thinking about things from regina's point of view is like peak goth horror. imagine this man who just seems slightly off is following you around because you remind him of his dead daughter and he is projecting his grief over the life unlived onto you. and the man is not a man at all but a monster. thinking about how anne rice vampires are just *off.* even when people don't know what they are they are either mesmerized or horrified or both. just this creature skulking in the night looking at you with misplaced longing
I am thinking about the similarities between Magnus and Gabrielle. Most of this is speculation loosely based on book canon.
Walk with me.
I would like to suggest that Magus makes literal the symbolic and emotional events that have already taken place between Lestat and Gabrielle.
Immediately following his transformation Lestat begins contextualizing his new identity, as a vampire, and synonymously a rape survivor, by conflating his experiences with Gabrielle’s. Even comparing the clothes Magus laid out for him to Gabrielle’s wedding dress.
It’s essential to Lestat, when telling his story, to convey the part of his turning that left the most lasting impact on him was Magnus’s suicide. This fear of abandonment is his justification for many of his actions. However we see this pattern of intimacy immediately followed by abandonment first with Gabrielle.
While it is unclear whether Lestat and Gabrielle had a sexual relationship prior to Gabrielle’s transformation, they were certainly incestuously emotionally intimate. Gabrielle would extend affection to Lestat and then withdraw it invoking the same patten we see with Magus and Lestat. It’s also worth noting that Gabrielle becomes far more interested in Lestat after the wolf killing incident which is, of course, mirrored by Magnus referring to Lestat as “wolf killer.”
Another major aspect of Lestat’s turning is the presence of the corpses, boys who looked similar to him. However this is probably not the first time Lestat has seen death, in fact it is probably not the first time he has seen the dead body of someone who resembled him.
One of the first things we learn about Lestat is he is the seventh son, but the youngest of only three who survive to manhood. Lestat has metaphorically spent his life surrounded by his dead brothers, boys who were created by Gabrielle only to be failed renditions of Lestat.
This is the purpose of the gothic.
The monster is not the stranger. He is not the violent rapist waiting in the shadows to snatch young men from their beds. The monster is gentle and familiar, and he is not a monster at all he is a woman perpetrating cycles of sexual violence as a result of her own suffering.
The monster that created Lestat was not the monster that turned him, it was the monster that gave birth to him. In the gothic genre the demon in the shadows is a metaphor made flesh. Motherhood is the monster.
In case anyone wants to get some non-fiction reading in before
Here's the mother/son chapter of Gothic Incest: Gender, Sexuality, and Transgression by Jenny DiPlacidi.
It's open-access on JSTOR, about 34 pages, and is a great intellectual framework for understanding the "whys and whats" of what's going on if you need some help figuring out why we're incesting past like...just introducing horror and transgression. There are real story-telling reasons why the motif exists, past just being startling and discomforting.
It's also not too difficult to read. You might need some googling, just to get some phrases or see what theories/stories she's referencing, but it's not any more difficult that you'd see from any analysis I post on my blog.
everyone make 1000000 fanarts and fanfics about this to make up for it NOW and you will all reincarnate as beautiful lotus flowers and I will owe you my life ‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️
gabriella sending out lestat to kill the wolves hoping and expecting that they would kill him isn’t an idea that had occurred to me before but i’ve been rotating it around in my head ever since. it simultaneously being an act of fucked up care – granting him the final escape from their family – and her manipulating him into a a situation that risks his life and also robs him of the only comfort (his dog) he had outside of her. all this wrapped up in her framing killing the wolves as an act of proper manhood and thus elevating lestat into the role of a husband substitute. it’s such a messy situation that really lays the groundwork for how weird and entangled their relationship is about to get
i think its really sweet and meta that the obsession with acclaim daniel has (“i have two Pulitzers”, “im taking this to cannes”) is an empty pursuit initially shared w lestat (“i want millions. Billions.”) until the preciousness of making art is remembered through nicki
Where the question posed in his song about him, “why do i have to feel?”, is answered only after the pain of relieving his loss and failure to daniel: Do you remember that feeling of falling in love for the first time? Do you remember how hope was made in music? Music that was not good, actually had piss thrown at it, but it still meant world to *you*? That’s why you have to feel. Because you were moved forward by the beauty of the violin as instrument, the bodied earnestly of its player. The life saving quality of art emerges in the space of interaction between those two, the self and the instrument
from abuse within family to the depressing commentary of humanity and gen z vampires reverting to CoD ideology, the cyclical nature is a backdrop which in true lestat fashion is engaged with and the guilt of nicki is triggered into a positive trigger for change. He reframes his approach to music. He leaves gabriella. Admits to daniel that he can’t fill a third of an 8500 seat venue. The loneliness which invoked him to call his mom, which drove his desire for fame, which compelled his hypersexuality, now rivalled by the gauze of music making about and for the few who matter
(if the peak pleasure of sex is expressed in floating, ala loustat sex, then music has become a catharsis of equal calibre when lestst floats on stage. A high outside of sex and linked purely to the lightness of love)
To make something, ie daniel’s documentary, using exploitative and cruel techniques also, for the pure sake of Acclaimed Art gets you nowhere. The worth of art is not measured by the number in the crowd or the awards it adorns. Make and love something that means something to you.
