Murf's Personals

What it says on the tin!

[murfpersonalblog]

My IWTV Musings & Metas Directory

I always post my analyses for AMC's Interview with the Vampire under the IWTV TVC Metas tag, but I also have masterlists in the menu on my front page, where everything's listed, latest to oldest.

Louis Metas1 (S1 - S2 | S3) General Metas2 (S1 - S2 | S3): inc. my Anne Rice books tier list | AMC / TVC Timelines | S2 & S3 episode reactions | AMC's Book/Research References for S1, S2, & xtras Claudia / Armand Metas3 (S1 - S2 | S3) Lestat / Gabrielle Metas4 (S1 - S2 | S3)

Over time I've had to split them into 4 parts cuz of Tumblr's hyperlink limit--they used to all be in one nice & neat post, pre-Season 2. 😔

Disclaimer: I'm a Black goth female who's been reading Anne Rice for 30 years. I stan AMC!Louis & AMC!Claudia. Antiblack racists & misogynists can kick bricks. 😘 (Lies & slander about me that I refuted with RECEIPTS: x x)

[skyrigel]

[hinasho]

I feel like this entire season has been giving off the vibe that Louis is the problem and has always been the problem.

I’ve been thinking about this tweet everyday since 3x06. It was posted before ep6 came out but still rings true.

Louis & Claudia portrayed in the worst light imaginable. Some of Lestat’s wrongs absolved or reframed as “less harsh” (no you don’t understand Antoinette cut off her own finger, no you don’t understand the queen’s blood makes it so he can’t “restrain” himself.) Antoinette being given more sympathy #justiceforantoinette. LouClaudia’s relationship, most especially Claudia, framed as the wedge between Loustat ala Adam O’Byrne referring to the seance as them “dealing with the problem” the problem being LouClaudia. Claudia framed as a cackling villain eager for their demise in both the coven’s and this season’s portrayal of her, as tho everything she did was just for evil’s sake.

The framing this season makes it seem like the problem with Loustat was Louclaudia and now that Claudia’s dead, it’s just Louis holding them back. And while Louis isn’t perfect and has had his toxic moments, this framing only makes sense if you viewed S1 Loustat as a “mutually abusive” relationship (which is not real!) or as Louis being the abuser in the relationship. And now that Louis has been humbled, ridiculed, and insulted by literally every main character this season, Loustat can be happy now. Louis just had to get over himself and get over Claudia.

I just have no idea how you can create two seasons of this character falling victim to several abusive relationships, and come out of them with this logic. It’s common knowledge that Louis (not Loustat, Louis as an individual) isn’t popular among the fandom or within the writer’s room, but there’s a difference between not liking him as much vs straight up hating him and their feelings are showing.

And the defense that this season is from Lestat’s POV so that’s why things are so biased doesn’t work because when the story was from Louis’ perspective, even when Loustat were at their all time lowest, Lestat wasn’t nearly as ridiculed or framed as horribly by the narrative.

Idk it’s just so bleak.

[glitteringpoet1685]

AMC really struck gold with the unreliable narrator idea because now people will insist that any flaw in the storytelling is actually a genius premeditated reflection of a fallible narrator, any pacing issues are actually a genius premeditated reflection of a characters psyche, and any lack of character development is actually a genius premeditated reflection on a characters refusal to face their own trauma, and having cheap looking production is actually a genius premeditated reflection of a characters memories, and any unwarranted deviation from the source material is actually a genius premeditated lie that will be proven false at some unspecified point, and any poor handling of sensitive subjects is actually a genius premeditated commentary on the characters own failings, etc, etc.

[hannibal-lexter]

LITERALLY oh my god!!! sometimes the writing is bad, not for any reason other than that the writing is bad. we can call out the writers for making insensitive and questionable decisions AND still understand that the characters are supposed to be problematic. we’re not “intellectually challenged” or “lacking nuance” because we call out certain dialogue as incoherent or downright offensive.

i’m so disappointed because the first two seasons were beautiful storytelling. season two might be my favorite season of television, period. i wanted to like this season, i tried to give it the benefit of the doubt, but it just pails in comparison to its predecessors.

[murfpersonalblog]

I should've listened to my dang gut:

[murfpersonalblog]

IWTVL S3 Ep7 Musings: A sloppy rushed FAILURE; a Humiliation Ritual; another LYNCHING; and a Racist AF Abuse Apologia INSULT (SPOILERS) Pt3: Armand's Letter to Louis

I have been enduring intense conversations with myself in the 3yrs since our companionship ended. And as part of that journey, I wish to say something from the deepest regions of my soul. 2 grievous lies, gross betrayals. The 1st is a well-trod pit of hot coals I blistered my feet on for 77yrs. I chose my coven over you; lured you into a production of a play in which your death would act as the grotesque climax. The coven was twisting my arm, but I took aesthetic pleasure in making your death visually exhilarating. All of which was made worse by our heady lovemaking throughout this period of betrayal. But the 2nd: I shamefully took credit when Lestat saved your life. That lie bound you to me, and it lay like a corpse in the boiler room of our companionship. Many times, I told myself the lie did not matter, because what we had built, a love that served as a bunker against time, was weightier and more consequential than the lie, but it wasn't true. The lie did matter, because the corpse was there, calling forth the facts. And as for the many boys you drugged, drained, and lay with, I feigned resentment, when in fact, I welcomed your straying; because your guilt in the aftermath bound you to me all the more tightly, and allowed me my hours of observation with Daniel. I told you I loved you, but did I? Hrm? Did I?! Or was it a clinging to the underside of anyone who would help me survive? And when I look back on who I've deceived and how I've deceived, how easy it was to lead a cult for 400 years; to burn in ritual any who broke the archaic laws we lived by, I-- I think I might be a room without walls, floors, a ceiling. An infinite nothing. Also, yes. I put the Fred Steins in your photo collection. And that is my full and heartfelt "Armends." Now, it's your turn!

I have been enduring intense conversations with myself in the 3yrs since our companionship ended. And as part of that journey, I wish to say something from the deepest regions of my soul.

2 grievous lies, gross betrayals.

So Armand was lying to DanLou in 2x6. Rolin said there were "2 really extraordinary lies," but that those were compounded by more & more lies.

The 1st is a well-trod pit of hot coals I blistered my feet on for 77yrs. I chose my coven over you; lured you into a production of a play in which your death would act as the grotesque climax.

