#i’ve seen the opposite for lestat

[claudiaeparvier]

"funny how feminization is only an issue when it happens to louis" There are people in this fandom who insist that Samstat is hypermasculine and reading him as anything other than a Stanley Kowalski pastiche is stupidity and projection. The same people who insist that female-coded Louis is the only right interpretation of the character, and they already imply that Assad's Armand is hypermasculine as well. It's the side of the same coin as the problem with a dainty, feminine Louis. They're not about subverting the gender norms, but upholding them in a twisted way

Gonna be honest, I can’t articulate a proper response to this because I just woke up and I’m about to go back to sleep because…no.

[coryosbaby]

Come back to me, please !

Fandom: “Queen of the Damned”

Pairing: Sub! Lestat De Lioncourt x fem! Reader

Synopsis: You return to your lover.

Cw: blood drinking, nsfw . handjobs, p n v, riding, creampie, cockwarming

A bath.

A bubble bath, to be exact— equipped with strawberry scented soap, rose petals and epsom salts. Lestat, there, at the far corner of the large tub. And your robe, with a soft flourish, dropping to the floor.

Your long lost love, beautiful & almost god like, was hard to find. But after all these years, he’s finally come home to you.

His eyes are glazed, playful. He watches as you step inside the tub. Naked, you’re the most beautiful thing Lestat has ever seen. Sitting down at the opposite end of him, you turn the lights in the room down with a flick of your wrist.

“The roses are a nice touch,” Lestat teases to you. A small smirk plays on his lips. “Always.. extra. As usual.”

“And you’ve missed it?”

Of course he has. He’s missed every single part of you. Most of all, the spot between your legs— the spot that’s hidden under crimson petals.

“I may have.”

The water rushes. Lestat leans forward, beginning to crawl to you. A predator catching his prey, almost. But you know that’s not why he’s approaching you.

He wants to be the hunted. He wants you to take control, as you always have.

His body, perfectly lean and pale, leans into you. His breath is hot on your lips, as he sits on his knees. You smirk, watching as his eyes beg to touch you. He can feel your blood rushing— pump, pump, pump. His favorite meal. He leans in, fangs brushing over your neck. But you tsk, and grasp his hair firmly in your hands. You pull him away.

“I don’t think so,” you say. “What have you done to deserve this, Lestat?”

He exhales heavily, and when your thumb brushes against his bottom lip he nicks it with his teeth.

“I’ve waited for you,” he states. “I’ve waited all this time…”

He breathes you in. Watches the way your face looks incredibly pleased.

“Please, my love.”

And oh, when he begs. Perfect, silky and angelic toned in such a way that is not him. So eager, so needy…

You hesitate for a moment, but alas you can’t say no to him.

“Only a little.” You warn.

The answer has him keening against you, smiling as his hands pull your head to the side. And with spit slick lips he sinks his fangs into you. Your eyes roll back, a gasp leaving your lips as he suckles from your jugular. While most are pained when fed, the feeling of Lestat being inside you in more ways than one has you moaning and pleading for him to drain the life from your eyes.

“Oh, gods…”

Your vision gets blurry, and with a shaky but firm voice you whisper, “Darling, that’s enough.”

Lestat, although one not known for his sense of control, listens. He pulls from you, biting his own lips and licking them hastily. He doesn’t want to waste a drop of your essence. You tilt your head back and try to compose yourself. You recover quickly from things, so it only takes you a few seconds to feel back to normal again.

Your hands wrap around Lestat’s neck, and you push him against the wall of the tub. You turn around so you’re in his original position, and he groans as your sharp nails dig into his neck.

“My turn,” you say.

Your lips graze his neck and chest. The neck would be where you get the most blood, but you want to drag this out— it’s what you’ve always done in intimate times like these. Break Lestat down, sink your teeth deep. Make him hazy and desperate with lust. He looks best when he’s in pieces.

You bring a finger up to one of his nipples. You rub him there, and he lets out a tiny whine. Your fangs scrape against it, and right below this spot you decide to sink your fangs in him. Suckling, his taste is absolutely divine. He whimpers, and you watch as his gorgeous head of hair tilts back in a sort of pained/pleasured stance.

Oh, Lestat.

It’s the most pleasure you’ve ever felt— Lestat.

There, your little fledgling, naked with his cock hard and feeding you the most important part of him.

Your fangs leave him and make another spot right next to that one, on the very other side. You drink, drink, drink. Blood runs down your chin, neck, breasts, and into the water below. You leave him, find another spot— his neck. Perfect, warm crimson. All yours.

Lestat doesn’t tell you to let up. He’s gotten like this, ever since the two of you had first made love. He would let you drain him of everything he had if it forsake your satisfaction. His vision almost goes out for a moment, before you pull away. You always know when it’s too much for him.

You chuckle, pleasured and full.

But not full enough, you decide.

You brush against his cock, hidden under the water. He’s thick, long. You know if you were to taste him right now it would be just as good as his blood. But that can wait for another day— you wrap your hand around him and stroke.

His lashes flutter, mouth falling open. He’s dizzy, horny, hot… how ironic. A vampire, all hot and bothered.

“Oh, thank you, goddess..” he praises. “I’ve missed you. I’ve missed you so much..”

You smile. Your hand speeds up, and for the first time that night you bring yourself up and kiss him. Your teeth clack together at first, but you soon adjust and sloppily press your lips against your lover’s. Your cunt clenches, empty. You need to feel his cock inside you soon, or you think you’ll go crazy. Your free hand scrapes against the nape of his neck and he whines out for you to fuck him.

“And I will, darling,” you reply to him. Your hand leaves his aching cock and wraps around his neck. You rest your face in his neck as you grab his cock with your other hand and position it below your entrance. You slick yourself up by rubbing his throbbing tip against your clit. It feels so nice, and you press him into your hole with one swift stroke. Lestat moans loudly, his hands going down to your hips to push you further down onto his thick cockhead. You adjust in due time, though it takes a moment. You’ll never get used to his size.

