#do you think she thinks about how louis killed her. even outside of what she says in ep 5 like louis killed her. he was the prox cause of-

[nashvillethotchicken]

I'm think about claudia and louis again. 79 dead 1903 injured

[somevagrantchild]

Missing Loustat scene discovered in Anne Rice's diaries

I HAVE SOMETHING AMAZING TO SHARE WITH YOU!!

As I was reading Anne Rice's diaries in the special collection library at Tulane University while I was in New Orleans for the Vampire Ball, I discovered this intensely sexy scene she wrote between Louis and Lestat that never made it into her books. This is Anne Rice's original writing, never before shared anywhere online.

Anne Rice wrote this scene by hand in her diary dated November 6, 2015 (which she mentions is the day before Stan's birthday. He would have been 73😭). I have deduced that it is her very first (and very rough) draft of the scene that eventually became chapter 4 in Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis, aka the scene where Louis agrees to move into the chateau and be Lestat's partner/companion again. The final version of the scene in the book reads like wedding vows, serving as the beginning of their marriage in the modern era. As you'll see, the first draft was rather different. 

In Prince Lestat, Louis and Lestat's interactions are extremely brief, and they aren't able to talk beyond one stolen moment to reassure each other of their love. It would seem that in the six months between the end of Prince Lestat (when Louis thinks to himself that he will be with Lestat very soon), and the beginning of Atlantis (when that finally ends up happening), Louis and Lestat do not have any intimate conversation. They may have talked somewhat, but only briefly about superficial matters, or they may have not even spoken to each other once over those six months until Lestat asks Louis to meet him in New Orleans for chapter 4.

In an earlier diary entry, I found a note where Anne said she wanted their first reunion conversation to begin by finally addressing Louis dumping Lestat's body in the swamp after Claudia tried to kill him—something they have never once discussed. So when I came across this scene in a later diary, I could tell it was a direct follow-through on that idea. 

The scene begins with Lestat speaking to Louis, and it seems they are outside on the streets of New Orleans, but someplace private where they aren't being observed by mortals. This is different from the final book version with them sitting at a sticky table at the Café Du Monde (though it is similar to how Lestat tells us they walked around the city streets together for hours after the reunion scene was over). 

Anne headed this part of the diary entry with: Early on: L+L quarrel—

“I can forgive her for what she did. She was never a human being. She went from being an infant to a monster. But you—you stood there and watched. You carried my body into the swamps and dumped me there as if I were trash—you were the one I hated! How could you do that to me? Decades we’d been together!”

He stared at me for the longest time—not defensive, not angry.

“I could do it because I was afraid,” he said. “I didn’t know how I was going to live without you.”

“I don’t believe you. You were fine without me. You were preparing to sail to Europe. You were making plans.”

A torrent of words.

“Stop!” he said. “I’m here now. I love you! I thought you wanted me here! I thought you’d forgiven me. I thought we had a second chance, now, you and I. And miles to travel together!”

I nodded.

“A second chance!”

I nodded.

Then I took hold of him as if I was going to kill him. I threw him up against the wall and bit into his neck for the first time in two hundred years—the first time since the first time—and when the blood gushed into my mouth, I saw again—for the first time in two hundred years—his soul, his heart.

I was lost in his mind, his thoughts, his dreams, flashes…

I drew back—I’d drunk too much. He was being held there by me, his head bowed. I slapped him hard and when he opened his eyes, I pushed his open mouth against my neck. I forced his fangs into me.

And we were together, wrapped in one another’s arms…

Finally I pushed him back.

He was sitting on the paving stones, hair in his face, back to the wall. I took his hand and helped him up.

“Kiss me,” I said. “No, really kiss me.”

Finally I let him go.

“I can’t live without you! “ he said. “I swear, you wander off on me again, I…”

“I won’t. I won’t ever.”

We walked along in silence.

“He loves you too,” he said.

“Who?”

“The silent one, the one who’s never spoken to me, the one inside you.”

It was time. I could have lingered a half hour more in the old times, but the time was now.

The End 

------------------------------------

Above is the clean version, which I have corrected for missing punctuation, missing letters/words, and necessary dialogue tags.

Below is the original rough version as I have transcribed exactly from Anne Rice's handwritten diary.

------------------------------------

“I can forgive her for what she did. She was never a human being. She went from being an infant to a monster. But you—you stood there & watched. You carried my body in the swamps & dumped me there as if I were trash—you were the one I hated! How could you do that to me? Decades we’d been together!

He stared at me for the longest time—not defensive, not angry.

I could do it because I was afraid, he said. “I didn’t know how I was going to live without you.”

“I don’t believe. You were fine without me. You were preparing to sail to Europe. You were making plans.”

—A torrent of words.

“Stop! I’m here now. I love you! I thought you ’d wanted me here! I thought you’d forgive me. I thought we had a second chance, now, you & I. And miles to travel together!”

I nodded—

“A second chance!”

I nodded—

Then I took hold of him as if I was going to kill him. I threw him up against the wall & bit into his neck for the first time in 200 years—the first time since the first time—and when the blood gushed into my mouth I saw again—for the first time in 200 years—his soul, his heart—

I was lost in his mind, his thoughts, his dreams, flashes — (more)

I drew back—I’d drunk too much He was being held there by me, his head bowed. I slapped him hard & when he opened his eyes I pushed his open mouth against my neck. I forced his fangs into me.

And we were together, wrapped in one another arms — (more)

Finally I pushed him back.

He was sitting on the paving stones, hair in his face, back to the wall. I took his hand & helped him up.

Kiss me. No really kiss me.

Finally I let him go.

I can’t live without you! I swear, you wander off on me again, I … I ”

“I won’t. I won’t ever.”

We walked along in silence —

He loves you too

Who

The silent one, the one who’s never spoken to me, the one inside you.

It was time. I could have linger a half hour more in the old times, but was now —

The End 

------------------------------------

The spots where she wrote (more) are clearly areas where she intended to expound upon all Lestat was seeing and feeling in Louis's mind, soul, and blood, and then what he felt and saw as Louis was drinking from him. How I wish we could know what she would have written there! Also the lines that start or end with a — make me wonder if she intended to add more to those bits as well. Would she have actually written out Lestat's torrent of words?

Lestat's line "Kiss me. No really kiss me." isn't in quotation marks in Anne's diary. I chose to add them, because there were many other obviously spoken-aloud dialogue lines also without quotes. But it is possible that Lestat only thinks these words as he and Louis are kissing each other. It reminds me of in Queen of the Damned, when Daniel thinks, "I like kissing. And suggling with dead things, yes, hold me." The narration doesn't tell us Armand actually starts holding him, but Anne's style of using internal monologue makes it clear that's what happens in the action. So the "Kiss me." could be similar in this instance as well. And in that case it might mean Louis is the one who initiates the kiss, and this is Lestat’s internal “yes, yes!!” reaction to it. But I do suspect he is actually meant to be saying it aloud.

With the em dash at the end of it, the very last line could have been meant to continue: "but was now ______" was now...something. But considering she wrote "The End" after it, it seems like it was meant to be a final statement, so that is why I added the missing words I chose in my edited clean version.

Although this conversation is very different from the one we get in the final version of Atlantis, I do still see elements of it in the book's scene:

Louis's line "I can’t live without you! I swear, you wander off on me again, I …" became "so I'll come. And when you tire of me and want me gone, I'll hate you of course."

They still kiss, really kiss. In the book, it is moved to before their conversation, when Lestat first sees Louis in their Rue Royal flat, wearing the new clothes he ordered for him and Louis says, "This is what you wanted, isn't it?" and Lestat is so shocked, he's unable to respond.