Still the "production of a play"--so what Lestat (eff him too btw) said to Armand went in one ear and out the other. 🙄😒

What's WILD is that S3 has still REFUSED to confirm or deny wtf Lestat was doing at that Trial--and not even Armand's taken this as an opportunity to either admit that (following BOOK canon) he DID have Lestat tortured & forced to participate (just like he did with Louis here); or even better/worse: to rub it in Louis' face that Lestat was never forced at all, and that he wanted to get revenge on Louis for Murder Night & being a withholding/cold/selfish/depressed husband, too--all his abuse & suffering is his fault, etc etc.

So which one is it, AMC? 🤨 Cuz now it looks like a missed opportunity that y'all didn't plan for AT ALL, and had no intention of revisiting.

And now AMC's written themselves into a corner, cuz if Lestat was tortured, then Armand will AGAIN be exposed as the gotcha! for THE 4th TIME IN A ROW; and contradict everything they said about Armand NOT being a duplicitous AF evil AF mustache-twirling villain. And if Lestat was NOT tortured, then ghost!Claudia was right that he was there on purpose to watch her die.

The coven was twisting my arm, but....

"I could not prevent it"--sure, Jan. 🙄😒

I took aesthetic pleasure in making your death visually exhilarating.

Which instantly INVALIDATES any drivel from the writers, cast, stans, etc that Louis "abused" Armand, and that Armand in any way "deserves" an apology from Louis--WTF is going on with folks actually tryna gaslight people into thinking ANY of this was okay?!

All of which was made worse by our heady lovemaking throughout this period of betrayal, but....

So Armand's admitted to being Louis' rapist too, since he was acknowledges he was still regularly having sex/"heady lovemaking" with Louis under false pretenses (violating Louis' trust/consent is rape) all while planning Louis' death as the "climax" of the Trial.

The 2nd: I shamefully took credit when Lestat saved your life.

We been knew, but go on.

That lie bound you to me, and it lay like a corpse in the boiler room of our companionship. Many times, I told myself the lie did not matter, because what we had built, a love that served as a bunker against time, was weightier and more consequential than the lie, but it wasn't true. The lie did matter, because the corpse was there, calling forth the facts.

"The corpse" is the seismic lie about "Banishment," but "the thing lay still," and Jacob Anderson BEEN said Armand gave Louis the ick the whole time cuz Louis KNEW something wasn't right with that dude--which is why he tagged-teamed Daniel to call forth the facts.

And as for the many boys you drugged, drained, and lay with, I feigned resentment, when in fact, I welcomed your straying; because your guilt in the aftermath bound you to me all the more tightly.

Literally Claudia's reheated nachos from Merrick, but wtvr AMC. 🙄

And every time Louis felt guilty killing those men, he would look for more drugs to get high and forget/dull the pain; causing an ouroboros loop while Armand just sat there pretending he GAF when really he was enjoying Louis' suffering & spiraling out of his mind the whole time, jfc.

and allowed me my hours of observation with Daniel.

WOAH WOAH BACK TF UP. I'm confused here. Cuz if DM was happening while Louis was the Zodiac Killer, that meant Louis did NOT stop spiraling AFTER Armand mindwiped him in 1973; he was still doing it the whole time into the 2020s? Then what was the point of mindwiping him if he'd still be getting high, killing, hallucinating Claudia's voice, feedback loop, etc etc? What is Armand talking about? Why say "hours" and not "YEARS/DECADES"? This makes no sense.

I told you I loved you, but did I? Hrm? Did I?! Or was it a clinging to the underside of anyone who would help me survive?

I mean DUH, you're a vampire--they're ALL parasitic evil barnacles glomming onto driftwood like leeches sucking the lifeblood of the corpses they feed on. Which is why TRUE COMPANIONS--Blood Spouses--are so important & rare.

And when I look back on who I've deceived and how I've deceived, how easy it was to lead a cult for 400 years; to burn in ritual any who broke the archaic laws we lived by, I-- I think I might be a room without walls, floors, a ceiling. An infinite nothing.

Yeah, sounds about right. FAILURE! Your whole life wasted.

And how was that 400yrs of wasted life from the MIDDLE AGES down to 1949 (Louis only met you in 1945 btw) LOUIS' fault again??????? 🤨

Also, yes. I put the Fred Steins in your photo collection, just to f**k with your head.

THIS P.O.S.!

REAL RASHID, I'm so sorry I ever doubted you! 😭😩🙏🙇‍♂️ (I still don't trust your arse cuz you work for RAGLAN JAMES 💀 but I'll take back everything I said about you messing with the Steins at least.)

And that is my full and heartfelt "Armends." Now, it's your turn!

Eat an entire bag of Lestat's bloody vomit and choke on it, Armand.

TL;DR: ROTTEN BOY!

YES, Assad acted his gorgeous behind off, Gremlin Mode in full effect, blahblahblah.

But that's only me being able to process that almost 48 hours later, cuz in the moment I was just screaming at my screen in a rage seeing Louis' EFFING DECAPITATED BODY desperately reaching for his DISEMBODIED HEAD.

How TF is Armand seriously expecting anyone to accept this bullcrap apology in the first place, when he's literally just rubbing everything in Louis' face and gloating about all the ways he used & abused Louis' trust and violated & brutalized his body for public spectacle, and backstabbed him a zillion times?! (While also admitting how he effed over Lestat and "enjoyed ruining for the sake of ruining"!)

Louis was ALWAYS honest with Armand about where he thought they stood, as someone he genuinely felt love for and cared about, but who initially was NOT his companion and whom he was NOT with for the sake of their own relationship, but only for Claudia's sake vs the coven ("the Secret" 1946 - 1949), and then to spite Lestat ("here is your death, Lestat" 1949 - 1973), and then to save Daniel's life in 1973 ("I need this one to live. As a testament to our companionship. Of its endurance. This boy to live out the night.") Louis ALWAYS put someone else above Armand during their failmarriage, but at least he always TOLD Armand so, and why they were together, so Armand would have NO DELUSIONS about how Louis felt.

But this effing idiot clearly never got the message! 🤦‍♂️

"I think you know you've wrong me."

BISH, how?! 😡💢

AMC HATES Louis, and these are all the specific ways in which they've proved it.