“My good little fledgling,” you purr, almost like a cat. “Does your cock get this hard for all those little blood whores you bring home?”

The words are teasing, but have a hint of malice to them. You don’t like sharing your things, and your jealousy hasn’t gone unnoticed by Lestat since you’ve returned. Though you know no woman could compare to you, the stupidity of men has never been an impossibility. But, regardless, Lestat seems equally as revolted by the idea.

“Never,” he grunts out. His fingers spread your asscheeks as to bottom out harder in you. “You’re the only woman I want, the only one I’ll ever need…”

You mewl, beginning to bounce on him. He feels so thick, fills you up so perfectly. His hips are moving up, fucking into you from underneath. You can feel your clit brushing up against his pelvis, can feel his pubic hair brushing up against you. It’s pure bliss. You pull on his hair with one hand and kiss him again.

“I bet you thought about me when you fucked those whores,” you mutter out. “I bet you thought about my wet cunt, filling me up with your cum. Thought about my mouth, my hands…”

“I never—“

He gasps when you clench down on him.

“Oh, I never fucked them!” he whimpers out. “I couldn’t! I was waiting for you to come back, goddess. I couldn’t— I couldn’t. I’ve always been yours.”

You’re pleased by his answer, and he throbs inside of you. By the look on his face you can tell that he’s close.

“Mine.” You growl out. Your grip on him tightens as your possessiveness glazes your features. “That’s right. All fucking mine.”

And as his hips stutter and he chokes up on his words, you make sure to leave a long, deep scratch on his collar bone. A marking, a symbol of your ownership.

“Cum inside me.” You demand to him. “Fill up my pussy. Show me you’re mine.”

He whines, loud. His cock spills thick ropes into your cunt and fills you to the brim. He reaches down, rubs your clit with his fingers. Your orgasm washes over you in gigantic waves. Lestat always makes sure to give you a release, and that you’re thankful for.

A few moments pass, as you both breathe heavily. His cock is softened inside you, but you both make no move to remove yourselves for each other. Lestat seems exhausted, tired. His eyes drift close against your chest as you sit there on top of him.

Yours.

[nalyra-dreaming]

I was reflecting on Lestat’s role as “pater familias” aka the autocratic Father of the unholy family in NOLA that was portrayed in the second half of s1, and I feel like that was not how Lestat was at first, at all. He was much more relaxed, him and Louis were equals and equal parents to Claudia, but that completely changed. It reads as if he took that role only after Claudia started acting up and asking questions he couldn’t answer to.

To only show watchers it reads as him being a controlling asshole that disliked the fact that his daughter wanted to be independent, but we know it’s not true. We know Lestat’s background. And based on that, I feel like Lestat began to unconsciously emulate his father to protect, but did the exact opposite. (Show watchers should kind of see it coming because Lestat talks about his shitty home life in the FIRST EPISODE, but oh well you can’t have everything now can you)

The fact Lestat broke many cycles of abuse is extremely overlooked. He didn’t have that many boundaries with his mother, but he did establish them with Claudia. He was given nothing unless he was severely hurt prior, while Claudia had all she wanted and he gladly spoiled her. Where his family didn’t bother to tell him what he did wrong because they didn’t care to, he tried to show Claudia that actions have consequences. He broke so many cycles of abuse coming from his family, because he genuinely loved Claudia, but also reinforced the one he had yet to recognize as abuse, aka the one at his father’s hands disguised as discipline. Lestat’s father was controlling and didn’t want his son to leave, but it was purely because he didn’t want Lestat to “shame” the family with a lowly place as a priest or as a disgraceful actor. Lestat kept Claudia with him and controlled her because he wanted to keep her in check and protect her from the outside, for her own sake. And lastly, the marquis was genuinely a shitty person. Lestat wasn’t. His father beat up a child because he could, Lestat had outbursts of anger because of the frustration of having to lie to his family and them hating him. And it’s genuinely heartbreaking to see a man who loves his family to death be reduced to emulate the abusive asshole that broke his spirit in a desperate attempt at keeping his husband and daughter safe, because he literally has no one else to emulate.

But going back to the main point, it really feels as if Lestat went from being the mother (life-giver and primary educator) to the Father (controlling and raging). There’s this huge tonal shift in him, which I think is also dictated by the fact Nicki too was acting like Claudia was in that moment, and he didn’t want to lose her too. I don’t know if it’s mostly because of what I’ve just said, because of his father, or because Claudia souring her opinion of him + Louis having the perception of past Lestat fucked up by Armand, that the viewer initially perceives Lestat that way. Personally? I think all of them. I think we’ll see Nicki go mad with some crazy parallels to Claudia that will explain why he was so set on being rough on her rather than gentle, as love didn’t save Nicki, and i also suspect that many of the scenes where Lestat was overly cruel to either Louis or Claudia or both were twisted to fit the “shitty ex” narrative Armand established. Not that Lestat didn’t act shitty at times, but the NOLA and dream versions of Lestat don’t feel like s1 him at all.

Thoughts? I really hope they show this part of Lestat’s character properly. I understand casual show watchers being unaware, but the abuse Lestat suffered is talked about in the first episode, that should be source of some sort of understanding of his character, shouldn’t it?

So for one, a lot of the reasons why Lestat acted the way he did will only be seen in season 3, and seeing is always different than just hearing three sentences of comment from a character.

And then the first two seasons were shaped to present Lestat as exactly that - an abusive asshole, which is also how the books go.

That was deliberate. Jacob said Louis "presented Lestat as a monster".

The tale broke at the end, and it will be different from hereon.

Of course there are parallels. With Nicki and Claudia, but also between Nicki and Louis. The feeding, the depression. The way Lestat acted out on temper, and tried to be the stern father, when Louis wouldn't be.

It will be immensely interesting to see this past you address here come to life, to see the parallels click into place.

To see the cycles of abuse in action.

