#it doesn't mean that louis is a liar

[rosesocietyy]

I've realized that many arguments in this fandom stem from the fact that a lot of people don't actually know what "unreliable narrator" means

[bunnys-kisses]

how can i take your order? all you have to do is pick a dessert, drink and driver/character of your choosing! are you in the mood for a mille-feuille or a big slice of chocolate cake! please, please, please indicate who you want me to write about!!

the servers are from the following: formula one, call of duty, baldur's gate 3, haikyuu, one piece, jujustu kaisen, detective comics (dc), marvel comics (but i am open to any other fandoms you might have in mind! please do not hesitate to ask!!)

i do also accept polyam relationships! (pairing + reader), up to about four people! just to make it manageable on my end!

all orders can be made to the inbox for @bunnys-kisses and i'll get your order together asap! also let me know if you want it extra sweet or a little more spicy !

mille-feuille: “that’s it, fuck, that’s a good girl.”

butter tart: "let's ruin ourselves for anyone else."

sugar pie: “gonna let daddy hear ya?”

zebra cake: "well, what do we have here?"

carrot cake: "swallow it. all of it."

millionaire shortcake: "if they saw you now, you'd be the biggest shame to your family."

pots de crème: "if a picture is worth a thousand words, then i could probably get a million dollars for this photo."

oat flapjacks: "i'm not scared of you."

persian rolls: "it's mandatory i finish. you getting to finish is a treat."

spice pie: "i didn't know it was possible to be a liar and a slut."

mushroom pie: "if you don't shut up. i'm going to shut you up."

lemon slice: "i'm sorry, what was that? i can’t hear you over all that noise you’re making."

swiss roll: "everything you own, everything you wear i paid for. so i guess that means i own you."

pumpkin pie: "i've met strays who were more obedient."

pastry braid: "your job is to make me cum. now get to work."

sausage roll: "i wonder how much i could get for photos of this cunt."

pithivier: "if you don't behave, i'll let the boys take care of you."

tiramisu: “my little slut to ruin.”

sponge toffee: "aw, is someone mad that they can only cum because of me?"

pull-apart bread: "i love you"

powered sugar donuts: "marry me."

blueberry bars: “gonna make you a mamma and you're gonna make me a daddy.”

pudding chomeur: "i don't share."

ice cream bars: “did you see the way he was eyeing you? he need to know you're mine."

chocolate cake: "do you feel that? that's what happens when i think about you all day."

soufflé: "i'll be gentle."

fried dough: "i know virginity is a stupid concept... but i want to take yours."

apple pie: "now be good and beg. thank you."

vanilla cheesecake: "where are your manners?"

berry trifle: "wrong. try again."

maple cream pie: "either you wear the necklace with my name on it, or wear my bruises around your neck."

s'more: "The accent gets to you, doesn't it?"

belgian waffles: "i cum in that every night."

pancakes: "if you bite me. i'll bite you back."

loaf of whole wheat bread: "you're going to shut that mouth and take me."

jos louis: "does someone need a daddy?"

maple taffy: "oh my god you're stupid."

snowballs: "don't worry, drug tests aren't till next week."

shortbread cookies: "and who does this belong to?"

flan: "i'm not possessive... i'm obsessive."

peach cake: "if you spill a drop, we start all over."

angel food cake: "if he fucks with me again, i'm finishing inside of you."

red velvet cupcake: "if you don't like being called a whore, then stop acting like one."

mince pie: "i'm not jealous."

banana bread: "i'm going to fuck that sweet pussy of yours until the only word your little brain can form is my name."

crumb cake: "if you just listened, all of this could've been avoided."

chocolate chip cookies: "you're beautiful when you smile, but you're the prettiest when my cock is in your throat"

nanaimo bars: "who's my pretty girl? c'mon say it."

coffee cake: "knees. now."

sourdough bread: "i'm going to breed you."

blueberry muffins: "i don't think it'll fit."

pound cake with strawberries: "you know i hate going over rules, but just because i like seeing you embarrassed, i'll tell you them again."

croissant: "i wonder if your father knows what happens during the off hours. if he knows you're here with me."

crepe: "pretty girl."

french toast: "you're trying to make me jealous!"

churros: "if you don't shut that little mouth of yours, i will stuff it full. okay?"

shortbread squares: "you're just mad that that my cock fits perfectly in you now. must be a blow to the ego that we're a perfect match."

savory pastry: "let your brother find out."

sweet pastry: "i'll make it all better."

eclairs: "the family's precious little girl. under me like a slut."

boston cream pie: "yeah, i'll use protection."

bagel: “gonna paint you with my teeth.”

crostata: “stupid slut, this is what you wanted huh? wanted me to fuck you like i hate you.”

tres leches: "i wonder if your brother know i cum in you."

peanut butter bars: “scratch me, bite me, just mark me sweetheart. show them I’m yours.”

eton mess: "be careful. your breath smells like cum."

scones: "but what if they see us!"

english muffin: "aw, is someone crying?"

honey cruller: "i forget how small you are sometimes."

banana split: "don't look at me like that."

beer brownies: "stick your tongue out anymore and you'll look like a dog."

fudge: "your father is pissing me off."

sticky toffee pudding: "the only way this is ending is you getting pregnant."

hot cross buns: "don't hide your face from me. i'd hate to have to tie you up."

brownies: "you're so much more agreeable when you have something to occupy that mouth of yours."

chocolate mousse: "the only necklace you need is my hand around your throat"

tim bits: "stupid little thing."

fruitcake: "i'll make tonight special."

cornmeal muffin: "i need you most."

devil's food cake: "you're my most unhealthy obsession."

crème caramel: "oh. you thought you were getting away from me?"

banana & chocolate muffins: "i'm only doing this because you need to learn how to behave, rules are rules, and you need to follow them."

custard tart: "i've never done this before."

cinnamon rolls: "no one needs to know."

mango sorbet: "you are by far the dumbest thing i've ever fucked. how did they even let you graduate?"

date squares: "you look better with my marks on you."

figgy duff: "if i buy it, will you stop pouting?"

spicy upside down cake: "let's play a game: don't get caught."

cream puffs: "let me finish inside."

profiteroles: "come away with me. for a week, together. anywhere you want, we'll go."

with a side of:

coffee: rivals

tea: semi-public/public sex

juice: cockwarming

mocha coffee: breeding kink

bubble tea: daddy kink

a vodka shot: rough sex

sparkling water: gentle sex

coconut water: alternate universe

energy drink: doggy style

champagne: sugar daddy situation

hard lemonade: possessive behaviour

espresso shot: dirty talking

a glass of wine: cowgirl position

ice capp coffee: werewolf au

bloody mary: vampire au

martini: mafia au

frozen latte: dumbification

frozen lemonade: consensual non-consent

cranberry juice: mean!character

glass of water: aftercare

chocolate milk: tenderness

milkshake: size kink

pina colada: pregnancy

cider: body worship

mai tai: loss of virginity

margarita: unprotected sex

mint julep: punishments

chai: biting/hickies

earl grey: big cock

fishbowl cocktail: protected sex

tonic water: age gap

matcha latte: collars/bondage

root beer: filming/recording

soda: jealousy

americano: oral sex

whisky: degrading language

vitamin water: dom/sub dynamic

irish coffee: high sex

sangria: drunk sex

dark roast coffee: sub!character

dark hot chocolate: sub!reader

iced tea: accidentally launching relationship

lemon water: university/college au

naked & famous: bimbo/ditzy!reader

on the house: author's choice!