They do still discuss Amel in the book version, in much more depth than he is mentioned here. Louis having never heard Amel's voice in his own head remains consistent. 

They do still go walking around the streets of the Garden District, though it happens after the conversation, not during it. Lestat does say they talked for hours during that walk, but about Amel and what's been happening to Lestat as Prince. Not about themselves or their past. 

MY THOUGHTS!

The confirmation here that Lestat never tasted Louis's blood before their new marriage begins in Atlantis is one of the most amazing parts to me, when combined with the offhand way that Lestat mentions what Louis's vampire blood tastes like in Blood Communion. Even though the final version of Atlantis never shows us Lestat drinking Louis's blood (either forcefully like this scene, or consensually in other ways), the mention in Blood Communion does confirm that it DOES happen off the page at some point during the years between Atlantis chapter 4 and the beginning of Blood Communion. 

We know that Louis drank much of Lestat's blood at the end of Merrick, and this was his first time doing it because we were told in previous books how much he resisted his powers being increased by drinking ANY other vampire's blood. It is nice to have it confirmed that Lestat never bit Louis or drank any of his blood in return either before or after Merrick. But now, after Lestat becomes Prince, this is now a new element to their relationship. It makes me consider more strongly that Anne perhaps meant to imply that they then for the first time began to engage in blood sharing the same romantic way Lestat did with Akasha in Queen of the Damned, and then in the even more explicit way she shows us with Rhoshamandes and Benedict in Prince Lestat. 

I don't take all Anne wrote in her diaries as canon. It is clear that much of what she wrote there were spitball ideas that she later chose to absolutely reject (as opposed to deciding they were true but she just didn't mention them in the books). But I do not see anything in this scene that the final versions of the books contradict. So even though this scene didn't actually happen in canon, we can believe that the feelings and emotions that drive this scene are still canon. And I love that for us 🥰

I have cross-posted this on ao3 to give us a good place to talk back and forth to each other about it in the comments section there. Reblog and reply to this post as much as you like, but if you want to have some conversations and share your own thoughts on what she wrote, ao3 will give us a much more organized place to do it, where other people will be able to easily find and read your meta as well.

[frigidwife]

i would like to ask ur opinion on this bc u are one of maybe 5-6 iwtv blogs that i trust and i don't know if i am simply biased but i think u are very thoughtful and fair in ur analysis of iwtv. because even among self-proclaimed louis lovers/understanders, i have seen the idea that louis "could not and would not" save claudia from the fire, or choose her over armand, or that louis was also abusive to claudia if not the Most abusive, or that he "let" lestat/armand destroy her. and i agree that louis failed claudia in some ways (though saying that feels much too vague at this point) and that liking characters doesn't mean apologizing for their flaws and i understand the reflex to spotlight claudia's mistreatment as many fans are so quick to dismiss her importance. but i think people get so caught up in emphasizing claudia's tragedy that they end up falling into victim-blaming rhetoric and ironically de-legitimizing really important aspects of her character and impact. so i wanted to ask though, how do you think louis actually did fail claudia? and should we call claudia's death louis' failure?

ty for valuing my opinion 🥹 i agree w you completely people emphasize claudia's tragedy at total expense of her personality...which sucks bc i love her personality...i think louis actually primarily failed claudia in the exact way that every single parent fails their child. if you've read frankenstein it's about the inherent monstrosity of creation--inherent hubris of creating something whether it's a creature, a work of art (the novel itself!), or a child (shelley's miscarriages and her relationship with her parents haunt the novel). you create something that is a part of you and a mirror of you, you confer your expectations as naturally as breathing, even with the best of intentions, but now the creature/novel/child exists outside of you, outside of your body and your imagination, autonomous, with desires and effects you couldn't have dreamt of, and there is something terrifying and painful in that chasm even in the best of conditions. and this is more broadly true of loving anyone. and in that sense i don't think louis's turning of claudia is really more selfish than having a child ever is. it's not an aberrant or evil desire. so that's one layer.

and then the next layer is the conditions. louis cannot stop seeing claudia as his daughter, even if he calls her sister. she'll always be his daughter. and again this is an almost fundamental condition of being a parent. even if ur parents make an effort--and louis is making an effort--to see you as equals, that foundation is underlying it and can't come undone. the problem is that normally, even if maybe you're always a baby to your mom deep down, you're also functionally an adult in the real world. but claudia is an adult who is constantly belittled and condescended to and treated as a child from all corners. so she goes from louis who can't see her as her own person because he cant stop being her parent to an outside world that can't see her as her own person bc it's structured to deny children's autonomy, and girls' in particular, and especially black girls'. AND THEN the abuse. “you chose lestat over her again and again” i think people take daniel as word of god a lot even when the show has demonstrated that daniel is less than careful talking and thinking about abuse, when it comes to both louis and claudia. Louis chooses to take lestat back, can’t kill him for good, chooses to commit to armand, tells her to put up with the coven’s abuse. those are choices that hurt claudia terribly. but they also exist in the context of abuse. over two decades of debilitating destroying violence and then a new man who tracks him down and dangles his and claudia’s life over him as penalty from the jump. louis is constantly calculating risk based on what they’ve experienced and the same way claudia’s trauma drives her into the waiting arms of a cult, louis’s means he sees enduring as his strongest means of survival . and even from before that from keeping his family afloat under jim crow —performance, self sacrifice at the expense of closeness with grace and paul; using “weakness to rise”. so when louis tells claudia to endure its bc he cannot imagine a way out. which is a failure sure and something claudia can and does resent him deeply for but is entirely and categorically different from what lestat and armand inflict on her . his “choosing armand” is never really about him liking armand particularly it’s him deciding he knows what’s best for both of them—again seeing claudia as his child—to the extent that he won’t even tell her about armand knowing their secret.

this isn’t selfless it’s foolish it’s prideful but the story very clearly is not Louis picking a man over his daughter. (claudia calls out what he wants in a companion in 2.01—“if he can’t call you pretty and take you ballroom dancing” Armand won’t even light his cigarette). i think people have constructed this narrative which funnily enough is the exact same one armand uses to gaslight louis with in 2.05 ("you threw around her name for cover, but you always went back to talking about him" or something like that). Which is really obviously a victim blaming narrative lol like the amount of joke posts that r essentially saying Maybe if louis wasn’t so cock hungry his daughter wouldn’t be dead. Okay?? i think its absolutely fucking insane to call her death louis's particular failure when she was lynched. by armand

and you can tell by episode 6 claudia has realized louis isn’t picking armand over her. her frustration with him is with this martyrdom that she never asked for or wanted, that clearly isn’t “you and me” either. Like you cannot tell me she believes “imagine me without the burden of her” means louis is happy and relieved to see her go Bc she’s not stupid and she’s seen him happy before. If she really thought he meant something like that she wouldn’t behave towards him as she does in the rest of ep 6 and doing the trial. completely ignoring her personality

there is also a hopefully really small subset of people who think pointing out how patriarchy works Is gender essentialism who posit louis as the primary perpetrator of misogynoir in order to justify their fundamental queer human right to call lestat femme . and then expect pats on the back for acknowledging #intersectionality . which is. absurd.

[doberbutts]

it sounds like the anon who sent the ask about the intersex fanfic character is wanting to write a story “about being intersex” i.e. about the personal experiences of being intersex, given they mentioned wanting to write about “how it affects his life” and “what happens if people find out” (both phrased in a way that seems to presume negativity and difficulty). I think you gave good advice from a worldbuilding perspective but I would add to that that overall the prevailing advice for writers is not to write about the ~great personal struggle~ of being [x minority] if you’re portraying a character with an identity you yourself don’t share; and (to the asker) if you are really determined to do that anyway as a perisex person, you should consider doing more research than sending a tumblr ask. read a few books or something. (i think if they go with your very wise worldbuilding advice this would no longer apply, the wording simply gave me pause.)