I'm not sure if I have further thoughts on all this at this point - you laid out all the main points already, a lot of what we'll likely see^^. I just know the echoes and parallels will be ... uncomfortable.

And I bet rewatching after s3 will be give us quite a lot of "oh shit" moments.

[nightcolorz]

I saw the question posed on Twitter, and I trust your thoughts: how do you think a Lestat/Armand & Louis/Daniel endgame would look? How would it get there? What would the characters think about it?

Like on one hand it’s such an insane thought, it would never happen, but sometimes it’s fun to entertain improbable ideas. Enrichment!

oooo I’ve never seen this hypothetical before. I feel like these r like the pairings deemed correct by the universe if that makes sense lmao. Loustat and devils minion r so compelling bcus they r hashtag opposites attract hashtag ying yang, and I feel like lesmand and danlou are like the more compatible options. Which sounds unhinged when it comes to lesmand bcus they r awful for each other, but genuinely I feel like they gel in a very specific way that’s kind of rare in tvc, like they get each other. They r on the same wavelength of crazy fr. BUT I would hate this, not bcus I just love Loustat and devils minion sm, but bcus iwtv end game should be a multi ship paradise where every character is fucking (as it is in the books) and any alternative is evil. End game NEEDS to be Louis and lestat are married but they have elaborate orgies every day and r desperately in love with Armand and Daniel or I will scream and die.

[loustat-0]

Not sure why we need to perpetuate this lie that people think loumand is healthy. Been in this fandom for two years and I’ve never seen anyone say it even once. Maybe that’s how they’re living on Twitter but not here.

1. None of the ships are quite healthy in TVC . Not from what I've read so far . But maybe people mistake Loumand being more understanding and more calm to be less toxic ? That's not how it is to me . Because Armand had so many benefits that Lestat didn't have with Louis . Armand had nothing to hide from Louis , Armand wasn't threatened by Marius to be destroyed if he said anything about their kind and their origins , Marius literally told Lestat to go live like a human and gave him sets of rules and told him if he breaks them he would definitely find him and kill his fledglings and himself . And more importantly ARMAND COULD READ LOUIS'S MIND . Of course he knew what Louis wanted to give it to him . Of course there was no dark gift between them so that Louis hates him too of course Louis believed Armand wasn't withholding anything until Madeline of course . And then Claudia and the fact that he never told Louis he imprisoned Lestat to get him to confess against Claudia . But again Armand wanted to save Louis and separate Lestat from him and he would do anything to make that happen .

2. Armand seems less toxic because he doesn't have those limits that Lestat had . Why do you think Armand was so opposite of turning Daniel ?? Because he knew once the dark gift is shared between them their love will disappear and it will make them resent each other or at least it will make Daniel resent him . And it actually did happen unfortunately , they fell apart after QOTD till prince Lestat . So the dark gift is such an important aspect that Armand and Louis are free of . And that's to their benefit . People say Armand was also a good listener to Louis yes I agree but Lestat became a good listener too if Louis's words weren't always triggering him . Louis always triggered him . It's also the same on the show , we saw Lestat talk a lot but he also listened too . Unless Louis was triggering him with something he hated to talk about which is also understandable .

3. Now I don't know how the show will handle Loumand but I hope they keep these factors in mind but even if they didn't we can't do much about it 😉

[leslutdepointedulac]

Body Worship

Kinktober ~ Day 14: Body Worship

Now, Armand finds himself staring blankly into the roaring fire, contemplating whether or not he should go up and check on his love. After going back and forth with himself, he decides that a quick look in can’t hurt. It’s more to comfort himself than anything else, he just needs to know that Louis is here and that despite his mental state, he’s safe.

Armand rises from his seat and makes his way up the stairs and along to Louis’ room. As expected, the door is shut tight, still not even a hint of sound coming from inside. He fully anticipates going in to find the same thing he always does in this scenario: Louis curled up in his bed, the covers pulled over him as he lies silent, motionless, with his back to the door so that only his hair can be seen.

A deep sigh leaves Armand’s body as he hesitates for a moment, his eyes locked onto the door before he finally lifts his hand to gently knock on the door.

“Louis, it’s Armand.” He calls softly, despite knowing he likely won’t get a response. “I’ve just come to see that you’re alright, you haven’t come out to feed again tonight.”

As expected, he’s greeted only with complete silence. A thudding noise resounds in his ears as his heart beats heavily in his chest. He’s not sure why, this isn’t a situation that’s new to him, this has been done many, many times before. Maybe it’s the awful thought that something’s happened to Louis, that he’s done something incredibly stupid and Armand won’t be able to help him this time. He scares himself at the prospect of finding the extremely large and very heavy curtains pulled back, and the remnants of his lover in the bed.

Admittedly, this isn’t the first time Armand has conjured up such a horrific thought. The idea that this time, it would be him having to call Lestat to inform him through barely concealed tears what their love has done. Receiving that call was painful enough, he’s not sure what he’d do if it were the other way around.

After waiting for a few more moments while he collects himself, Armand finally works up the courage to open the door (which is never locked) and take a step into the room. He takes his time in letting himself in, wanting to give Louis the chance to hear him come in, as well as stalling for his own benefit.

As usual, Armand looks to the bed and feels a sense of panic spike in him when he realises Louis isn’t in his bed like he normally is. His gaze travels over the room until he startles himself with the sight of Louis standing directly opposite the door, in front of the full length mirror which sits in the corner, facing his reflection. Armand wonders how he hadn’t seen him upon entering the room, but concludes that his focus was on the bed alone, where he expected Louis to be, his eyes entirely passing over any other part of the room.

Something twists in Armand’s chest; it’s one thing to see Louis curled up sorrowfully in his bed, but there’s something about this that feels different. Maybe it’s because, despite being able to drag himself out of bed, he still seems just as depressed. Normally he won’t move at all on nights like this, and that should give Armand hope that perhaps tonight he isn’t at his worst.