And what's even worse is how Armand's laying out all the reasons he hates Louis and expects Louis "to repent" and "owes" him an apology; meanwhile simultaneously LIVESTREAMING Louis' 2nd lynching to yet another bunch of sickos in Europe, while Dr Fareed sits as moderator transcribing everything & to see how long their little Tuskegee experiment can last as Armand tortures him.

And what utterly SICKENS me is how hard in the paint AMC is going to BACK UP everything Armand's saying, that Louis will "grow" by admitting to how he wronged Armand and apologized to his effing abuser doing all this to him--I can't.

[murfpersonalblog]

The finale was so shit. Head in hands RIP my GOAT show (S1 and S2)

@celestlian The whole frikkin season. 💩

What's worse is that it sours the experience of S1 & S2 too.

Like, S3 can be dogwater all it wants, but if it was self-contained sludge that would be fine. Instead, it's radioactive sludge seeping into the foundations & the bedrock to taint the well-water itself.

AMC's created the most toxic environment, that's at critical mass now.

And I know AMC doesn't care, cuz corpos never care unless they're FORCED to care. BP/Exxon/etc DGAF about oil spills until they were FORCED to care.

So as long as Lestat comes out smelling like roses, and all the critics/reviewers/reactors/journos keep glazing his meat and prioritizing HIM, AMC will call it a win and drill deeper & deeper until they hit the pit of Hell itself.

[greedydemands]

if youre black and planned on watching the finale of tvl, don’t. they have the man who lynched Louis carve a branding onto him while his head is severed from his body. there is nothing to see but pure and plain hatred of black people, of louis and jacob especially. jacob is being publicly humiliated and paraded around like this is a slave auction by rolin jones and hannah moskovitch and amc all together and i can assure you I personally will never watch a single second of anything amc makes and this will go down in textbooks next to birth of a nation for graphic grotesque whitelash and punishment of black ppl for Black Lives Matter movement. don’t watch this and let the black people in your life know not to watch it either

[usaginoir]

Watched TVL after dark (so you don’t have to) here are some points

the host said this was the best season of television she has watched, Rolin thanks her but the actors are like not reacting to it… except for Delainey who’s face KILLED ME (it seems to me she’s throwing a glance at Jacob)

-I wanna say that all the actors looked so uncomfortable the entire episode. No one wanted to be there or discuss it. All questions the actors got was deflected by them to praise someone else’s good work (ex. Jacob praising Assads and Delaineys acting when asked about the torture scene)

- Rolin says basically that maybe it felt nothing happened but that’s only because Lestat has such a strong “armor” and doesn’t want to look inside himself and that they need another season to actually explore him as a character

-the head chopped happened bc they wanted to explore how Lestat would react to being near death… and it was the thing that made him realize Gabi was abusive.

- Sam Reid loved the Paul scene because all Lestat wants to hear is that Louis loved him? Unclear to me maybe it’s bc I’m not a native English speaker

-Rolin and the writers made the conscious decision to remove Claudia from the long table (…)

- maybe I’m projecting but Delainey seems sad and off and doesn’t want to be there and like she disagrees with all the writing choices for Claudia… :( my goat.

-Hannah said Rolin hated writing about identity and wrote about it all this season. It’s a lot about creative failure and Rolin didn’t like it. (That shows)

-Assad was asked about the torture scene and said that Armand felt seen by Louis and it reminded him why he fell in love with Louis in the first place :( he didn’t seem to like talking about it

-Hannah said that Armand was violent bc he knew that he’d been used in all sorts of ways by Louis and “he wanted what he wanted” ?!?!?!?? 🤨🤨😡🤨 Assad and Jacob both looked displeased by the answer

Again wtf?!?!??!? Armand tried to lynch Louis and killed his daughter and lied about it for 77 years ?!()?(???!?!!!!!?,?? I love Armand but Jesus wtf is this DARVO

-Jacob didn’t want to talk about the torture scene at all…

This pissed me all the way off Rolin interjects and says that he found it EXTRAORDINARY that after 2 seasons of Louis “navel grazing” and only being involved in his own stuff… that Louis can admit “what did I do that caused this guy to chop of my head?”

WTF IS THIS VICTIM BLAMING ?!?

Delainey and Jacob both look down to the ground uncomfortably

Jacob then says (sarcastically imo) “That’s Louis way of saying the fault is mine”

They get into the “pimp” and “sex slave” aspect. Assad and Jacob tries to save it by saying there’s layers to abuse and this was just one aspect of Loumands dynamic and there are intersections.

- The host asked where Rolin would like to take the story

His answer is “um there’s a lot of things people wanted to see that didn’t get included this season (them telling and not showing the whole season) that QOTD will have another framing device and point of views structure.

He also said that they risked failure this season (hm sure did) and he’s excited to continue bc they only told half of Lestat’s story.

This is my subjective reading from my own watch of this episode keep that in mind.

[murfpersonalblog]

This is some deep level of psychosis happening, where these people can open these mouths and act like Louis EVER abused Armand. And these preposterously vile words are leaving Rolin, Hannah, Assad, AND Jacob's mouths.

Which is why I'm not looking for explanations from NONE of these people; when what was CLEARLY needed were BLACK writers (AND Desi/South Asian writers) to tap them on the shoulder and say: Hey, what Y'ALL think is such a great idea cuz oo-la-la it's all so complex and stimulating or wtvr is actually coming across as EFFING OFFENSIVE. Your intentions vs executions are at a severe disconnect! And now you're pissing on our heads telling us it's raining as y'all try to VALIDATE this effed up story arc, WTF is wrong with y'all at AMC?! (And once again, like I keep saying: Delainey's the only one smart enough to keep her mouth SHUT.)

AMC, your "good intentions" may be to allow Louis to finally realize that he's been too withholding with his love, and that it comes across as cold/selfish/etc--but y'all are so far up your own arses about abuse/power imbalances that you've OVERSHOT the mark, and completely missed that Louis was NEVER the one with REAL power in Loumand's relationship! So now AMC's on the Road to Hell with abuse apologia & victim-blaming, to act like Louis & Lestat getting their heads cut off and livestreamed was all Louis fault for not loving Armand enough and "abusing" him?!

ARMAND had an entire coven threatening to KILL Claudia & Louis in 2x3--Armand was in the sewers ready to set Louis on FIRE, while Louis patiently stood there and ACCEPTED that he was going to DIE.

