#lestat might find her too and try to make out with her

[jaypentaghast]

Interview with the Vampire (2022) | Season 1, Episode 6 Sam Reid as Lestat de Lioncourt

[kaelio]

I haven't been talking too much about the IWTV show lately, and that's because I found Season 2 genuinely a bit disturbing. Not because of the blood (I love blood), or Claudia's death (necessary and done well), or individual changes to the book canon. It's disturbing because it gave us uncomfortable answers about the perspective of the show, especially where the show varies and is thus differentiated from the books. The show has some fairly repellant views about vulnerability which bleed into issues in how it handles sexuality (which is less important with how it interprets pathos overall).

The show seems to take the view that you're annoyingly "not allowed" to be mad at someone for "being weak", but that you are expected to feel contempt for someone for being weak.

Like when Louis is listening to Armand talk about his past, and "Dreamstat" huffs at it. Dreamstat is Louis, guys. It's not Lestat. Louis was a pimp and views the pimped-out with contempt and this is never challenged. Hell, the only way Daniel ever comes close to challenging it is saying that Armand might have been lying about his abuse. Louis listens to Claudia recount her rape again. This storyline doesn't have any closure for her, and now she's dead; it can't. It only exists for Louis to look uncomfortable having to hear about it. He's disgusted by it and the scene exists to remind us he's disgusted by it. Like the annoyance he felt when we first met him, chewing out Bricktop for responding to being raped (because yeah, using a hole without permission is... rape). Bricktop, who was a real person who really moved to Paris, who we never hear or see from again. And not much sympathy for Lily, really, was there? Or Jonah, a poor man, who Louis even admits he saw again in Paris but feels no need to mention, because that's a weak person to him and the narrative has nothing but contempt for the weak. Louis is our viewpoint character, and though he also lies and misremembers, and isn't presented as perfect, his view of weakness is reinforced by Daniel (who despite his brief crisis of spine in S1E8 basically serves as his fluffer) and it basically gets to stay intact. When Armand follows him, fearfully, in Episode 8 because the last time Louis stormed out it was to try to kill himself, Louis smashes him into a wall and holds a rolled paper like he's about to beat a dog.

In the book, Armand wants Claudia out of the way and she says as much. He very much could have "prevented it" and he knows, and Louis knows. In the show, he doesn't seem to particularly dislike Claudia, personally, or have any motive to kill her once she's moved away. He wants her to follow the rules everyone else follows, and sure he puts his hands on her, but no more so than other characters who the narrative forgives for it. He's strongarmed into playing director. And yet, this is a weakness Louis can't forgive. You can have it one of two ways; Armand can be a more willing participant in the play or Louis can break up with him about it, but making both of those changes is revealing. The show hates characters who are put in a corner; it has no love for them. It also fundamentally misunderstands the appeal of many of the characters as they appear in the books. We love them because they're sincerely flawed. Because they do bad things. We're not just "not allowed to be mad" at them because bad things have happened to them. We choose to love them. But the show views it like we do so under duress. It thinks it's a relief to us that Louis is giving the Batman monologue at the end. And to some viewers, this seems to be the case! But frankly, I do find it disturbing. And again, this bleeds out into the show's view of sexuality and, to be honest, of women overall.

The only sex scene we ever see that seems basically equally enjoyed by both participants and isn't loaded down with "psychically agonizing with one's sister while it's happening" or strongarming or killing a trusted confidant who had also been involved or some very poorly-negotiated and worrying power dynamics is... Santiago and Elgee! Which on its face (though their actual ages are different) is heterosexual sex between a white older-looking man and a white younger-looking woman! What on Earth! And even then it makes the point that Santiago dumped her not long after. Every time the show adds something or makes an adjustment, it's towards a rigid and regressive view that is completely at odds with the books.

Season 2 was the opportunity to be critical of Louis' narrative in Season 1; how he truly views living people and how he assesses his relationships to others. How he treats others! Hey, in this version, Armand doesn't punch Lestat off a tower, but Louis does openly use him to hurt Lestat in a way that makes explicit to Armand that he doesn't really care about Armand at all. That no one ever has. Hey guys, that actually wasn't a badass power move. That sucked.

Mistreating your partner sucks. This isn't a kink, this is sad. And if it is thought to be a kink, the show certainly doesn't respect taking particular roles within that kink. Thus far, we only have what the show has displayed to us: an Armand under duress to go along with the trial and a willing Lestat. How come Armand gets beaten for it and Lestat gets a hug? Because Armand is weak (by Louis' account specifically because of his grooming) and weakness is disgusting. Deserving of scorn. And in S2E5, Armand certainly didn't want Louis out fucking strangers and doing drugs! But this is portrayed as him being a nag. A drag. A bitch. A good partner, a cool partner, one who isn't so dull and boring, would not have "driven" Louis to this, clearly.

But instead of any real incisiveness on this, or anything, Daniel basically just decides Louis is cool and that Armand is a loser and that obviously "Lestat would never--" even though, in this telling so far, Lestat still didn't attempt to save Claudia. (And Daniel seems to take vampire-status as basically just an upgrade, because now he can exert more power on others. Doesn't even seem to care about his family anymore, probably because they were uncool people who thought it sucked their dad was a self-absorbed bad father.) Oh, hey, didn't Daniel finally recall that what made Louis blow up was the implication that Claudia didn't love him enough? By what standard did Claudia owe Louis anything? But, you know, Claudia died because she was small and couldn't be independent (that gets you raped, you know), so implicitly she also owed stronger things her love, and Louis' woundedness is righteous, I suppose.

[nalyra-dreaming]

The lovely @alcassin dug out a post on reddit (and kindly allowed me to share it, TY dear) in regards to what Lestat screams about after the chess game in episode 6, which I for one had thought were probably... curses. Or cursing. Nothing too bad, but just... temper tantrum level curses.

But... no?!

And I find that hugely interesting, and it changes the whole end scene a bit for me, because this is the actual scene there:

Louis (voiceover): She was right.

Lestat: Spoiled, selfish, thankless.

Louis: It was inevitable.

Lestat: Heedless, disagreeable, obnoxious, repellent, unkind, spoiled to the core!

( Shouting in French )

Louis: We were going to kill Lestat.

Now we know that this statement was a deliberate one, to Daniel. He repeats it after, to make sure the impact lands.

That also means that the last voice over part was in all likelihood not his thoughts in that moment, but a deliberate comment to lead over to this statement.

And ... these words deflect. Try to brush away that outburst, which Louis does not address further. Or cares to translate.

Inevitable? .... Why? Louis can understand Lestat after all. So why should the outburst seem to make it inevitable? Why should it lead to the "killing remark"?

Lestat... Lestat is addressing the elephant in the room there.

Namely that Claudia is both child and adult. Forever. And that this was Louis' choice.

And that they have failed her in their parenting.

(And we have seen throughout episode 4 and 5 that Louis had a habit of interfering with Lestat's parenting, and would argue about it behind closed doors, which is what the child rearing and compromise comment points to. Whether he was right to do so or not is not important here imho, only that it was addressed and what became of it all later.)

It is no wonder that Louis deflects from that, and doesn't "translate" it for Daniel. This is not something he likes to dwell on after all, even though he probably feels this guilt keenly.

But to admit that Lestat, temper-tantrum or not, was actually right there?

Because... even if the past Louis might not have known it back then - but the issues with Claudia's state of being, and the lack of trust in her parents, and the... lack of abilities and awareness in regards to other vampires, the lack of strength, and the spite (as Lestat calls it) - that is something that modern Louis is all too aware of will be part of her downfall.

Lestat screams at Louis there, about the problem in regards to Claudia (given, the screaming itself is... well, not helpful at all^^), and Louis... turns the radio louder. Because he doesn't want to hear it, or discuss it. Both literally, and figuratively.

And he still doesn't want to dwell on that in modern Dubai.

Because it is inevitable because Claudia was who she was, then. And because Lestat was who he was, then. And because Louis was who he was back then.

It was inevitable.

But not because of what Louis is trying to present as reasoning. (And I hope/bet Daniel will still break open that part of the tale, too.)

[systcmaticeras]

hi there! we're a p-did system, and figured it might be nice to try and find a sense of community somewhere, so why not try here? we've had suspicions for a while but consistently gaslit ourselves into thinking otherwise– this is our first time accepting that this in fact a likely reality and are self identifying as plural until we can get in to see a psych to confirm. we use i/me and we/us rather interchangeably for the most part and to the best of my knowledge as the host we're all okay with they/them pronouns but some of us have other pronouns we also use! now, a few rules or general topics to cover real quick:

• we are not here to engage in syscourse, we aren't professionals or doctors, it's simply not our place.