[Little Comforts A03]

@vampirefest

[chalicedefinite]

I have been on this tag since day one and the majority of the posts and blogs I've seen adore Louis. Pointing out canonical traits like him actively lying in Canon books and now the show as well is not being hateful or disrespectful. Saying episode 5 and the whole tale infact being revisited is Not fans of lestat being apologists. It is what Anne Rice canonically did with the Vampire Lestat and the books that followed. Louis is loved widely in this tag. Lestat is being hated on as a result of the villainous portrayal in season 1 which again Canonically is a tale (not a true one) being told both in books and in the show. A lot of people however took it too far with the lestat hate and started calling anyone who liked him names and then people starting to fight back and the rest is how we got to here. If there is no understanding to fans of both characters the two most loved characters in the show -who at the end of the series canonically end up together- then what the hell is the point of being in this Fandom in the first place? Please don't take this as a personal attack it wasn't meant as one but as another person's experience and thoughts of the fandom so far.

I’m going to be honest I find this very hard to believe that it was only just about liking Lestat.

I’ve gotten more hate and vitriol from Lestat fans ever since I’ve joined this fandom. I’ve never talked bad about his character and I make it very clear on my blog that I love him and that he’s my favorite character both in the show and in the books. And yet, because I calmly engaged with a popular blog’s theory about episode 5; everyday I wake up to hate in my inbox that I have to delete. Lestat fans have been nothing but disrespectful to me for no reason.

Im a Lestat fan myself and I talk about how much I love him all the time it seems and I haven’t been once called a racist. I’ve had anons accusing me of hating Lestat but never ones accusing me of racism. This is the second time someone has told me that Lestat fans are bullied for liking him when all I’ve seen and experienced thus far is the exact opposite which begs the question: Is it really because you like Lestat or is it something deeper that other people picked up on but not you yourself? 3. How is anyone’s rational response as a human to someone calling them racist for liking Lestat is to deny the systemic oppression of black people? This is the main thing that doesn’t make a lick of sense to me. How did we go from, “Users were attacked for liking Lestat” to “So a bunch of blogs are now starting to agree with and talk about how reverse racism is real.” I’ve gotten attacked for liking characters before and my reaction to that is blocking whoever is causing trouble and ignoring them. I got harassed to hell and back in the Voltron fandom for defending and liking Allura and never at any point was I thinking about how affirmative action is the real systematic evil plaguing society. If this kind of thinking was always in the back of certain people’s head as they were analyzing the show then it’s safe to say that people weren’t mad at them just because they liked Lestat. You can not properly analyze a show where a black man talks about how he was systematically oppressed for being black when you don’t even believe in systemic oppression yourself. How can you sit down and watch this show where Louis is constantly being put down by the white people around him, where he has to pretend to be his husband’s chauffeur, where you see white people burning a black neighborhood, where Louis and Claudia cant even sit next to Lestat and have to sit at the back of the bus and come out of it thinking that reverse racism exists in our society? Louis is the age of a lot of black people’s great grandfather, what he went through was not that long ago and the society he lives is still alive today.

4. What purpose would it serve narratively to have Louis and Claudia lie about episode 5? I’m leaving this question here because the last time I tried to have this discussion it led to anons hounding me.

[o0anapher0o]

Oh hell, I promised myself I wouldn’t get involved in the gender discourse because for one I know my knowledge in gender studies (and connected race theory) is severely lacking, but mostly because the vast majority of those takes are annoyingly reductive and just people trying to make a point rather than analysing what is actually there. But this is the nth time I’ve seen the argument ‘Louis is housewife coded because he cleans the house’ which pisses me off because IT HAS NO BASIS IN THE TEXT.

There is no indication at any point of the show that Louis ever does any chores in the house at all. None. Instead it is heavily implied they have servants for the first half of the show. Lestat mentions them in ep. 1 and when Claudia comes back she tells them ‘You need a housekeeper.’ Not ‘you’re living in a dump’. Not ‘you need to clean’. No, she specifically refers to a housekeeper because as someone who grew up with a certain wealth in the early 1900s she expects servants. And even after that we never see Louis do anything around the house. It’s Claudia who handles the clean up. Yes, Louis is injured but the point remains: Louis does not visibly do any chores.

More than that though, Louis being the one who cleans the house is completely contrary to his characterisation. You’re telling me rich boy Louis, ‘the big man in the big house’ full of servants that we see on screen, the guy who spends his entire human life projecting ‘I’m a powerful and manly man’ would even know how to use a broom? You want me to believe Louis with his fancy suits, expensive shoes, nice sweaters and chic little glasses spends his nights scraping his daughter’s half dried macaroons off the walls? Please. There are several scenes in ep. 2 that imply Louis needs to be taught to take the trash out, let alone that he would know how (or have the time) to clean in an era where that was a lot more difficult than just plug in the vacuum.

Obviously the reasons for this argument is 1) Claudia calling him a housewife, which is clearly an insult aimed at the power dynamic in their relationship and Lestat neatly filling the stereotype of cheating husband in that moment and is absolutely no indication of whether or not Louis is fulfilling any housewifely duties, and 2) the fact that the house falls into disrepair during the depression years.

The thing about that is that for most of that time they’re very clearly both depressed to a point were putting on clothes is too much effort, so neither Louis not Lestat cares about the mess enough to clean it up. But it’s also a correlation isn’t causation incident. Yes, the house became a mess when they got depressed and stopped caring, but they also went no contact with the outside world at the same time. Which means no more servants. When you’re trying to get the world to forget you exist you can’t have people going in and out of your house, gossiping about how no one knows where the masters go during the day but they’re never home, how some of the rooms feel smaller than they should be, the weird stains in the wineglasses or ‘I don’t know what they do with their clothes, Dorothy, but that suit which was perfectly fine last time I saw it, would have easily lasted another ten years, is suddenly gone, like they must have thrown it out and that’s the third suit this year. I mean, I know they’re rich, but such a waste…’ They are depressed so they don’t make an effort to clean up after themselves, but there is no reason to assume the mess gathers because it was Louis’ job to clean up before.