ARMAND stopped HIMSELF and let Louis go. Louis didn't fight or argue or plead his case or manipulate or control Armand AT ALL.

Loumand then trauma-bonded over the ways LESTAT had broken them BOTH, and how hung-up on Lestat they BOTH were, but Armand especially: "What is time to a vampire?"

But rather than AMC acknowledging that Armand's got centuries of baggage FROM LESTAT that PREDATE Louis even being effing BORN, they're dumping all of LESTAT'S (heck--not even Lestat: MARIUS') involvement in Armand's trauma on LOUIS' shoulders--

--cuz GOD FORBID Lestat should have to face REAL criticism from REAL people actually STILL ALIVE in his REAL life, and not just a bunch of HALLUCINATIONS in his head, as he's coddled & hidden away in a bowling bag not having to FACE the REAL consequences of HIS effed up crimes--

Louis invited Armand to his flat to have transactional sex (I'm not even done watching the After Dark as I'm typing this--did they even BOTHER mentioning Louis' cousin?!) and broker a deal that Armand would "keep the secret" about Bruce/Lestat so CLAUDIA wouldn't be killed for breaking the Great Laws she's literally JUST sworn herself to!

The Maitre roleplay was UNDER-NEGOTIATED Dom/Sub Kink that NEITHER Louis nor Armand were fit to consent to or participate in, because yes, they BOTH had too many effed up traumas & presumptions about what "power/control" meant due to their FORMER lives as a pimp & sex slave.

Even before the Maitre roleplay, ARMAND was the one nagging Louis in 2x4 to keep hanging around the coven when Louis explicitly said he didn't want to be there anymore, cuz he hated TdV, and only agreed to MAKE ARMAND HAPPY. He wasn't even there to watch Claudia perform; he was there to pay Armand back just for keeping HER alive--even though Louis & Santiago hated each other and Santiago wanted Louis DEAD ASAP. And Louis repeatedly TOLD Armand that it was JUST SEX, that they were NOT companions!

The same way Louis told him in The Tower Scene that he was only with Armand as a way to get back at Lestat--and Armand even admitted that he was "dumbfounded" that LESTAT didn't bother to stop them and reveal Armand's hand in LYING to Louis about "Banishment".

Lesmand BOTH played Louis for a fool! How TF was Louis ABUSING anyone, when he was the one who didn't even know what was going on over his head!?

Armand KNEW he was the rebound, and that he stayed with Louis cuz otherwise he'd have nothing!

Why is everyone acting like Armand got tricked into this dynamic, instead of him willingly entering a loveless marriage Louis OPENLY ADMITTED was built on spite against Lestat for THE TRIAL--spite that only existed because of the SEISMIC LIE ARMAND told Louis about Lestat!? 🤣🤦‍♂️

AMC is out of their effing minds acting like Louis is showing "GROWTH" by taking ALL of the blame for Armand's nonsense, when that's literally just victim blaming & abuse apologia--especially when they effing said it themselves that Louis was doing it UNDER DURESS as he was being TORTURED and was already HALF DEAD from ARMAND decapitating him and DEMANDING an apology!

Just because Louis can acknowledge that his role in Loumand's failmarriage was toxic & unhealthy & selfish does NOT mean that it was inherently "ABUSE" -- it's like they've completely lost their plot in their over-zealousness to over-correct because they literally said it themselves: Louis got off TOO EASY in 2x8.

AMC, aside from blatantly sadistic antiblack racism, why does Louis' "growth" have to come at the cost of him being tortured & lynched into a confession by his daughter's killer and his own abuser that everything wrong with said 500yo abuser is HIS fault?

And explain how that is NOT victim-blaming abuse apologia. QUICKLY! 😡

[murfpersonalblog]

IWTVL S3 Ep7 Musings: "Be the man in the different suit!"

Darkness was delirium. I tried to paint alternatives. Lucid what ifs. Wear a different suit the night you meet Lestat at the Fair Play. Snatch the piece of candy back from the barber when you're seven years old. Would I have been stronger sooner? Would I have resisted Lestat two decades later? Snatch the candy! Be the man in the different suit. But the suit changes nothing! And again: I'm kissing Lestat on the altar. I'm killing Lestat, but won't burn him. I'm dragged off stage, and buried alive. Penny candy's not the answer. Claudia is dead. -- Louis de Pointe du Lac, IWTV 2x8

I'm just riffing, but Lestat compliments a suit that at a glance looks mighty frikkin similar to the first golden suit Lestat saw Louis in, shining like the sun; Lestat's spark in the dark.

Lestat regrets getting blood all over it; staining/tainting the man in the nice suit.

Lestat killed Enzo on Christmas; and there's direct significance behind Lestat in 1x2 "dragging" Louis to see A Doll's House (a play about a depressed & suicidal wife living with an abusive husband); and also The Unholy Family's very last Christmas together when Lestat was such a p.o.s. to Claudia (a la the dress she wore in 3x5 during Stained Glass Eyes), and it deeply upset Louis to see them arguing and ruining the holiday cheer, "The oh-so-delicate balance of our oh-so-delicate household was shattered."

And it's 1953, only 4 years since the Trial, since "I gave you to Armand" to make Louis miserable & torture Armand with guilt/paranoia. So this is obvs during what Sam Reid referred to as Lestat's "vagrant years."

Lestat was already in a foul mood when he saw Enzo, but Lestat took his anger out on an innocent person who deserved better--as usual.

So yeah, just wanted to share my thoughts on what I think was going on here.

[zeep10]

I think in theory the whole Armand aspect of the Regina plot line could be done well, I think as an exploration to how an abuser has lasting psychological power over their victim in Armand still being able to - and actively chosing to - make Louis participate in a situation that is inevitably harmful to him. It feels like the depiction of abuse I expect from a third season of iwtv, it's a heightened version of real world abuse, just as Armand's gaslighting is adapted to the show as him being able to actually alter memories. Although this is hardly a third season of iwtv as much as it's a completely different show. Honestly I think the Regina plot line is one of my biggest problems with this season, the racism that the whole storyline involves is heinous, and the fact that they continuesly choose to never focus fully on Louis enough for it to feel even a slight bit satisfying. I wish we would have seen from Louis' perspective more of his fragile mental state (idgaf if it's "Lestat's season" we've seen shit from Louis' pov before in this season with him killing Bruce) like showing him actively hallucinating Claudia, or maybe show him reading through her diaries obsessively. Just anything to show what he's actually going through. I think especially something with the diaries because then we could see more of Armand's lasting impact to go along with the whole Regina thing, like show Louis obsessively searching for the pages Armand cut out and hid. Or show him analyzing every written thing just in case Armand wrote over it or something, he did not, the whole point is the paranoia born from a psychologically abusive relationship that leads to you no longer being able to trust your own mind.