And thats a beautifully fitting thing for this show to impart :)
I’ve seen posts commenting on the irony/hypocrisy of Lestat calling Armand a “theatre kid,” given Lestat’s own infamous theatricality. But I don’t think Lestat would say he isn’t a theatre kid himself; the critique is that Armand has “a lot of rules for a theatre kid.” Lestat is saying that Armand isn’t really an artist, and I think it comes down to the “pure expression” that Lestat values. The theatre was a front for the coven, but it was a coven first and foremost. Armand as maître controlled the plays and the performances, and as we saw in Season 2, much of that was about power relations in the coven, with different roles as punishments or rewards.
In the first episode of TVL, Lestat realizes during his breakdown on stage that he is the problem - he is controlling his band as though he is the maître of the music they are making. But they can’t reach their full potential with him exerting such control. It is only when he becomes more collaborative with his band that they can create better music.
I think there is more to say about “pure expression” - Armand rarely misspeaks, whereas Lestat often does, and I like that Armand’s apology had the same rite opening for both Daniel and Lestat. I think the show is thinking through the ways that ideologies limit artistic expression, and the appetite for the cult-like control Armand offers at the present time.
WHY MUST SHE BE KEPT? AND WHY IN THIS PLACE SHE MUST BE KEPT? AND WHAT DOES IT MEAN IF YOU ARE NOT ASKED? AND WHAT DOES IT MEAN IF YOU ARE NOT ANSWERED? AND WHAT IS IT TO SEE AND TO KNOW, BUT TO BE TOLD YOU HAVE NOT SEEN. YOU HAVE NOT KNOWN. AND WHY IS HER TONGUE CUT OUT? AND WHY IS HER DEATH PROLONGED AND WHEN WILL IT STOP AND WHO WILL STOP IT? AND WHY MUST THEY, MUST WE, MUST I, MUST HE, MUST THEY, AS THE MILLENNIA, UNFOLD? WHY THE GIRL CURLED? WHY HER EYES LOWERED? WHY ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD? WHY LIMP IN THE STRAW? I AM THE GIRL! I AM THE GOD! I AM THE VOICE! I AM THE SONG! I AM THE NIGHT AND I CAN ANSWER! I CAN ARRANGE IT! I CAN SAY RISE, AND I CAN SPEAK! AND I AM HER! AND I AM SHE! AND I, I, I, I AM THE ANSWER!
hey guysss so unfortunately the rumors are true and im leaving the narrative. Buttt the good news is my absence will create such a gaping hole in your lives that it will become a sort of presence itself, and so in a way it will kind of be like i never left! But i am. Leaving just to be clear.
Wait the book of bill appearing to Ford first is fucking HILARIOUS actually. Ford literally killed Bill less than a month ago, and Bill's still banking so hard on him getting him out of therapy that the book shows up in Ford's stuff MULTIPLE TIMES. Girl the situationship has been over for thirty years give it up 💀
And if you came here thinking this is a safe space to rant about unibrows, click away.
You're weird!
What I'm talking about is Molly's acting choices when it comes to Claire's facial expressions. There's been a lot of debate about whether those off looking moments are intentional or not. Personally, I think those are intentional because directors are able to pick out layers and inconsistencies like that.
I'll tell a story of my experience taking an acting for film class:
I had a short scene with my scene partner (who had asked me out outside class) and in the scene he was threatening to kill me and I was really scared of him. But somewhere in that scene I broke in my head and just thought "yeah, right". Just for a split second, I didn't even think I facially cracked or anything.