Yes, there are definitely moments in the show when they clearly have the dynamic of a heterosexual couple with Louis occupying the role of the wife to Lestat’s husband. But the opposite is equally true for other parts of the story (you cannot tell me that if those were both white men Lestat during the honeymoon years wouldn’t be 100% read as playing the trophy wife to Louis the businessman). And at no point is any of this because either of them is housewife coded.

[knownoshamc]

I’ve seen that godawful theory about how the reason Armand saved Louis from the wall only because Lestat threatened or begged him to multiple times. (Once with the especially gross speculation that what Lestat promised Armand was a sexual/romantic relationship.) And like…can you imagine hating a ship/character this much?? Ffs.

Some people really think Armand is just the opposite of what Assad has said: a moustache twirling villain (oh but I forgot Assad was joking when he said that about hia character). And Lestat has never done anything wrong in his life and if he has, it's okay cause at least he really loves Louis.

Look, I'm okay with people hating on characters. I'm not okay with some racist undertones in a lot of these takes... and also putting that on the tag. Why would you do that? Also see going to the tag and reblogging something to tell the person that they are wrong.

[cbrownjc]

I think fans got that "hates Lestat" thing from the overall way ep5 was handled and then the resulting "yeah Lestat needs to go through a redemption arc after this" opinions from Sam, since in the first book afaik Lestat IS horrible, but he never did something like this to Louis. As for Armand/Louis, I've mainly seen people ship them more for the aesthetic of it, at least when you don't know the full context of Armand and his backstory and then romance with Louis, and you only base it on the current scenes. Since technically, Armand doesn't LOOK worse or just as bad as Lestat from what we've seen, the weirdest thing about him is putting on the role for Rashid for Louis. And for fans that like Louis as the character we have seen so far on the show (but not one that we've seen everything that's fully true about), I can understand people preferring Armand from everything so far in comparison to Lestat. But after the changes with Lestat I'm not sure if they'll technically make Armand any better on the show, especially with what we've seen of him in the present and how his relationship with Louis looks now.

Hey Anon,

I understand some people were hurt by EP5, but people gotta stop thinking it had anything to do with how any of the showrunners personally feel about the characters IMO. It was a choice made to set up a character arc, rightly or wrongly, and that's really it.

The staff writers have made it clear before this that Season 3 is the season Rolin especially wants to get to. Which we now know from his own mouth that will be The Vampire Lestat season if it happens. And they have still made Louis and Lestat (especially Lestat) more overtly romantic, and Lestat way more romantic towards Louis more than the first book ever did, before and after EP5. Even the very way in which Lestat turned Louis is way more sympathetic and romantic than in the book or the 1994 movie.

People can dislike the man for the choices made for EP5, and that's fine. (And he didn't even write that episode.) But that doesn't change some of the more sympathetic choices made wrt Lestat's character as opposed to the books either, IMO.

IDK. As I said after EP5 aired, maybe I feel the way I do because I know even in the later books, when Lestat is supposedly more sympathetic, he still does a lot of heinous shit too. And yet, I still enjoyed reading about his character even after that stuff.

I don't, and never have, looked toward Anne Rice's vampire chronicles characters for ethical, moral, or even just healthy choices. Lestat has character growth over the course of the series, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. But none of the characters in this story are ever morally better than others, Not even Louis (for all he acts like he is.)

All the characters in this are all f-ed up and toxic, just in various different ways and degrees. It just depends on how much f-ed up-ness and toxicity you are willing to take wrt a particular character when it comes down to it, IMO.

Which brings me to Armand. I mean, if people are shipping him and Louis mostly for the aesthetic, as you say, then okay, they can do them, I guess. I just hope they are okay with that aesthetic being the main reason why after the revelation of what Armand's true character is like (at this point in the story). Because if they haven't read the books, then aesthetic really is the only thing they can go by since they have zero idea what Armand's true character is or is really like.

Rashid was a performance. Not Armand's true character.

And I honestly think Armand, and what happens in Paris, will be worse than what happened in the book, if that's possible. (It’s something I’ve been saying even before the Armand reveal.) And not just because of what they had Lestat do that was unsympathetic on the show. But because I don't think the show is trying, in any way, to portray vampires as really being - in any way - moral or ethical creatures. Quite the opposite, really.

And especially when it comes to the vampires who are outside Louis, Lestat, and Claudia's little family bubble.

The show is leaning into the Horror part of this story just as much as it is the Gothic part. And Armand does some heinous shit in this story (and is a much better manipulator, given his spell and mind gifts), which I do not think the show will soften at all. They really have zero reasons to.

[illiadofrecollection]

very possible it’s just that I’m not actually following a lot of VC blogs (my main is unrelated and I try to avoid oversaturation, too easy to overdo fandom for me. It’s a fun distraction not my only interest or life haha) but I’ve seen so many disgusted/joking posts about Lestat and Gabrielle’s incestuous relationship and very little on Gabrielle and her relationship with gender which is so much more interesting by far.

Her uncomfortable closeness with Lestat is part of the horror as usual in incest narratives yes, this is a horror novel; but there’s a bit more going on there. She hates her life and sees Lestat as an extension of herself, of a male self she doesn’t get to be-- and when he turns her into a vampire she does become ‘a young man’ -- the text literally describes her (him?) that way. Once she does become what she wanted to be all along she no longer needs Lestat the same way. That’s what he perceives as yet another abandonment (though again I don’t think the way she buried that package with essential information actually points to her wanting to go on alone, more like the opposite! that’s just how Lestat interprets it). He’s no longer ‘part of her’-- no longer her imagined male identity, acting out in her place. Because now she can be that person herself.