I understand that that is the prevailing advice, however I disagree to a certain extent.

I think that if you are not [marginalized demographic here] and you are trying to write about the experiences of said demographic, including any sort of personal struggle, then you have a duty to ensure that you do your research to present the best representation of said demographic you possibly can, and that you should be open to advice if someone from said demographic tells you that you are falling into dangerous tropes or stereotypes.

However, I do not think that only [demographic] should write [demographic]. This is for a few reasons:

In writing a demographic different from your own, and doing research to ensure that you are doing it well, you as the author will learn a great deal about what you have to unpack and unlearn about said demographic, including things you were not even aware of before. This, to me, is a positive thing. It is one more ally in the struggle for freedom.

I'm thinking specifically of Tamora Pierce and her books which include multiple races, ethnicities, sexualities, and genders that Pierce herself has voiced that she avoided on purpose because she was afraid that she'd fuck them up. And how she felt her world get a little wider, when she got over that fear and started making sure to include these demographics because she felt that it was important to her to understand them.

But also, your readers are predominately going to be your demographic, which means that you have the power and potential to spread this same learning over a much wider net. Harper Lee and Louis Sachar are nonblack, however To Kill A Mockingbird and Holes are widely read in schools to learn about antiblack racism and are frequently used as a baseline to teach children of all demographics. Yes, schools should also be using books by actual black people, but I do not think either of these titles are necessarily bad choices. Miles Morales of Spiderverse fame was initially created by an entire team of nonblack people, and yet the movies touch heavily on the subject of racism being a constant background in his life. I have not yet read the comics, and don't know that I ever will since I'm not a comics kind of guy, so I cannot speak to those.

Anyway the last reason that I disagree that only [demographic] should write [demographic] is because then that turns into overall less representation and less diversity. I'm a big fantasy fan. I'm so happy when I see a black character in fantasy, and even moreso when that black character is outside of the Bad Guys Only races. And I think that if we only let black people make black characters, we will see overall less black characters, because black people are often willfully excluded from the writers room and production staff. I'd rather an all-white team do their due diligence to ensure good representation, than no black characters at all because black writers can't even get in the door. Of course, the solution is More Black Writers, but this is a multifaceted problem worsened by racist society, so the baby steps are what we have to work with.

I do agree that anon does need to do more research. However, intersex books that are actually written by the community, rather than medical journals treating us as an oddity, are fairly few and far between. Asking a random blog is not enough research, no. But it may help them get started on where to look.

[chuuzmii]

Bro i saw someone go "i think the ripped out pages in claudias journal are pages about lestat caring for her" and had to take a break and go outside to feel the grass between my fingers. Because NO, u fart huffer, they already SHOWED us what the ripped out pages were. One was the shit about bruce and the other was what Louis did after "killing" lestat.

She literally already wrote about Lestat being caring in her diary. Teaching her how to drive, the casket shopping, and teaching her how to hunt. She literally says she loves louis more but sometimes she needs lestat because hes more like her. So whyy would they rip out other pagesnof him being caring? The reason why her diaries tone about him changes isn't because of ripped out pages it's because he made her watch her bf get slow roasted like obviously she's not gonna fw him like that no more.

Also THEY SHOWED US WHAT WAS MISSING?? Daniel literally asks "what did you do because for awhile it looked like she hated you" and they literally show us what was missing??? Louis choke slamming claudia is what was on those missing pages. Daniel even has to ask what happened to Lestats body because that was gone too. Seems like a weird thing to not put in your super detailed diary entry about killing your dad. She even wrote his last words in his blood no way she wouldn't write about what they did with his body.

Honestly it just seems like some people need to be spoon fed details in tv shows which just does not work when it comes to shows like iwtv because they do not spell SHIT out for anybody.

[rapha-reads]

IWTV rewatch

Season 1 episode 4 [The Ruthless Pursuit of Blood With All a Child's Demanding] - part 2/2

- [Claudia] "We do like mortals do. We fight, we eat, we laugh, we sleep, we love. And then the phone rang last night. And all the easy times stopped." - ooof. How to destroy familial domesticity: bring back the real world.

I love, love, loooove Louis' coldness and casual cruelty at his mother's wake. And looooove the family solidarity. Oh, Daddy Lou's fighting with his sister? Time to show our fangs and have his back.

- Oooh, a Lestat and Claudia scene! Dad teaching his kid all the true, important ways to make it in the world. And accidentally making her realise some things she'll never get to have, stuck as she is as a young teenager. But the blood kinda makes up for it tho.

- "Uncle Les says I gotta practice killin' both the one and the plus one at the same time, but I came away understanding something else tonight. I can't quite put it into words, but it's like something opened up in my head, in my body. I've been 18 for 7 months now, and it's time I started acting like it."

Aaaaand there it is. Happy hunting indeed. Happy until the reality hits back...

"I've lost my appetite, I can't sleep!" - welcome to hormones. Can't say I know first-hand what you're going through but good luck. Oh, no, but this is waaay too adorable. The giggling and the skipping and the flowers and the staying on the balcony waiting for Charlie to look up...

- "Everyone in my family looks younger than their age." - yeah that's one way to put it I guess.

Aaaand exit Charlie, pursued by a terrified horse. Taking this opportunity to say a lil something about how book!vampires are basically asexual in the way that their desire and pleasure express themselves through the blood, blood drinking and blood sharing. While the show being a visual media for a modern audience decided to make human sexuality also a part of vampire sexuality, all while keeping the blood as this irresistible force and the source of everything. Don't really have an opinion one way or another, except to say, please we need more asexual representation that still shows that ace people can find and express desire and pleasure outside of sexuality.

- Lestat taking on the ugly role of teaching Claudia about control and how it's hard for vampires to make lasting connections with mortals... Parenting's hard.

- [Louis] "Vivid writer, isn't she" - I'm kinda glad we don't get Claudia's own words about Charlie's death, knowing the writers they would have given us another lyrical prose that would have made us all bawl our eyes out.

The way Daniel is visibly impacted and heartbroken reading Claudia's diaries: he is deeply compassionate. And you can't read people and write about them without a certain level of compassion and even empathy. "Anne Frank meets Stephen King" indeed.

- [Louis] "Claudia was... everything." - ouch. Break my heart, won't you. It's the way Louis is physically struggling to talk about her, the way he needs the pebbles of his zen garden beneath his feet to anchor himself solidly enough to talk about her.

- "It's funnier when they fight in French. 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 fucking paper diary, I'm doing just fine. And how do I know that? 'Cause the first man I killed called me the devil, and the last boy I killed, the last boy I'll ever love in this world, called me an angel. So that means I'm on the right path. And that means there's so much more fun out there to have. I'm just getting started."

THE INTENSITY, DAMN.

The crescendo of Claudia's voice overlayed by the music and echoed in the angrier and angrier words. Wow, I need a minute.

Between the "losing my mind in the coffin" scene, that "madwoman in the attic walking down from the attic" scene and the "the sun is a deadly laser" scene, someone needs to give Bailey several awards. And the writing team needs these awards too.

Show!Claudia actually has a backstory, not very detailed but still there, a miserable, painful human life, 14 years of misery and pain - she had a life, she had experiences before becoming a vampire; unlike book!Claudia who was 5 when she was turned, told Louis she couldn't remember her human life before being Louis and Lestat's, and doesn't have her own narration in between Louis' recollections.