• we do not mind (pro)endos interacting, we have chosen to remain neutral on this stance as, again, we are not professionals or doctors, not our place.

• we don't tolerate hate speech or bullying, if anyone is commenting such things on our posts they will be swiftly blocked.

• we would prefer that no one under the age of 16 (bodily) interacts in dms or anything unless they need some help or support, we are 19 bodily, so we just want everyone to be safe! any ages are welcome on this page, however almost all of us do swear and have a dark sense of humor, so keep this in mind!

• we love introjects/fictives! for who we know of rn, a lot of our system is fictives, not everyone to be clear, but we've always found great comfort in different forms of media, so we assume our brain split some of the characters we resonated with the most and still continues to do so sometimes!

with all of that out of that out of the way, a brief intro to the alters as we know ourselves!

FIZZ

they/them, key-host (rarely leaves front, most others blend with or co-host with me), potential helluva boss fictive but this is unclear, i may have just stolen my name from it!

CONNOR

he/him/they/them, emotional protector, fronts occasionally, mostly during times of stress, but sometimes just when he wants to. dear evan hansen fictive.

RIFF

he/him/they/them, protector, possible gatekeeper, second most frequent fronter so far, has a typing quirk, generally pretty caring but can definitely be stubborn and sarcastic. west side story fictive.

LESTAT

he/him/they/them, role unclear, hasn't fronted for a while, tends to use french terms and a fancier vocabulary. iwtv fictive.

DALE

he/him/they/them, role unclear, rarely fronts, not very confident but extremely sweet, wants the best for everybody. newsreader fictive.

V1

they/them/it/its, persecutor, co-con frequently but unlikely to fully front, harsh, does not like others, does not care to communicate with others. they have not shared their name, thus the placeholder name of V1.

ROSALIE / V2

she/her/they/them, possible caretaker, she doesn't front frequently, we don't know much about her, very sweet and motherly. name is assumed.

V3

she/her/they/them, role unclear, pretty chill personality from what we know, hasn't fronted much, first one to inspire me to make a picrew for her, hoping to have a name soon.

P

she/her/they/them, little – role unclear, we do not plan to share too much info on her, she fronts occasionally, and absolutely loves jellyfish and ham.

ART

he/him/they/them, role not yet discovered, he's relatively new, we think he split due to recent events that caused significant duress, but he's shown up when the paranoia hits some. pretty chill so far, but extremely tired. challengers fictive.

we follow from @artsracquet !

that's about all we have for right now, but we hope to meet some fellow plurals and cannot wait to find some community here!

~ fizz

[erisweekofficial]

Today we're highlighting @shadowsandlint, another wonderful Azris writer! SL has such a way with words, so much of it reads like poetry. You can't go wrong with any of her fics, but here are a few to start with.

If you need a place to start, try SL's favorite fic she's written (and our favorite too) Autumn Winds Across the Sea

What did Azriel say to Eris at the High Lord's meeting? Your Scars on My Pulse has all the answers!

If you want a cute Azris fic that'll make you feel warm and fuzzy, read O Holy Night! The Stars Are Brightly Shining.

Read on to learn to learn more about @shadowsandlint and if Eris is going to win a battle against Loki and Lestat!!!

Give us a name for one of Eris's Brothers!

I haven't named any of his brothers in my fics yet, but I would like for them to be in the same vein as Eris'. He is named after the Greek goddess of strife, and is one of Zeus' many children. So maybe Arcas, the hunter, or Horai, after the goddesses of seasons.

Give us a name for one of Eris's hounds!

I've named one of the hounds Erebos in Your Scars on My Pulse! In Greek mythology, Erebos is the personification of darkness, which I found fitting for a smoke hound.

What drew you to Eris Vanserra as a character?

The masks he wears. He has so many layers! When we first met him after under the mountain, I immediately got the sense that he was more than he seemed. He was too well thought out to only be a flat character, with little quirks and hints to a world beyond the surface. What is he hiding? We have gotten some answers, but I want SJM to answer it all!!

Do you think Eris had any childhood friends?

Yes, I think he did before he got old enough to fully understand his role and the expectations that came with it. But after he and those around him made that connection, I think those relationships might have ended up being only superficial friendliness, in order to not have any weaknesses to be used against him.

How does Eris deal with the expectations placed on him by his court and family?

He probably reminds himself of the end goal quite a lot, like a mantra, repeating that it'll all be worth it once Beron is dead and he can shed his wicked persona. And lots of alone time in the Autumn woods with his hounds. Doggie cuddles make everything better!

Eris v Loki v Lestat. Who is winning?

I fully believe we have not been shown the extent of Eris' powers yet (the incident with Feyre and Lucien on the run was too suspiciously easy for them), so he might have enough tricks up his sleeve to take home the victory. I mean, how did he find and capture Azriel? And this is before becoming High Lord, so we can only imagine how powerful he'll be then.

[faithandfairies]

Interview with the Vampire Season 2 Rant

It's so interesting how season 2 is like watching a train wreck happening in slow motion.

Let me start by saying that Claudia tells Louis that he's once again choosing another vampire over her. But I feel like Louis is trying to do the opposite of that. Or at least he really doesn't start out trying to choose Armand.

The entirety of season 2 involves Louis trying to help Claudia make her dreams come true by following her lead, doing what she wants to do. For once he's choosing her.

None of what they end up doing is anything he cares about. He's a homebody who likes to read a good book by the fire while knowing his loved ones are safe and near. I mean, he asks Claudia early on whether they can go home now, when they don't find what they were looking for after 5 years of searching, right before Paris.

He doesn't know what home will entail, whether it will just be going home to New Orleans with Lestat dead or if Lestat will be there waiting for him, murderous or loving, but he doesn't care. Both options will do.

Him seeing Lestat is him trying to desperately reconnect with something he cares about, even if it is within his own memories, especially when his attempts at connecting with Claudia fall flat.

Claudia initially wants to leave Paris when they first arrive there but Paris is the first time Louis feels at home because Paris is the closest he's been to Lestat in years. So Louis wants to give it a chance.

I think on some level Louis expected Lestat to follow them, to come looking for them, so Louis could say he tried to pick Claudia over Lestat and Lestat wouldn't let him. The way he tends to place blame anywhere else than with himself. Even him going to Roger and Albert is about inquiring whether Lestat is truly dead, sure, but is also a siren song meant for Lestat in case he's alive I think. That if Lestat is alive he will hear from Roger that Louis is in Paris and show up. But then none of that happens.

Season 2 also involves a lot of everyone lying to themselves. Even Louis' relationship with Armand is him trying and failing to fix the mistakes he made in his relationship with Lestat with Armand as a stand-in for Lestat.

Armand is very obviously dangerous from the start. Even while he's crushing a bit on Louis he does not make it a secret that he wants Louis and Claudia dead.

Initially Louis makes the right call, he wants to leave Paris the moment he realizes Armand is a danger to them. But it would mean uprooting Claudia, forcing her to start over from a point of misery again. So then he approaches Armand the way he did Lestat.

He tries to solve the problem of Armand being a danger to them by trying to love him, love him into safety. He tries to go one step further than he ever did with Lestat, he tries to say it, say "I love you" but it doesn't ring true even to his own ears.

He forgets that loving Lestat was always his truth, incapable of being a manipulation, impossible to replicate as a lie.

Even Armand tries to love Louis, because the only thing better than killing Louis would be for Louis to fall in love with him more than he ever was with Lestat. To the point that if given the choice Louis would choose Armand because he loves him more than he ever did Lestat.

But Armand is not Lestat. Which means a lot of things. It means Louis and Claudia will never truly be safe with Armand simply because Louis and Claudia are not his. Lestat considered Louis and Claudia his, his family, his to take care of, his to protect. Armand does not feel the same way. But Armand not being Lestat also means Louis will never love Armand. Which only underlines that they will never be safe with Armand. Because aside from running or killing the coven, actually loving Armand more than Lestat was the one way Louis might have gotten Armand to not kill them.

And Louis can't do that. He shows Armand this too when he can't commit to Armand in the one essential way he did do to Lestat. He can't accept Armand as his companion. Because in his mind Lestat never stopped being his companion and to accept Armand as such would mean to give the role Lestat filled to Armand. At this point Armand is an affair. He cannot be Louis' companion because even considered dead, in Louis' heart of hearts, that position belongs to Lestat.

And yet when it turns out he and Claudia are still in danger from Armand and the coven Louis tries to do that anyway. He tries to banish Lestat's memory. He tries to force companionship with Armand even though he doesn't feel it. And that scene is so interesting because it's Louis lying to himself in its entirety. It seeming to be initially about him breaking up with Armand but instead it's him trying to let go of the memory of Lestat.

