Juggling chainsaws

[nalyra-dreaming]

About me

Nalyra ⏛ she/her/they I love complicated characters and relationships. Vampire lover of old. I like a lot of things, so do mind the tags, please.

Ask | Ao3

This blog is NOT Vampire Chronicles / IWTV / TVL spoiler free.

Life is too short for hate, be brave enough to be kind.

PSA

I reserve the right to be silent human, at least until I‘m turned 😛

[nalyra-dreaming]

If we get armand’s backstory in s4 it will have to be through lestat’s narration right? Given that he’s still recording the failures after akasha

I mean, canonically both Armand‘s backstory from TVL as well as the DM chapter are told by Lestat (as he relays it).

But yea.

[reticent-vampire]

you were sold by who you were sold by. sold into what you were sold into.

[therozanov]

Even now, still thinking about him.

[nalyra-dreaming]

Hi. What was the thing that Sam said “Lestat remembers and then forgets it”? I think I missed it.

I do not know.

I think I missed it, too.

Or, maybe they cut it.

[nalyra-dreaming]

https://www.tumblr.com/nalyra-dreaming/821864817331666944/what-was-the-line-you-wanted-us-to-notice?source=share

I meant in regards to when it started sorry. Was it the line at the pub where he doesn't answer Louis about when it started? Becasue I read that as about after the wolves but it could be earlier I guess.

Yes, that was the line.

The reaction there was very telling, imho.

And so was Lestat's face in the flashback in 3x07.

[nalyra-dreaming]

Regarding the twitter post anon sent, I will also give these writers some grace regarding armandstat going into s4. However, not too much, and I won’t get hopeful, cause Sherlock (BBC) taught me the hard way never to trust writers too much 😀🔫

And after this episode that trust has taken a direct hit, I have to say.

They will have their work cut out for them to re-establish it.

[nalyra-dreaming]

As someone who hasn't read the books, I have a question: when Akasha kidnaps Lestat to make him the king... or prince, I don't know...

Does she do it in a sexual way, like to be her companion? Because when she told him "come to me," it reminded me so much of Lestat saying the same thing to Louis... that I'm scared.

Did Akasha abuse him? Did they have sex? That will be triggering to him because all the Gabriela thing?

I hope you don't take offense at my question, because I'm asking out of misinformation and ignorance, and also because I want to understand everything better.

Yes, and yes.

Akasha spell-binds him, blackmails him with his loved ones, and also drugs him with her blood.

And yes, they will also have sex.

I think there is a reason why Akasha wanted Marius to kill Gabriella when he went to get Lestat. And ... well.

The show won't shy away from that parallel.

[nalyra-dreaming]

I just had a horrible thought... What if they cut off Louis's foot and show it to Lestat like "we've started with the foot, but we're going to keep going if you don't obey"?

... would have been better than what we got I feel inclined to say now.

[nalyra-dreaming]

I was re-watching the episode and noticed that Louis' restaurant's name is 'Sangsue' which is French for Leech or Bloodsucker. It's an animal name but figuratively it refers to someone who's leeching off off someone and I find that very interesting.

Oh, that is a good catch!!

NICE!

[nalyra-dreaming]

Louis is stronger (and way kinder) than me because I would’ve thrown hands the second I saw Armand in the auction .

I mean, who knows what happened in-between 😅

[mademoisellebianx]

Gopal Divan as Dr. Fareed Bhansali in AMC's The Vampire Lestat | Episode 07: The Failures

[nalyra-dreaming]

At this point, i think 'Butterscotch Bitch' is a good fit for the season/finale, it is as if it's talking directly to the fans. "I've been wasting time, sittin' here for hours", "Did I ever lieave you wanting more" — indeed

Okay, I .... laughed.

[nalyra-dreaming]

“The trial, murder night, Lesmand, whatever.”

I wholeheartedly agree (I found the post I told you about and they mention sth about the trial too, PS: i was gagged about the anusree pic) https://x.com/waspinyourear/status/2078817184764072162?s=46&t=zpXnP3iOOCzJtI7a6DPVWg

I mean, yes, I also have posted that Anusree pic repeatedly :)

And yes, that is a good summary.

And as said, I will give them season 4 to show if this really will be part 2 of 2 then.

And if they follow-up on all the things left hanging.

It's just... if they had just done the "butcher scene" with Lestat there, they COULD have addressed all that in a VERY satisfactory way. Without having to sacrifice precious screen time from the QotD arc for it. (Which we then could have used for proper backstory on the twins and the blood wars. 😣)

Instead, we got Louis hurt, again. Dynamics, re-appropriated, again.