Here, the addition of the diaries to the way the story is told not only allows a third party, a third perspective that's no more and no less of an unreliable narrator as Louis' voice, but it also, and I think more importantly, allows for Claudia to speak for herself. She isn't anymore just a footnote in the messy romance of Louis and Lestat. She is her own person, in her own narrative, with her own agency and life. And that's a huge difference between the two versions of Claudia: eternally-5-year-old Claudia couldn't have her own agency, no matter that she was really 40 in a child's body, because that child's body was more of a damnation, a cage, than a teenager's body. At 14 and with make-up, fashion, body language and speech, Claudia can make herself look marginally older, and thus can reclaim some of that agency, of that control. Therefore the issue comes not from the fact that Claudia needs at least one adult to have that agency by proxy, but from the fact that she might never pass for older than 18 and will be taken advantage of. As we'll soon see.

Also she was right, last boy she loved, but not last person, we stan a bisexual murder deranged queen.

And I did tell Lestat, that roof window is a structural failure.

Well, welcome to the Claudia show. That was one hell of an entrance. Crowd's seated for the next part, "Claudia goes Wild party in the Mississippi".

episode 1 | episode 2 | episode 3 | part 1 | episode 5 | episode 6 | episode 7

[applesaucesims]

After putting little Louis to bed, Emma was quick to fall asleep herself, leaving Niall awake by himself. He had too many worries going around his head to be able to get any rest, so he stuck to taking comfort in his liquor. However, he was startled when he heard the doorbell ring. Surprised to see his friend Laura at the door, he let her in anyway. He could use the distraction. But nothing could have prepared him for the news that she had come to deliver.

Of course Niall knew the troubles of keeping your private life out of the public eye, when you were in the film business, especially when that life was even slightly outside the norm. It was something he was constantly thinking and worrying about, even now that he was married with child. So, he understood why Laura and Franklin were planning this marriage of convenience, although he wished it did not have to be so.

He had been doing well enough, without having to face his fears about the future and his career, as well as that of his friends. It was already too much to deal with and, now that he had a family to care for, too, it was like his life was just a constant flow of stress. Until now, the alcohol had always been a way to escape it, but perhaps Laura was right. He would not be able to make it through this on his own. Eventually, he would have to speak to Emma about his worries.

[TRANSCRIPT]

Niall: "Laura?"

Laura: "Hello, darling. So, won't you let me in?"

Niall: "Oh, yes, of course."

...

Laura: "Sorry to keep you at this late hour."

Niall: "Oh, it's fine. I wasn't going to sleep any time soon."

Laura: "I see. Well, I just wanted to come by and let you know before you get the letter."

Niall: "Letter? Sounds serious."

Laura: "Not really. Well, kind of."

Laura: "You know that, in our line of work, rumours only grow. I feel it's going to catch up with me soon. It would be even worse for Franklin."

Laura: "We've decided to get married. To each other."

Niall: "Wait, what? How? He doesn't even like women. You don't like... either."

Laura: "That's exactly my point, genius."

Laura: "People talk, Niall. There's only so much you can do to avoid it from affecting our careers."

Laura: "I mean, we do love each other a lot. And we've thought about living together for a while now. Plus, I get the fabulous dress and the party, so there really is no downside!"

Niall: *groans*

Laura: "You alright?"

Niall: "My head is killing me. Maybe I should get another drink."

Laura: "You look like you've had enough already, no?"

Niall: "Please, I don't know how you can even take any of this sober. And I've got a child now, too!"

Niall: "Emma is taking it so well, and the baby loves her! I don't know why it seems so hopeless for me. I know not much expected from fathers, but I want to bond with my son, too!"

Laura: "Raising a child is a lot of work, but you're not alone in this. For starters, why don't you talk to your wife about this? Sure beats drowning your feelings in booze."

Niall: "I just feel so lost, Laura."

Laura: "I tell you, talk to your wife. But first, go get some sleep."

Niall: "Right."

Laura: "Well, goodnight, darling! I'll see you two at the wedding, then."

Niall: "Night, Laura."

[fancyfeathers]

op can you give an insight into how the darlings were found ?? Like whose most likely to make a careless mistake and leave a loose thread?

The Games We Play of Dust and Ash (Yandere Moriarty the Patriot Masterlist)

I think they would split up, their lives should have never met, in no other world would they have been friends. Albert’s darling has always been dependent so going to someone she trusts would be the only option in her eyes. The sister of Albert’s wife is staying with a well off family friend, a widow, since the death of their parents. She has been staying with her in Mayfair, trying to figure of the mystery of the death of their parents.

So when she arrives at the estate, her sister welcomes them with concern in her face and tries to tell her that she had to go and-

“Ah dearest, we were just talking about you.”

Her heart drops to her stomach as Albert steps into the main foyer from the drawing room along with the widow who her sister is the ward of. He knew where she would go and a carriage is much faster than walking on foot. He smiles at the caretaker of his sister in law as he slips on his hat…

“I think my wife and I best head home now, it is late after all.”

As he approaches his wife, his sister in law steps in and takes his hands and smiles, as if to give a friendly goodbye, she leans in and whispers…

“I know you killed them…”

She then lets go, excepting that he would falter but he just merely nodded and smiled at her and her confident expression melted away as he wrapped his arm around his wife’s waist. Her sister can only watch as Albert drags his wife off to his carriage.

Meanwhile Louis’ darling, being the most intelligent of the group knows not to go any locations they may suspect her to be at, mostly familiar locations. But there is one place she has never brought Louis or even mentioned the address of to him. She runs off to her old friend’s apartment, a doctor who has happened to caught the attention of a certain weapons engineer. The doctor, or otherwise could be called Von Herder’s darling, already knows a bit due to her doing the autopsy that her old college friend asked her to do on the parents of Albert’s darling, so she welcomes her into her house and lets her stay in the guest bedroom. She is able to avert the longest, about half a week, as she plans how to get out of the city, if not the the country. Then when she is getting ready for bed one night she hears a loud thump from the doctor’s study but as she steps into the hallway to investigate she is grabbed in a chokehold by someone who covers her face and the smell of chloroform hits her and she is out in a minute just like before.

“I am sorry, love… this is for the best.”

When she comes to, she is back in their shared bedroom at the Moriarty estate with the door locked so tight that it might as well been bolted shut. There is no note or anything and she assumes that Louis must be fuming at her and she would be right in that assumption. When he comes in for bed that night, she asked what he did to her friend and he just tells her coldly that she had been dealt with and to be grateful for her own situation

It kills Louis to be so cruel to her, but she needs to learn…

William’s darling, she doesn’t have anywhere to go, no friends, no family, no one left who actually cares about her. Her old apartment is gone, sold off to the next person in line, she has no job, the opera house she used to work at burned down thanks to William. She had no one else outside of that house, all of her friends from the opera were dead or moved on to the next thing and her family abandoned her years ago.

So William doesn’t have to do anything once he knows they split up, he just leaves the front door of the estate open. Soon enough when he is sitting in the drawing room, reading over exam papers, he hears the front door open followed by the faint sound of crying. So he just stands up and walks over to the front door to see his darling standing there, tears rolling down her cheeks.

“I…I-I’m sorry.”

“It is okay, I forgive you, my darling.”

He hushes her and welcomes her into his arms as she cries her heart out. William had made her believe that she has no one else to go, that no one else would care about her, that the people here were her family. She understands that they are horrible people and even warns the others of this truth, but she doesn’t heart to leave when that’s all she has. She didn’t run away, she was just a puppy on a long leash.