[murfpersonalblog]

ALL OF THE ABOVE!

EXACTLY. 💯

like...louis has severe PTSD. so SHOW us that; don't just TELL us with some flimsy one liners or throwaways--and CERTAINLY don't do it at the expense of making it seem like louis' negative reactions to things are HIS fault that HE must "humble himself" to apologize for being selfish about! why is eeeeeeveryone else's trauma being centered and NOT louis'?!

the fandom loves finger-wagging at louis not making space for lestat's traumas--omg how dare louis jump down lestat's throat about Lioncest and yell at him while he's having a nervous breakdown he's so selfish so insensitive so judgemental~! 😩

but lestat does the exact same thing at the beginning of 3x6 when he SCOLDS louis for not being overly effusive/enthusiastic about having to spend the night in the Hastens coffin.

This stilted dialogue in and of itself sets Louis up for failure:

if he DOES hate the coffin and is HONEST about it, he's gonna look ungrateful (a COMMON accusation lestat's had about louis since s1, all the way up to 3x7 at the long table)

if he DOES hate the coffin but LIES about it, lestat's gonna see right thru him cuz louis sucks at lying anyway, and now lestat's hackles will be up and he'll start jumping to all kinds of conclusions

if he DOES like the coffin, then "why the long face my pretty baby?" you're just being ungrateful and in a bad mood just to be in a bad mood ("nice is nothing! nice is a balloon!")

cuz what VISIBLE indication do WE the viewer get that there's ANY reason for Lestat to ask about the coffin not being comfortable? 🤨 there's nothing in louis' demeanor/body language/words to hint/suggest that he got a bad night's sleep. louis' just putting his clothes on & warning lestat to cancel the seance/concert; but lestat JUMPS to asking why louis hated the coffin, like....? where is THAT coming from?

in general, most hosts ask things like: Did you get a good night's sleep? 🥰 Did you have a good rest? 🥰 Did you sleep well? 🥰

I've NEVER stayed at a friend/family's place and had them immediately & accusatorily ask me to confirm a NEGATIVE: did you hate the bed? did the mattress suck? did the sheets smell? like, unless asked for some sort of accommodation, there's no reason to automatically assume something must've gone wrong with my sleep.

meaning: amc could've/should've written this scene in a way to better convey that there was something OFF about louis to indicate to lestat that louis hadn't slept well--because of louis' PTSD.

[EDIT] Oops forgot to add these frames, lol:

there's also a continuity error b/t 3x1 and 3x6, cuz lestat CLEARLY said that the guest room HAS A BED. 🤦‍♂️

so it's not as if louis HAS to sleep in a coffin at all--there's clearly OPTIONS. (if AMC couldn't afford a bedroom set so we could see him sleep in the bed, there's still other ways to indicate that he wants a bed to sleep in.)

OR, it's that in his own excitement finally having louis stay at his place, lestat went ahead and commissioned the custom-made coffin for louis on the ASSUMPTION/PRESUMPTION that ANY vampire would ofc wanna sleep in a nice coffin DUH--so lestat DOESN'T know that louis has coffin-related PTSD. 👀👀👀

ok great, this could've been a whole dialogue just like 1x2 with lestat steamrolling louis about the opera, all excited golden retriever genuinely tryna do something nice for his baby louis, meanwhile missing all the red flags that louis' actually NOT happy and is just holding his tongue.

that could've built up to something as simple as either:

louis as the one we got to see closeups of inside the coffin, staining the padding with blood sweat and him just hyperventilating & freaking out, tossing & turning before he just gets out of the coffin. then transition to him getting dressed reentering the living room.

a phonecall where louis awkwardly asked lestat to put the coffin in the same guest room with the bed, lestat being confused but agreeing anything for louis ofc, and THEN when louis wakes up lestat asks: Did you LIKE the coffin? 🥰 and louis awkwardly LIES and says YES, but it's OBVS in his body language that he never slept in the coffin at all--he slept in THE BED. so when lestat asks WHY, louis then explains that he doesn't like coffins anymore, but didn't wanna hurt lestat's feelings since lestat already bought the coffin & assumed louis would use it. it's the thought that counts.

just changing the time of the 3x6 scene! armand said in 3x4 that lestat was an "early riser" -- and 3x6 started at sunset as lestat was already awake in his coffin reading pitchfork. but by the time lestat calls merrick & louis wakes up, it's nighttime. so AMC could've just rearranged the scenes: lestat's up at sunset reading pitchfork, and overhears louis in the guest room already up & getting dressed. ofc lestat's confused cuz louis never wakes up that early, so he asks: Why are you up so early? Did you have trouble sleeping? Was the coffin uncomfortable? and THEN louis could've been like: I can't sleep in coffins anymore, etcetc.

either way, it would open the dialogue for lestat to then ask louis WHY he doesn't like coffins. since obvs he STILL doesn't know WTF happened to louis post-Trial or in sanfran!