ORDER UP!

[protectresses]

constantly am encountering the absolute worst takes you could fathomably conceive of about episode 5. my god.

[foreignswaggersession]

me: let me see what people are saying about my favorite character of my favorite show

y'all: louis is so mean. louis doesn't love his partners enough. louis doesn't care about his child. louis only cares about himself. louis lacks curiosity. if only louis listened to lestat! louis neglects lestat. louis emotionally abuses lestat. if i were lestat i too would break all of louis's bones. louis abuses armand. louis rapes armand actually. if i were armand i too would let louis burn and suffer. if i were armand i would hurt louis more. louis's a manipulative liar who can't be trusted. louis's obsessed with white peen. louis's just a waiting hole desperate to be filled. louis's the worst father. louis takes advantage of his partners' generosity. i can't wait until louis's abusers get to share their side of the story. aLL VaMpIRES ArE mONStERS, but louis is the most monstrous if you think about it, right????

[murfpersonalblog]

Amel is the CEO of Loustat Inc. He did NOT force Les to Beat/Drop Lou in 1x5. Stop it, y'all.

I was scrolling the main tag & saw the most desperate copium from anons in this braindead fandom.

Grown frikkin adults want SO dang bad for AMC to baby everyone by using premises from CHILDHOOD shows, and treat the fandom like we're too effing stupid & immature to handle the realities of toxic and abusive relationships explicitly shown on screen for 2 whole seasons; to instead put ALL of the onus of Lestat's pisspoor decisions & actions on an effing spiritual possession.

The same folk who were so gung-ho that the fight/drop never happened & that the Trial would revisit everything & prove Louis AND Claudia were evil liars are back at it again, hoping the Drop will be revisited AGAIN in S3; but that this time AMEL will be shown possessing/influencing Lestat during the Ep5 fight to explain why Les was an abusive a-hole who dropped Lou & broke all his bones.

People are still convinced that AMC's gonna retcon S1 AND S2--EFF agency/autonomy/ADULT accountability, EFF Lestat's abandonment issues stemming from his traumatic past laying at the heart of his paranoia & oppressive behavior in the present cuz cycles are cycling--all to say:

See!? It wasn't your sweet innocent blorbo's fault at all~! It was that naughty scamp AMEL, the spirit in Akasha that powers all vampires, that made this grown effing man Lestat so wildly insecure about the "fragility of their union" & his own child possibly taking his grown husband away from him; that it made him chokeslam his child and throw her across the room so he could go back to punching the living daylights out of Louis and bite all over his face/cheeks and crack the bridge of his nose and blind him in one eye and even though he's clearly LUCID when he asks Louis if he's leaving & trying to restrain HIMSELF he simply MUST be possessed to smash Lou through a wall and drag him out of the courtyard by his effing jaw and tell their terrified traumatized sobbing daughter to her face as he clutched Louis' battered bloody face IDGAF about YOU and fly into the effing Oort Cloud draining Louis dry to beg him to say "Lestat I'm never going to love you, it would help ME a great deal to hear it from your lips, your quivering hateful lips" and say "anything for you" when Louis demanded Les "let go of me!" to watch as Louis fell 2km from the effing sky and NOT dive down to catch him before he smashed back down to earth "LIKE AN EGG FROM AN AIRPLANE" in a broken effing heap as their daughter cried her eyes out and he floated gracefully down to watch with a YEAH I DID IT TRY ME AGAIN look of resolute coldness on his face before he effed off to Algiers for 6 effing years to bone his mistress.

And they KNOW they sound wild as all hell, cuz they put in the I'm not a p.o.s. I promise! disclaimer; anyone who doesn't agree just isn't Intelligent(TM):

Even though abuse apologia is EXACTLY what you're doing. It wasn't possession or protection or a "a mistake, an accident" or any other BS--it is what Lestat outright SAID it was:

And ofc they focus on the Drop being the moment Amel steps in, cuz it uses the exact same footage from Ep5, confirming that Louis was HONEST about his eye being busted (which the bedroom revisits don't show, meaning his eye got effed up by whatever else Les did after smashing Lou thru the wall, cuz it's already swollen when Lou's being dragged by the jaw). The Drop is the most horrific aspect of Ep5 & the culmination of everything that happened, that even made the sadistic AF audience at the Theatre gasp in shock while Santiago tried to DOWNPLAY the Drop & Lestat's fault in it--"teased until you toppled" my arse. As always, ANY excuse to absolve him. 🙄😒

WHO THE HELL IS #THEM!?! Too effing late!

See how people spread hatred, ignorance, & bigotry through shady AF microaggression? This Us vs Them jargon is so racially charged it's not even funny, cuz it's been about black!Louis & white!Lestat ever since Jacob's casting was announced, and ESPECIALLY ever since Ep5 put everything that was already sus about Lestat on the show AND in the books in 4K HD resolution and AMC STILL hasn't walked it back.

What Bipoc Louis fans/stans H A T E & get offended by is racist AF gaslighting that villainizes the Black MC (& his fanbase) into believing that Black voices can't be trusted or respected without some white person's confirmation (Daniel & Lestat); and that mistreatment & abuse & outright assault at the hands of white people can't happen without y'all bringing up an abuser's tragic backstory or concocting a whole effing paranormal entity to excuse the evil actions privileged people inflict against those with less power than they have.

Believe it or not, not ALL Louistans hate Lestans, or Lestat, or Loustat being together. Ofc I can't speak for anyone else, but I for one love Lestat, and Loustat's my IWTV 2022 OTP, and I have Lestan mutuals (who aren't racist p.o.s.).

Not ALL Louistans are offended by or even GAF about DM--who weren't even MENTIONED in this convo; why even bring that up or drag them into this????