[cuntylouis]

I’m so curious about how they are gonna adapt the present between loumandstat, specially after Claudia’s death, I know it’s never discussed in the books but I doubt Lestat and even less Louis are gonna see Armand in the same light they did in the books, her death has to have some weight in their relationship and some consequences, at least I hope so. Also,as much as I love Armand I hope they don’t forget he gaslighted Louis and abused him for 70 years, I wonder what would Lestat think of that even if he did the same thing… all super messy but I hope they take it seriously, I live for the drama.

I've been wondering the same. Like in the books it's not really addressed and Louis and Lestat don't appear to blame Armand for killing their daughter. They deeply grieve her and Louis is dead inside and his relationship with Armand is destroyed, but they don't hate Armand and don't even seem to be angry with him. Already as a young teen reading the books i thought their reactions or the lack of them thereof felt weird. I'd guess the authorial intent was to portray how vampire relationships and emotions are completely alien from our human experience, and depict Louis' passivity and how it may make him see others too as passive spectators and events just something that inevitably happen without reason or active participants.

Since the story and Claudia's character are originally based on Rice dealing with her child's death of cancer it could maybe also be seen as a reflection of her feelings about that. Vampires represent death, sometimes literally called 'death' in the books and Louis as a character who's based on Rice herself couldn't blame or be angry at Armand more than she could blame or be angry at cancer or the abstract concept of death. There's a strong feeling of inevitability in how Claudia's death is written about, like 'she's been dead from the beginning and it could've never gone in any other way'.

However, like you say the show is a different thing. I think the vampires in the show come across much more human in their emotions and reactions and the characters are different, especially Louis who isn't really passive and apathetic in the way his book counterpart is. It's hard for me to imagine how in the show version Louis and Lestat are going to reconcile with Armand and have a loving relationship with him, whether platonic or romantic, after he participated in lynching their daughter. Purely from the outside writing perspective i do think they are somehow going to reconcile, because i think it's unlikely that the writers would choose to keep popular main characters apart with nothing but hostility or indifference between them for 5-7 seasons or however long the show is going to run. But it's certainly going to require a lot from the writers to make any reconciliation and forgiveness to feel emotionally coherent and sound for the characters, especially for Louis.

I think with Lestat what we see in the finale might actually hint that his feelings toward Armand could be something similar to his book counterpart. He's bitter but doesn't really seem to be that angry with Armand in the tower or loustat reunion scene. There are so many open questions and what we don't know yet but Lestat came across as much more active participant in the trial than he was in the book. My guess is that he sees himself and Armand as equally guilty for Claudias death, maybe even himself as more guilty, and so he doesn't hate Armand any more than he hates himself

[thevampirearchive]

There’s something I've been meaning to say but I haven't had the words till now. There is something that deeply upsets me about witnessing stories where villains, who are literal killers, fall in love and somehow become good or act outside of what is expected from them. I love love, love is beautfiul, it is powerful and it can truly change a lot. But to sit, and write a killer suddenly go "actually, this one can stay because I am in love for the first time" is such a weird concept to me. Is this happening because as a sociaty we're trying to convince ourselves that deeply disturbed people can be cured by the power of love? That if they just find the right person, they would stop the masacer? or at least no longer feel the need to kill how they were or at least let their person live? And I am not mad at the love, I do belive anyone can fall deeply in love, but my issue is with how it ends. I want to witness the unthinkable — I want to see is exactly what we expect but hoped won't happen, happening. A gut wrenching truth that stays true to who we have been witnessing, despite the "I can change them" dance. And perhaps people hate this idea because they want to belive that anyone can change if only they meet the right one, or that we can change the monsters in our lives with affection, but trust most likly is that they cannot be changed. And I can understand that to some this is then seen as an illusion. "oh then this was never true love", why can the two not exist? Do we not hurt those we love? Maybe not kill them, but someone elses hurt could feel like a small death to me, and vice versa.

Examples, so that you are not confused as to what I am reffering too;

Killing Eve; I stopped watching when Villanelle was shown shooting Eve. It felt true to her character, even if it hurt. She is a killer, we knew that and so did Eve. Regardless of her love, that was what was always going to happen so why were we given additional seaons of this fanatsy of a declawed Villanelle?

Hannibal; It should have ended with the death of Will, and possibly Hannibal consuming him. Didn't Hannibal say that the consumption of Will would somehow join them in a deeper way?Something so disturbing that only could make sense to a serial killing-cannibal. And I would have watched with wide eyes, and gone to sleep staring at the ceiling.

Interveiw With The Vampire; Louis' death in the hand of a Lestat would have made sense, and despite his dramatics, Lestat would have not committed suicide but instead burried himself in deep regret untill he was too numb to his own feelings that he could return to the world of the living. He would have never forgotten Louis, nor what he did, but he would have moved on beause Lestat is not a good person. He's deeply disturbed and Louis knew this. I don't even aknoclege that beatdown episode because Lestat may be a killer, but he's a drama queen first and formost. Louis' death would have been poetic, beautiful and grusom like a greek tragedy without an audiance.

Bonus - Twilight; I could not end without adding my own favorite, and despite this path never being teased to the audiance the same way the other's were, I would have loved the book simply ending because Edward did as he said he would - drained Bella like a Caprisun on a hot summer day. Because what is love agaisnt animalistic urgase (I understand why it is much hotter that he is simply so retsrained and devoted that he resists her, but I'd pay good money for an AU)

At the end of it all, I think want I want is for sociaty to get over the idea that a good woman, love or any form of kindness can change who some people are. Love can do many things - look at crimes of passion! And to some extend I belive that these villain's love were true, possibly not the way we imagine them - which is less so "I love you too" and more so, "wow, finally someone I can manipulate and obsess over. Someone who I can mold, someone who is alone in the world like me" only to realize that is not true.

So why do we make love into what it isnt? Even when the scene is set for us to be shown the truth, writers and the audiance always make the plot lean towards whatever fits so that we can have that "happy ending".

Honorable mentions;

God should have killed Lucifer, I know the bible and christianity is not technically fiction for all, but the idea that he is forgivin but lets the biggest meanness HE CREATED terrorize everybody is evil. Take him out or let somebody else do it homie.

[ca-suffit]

Okay, so I have multiple questions, but you don't have to answer all of them!!!

1) What do you want to see in the show in the episodes that follow?

2) What do you think episode 8 will be about?

3) How do you think they will approach Claudia and Madeleine's relationship? Do you think the -isms girlies would ever aknowledge that an eventual physical relationship is just as fucked up as 33 years old Louis (body wise) and 17 years old Armand (body wise) and that maybe the fact that they're vampires negates some of that stuff? (ESPECIALLY since Claudia is no longer 5, like in the books. Honestly dunno how they'd pull the "child vampire, must be killed!" with a 14 years old when Armand is barely 3 years older than her, at this point in time being given no reason to think they bumped up his age as well, despite the actor being 34.)

As a side comment, I think it would've been wise to make Armand older as well, just from a human filming perspective. It will be harder and harder to keep Assad looking like an ethereal 17 years old. Like, he doesn't look 17 even now, but he looks young! They could say he's 21 or 22 and Louis would still be a lot older and able to comment "He was like a boy masquerading as a gentleman." Idk, we'll see. We don't know yet when show!Armand got turned, so I'm keeping my hopes up on that atm.

answers under the cut for maybe spoiler stuff

I'm most looking forward to the trial tbh

I had to dig up the episode titles to guess how the order of events goes lol. between that and the soundtrack titles, it's prbly gonna be Armand and Louis in New Orleans, post trial. Louis seeing Lestat again in the house may or may not happen. Whatever the explosive fallout in Dubai is about, that's gonna occur. Loumand breakup possible? Lestat prbly is introduced in modern day. Cliffhanger lead in to S3.