After the take, the director called me and asked if something was going on between me and the guy. I said no, why? He responded "you do look scared, but you also look like you're turned on by that and we need to take you being scared seriously." I was gobsmacked. I didn't even like the guy like that and that's how that scene came off. Directors notice these things.
So back to Claire. I've commented a number of times that Molly's acting choices as Claire is one of the things that gives an uneasy feeling about her character. There are times when her expressions seem a little too "painted on". And a lot of viewers have wondered if her whole shenanigans with Carmy is supposed to be some sort of subtle parody of cheesy romance flicks, and for good reason. From her almost unnaturally enthusiastic, desperate looking show of interest and affection sometimes, to the here-I-am-I'm-so-love-interest way she's portrayed, just feels off.
First of all, her setup already makes one a bit uneasy. The way she seems to suddenly show up and her presence seems to upset the balance of things. Then, the way she is exalted by the Berzattos to be this wonderful, perfect thing immediately opens her up for suspicion, mostly due to media experience with setups like this. We all know the saying "if it's too good to be true, it probably is". The way everyone keeps constantly harping on her being so great and so nice and so awesome seems a little like a deliberate signal for scrutiny.
So scrutinize we have and scrutinize we will continue to do. I have talked about how her demeanor, the things she says and the way she acts feels very off in this meta and this meta.
Season 4 gave Claire a larger role for better or worse and it's been a wild ride and just as strange if not more. This season her expressions have been quite interesting to observe. I want to collate and break down my observations and interpretations so far by scene in a reverse order of her S4 arc.
I previously talked about her final scene with Carmy which leaves a clear opening for them to resume their relationship and how she seemed to have switched personalities in the two-call scene with Carmy in Green here. One thing the show would do is leave clues and Easter eggs that can help explain the hidden layers of a scene. They do this in this scene by Carmy asking her "Same person, different people?" about the sick kid who threw up on Claire in the same scene where she seemed to have switched 2 different personalities.
Bears is another episode she's heavily featured in. This episode sees her in a festive Berzatto setting weaving her way through the event to show the audience her familiarity with the family and deepen her lore as Carmy's "chosen" one. But one scene that sticks out to me (apart from the other obviously disturbing stuff) , is the scene where Richie and Frank are going on about how Eva talks about the other non stop.
Turns out Richie was lying to Frank but a look crossed her face in that moment (pictured at the header) that could be read as a number of things, but for me it looked like that conversation touched a nerve– like it was something she was familiar with. Makes me wonder if Carmy did that – talk about Syd a lot while with her? We know that Carmy did the same thing with Syd once which even got a reaction out of her. And Syd has since explained that she found it inappropriate for him to have brought his friend(s) outside of playing video games "into the gameplay and sleepover of it all" ie, Carmy bringing Claire into the restaurant and working menus with her. So did Carmy also talk about Syd an inappropriate amount to Claire? We all know how he's had that back and forth transference forever. If so, that would explain this next scene.
In the episode Sophie, I pointed out how her expression kept changing from a seemingly concerned or friendly look to a different more hostile demeanor towards an unaware Syd in the hospital scene. But why play nice if she has reservations?
Another way I believe the show leaves clues is by using another scene to hint at what is happening in the scene- like Jess telling Richie that Frank is just trying to "get in her [Eva's] good graces for now" by getting her stuff, which comes after Syd runs into Claire. And of course, after this encounter, Syd calls to tell Carmy Claire is great, just like the rest of the Berzattos have. This is a change from Syd who previously had not been very forthcoming when it came to Claire.
Which leads me to the big one. The scene in Scallop where Carmy goes all out and sprints to Claire's like something out of a Disney movie after a perfect day at The Bear.
The first odd but interesting thing about this whole sequence is how this "big moment" is interrupted by some comedy. Instead of Claire, Ted comes out (in a red robe, no less) and he and Carmy have this hilarious back and forth (although I must say I got the comedy of it all on the second watch. On the first watch I was just pissed off that I had to stomach Ted of all people, while already having a bad time. Also, it was Carmy that made this scene actually funny and Jeremy's comedy chops are not to be overlooked). Carmy first thinks Ted is hanging out with Claire and he has to clarify that he's with Kelly, then he has this whole speech about how he loves Kelly now and he's stomach is all f*cked up like he's in a Disney movie with Carmy responding hilariously. One of the aims of this moment is probably to create a faux plot twist that is quickly resolved in a bid to make the scene a little more interesting (because clairmy is boring) but, to me, this interlude feels like a subtle dig on what is happening in that very scene. It's very Disney, it looks grand but it's hard to be taken seriously.