Not ALL Louistans hate Ep5 & the implications of the fight & the nuance of toxic relationships. I for one effing LOVE how real it all is. And actually, it was mostly LESTANS who were crying about Ep5 not having trigger warnings, pissed AF about Ep5 making Lestat look like the abusive villain, spinning their tops tryna figure out a way to excuse/explain it all away for the past 2 years--case in point from this desperate anon's message!

But why am I even blaming the anon, when apparently it's Lestat's superfans like Nalyra who made these wack ideas in the first place!?

And yet people swear that we--#them--are LYING (like Louis & Claudia) when we talk about the insidious problems in this fandom being funneled through superfans who actively create this BS that their followers then spread like radioactive waste all over the fandom; then they wanna wring their hands as if they're not the problem & that #those people are bullying them!?

Sure, walk it back NOW that AMC's definitively confirmed that the Drop/fight/abuse really happened & that LESTAT was at fault for choking out Claudia first. But y'all are SO determined to make sure to victim blame & cast fault at Louis' feet for DEFENDING his child--

--as superfans fake neutrality while ignoring the FACT that Lestat attacked CLAUDIA & started the fight between them by attacking Louis' DAUGHTER; encouraging people to read ill intent in everything Louis does & wish ill upon him by every effing character--

This isn't fanfiction they're writing for the lolz, this is what they literally want to see AMC make canon to shut #them up about abuse. Like, it's not even BOOK canon that Amel would EVER feel that way about Louis! I wonder how much of the books Nonny even bothered to read to think AMC would even come up with this plotline, when not even RHOSHAMANDES was that evil & mean-spirited when he kidnapped Louis & Gabrielle & Marius.

Nevermind that Amel canonically COULDN'T compel strong vampires to do EFF ALL so long as he was trapped in Akasha's body while she was asleep & there were too many vamps sucking his core dry--hence Akasha's purges once she woke up.

Nevermind that it's only been AFTER Akasha died (in the 1980s) that Amel had gotten stronger, so by the 20teens he was able to commune with Lestat, the (chosen) one he'd wanted all along--not Rhoshamandes or Mekare.

Nevermind that when Amel DID start communicating/compelling vampires (AFTER Akasha was finally dead), he wasn't interested in making vampires kill each other over petty/toxic/jealous effing squabbles--he was busy making moves so someone could get rid of The Twins & give him (the Sacred Core) a better host, cuz he was TIRED of being TRAPPED as a prisoner in another vegetable. He was driving vampires crazy with bloodlust so that THOUSANDS of vamps around the world would die & he could be free; NOT because he hated them personally & thought "Dropping you was exquisite."

Nevermind that when Amel FINALLY got Lestat to accept him inside his body and be Amel's new host, Lestat AND Louis were skeeved out by how hard Amel SHIPPED Loustat! XD I explained this ages ago:

Amel never touched Louis during the vampire massacres. Heck, even Akasha knew that harming Lou & Gabs would be THE dealbreaker on Les ever working with her; which is why the most epic scene in QotD happens when Akasha used her Fire Gift to SAVE Gabs & Lou & Les while they're escaping the concert.

Istg y'all.

I'm convinced y'all read the books with both eyes closed.

That must be it, cuz this is too easy.

Amel felt a connection with Louis not only cuz he loved Lestat & Lestat loved Louis, but also (less importantly?) for the simple/vain fact that Louis has green eyes--and Ame also had green eyes back when he was living in Atlantis--and so did Mekare, his favorite back when she was a mortal witch who could still commune with him (& the Twins were green-eyed gingers like he was, too; he likes red hair).

The ONE aspect I can see AMC possibly changing is Louis' Fire Gift affecting his power levels, and the fact that Lou DIDN'T actually die/flatline when he tried killing himself in 2x5 a la Merrick; which permanently cut him off from Amel's neural link/silver cord/etc.

WHERE in any of the actual book canon written by Anne Rice herself is there any indication that Amel would hate Louis and actively WANT Lestat to hurt him?

Can I see AMC making Amel a bigger threat than he was in the books? Of course, since a lot of his nonsense happened off-screen anyway. But Rhoshamandes is the REAL problem in the PL Trilogy, not Amel. And during the QotD era, Amel's too weak to do much, and Akasha STILL decides to spare Louis cuz she knows what side her bread's buttered on. Once she's gone, the only compelling Amel gets Lestat to do is related to renovating the Chateau & winning Louis back so Loustat can get married & be happy together and Amel can stare at Louis & marvel at how pretty he is, cuz EVERYONE's a simp for Louis; suck on THOSE eggs! And in NOLA, Amel DEFINITELY couldn't compel Lestat to do a single bloody thing, cuz Akasha's not even awake yet. Anything book/AMC!Lestat did to Louis in NOLA was a decision HE made on. his. own.

[ca-suffit]

Louis doesn't get upset at being called housewife. I don't know what that anon was on about. Louis was visibly upset at the whole ordeal unfolding with Claudia already. I don't know why people pretend Louis didn't like being doted on and cuddle and treated sweetly. I think he'd never see being called a wife as an insult. Even when he's called a housewife the unhappy aspect isn't about being called a wife in itself but because he had a cheating husband and a liar, that's were the unhappy stems from.

(context)

exactly. I mean, if that's anon's personal reading of this then ok ig, but objectively??? where does this happen here???

[littlestsnicket]

less disparate (as in at least consistently loumand focused) iwtv thoughts

- the moment i feel for Armand the most is when he's all 'and where does this leave me, 3 thousand years on suicide watch?' i cannot overstate how fucked up of a thing to say to someone who's just had a suicide attempt, but it's raw and honest and true. and just... the absolute horror that must be for Armand, who's entire sense of self is tied up in his responsibilities and relationships and right now that is just Louis?

- and building on that, when Armand says he deserves to eat Daniel and Louis says he knows but Armand isn't allowed to do it anyway? Louis understands what he's done to Armand from Armand's perspective! yeah. super fucked up. i'm not blaming Louis, he has his own shit to deal with and given the actual reality of their power dynamic it's kinda stupid to be pointing any fingers at Louis... but Louis pretty clearly knows this whole relationship is making Armand worse and doesn't care. And that's worth acknowledging. It's what makes their dynamic so interesting to me, actually.

- i feel quite strongly that Armand's not using his vampire powers to mess with Louis mind/memory until after 1973. But in Dubai... i think them having full on screaming matches like they do after the photo mixup (i'm siding with Armand on that one, i don't think he did it, i don't think that's what this scene is meant to show in their relationship dynamic, but that's besides the point) is a normal occurrence, and i think it's equally interesting to consider the idea that Armand erases all of them immediately and that they resolve them with sex that is icky (as in the dynamic makes both of them feel a icky afterwards) but does what it needs to do to reinforce their pretend power dynamic and they do this enough that they can just... go back to what they were doing like they didn't even have a fight.