I got kind of lost following this question lol. Idk if Claudeleine is gonna happen. I expect a blurred mixture of relationships the way they've been doing it with the others so far. I think Claudia will explore womanhood with Madeleine somehow but not necessarily in a romantic or sexual way. Having her be a dressmaker involves enough physical intimacy without needing to move it further tbh. I don't rly think this show is gonna get into all the underage themes with relationships bcuz they've p intentionally skipped over a lot of it so far. It'll prbly be mentioned around some characters at times but I dont think they're gonna focus on it a lot. There isn't rly a reason to.

I don't think Armand is supposed to actually be 17 in the series. Ig we'll have to wait for them to specify more outside the Rashid disguise but I think the language would have been more obvious by now if he's supposed to be that young. I think he's supposed to be at least over 20.

Claudia also wasn't killed in IWTV for being young but bcuz she "murdered" Lestat. All of it's made up anyway but at least in that book itself that's the main reason given, that's what Lestat is dragged out to accuse her of.

[thinkatoryprocess]

Thinking about how Armand declared certain vampires to be doomed to die and makes sure that happens. There's everything he did to Claudia and then there's Nicki who was "too fragile". HE CUT OFF HIS HANDS. HE WAS A VIOLINIST AND ARMAND CUT OFF HIS HANDS. And THEN Nicki killed himself. Remember Lestat mentioning during the trial Nicki had help getting to the point where he threw himself into a fire. Plus I fully believe he set up Madeline to die with Louis and Claudia because of Madeleine's whole attitude towards becoming a vampire. Who should it be so easy to her when it's so hard for him etc. He's such a monster. He's my favorite ever. Do you read him as autistic? How do you think that goes with his whole lack of a feeling of identity and rage at anyone who shows confidence in who they are? Combining that with his obsession with Daniel who routinely picks him apart. (It's why the pairing is so good). Aand wouldn't collar Daniel. He'd have Daniel collar him. Because in his mind he's the weak one.

Like I said in another ask, it's all about control for Armand. He allows Claudia to continue on until she acts outside of Armand's control by bringing Madeleine into the mix - and I agree that Madeleine is particularly galling to Armand because she's taking this so easily and he struggled as much as he did. I think Armand was partially attracted to Louis because he knows Louis struggles with the dark gift and he can relate to him on that point. It's not the killing that Armand minds - it's the nature of immortality. He has to live with the memories of his past forever.

I'm fascinated at the idea of an autistic Armand, because he really is strikingly different from the rest of the Théâtre - they're all aggressively social and involved with each other, and you could say it's because he's the leader of the coven that they hold a distance, but you could also argue that maybe Armand doesn't know how to relate to them. To tie his past into it, it's possible Armand doesn't really know how to relate to anyone unless it's sexual in nature, because he can define himself by that relationship. Even the Théâtre saw Armand suddenly defining himself by Louis and keeping him around. I think Armand is drawn to personalities like Louis and Lestat because they're both passionate in who they are and he just does not feel that at all. He directs, but he doesn't do it with passion, at all, from what we see. He's cold and clinical. There's no real emotion in the things he directs, just shallow interpretations of emotion, because I don't think Armand has the confidence to pull off a show with a lot of emotion. I'm sure Sam could have written something.

Daniel would be the one who at least appeared to have power over Armand, you're right, but Armand would set all of the parameters of the relationship. He can't bear to let anyone else push him around without him being able to end it fucking instantly and get back to what makes him happy.

[enigmaticdiary]

and so i have been thinking thoughts...

elicited from the new trailer. copy and pasted from my discord cause i do all my thinkin there n_n;;

claudia + louis

when i think back to the book and the movie claudia was obviously an extremely important turning point in louis' life but it never felt like she was... the center of it you know? despite the fact that she was that glue that kept louis tethered to anything human in him.

but the book felt like he was just telling his story to be a. Sad pathetic man thing for the sake of it. cause he had no purpose to exist alone. to exist without claudia or lestat (or armand but their dynamic is. different and dicier) but after claudia is killed something about her presence and the years she spent with louis while alive felt... shrugged off in a way? and its likely because she didn't really have much of an identity outside of him and lestat which is understandable because she was significantly more vulnerable in the book than in the show, so she lacked that autonomy to have that choice to exist outside of them.

and when madeleine was brought into the picture for her to get that autonomy it was unfortunately already too late...

~~[mild separation of thoughts because i left to take a shower]~~

theres a few things i want to mention. just thoughts in my head. claudia dies fighting HARD for her autonomy as a person and a vampire. in comparison to louis who in all honesty has (DEBATABLY) lived without a shred of having his own autonomy. with lestat, lestats love (as claudia very smartly puts it) keeps him in a box. louis is financially dependent on him as a black man in the jim crow era once he loses the azalea, hes cut off from his family, he has NO ONE.

the brief time of just him and claudia is a good moment in time for both of them , trying to discover vampiric history together(tho in the show it looks like before they get to paris its gonna be absolute dogshit in comparison to the book), but in louis' case i feel like its guided by guilt and some form of obligation, because if he didnt go with claudia–who was already set to do this traveling alone before lestat dragged her back–where WOULD he have gone? stayed in new orleans with lestat in the dump just waiting to crawl out? i think he would sooner kill himself if he was left alone like that.

with armand…………… loumand is definitely better than loustat in extremely complex ways that i cant put into words right now but simultaneously even worse because of HOW armand preys on louis. there is absolutely love between them and i wont deny it but armand is so INSANELY dependent on the love of others to give meaning to his existence that he leverages louis' weaknesses and frailities to ensure that they will spend an eternity together. like he was plotting from the second he met louis and claudia. he kills claudia and madeleine, which then makes louis kill all the other vampires of the coven, so that there is no one left, NO ONE for louis to be able to turn to for solace.

i think that him remembering what actually happened to him up until the present is so important to him because he'll finally be able to realize that he hasnt been allowed to properly exist for himself the entire duration of him being a vampire. and maybe he can decide what he wants to do, for himself.

devil's minion... (in the present)

[these thoughts are referring to a tweet that wonders if armand is going to end up alone in the end. note: i am not versed in devil's minion lore. i'm getting there but as of this post i have not reached it]

saw this [the tweet] and audibly exclaimed GOOD

i love armand but the guy is genuinely evil and has wronged every single character hes come across including lestat which i find is hard to do

I know ppl are excited for armandaniel and devils minion but Im not..going to lie ive been REALLY skeptical of it and how it would be explored in the context of the show without severely wronging louis and doing him EXTREMELY dirty.

people are allowed to like it in the bubble of the books but theres a really big shift in dynamic for the show in the fact that ... armand has definitely done... Something to daniel and louis, of what i cant say. but with the way that things are going, an ending in which daniel sides with armand after finding out exactly what armand did to louis and claudia in paris does NOT sit well with me?

and i love loumand but I am so uneasy about the inevitable breakup in regards to whats gonna happen AFTER it. I feel like daniel now is wise enough to not chase after a guy who is diabolically selfish and broken and leave louis behind to live out the vampire fantasy dreams of his youth. and in the trailer too im getting. Loudaniel vibes in terms of reconciling their past with the previous interview. And Heres my theory for Devils minion BUT ITS LOUDANIEL INSTEAD OF ARMANDANIEL (1/689)

[flimflamfandom]

Bad Ideas for Second Dates

A fic about Rocky, his girlfriend (who was created by @ladybugkisses please follow her if you haven't) and how to make a rough second impression.

