol cutshall bts. I don't know what impact ur meaning here. to the tv audience, sure, but the NOLA audience?? or is it the fact he designed it in the first place.

tbh the thing I most noticed was that once again a white, european immigrant got to be center stage in an event that louis, as a black, louisiana native, isn't (like the card game lestat already had a place at more favored than louis earlier in S1). he also was able to wear that dress in public without public scorn (being european prbly helped here too, he's "other'd" but not the same way as louis is "other'd" for being black), which is something louis could never have done and actually survived at all. it's not that lestat doesn't experience homophobia otherwise, but he's still got a lot more room to confront it than louis, claudia, or armand would have, as ppl who would be confronting homophobia *and* racism with no access to white privilege (claudia literally dies in the same hour we see lestat confront a homophobe otherwise on his and louis' behalf and "win").

idk what they're going to explore for S3 yet, but what we've seen so far is....not that deep tbh. it's not even especially "queer." we're aware he is so we know it is, but straight men have worn makeup and flashy outfits and done homoerotic shit as musicians before too. very often. nothing we've seen from lestat so far has been pushing any boundary as a queer artist or making any kind of statement. I'm not trying to sound like a total bitch here, but a lot of what ur saying is pushing this white fandom agenda of the "importance" of so much that any white, queer character does that....just isn't. lestat's image and sound is taking a lot from other ppl in real music history who *were* doing groundbreaking things at the time, straight or not, but what he's doing is just wearing it as a costume rn. his lyrics even say "I'm an actor / in my makeup." like I said, S3 in full will bring more to the table, obviously, but for what we've seen so far....this hasn't said anything in any objective way that's "deep." u can still like it and identity with it, but idk how u'd argue that it's doing anything tbh. ur welcome to do it tho, I'm not trying to shut down the conversation here. I'm just giving my perspective. I *do* actually think this is stuff we should talk about exactly *bcuz* fandom rides so hard for it all the time. it should be explored why that is, what's the logic behind it. I rly am interested.

edit: wanted to add too that p much everyone we see in this show is queer and creative so literally why is nobody ever saying all this about louis' photography, claudia's acting and interest in fashion (or her general observations on the world thru so many diaries that are referenced in multiple ways as she's not around anymore to speak otherwise), armand's theatre work, madeleine's dressmaking. that's usually why ppl comment on lestat, bcuz he's the most noticed and praised but he's literally not the only one doing it at all.

[dreadfuldevotee]

op I love loumand as much as you but tell me how u think we're going to be fed next season with the steady threat of devil's minion and the overalll mess that Armand created toying with our boys head like that! if louis can ghost lestat for 70+ years I really don't think we're going to see him forgiving armand anytime soon :'(

Well, I think its important to not focus on forgiveness in the coming season because that might be a set up for disappointment. Personally, for both of them this is the first time in a long time, maybe even ever, that either Armand or Louis are truly on their own. I'd like for their modern s3 arcs to be about introspection. Yes, of their relationship to each other but also just learning anything about themselves and the kind of people they want to be. Both of them have been asked to play roles that stifled for years without end and before we can get into any "forgiveness" (which, I know is a word I use in regards to their future a lot, but I have complicated feelings about what that actually means- anyways.) they need to learn...literally anything about themselves. Even in regards to the inevitable Loustat reunion, I want it to feel earned so that when Lestat is ripped away it means something, you know?

So yeah! Honestly, I'm supremely hairbrained so if they so much as stand in the same room together I'll frankly take that as a serious win. I'd love for the show to give us some perspective on hindsight thoughts/feelings on their relationship from both of them, even if its snippy and rude- as long as it maintains that it meant something. That's my only true worry going into the next season is that they'll ride with the narrative being concocted that those 77 years are a true waste of time.

[starofhisheart]

My hope for IWTV: (POTENTIAL SPOILERS for show & books AHEAD)

Loustat reuinion obvi

Maybe stuff happens between the 4, Lestat tells his side of things, etc

Loustat leaves Dubai and Armand, rockstar Lestat arc begins (idk i havent read the books)

Meanwhile, Armand expects Daniel to leave as well, but...he stays

Devil's minion arc begins with Daniel getting Armand to bring his memories back and/or tell him their history

Armand was Alice the whole time!!!! When Armand said he'd keep digging to find out what was so fascinating abt Daniel he meant it!!!!

