#i can't even look at claudia and louis and madeleine my heart i just

[indelicateink]

HOW DO I WAIT SIX MORE DAYS FOR THE APOCALYPSE

six??? days???

[lizardkingeliot]

Hoooo boy okay let's do this. 2x06 was a goddamn doozy, you guys. There was a very strong theme here throughout the episode of makers and fledglings being able to feel one another through their shared blood even when they can't read each other's minds. Louis says he can feel Madeleine is out of town because she is his fledgling. Likewise, Madeleine calls out the fact that she can feel Louis after acknowledging she can't read his mind. But there's something else happening here too....

She looks to Armand. Says she can feel Louis' love for him through their blood. Then calls out the fact that... Louis won't tell him? Only... Louis HAS told Armand "I love you". That was a pretty important element of 2x04. The casual way he said it with the vision of Lestat laughing at the bedside all the while. The one Louis actually couldn't say it to...

Was Lestat. We all remember, but just in case anyone forgot...

But what does Madeleine ascribe this feeling to? Why does she think she can FEEL Louis loving Armand? Because of the blood they share. The blood they share that comes from Lestat. The blood Claudia didn't want Madeleine to have BECAUSE it's Lestat's. The episode did a really great job of reminding us about the blood bonds and just what it means to have a connection to your maker. And when that maker is also your lover..... hoooooo boy.........

Anyway. The love. The blood. The bond with your maker. I can understand why Madeleine would be confused about the love Louis is feeling. She sees Louis with Armand. She assumes they're in love. She doesn't realize...

Her maker is sitting there thinking about his own maker the entire time. To the point he almost quotes him word for word before he stops himself...

And of course he's thinking about Lestat. He's just become a maker himself. Why WOULDN'T he be thinking about Lestat? Even after saying goodbye to Dreamstat, he can't get Lestat out of his mind. Even after becoming a shadow of who he used to be. Someone cold and distant. He's trying so hard, but it's never going to work. He's never going to be able to shove Lestat away completely. And he's certainly never going to be capable of loving Armand in the way Armand desperately wants Louis to love him. Because while Armand might say he belongs to Louis. If you ask Louis if he belongs to Armand, well...

And honestly... I feel so horrible for Armand here. Because there's nothing he could have done that would have made this particular outcome any different. He never stood a chance. Louis and Lestat are bonded not only in their blood but in their hearts and their souls. Lestat was not only Louis' maker but the love of his life. His first love. The first man he ever allowed himself true intimacy with. The one he shared a coffin with. The one he shares a heart with. Louis is trying so hard to be who he was before Lestat, someone closed off and cold. But he cannot sever the bond in their blood and in their hearts with all the coldness in the world...

Which leads me to wonder... did the love Madeleine detect in Louis not only have to do with his blood bond with Lestat/the fact that he was thinking about Lestat the whole time, but also the fact that Lestat was already in Paris? Could Louis feel it? Was he aware of feeling that innate connection but was so determined to make himself a hardened shell of who he once was that he just brushed it of? Thought it was residual grief? Is that why his visions of Lestat before he banished him in 2x04 were so vivid? Because Lestat was in Paris for years, and despite not really knowing that, Louis felt it all the same?

Anyway. Moving on. Circling back to Armand and Louis and the topic of love. When they're discussing Armand not being aware of what Santiago was truly up to, Armand blames being distracted on being in love and Louis just... outright scoffs at the idea?

We sure are a long way from "meet the vampire Armand, the love of my life" territory this deep into season 2, that's for sure. And sure, in Dubai Louis is feeling bitter and doesn't trust Armand for many reasons this particular post aren't about. But even looking back on it, on the time that should have been their honeymoon phase before it all went to shit, Louis just... doesn't see love there. Or at least not being In Love. Because the only one Louis was in love with in Paris was his maker. The one he was bonded to in blood.

And the one he's about to have to sit on a stage with next week and never once be permitted to touch. Never once be permitted a moment of truth with. But the bond is still going to be there. They'll still feel each other's hearts, beating as one with their shared blood. And we have to assume after that... they just never see each other again after Paris? And just thinking on that point alone... it truly is no wonder Louis is still so unwell in Dubai. Locked away in his tower that is his prison that is his forgetting. I wasn't sure I believed Armand when he said Louis asked him to take the memory of San Francisco away from him. But I think I actually do? It makes sense. That he would want to forget something like that. And it also makes me wonder...