-

"Well, Ivy, we gotta hurry up! We need to be at the Arbogast place pretty soon if we're picking up that new shipment!"

"Ugh."

"Ugh?"

"Ugh." Ivy rolled over in bed, and sighed. "I'm sick, Rocky. I feel awful."

"Oh...well, Calvin was gonna drive the full shipment, but...who's gonna join me in the Decoy?"

"Not me," she said, "I can barely get out of bed...and I'm also upset with you fer makin' Calvin work while his poor, waifish Fiance is stuck in bed, withering!" She dramatically posed, groaning, as Rocky rolled his eyes.

"Oh, c'mon, the other night you beat a man up and stole his jacket, you're hardly WAIFISH." Rocky put his hands on his hips. "And besides, Calvin doesn't need to spend EVERY night with his girl...friend..." Rocky's ears stood up. His eyes went wide.

"On second thought," he said, "I know just who to call!"

"Your work?" Ari asked, cocking her head to one side. She was leaning on a wall outside the Daisy, her ears propped up, her eyes looking into Rocky's.

"Sure! I'm sure you'd do great for it!" He smiled brightly, and put his hands on her shoulders. She blushed, just a little. He leaned in. "Besides, we get the FUN part of the job while my cousin has to do the less fun part!"

"What're we doing?" She asked. "What sort of day to day work do gangsters do? Meeting celebrity clients? Getting into shootouts? Attending fancy parties?" She seemed excited at those prospects. Rocky hissed in a breath.

"I have a feeling you're about to be...less than impressed by my source of income." His ears drooped. "We're baiting."

"Baiting? Like...a decoy?" Her ears drooped, too. "Oh...that sounds...dangerous." She wringed her hands nervously. "There aren't gonna be people...coming after us, are there?"

"Some nights, yes, some nights, no. Our primary rivals have been rather quiet lately! I think they're trying to hire new axe men after I disposed of their old employee." Rocky laughed. "I hear they STILL haven't found his left foot!"

Ari looked...frightened. "Sounds...harrowing."

"Oh, Ari, c'mere." Rocky scooped her up into an embrace, and rubbed her back. "My cavalier approach to the job is done with the idea in mind that present company is...aware of the danger! I can be very careful when I've got a mind to!"

"Promise?"

"Promise, my love." He moved some hair from her face, and kissed her, purring as he walked her to the truck.

-

The actual pass off was easy this time. The rather unglamorous drive from Defiance back to St. Louis started well!

"Nothing so far." Rocky said. "Usually, if we get past this point, we're pretty safe."

"Oh?" Ari leaned on Rocky, and smirked, raising her eyebrows. "It's very romantic out, isn't it? That big moon, the bugs chirping, the breeze..."

"Hehe...yeah." Rocky smiled at her, too, still driving. "It's very romantic." He peered at the mirror on her side. He narrowed his eyes.

"...whaddya see in that mirror?" He asked.

She looked. She gasped. "...something's following us! I think I see a face."

"Damn and blast! Our romantic tryst ruined by the cowardly antics of the Marigold Room..."

"How do we know they're Marigold?"

"One of 'em look like a weasel?"

"...yeah."

"It's them." Rocky grumbled. "How I loathe them..." He looked back. "See that big box on the floor? There's a big gun in there."

Ari opened it, and saw - well. He did SAY it was big.

"What sort of rounds does this shotgun even take?" She loaded a few in, finding it intuitive.

"Buck shot. Pretty normal stuff - it'll stop a man in his tracks! Ivy likes to use slugs but I find those more effective for cracking windshields and-"

BANG!

"...you're right! It cracked their windshield pretty well!" Ari shouted, smiling. "They both look fine though." She sighed. "A bit of a relief if you ask me, I couldn't stomach killing someone..." She began to shiver and shake, as the car suddenly turned off. She leaned over. "I think...I think they left?"

"We'll see...there's a pretty well known spur here, if they're quick they'll-"

Before he could say 'pop out in front of them', they popped out in front of them, and slammed on the brakes. Rocky stopped and huffed, smirking. "Well. Time to see the fun part, huh?"

"...Rocky I love you but-"

"But what?" His eyes were wild, and his smile toothy and wicked. What Ari didn't know quite yet about Rocky was his...gruesomeness when painted into corners. He was someone that Marigold people typically avoided.

Not tonight, it seemed.

Rocky got out of the car. he was approached by three men. One looked like a weasel, and the other two, a black cat and a gray cat, looked unremarkable. Ari poked her head up over the dashboard, keeping a hold on the shotgun, but also on the only other heavy thing inside - a tire iron.

"Evening, gentlemen!"

"What's with shooting up the-...wait a minute..." The weaseley one looked Rocky over. "...I know you..."

"Surely you're mistaken, Wes! With a brain like yours I'm amazed you know anything, let alone a face!"

That quip earned Rocky a stiff punch to the jaw. This made Ari tense up. She gripped the gun a little tighter.

"Whoever you think I am, I assure you, I'm not! I was only passing through on my...condensed milk delivery route!"

"Oh? Let's see it."

"See what?"

"The condensed milk."

Rocky began to walk to the back of the truck. Ari wanted to be waiting there with...something, but before she could even begin to, Rocky walked into the back with one of the men.

"So, as you can see, we're at the end of our route here, and-" Before Rocky finished the sentence, he slashed the man's throat, and stabbed him. Multiple times. There was blood all over the back of the truck.

"It's him! Boss, it's him!" the other man shouted.

"Get into the car!" Wes replied, as he ran back towards it. The man rushed after him, but was left behind by a scared Wes.

"...no honor among thieves, hmm, young man?" Rocky, covered in blood, approached the man, who-

BANG!

-"AHG!" Rocky winced and fell backwards. "My brain is FURTHER DOWN, you idiot! Now it just STINGS!" He gripped his ear and writhed on the ground. The man laughed, nervously and incredulously. "I'm gonna kill Rocky Rickaby? I really am! They'll hang pictures of me in the Marigold Room! I'll never have to work another day in my life!"

Rocky huffed. "Please, I urge you, reconsider! Spare a thought for a poor, tender hearted gin man!"

"Hush up! Any last words?"

"...don't look behind you."

"Huh? I-"

THWACK!

Standing where the man once stood was Ari, with a bloodied tire iron. She looked drained and gaunt, huffing, as if she was struggling just to stand.

"...Thanks, sweetie!" Rocky got up, still grabbing his ear. "Man, we made short work of them!" Rocky cut some of the dead man's suit off to make a bandage, and wrapped it around his head. "We gotta take him back, we have a...place for bodies." Rocky, ever the gentleman, carried the body and put it in the back of the truck himself, not making Ari lift a finger.

He was nervous, though...if only because the drive home was deadly silent.

-

When they got back, Rocky looked dejected. Horrible. He never looked like that after a mission...but the silence told him enough. he knew she was going to go for someone with a less dangerous career path. How did Calvin ever do it? How did he land a girlfriend who loved him so much they were getting MARRIED and he just ruined his only chance with this woman! She was too beautiful, too wonderful to replace. He sighed.

"Rocky?"

"...hmm?" He looked over, taking off his hat and holding it over his chest.

"...I'm glad you're safe." She said. She walked over to him, and put her hand on his cheek. "And...I love you very much but I don't know if I want to do that again."

"You're sure?" He asked.

"I mean, I handled it okay, but it's very harrowing stuff! I mean I'm probably gonna need to think this over a lo-"

"I meant when you said you loved me."

"...Rocky..." She shook her head, "hold me, sweetheart." She put her arms around him, and he did the same. "Nothin's gonna stop me lovin' you...even if you do gruesomely stab people to death multiple times while smiling and laughing."

