my latest rewatch of IWTV really woke it up for me with what Lestat must be going through, and lowkey made me a Lestat apologist.
He offers Louis the chance to remove himself from the shackles of society, and to absolve himself of all the mortal responsibilities which so clearly weigh upon Louis.
Louis accepts, is turned, and then never absolves himself of said responsibilities. Lestat patiently waits, plays along, and entertains himself while waiting for Louis. They have eternity, he can wait a few decades until Louis' mortal ties slowly fade away.
But then Claudia. He turns her and suddenly Louis has an immortal tie to his mortal life. Louis can put all the importance he found in mortality into that relationship and, since she's immortal, Lestat will be waiting forever.
So Lestat continues to wait, but grows more and more frustrated. And from there, everything falls out. But through all the drama, he waits for Louis. Still waiting for Louis to absolve himself of the burdens of mortal life. To release himself and be free.
God Lestat is so down bad and just wants the best for his sweet baby angel and I'm so about it. Need me a freak like that.
oh my goddd I am so 100% with you until you get to the Claudia piece, because I think that's one area where I just can't shrug my shoulders and say hey, it's okay, it's vampire morality they are toxic4toxic and Lestat and Louis are both making a choice.
They roped that poor girl into their mess like a couple on the verge of a breakup adopting a feral dog and though Claudia was always a far better vampire than Louis let himself be, Lestat became highly resentful of her. I know that in the flash forwards he expresses pride at the killer she was, but he showed so little of that when she was around, and her distaste for him and view of him as abusive doesn't come from nowhere.
Yes, we can say that Louis likely guilted Lestat into it to some extent (assuming a merger of the two Claudia Making flashbacks is the closest to the truth), and that Lestat was so desperately lonesome for Louis' affection that he caved or something (ie that both Lestat and Louis are idiots), but Louis at least tried to be nice and present and consistent with the girl. He failed whenever he had a dick appointment that felt more pressing, but he did care, and he made real sacrifices for Claudia's happiness whereas Lestat did a lot to squelch her and squeeze her out.
Jealousy over Louis bond to Claudia is what really ramped up Lestat behaving like a monster. A lot of his other crash-outs are divalicious and somewhat sympathetic if you are willing to accept vampire morality, but the way he punished her for Louis' lack of love for him is really hard for me to get over as a fan.
Beyond that really glaring fault in his behavior, I do see Lestat as an over-the-top, effusive, obsessively loving and dramatic figure, and I find his constancy and intensity attractive. I'm really happy that my partner identifies with Lestat and understands his motivations the most, of all the core IWTV girlies, because I want to be fucking adored and showered with affection and have my every cloudy mood accepted and have a companion for life that would gladly live in a raccoon-infested book pile depression house if it meant getting to be with me; that shit feels safe.
And it's hot. Including the darker sides to it, obviously, I'm a Hannibal girlie from way back. On one of our first dates I told my partner that I understood why Jeffrey Dahmer used to drill holes in people's skulls and I, too, would love to be able to incapacitate someone into not leaving me (or to be so incapacitated). and they also found that hot and emotionally compelling. And we are both people who have made really big dramatic sacrifices for the ones we love and don't regret feeling things so deeply. Lestat would be an annoying torment to a regular person with boundaries but if you were a certified lovergirl back?/
And can you just imagine what a pairing it would be for Lestat to be so ridiculously devoted to a partner who can own up to the fact they genuinely want all that attention, and who can be obsessive, intense, and directly demanding right back? Someone with a true vampiric willingness to separate from humanity and dogma and forge their own path, with a love of great pleasures, an ego hungry to be fed, and enough turbo charged eternal unemployed horniness they can never be satisfied? That's the type of shit I'm on. and so, in that respect, I can see the appeal of Lestat.
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