But what it's really about is him trying to let go of his humanity and once again becoming the cold and calculated pimp he used to be before he met Lestat, that needed to do what he needed to do to protect his family. It's funny to realize that by loving him Lestat unknowingly unearthed some of Louis' humanity that had previously been hidden away. Because in choosing to love Lestat Louis became more human. Lestat chose Louis in part because of the hardened pimp façade he threw up in order to cope with the work he had to do to take care of his family. But in loving Louis Lestat laid bare all of who Louis really was and while he thought he knew what he was doing I don't think he truly knew until after he had turned Louis and saw the true effects of him taking a wrecking ball to all of Louis' walls at the same time.

When Louis realizes that once again his family is in danger he does what he did all those years ago. He dusts off the pimp persona. He's about to give the performance of his life trying to make Armand believe he's in love with him so Armand doesn't kill them, all while locking his heart away with the memory of Lestat for safekeeping so that he can actually give a convincing performance.

But here's the thing, Lestat was the actor. Louis was never good at lying about how he really felt. It's also why distracting Lestat before he killed him was so effective. It was as easy as breathing because Louis didn't have to act. The love he felt for Lestat was the absolute truth and anything less than that would have been a lie Lestat would have seen straight through. Lestat may not have realized Louis loved him but unbeknownst to him he did know how it felt to be loved by Louis.

Louis can't deceive Armand the same way precisely because he doesn't have those particular feelings for Armand and up to then he was trying to use Armand as a Lestat stand-in, a do-over in which he tells Armand what Lestat needed to hear, in the hopes this time the outcome will be different. Which almost worked because he had Dreamstat to bring those real feelings to the surface. But then Louis locks Dreamstat away thinking that's the answer and no longer even has a whisper of the feeling he previously had to back up his words and actions. And by then it's already too late anyway.

[doumadono]

mmm emergency request

take as long as you need to answer!! or if this is too triggering, no need to answer at all!!

tw for mention of childhood m*lestation

so recently (couple of weeks ago) i found out that my dad’s friend/girlfriend kind of knows the guy who m*lested me as a kid…

she knows everything that happened and knows how difficult it was for me to heal from. now finding out that she knows him— it set me back and i distanced myself from her.

a bit ago she called me, telling me that i should forgive him for what he did to me… and it went into a whole thing and now i’m trying not to cry while writing this lol

but anyways

it set me back really far and all of my progress is gone so i was just hoping for some comfort??

like twice or dabi comforting their gf/s.o. through this and helping them try to heal again.

maybe even twice or dabi getting a bit of revenge on the two people lol /j

sorry if this doesn’t make sense i’m just a bit out of it

- twice & dabi anon

EMERGENCY REQS MASTERLIST

Twice

Twice is initially shocked and angered when he learns about your troubled past and the person responsible for your pain.

He lets out a string of curses directed at the one who caused you harm, showing a protective side that you hadn't seen before.

Immediately, Twice pulls you into a comforting embrace.

"I might be a bit crazy, but I'm crazy about you. We'll get through this together, I'll never let you face it all alone."

After learning more about the person who hurt you, Twice puts together a plan for justice. "Nobody messes with my girl and gets away with it."

He ensures you have the support you need, encouraging you to take good care of yourself and promising to be there for every step of your healing journey.

As you try to hold back tears, Twice pulls a playful expression, "And if you need someone punched, I got a clone for that too. Or ten."

Twice is genuine, realizing that some battles require a team effort, and mental health is no exception.

Later, you discover Jin had discreetly gathered information to ensure the person responsible faced the consequences.

Twice, without a moment's hesitation, serves justice to the person who has caused you harm.

One day, accidentally overhearing him in conversation with Toga, you catch her asking for "the blood of his new friend." The request surprises you, but you eventually shrug it off.

The next day, Twice seeks you out and declares that the case is concluded, justice served.

When you express a desire to learn more, he simply smiles at you, smoothly shifting the topic, leaving the details in the shadows of his actions. "Don't worry, little mousie, Twice did his best to make sure they won't hurt you ever again."

Dabi

Dabi listens silently as you open up about your troubled past. His eyes, however, betray a mix of anger and concern.

"No one should go through that. I'll make sure they pay for what they did to you, princess."

Dabi, in his understated way, offers a warm touch, placing a comforting hand on your shoulder. "Don't think about that anymore. Let me take care of everything."

Dabi, true to his straightforward nature, ensures justice is served.

As you express your fear of encountering your past abuser, Dabi assures you, "I won't let them get away with it, don't ya worry your pretty, little head, princess."

Dabi, true to his character, never utters empty promises. Swiftly acquiring information about the person's name and address, he becomes a rare sight within the League of Villains' hideout for the next few days. Unbeknownst to you, he meticulously stalks every move of the individual, methodically transforming their life into a nightmare.

Days pass, and news reports flood the airwaves. Resting your head on Dabi's shoulder while watching the news, you hear of a house engulfed in flames, with a person unable to escape the inferno. The police chalk it up to a gas leak, citing eyewitnesses who observed the flames as an eerie shade of blue.

Your eyes widen, and you glance at Dabi, seeking confirmation. "Dabi..."

He, however, responds by gently placing his index finger to your lips, silencing any questions. "I promised you something, and I'm a man of my word, yeah?"

[queerofcups]

an August rec list

August Rec List

Why yes it is nearly the end of September and I’m just now posting my August Rec List. I’ve been busy!

Hockey RPF

come stitch me up

E | 10k | addandsubtract

Sometimes he wakes up sucking on his fingers, rutting his hips into the bed. He’ll be right on the edge of coming, the wet head of his dick trapped between his hips and the sheets, but he can’t, he can’t, not without – not without something pushed up inside, something stretching him open.

Hey man, I barely know who these players are. Is this kind of a horror story? Yes! Is it also very hot smut! Yuuuup. This is what I mean when I’m begging people not to try to explain away the dub in dubcon. Someone should be calling a doctor, an exorcist, a therapist etc. But instead, because this is fanfic, they whip their dicks out! It's great!

Interview with The Vampire

monstrous servant

Armand/Louis

E | 5k | inthebelltower

The old itch never goes away. It never feels less good to scratch.

inhuman taste

Armand/Louis

E | 1k | inthebelltower

Louis can’t help it; he wants to eat him up.

I’ve been thinking a lot about Louis as a dom as I’m writing my own WIP and this fic and the next were really instrumental in shaping my own ideas of how Louis is with Armand. I really think this and the next fic act as a great picture of the two sides of their relationship.

not a ruse, not heat

Armand/Louis

M | 872 | inthebelltower

Louis drinks from Armand’s neck. Somewhere in the compound a clock is ticking.

Let me tell you diary (islands)

Claudia/Madeline, Louis/Lestat 

T | 4k | anonymous

Basically, Claudeleine don't return to Paris, don't fall for the trap, and just travel to wherever the X leads them... until…

In Sickness and In Health

Louis/Lestat

M | 3k | anonymous

“Sure, okay,” Louis huffs softly, “one coffee, why not.”

They’re engaged again by November. Claudia calls Louis the moment she finds out and scolds him for fifteen minutes straight. Hear me out, Louis barely gets the words out before she hangs up on him. Five times he tries to call her back.

Of mercy, with choice 

Louis/Lestat

E | 6k | shavir_light

“I always thought that your victims were truly fortunate, to be gifted with such an exhilarating death,” Lestat says, tangled in the messy sheets. “What bliss it must have been, to be killed by one so beautiful.”

Louis and Lestat play at a fantasy. It gets a bit out of hand.

The Things We DId and Didn’t Do

M | 3k | @marbleflan (they are on tumblr, but I can't tag them)

“You are thinking of him, maybe.”

Louis looks up. It’s like Lestat is speaking in another language and Louis is reading the subtitles on a delay, or something. He can make out the words but not the meaning, for a moment.

“What?” Then it clicks.

“Armand. You are touching me. In bed,” Lestat says, casual. Maybe too casual. “But you are thinking of him.”

Louis doesn’t say anything. There’s not really anything he can say. It’s true, in a way. Not that he’s literally thinking about Armand. Not consciously. But he’s assuming Armand: Armand’s desires, Armand’s preferences, Armand’s reactions. He’s holding Lestat, he’s thinking of Lestat, he’s hard for Lestat. But he’s treating him like Armand.

