IWTVL S3 Ep1 Musings - Lestat's #4 and Louis' #1
So, I wanna talk about how fundamentally different Lestat and Louis are, especially wrt their opposing attitudes about vampirism & sex; and how it all points back to what Sam Reid said about Lestat's hypersexualization.
The same way we saw Lestat in 1x2 define/reduce humans down to 3 main things (food, sex, home), in 3x1 he similarly defines/reduces "the capstone of vampire desires" down to 4 main things (killing, draining, the Little Drink, and sex).
I already said that I hate how Lestat & Daniel BOTH have a draconian AF Father Knows Best mentality about how a "proper" vampire should feel & act in order to do vampirism the "right way" (x x), regardless of whether it's about sex(uality) or food/killing.
THEE bottom!Louis Truther Christopher Rice was adamant that it's perfectly fine for gay men like Louis (*cough* and himself *cough*) to have preferences in bed, and that people should not impose their own standards of living on other people who have the right to disagree with them. And because vampirism is a metaphor, that goes for veganism/diets--and for vampires, that goes for killing/eating people, too!
Louis is walking talking PROOF that not all vampires are created equal, and that there's different strokes for different folks! Which is why it ticks me off severely to see Lestat go: No, aACktchuAllAEy, vampires enjoy killing more~! 😤 Stfu, Lestat--YOU 🫵🫵🫵 enjoy killing more, NOT Louis; that's been abundantly clear since 1x2, and esp 1x3.
Louis'd rather eat nasty AF animals than kill people, REGARDLESS of how delicious he KNOWS and ADMITS human blood is (sadistic KILLING is what bothered him)--and Lestat mocked him relentlessly for it for decades, even at the Trial. 🤦♂️
Even in Dubai Louis was eating HUMAN FOOD, for christ's sake! 😨🤢
Which is why my eyes rolled alllllllllllllll the way into my sockets when Lestat started yapping in 3x1.
Because sex being Lestat's #4 only proves that Louis was RIGHT that Lestat was constantly pushing him (You are a KILLER, Louis!), and that his refusal to do so was what caused so much friction between them.
But TBF, this is why it makes so much sense, what Sam Reid said about Lestat internalizing how much of a hypersexalized person he was as a negative.
Ofc Sam was specifically referring to AMC!GabriellA & Lioncest, and all the ways she reduced Lestat's value/worth down to what he could give HER sexually, rather than what SHE should give HIM as his mother. And how that impacted Lestat's opinion of himself in his early formative years, all the way down to the present day in S3.
But like I've constantly said, because Lestat did not explain any of his unprocessed childhood traumas to Louis, Louis had no idea just how often his own behavior around Lestat accidentally set off SO many of Lestat's triggers, that he didn't even know were there, let alone understand how to navigate.
It wasn't 100% Lestat's worry that Louis was "ashamed of what WE are." It was Lestat's fear of abandonment (via rejection of vampirism): You're ashamed of what *EYE* am, and what *EYE* gave you.
Which is why it was SO poignant for Louis to finally THANK Lestat for THE GIFT Lestat was tryna give him.
To let Lestat know that he was accepted, appreciated, and valued because Lestat gave Louis something more precious than either blood or sex: Lestat gave Louis HOPE. A new lease on life. ETERNITY, to find out who he was and wanted to be, and finally be HAPPY.
TL;DR: Different strokes for different folks
It's just such a shame that Lestat never let Louis feel comfortable or confident in embracing all the beautiful things he was, without apology. And even in the present, he's still shaming Louis for being a different, unique and SPECIAL vampire--a cut above the rest.
But ofc the whole point of this show is to see how Loustat finally find their way back to each other after fumbling each other so terribly for so long--Pelias & Melisande; Come to Me.