It feels odd to use feminine pronouns for her tbh; the text repeatedly calls her ‘a young man’ and that certainly seems to be how she wants to be perceived. Then again people’s relationship to gender is often complicated, and who’s to say she’s not a young man who wants to use feminine pronouns? But Lestat’s discomfort with his mother’s new presentation and independence from him is present all through the text (in which he is the narrator). Her story reads as more than just a reaction to sexism to me, though obviously women did crossdress at the time for practical reasons that seem to align with part of Gabrielle’s reasoning (those dresses are not easy to move in).

Anyway what I’m saying is out of all VC characters I think Gabrielle’s story is the one that very easily reads as one about a trans character. Very very curious how the show is going to handle this story.

[cosmicjoke]

Alright, alright, finally, I watched episode 7 of IWTV and... well...

I’ve got to say I’m not entirely convinced of the fan theory surrounding Armand mind controlling Louis, though there’s definitely evidence of something strange going on.

One thing that strikes me as odd and not entirely lining up with the theory is that Armand says to Daniel that he’ll be ashamed of himself for berating Louis the way he is once he hears the whole story.  I can’t figure out exactly why Armand would say this, or what he means.  Does he mean Daniel will be ashamed for telling Louis that he doomed Claudia by choosing Lestat over her?  If so, why?  I suppose it could have something to do with a “redemption” arc for Lestat.  Maybe he ends up saving Claudia from death.  But then, considering what we know about Armand and his direct hand in Claudia’s death... I don’t know. 

I’m also still not convinced that Louis’ memories of Lestat as being abusive toward him and Claudia are unreliable, or meant to be seen as unreliable.  And after watching this episode, I can see where the fear I’ve seen expressed by some fans is coming from, that Lestat is going to be the one to kill Claudia in revenge.  Because Lestat in this episode is fully ready and willing to kill Claudia by forcing her to drink from the dead twin who he thinks is poisoned.  This is... so out of character, and so wrong for Lestat.  The entire depiction of Lestat as some master manipulator, ten steps ahead tactician is ludicrous.  The whole reason Lestat falls into Claudia’s trap to begin with is because he’s the exact opposite of that.  He’s impulsive, childlike, driven by emotion and, in a very real sense, has a quality of innocence to him which blinded him to Claudia’s more deceptive and treacherous intentions.  Of course Lestat senses danger from Claudia.  He’s shown in the book being paranoid and fearful of her.  He isn’t an idiot.  He can feel her hostility.  But it’s his artless and innocent nature which ultimately makes him believe her when she tells him she wishes to make peace.  Why he accepts her “gift” with open arms and doesn’t think twice about trusting her.  He doesn’t even for a moment fathom that she’s tricking him, or planning to poison him.  So the very notion of him being hip to her’s and Louis’ plan here is... not right.  It’s not who Lestat is, it’s not what he’s even capable of. 

Further, and just as absurd, is that in his knowledge of her treachery, Lestat tries to turn the tables on her and kill her instead.  Again, totally out of character.  Lestat never shows any, genuine malice or revenge driven mindset toward Claudia.  He never wanted her dead, he never planned on her getting murdered, he never wished her harm of any kind.  But here, he’s just like, welp, let’s kill the bitch and replace her with Antoinette.  Another bastardization of Letat’s actual actions and ideas from the book, in which he’s thinking of making Antoine into a vampire so that he can have a friend, because Louis and Claudia have basically started to freeze him out and ignore him.  Lestat is lonely, that’s why he’s thinking of bringing Antoine into the fold of their family.  Not because he’s planning on murdering Claudia and replacing her with another vampire. 

So with this shift in his character in the show, with him clearly ready and willing to kill Claudia without any, apparent qualms, I can see why people are afraid Lestat is going to be the one to kill her down the line, and that would just be egregious to the point of making the show unwatchable.  It’s already pushing it with making Lestat into a domestic abuser and not letting us know with any sort of clear cut answer whether it’s intending to maintain that depiction, or reveal it to be untrue.

Also, Louis being in on Claudia’s plan to kill Lestat, and actually delivering the final blow was all kinds of wrong and out of character too.  Louis’ entire character, early on, is driven by his passivity, and it’s that passivity which ultimately contributes to driving a wedge between him and Claudia, and why he blames himself for her death, knowing if he’d just stepped in and stopped her from trying to kill Lestat like he knew he should have, she never would have died.  And worse yet is having Louis say that he “wanted Lestat dead”.  Like, WTF?  No, he didn’t.  Louis NEVER wanted Lestat dead.  The thought of killing him never even crossed his mind, and he agonized for weeks over knowing Claudia was going to try it, knowing it was wrong and unjustified, but was paralyzed once again by his indecision and lack of self-confidence.  Louis, if he had the capability to act enough to draw the blade across Lestat’s throat himself, as he does in the show, never would have LET Claudia “kill” him in the first place.  If he had the strength to deny her burning Lestat’s body as he does in the show, again, he NEVER would have let her attempt to take his life in the first place.  Louis, in the book, is absolutely horrified and disgusted by Claudia after she kills Lestat.  He’s sickened by her act, and initially refuses to have anything more to do with her, telling her he’ll only stay with her because she can’t take care of herself.  He’s horrified by it all.  He knows it was wrong.  But they conveniently explain that away here by telling us that he wanted Lestat dead.  And this is why I’m not totally convinced of the theory that Armand is altering Louis’ memories of Lestat being a domestic abuser.  Because Louis’ depiction of Lestat here is of a viciously controlling tyrant (Claudia even compares Lestat to Hitler, for fucks sake) who rules over him and Claudia both through the threat of violence, who’s so ego-driven and devious, and who has such an intolerable strangle hold on the two of them, that the only way to escape him is to kill him.  This is all self-delusion in the books.  Lestat never hurts Louis OR Claudia in any significant, physical way in the books, but Louis fears Lestat anyway, even though Lestat’s never even shown him he’s physically stronger than him in any way, and convinces himself that they can’t escape him more out of a lack of belief in himself and an apathetic acceptance of his situation, and so he just sits there is ineffectual indecision while Claudia plots away.  His hatred of Lestat is born entirely from finding Lestat an insufferable, uncultured, unthinking buffoon.  He never is consciously aware of any feelings of love for him in the first 65 years of their lives together.  He just feels stuck with him, for no real reason at all.  He’s just passively accepting of his life circumstances, and that passivity is born entirely from Louis’ own nature, and actually has nothing at all to do with Lestat.  Louis’ entrapment is a prison of his own making.  He could’ve taken Claudia any time and left, which is also why Lestat never tells them about the vampires in Europe, because he knows it and he’s afraid they’ll ditch him if they know about others of their kind.  He already feels rejected by the two of them, locked out of their little circle.  Claudia of course perceives, accurately, this passivity in Louis, and decides to take matters into her own hands because SHE wants to leave, but needs Louis to do so, and so she decides hey, I’ll kill Lestat because then there won’t be any excuse anymore for Louis to stay locked in his self-imposed stagnation.  He’ll be freed from his own, made up limitations.  We see Louis realize this about himself after what happens to Claudia, and he finds finally the strength to make choices for himself, dictating his and Armand’s travels before finally deciding he’s had enough and telling Armand off and refusing to stay with Lestat even after Lestat begs him to. 