Wow I sure am reccing a lot of fic about Louis and BDSM, huh? Wonder what thats about. Anyway, I think this and the fics by shavir_light work as lovely little complements to each other. More thinking about how domming wasn’t just a thing for Armand, but was something that Louis participated in, enjoys and carries with him. I also enjoy thinking about how Louis and Lestat might fall back together once Louis is back in New Orleans, but they might not settle together quite as easily. Eighty years is a long time to be apart and of course people are going to pick up quirks and require adjustments. 

the body, not in stasis

Daniel/Louis

E | 1k | shavir_light

“The need to cares for your body is, in part, what tethers you to it. It’s a reminder, Daniel—that you are flesh and blood. That you are a human being,” Louis insists, in his usual verbose fashion, and Daniel can’t help but laugh as he turns to leave.

“Well, you’re welcome to come watch, if it’s so magical to you,” he says.

I think this is such a short, sweet meditation on bodies. It does the exact kind of thing I love fanfic to do, take a single point an original work makes — vampires’ bodily functions fundamentally change when they’re turned — and just has a think and does a little smut about it. I love it.

Want and Swallow and Keep

Louis/Lestat

E | 10k | shavir_light

Love, sex, possession. To Lestat, they’re all the same thing.

So this could be perfect; Louis could decide what they do, control Lestat’s actions. He could make Lestat work for it, earn Louis’ trust again by way of obedience. Louis could restrain him from doing something—something bad.

So interesting to be in such disagreement about what a fic is and how we’re supposed to take it. I think this fic is a great example of the ways Lestat and Louis treat each other poorly, and get off on it! shavir_light makes it clear that they see one party clearly in the wrong and one not. I just think it's so fun that we’re able to have such different perspectives on the same work. 

Harry Potter

New Gods

Harry/Sirius 

E | 4k | @thecouchsofa

It rocks Sirius to his core every time he thinks about it, because they aren’t the same – Harry and James.

Sure, Harry pushes his glasses up with the knuckle of his pointer finger. James used to do the same thing when he had dirt or sugar or random potion essence on his hands. Other people do that too. Sirius has never seen it, but they do.

I like a fic where people are having relationships that are complicated, or they “shouldn’t” be having them for whatever reason. I like the ambiguity of this fic and how Sirius is trying to insist, to us and to himself, that the ambiguity doesn’t matter when it certainly does.

Wield Me

Harry/Draco, Pre-Harry/Draco/Teddy

E | 10k | @tackytigerfic

Draco Malfoy, blacksmith, is renowned through the magical world for his skill and exquisite creations. He could quite easily spend the rest of his days making pretty trinkets for the fae court, and being handsomely rewarded for the privilege. But why take the easy route when instead he could get involved in a dangerous mission with Unspeakable Harry Potter (who also happens to be Draco's... well, he's something, isn't he?)

A little story about learning to strike while the iron is hot.

Home Truths

E | 67k | @fantalfart, @skeptiquewrites

In the off-season Harry decided to fix up Grimmauld Place and found that Draco Malfoy was the only person who could help him. A demanding career and unrelenting press scrutiny were enough to deal with before Harry added a house with a mind of its own, family history, and a tense, flirty, complicated relationship with his childhood nemesis to the mix.

On professional Quidditch, magical houses, hard choices, Life Debts, and inconvenient truths.

Honestly, this fic, to me, is more of a lovely character study than a romance. There’s a good bit of fic that Draco barely appears in but we get to learn more about Harry’s job (y’all know i’m a sucker for any fic where Harry’s not an auror) and the whole world feels very lived in. 

Wonderful Anything

E | 24k |  harDEEhar / @dryrsheet

They were birds of a feather, he and Draco: the pathetic bastards in love and apart.

I can hardly believe this fic is only 24k. I read the next fic immediately after this one because they both manage to offer worlds that feel so full, just from what we learn while watching people fall in love. I also love an unconventional relationship timeline, stories where people build their own lives and families they way they want and second/third/fourth tries until something finally clicks. There are just so many lovely details in this story, it really was one of the standouts of the month. 

Grounds for Divorce

E | 122k | @tepre

Malfoy finds a coin. Harry finds a letter.

A story about histories, a story about families. A story about a lemon tree somewhere in Upper Egypt.

Oh God, I stayed up way too late reading this fic. Sometimes, I’ll just random think about this fic. I’ve reread it so many times. The writing is just gorgeous. The emotional character work is…is shocking in how wonderful and layered it is. It feels both so real and heightened at the same time. The whole story is cooking on high but once Harry and Draco get to the conference in Egypt? Baby, it's on flambé. I don’t know if this story is considered a classic in the Harry Potter fandom but it's quadruple platinum in my household. 

[ca-suffit]

It's so annoying when Nalyra and this book group use excuses like this as if we're all dumb. There's lots of people who talk about the books and the show without being racist about it. The deeper issue here is not because people haven't read the books and think what you're saying is shocking.... What's really happening is that this group of BFFs loves to remove all mention of race from everything. They love pretending you can just overlay the books to the AMC show and it's a perfect match. Then, when anyone mentions how important it is to factor in race when discussing these things, here comes the screaming victimhood and all the "it's what's in the book" gifs. The "I'm sorry you just can't handle gothic literature SWEETIE" attitudes that are v tiring. Any race can be racist too (isn't that this group's favorite line too, they should know....) and only care for the wellbeing of white fandom, so these brown emojis or black fans who will make callout lists on other black fans under the language of calling out "fandom issues" or "antis" aren't fooling anyone to what the real motivation is behind it. People who worship Anne Rice are always going to be airheads who can't take criticism because look at your girl and all she was ever doing. Any adult who wants to defend her or the books is not a critical thinker or an intellectual. It's v possible to discuss her and the books without the stan goggles on. The black fans this group is always sneering at do it all the time. That's probably where the real issue lies, because it's done much better than the horseshit fanon Nalyra, Virgnia, and the rest are slinging and thinking is epic meta or something. I lurked for a long time before coming here to start pointing this out. I've seen these egos get bigger since the show has been off the air and book people crawled out from the depths to try and tell everyone "what's going to happen." It's a stupid power trip and nothing else. This group doesn't have the ability to analyze anything like they think they do, so they've grown together since the show stopped airing to start harassing other fans and pretend they're the victims just because they don't think talking about race is important in their....erm...."analysis" lol. They only think they have power because the fandom became smaller when S1 ended. They're gonna be muted again when it comes back because they aren't keeping up with the themes of the show and their takes aren't interesting. Saying the white man is always innocent, the black man is lying, the brown man is manipulative is what society already does. It's boring and it's not what the show has shown us in its own canon that it's doing. This group and white fandom in general love to take an inch and run a mile with it. Whenever anyone (but especially Jacob) mentions Louis might be a liar or an unreliable narrator they're jumping on the chance to spread that statement over every part of the story. They want so much for all of it not to be true because they need Lestat to be the good guy. They always claim they love stories about monsters except their favorite white guy can't even stay a monster for them to adore him. He can't ever even be any kind of fuck up and grow from it, he's just supposed to immediately be perfect. What's the point of the story then ffs? This is why you need to read other books that aren't written by idiot, egomaniacal authors who don't have editors and are in love with their own creations. If you always find a way to excuse the white characters, say all the black and brown characters are the unreliable, scheming ones, and scream and yell "it's what's in the books" whenever anyone reminds you to notice race......then you're just racist, girl. It's not even a mystery lol so stop this crap like you're fooling anyone. You can be as loud as you want but it doesn't mean you're actually a victim of anything but your own racist stupidity. Just because Anne Rice didn't get as much pushback as she deserved in her dumb life doesn't mean you're going to get the same treatment. It's 2024, bitch.

[i-want-my-iwtv]

I recently read Interview with the Vampire which is such a good ride and since I was already very much expose myself to many spoilers, I knew the trial would happen and all that. But since English was not my first language and though I like the poetic words, I can't seem to understand what exactly they are talking about sometimes 😂. I'm busy often and can't seem to get the time to actually search up things about it so I wanna know more about why exactly would Armand has the need to kill Claudia, I know about how he wanted Louis for himself but I think he's aware that Claudia was everything to Louis so killing her doesn't seem to be the best idea if he truly love and want Louis to be with him. And the second one being why is Lestat so indifferent to Claudia's possible death at the trial, I've seen his quote about Claudia and discussions about how great he love her even after all the killing attempt and that he never blamed her for anything (didn't read the Vampire Lestat yet by the way), so to say the least I was quite shock at how he allowed Claudia to be held by the coven and why is he only advocating for Louis survival, is his love too much greater for him? And can't seem to understand that why would he think Louis would be willing to go back with him without Claudia. I think there are other scenes related to these in the other books but I forgot about it, I hope to find out about it when I get to read more but I'm really curious and can't help myself back. I hope my question makes sense and I wouldn't mind any spoilers, I really wanna know more about it.