- Jacob mentioned in some interview that he doesn't think Louis would agree to Armand editing his memories. and yeah, Jacob (actually the whole cast) has said enough deeply considered things about his character that i do prioritize his interpretation. however, i do also think that unless he's really put on the spot, Armand is a good liar and knows to stick to the truth as much as possible. there's no reason for him to have the elaborate lie of Louis agreeing to it later at a specific time and place. the interpretation that is most interesting to me is that Armand doesn't initially intend to mess with Louis' memory and, free of any vampire mind gifts, guilts Louis into it. like, Louis says something like he's not sure he can live with his guilt about Claudia and Daniel and the pain, and everything else, and Armand is like 'you still owe me for sparing Daniel, if you really mean that, you owe it to me to let me try to fix you'. and that is such a deeply fucked up thing to do but it's also so clearly from a place of care, and as selfish and self serving as Armand's care for Louis is, i think it is real and the guiding force of most of their interactions. and it works, so i'm sure Armand thinks it's entirely justified.

- i think Lestat immediately accurately judges what this relationship is going to be like but completely, wildly, wildly under estimates Armand and Louis' combined propensity for stubbornness, self-martyrdom, and general self destruction.

- i keep coming back to Armand saying that Claudia never loved Louis like he or Lestat did. and i think it's worth considering that Armand is undervaluing their relationship because it's not sexual or romantic. that feels like, given what we know of his history, a very Armand thing to do. but i really don't think that's what Louis means when he agrees. i think what Louis means is that he's self aware enough to know that he wants to be loved to the point of destruction and Claudia was always too much of her own person for that. and it kills him that he wasn't able to move past that for her. that he always put his desire for that sort of love, even though he knew it was destructive, before his also very real love for her.

- to end on a lighter note, since i learned that Lestat is essentially a bunch of random syllables Anne Rice stuck together (there's more backstory but it basically boils down to that), i've been thinking 'i bet it really bothers Armand that Lestat is not a real name'. he's the sort of person who would obsess over that.

[waterghoulcalamity]

i see some people throwing around the argument about s3 that "if you're going to call louis an unreliable narrator then you have to admit that lestat is one two" when in reality what they want in for lestat to lie so bad.... which he doesn't, louis doesn't lie either, technically. or, as daniel puts it, "you're a liar, louis, whether you remember or not". it's never louis wanting to lie, he just tells his story as he remembers it and lets all keep in mind the reason why he has trouble remembering in the first place.

when i think of people wanting lestat to lie as well, and i see them arguing that he lies about his trauma in tvl, i'm very much reminded of claudia in 1x05 when lestat is telling them about his sexual assault and how he was turned and she doesn't believe him, not because there's any evidence that he's lying but simply because she can't; it would be unfair that someone that abused her so heavily has gone through something similar and even worse than she has, so she protects herself by not being able to believe him. i wonder if something similar happens to the people who hate him, and they simply can't believe that he's one of the characters that has suffered the most because then it's not mindless evilness just for the pleasure of hurting others anymore but a wounded character who is stuck repeating the abuse they were subjected to.

so maybe these people can't fathom that two things can be true at the same time: lestat was an abuser and lestat has also been abused, and they protect themselves by telling themselves that he's lying so they feel justified to hate him, but understanding lestat doesn't immediately mean that you will forgive him, or that everything is justified and suddenly you must feel empathy for him and love him. again, two things can be true at once. you don't have to be afraid of your own empathy.

[positively--speculative]

White VC fandom: Louis is an unreliable narrator, so that means he has to be lying about everything at all times and you cannot trust anything he says! Lestat is the REAL victim!

What unreliable narrator actually means: When a character's perceptions which are shaped by their feelings and experiences shape and frame the narrative they are presenting. The audience is seeing things from the author or speaker's eyes, which means we are seeing it the way they do or as their memory serves them. Literally, ANYONE can be an unreliable narrator because one individual's truth is different from another individual's truth. LESTAT is also an unreliable narrator because his perceptions the story are likely going to be different from Louis' because they are DIFFERENT people with different experiences that shape their feelings and views of the world and people around them. That doesn't mean either of them are being purposefully deceitful.

ANYTHING can affect a person's perceptions too. Being drunk can affect a person's recollection of an event. Their memory is obviously going to be different than the sober person's.

Nick Carraway from The Great Gatsby, for example, is an unreliable narrator who indulges in Gatsby's parties, enjoys alcohol, and fools around with Jordan, yet judges Tom for having an affair with Myrtle yet doesn't call him out on it--and helps Daisy have an affair with Gatsby. He is an unreliable narrator because he is a hypocrite with a superiority complex. That doesn't mean that Tom isn't a racist, misogynist, abusive ass lol. That doesn't mean we should just assume he is lying about everything. Doing a little historical digging let's you know that the way Nick describes Tom's treatment of Daisy and Myrtle lines up with what was normal in the 1920s. If you all BOTHERED to care, you would do your research and see that a lot of what Louis shares about racism in the American south of the time period LINES up with the HISTORY of that part of the US. But you all don't care about that because you get mad at us discussing the racism which is one of the shows central themes.

An unreliable narrator can be a liar, but not all unreliable narrators ARE liars. You all just see the word "unreliable" and cannot fathom that it means anything but dishonesty which tells me you need to expand your vocabularies and read more books besides the VC lol.

[hlficlibrary]

I am looking for fic where it's an established relationship and Harry is away on a photography assignment and Lottie is getting married and Louis thinks Harry isn't going to make it and finds Harry in the church and at the reception the pretend to be strangers

My first thought was that it was this...but it doesn't quite match up. I included it just in case, but if anyone knows what this one is let us know!

If You Asked Me If I Love Him (I'd Lie) by allyasavedtheday

So Harry and Louis might have fucked up.

The day of their wedding was the single most perfect moment of Louis’ life and every single day since where he’s been able to call Harry his husband has been nothing short of bliss. There’s just one teeny, tiny problem…

Their families don’t know they’re married.

*

Or the one where Harry and Louis eloped but neglected to mention it to anyone. Meanwhile Lottie is getting married and the only way for them to not steal her thunder is by pretending they're just friends for the weekend. Featuring Harry and Louis as terrible liars who don't know the meaning of the word platonic and some Tomlinsons and Styles's who definitely don't believe them.

