raf

21 | he/him - it/its | DID system | i post occasionally

[danielsarmand]

and also another thing. daniel molloy is not a freshly made asshole. put some respect on his name he was always a huge fucking bitch AND a cheater AND a shit father and his sarcasm has been a steady stream for the whole duration of the series so don't you come crying to me about him being mean and over-the-top and a parody of himself that's the original right there and you've known him for two seasons don't pmo

[reptill4]

somebody take the word "gosh" out of my vocabulary because I believe I've used it in my last 5 posts.

[spellnightingale]

SPOILER WARNING !

the finale for tvl was phenomenal and i can’t believe the masterpiece that it was ….. ARMAND BACKSTORY? DICK WHIPPED DANIEL MOLLOY??? DEVILS MINION LOVE????? LOUSTAT REUNION????? TRANSFEM GENDERFLUID LESTAT??????????? WERE EATING SO GOOD GUYS HATERS GONNA HATE

[theblobmaster]

actually an insane move from louis asking for lestat's blood in his beer. he could've just as easily used his own (lestat did for himself) but no, no he wants lestat's and then he fucking acts like he's been in a desert without any water and this is the first sip he's had for years

what was that

no really what was that

even lestat looks at him like was that performance necessary

[apeurodo]

it's crazy that everything in TVL is so wild that the idea of beheading the lead characters is just felt tame to me lol

i mean, it's full of 'of course' lol

of course they killed lestat, they're trying to stop the great conversion...

of course they'll kill louis too, because what do you think louis would've done if he found out they killed lestat?

[fresh-bag-of-ham]

this season was so great i literally don't know what anyone else is talking about. get well soon!!!

[downahill]

it happened quickly and i was already crying but gabriella taking lestat to see the “witches” burn and pointing out that what they were actually burning for was being victims of sexual violence whose abusers were “cleaning up” loose ends + the note that one of the girls had used to play at the lioncourt house. this was a threat that lestat should keep quiet about his own victimization right

[crespeculiar]

I read it as more Gabriella making clear to him the world in which he lived, and was showing this violence to him as a child (and aristocratic child at that). I think she did genuinely feel he needed to know, but there are also a lot of ways she groomed him (not even specfically to focus on sexually, here) to be someone she could control and so I think while it wasn't explicitly a threat I think it was part of the greater matrix in which Gabriella abused Lestat for sure.

I also think she genuinely meant what she said (even if she had other motives too) because she was totally willing to admit/laugh off being a "terrible mother" but then always got serious and closed off when Lestat tried to ask her about the witches.

[interviewwiththewerepire]

"armand isn't owed an apology after all the shit he did to louis, i can't believe they made him do that"

hey guys? Do we maybe think that Armand's tit-for-tat mentality, and the way he's been tallying up his and everyone else's sins against each other is a problem? Is it maybe possible that Louis managing to find empathy for Armand in the face of the monstrosity being done to him, and that radical act of kindness and honesty (about the ways he unintentionally hurt Armand) moving Armand so much that it nearly breaks him, is idk a major theme of this whole season?

you know, sorta like how Lestat was holding onto his feelings of betrayal about the book, and all it did to serve him was make him absolutely miserable and lonely and push him into the arms of someone actively harming him. And how it was only after he let that go, and helped Louis even though he still thought that Louis didn't give a shit about him, that they were able to connect again and be happier than we've ever seen them.

Or like how Louis was able to look past his initial feelings of revulsion and betrayal about the Sophia lie, and offered comfort and a space to speak honestly, and how that granted him a deeper understanding of Lestat, and ultimately strengthened their bond.

Are we seeing the pattern here? How they're breaking the curse of loneliness when they stop seeing each other as monsters, and extend a bit of empathy, even when it's hard or not deserved? How addressing the gaping wound behind the actions might open the door to healing for both parties?

[eon-become-instant]

iwtv tags absolutely hysterical rn, bunch of morons who've spent the past 2 seasons, and now also season 3, misinterpreting 90% of the show and telling each other "exactlyyy!!1!!!1!" mad that nothing they wanted/expected to happen happened

"this season/the finale had no point" nah you just missed all of the points because you're so hyper-focused on your delusions about this show

s3 was about lestat finally dealing with and being able to move past a huge chunk of the trauma and coping mechanisms he's been trying to ignore for most of his life, that's been obvious to all of us who love the show and actually listen to what it's trying to communicate

sorry so many of you are too blinded by your preconceived biased notions to understand any of it

couldn't be me 😌

[psychotic-gerard]

i have understood so many things about online leftist culture by the fact that when i said "your local community has people you will morally and politically disagree with but you cannot lock them out of accessing any tangible service you’re organising" one of the tags responding said "this isn’t about proshippers in here you’re not welcome" like. folks. focus with me. some of us are homeless here.

[orchidvioletindigo]

There's a disconnect happening here because the primary function of social media for most casual users is to form a circle of friends around the usual things that friendships are built on: shared interests and lifestyles and ideas of what is important and what is unacceptable. When people are mainly doing leftism on social media, this encourages thinking of leftism as centered around establishing high-minded social clubs.