Hello! Wow, that's a lot of ask. I'm glad to take a stab at answering tho 😎

But since English was not my first language and though I like the poetic words, I can't seem to understand what exactly they are talking about sometimes 😂

Understandable, I'm always impressed with ppl reading these books and finding the stories and characters captivating even without being able to fully understand the words, that speaks to how well they're written that they transcend complete understanding! It can be poetic at times. The books are translated into a number of other languages, you might want to find it in yours, that might help, even though there are necessarily differences in the translations from the original. She also throws in some French from time to time so be aware of that 😉

I think there are other scenes related to these in the other books but I forgot about it, I hope to find out about it when I get to read more but I'm really curious and can't help myself back.

Yes, there are a few more mentions of it, but mostly just Lestat's perspective from TVL, and there's one scene in The Vampire Armand where he says he did surgery for Claudia after the trial but before she died (we're not sure that actually happened, or he was inventing something to intimidate David at the time!)... ANYWAY other ppl can reblog and comment on this to add more specifics! I'm trying to keep this concise and not spend hours on this answer, which I could do! 😅

why exactly would Armand has the need to kill Claudia, I know about how he wanted Louis for himself but I think he's aware that Claudia was everything to Louis so killing her doesn't seem to be the best idea if he truly love and want Louis to be with him.... And can't seem to understand that why would he think Louis would be willing to go back with him without Claudia.

Yes, Armand was aware that Claudia was everything to Louis! Briefly, Armand wouldn't share Louis with Claudia, as she told Louis that Armand spoke to her with the mind gift that Louis couldn't hear (Forgive the typos here, this is a bad PDF copy of IWTV 😅):

Armand also admitted to Louis that he pushed him into turning Madeleine to replace Louis as Claudia's companion, but Louis still doesn't give Claudia up even after doing that. That's a bigger discussion, whether Armand couldn't wait any longer for that to happen, or he lost control of the Theatre vampires, or Lestat re-entering the story changed Armand's mind about how to separate Louis from Claudia.

Regardless, Armand physically protects Louis from Santiago and warns him a few times that the Theatre vampires might harm Claudia if she doesn't leave soon, and it's unclear whether Armand is ordering them to behave that way to get rid of Claudia, or if Armand would be equally happy with Claudia just leaving Louis, rather than being killed by the Theatre vampires. That's also a bigger discussion for sure, and I could argue both sides.

And the second one being why is Lestat so indifferent to Claudia's possible death at the trial, I've seen his quote about Claudia and discussions about how great he love her even after all the killing attempt and that he never blamed her for anything (didn't read the Vampire Lestat yet by the way), so to say the least I was quite shock at how he allowed Claudia to be held by the coven and why is he only advocating for Louis survival, is his love too much greater for him?

I don't think Lestat is indifferent to Claudia's possible death, but he's wounded and starving, which definitely could have weakened him emotionally, too. In TVL, we get Lestat's point of view just before the trial: he came to Paris to beg Armand for the healing blood to speed up the wounds he suffered (from Claudia and Louis attempting to kill him) and Armand throws him in a cell and feeds him a dead victim, with cold blood (which doesn't hurt vampires, it's just distasteful and not as nearly as nutritious as living victim blood). While begging, Lestat admits to Armand that it was Claudia who damaged him so badly, probably thinking there's no way Armand could have her in his possession! Welp, he's wrong.

Even without that TVL context, I think Lestat was in a position where he knew he was physically weakened and outnumbered, he couldn't take on and fight the whole pack of healthy Theatre vampires AND Armand, so he was trying to use his words to save who he could. That meant choosing Louis OR Claudia 😭 The Theatre vampires were clearly going to kill one of them, if not both. So the best Lestat could do was argue that it was Claudia's fault primarily and try to rescue Louis.

Now why advocate for Louis' survival, is Lestat's love too much greater for Louis over Claudia? I think one's love for their lover is different than for their child, not greater or lesser, a different kind of love. One could say that he could see more of a future with Louis than with Claudia, after all, his relationship with Louis was probably more salvageable than his relationship with Claudia, bc ultimately, she tried to kill him! Her feelings were probably the same, or worse, knowing he had survived. She didn't speak to Lestat during the trial. Louis was advocating to Lestat during the trial, still hopeful Lestat could save them both.

Either way I don't think Lestat chose Louis over Claudia for revenge, because YES, you're correct, Lestat says in Tale of the Body Thief (or TVL, I don't have it with me to check) that he didn't blame Claudia for trying to kill him, and that he might have done the same in her position 😭.

[^X by miss-jose] I have a few more fanart pieces featuring this scene in #the yellow dress tag, if anyone has more, let me know!

I assume that Lestat felt awful after Claudia was killed by the Theatre vampires... he still speaks of her with love in the later books. The very next night, Louis finds Lestat clutching her blood-stained yellow dress, and could some of those blood stains be Lestat's tears, since he's sobbing? I think so! Here's the quote (my emphasis added):

“‘This is madness!… ’ I said, my hands rising suddenly to my temples. 'Where is she! Where is she!’ I looked about me, at their still, passive faces, those inscrutable smiles.'Lestat’ I turned him now, grabbing at the black wool of his lapels: "And then I saw the thing in his hands. I knew what it was. And in an instant I’d ripped it from him and was staring at it, at the fragile silken thing that it was - Claudia’s yellow dress. His hand rose to his lips, his face turned away. And the soft, subdued sobs broke from him as he sat back while I stared at him, while I stared at the dress. My fingers moved slowly over the tears in it, the stains of blood, my hands closing, trembling as I crushed it against my chest. - IWTV

[olderthannetfic]

Escapade Dance Party 2023 Writeup 2/3

Here is the playlist I ended up with this year, plus my commentary:

First Half

Good Omens | Running in the 90's by Maria Morningstar

Good Omens is so tricky. On the one hand, there are a billion fantastic vids, many with editing that's better than this one. On the other, a lot of the preferred music is syrupy and slow, and GO fans are actively seeking out vids and have already seen many of the ones intended for cons in the English-speaking world.

I wanted something high-energy to open the dance with, and this ridiculous song fit the bill. It woke people up and got them noticing the music had started.

I don't know Maria, but her channel has a bunch of things with cyrillic titles, so I'm guessing she's Russian. That meant a higher chance of this vid being new to people at Escapade.

Tubthumping by Aaronantium

To be perfectly honest, I do not care about this anime, but I was chilling with Aaron at Vidders Chat and discussing my plans, and he offered to make me a vid for his vampire fandom.

I don't generally accept premieres because it means wrangling more people and dealing with uncertainty, but Aaron suggested this song, and it's always a crowd pleaser as is the vid everyone makes to it. This fandom is also unusually perfect for said joke, featuring as it does a repeatedly dying vampire who… well… gets back up again.

Actually, despite it not being most people's fandom, I think this vid got one of the biggest laughs and reactions of anything during the party.

Kirk/Spock | I Knew You Were Trouble by mogo nit

K/S is a perennial favorite with con attendees—more TOS but AOS too. I don't recall why I was specifically looking for it this year. Probably, it ranked best out of things people mentioned on their site profiles.

This is an old-ass vid from 10 years ago, so if people have seen it, they probably haven't seen it lately. It's also a song I love, cliched though it might be for vids.

Word of Honor - Wenzhou - Hit and Run by CelestialMoonDragon

I knew I wanted to include WoH, both for its many fans and for people still dragging their feet about checking out Asian live action m/m stuff. The fandom has a wealth to choose from from vidders all over the globe. The big issue was simply finding vids that weren't too plastered with show audio.

When I heard this song choice, however, I knew it was the one. WoH has some unusual genre elements for wuxia, specifically all the central government focus where wuxia characters usually stay away from politics. The song really highlights that aspect. Those lyric matches! Genius!

【夜访吸血鬼】【莱斯特】【Young and Beautiful】献给我最心中最美艳的吸血鬼——莱斯特 by 欧阳夏右

Obviously, if I was going to celebrate the new IWTV, I couldn't leave out the old movie!

This is a brilliant song choice given what happens to Lestat. It's interesting to me how many Chinese vidders use music I know well. It's always fun to see what they do with a Western source and Western music, and I think bilibili is largely uncharted territory for most Escapade attendees.

【The Sentinel】【Jim/Blair】It's consuming me（Lash视角）美剧-哨兵 同人mv by ozakikaoru

The Sentinel still has monofannish fans, but covering it for a dance party is a pain in the butt. I generally end up scraping the depths of Bilibili, and this year was no exception…

So how excited was I to find this refreshing and freaky take! This audio is apparently from some short film and has become something of a meme amongst vidders, but I hadn't heard it before and I don't think anyone at the con had either.