☝️ FACTS, Zeep! And the coffin scene would've been a GREAT way to buiildup to the 3x7 loumand scene.

louis could've explained to lestat in 3x6 that he gets triggered in sleeping in coffins since he was buried alive in one the night claudia died; and then in sanfran armand REFUSED to let him heal in a coffin for DAYS, and then when he finally put louis in the coffin he also subjected louis to a triggering phonecall with lestat (the man he still thought wanted him dead at the trial)--so both times he was stuck in a coffin having to experience deeply traumatizing things that make it hard to sleep in them longterm, even though as a vampire coffns are supposed to be THEE most therapeutic place for a vampire to rest--armand ruining that for louis TWICE. 🤦‍♂️

and this could've been WONDERFULLY conveyed with the Hastens Coffin, where Louis realizes that a distinction can be made in his mind between seeing coffins as part of lestat's gift-giving = love language; an extension of the HOME he's always wanted to give louis--vs coffins as "his love is a small box he keeps you in, don't stay in it!" or even "back to the crypt, back to the undeserving lestat"--and certainly not seeing coffins as a place of punitive punishment/imprisonment the way armand weaponized them against louis to traumatize him. 😬💀

but no.

instead, we get louis being seen as ungrateful AF to lestat about not liking the hastens coffin. and once again, louis has to APOLOGIZE to lestat for giving him something he never even wanted or asked for--a la being love-bombed in 1x6--(and can't even really enjoy cuz of lingering traumas ARMAND gave him)--and louis has to even THANK Lestat for the coffin as part of s3's constant Humbling of Louis Arc. 🙄😒

this season did louis SO dang dirty.

and it does lestat no favors either, since he still comes across as oblivious about louis' traumas/struggles AT BEST, or self-centered about how he wants louis to react/behave AT WORST.

putting us right back in s1 territory, loustat STILL not communicating properly! 🤦‍♂️

[lynnenne]

holy shit I just realized one of the vampire plays is called “A Second Husband”

[murfpersonalblog]

IWTVL S3 Musings - "Armand Told the Truth" (Rant)

OK here's the thing, cuz I'm already getting messages. I don't mind huge plot twists & reveals. Oh, Louis lied, Claudia lied, Lestat told the truth, Armand told the truth--AND? Context is always great to have for looking BACK at past seasons & interactions, but how does a reveal/twist affect things GOING FORWARD in the plot? 🤔

Like, ofc telling us crazy new things about character backstories, or revealing hidden motivations etc, all helps explain things that have already happened (and they're often the coolest parts of the story when the puzzle pieces come together). But how will it be applied to improve characters' behavior/plots GOING FORWARD? 👀

So as long as the reveals/twists make sense, I can swallow bitter pills & handle huge switcharoos.🤷‍♂️ (There's people spoiling some wild AF deets--but ofc this isn't The Abuse Show, LOL.)

However. My ONE (1) consistent complaint on this show has been ARMAND. I DO NOT trust him, I DO NOT like him, I never have & probably never will (no shade at Assad Zaman, he's perfect & doing a great job--it's the writer's I'm mad at). I've been saying since 2x5 - 2x8 that I truly hate the way Rolin's been (mis)handling Armand every freaking season; promising us he's NOT a mustache-twirling villain, only to have him be (in)directly responsible for some of the most outlandishly villainous stunts on the whole show! Like wtf, are y'all just gaslighting us cuz y'all know his fanbase is so big?

Like I keep saying, I'm wary of the FINALE. Because Rolin has repeatedly & consistently used Armand as the giant "gotcha!" plot twist rug pull every flippin finale thus far. Every time you THINK you finally know what's what--omg XYZ happened omg this changes so much omg everything I thought I knew was a lie~!--all of a sudden the finale throws ALL of that out the window. And it's usually centered on some random brouhaha involving ARMAND.

Oh yeah, he's my regular human butler Rashid, he's not doing anything nefarious he's just praying and letting me feed from him and minding his own business--SIKE! He's actually a vampire who can walk in the sun(?!!?!) and is 2x older than Lestat and is my husband love of my life; lemme toss the Trial flier at your feet so all the book readers can realize that Louis' been sleeping with Claudia's killer for 77yrs straight like wtf?

Oh yeah memory is a monster and all, but Armand promised he'd never hurt me he loves me he "kept the secret about 'Bruce'"--sure he tried to set me on fire in the sewers but I laid pipe so good that I've got him tamed now I'm the Maitre--sure he told me Claudia hated my effing guts so I yeeted myself into the sun; sure it was a huge reveal that he's been removing my memories and removing pages from Claudia's diaries behind my back (Rolin JUST confirmed that Louis asked Armand to wipe his memories, and the fandom's been having a whole meltdown; meanwhile I'm sitting here like: I effing knew Rolin was finna pull some bullcrap like this; he's SICK! 🤦‍♂️). But HE SAVED ME during the Trial--SIKE! He was actually the director in charge of the rehearsals and he sold me out to the coven and he was working with Santiago & Sam the whole time-- (Speaking of Sam, "time heals" and he's a vampire DJ now~! NO I'm not going to go after my daughter's killer that's just unreasonable I'll even let him play at the clubs I own~!)

So on the one hand, we've got Armand who's been set up as the puppetmaster lying & mindwiping & all kinds of mess. We can't have the fandom unanimously HATE the co-lead of the show, so if you want to really "blame" anyone for Louis getting things dead wrong or not mentioning/remembering things, look no further than the gremlin/good nurse melting Louis' brain into swiss cheese. Welcome to the Sunken Place.

But on the other hand, "Armand has ALWAYS been good!" 😤🤥 He told the truth, and Louis just didn't/couldn't hear it. Which inevitably leaves the door open to STILL blame Louis (because nuance is dead and some people are determined to hate him regardless, and just use anything bad about him as confirmation bias--despite how much they keep waving what Jacob Anderson said about letting problematic characters be problematic. Esp. since Jacob ALSO said that sometimes Louis just CAN'T handle truly horrible things, and tries to make things "smoother" or tear them out so he can cope with trauma as The Peacekeeper).

And on the other-other hand, because there ARE 2 co-leads on the show, we can't have everyone unanimously hate Lestat either. And we can't have either him or Louis come across too badly, because then who'd be invested in Loustat anymore, if they're completely noxious and there's no God here on either side of the argument?

So yeah, I'm getting frustrated, but my frustrations are largely because of the gremlin-shaped elephant looming menacingly in the shadows. Because clearly he's the convenient fall-guy for everything, but he's also the finger in the dam stoppering the holes in AMC's writing, and I SEE it for what it is, and I'm just mad that Rolin & Assad & co. keep tryna act like morality doesn't apply--one day they're saying Armand DGAF about Claudia and made the practical choice to knowingly let Louis die; the next day Armand totally sympathized with Claudia & "mercy-killed" her but he really did want her out of the picture to monopolize Louis--and I'm like....??????

Make 👏 It 👏 Make 👏 Sense 👏 PLEASE 👏😭

[murfpersonalblog]

I'm finally enabling reblogs on this post cuz lo and behold my gut instinct was right all along; I thought i was just being cynical & paranoid AF. 😭

[yusiyomogi]

can we organize another louis week in the near future because i need something positive after this...