What else did Louis want to forget? And how much of that forgetting is related to this agonizing, unbreakable blood bond he shares with Lestat? I truly have no clue how far they're going to take this, so I guess we'll just have to wait to find out...

[whatspastisprologue-blr]

Because 2 of my biggest hyperfixations are Interview with the Vampire and The Amazing Devil, here we go....

"Little Miss Why So" is, to me, based on my interpretation of the song, very much applies to Loustat in S1. To me, Madeleine is singing from the perspective of someone who is very depressed and who has a partner who is trying to cure her by, basically, loving her out of it. This is, to me, confirmed by the few lines that Joey sings, as though if he does enough good things for her, if he just shows her how much he loves her, she'll snap out of it. (And it doesn't work and they split up.)

I've been thinking about it a lot but especially in relation to the animation in S2E7 that depicts Lestat constantly doing things to make Louis happy/cure him of depression, while it doesn't work and Rue Royale gets more and more dilapidated until they can't even see each other over the mountain of newspapers, books, and other things. (I am completely sympathetic to Louis, btw, but I also know how scary and helpless it is to love someone and want to help them but you can't.)

Throughout LMWS, Madeleine lists all the things Joey's character has said or done and she sounds so exhausted, and there's this repeated "he said", and then she starts going into a mantra of sorts: "It's so boring, it's so boring, it's so boring....." And she caps it off with "et cetera" like she's just too bored to keep going but she could if she wanted to.

There's a few parts I want to call out specifically:

"I don't know how to reach you when you get like this. I've been waiting for you to come home."

This is Lestat's frustration, basically. He keeps trying to reach Louis and nothing is working. Even when Louis is home, physically, he's not present (I've seen great meta about Louis having a disassociative disorder). Special mention here to the line, "It's daylight again and you look like I've failed you." Lestat is a provider; it's something that he takes pride in and enjoys, whether it's his human family eating food that he hunted, or how he sent money and gifts to his human family after becoming a vampire, or the things he buys for Louis and Claudia.

"If I'm good, will you come back?"/"Stop asking why I'm sad, just know it's enough to know I'm sad." Madeleine and Joey are literally singing over each other here, singing at the same time. Their characters are speaking past each other. They're not listening to each other. Joey's character just wants to know how to fix her, what he has to do to get her to come back for him. Madeleine's character is just exhausted from having to provide reasons why she feels the way she does. Worse, her character continues (as though quoting Joey's), "Yeah, but why?" He's still asking her. He's not leaving her alone about it because he's obsessed with figuring out the problem so he can solve it. And it's driving her away.

"Why don't you just tell them all to fuck off, love, and be mine?" ("Them" probably being "those wankers that you serve all night".) For Lestat, "them"/"those wankers" is probably all of Louis's human connections.

As others have pointed out, "The Rockrose and the Thistle", another of TAD's songs, is a good example of how to love someone through depression instead of trying to love them out of it (too bad Lestat couldn't have heard it back then).

And while I could probably relate several other songs from The Amazing Devil to Interview with the Vampire, I'll just leave ya'll with this line from "Battle Cries": "This isn't a breakup, dear heart, it's a season finale!"

(Also, if you've listened to Little Miss Why So and you think that Joey sounds like Jaskier from Netflix's The Witcher, that's because it is! The Amazing Devil has 3 albums out, in case you want to hear more of his and Madeleine's phenomenal voices. Now, off you go, to be spellbound by these beautiful lovely Fae creatures!)