It's always extra surprising and wonderful to find a more serious and darker vid for fandoms everyone associates with camp and retro cheese. The Sentinel fans I included it for were blown away too. It's apparently a pretty good representation of the episode in question.

Forever Knight Vampires | Darkness, Darkness | Gothic 90s by knightvision1228

Because I had the vampires theme, I made a huge list of vampire fandoms to try to include. Forever Knight was one of my fandoms of the 90s and very popular with het shippers and slashers alike. Finding a vid that didn't look like bad VHS transfer, however, was easier said than done.

This one won out for featuring a rare song from the FK soundtrack that was never released. The vid also showcases the main trio instead of just being Nick/Jeanette het.

Megatron x Optimus (Song: Wrecking Ball) by Mellew

We have a lot of Transformers fans, and it's always so hard to find something I can play in the dance party… well… something that's not a 10-minute compilation of explicit fan art to horny reggaeton. Personally, I'm all about that reggaeton, but I've been looking for actual shipper vids that are a little more representative and a little less likely to make the fans combust in embarrassment.

When I heard the song choice… well… no other vid could compete.

But don't let the literalism and hilarious if one-note joke fool you: this is a fantastically edited vid that makes excellent use of the song's varying tempo.

And yes, I made sure to loudly say "WHY ARE YOU ALL LAUGHING? THIS IS A VERY SERIOUS VID" as the vid started.

BakuDeku AMV - Lucky Strike by caliowl 333

Do I watch BNHA? No. Do people at the con watch BNHA? No. Do antis hate this ship? Absofuckinglutely YES!

I love stupid shonen nonsense, and this fandom provides it in spades. It took a while to find an AMV that wasn't littered with not only show audio but dubbed show audio. (What am I, an animal?!)

I also just really love this song for dance parties.

Dancing on My Own - Robyn (Izzy Hands Edit) by auxiliarywardrobe

OFMD is another tough one. It's not due to a lack of vids: if anything, there are too many. But so many aren't suitable for a dance party and many are already familiar to people.

While I did find this on AO3 (honestly nearly a requirement for finding non-show audio vids in this fandom), it hadn't gotten any attention from people I recognized as an Escapade type crowd.

I loved the indignity of pairing Izzy with this ridiculous song. OFMD was a little anodyne for me in some ways, so the sleazy obnoxiousness of Izzy is a welcome antidote to all of the fluff and angst vids about the main ship.

At the same time, I don't particularly ship Izzy with anybody. I enjoy watching him be miserable, and the song is actually quite a good lyrical match for his impotent frustration.

Do You Wanna Touch Me? [Fanvid] by resurrecho

Okay, this one is cheating on my own rules. I'm sure people had every opportunity to see it… But it's also a femslash vid that is very, very horny.

This one's for you ladies tired of ~dewy flower~ soft bullshit!

Cult of Dionysus - Leverage OT3 - Eliot/Parker/Hardison by leverage brain worms

Leverage remains a perennial favorite and the new show had attendees talking,  but people often request the same tired old vid choice. I went looking for something that hadn't been played at every con over and over.

I liked that this vid was relatively recent. The song with poly lyrics was a fun touch.

HeiHua FMV~|| Hei Ye falling for the Thorny Flower by Black Flower

When I saw this vid, I said to myself: I don't know who they are, but I ship them!

AND GUESS WHAT? SEEING THE SHOW DID NOT CHANGE THAT OPINION!

Yes, this vid is directly responsible for me watching all these DMBJ adaptations.

I knew a lot of Escapade attendees were vaguely familiar with Reunion because of Zhu Yilong, but I didn't think most had checked out the rest of DMBJ, and this vid was so diametrically opposite of both that adaptation and the vibe of the big ship that I knew I just had to include it.

But seriously, this vidder actually has an excellent grasp of narrative. Now that I've seen the show, some of this stuff is repurposed and out of context, but you wouldn't know it from the eyelines.

Cover Me - A Fanvid by TinTurtle

Ah, Pros. The Professionals has the most dedicated fans at Escapade, hands down. They keep the con afloat and keep their fandom vibrant even after decades. Finding a dance vid to include for them, however, is a bit of a trial.

Realistically, I'm never going to find a vid they haven't all seen unless I make it myself, so I look for songs with a better beat than the typical old fandom vids tend to have.

The Fanged Four - Play with Fire (BTVS/ATS) by SlayerVid

People were talking about the Buffyverse again this year. Was it an anniversary of some kind? I can't recall, but it's a big nostalgia fandom for a lot of attendees, and it's one of the bigger vampire fandoms, so I wanted to include it.

While there used to be a billion vids for Buffy and Angel, only a fraction of them are findable online now. I went hunting for something not by a con regular and with visual quality that would play okay on a projector.

This is a great song for its grinding beat, and the vid is both recent and features a variety of vampire characters.

BL | Mobu ✘ Kikuchi S2 || So What by rosenana708

I suspect I found it by looking for Kei x Yaku vids, but as soon as I spotted it, I knew it was a must-have.

Yes, this is full of stupid show audio, but too bad: Nobody at a slash or BL con should be allowed to escape without knowing that A Man Who Defies the World of BL exists.

The Locked Tomb | Fences (SPOILERS!) by peachy 💕

This fandom was the latest hot flavor for many and f/f to boot. I was skeptical about finding a vid, but what do you know!

die for you / beyond evil by butillmissyou

After being pimped in by last year's vid find, I knew I wanted to include it again.

This music grabbed me by the throat. I'd never even heard of LÉON, but the soulful sound is perfect for this fandom.

Personal Jesus by killabeez

I desperately wanted a vid to this song. The cover isn't my fave, but I couldn't turn down the combo of a vampire fandom and this classic.

True, Killa isn't exactly obscure to anyone at Escapade, but this is a relatively less seen older vid and excellently edited.

BTS Vampire FMV | Bad Things (True Blood OP) by GoldenArmy7

I'm so clever.

Yes, this is mostly here so I can follow the True Blood vid with one to the True Blood theme song. Also to inflict BTS on people.

● Ichiro + Shiro | 'dope' (KeixYaku: Dangerous Partners FMV) by xXScarshadowXx

And now some BTS music, LOL

Sadly no longer online from what I can tell

WEDNESDAY | “Sweet But Psycho” Netflix Serie [HD] by SHIK

There are like thirty vids to this fandom using this song. This one blew the others out of the water.

I'll be honest, everyone was trying to push Wednesday/Enid around the time of the con, and that ship is the most boring thing you could possibly take away from this show. I wanted a vid that showcased what's actually fun here, which is not sucking all the creepy out of an Addams Family adaptation, for fuck sake.

ALIEN SUPERSTAR | Wanda & Scarlet Witch by LittleLaceBoots

MCU is still big with attendees, but it's so sprawling that knowing what to choose is hard. I found this music choice quite interesting for how it showcases the weird schtick of this particular show.

A Cowboy's Love by lilly_the_kid

If there's one AO3 vidder I will always play, it's lilly_the_kid! I wanted something for Star Wars, and I wanted it to be slash. This classic and ridiculous vid fit the bill.

Is it appropriate for a dance party? It is IF I SAY IT IS!

Boss Bitch | Lan Wangji (陈情令 The Untamed FMV) by slowparade

Everyone vids this song, but this example is particularly great!

I like aspects of The Untamed a lot. Sadly, those aspects do not include the central ship. I'm always on the hunt for vids that actually work for me. This take on Lan Wangji is hilarious.

Geraskier - Fine By Me by CainnetreIt delights me to find vids to other versions of popular canons. This is such a classic slash vid. It's not particularly danceable, but it's so fun that I wanted to include it, so it needed to go at the end of a section. It's the kind of song you wave your beer around to.

[nalyra-dreaming]

Hello :-) I was just wondering if you have overall thoughts now on how you feel about The Drop in series one now we’ve seen all of Louis’ perspective on what happened?

I’ve been mulling it over (and trying to separate it from the fact I find the discourse in fandom about it (Lestat) annoying). I can see why the show runners wanted to do it; it makes the relationship’s toxicity much more clear and Lestat was abusive in the books, just not as clearly as 1x05 lays it out. So I can see why they wanted to give Louis (and especially Claudia) that much more motivation. I did also find Sam’s reasoning - that it’s important to show Lestat’s underlying toxic masculinity more clearly - compelling too. But I also just don’t like that they did that to Lestat. I do think it’s something that changes who he is and what he’s capable of. But maybe I’m just too much a Lestat girl and it is better for the story and it’s actually just laying out some difficult truths about him in a way that’s not comfortable. Obviously he’s a monster, even if in the books he’s a monster that generally tries his best to help and care for those he loves. Where do you land on it?