The story goes between flashbacks of their psychosexual stalker relationship & how they build an actual romantic relationship, to present day where Daniel is starting to feel very hot under the collar around Armand but too much of a bitch to drop his guard. Bickering ensues.

God i want devil's minion SO BAD u dont understand

[blueiight]

IWTV E4 “A Ruthless Pursuit of Blood with All a Child’s Demanding.” Claudia discussing how it feels to escape poverty to being adopted into wealth, struggling in her existence without peers even during her second childhood and how she does not even care to have the veneer of mortal manners around Louis’s family, what Charlie as her last peer meant to her, and her mortal upbringing prior to Lestat + Louis.

And I realized, what I thought was Heaven was just some nice room. And what I thought were angels were really hell demons.

Uncle Les and Daddy Louis were rich. They had nice clothes and a nice auto carriage and a funny way of being nice to each other.

I gotta go to bed when the rest of the world wakes up, so there's less kids to play with...

Daddy Lou said I had been away from people too long. I didn't know how to behave right anymore. But Uncle Les said, I behaved just fine.

Diary, his name is Charlie. He's got veins like rivers. They flow right down his arms. …Charlie's death ushered in one of the darkest eras in our lives. The oh-so-delicate balance of our oh-so-delicate household was shattered. For Claudia, all humans died with Charlie.

And, diary, you'd think a girl whose mama died in childbirth... whose daddy gave her away to a mean old auntie who beat her 'cause no one said she couldn't, who died in a fire but came back by the blood magic of two demons, well, you'd think that girl wouldn't know what funny was. But you'd be wrong, diary. And if I told you, dumb diary, that that same girl was being raised to kill like her demon parents did, to take two souls a day so she could stay in the same flat-chested, hairless-crotched 14-year-old baby doll body as her mind and spirit turn 19, 20, 25, 63, 358, you dumb, dumb diary, I bet you'd say to anyone who'd listen, "Fun? Fun? How does she even get up in the morning?" Well, let me tell you something, you stuck-up, flower-covered, three-dollar fancy fսcking paper diary, I'm doin' just fine. (diary pages read aloud as Claudia self harms at the end of e4)

IWTV E5 “A Vile Hunger for Your Hammering Heart”. Claudia discussing her life/reckoning with the fate of her premature existence.

"Dear Diary, am I gonna be a virgin every single time I do it? Won't my skin down there grow back like my hair does when I cut it?"

Who am I supposed to love? You two have each other. Who's my Lestat? Who's my Louis? I’m not human. What human would want me? Perverts? Like the uncle at the roomin' house who used to watch me pee? Or little boys? And 40 years from now... still little boys? How are you gonna fix it, huh?… (turns to Louis) [Lestat] treats us like shit and you just take it! And you, [turns to Lestat] cruel as the devil ever made, to deny me one love when you’ve got two.

[Talking to Louis in her room after the confrontation at the dinner table] I remember the night I was made, the fire chokin' me, you carryin' me out through the flame and the smokes. But then why'd you take me home? Why not a hospital? …. But I was breathin'! Maybe I'd have a handsome husband by now. Or maybe he'd be plain but with a good disposition. That'd be fine, too. I'd be sweepin' floors, makin' dinners, nursin' babies. Maybe I'd go to church. You think on that some.

How does Claudia react after her rape? She exhibits textbook behaviors.

Co-dependency.

I spend time following Louis and Lestat now that I am my own woman... with no obvious sense of why I follow them, other than meaning slowly disintegrates without them...My companions in immortality.

but wait.. u might ask: doesn’t this contradict what she said years earlier in this same episode about wanting ‘her own Lestat and Louis’? is this Louis or Armand somehow forging Claudia’s diary? or is this a rape victim shortly after the actual experience struggling with her emotional+ mental state and in that frame of mind going back to the immortal family she finds to be a more familiar sort of ‘evil’ than the unknown vampire that raped her, especially after witnessing Louis weep over the grave Grace made of him? to Claudia here, being Louis’s ‘sister’ is balm put onto a bleeding wound.