[murfpersonalblog]

louis & claudia both, cuz JEEZE 💯

[murfpersonalblog]

IWTVL S3 Ep7 Musings - The Train Scene was CONFIRMED! 🤣 (Spoilers)

To all the effing smug AF Lestans & Louis-Antis who were crowing & bragging for MONTHS about The Train Scene reveal hitting Them/Those People/That Subset of the fandom like a "wrecking ball" and like a "ton of bricks" and it having "never f*ing happened" cuz there were CLUES~! and BREADCRUMBS~! and y'all are just media illiterate and made up a human AU tale that was told in your heads because MY uwu blorbo Lestat would NEVER do that and this was NEVER the Race Show / Abuse Show about Lestat being a big bad white abuser mayonnaise B-movie monster anyone would EVER NEED to run away from (repeatedly) or lie on or KILL cuz Lestat NEVER did anything wrong and there was NEVER any reason to hate him and the whole scene was a dirty liiiiieeee~~~! 🤡 🤡 🤡

TICKETS PLEASE! was REAL! 😭🤣

Lestat was confronted by all the "ghosts" of his past--all of the people he'd KILLED. Lestat ADMITTED: "I brought death, spread fear," right as he walked up to the conductor. And once again, Lestat was MOCKING his victims, asking the conductor "How's the head?" as the conductor announced "Tickets Please!" 💀

So Claudia was HONEST in her diary when she described the scene in 1x6. What WE SAW in S1 was TRUE. What SHE TOLD LOUIS OFFSCREEN (in S3's retcon) was the lie, yes. But that was NEVER indicated in 1x6 or in S2 AT ALL--EFF your breadcrumbs; they don't exist.

Cuz like I BEEN SAYING this WHOLE EFFING SEASON SINCE 3x1, AMC pulled that "rape" bullcrap out of their EFFING ARSE as a RED HERRING; when this was NEVER about the whole thing being fake, but JUST the "rape threat" part--I KNEW it! 😤

He DID hunt her down like a runaway slave, and he DID force her to come back home & make Louis happy when HE couldn't anymore.

All that chatter over "fake scenes~!" being revisted & wtvr nonsense were just cheap & tawdry gotchas! for Lestans to dismiss any & all critique against Massa Lestat wrt generational cycles of abuse in interracial relationships. 🤷‍♂️

So next time, Lestans, STAY IN YOUR LANE when people are tryna have serious discussions about the racial (and RACIST) implications of Lestat's actions towards Claudia AND Louis as the Black fledglings he ABUSED and TERRORIZED for YEARS--and then LIED about up & down this series, and this season in particular. This has ALWAYS been the Abuse Show. And Lestat was LouClaudia's shared abuser in NOLA, and they NEVER lied about that.

[hoziersredguitar]

I'm gonna become even more obnoxious about defending ldpdl now. He did nothing wrong. Louis de kind du lac. Louis de brave du lac. Louis de empathetic du lac.

[murfpersonalblog]

louis de at least he's trying du lac

louis de he actually GAF du lac

louis de big-hearted du lac

louis de moral compass du lac

louis de emotional core du lac

louis de most human(e) du lac

louis de best father on this whole stinkin show du lac

louis de at least he took bruce out cuz i ain't seen LESTAT get off his arse to ever avenge claudia du lac

louis de at least he cut off santiago's head cuz i ain't seen LESTAT get off his arse to avenge claudia du lac

louis de should've cussed everyone AND they triflin mamas out du lac

louis de Southern Gentleman du lac

louis de only one raised right du lac

louis de most honest man who never backstabbed anyone du lac

louis de Helen of Troy du lac

louis de his bussy must be GOD TIER du lac

louis de his hair ain't never been nappy a day in his life du lac

louis de gives the best hugs du lac

louis de horrors persist but so do i du lac

louis de should've killed way more people du lac

louis de too good and pure for this world du lac

louis de only man IGAF about on this show anymore du lac

louis de jacob anderson was robbed of his emmys du lac

louis deserved a better season than this hot garbage du lac

[gaypeople]

people focusing on the writers feeding them with “transfem lestat” while ignoring the vehement antiblackness they're putting the black gay man through kinda perfectly encapsulates the priorities of white queer fandom

[coldeveryseason]

also this is a secondary concern compared to the pervasive and gleeful antiblackness on the show, but lestat's line in s3ep7 that feeds into transfem readings feels like another example of this season going for "tell, don't show" and expecting fanon and fannish interpretation to carry the weight of what they aren't depicting onscreen. the s1ep7 marie antoinette drag scene is one of my fave in the whole show- and i mentioned before s3 aired that after rolin cited rocky horror and hedwig and the angry inch as s3 influences back in 2024, the lack of rockstat drag onstage felt like a glaring omission and was possibly tied to amc's corporate queerphobia given the obvious double standards in how they depict m/m and f/f v m/f intimacy. if the show wanted to make the idea of lestat being genderqueer or some form of transfeminine firmly canon, we could've seen a whole arc play out in s3 especially with gabriella coming back into lestat's life. imagine if drag was a consistent part of rockstat's look and stage performance, and esp around gabriella he insisted it was all for show, meaningless, he was just clowning, and as her control over lestat's music career and lestat himself increased we saw her steering him toward more conventionally cismasc presentation...and then we got hit with the quiet honesty of the line where lestat admits he does wish he was a woman sometimes as a resolution to a season-wide narrative that's primed for further exploration in s4. (this would also be in the hypothetically well-written s3 where lestat faces what he did to louis and claudia more firmly too, instead of 6-7 eps of wheel-spinning and darvo, and safe to say he would not be saying this to the apparition of louis' brother come to comfort him while louis is being tortured). they could've pulled on late 18th century ideas of gender that would've been formative to lestat (male performers performed fem roles then too- show him playing a woman when he was human and having a euphoric experience, show him interested as a child in the markers of femininity and womanhood that gabriella possesses and she rejects etc) being gnc/genderqueer/nonbinary/transfem/gnc (whatever your interpretation of lestat is) in 18th century france and then the early 20th century new orleans and then north america in 2025 are extremely different- your lead is an immortal vampire who's lived through all those eras, explore that.