[pynkhues]

Poor Lestat laying in fetal position, looking so small and having dead eyes :( Armand saying he's come home was so creepy, wtf was he thinking. You know, this scene just doesn't make any sense to me, why would Lestat go out of his own will to a place that's the biggest ptsd trigger you can imagine. To punish himself I guess? Sometimes it feels like Rolin wants Lestat to have so much agency that he never allows him to be a victim. Kinda worried how they'll handle s3 wrt this. I hope they won't victim blame him for every bad thing that happened to him because 'he deserved it'.

Oh, anon, I'm sorry because this is probably not what you want to hear, but I love that Armand said that Lestat's come home by going back to the place he was turned and assaulted, because it feels really emotionally honest and true to these characters.

Claudia, Armand and Lestat are all victim-survivors, and I think the show's demonstrated that it's really curious as to what that means.

There's a school of thought that's currently becoming more understood in feminist circles that victim-survivors can often not believe each other, or diminish each other's experiences. The nature of the sort of abuse that Claudia, Armand and Lestat have all experienced is that they've had to process it to a point where they feel they are the expert of their story. They know what happeend to them, they've gone through a lot to know what happened to them, and it's a way for them to take control back of their own stories. An unfortunate side effect is that it can lead to these victim-survivors feeling they know more about your story than you.

They've survived it, so they feel they can tell who's the liar and who's the truthteller, who got off easy, who had it worse, who's stories are more than or less than, and that idea itself is a trauma response manifesting as something ugly, right? Abuse and assault are felt in so many different ways and manifest in so many diffferent forms, but this idea can take hold in victim-survivors as a means of taking control over what happened to them. If they can use - which Lestat does when he weaponises Claudia's rape against her in the train to force her to come home - undermine - which Claudia does against Lestat when she tells Louis not to take Lestat's truth as fact - or diminish - as Armand does against Lestat when he shrugs off Daniel's question about Magnus in 2.03 and talks about Lestat coming home in 2.08 - this subset of people will.

Armand is a character who has endured unimaginable sexual abuse. To divorce that from his understanding of Lestat's own trauma does both characters a huge disservice. How they navigate each other as two survivors of (very different!) forms of sexual violence is interesting, and it's unsurprising that Armand, having been groomed and assaulted by Marius, would view a maker's home as - - well, home.

And frankly regardless of that, if the show stays true to the book, Lestat will live there for a while after Magnus' death because he has no money, no one to call on, and no idea who he is now that he's been turned. Gabrielle lives with him for a while there! Magnus' tower is, in the books, a very complicated place for Lestat.

[prouvaireafterdark]

I personally don't think season 3 will or should be Lestat writing his own book. First of all, because of the abuse, I sincerely think any Lestat POV also needs another party present to call him out and not just let the audience assume his side is the truth, otherwise it will seem like the show is implicitly taking the abuser's side of the story (especially after how it framed Daniel's role in digging through Louis's story). Either he will show up to the penthouse and continue the "interview" framing or he will tell his story to Louis so both can be there to hash out what happened between them or something of that sort.

A straight up Lestat POV where he gets to paint himself as the victim would be pretty gross after what we've seen him do honestly and honestly why would the audience take anything he has to say seriously?

Okay I'm gonna be really honest here, unless Louis and Lestat's reunion has already happened and/or he's in a coma in the basement, I have no idea how people expect him to crash the interview at this point. Like it just does not make sense to me that he would just magically appear like that.

Honestly, I would much prefer that Lestat skips the memoir part and becomes a famous rockstar after reading Louis' interview and asks Louis to meet him with his song lyrics/media exposure so he can tell Louis his story himself before the San Francisco concert because that means we get maximum Louis. If Daniel is there to call him out on his bullshit, all the better, but I do want the story from Lestat's lips because the comedy of his narration is just too good to pass up. I've waited 15 years to hear Lestat describe himself with his own clown mouth and I hope season 3 doesn't disappoint.

Also, I just want to mention this because I feel like when people talk about Lestat there's a tendency to think about Lestat discussing his trauma as him painting himself as the victim and it really grates on me because two things can be true at once. Like, Lestat isn't the victim in his relationships with Louis and Claudia, obviously, but he absolutely was a victim. He was horrifically abused and neglected by his family his entire life growing up and was abandoned by every person he ever loved, even his own mother after he saved her life by making her a vampire bc she never wanted to be his mom (or a mom at all) in the first place. He is profoundly fucked up because of these traumatic events and they have a direct relationship to why he was so abusive to Louis and Claudia. Like he's probably got every trauma-induced personality disorder in the DSM-5 and literally cannot regulate his emotions or make himself stop being terrible until Louis hits his hard factory reset button and gives him an intervention by making him rot in the dump for a while so he's forced to think about what he's done.

Does that excuse any of his horrific behavior? No.

Does that mean he shouldn't have to atone for his bad decisions and the pain he's inflicted on other people? No.

Does that mean we should take every word he says as gospel and cast suspicion on Louis and Claudia's narratives? No.

But that doesn't mean every word out of his mouth is a lie either, and honestly, it's not like Lestat ever says "actually, every bad thing Louis and Claudia said I did was a lie because they're liars and I was a perfect father and husband and they tried to kill me for no reason." He fully admits that Claudia was right to kill him and that it's the kind of thing he would have done himself.

And like, in order for there to be a cycle of abuse, one has to first be abused. That's just how it works. And I don't really get why people are so set on erasing Lestat's traumatic history or viewing it as an either/or situation where only one of them is allowed to have been a victim of abuse and that if Lestat is allowed to talk about his abuse in season 3 he's by definition excusing his actions and challenging Louis' narrative.

I feel like part of the point of Anne Rice's work is that these vampires are, all of them, extremely monstrous AND deeply traumatized. They are both victims AND victimizers. It's what makes them so compelling and nuanced. I don't understand why some people want Lestat to be a cartoon villain with no redeeming qualities or path to redemption, and I also don't know why people seem to think that a season 3 from Lestat's perspective can only mean that the audience will not be asked to question or interrogate his perspective the way they've been asked to with Louis and Claudia in season 1.

Like, after everything they made Lestat do in season 1, if you're genuinely worrying that the writers are going to say "none of Louis or Claudia's trauma happened at all and actually Lestat was a perfect, sad angel the whole time who was unjustly wronged by Louis and Claudia and this is something you, the audience, are meant to uncritically believe because Lestat bat his eyelashes while he said it," I literally don't know what to say. It sounds ridiculous because it is.

There's just no way they're doing that and I think everyone should take a breath and stop stressing over it.