Hypervigilance over her wider situation ad an Enmeshment with Louis, as they both have endured incredibly traumatizing events (with Claudia being raped + shortly after, witnessing Louis being beaten) and are without Lestat for six years following the end of E5 picking up the pieces. it is Claudia who tends to Louis in his most vulnerable here, and Louis struggles with that, wanting to be ‘her knight in vengeful black’ in return.

She's grown very protective of me. That's what this is. It's why it's hard. She came back altered when she left us. There's a darkness in her that wasn't there before. Give her a little time. [Louis is trying to appease Lestat here in their ‘compromise’, but there is a key bit of truth in his observations here.]

Claudia learned very early on, as early as E4 when Louis asked her mentally about Charlie, how to block her mind off from Louis. and with her traumatic experiences, its all but said that hypervigilance protects her mind further (as shown in the S2 trailer when Armand comments on it). When Lestat steals her from off the train, he also threatens her:

Because if you try this again, Claudia, I won't snap your leg, defile your pocket, and zoom off on a motorbike. I'll turn your bones to dust.

Is it any wonder Claudia draws the comparison to Bruce when she talks to Louis, especially when Louis in the season finale plays the role of a honey trap to the very same lover who almost ‘killed Louis’, as Claudia [and Daniel alike] frame the ending of E5 as abuse + attempted murder, as Claudia seethes , is ‘done enduring?’ and just before she creates her own murder plan:

Or did you kill him, like you did Antoinette, and how you tried to do with Louis?

I have to wonder why, over a year from airing, blogs and reviews claiming to be dedicated to the series rehash the most juvenile questions that the episodes themselves directly answer? How can S2 spec or complex discussion occur, if callout PSAs shutting down any sort of canon-compliant discussion is the way to go? If people constantly exhibit their refusal to meet the show where its at and engage the material for what it is, where can we go from here? AMC IWTV is very didactic. ‘The absence of metaphor is striking’. Yet for all the waxing about loving ‘fucked-up gothic romance’, there is a willful ignorance in understanding where & what makes the situation fucked up to begin with. Or even an interest in understanding the basics of the setting!

[loelett]

Umm hayyy.... thank u to @butchybats (love of my life) for tagging me in the snippet of a wip challenge !! for once I actually have a wip and it's actually all Ray's fault proof:

Here's my favorite part of the wip (WHICH IS OVER 1000 WORDS NOW BTW)

“Ah. Armand… I hope you know that I don’t actually eat grass.”

He does not seem to understand, briefly. “I saw you eat it. Quite clearly. A vampire memory is nearly infallible, you know.” He looks suspicious. “This is very strange for you, Louis. Are you very upset at me? Is that why you won’t accept?” “Um… no.” Louis pats the top of Armand’s hand once, then motions for him to sit. He does, and Louis sits across from him, eye to eye. “I’m a vampire just as you are, Armand. I don’t actually… You see, I was very upset when that happened. I only wished to feel…” He coughs into his fist. “Something. I suppose I wanted to feel closer to the mortal world. In any way I could. You understand how things were, after…” Louis trails off. His expression sobers, but his eyes are still kind. “Well, it’s not something I prefer to linger on. The grass eating, I mean. Call it a moment of weakness.”

Armand’s own expression sours as he listens along. His hands grip tightly on the grass stalks next to him, and his eyes burn. “I see.” He is silent for a long time, breaking eye contact to glare at the tip of Louis’ shoe. “I have offended you.”

“N-no, I-”

“Grass ingestion is a pastime only expressed in times of great distress. And I have brought back sour memories. Memories brought on by my own actions. How monstrous you must see me. You, a modern century angel. I can only apologize.” His head bows softly.

Louis, flustered, simply makes a small noise of protest. He rests a hand on Armand’s head, fingers stroking his curly hair before sliding beneath his chin to lift his bowed head. “Please, Armand. Don’t chide yourself over such things. You know I cannot blame you for past events any more than I blame myself.”

“Oh Louis! That does not make me feel any better. I know better than anyone how your self loathing-!”