Instead, we will spend time on the loose ends of s3 in s4.

Instead, we will - necessarily - have to shorten Akasha's actual arc because SOMEWHERE in the next season we will also have some of Armand's backstory and Devil's Minion.

S4 is already PACKED.

And they chose to put MORE into it, all-the-while frustrating just about 99% of the fandom while they were at it.

I think only the Fem!Stat fans are happy, and honestly, only because they don't think of the implications of what and who and why this is said as it is said, but that's another issue and I don't have the spoons to get into that. Let them be happy at least, lol.

[nalyra-dreaming]

hi nalyra! while i have been watching iwtv since it first aired, this is my first rodeo being a part of online fandom since. i have loved a lot of being in the fandom, but also i feel like it came with a level of anxiety i have never ever associated with being a part of the fandom experience. part of this may be that i'm still learning the ropes of how best to engage and learning (on the fly) how to block and curate my experience, but also i feel like there seems to be a level of anxiety about the show itself in the fandom that i haven't experienced before?

i'm not brand new to online fandoms, but it has been a long time, but i guess i'm wondering if you have noticed that ~anxiety~ this season has been notably different than other seasons? i don't even mean criticism... i mean people wondering and trying to interpret from screeners if everything is going to be okay / if the show is ruined / if their ships are going to be shipped properly - is that normal? (like! i mean, here i am repeating it, but i notice a lot of time you gently reply to your asks like 'okay watch and see' / 'experience it for yourself'?)

It's been this way since season 1. Then screeners got a lot of asks as well.

And I mean, yes, I said that while the episodes would still come out :) and people should experience them as said.

The finale now broke early and I guess the overwhelming response has been leaning more towards disappointment than anything else.

I saw spoilers looooong before I started posting, simply because emotions after this were running so high.

TVL has been awaited for decades. It's... normal, I think that emotions would be this high,

Obviously everyone SHOULD judge for themselves.

But sometimes... it's also good to know that one is not alone in the feelings, is it no?

[nalyra-dreaming]

The thing is even if the loumand scene was questionable to say the least and it was reminiscent of armandstat dynamic, they have planted way too many hints this season pointing at something very fishy in past armandstat and they’re just tiptoeing around it, it would make 0 sense not to deal with it in season 4, I just don’t know what they’re doing (in fact I saw a post about this like 10 min ago which is what prompted this ask, I’ll look for it)

I hope they will get to it! I do!

But we've been dancing around SO MANY REVEALS NOW.

The trial, murder night, Lesmand, whatever.

It's been YEARS by now.

They need to get on with it, because if they continue like this people will simply not care anymore when they do get to it.

[nalyra-dreaming]

"The show now doing the "oh Louis needed to apologize for doing that" after Armand entered that dynamic by himself is... something. And it really has nothing to do in a finale for TVL, imho."

Maaaaybe it has nothing to do in a TVL finale unless they are soft launching the Marimand dynamic for S4 already. The d/s Loumand dynamic arc is clearly part of S2 that much is true but it doesn't mean it was completed or that it had fully landed for both the characters and the audience. The conversations about it at that time were that the dynamic was there, but thir point was more to show Armand staging and repeating the circle of his trauma as a way to keep asserting power over Louis.

Am I the only one that read the 3x07 exchange as Louis using Armand's weaknes in order to disarm him rather than a genuine apology (which he DOESN'T own Armand)? This might be me being blown away by Assad's performance, but Armand's trepidation, crying and biting his nails, felt like a delicious amuse buche for what the Armand Marius dynamic will be like.

I agree this scene should have been with Lestat instead Louis. It would have changed the imapct of the finale completely and it probably would have been one of the best secenes of the series in terms of narrative and emotion. But we signed this contract the moment we wanted more Louis in the show and I don't regret it!

I don't regret more Louis in the show either, but I would REALLY appreciate it if they could start to write for Louis and not re-appropriate other character dynamics for him.

Because that is what they have been doing.

And maybe they did it to prepare the Marius/Armand dynamic, could be, but that, too, and while I do not doubt we will get more backstory for them in s4, but I seriously doubt we will have whole bottle episodes for them next season.

And the way this show has been skirting the BDSM elements I don't think the more ... difficult parts of that relationship will translate, actually.

Maybe I'm wrong. But I don't think this scene will help much in the long run.

And yes, I heard the comments about Louis' truthfulness there, and all that, but he had no reason to believe Armand would let him go there. No precedent behavior. I don't buy it.