[cromearts]

so i watched interview with the vampire.

and you're gonna be like "laila, i thought you like to watch things after the hype has died down" well i thought so too but they put it on netflix and the brainworms got to me. i watched both seasons in a weekend. i'm gonna read the books next. usually i really don't like shows where the characters you follow are just "so complex!!!1!!!!1" and "hard to understand!!!1!!!!1" because a lot of the time this is just a cheap copout for people who want to fuck very surface level villains with very surface level writing (a lot of you have let fanon make you think some characters are deeper than they actually are but thats a story for another day) but i am SO happy to report that this is NOT the case for interview with the vampire. you have so many conflicting feelings for all of these characters (except claudia. i do in fact support her every decision. love that queen. my princess.) and it's just so good. this is the true drama people are looking for on tv. kind of wish it was on during the era of cable cuz you KNOW it would've been craycray. going into this, i really was expecting to completely dislike lestat but honestly i can't even say that. i love him and i hate him. the same way i love and hate louis and i love and hate armand. claudia and daniel are really the only characters that i love unconditionally. but there are so many scenes that just really pull on my heart strings. the finale where lestat says "armand called me, did you hurt yourself?" with those SAD ASS EYES. i don't know if people have already said this but whenever lestat is really sad sam reid puts on these puppy eyes that practically FORCE you to feel bad its insane. and louis.......... the man who is fumbled over and over again constantly. my favorite unreliable narrator. seeing how the "turning of claudia REALLY went down lowkey rewired some neurons. "please ill do anything ill be anything please please please." the guilt was literally eating him alive to the point of no return. that had me really gagged. jacob anderson lowkey best actor ever? like where are the awards we need them right now. and armand......... oh armand. biggest fumbler ive ever seen. its okay though cuz he's gonna fuck that old man. i know he is. but him lying over and over again to louis is actually so crazy. like bro is a pathological liar AND a gaslighter. you've been alive for over five hundred years and i can tell you havent gone to therapy not one time in your entire life. like for him to take the credit for lestat saving louis is what REALLY got me. like lowkey that's worse than the betrayal itself. like 70 years of mending back together our relationship after you killed my daughter and almost me only for me to find out MY EX SAVED ME? AND NOT YOU? like oh i would've really crashed out. and my dear claudia.... my favorite. it's so crazy like i will absolutely not allow any claudia slander because i can defend her from anything. like i genuinely do not think any "bad" thing claudia does is her fault because she literally did not ask for this. like you can argue that it made her life WORSE! instead of simply dying in that moment, she had to die later after suffering so much and THEN proceeding to experience happiness for one moment (insert the have you ever gotten everything you ever wanted? no. but i once got very close quote here). claudia did nothing but suffer, was treated seriously by NO ONE in her life, and the one time someone picks her, they both proceed to die immediately after. that genuinely upset me so much i wanted to turn the tv off. and the crazy thing is we ALL knew claudia was going to die because they talked about her in past tense THE ENTIRE INTERVIEW! LIKE I KNEW SHE WAS DEAD THE ENTIRE TIME! AND I STILL WANTED TO SMASH THE TV! it's actually insane. at least in her final moments madeleine chose her. which was done very beautifully in my opinion. "my coven is claudia." goosebumps man. because a lot of people probably would've chosen the other option but no not madeleine. she loved claudia more than she wanted to live. i love this show man.

[bayoubodycount]

My dream scene in season 2 mirroring the one in season 1..if we get this in ANY iteration I will be SCREAMING.

-From Fireflies to Boat Flies-

"Bateaux-mouches? Who names a boat ‘the fly’?” Louis asks Claudia, waiting in line to buy their tickets and get some stellar views of Paris from its winding river Seine.

Shrugging, she answers, “Don't know. But I read they've been in service since 1867.”

When on board, they find a spot to sit, and Louis makes conversation, “Tickets sure are a good price.”

She doesn't reply, he notices Claudia's been distracted as of late. Lovingly nudging her with his shoulder, "You feeling alright, lil’ sis?”

She startles, “Oh! Yes, sorry.”

Louis leans in, “Penny for your thoughts?”

She appears a off guard, shy even.

“Just thinkin’ is all.”

Louis smiles, hoping a dash of gentle poking and prodding might induce her to speak. “Anyone special on your mind?”

Claudia protests, 'No! Why would you think that?”

“Nobody knows but the wind, I guess. Somebody else you wish was sitting beside you than me?”

Biting her lip, she gazes at the night sky. The city slowly passes by as the boat happily floats along.

In a hushed voice, he assures, “You know, you can tell me if there's someone special. I won't tease.”