[murfpersonalblog]

IWTV S2 Ep1 Musings - Looking for Home: Louis, Claudia & Daciana

They flip between siblings and parent so much even I was getting whiplash--no wonder Lou's confused. U_U

This was EEEEEEEEVIIIIIIL, AMC! 😭 Louis carrying Grace's wedding portrait, and using it to FAKE his identity in Europe, after Grace couldn't even go to Europe for her own honeymoon cuz Paul died--STOP IT! 😭😭

And you can hear just a few quick seconds of the DPDL lietmotif that always plays for Grace, Paul, and sibling!Claudia, before it takes this SUPER dark and ominous tone--the song has been tainted, just like Lou's relationship with Grace and Claudia was tainted.

Go AWF, Claudia!

And then she finds ONE, and it was so heartbreakingly touching.

I was hoping she was Alessandra, but nope, she's an AMC!OC, Daciana. I'm assuming they were nodding to one rando revenant:

And she is obviously the same "Anna" the kids were singing about--(very Gaunter O'Dimm of them, I love it 💀)--living like frikkin Baba Yaga in a grimy castle in the woods.

Daciana killed her own fledgling after Claudia blinded him--after the revanant AND Daciana attacked them first, but whatever. Cuz she said he wouldn't be able to hunt/feed with no eyes--so it can't heal; her fledglings are too effed up. She's officially the last one in the area.

And I get it now--the bear(?) head Claudia breaks off of the dead vampire's sarcophagus was a heraldric figurehead. Claudia showed it to Daciana, as a way of asking her who that dead vamp was.

She didn't want to tell them her story or hear theirs--but she wanted them to know about Cezare Romulo (RIP). (It's crazy how in 5 minutes The Vampire Daciana was way more effective than a whole hour of Dierdre Mayfair. 🙄😒) She complimented Claudia's blood, saying it tasted like the cream of the crop. Daciana only told them her name, and that she was waiting for her children--fledglings or real ones, who knows (I bet both).

Only for Daciana to kill herself right in front of them (RIP). 😔🔥

This is so sad, but it was obvious she was gonna do that.

Stop teasing the Children of Darkness after this Alessandra fake-out. She's got the same darkness in her that Nicki (AND Louis) had. And we know where that means. 🔥💀🔥

These vampires are STARVING--hungry for family, love, home: LIFE.

So is Claudia! 😭😭😭 She wants a blood spouse! She wants a companion!

So I LOVE that Morgan clocked Louis on Grace's photo--that ain't yo wife! The gaydar was beeping the second your pretty arse walked in!

Like, it's been established that Louis is a terrible liar-you don't need an investigative journalist to figure that much out. Louis is TOO honest--he was dumb AF for telling Morgan his real name! I get why he did it in the book--again: desperate to make a connection.

But on the show it comes across way different--Louis almost immediately tells Morgan his name (he doesn't do that for Emilia, even though SHE called him pretty! Istg I was picking up some flirtatiousness with Lou & Morgan; put those pheromones AWAY 😂). But you come across MIGHTY SUS if your Black arse is going around switching identities on all these twitchy Europeans, Louis!

Like baaaaaasicallllllyyyyyyy!!! 🤦 You see them shooting up corpses just to make sure--you think they won't shoot YOU!?!

Anyways, it's so cool that they made Morgan a photographer--so is THIS why Louis starts taking photos!? 🤩📸

Cuz I've been wondering how Louis makes money in Paris so they don't have to pickpocket anymore?

I love that they included this.

No matter where they go, they have to pose as Black servants and maids and VALETS and SLAVES, white folk are the same regardless of the country.

Which was an interesting parallel with Daciana, and how much they were hyping up America.

She was clearly nuts, but smart & sane enough to realize that 2 (two!) Black vampires had fled their oh-so-great "land of the free" to come to HER busted AF blown up war-torn country, so why should she expect to have any happiness over there?

I don't know a lick of Romanian, but I wonder if the "another one" she was referring to was the soldier, or the country. As Daciana realized that no matter who she made her new fledgling, and no matter which country she ran to, she'd be alone & unhappy without the people she loved--her HOME.

Home is where the HEART is! Claudia's been homeless this whole time! Daciana's got that huge castle, but lives all alone--she can't make proper fledglings. Meanwhile Louis still thinks NOLA is home, even after they killed everyone who knew them--"including" Lestat!

*sigh* I hate this effing show, it's so dang good. 😭

[ca-suffit]

This fucking loser again. Louis being a liar / unreliable narrator by itself isn't the problem. We're all fine with that and it makes him and the story interesting. It's white fandom (which is a mindset, not a skin color) using it as a stand in for racial slurs and to further the belief that the "real" story doesn't begin until the white man starts talking. Then we can just forget about Louis entirely, cuz this is all a lie anyway, right?! Soon it's all gonna focus on Lestat, the REAL main character!!! Then we don't have to care about black or brown people anymore, yippeeee!!! The only reason certain people are happy to keep saying Louis is full of shit is because they want the DV of ep 5 to not be real (from Lestat). This did not happen in the books, so you can't make a direct comparison for this because the events and people affected are different in many major ways. You explained this to yourself in your own comment. The books are about white people. The show is not. The show is also conscious of race in a way that Anne Rice never was. There would be no satisfying reason to backtrack all of S1 just to say "Lestat was the real victim all along and none of this ever happened" and that's the only reason people want Louis to be lying so much. The books don't even do that so it's a moot point. Pay attention and stop saying dumb shit like this like you're doing anything with it except looking like a whole grown idiot. Leave black fans alone. As I said yesterday, you read all these books and yet you can't seem to comprehend anyone's posts. Just because you don't think everything is racist and think this is all overblown doesn't mean you're right.

[infinitelyweary]

Louis Unreliable Narrator Rant

It rly does piss me off bc some ppl with 100 percent sincerity refer to Louis as “a liar”. I keep scrolling past a fanfic on ao3 that called him “the duke of deception” or some shit

What does Louis ever lie about???

(besides armand/rashid but a. obvs that was an armand decision since armand is The Canonical Liar even though ppl don’t always act like it for some reason, and b. that doesn't concern Louis's veracity in telling the story of his past cuz armand/rashid is in the present)

Anything Louis gets “wrong” about his story are details he’s suppressed due to trauma/misremembered/or interpreted differently from others ("lestat") due to his state of mind. None of these things are lying. Unreliable narrator does not mean LIAR bc thats not how stories work. MEMORY IS A MONSTER is the tagline of his story. MEMORY IS A MONSTER - You FORGET, it doesn't. Not "MEMORY MAKES YOU LIE ABOUT THINGS" or "LYING IS A MONSTER" or "LOUIS LIES A LOT AND LOVES IT BC HE'S A MONSTER"!