“Ah, that’s not what I meant! I mean- it’s okay. I’m not offended. Please, I’m actually flattered.

UMMyeah. Maybe i'll post it one day if i actually finish it???? lmao

I think Ray already tagged everyone i know so this is an open invitation for anyone who wants to join in

[rollercoasterwords]

hi rae how are uu!!!

i was reading about mulvey and the female gaze and i remembered you saying something about how it pushes bioessentialist agendas but i don't remember what u said exactly so do you mind sharing a piece of ur mind about this again

also!!!!! i've read captive prince with ur influence and then read ur laurent's pov rewrite and god!!!!! it was so so good it brought me to tears and made me laugh out loud and scream into my pillow at times... the first book didn't stick out to me that well but afterwards?? their dynamic is everything i was missing in life. also reading the first book in laurent's pov was an otherworldly experience, him getting surprised to see damien isn't the definition of all things evil like he thought ahhhh u captured him perfectly i think

also read all for the game series (saw a fanart of neil in ur blog and it kickstarted me getting into yet another fandom) and i was like wtf is this and then later i was like wtf is this but in a positive way. now the characters are all my babies (except kevin like yes i understand his struggles and all but i still see that guy as a little bitch which is a bit ironic when andreil are the biggest bitches to exist but still)

also binge-watched iwtv and goddddd gays with communication problems who happen to be vampires i love them all sm <333 do u have a fav character i wonder AND any thoughts on the last episode?

anyways i hope life is treating you kindly much kisses and good wishes <3

hi i'm good hope ur doing good as well!! such a fun message hang on let me take this piece by piece...

mulvey's male gaze the bane of my existence lmao...yeah the entire theory is rooted in bioessentialism. basically mulvey is basing her theory in freud who assumes that the categories 'father' 'mother' 'son' and 'daughter' are stable + static & therefore assumes that the categories 'male' and 'female' are stable + static biological categories which engender inherently different psychic/interior qualities. mulvey's entire argument hinges on the idea that men will be categorically unable to relate to/empathize with/see themselves as women onscreen--this argument begins to break down when you start asking questions like 'how is mulvey defining 'men' and 'women'? is she defining them, or is she assuming that they're static biological categories? are they static biological categories?' also i disagree with the idea that people are categorically unable to identify with characters across sex and/or gender & think it's kinda dumb tbh. to be fair, mulvey's theory was meant to apply to a pretty specific context and has largely been taken out of that context in ways that are very annoying but not necessarily her fault; still, when the original theory is so rooted in bioessentialism i don't really find any of it useful.

anyway. moving on to the fun stuff captive prince omg!! so glad u enjoyed the series & my own take on laurent...it was SO fun trying to get inside his head & imagine what would have been going on in there i love him so much <3 <3 tricky to write tho bc i was definitely trying 2 walk the line of like. not diminishing/excusing laurent's cruelty while simultaneously showing why he acts the way he does in the first book...abuse as cyclical etc...

and aftg lol such a trip...wtf is honestly an accurate response it's a wild ride but so much fun <3 & not liking kevin...valid honestly i like him but i also don't care abt him that much compared 2 the other characters...u should read 'the sunshine court' at some point it's abt jean & it will probably make u like kevin even less lmao

& finally. iwtv!!!!!!!! i've been obsessed w that show the past few weeks i just binge watched season 1 & have now been watching season 2...SO fucking good omg. personally my favorite character is. armand <3 idc what he does they could never make me hate him...last episode was soooo good claudia is my second-fave character just a smidge after armand i truly think her story is probably the most interesting + tragic out of all of them like. makes me feel a bit crazyinsane thinking abt it BUT her & madeleine. oh my goddddd that scene broke me. don't have many more coherent thoughts currently other than wailing + tearing my hair out etc but i am having a great time nonetheless...

anyway thank u 4 the message love catching up life has been busy but mostly treating me kindly hope it's doing the same for u!! <3

[nalyra-dreaming]

I hope we get some snippets of the 70's interview in s2 - I'd guess it's closer to the the book plot, but I'm curious about how it differs from the present tale & why Louis changed his tune so much. I don't get why some fans ignore this plot point & the way it's informing Daniel's current approach. In his line of work, if someone gives you two contradictory stories, admits the first was a performance but is vague when you ask why & deflects when u challenge them, they're an unreliable source.