"What else could I have done? He was in the truck, I was afraid he'd see you!"

"Awww, you did that to keep me safe?" She kissed his cheek. "Well, aren't you just a knight in shining armor!"

"Oh, Ari..."

"Oh, Rocky..."

"...you're sure you don't wanna join me again? You're pretty handy with the tire iron."

"I think I'd rather not." She said. "No matter how romantic it is to think about you protecting me like that it was a bit worse to actually LIVE through!"

As the two parted ways, Ari walked out of the club through the main building, running into Mitzi along the way.

"Hello, Miss May!" She said.

"Well hello, Ari, how're you?" She asked, shooting that sly, southern smile to her.

"I'm fine - Rocky stabbed a man to death for me!" She swooned. "Isn't he a dream?"

"...sure." As Mitzi walked further down the stairs, she looked towards Horatio.

"She's the only one for him, Horatio." Mitzi said. "In more ways than one."

[nalyra-dreaming]

@wilsonsb4be replied to your post “Hi! I'm reading your ff and I saw you implied in...”:

Hmm, idk about this one because Lestat obvi. did not care enough about Antoinette to bother replacing her finger. And with this theory, you're essentially shifting this selfish and callous act from something Lestat does to maintain his lies into something Claudia does out of petty cruelty—thus painting Lestat in a more compassionate light by making Claudia more villainous. It's a bit of a cop-out. 🤷🏾‍♀️

Ok, I'm pulling this up because the replies got too long :)

​I'm extrapolating behaviorisms from all the books, including the later books, the knowledge Lestat had here (and that Louis and Claudia do not know about yet). They wouldn't have known that body parts could be reattached. He did.

Calling that a cop-out in a fic is a bit weird, don't you think? This isn't a meta in the sense of the word, and it cannot be either, because we haven't seen the truth about season 1 yet, and especially not "murder night" and the happenings there.

And I really don't get why that would make Claudia more "villanous" or that act as "petty cruelty" - that was her finger in a way, he gave it to her, and she took it back off Antoinette because he... cheated. (And yes, he cheated and THAT was very selfish and callous, agreed.) Claudia does that to mortals all the time. Why is this different here? Yes, she hated Antoinette, but at the same time I'd say that Antoinette didn't even deserve her consideration in her mind, outside the necessary consideration to make her plan work that is.

These vampires are vampires. They kill and mutilate aaalllll the time. Hell, shortly before the incinerator scene Louis tore off someone's jaw. Claudia used the twins, poisoning them to fool Lestat (and Louis). I don't quite get why the finger would blip differently in any of that tbh. These... people are not human anymore, and in a very real way Claudia is more vampire than Louis or Lestat combined.

And re the not caring about Antoinette... I'm not so sure tbh. Season 1 was very... let's say shaped, Louis painted her as the Mistress, the one so beautiful and alluring she pulled Lestat away from him - and then, when she is turned she suddenly has wrinkles, she is ugly in his eyes... we'll see how the whole Antoinette-arc will hold up in the long run (as I said in my other post re Antoinette this could go either way btw, if she shows up in Paris it'll definitely get worse, lol), but as with all things on this show there is more to it.

And in regards to Lestat "only doing this to maintain his lies" - really? That is why he turns her? Why he keeps going to her over decades? This is why he (supposedly) says she will fit much better with him and Louis? Because he tries to maintain his lies? I really don't think so. I think there is much, much more to it, and (we know that we have only seen half the story....) as said before, I am filling in gaps with the context I know of from the Chronicles (and Lestat did care at least a bit more about Antoine there, even if he left him behind), and the chapters dealing with 5-7 might not align with what we've seen because I'm changing it to what might have happened (and what we might get to see yet)... as voted on. The fic is tagged as such, too.

[sparxaf]

TSIME: Meet Bobby's Crew (part 1)

One of my favorite parts of writing is actually just character creation. I love knowing exactly what they look like and all kinds of fun details about them, even if those details never end up in the actual story. So I figure, since I wasted tons of time making long character profiles for them, I figured I might as well write them up, make them pretty, and share them. Why am I doing this? Because sharing is caring. Duh. Defnitely not because I'm avoiding editing. How dare you?

ANYWAY. In this post we're meeting Bobby's best friend, his husband, and their daughter.

Meet Louis:

Interesting facts:

🗸 Louis is a loving, generous soul and does not charge Bobby rent. But he does occassionally ask for baked goods and Bobby always obliges.

🗸 Before they even got engaged, he insisted on paying for all of Dean's sick mum's housing and care, to take the stress off of his beloved.

🗸 He's a homebody who hates traveling. He finds it stressful and doesn't like feeling unmoored. He decided against going to a prestigious culinary school because he didn't want to leave Glasgow.

🗸 He and Lili get along because they're both type-A snugglers.

🗸 Comes from a wealthy family. His mother is a very successful estate agent and his father was a popular rugger (now retired). He's an only child.

🗸 His father, who grew up working class, decided that Louis should go to public school so he'd experience the real world outside of their wealthy bubble.

🗸 In school Louis was routinely, sometimes viciously bullied for being posh. Something he never told his family. But he didn't come out until he was twenty years old because he feared even more bullying for being gay. His parents had already guessed and gave him nothing but love and support.

🗸 Louis was not happy when Bobby added Jonno to their friend group in P6 and even less happy when Fenella was added when they were adults. He puts up with them because he loves Bobby and just accepts that his best friend is the type who brings mangy strays home, thinking they're beautiful. And who is Louis to tell him they're not? That said, they're not all mingin'. He adores Maitland and Nivaan.

Meet Dean:

Interesting facts: (there's a lot for Dean)

🗸 Despite being so tall and muscular, Dean is a fluffy bunny of a man. Very sentimental and kind. He will not kill bugs. If Louis wants a spider squashed, he's on his own.

🗸 He has four siblings, one sister and three brothers. He was the youngest. His home life was not great. His family was incredibly poor and his dad was abusive, sexist, and homophobic (among other award-winning personality traits). His mother was loving, but very passive and preferred not to rock the boat.

🗸 When he was fourteen he was trying to make sense of his bisexuality, so he confided in his mum. One of his older brothers overheard and told their dad. To say it was handled poorly would be an understatment. Hurt, scared, and unwelcome in his home, he moved in with his sister, an artist who lives in Rochdale. He says she is the person who actually raised him to be a decent person.

🗸 His mum and dad divorced when she had two strokes and his fuckface father wasn't interested in caring for her. Dean routinely comes down to Norfolk to take care of her affairs as she didn't want to move. His brothers do care about their mum, but theyre mostly skivers who don't know how to be helpful. His sister keeps in contact with Dean, but she has no interest in being near the the rest of the family so he's the only one taking care of his mum.

🗸 His dad and brothers actually have the nerve to try demanding money and help from him, because they know Louis is wealthy. Never mind that they have not supported their marriage and have never said a kind word to either of them. Dean has never given them a dime.

🗸 He has never and will never ever admit this to anyone, but the night he met Bobby at the pub, he assumed the Scot was grafting and he was 100% ready to take him back to his hotel room. So he was confused when Bobby told him he'd called his friend Louis and he was coming to the pub to meet Dean. Then Louis showed up and Dean could hardly speak because he was so instantly and completely smitten. It was weeks later that he realized Bobby was just obliviously flirtatious with everyone.

MEET ISLA:

Interesting facts:

🗸 There are none. She's three. Toddlers are generally low on interesting backstory.

Stay tuned for part 2 to meet Maitland, Fen, Nivaan, Jonno, and Samantha!