~Louis' more prominent discrepancies:~

-Was it raining: He doesn't remember. Not a lie

-Claudia's reaction after Lestat's "death": Louis is demonstrably traumatized by the attempt to kill Lestat and has repressed some of the aftermath of that night due to that trauma. He literally doesn't remember Claudia's objections/choking her. When Daniel points out that she sounds upset with him in her diaries, those memories come flooding back - as we see in little jarring bits of flashback. Those jarring flashbacks are Louis REMEMBERING WHAT HAPPENED. If Louis was purposefully "lying" those flashbacks wouldn't resurface in that way: the show is (very effectively) presenting that information in the same way you would be confronted with a traumatic memory. Louis is visibly rattled by this and has to run and kneel in his traumagarden to process this bc HE LITERALLY HASNT PROCESSED IT BC HES BEEN REPRESSING IT FOR 80 YEARS Not a lie

-Could Claudia dream or not: She wrote in her diary that she couldn't and he believed her. Not a lie

Then the trial flashbacks

(For the sake of argument I’ll assume "Lestat’s" versions of events we see flashbacks of in the trial are more accurate depictions than Louis’ original descriptions bc that is essentially the way they are framed and Louis tells Daniel to use that version in the book)

ALTHOUGH IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE: THESE ARE ALSO A PART OF LOUIS’ DESCRIPTION OF EVENTS!!!! Lestat is not present at the interview, Louis is. Lestat is not turning to the camera and breaking the fourth wall to tell us his version; Louis says that as Lestat spoke he felt transported back to those events and was seeing them differently. That's why we see them in flashback. We cannot have a true flashback from Lestat's perspective in s1-2 bc Lestat is not here to tell his story (and it would break the entire structure of the show). Any flashback we see is Louis' recounting. In the case of the trial, Louis is literally recounting Lestat recounting a version of events that Louis is then recalling and processing with added context (this show is a mindfuck).

So even the more “”TRUE”” version ppl like to use as evidence of Louis’s “”lies”” is also coming from Louis!!!!! Louis is the one correcting his own account!!!

The show is built around Louis telling Daniel/the audience his story. Anything we see of the past storyline (New Orleans-Paris) comes from Louis's mouth or Claudia's diaries (and sometimes Armand). Lestat is not a part of any of this. People who frame Lestat is some truth-teller revealing the "REAL story" behind Louis's "lies" is forgetting that Lestat is not part of the interview. Any ""truth"" Lestat tells is coming from LOUIS.

Some quotes from 207 bc I don't have a disc drive on my macbook to screenshot my blu-ray lol

This is our transition into the first nola flashback

<Armand: Lestat stood on that stage, took all the familiar pieces of Louis's life, defiled them, bent them into a Lestat-shaped effigy.>

(Including this to show that even though Armand is co-narrating this part of the story, Armand was ready to discount everything Lestat said. He frames Lestat as taking 'familiar pieces of Louis's life' aka the events as Louis recalls them, and 'defiling and bending them' aka changing/misrepresenting them to make Lestat look better. Any representation of "Lestat's perspective" being valid/"true" is coming from Louis's mouth)

<Louis: But some...Some of it now...

Daniel: What?

Louis: I remember...being out of my body at the time. I was in Paris, but also in New Orleans. Lestat took me there.>

The flashback is Louis remembering things differently, not Lestat's own memory.

-Claudia's turning: Louis's and "Lestat's" account actually don't differ that much. Lestat has a few extra lines of dialogue and is more emotional, Louis tries to turn Claudia himself and begs more profusely, but the basic events are the same. Louis brings Claudia in as she is dying, begs Lestat to turn her and Lestat does it. Louis was near hysterical in this moment so he didn't recall it with complete accuracy. Not a lie!

<Lestat: But he was in a terrible panic. Guilt had seized reason. Claudia on the ledge of death.>

...

<Louis (at the trial, to Claudia and the audience, looking visibly confused): It's not how it happened.

Louis (in Dubai): It is how it happened. I didn't think it at the time. But...yeah.>

As Louis realizes he misremembered events, he corrects himself. We see him do this several times over the series. We also see him insist he wants to get "every detail right" and "wants to remember". Where are people seeing a lying liar who delights in lies???? The whole purpose of the interview is "truth and reconciliation"?????????

-Coffin room exchange: This is one of the most traumatic events in the series/Louis's life so I think it goes without saying that he wouldn't be able to recall it with complete accuracy BUT ALSO!! We see the domestic abuse in 105 recounted from Claudia's perspective. We go from Louis narrating Claudia's diary entry about realizing she was made to be Louis's sister, to her returning home and the ensuing violence as it was witnessed through her eyes. She can hear snippets of an argument but was not privy to what happened in the coffin room. The only part of this that is from Louis's recollection is when Lestat takes Louis into the sky, and we return to Claudia's perspective after Louis is dropped.

The coffin room exchange was omitted in Louis's original telling because it isn't in Claudia's diary entry. If you think about it in-universe, Louis is reading Claudia's diary to Daniel describing the violence breaking out - then they go into the coffin room, Claudia is slumped on the floor outside the room trying to catch her breath, and then Lestat bursts through the wall with Louis - when Claudia watches Louis taken into the sky, Louis would naturally feel the need to fill the gap of 'what happened' before he plummeted to the ground, bc Claudia is certainly wondering what happened in her diary entry. It wouldn't necessarily make sense for Louis to interject over Claudia's entry (describing her feelings at hearing them through the wall, being convinced the violence was over and attempting to recover and then her fear at seeing violence break out again) to say "hey also me and Lestat exchanged words in the coffin room", there just isn't a natural narrative gap there like there would be for Louis/Lestat vanishing into the sky.

But I think more likely Louis doesn't remember the coffin room exchange BECAUSE we see a flashback of it in 207 and as I've established, these flashbacks are Louis remembering things. They are not a direct line to Lestat's memories, because Lestat is not in the interview to recount his own memories, and even a memory he recounts during the trial is being recalled by Louis in the Dubai present. Outside of Claudia's diaries, we only ever have access to Louis's memories of things (barring 205). There is a clear slant towards Lestat's POV in the coffin room memory, so I think it's safe to assume it's Louis recalling the memory as Lestat presents it during the trial. Part of why I think this is the basic framing, but also there are a couple lines of dialogue from Claudia's POV in 105 that we don't hear in 207 specifically when she is sitting outside the coffin room:

this part we hear in both POVs

<Louis: It's okay. We're done. It's over. Stay where you are, okay?>

this part we only hear in Claudia's POV

<Louis: We had it out*. We just...[coughing] need a moment here. [coughs] Just...[gasps]>

The second dialogue time-wise lines up with a moment in Lestat's 207 POV when Lestat is panting on the ground and sitting up for a few seconds and all we hear is silence before he says "You're gonna leave me." The show could have had Louis's second dialogue here muffled or in the background or something but it omits Louis's words entirely to show that this is Louis's recollection of Lestat's remembered version of events, and is not entirely "accurate" either. Why would Lestat focus on/acknowledge Louis comforting Claudia in this moment, when he is thinking about Louis leaving him? He wasn't thinking about that, and his POV reflects that. I don't think the show forgot these extra lines or something, cuz they have the script and easily could have inserted them in the space where Lestat is silent but they did not. A deliberate choice to show Lestat's account is not the omnipotent "truthful" account, but is just one perspective.