Definitely, and something must have happened.

And there is another level to it, the interview we "see" is not the one that was "recorded".

There is no "Lestat had surrounded me" when Louis leaves after their first time. But there is on the recording Daniel has. For example (there was a very interesting post the other day in regards to this).

Which gives an interesting spin to the meta level of the show itself, because you literally cannot trust anything.

Did Louis say "surrounded me" and Daniel's interpretation is that which we "saw"? Is it Louis' imagination, and what we saw is what he meant, but he chose to use a different word for Daniel?

And of course, as you rightfully point out, the big, big discrepancies between the tape and recording, that Daniel himself points out.

Why is that.

There is only one logical reason (imho) and that is that some kind of reconciliation has happened in-between those interviews. As Louis hints at himself. Perspective, for one.

How did Louis get to a different perspective on Lestat? And why does he still suppress memories? What other memories does he suppress? Are suppressed?

He mirrors Daniel here (a bit), in the way that they both remember differently, a parallel that Louis himself points out to Daniel.

The odyssey of recollection.

And... I think both hope for a more tranquil crossing.

But odyssey's are always a mess, they come with sirens, death and storms.

And the passage of time. :)

So yes, Louis is an unreliable source.

Unfortunately, Daniel is, too.

And I bet Armand will be as well 😈

[oddstone]

I have SO MICH to say to scream about iwtv that I actually will lose my momentum to do any of my remaining work for the semester. SO all I will say is that I was VERY HAPPY to see one of my favs Ben Daniel’s on the show truly put the ICK in Francis/ Santiago. I will be disparage that character to DUST. but I’m just a Ben girly. Anyway….. y’all are so lucky I don’t do fandom shit anymore. But Lestat apologists… EVERYTHING U TOUCH GON TURN TO ASH HOE! Armand… u sad as bitch… u try hard blubber fish. Assad truly my beautiful brown prince roses for u for bringing complicated yet bitch ass pussy footing neurotic anxiety ridden. cowardice back to the screen.

LOUIS DE POINTE DU LAC. The way I wanted to slap this character out of existence… the way the chancla was FORMING IN MY HAND AT THE END OF rp. 8. And no I haven’t read the books so let me get this off my chest. to give him some room I GET that this possibly a scene of closure that he needed to be is truly done with Lestat. I get having moments of emotional closure with a person you loved despite their abuse. I can put my nuance hat on. And I GET IT, trying to be there for an ex at their lowest point even if it’s not a sound choice, I GET IT.

But YOU KNOW THE TRUTH. And that still shouldn’t change the fact that YOU GIVING LESTAT AN INCH IS GIVING HIM 8 THOUSAND MILES. . And s3 will probably clear up this scene and we’re getting Lestat pov. But it can’t be denied that initial feeing of that end scene MEANS U LEARNED NOTHING AT ALL. If u get back with this white devil.

I literally don’t give a fuck if Louis recollection is skewed, that literally is what happens when you spend a life with a toxic abusive controlling narcissistic partner. And u happen to be co-dependent. Like it makes sense that Louis memories aren’t all the way there, even when it makes him look favourable. Outside the supernatural aspect that is a response the brain does when recollecting trauma.

Anyway, I feel this way because literally everything Claudia has told him has plead with him meant NOTHING. And yeah yeah I know there is that angle of analysis that, that is the point and how Louis himself is toxic.

But some of y’all act as if it makes it okay ! And I swear in s3 if I hear/see shit about mutual abuse I will literally duplex u into a volcano.

My baby Claudia. Saying that you deserved more is an understatement and seemingly the wrong statement. You didn’t just deserve more u deserved everything. I made peace when it came to me analytically and allegorically that u are literally the inner child which we all stifle that we all push away. Claudia was truly the agony of unfulfilled potential. And she deserved to be loved. And she was loved and that is all I can ask for.

Man I was in SHAMBLES.

Anyway lol can’t wait for s3,