Claudia dithers, but a smile and a twinkle in her eye escape before reeling them back in.

Thrilled for a bonding opportunity over scathing secrets, or just plain gossip, he declares, “I knew it. C'mon now, spill them beans. Is it Madeleine? You both have been thick as thieves as of late.”

“Louis!” she playfully swats his arm. 

He patiently waits, sensing something of worth is on the cusp of being shared. As she's looking at her feet, Louis spies her little nod.

“For real? Who's sweet on who?” he gleefully meddles.

In the tiniest of voices, she admits, “Both.”

Louis’ heart swells. “Our life has been shit. It's gonna be shit. But love surely helps.”

At the mere mention of love, he's reminded of why they're in Europe to begin with and his heart sinks. Since arriving in Paris, the city's distractions and distracting people have been helping keep the pain in his chest from imploding. But he'd rather not dwell on that given her mind reading and it being a sore spot in their otherwise good-standing relationship.

“Louis, I always thought I'd get married. Or at least have a boyfriend like us. I can't explain this, even to myself. It's impossible, right?”

He's thankful they've taken the last river boat for the night. They're able to speak freely, as long as they keep it down.

“I know who I love. Maybe for some people that can change. Maybe they realize they love all kinds. But Claudia, when finding your person, you shouldn't get caught up in the particulars.”

She's content with that, searching for more sky and city treasures. “There's the Eiffel Tower..sure looks nice,” she softly points out.

Louis is interested in one more answer, before gazing at the behemoth monument. Leaning in as the river breeze kisses their faces he asks with a mischievous glimmer in his eyes, “Can I ask, what's it like? Love, between two women..”

A timid, yet beautiful smile appears as she replies with her adorably scrunched up nose, “Feels like… love.”

[bandedbulbussnarfblat]

ok, part 2

this is Louis right before attacking Daniel. and like, i know this is not relevant, but wtf happened to his hair? it looked so good in the flashback from season 1. I mean the real answer is probably just that Jacob did something different with his hair after shooting the first season, so it might have been harder to replicate. But in my heart I wanna believe it's sex hair, bc him and Daniel banged it out before the interview.

flipping a table in the process, bc he's can fucking dramatic

here we have Claudia telling Louis is stronger now, harder. And Louis being all like uh-huh. Just from his tone and body language, I do not think he and Claudia are in a good place wherever this is happening. Those years between leaving Rue Royale and making it to Paris were probably pretty rough there for awhile.

Claudia and Madeleine, omg.

no but seriously, Louis has called Claudia his spark in the dark at least twice now in different clips/trailers/teasers. But look at this lighting here. Its dark, but Madelaine has a small light and is cast in its glow. Y'all she is totally Claudia's spark in the dark. we are gonna get a Claudia/Madelaine love story. And i'm so glad bc i think that's what Claudia has always wanted, her own companion, someone who will love her. (Yes Louis and even Lestat did love her. But neither ever chose her. Claudia wants someone to choose her)

I love that Claudia is helping with Madeleine's transformation here. We know she can't actually turn her (she told Louis and Lestat she tried with some boys back in season 1)

Louis telling Claudia it's you and me, me and you

but the 'me and you' part plays over these scenes. And I think he may be actually trying to break things off with Armand here, for Claudia's sake.

Louis keeps up the you and me, me and you stuff and we these shots. like we know why Lestat is there, Louis is guilty and haunted, and with Lestat it used be and 'you and me, me and you' thing. then along came Claudia who for a while there was 'a band-aid for a shitty marriage'. But she was also the reason they didn't stay together, what with the attempted murder and all that.

(also i still think we're going to get the reveal that Claudia is the one who slit Lestat's throat, because Louis couldn't do it)

the interesting thing is we see those words play over him and Daniel. So I think we are going to start with loumand as a united front. And slowly we're going to learn that Louis is missing memories, or starts remembering things differently. then it will be him and Daniel working together against Armand to find those real memories.

and here is Daniel telling Louis he doesn't know the meaning of his own story. which kind of ties into Claudia asking Louis who he is without her and without 'him' (The him probably refers to Lestat, but it might be Armand.)

next we have a supper blurry pic of Louis screaming no while being held back by somebody. Santiago, maybe? And Armand watching something and looking all sad.

my guess is this is when Claudia (and Madeleine) die. What happens here is depending on which side of the story we're getting. Are we getting Louis' real memory? Or are we getting Armand's version, where he will paint himself as not being able to prevent Claudia's death. Especially since we have audio over this of Armand saying he failed Louis once in his life and it wasn't in San Francisco.

is this Lestat in Dubai? Or is it Paris? I don't know, but it's gonna be juicy.