(We also know that the coffin room exchange was included in the trial script to make Louis less sympathetic to the audience, because when Lestat says "I am burdened with my maker's temper" Santiago corrects him back on course by saying "Uh, no. You were teased until you toppled." The coven wanted this exchange in the trial script to frame Lestat's drop as an escalation brought on by Louis aka to victim-blame him and make Lestat look less culpable. So even if this is "truth" it is being presented with bias)

Also it is interesting that we get no reaction shots/commentary from Dubai Louis during this entire part. We see Paris Louis once before the "You're gonna leave me" starts and he's shaking and looking confused as Lestat speaks, but there is no assertion on Louis's part of "this is how it happened" or not the way he did with Claudia's turning. We don't even get a shot of Dubai Louis again until after Lestat goes off script to take accountability for the violence.

It actually looks like Armand was the one narrating this entire part to Daniel (Lestat's account of the violence-the coffin room exchange-the apology) because the next time we cut back to Dubai, when Armand tells Daniel that the projections went off-sync, Daniel is already sitting facing Armand and Louis is sitting silently with his hands in front of his mouth. It looks like Dubai Louis hasn't spoken at all since he told Daniel to go with Lestat's version of Claudia's turning. He doesn't speak again until Daniel asks him what he thought of Lestat's apology.

I'm not totally sure what to make of Louis's silence here...because I don't think Lestat fabricated the coffin room exchange. I think because this comes on the heels of "You should go with Lestat's version" of the other flashback we see, this is another instance of Louis going oh, okay I guess it happened like that, you can put that in the book too. But it is a more significant departure from what we were previously shown than Claudia's turning, so idk why they don't have Louis comment on it at all. Either way, Louis doesn't object to what Lestat is saying, which is at least a passive acknowledgement of the events as he presents them as reflected upon by Louis after the fact so NOT A LIE!

Anyway Louis has basically never lied in his entire life so I'm gonna need ppl to stop calling him a liar :)))) it would also completely undercut the main fucking theme of the first two seasons for Louis to be characterized as a ~~~~liar~~~ vs. a person who is being Monstered by Memories so if you call Louis a liar you are calling Rolin Jones a liar and I'm gonna tattle on you to Sir Jones so he won't let you watch the show anymore <3

*netflix subtitles this as "we had enough" but that doesn't sound like what he's saying to me and the netflix subs match the AMC subs which are notoriously inaccurate so!

[hoovesandfloorpaws]

Hihi! So I’ve been a Dark Larry for over 8 years now. I never dove deep into any other subject because simply they own my heart.

I have tried to post about the topic I want to discuss In subreddits, but they keep denying It because I think they don’t want it to scare Larries off, but that’s not my intention at all. I just simply want it to be debunked because it’s been messing with me. I think you’re the best person to go to, considering you’re a demon larrie.

so, what I want to ask about Is Zarry. Most of their interactions seemed pretty platonic, and the matching tattoos seem pretty mundane considering Larry tattoos are „pair” but I do have a few questions I am hoping you can clear my mind of. Firstly, the exact matching black heart tattoos Harry and Zayn share. (I am aware Louis also has one, but it’s slightly different. Zayn and Harry’s are identical)

so why would Harry constantly kiss on stage (there are times It was literally kissed, not just a sneeze or cough) the tattoo he matches with Zayn. I mean, Larries use this as proof all of the time because Louis drew it or something during xfactor days? but why would Zayn have the exact one?

the biggest one for me is their lyric communication?? What…is…this… it literally has my mind boggled. I don’t want to take up your whole page, but here’s some examples.

Please don’t take this as me trying to mess anything up. But nobody else will answer and clear my mind about these…I really don’t want to stop believing. If you want to Dm me instead, please do… thank you

Hey lovely, thank you for your message and thank you for being kind.

Hmmm, that's a tough cookie, because I never had/have any doubt about how in love Harry was/is with Louis and vice versa to even think about Harry having anything more than platonic feelings for Zayn. And to me it sounds like you don't want to "stop believing" in Harry and Louis' bond, as well, even though things "mess with you".

I want to make it a point that it's ultimately always completely up to you what you believe. It's not my place to tell anyone how to feel.

To me, Harry seems like he makes deep bonds with the people he loves, which with the only exception of Louis, means non-romantic love.

I don't doubt that Harry loved Zayn very much and considered him to be family in a way, which could explain why they might have matching heart tattoos. From personal experience I know tattoos can have more than one meaning and mixed meanings with varying weight. Maybe Harry connects that heart tattoo to not just Louis, but also Zayn? Zayn and Louis also had a deep platonic bond. Maybe the answer is somewhere in between. :) With the lyrics, I personally don't think Harry's and Zayn's lyrics are connected, but everyone is free to disagree with me. :)

I base this simply on the thought that it doesn't make sense to me why Harry would write a line like "I'm forever only yours" with someone other than Louis in mind. If he even was the one to write those lines, because he co-wrote Someday with Meghan Trainor and even though there is an unreleased version of Meghan and him singing that song once, it was her song idea first and then also given to Michael Bublé, who released it in 2016.

With A Little Bit Of Your Heart, Harry "co-wrote the track with Johan Carlsson from Carolina Liar, who he worked on a few songs with throughout his career, including One Direction’s Stockholm Syndrome". (x) They wrote that song in 2014, at the latest, then it was given to Ariana Grande, who released it in August 2014. Zayn only left the band in March 2015. Again, I do not think those lines -if Harry wrote those- are about Zayn.

As with Golden, well, while I 100% think Louis is Harry's "sunshine" and "sunflower" :"> , I haven't caught up enough on Harry's last two solo records to form a specific opinion on the song itself. The lyrics I googled (to me) sound like 'being in a relationship can be scary because what if it ends? But that he's doing it anyway, because "Loving you's the antidote"'. So honestly, the song doesn't speak Zayn to me at all. I also googled to see he wrote it with Mitch, Thomas Edward Percy Hull and Tyler Sam Johnson and from personal experience I can only say that simple themes like "golden/light/bright" are used quite often. Whether Zayn's Golden might be about Harry, I have no idea, I haven't listened to any of Zayn's solo albums, yet. I wish you all the best ✌🏼 x