But here Louis apparently has grown to hate Lestat after initially loving him because Lestat proved to be a horrible, abusive asshole who wouldn’t hesitate to use his power to hurt him and Claudia in order to keep them with him.  Louis’ own, passive nature no longer has anything to do with it.  It’s all Lestat.  It’s all Lestat and his horrible, evil, domineering ways.  He’s literally keeping Louis and Claudia prisoner, and has shown them his incredible, outrageously greater strength, which he’s willing to use on them without compunction.  And so now, Louis wants Lestat dead, and actively participates in Claudia’s execution of the plan to kill him.

If Armand is messing with Louis’ mind and making him remember Lestat as a tyrannical abuser, then why did Louis ever “want him dead”, as he says here?  Unless that’s also a lie, and the entire memory of him and Claudia “killing” Lestat is a false memory too.  Or if Louis was just pretending to be in on Claudia’s plan, and instead tried to save him through that?  It’s so convoluted.  And what does that say about Claudia?  Does it mean she was just manipulating Louis, that she wanted to kill Lestat so she could force Louis to come with her like in the book?  But then, what’s the point of that?  Claudia in the show has proven plenty capable of taking care of herself and being able to leave on her own, so why exactly would she need to kill Lestat if he wasn’t actually keeping her prisoner? 

I don’t know man.  I hope the theory is right, and that Lestat hasn’t been turned into this, when he’s meant to be a little bit of a thoughtless sweetheart.

It also forces Armand into a more villainous role than he would otherwise ever occupy.  Even though Armand does some jacked up stuff in the books, and is definitely manipulative and controlling, and even physically abusive at points, (him pushing Lestat off a tower in the books really tying in I think to the theory that Armand is implanting false memories into Louis’ mind) he never is shown exerting the kind of control over another being which this theory is suggesting, keeping Louis a prisoner, both physically and mentally.  So, yeah, I don’t know man.  We’ll have to wait and see.

Also, as dramatic as the death scene with Lestat was, it’s infinitely more so in the book, and even the movie.  Lestat cries again and again for Louis to help him in the book, but that’s undercut here by Louis BEING IN ON the plan, and by Lestat KNOWING about the plan.  It’s heartbreaking in the book, because Lestat didn’t have a clue, he’s totally blindsided, and in his sudden fear and desperation, his aloof and blase attitude is exposed and his true feelings for Louis come through.  He looks to Louis for help, he needs Louis, he reaches out for the person he loves and trusts most in the world, and Louis, tragically, can do nothing, once again, because he doesn’t believe he can.  He lets Claudia kill someone he loves too, even if he doesn’t realize it yet.

I really loved some of the moments from this episode, especially the scene between Lestat and Louis on the balcony, when we genuinely see Lestat’s humanity, how he’s on the verge of tears talking to Louis.  Sam Reid’s acting here was superb.  And the show itself is stellar in terms of production values and acting.  I just wish they could have stuck with the actual story from the books, cause this ain’t it man.

[hekateinhell]

Armand's name hasn't even been mentioned on the show yet, and I've already seen people on here and twitter being all "idg why anyone would ship Louis/Armand when it was a loveless relationship". I already feel so sorry for how hated my boy is probably going to end up being, between Loustat fandom already seeing him as the enemy and the show taking away his most popular storyline that would've given them a reason to not be so threatened by him.

Yeah, I mean I’m on Twitter too unfortunately so I have seen that nonsense lmao.

I feel like a lot of it is coming from people who either haven’t read the books at all or who chose not to read past QotD (for whatever reason). I know quite a few Loustat fans who validate both ships even though they have their obvious preference! The majority of canon fans do, actually.

I feel (I hope) like you might be running into a vocal minority situation. Shipping wars have never really been a thing in this fandom as far as I can remember. And I don’t think I’ve ever seen an Armand fan argue that Loustat wasn’t endgame in canon, which for some reason is a lot of the screaming I see on Twitter.

Like??? Yeah??? Your point??? I go here and I have for almost 16 years now (tragically). It’s Reading Comp 101.

Also, for me, if I’m going to accept Lestat’s read between lines, then I feel perfectly justified in applying that to Armand and Louis as well.

Trinity Gate happened, that’s canon too. And Anne never said her vampires were monogamous; in fact, canon points to the opposite. You’re obviously going to get a different textual read depending on who you ask but those two are facts.

According to Anne—in and out of text—Louis, Lestat and Armand all love each other. As for Armand’s AMC storyline���

Listen, I am praying to the universe that they will write him out completely. It’s a rapidly fading hope, but I am hanging on to that thread until the very end.

Tl; dr: Just be confident in your ships, guys! It’s not that serious!

[odetoalibrary]

I also feel this. Interview with the Vampire is one of my favourite books of all time whereas The Vampire Lestat was enjoyable to me, mostly because of the Armand interactions. I think I just don’t identify with Lestat as a protagonist and prefer him to be lover/antagonist.