For anyone who still isn't getting it from someone who helps people IRL: There's a difference between whom you're helping to feed at the mealshare and whom you're choosing to hang out with for fun after the mealshare. You don't have to invite a hungry person with opinions you don't like to play board games with you, but you do have to help keep them from starving if you're serious about leftist organizing.

[trials-era-sam]

[can-i-make-image-descriptions]

[Image ID: Tumblr reply with username blocked out reading: *volunteering at the soup kitchen, holding a bowl hesitantly to my chest* what do you think about age gaps in ships /End ID]

[reptill4]

being an organizer for my local community (part of a filipino youth organization^^) has truly opened my eyes as a leftist, man.. like some of you online leftists are genuinely some of the most performative people I have ever known. it is literally a given that you will meet people who you are fighting for and with that disagree with you.

I recently attended a local strike against the C&H sugar refinery in my area and how they're taking away retirement benefits from retirees as well as firing workers who are part of the union. And I met the guy who literally two months ago hit my car in a tbone accident. and you know what ? we awkwardly picketted together and didn't talk but I still fought alongside him for his retirement benefits.

you cannot bar people from the movement. it is our jobs as leftists and organizers to propagate to the masses. we have to find them at any level and work with them. I dont like everyone I organize with but thats just how it is sometimes man..

[reptill4]

seeing lestat yell at his mother and magnus, both of his abusers, as he exerts his control was just so cathartic. as a victim of both SA/CSA and incest grooming, seeing a character that so closely reflects myself stand up for himself ? it was so healing for me

I genuinely think this has been some of the most relatable SA trauma portrayal I have ever seen. the hypersexuality ? the denial of the abuse ? how he centers himself and blames himself for "seducing" them not because he truly fully believes it but as a way to gain control of the narrative; to survive with the actions that were forced upon him. I adore this season so much. im disheartened to see the reaction because it means that people gloss over the wins we've got.

[reptill4]

carving out a little space for myself in the iwtv/tvl fandom :] I hate how illiterate this space seems to be.. some of yall watch this show with your eyes closed

[chloreen]

I give Louis a pass bc being detached from your body fucks with your sense of whimsy but concluding his monologue with "And that was my full and heartfelt Loupollogy" would have been the right move

[alexwilltellyouthings]

I've seen a couple of posts on Instagram from @/sarah.hedlund.art talking about how correctly The Vampire Lestat depicts different SA trauma responses and I felt instantly bad that the fandom is so preoccupied with in-fighting that, in most of the reviews I've been seeing of the season, this is barely mentioned.

As if it hasn't been one of the main plot points of the show.

Did we forget the parallel scene between Claudia and Lestat being stripped away of their consent? How Lestat learned to face that he was a victim and stopped trying to minimize or embellish his transformation, which lead to a literal car crash?

The entire back and forth with Gabriella, Claudia's seance, Arun being mentioned at the end, Louis' pimp storyline. All of this was about SA or about (the lack of true) consent.

And it hurt to watch, but not in a way that I felt wronged. It hurt in a way that I felt seen. Like yes, that anger, that panic, that ignorance, that denial, that sadness, that numbness, that hiding, I've been through it all over the years.

Did the show also use SA as a way to remind us that all characters fucking suck? Yes. That's just what we've signed up for, and I can hate them for it.

Lestat made fun of Armand's past. Armand exposed Lestat. Louis kept seeing women as tools rather than people. Daniel was shown as both an abuser and racist (which isn't really new). All of the racist dialogue, btw, isn't any worse than all of this.

But hey, sure, why don't we say the show has to end because the characters did bad things, or because the writing was too cringe. It's not like it had any other value apparently.

[thatonemalkavian]

Something we should never lose sight of is that Lestat and Armand love each other very much. Always remember that.

[fyhk]

Can’t fine my ep4 post about how Loustat used Armand to torture each other as FOREPLAY, and now since we a Louis saying “I used you to punish” to Armand in ep7, without clarifying whom he’s punishing, paid this with Lestat saying he gave Louis to Armand to punish them both… I kinda needed the original post to explain how it makes sense for Loustat to do such foreplay, but now I’m just trusting Loustat fans to get it without extra context.

[adrenaline-revolver]

“Armand is not a cartoon villain.” Then explain how every time he tries to fuck with Lestat it explodes on him like a loony toon trying to put a bullet in bugs bunny.

Throw him out a window? He fucks off to the US and meets the love of his life.

Kill his daughter and steal his man? It becomes the famous fail marriage where Lestat is apparently mocking you constantly.

Try to apologize? Get horny rage baited and then humiliated in public.

Stoop to incest revenge porn? It pushes Lestat and Louis closer together.

Cut his fucking head off? Lestat has a weird death dream where he tells his abusers to get bent, addresses his gender identity, and has super special visions of the future.

To 99.9% of people Armand is a terrifying mastermind but if god ever decided to punish Armand it was via Lestat because to that horrible blonde creature he is Daffy goddamn Duck