Madeleine what are they doing to you? Are they actually going to go there with Armand's experiments?

Either Louis threw Daniel hard enough to crack the wall here, or Armand throws him away from Louis and he smashes into the wall. either way, my boy Daniel is not having a good time

then we have Armand saying "I was in love" and Daniel asking someone if they buy that, though whether he is talking to Louis or Armand himself we don't know. or it could just be edited to make it seem like that's the remark Daniel's making to Armand's I was in love statement. he could be talking about something else entirely

who the hell is this lady falling? I zoomed in a lot, and it seems like a woman. one who has been absolutely beat to shit and is falling. Idk, but this moment was important enough to put in the trailer, so maybe it has some significance. (My wildest guess is that it could be Alice. But it's probably just some rando one of the vampires killed bc they were having a tantrum.

omfg. did Armand and Lestat actually fuck? my guess is that we have some version of that scene from the book, where Armand asks Lestat if he can go off with him, and Lestat ultimately says no. Also in the book Gabrielle was there.

So this is either one of two things. Lestat did the old smash and dash. And Armand has been obsessed with him since, bc this man has got to have some crazy dick game to keep all these people wanting to smash him even though he treats them like shit. Like Louis, Antoinette, and Armand. Though possibly not Armand.

Bc option 2 is this is Armand telling the story, and he just added some things that did not happen. But I think something did happen between them bc the way Armand acts about Lestat.

Armand standing outside of the room Louis is interviewing Daniel in. Looking not so good (like in his mental headspace. Assad is beautiful as always)

is that Louis' hand? I really can't tell. I have a theory that he's going to discover the fire gift when he sees Claudia die. Then burn everything to the ground, bc if there is one thing Louis loves, it is to light shit on fire. Or is that Louis being followed by someone with the fire gift?

Louis smashing Lestat's head into a wall. Lestat seems into it. The question is if this is real or a Lestat hallucination

Daniel is really not having a good time during this interview. But I added this because it's one of the shots during the audio where Louis says "Pieces of my life gone"

"I knew who I was without those pieces"

goddammit, I'm out of room for pictures. alright, let me post and reblog with part 3

Alright, here are some screenshots from the new iwtv s2 trailer and me theorizing over them like a rabid fangirl. Hafl meta, half madness.

ok, so this bit of dialogue here where they are talking about Daniel and the interview

Armand: He wants you in pieces for the privilege of putting them back together as he sees fit. Louis: It's his job. Armand: It's his drug. He's reveling in it. You should end it.

Is Armand bitter? Is this how he saw his and Daniel's relationship? If so he is big mad. Like, this man has had decades to stew in that post-breakup anger. Memory is a monster and all that. So he's had plenty of time to do that thing where people breakup, get pissed off, and only remember the bad times. We twist our own memory all the time, that's one of the ways people get past shit. So Armand has probably twisted what he and Daniel has. Because my boy does not handle rejection well.

Or maybe he is projecting? Messing with Louis' memories (which it seems like he did. though i do believe he thought he was helping Louis at the time. a monster in love is still a monster) could very well be putting him back as Armand sees fit. That's what he may believe he did to Louis. Though the definition of 'as he sees fit' could have multiple meanings. I think personally that Armand sees (or at least justifies) messing with Louis memories as for Louis own good.