I’ve seen reviews where others feel the exact opposite so I’m sure many Lestat fans will be happy. There’s just something about Louis’s melancholy and his love of humanity that strikes a chord in me over anyone in TVL as much fun as it was to read

as much as i am excited for iwtv season 3 i actually have very different expectations for it than seasons 1 & 2. i sort of expect it not to be that good? definitely not AS good as those first two seasons but i feel like that goes without sayiing. i'd love to be proven wrong of course but i'm also perfectly happy with the idea of it being a campy romp that doesn't take itself too seriously but is consistently entertaining. i think it would work well for lestat's story (deeply unserious man) and i think it's in line with the experience of reading iwtv and it blowing your tits clean off only to move onto the next books and be like damn. this is some wacky shit

[lyingawxke]

@lyingawxke Cressida was a touch unsettled, simply because she hadn't had that much interaction with others recently. It was far too easy to become involved in her family life with Louis and Lestat and forget that there was a whole world out there filled with people who didn't know or truly believe that the vampires existed. She'd woken up that afternoon and decided that she wanted to go on an expedition before they rose from the coffins that she never dared to go near. It wasn't because she didn't want to see coffins, but because she knew that they could hurt her without realising necessarily should they be disturbed. She had scrawled a note and shoved it under the door for them to read, telling them where she was, and then she had left, finding her way to the cemetery. There were mourners, of course, but they were separate within their own grief and she hadn't expected anyone to pay attention to her, even though she wore a dress that covered every inch of her that was possible, with a high collar, long sleeves and gloves, a stylish black hat covering her head, dark blue glasses firmly fixed protecting her eyes.She had been examining the graves, looking for the Pointe Du Lac's, looking for any names that could be familiar. Cressida had just wondered to herself if she would have been able to sense a grave that could have belonged to her family from her first life. It was too easy to lose track of time and to forget the world around her. She heard the voice, the intrusion and she turned to find a woman a little older than her it seemed. "Do I know you?" She asked quietly, quickly glancing round to see that they were alone, others having left. "Do you know me?" ​

It was a decent enough day out. The fall, or what passed for it in Louisiana was rolling in, making the air a little bit less like soup. A perfect day for a graveyard walk. Emmie had packed up her backpack with all the stuff she needed to scrub her parent’s grave, a snack and the big water bottle and set out on foot for the cemetery. She puts her headphones in and turns on Frankie Valli, mom’s favorite, and gets to pulling up the few weeds that grow between the cramped plots. 

Emmie is a sweaty mess within minutes. Her short overalls are covered in dirt and the soapy water she had been using to clean the graves, the yellow tank top beneath is sweaty and gross. Her blond curls frizzing up, despite her efforts to protect it from the humidity with a floral scarf. A complete opposite to the woman she caught out of the corner of her eye. She stopped scrubbing for a moment and studied the woman in the immaculate black dress. There was something about her that seemed at once old but new, and Emmie thought it might be the dress, but her gut told her it was something deeper. 

“Probably not. I don’t think I’ve seen you before.” She said “You just seem like you’re looking for something but don’t know what.” 

@beautifulsavagegarden

[c0rpseductor]

like sorry to have a. i don’t know. would it be dramatic to call this religious trauma? Well anyway sorry for the moment but like

anybody who knows me for shit knows i had a cartoonishly awful childhood. this is like, me 101. i started to self-harm as a very little kid bc i thought god hated me, so part of my issue is like, i was already mentally ill right out of the gate.

i would learn one thing in church and then come home and be told all the stuff really virulent cruel evangelicals believe, essentially. like at Sunday school i’d hear “be nice to everybody” and then come home and my mom would be like “oh Lestat. you poor fucking rube. God is vindictive and spiteful and punishes anyone he dislikes. Christians think anybody who’s suffering deserves it because God chose it for them. Christianity is evil and full of hypocrisy.” and, I mean, i understand why she had a lot of anger toward it and why she felt like there are no adequate answers for the problem of evil and ESPECIALLY why she thinks vocal christians suck. we live in America, no shit! I’ve seen TV pastors! but you don’t unload that on a kid, and especially not a kid who is also being hurt so acutely that his takeaway is “my parents do bad things to me because god wants me to suffer.” so i grew up, uh, normal

and it frustrates me as an adult because i know what the takeaway is “supposed” to be, or at least what less insanely aggressive christians tell me it is. i get that i got essentially the exact opposite message i was supposed to receive. but not only do i struggle to believe it, but the kind of things my mom used to complain about are the same things i see people unironically lob at other people. like on the adult survivors of csa group ive seen people say “during your childhood, if you felt abandoned, it’s because you weren’t listening hard enough for god. because god was there and your feelings are wrong.” like, it’s their fault? someone has a crisis of faith for one of the most understandable possible reasons and you think they just aren’t trying hard enough? and people will say with a straight face like, act like lgbt people are these subhuman aberrations and god hates them and spit on them because their idea is like, anyone who’s big and strong is who god loves and anyone who’s being hurt and tortured deserves it because god decided that’s how it would go.

it frustrates me so much that my dad like, abused me emotionally and mentally and physically and sexually and drove my mother and i out of our home and treated his whole family like obstacles in the way of his desires and then had the fucking gall to be a born-again Christian about it. it fucks with my head SO bad that nothing bad ever happens to him and he’s so easily able to go to church and uncritically swallow everything he’s told. it just feels like this confirmation that everything is arbitrary and anyone who’s been “picked” by god can do whatever evil things they want but anyone who’s hated can never, ever atone enough for the cardinal offense of having been born, no matter how much they pray or suffer.

and like, idk if i can ever get out of that hole, but it still makes me so fucking sick when people who act like they’re perfect Christians spit on people because they think they have the right to decide who is and isn’t human. because i know that’s the opposite of what they’re supposed to be getting out of it and because it’s disgusting, cruel, arrogant behavior.