(I totally understand if you don’t want to open this can of worms, but I’d be interested in the discussion or you pointing me in the direction of your previous thoughts if that’s easier)

Hey!

All good. I have talked about this a few times, so I'll try to... condense where I am at this moment :)

So, re that "toxic masculinity" and the arc they're aiming for... I think it's important to remember here that Akasha does aim for Lestat as her tool because she does see "everything wrong with the males" in him. So that arc makes a lot of sense for them to set up.

Ultimately this is what she misjudges Lestat on though, and why she, why her quest fails - he actually isn't, and he turns against her because he isn't.

I said it before, the abuse is in the (first) book - but not at this level. And not with the added layer of domestic violence, and I think that level will come back to bite the show in the ass again and again (and the fandom is a mess because of it), because what the show showed - and what they let stand for almost two years - is something decidedly different than "two vampires fighting". Which we're supposed to take away from it now. And which is "only" the inside part of that... fight.

The outside has been hinted at in the video with Sam you're referencing now as well, totally apart from the missing blood everywhere which makes the scene unlikely to have happened as shown, there was also the hint re... something else, that Sam caught himself on. I have theorized early on that the outside might be connected to Amel, and I do think that might hold true. Which is no excuse, btw, since Amel uses certain skills and tendencies. We'll see.

So now the drop.

I am not sure if we have seen all, tbh. There were comments about something about the "blood of Akasha" that was cut from that scene, for example. It would certainly makes sense with the tower scene. Also Lestat being so frustrated with Louis and whatever discussion they had up there to drop him? Still doesn't make sense to me, but I guess that's more or less confirmed now. Still reeks like the tower drop parallel to me (that we might get in s3, who knows).

I think there is something quite powerful they could do with the drop vs certain upcoming book canon "flying scenes". I know some fans said that they destroyed that scene with 1x05, but I actually disagree. The level of trust needed would actually only enhance where they are with each other then, but we'll see.

So. After the comments re "toxic masculinity" etc (mostly by Sam) it made click for me.

I think I know why they're doing this, I think I know how they'll spin it. But I don't particularly like it.

Still, it will likely work. In the end.

After a lot of (fandom) pains.

[monstersinthecosmos]

HI <3 Sheith VC anon here back with a very humble request. So I've read TVL and am currently reading QoTD, just finished the Devil's Minion chapter (oH mY gOD my HEART). I'm going through the books a bit slowly bc life stuff, but I have sooooo many thoughts and feelings and feel like I need to read lots of fic to work through it LOL. I would love it if you could rec me some (or tons of!) fics that wouldn't give me (m)any spoilers re: stuff that happens after this point in the series. I realize this might be a kind of hard/maybe impossible request because a lot of those spoilers would be referring to things that chronologically would have taken place prior to DM for instance, but I'm so starved I thought I might ask just in case! I'm not suuuper partial to any specific ships (Lestat/Louis is a bit boring IMO 😭 but I love them so I'll take it) and I don't have any NOTPs, so I'm down to read pretty much anything (esp if it's spicy and/or hurts my heart and/or features Armand lmao). Totally fine if this is too much trouble or if it turns out to be an impossible ask indeed; thank you in advance anyway! AND THANK YOU AGAIN for introducing me to these brain-rotting books lol I spend like half my waking hours thinking about Armand now.

SHGKJALDS I SPEND HALF MY WAKING HOURS THINKING ABOUT ARMAND TOO SINCE LIKE THE YEAR 2000 LMFAO im so glad you see!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU GET IT MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So babe tbh the reason I started writing Armand/Daniel fic at all is because there really ... isn't that much? And I was like GUESS I GOTTA FUCKIN COOK FOR MYSELF. So tbh I haven't actually read a ton of VC fic at all. The otp:true filter for them on AO3 (excluding TVverse fics) only has 237 fics hdkjgalds but you can start here LOL. I think for the most part you'll be able to tell in the tags if it's post-QOTD because people usually will tag like "post canon" or "Prince Lestat Era"; for QOTD fics check for a Devil's Minion/Devil's Minion Era tag. I don't always remember to tag my own fics but my only post-canon D/A fic is called "In the Trials of the Heart" and all my others are Devil's Minion era and shouldn't spoil anything ! Be aware that the TV fandom and book fandom sometimes overlap so there might be stray TV fics in the book tag; it won't spoil anything bc the TV canon is a completely different story, but it might not make sense if you jump in to read it. So without actual fic recs I'll share some authors that I really trust!! Have a look through their VC fics!!!!!!!

apoptoses (pervert extraordinaire 10/10, all the D/A fics are Devil's Minion era except for Blood Sanation so go nuts!) covenofthearticulate (this is Ash, she actually writes Loustat & Louis/Armand mostly but she's so smart and I trust her so much!!!!) Diabolus_Invictus HekateInHell (writes a lot of Lestat/Armand and also has a human AU called Our House that I'm obsessed with!) ImhereImQuire Nothing_But_Paisley rainandcoffee (if you're sick of all of our doom&gloom you can find fluff and lightness here!) whisperbird (just one VC fic but I think about it every day of my life I love it)

Whenever I remember I try to post VC fics that I do read, kinda like how Sheith fandom does Wednesday Fics, I try to tag #VCFicFriday so try there too!

Anyway if anyone wants to add to this post and share recs PLEASE DO I actually am not a great fic reader bc my attention span sucks and I'm picky about canon compliant porn LOL! But help our new friend out if you want to share any!!!!!!!!!!!!

[butchybats]

god my fav things about like genderswap AUs is asking like, how does this change the way the characters navigate the world or how other characters treat them, right? so like. I JUST IMAGINE LESBIAN DANIEL AS BEING EVEN MORE PRICKLY. So sick of being treated like a girl all the time, so hyper-aware of all deficits in her experience based on how sexism has treated her, MAYBE POSSIBLY MORE WARY OF CREEPS, EVEN CREEPS WHO ARE WOMEN LIKE ARMAND. Is she as unsafe, as blithely monsterfuckig??? Does he have an ounce of self preservation and survival instinct? Is it harder for fem!Armand to find her when she flees around the world?!? ALSO LIKE. I always wonder how many other characters get swapped in these situations like is Louis also a woman? Did Daniel go interview some fucking man in a seedy room all by herself???????? Where's her safety rules at I gotta know. AND ARMAND. Armand. God. I feel like the cult grinds people's personalities down so much like almost as if every COD vampire was this genderless wraith. Does that change for her? Even as a boy Armand had such a fuckd up life like HOW MUCH WORSE COULD IT REALLY GET FOR HER LOL. And like is CLAUDIA still a girl like where's the jealousy at between them? thereS JUST SO MUCH TO DISCUSS

I am so glad there’s people actually wondering about the intricacies of this because for me it’s just like woah it would be so hot if they were women hghgh but i love thinking about this so much!!!!

LESBIAN DANIEL WOULD BE SO PRICKLY!!! She is so tired of the world’s shit and I can not blame her one bit. “So sick of being treated like a girl all the time” YES!!!!!! Her gender is dyke and she’s butch <3 (this is totally not me projecting) i feel like she’d experience a lot of sexism that really ties into homophobia so she’s had to learn fend for herself and not take anyone’s shit.

Lesbian Daniel is still the ultimate monster fucker I think <33 she wants these vampires so badly it makes her look stupid! I do think she’d be more wary of Armand in the beginning though like I can not imagine her taking public transportation in the dead of night 😭 no leaping out of a taxi into traffic for lesbian Daniel lmao and I also think she’d be great at not giving strangers the time of day so it might take her a bit longer to warm up to her (but at the same time are they really strangers after hearing about her from Louis and then being locked in a cellar by her? 🤔 HGHG like they are literally uhaul lesbians)

AND I AM ALWAYS GOING BACK AND FORTH ON WHOS ALL GENDERSWAPPED!!!! Because sure ideally i love thinking about them all being women but narratively that doesn’t work out!!! Akasha’s plot line is redundant if there’s no men lol also would Gabrielle feel as estranged from everyone if there were no men?? And just like historically it doesn’t make sense </3 personally the people I would love to be genderswapped are daniel and armand (obviously lol) but also lestat and louis maybe nicki?? umm i think that quinn could be a woman too. As a treat <3 but everyone else I’m convinced could be the same I’d love to see how chaotic that story goes (also i need bianca my beloved to stay the same so that we can have venice lesbians <3)

AND ARMANDDD Armand… It would probably get so much worse for her 😭I feel like she would really really latch on to Allesandra like more than canon simply because they’re both women in the cult. Also because Armand is a woman I feel like she would need to try way harder to command everyone’s respect and fear she would have to be VICIOUS (said while twirling my hair and giggling) and while gender stuff is probably the least of her concerns when all of this is going down I think it would still fuck with her over time, especially considering canon Armand’s intricacies with gender. Would she feel like she has to perform feminity to be taken seriously? Or does she play into her androgyny (not that she has much of a choice)? But I can totally see her and Daniel having one of their big talks about gender and how they relate to it

THERE IS SO SERIOUSLY SO MUCH TO DISCUSS ABOUT THIS AND TY FOR TALKING TO ME ABOUT IT! <3 my asks and dms are always open to anyone who wants to talk about gay vampires I feel like I could go on forever about them

[faithandfairies]

You know, I can't wait to see their re-visit of Murder Night. Because there's so much that doesn't add up. I wonder if we'll find out that Claudia did in fact kill Lestat. And that there wasn't much Louis could do about it. Or if they'll leave the events mostly as we've seen.