Either way, he does not want Daniel poking into Louis' head.

this is just some loumand cuteness. look, Armand kisses Louis on the cheek. i think Armand is or was probably pretty affectionate when him and Louis were alone together. I remember that interview with Assad saying there was a tenderness to Louis and Armand's relationship. there's a whole bunch of cute little shots of them together. but they are hard to get a cleat shot of because they sort of fade into each other in the video.

like, i know in my heart the loumand breakup is coming this season. but i'm going to enjoy it while it lasts. bc this version of loumand has got me hooked. i have to confess, i was never really a big fan of loumand in the iwtv book. the whole claudia of it all ruined it for me. but i am so fascinated to see how these two made it work for 77 years.

and this. the way Claudia and Armand look at each other when they first spot each other. that quick second before the mask can slip into place. they do not like each other. they are enduring for Louis' sake. at least until he picks one of them.

then like a split second later, she has this tight smile on her face. my baby girl is not happy

look at their faces y'all. this is during Louis' 'life is shit' bit of dialogue. where he tells Claudia to stop feeling sorry for herself. he also says they 'can't be running away again' do they find other vampires before Paris? According to her diaries, they were in Romania in 1941. And Louis says something about they can't be the only 'good ones'

We also know they were in Paris, Nov 14 from Claudia's diaries. The interview is set in 2022. Louis mentions earlier in the clip him and Armand have been together 77 years. So they'd have to have gotten together in 1945. Given how quickly things happened in the book, I'd say they were probably only there a few months.

this has to be Allesandra. it has to be. I can't wait for this Armand backstory stuff.

y'all look at this fuckery. Santiago is kissing some woman while riding a motorcycle. idk if she is a victim or another vampire. and i think possibly the bike might be flying? I can't tell. It looks pretty cool though.

oh look, a scythe. i wonder what that could possibly be foreshadowing. they have to have the scene, the way they've shown a scythe in a few different teasers/trailers now.

this might be Madeliene, but I don't know. The hair doesn't fit what we've seen so far. my theory is that this is Madeleine's sister who dies via vampires. in the books she lost a daughter, and it was why she was so eager to play mother to Claudia. Having a child that could almost literally never die would have had to seem like, the greatest thing ever. switching it to a sister would be fitting, seeing as Claudia is playing the role of sister to Louis

So my thought here, (and I know I am theorizing based on nothing but vibes) is that Madeleine is looking into the vampires bc her sister went missing after going to a show at the Theatre des Vampires. And at some point, Claudia will reveal what they are to her.

That may be why she looked so scared in that other teaser we had. These pics are from it and they are blurry af, so sorry bout that

This could be the vampires warning her to mind her business. Why not kill her outright? Bc they like to play with their food. Or bc Claudia wants to keep her, and Armand knows he has to get Claudia out of the way to be with Louis. So he could just like, order the coven to not kill this one human. And then later 'convinces' Louis to turn her into a vampire, so Claudia will have her own companion and gtfo

like, i know it's hard to tell from this one shot, but Armand seems to be on the verge of having a full on tantrum. while saying Lestat's name over and over. Probably bc he heard how much Louis was talking about Lestat to Daniel. he's probably mad jelly, but like, in both directions.

look at this shit. Armand straight up hisses and pushes Lestat away with his vampire powers. (this I think is may not 1945 Paris, but around when they first meet. idk though)

this is how Lestat seemed to be dressed in the image above. and given the whole look of him (you know, in full health) i think this is around the time Lestat meets the Children of Satan

y'all I am screaming. this is Lestat drinking Armand's blood. did they fuck? did Lestat hit it and quit it?

At least Claudia gets to tell Louis off for picking Armand over her. But she definitely was not loving Paris.

as witnessed here, by Daniel reading from her journal "fuck these vampires"

so here we have Daniel saying he wants to get out alive (then we have him making this strange face where it looks like he wants to cry, another shot of Armand) while this other dude says that Daniel fears Armand and that he should fear the other one. Who tf is this guy? Are they still in the penthouse? Did Daniel leave and go out somewhere to meet this guy? Who is this man? Maybe another vampire that paid a visit? Is he this Leonard guy we've heard about? bc that does not look like David Costabile, but tv hair and makeup can perform magic, so maybe it is?

here we have Louis throwing his cup of blood at a painting. it's ok baby boy, you are entitled to a hissy fit every now and again

Here we have Louis hallucinating Lestat, so that's fun.

And now bitch ass tumblr says I can't post anymore images, but i am only halfway through the trailer. so I guess i will post and reblog