but instead of doing any of that, instead of engaging with lestat's gender in any kind of arc, the show adds a throwaway line (in a season of throwaway lines) that can be interpreted depending on viewer bias as 1) lestat genuinely expressing some yearning for womanhood and being trans canonically or 2) still-cis lestat just saying he wishes he and louis had a heterosexual relationship to begin with bc it would've made their lives easier- like even though their relationship would've still been illegal if they were a m/f couple, they at least would've had paul and maybe the rest of the de pointe du lacs' acceptance- and plenty of casual viewers are gonna walk away with the 2nd impression. (and speaking of the de pointe du lacs, louis mentioning he was molested is another one of the throwaway lines with paradigm-shifting impact that the show doesn't care to explore in any depth- why bother developing things onscreen when fans will do the work for them and praise the writers as genius for hinting at depth instead of portraying depth onscreen??)

so many choices this season feel like the writers checking off boxes to confirm fan theories bc they seem cynically aware that a lot of people are watching the show less out of care for good storytelling but more to "win" whatever stan or ship war they're personally invested in. they're lines and moments meant to be screenshotted and shared on socmed for the fandom to talk about, pithy quips that can fit into 1-2 screenshots in subtitles and reposted with more pithy quips. the show doesn't care to explore lestat's gender in any deeper form but it does want fans losing their minds over some form of trans lestat being confirmed (with plausible deniability bc amc is the queerphobia network now)- the show doesn't care to explore devil's minion in any deeper form or show how armand and daniel started plotting together but it does want fans losing their minds over past devil's minion being confirmed, etc.

and this is only if you try looking at the arc (and lack thereof) of lestat's relationship to gender in isolation- when you put it back in the wider context of this episode and this season's antiblackness and the nonblack writers' choice to have paul's spirit (even if he isn't meant to be "real" or at least not represent paul's real thoughts) praise and comfort lestat while louis gets graphically tortured by his lynching director in the same episode. (and the white showrunner has already admitted he felt more for armand than louis in that scene and claimed the "apology" louis was coerced into via torture to be some kinda real moment of understanding, rather than louis doing what we saw him do in s2 and try to appease armand when he's helpless and armand holds his life in his hands.) like with the merrick scene in s3ep6, it doesn't matter what in-universe rationale for these choices are, it doesn't matter whether any of this gets revisited or recontextualized with "oh ghost claudia was lying just to hurt louis' "oh paul's spirit wasn't even real" "oh we were totally tryna critique armand's violent antiblackness" bc the problem here comes down to the nonblack writers' decisions and the choices they made in the real world when crafting this story. this show has had a persistent problem since s1 of depicting the onscreen brutalization of black bodies with far more vividness than it does nonblack bodies, and if a nonblack main character is doing the brutalization (lestat, armand) you aren't supposed to hold it against them or expect these choices to have longterm narrative consequences- the camera lingers on claudia and charlie's charred and "melting" faces as they burn but when daciana, nicki, magnus, bruce, antoinette or madeleine are burning, the camera's far quicker to cut away. and this is a deliberate choice- they weren't just pointing the camera at people spontaneously combusting, they had to allocate an effects budget and invest time and energy into showing black bodies burning with graphic detail. they had both delainey and roxane in the vfx makeup chair for their characters' murder scene, but only claudia's death was shown vividly while madeleine burning was a few brief seconds of ash scattering away.

and i simply can't enjoy any form of this "jangling keys in front of the fandom to validate popular interpretations/ships/theories" writing bc it's such a cynical bid from writers who want and expect their viewers to be satisfied with crumbs that we build elaborate headcanons around instead of expecting any form of depthful storytelling or care from them, especially when it comes to their black characters. fans being content with the show just going down a checklist to validate or debunk specific theories and fans not demanding anything more of the writers than perfunctory expository dialogue is exactly what this writing team is counting on.

also theo is right bc if your only reaction to people criticizing the nonblack writers' choices is to be like "neener neener femstat canon" (black folks critiquing the antiblackness and sharing their reactions to the show depicting this level of gratuitous racialized violence toward black bodies have already received comments along those lines) when that has nothing to do with the antiblackness being discussed here, that's ghoulish. like read the room

[murfpersonalblog]

ALL OF THE ABOVE

and to have PAUL of all people be the one lestat's talking to; this is SO outrageous that i can't even take anything lestat says seriously.

because if this is a room full of all of lestat's VICTIMS--everyone he's KILLED.....

and he insisted multiple times that he NOTHING to do with paul's death and would "NEVER" hurt louis' brother....

but PAUL IS IN THE SAME EFFING ROOM....

then lestat talking randomly about gender/sexuality is the LAST thing i'm thinking about! 💀

cuz guess what other fan theories are getting confirmed here?

that lestat's a effing LIAR who DID drive paul to commit suicide just to isolate & manipulate & control & then ABUSE louis--abuse is trust, on top of abusing louis' mind & body!

whether you're a man or a woman lestat, you're still a MONSTER who categorically did NOT love louis "the way he needed to be loved"

and another throwaway line that confirms THAT is louis in 3x6 going "who else would have us~!" as if y'all are just SETTLING for each other cuz y'all CAN'T love anyone properly!

this show is for the BIRDS, paul was absolutely right about that in s1

[tv-kiki]

with few exceptions we have only seen black characters graphically get brutalized. they had closeups of louis’s body and face after lestat tried to murder him showing the extent of what was done, we saw just how burned and disfigured he was after her suicide attempt, claudia’s death is one of the most graphic i’ve seen on any tv show, we got closeups of their ankles slashed and shots of louis being kicked in the head and claudia being shoved into a box of live rats by the coven members. the majority of louis’s scenes in episode 7 were of his decapitated head on a pike, forced to look at his body as it flailed, begging to die, forced to apologize in something so close to a saw trap that it was bordering on copyright infringement while being painted as cruel and deserving of the abuse and then branded by armand.

we didn’t see any shots of lestat’s head in the bowling bag. we saw him burn, but it was portrayed as comical. we did not see bruce as he died, we did not see lestat get torn up by the wolves, we did not watch nicki die. in the majority of the scenes where a white character is injured, the action is cut away, out of frame, out of focus, mostly implied.

the extent of what we saw of the brutality of black characters now feels almost fetishistic. at the end of episode 105, lestat is floating in the air looking dreamy and louis is beaten to a pulp on the ground; episode 207, lestat is put together in a suit with his hair done and louis and claudia have been severely beaten. like, after this season, the rest of the show just looks weird.