We already know that a lot of Murder Night as Louis initially explains it to Daniel is Louis' fever dream. The question is where does it start? Because after Daniel realizes that Louis isn't telling him the entire truth and goads Louis into being honest with him we get two flashes of Louis' actual memories of that night, him choking Claudia to get it through to her that he won't allow her to burn Lestat and him screaming over Lestat's dead body.

And it's really making me wonder for how much of Lestat's death Louis was actually there and present for. If he was there for any of it.

Because there's so much that doesn't make sense about Louis' version of events:

-Claudia tells Louis beforehand she'll pull Louis back before she kills him. She kills Lestat. But then she's not even in the room as Louis kills him? We also know that Claudia had no problem with killing him, through Daniel.

-Through the trial we get a direct quote from Claudia's diary "I will be your angel of death, Lestat". And it's supposed to be just her fantasizing about murdering him as she's planning it but it just sounds like something she might actually say as she murders him as well.

-Louis also makes a pretty small slice in Lestat's throat and then let's go of him pretty unceremoniously and we're supposed to believe that was the extent of Lestat's murder. But why do it like that? Why not make the slice bigger? Or simply behead him? We know Louis couldn't, but how much of it was because he couldn't because he loves Lestat and how much of it might have been because of something else? If we consider that is what the slice in Lestat's neck truly ended up looking like?

-We also never see Lestat's death. We never hear his last words according to Claudia so we're definitely missing parts of that night.

-There are also pages missing in Claudia's diary that could involve her speaking on that night.

-And another thing, when Claudia leaves the room leaving Louis with Lestat I don't think it's her intention at all not to be the one to kill Lestat. She actually leaves Louis and Lestat alone to say their goodbyes.

So here's what I think. I think Claudia knew she would never get Louis so far to actually kill Lestat. She knew she would have to do it. And Louis would have to be out of the way, at least temporarily, otherwise he would try to stop her. She also tells Louis that she poisoned one of the twins for Lestat to consume. But the thing is that a lie always works better if there's truth to it.

I think Claudia actually poisoned both twins and had Louis feed on one to get him out of the way temporarily as she killed Lestat. The question is what happened after? Did Louis start to try to kill Lestat because he thought it should be him and could he not finish the job? Did he pass out from having been poisoned as he was dawdling?

Or did Louis pass out during the goodbye, having no intention of Lestat getting his throat slit and being burned? Did he come to as Claudia was slitting Lestat's throat and unceremoniously get her off of him during, which is why the slice looks jagged and unfinished?

Was he too late? Is that why he missed Lestat's last words? Or did Lestat say them as Louis was fighting off and trying to restrain Claudia? Was that when the choking and the argument about needing to burn him happened? Did Claudia betray Louis because she felt she had no other choice? And did he return the favor when he proved her right by choosing Lestat over her, refusing to finish him?

[allegra-writes]

"Teething troubles"

Lestat De Lioncourt x Louis De Pointe Du Lac

General Audiences, fluff.

Warnings: None. Lestat’s questionable parenting, toddler on toddler violence, Karen character.

Baby Claudia likes to bite people

SERIES MASTERLIST | MY MASTERLIST

Little Claudia had anger issues, there was no way around it. Lestat liked to joke she had inherited his temper, but truth be told, Louis did not find it funny. He did not find it funny when he got called from Claudia’s daycare because she had destroyed a toy in a fit of rage, he did not find it funny when the cat ran away scared because Claudia had screamed at him in reply to his hiss, and he did not find it funny when he had to rush her to the ER because she had banged the cupboard door with her tiny fists in frustration when it refused to open for her.

Lestat, of course, was of no use. He loved Claudia so much she was absolutely perfect in his eyes. His little princess could do no wrong, so why would he feel the need to correct her behavior? 

“I just don’t see what the big deal is" He expressed, sprawled on the park bench as if he owned the place, while they watched with vigilant eyes as Claudia frolicked around the playground. 

"Lestat, she bit Miss Lily!" Louis explained, clearly mortified, "Miss Bricks was aghast!" 

"Who's Miss Bricks?"

"The daycare's director"

Lestat was trying, and failing, to suppress a smirk.

"The director of Claudia’s daycare is called Miss Bricks?" 

"She also bit Armand"

That was too much for Lestat, who could not stop the giggles from rising up his throat, risking Louis' wrath. 

But far from getting mad, he seemed to be fighting a smile of his own.

"Don't-... Don't laugh" He protested, the corners of his mouth curving up despite himself. Luckily, he was saved by Claudia’s disgruntled noises of discontent as she attempted unsuccessfully to climb up the slide the same way she had slid down, instead of using the ladder like she was supposed to.

Lestat finally let himself go, laughing loud and boisterous, with his heart full of mirth but also of happiness, as he watched his little family. His Claudia, his daughter , the little spitfire of a baby he loved more than life itself, huffing and puffing and stomping her wee little feet, looking mortally offended the slide refused to cooperate with her; and his husband, the most beautiful man to walk the earth, as he tried to reason with her, using words as "frictional force" and "momentum" that she had no hope to understand. 

Baby Claudia, of course, remained unconvinced. 

"The problem," Louis sighed, as Claudia let out a pterodactyl screech after once again slipping down the slide she was trying to climb, "is that you set goals for yourself that are unattainable by both man and baby" 

Lestat was still giggling when Louis, defeated, came back to his side.

“I’m afraid she’s still a bit young for physics, mon amour”

Louis shrugged.

“She doesn’t like to be condescended at. Besides, she will understand one day. She’ll learn about physics and Sisyphus, look back at this moment, and start making a lot of connections…”

“Looks like that might not be the only connection she’ll be making” Lestat commented, nose scrunching in distaste as he watched a blonde little boy around Claudia’s age making his way to their daughter, probably wanting to see what the ruckus was all about.

The encounter, however, did not seem to be going well, as the kid raised his hand, reaching for one of Claudia’s piggy tails, and tugged hard. 

Twin yells of “Hey!” resonated through the park as Louis and Lestat jumped to their feet to rush to their daughter’s defense, but were stopped by a blonde woman, clearly the aggressive child’s mom. 

“Oh, don’t worry!” She chuckled, her high-pitched cackles nowhere nearly as cute as Lestat’s laugh to Louis’ ears, “It just means he likes her!”

Louis De Pointe Du Lac had never been a violent man. In fact, he proud himself on being a master of his instincts. There was nothing he hated more than those racist stereotypes that painted people of color as being hot-tempered and belligerent. But the moment he saw his baby girl’s eyes well up with tears, he knew he could have torn that chauvinistic nincompoop of a woman and her rude spawn to pieces. He was already advancing, on auto-pilot, his body moving forward before his mind could authorize the movement, when he felt Lestat’s grounding hand on his chest.

“Oh, look!” He commented, casually, his tone deceivingly sweet as Claudia threw herself at the boy, tackling him to the ground. “It seems our little Claudia likes him back!”

“Tommy!” Screamed the horrified woman, no longer cheerful, running to help his brat, whose cheek was currently between Claudia’s small but sharp teeth. 

Neither he nor Lestat made a single move to help the blonde pair. And, honestly, Louis didn’t even think of reprimanding his husband as he took their daughter in his arms, praising her for “sticking up for herself” and “a job well done”. How could he, when Claudia was beaming, waving the handful of blonde curls she had plucked off her would-be harasser's head around triumphally for her papas to see?

Yeah, there would come a time, probably soon, when they’d have to address Claudia’s temper problem. But that day wasn’t it. 

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