After this, they have their grand argument. I'm not even going to talk about how they try to recreate the alleyway stare from S1. One thing everyone has been asking is what the heck was happening in this scene. It was all over the place for no clear reason. It looked like this big, very needed confrontation but it felt completely lacking in meaning and emotional weight. When Carmy tells her he loves her multiple times, it sounds like he doesn't mean it (either that or Jeremy himself doesn't believe it. And Jeremy is a f*cking great actor who's won multiple times for this role for a very good reason).
But we're focusing on Claire. While Carmy, even while undecipherable, had some variant of a constipated look the whole time, Claire's expressions and her dramatic arc were all over the place. It felt abrupt, inorganic and a bit overly dramatic even though it wasn't really doing much (but of course maybe I'm just biased).
What struck me at first was her reaction to Carmy telling her that he loved her. She was taken aback by the him actually going there but she quickly seemed to reject the notion by her initial reaction. Showing him she doesn't really believe him. But as Carmy goes further in his love confession speech she seemed to almost break a smile. But the timing of that almost smile feels very oddly placed and while it may seem like a delayed reaction to him saying I love you, it also just looks like she's breaking character.
Because her whole schtick feels like some form of performance.
Let's step a little back to the beginning of their scene again.
Claire pictured looking not very emotionally engaged
She comes out while Ted and Kelly try to turn him away and tells them it's ok. He tries to get her to have a talk with him and she gives (very understandable excuses). After the second try he seems actually ready to leave it at that but she quickly changes her mind knowing that and knowing him. She says she has to get something from inside and goes in. On the other side of the door she does this
On a surface level it looks like she's overwhelmed by him just showing up at her door and has to center herself so that she can be neutral and level headed while finally having this really necessary talk with her estranged boyfriend. Makes a lot of sense, right?
But it also looks like one of those little routines an actor will do to quickly get into character. We learned that in acting class. The specific one I liked was; you shake your head and limbs, then stay still, take a deep breath, become nothing, become the character. That sharp head bop? Looks like she just summoned the other Claire.
What further convinces me of this is her next actions when she comes out to meet him. If she was doing all that behind the door to calm herself down and be ready for the conversation, she would at least hear what he has to say before a reaction, right? Well, not this Claire because once she's on the steps before he's even able to say anything, she hits him with the dramatic one eyed tear
That's not the same Claire that went back in to go get something. That Claire couldn't be more detached emotionally. This Claire came out swinging. Even Carmy was a bit taken aback out by the theatrics
She has to further explain to him anyway that this is really hard for her and he better do the right thing. So of course, with the right push he does "the right thing" and they have this whole conversation that is supposed to be intense and emotional but just feels empty and looks ridiculous. The actual subject matter is confusing and even her "scary but also incredible" speech is supposed to be profound but it just leaves him looking stunned and not even in a good way cause he still looks constipated as hell. But it's good enough for her. She looks like she got the reaction or result she wanted. She looks like she's happy with her riveting performance because she suddenly smiles again looking coy and all that. Then she abruptly ends the conversation asking him to find some quiet, or peace (in my opinion she did that because the Faks convinced her she is peace). She doesn't let him say anymore and shuts the door on him. End scene.
While I was thinking about how this entire thing from Claire reads fake to me, I realized that one of the reoccurring motifs of this season has been acting. Actors acting in movies, playing other characters. Richie asking Carmy if his sadness was performative. Richie watching Ridley Scott's interview about planning a scene with actors (which I think is a self insert of Storer trying to say everything is on purpose and he knows what he's doing). This same episode is the one where Michelle is reintroduced to the audience as an actor and Richie also wishes he had become an actor. Syd reveals down the line that her mom was an actor. She sees herself on an acting stage and trying to run away from performance in her dream also. The reference to acting and performance this season is so very strong and I think it's very much on purpose and very layered as in every other motif in any other season.
The theme of performance versus real is spread throughout all the characters this season- because we all have a way we show up that's different from the way we would if we had a choice. We see a different side of everyone. The way Syd shows up to Shapiro is different from how she shows up to Chantel. Carmy this whole time has been hiding the fact that he fell out of love with cooking.
But there's also a question of how well you really know a person. Carmy thought he was Mike's best friend and ended up finding out he didn't know him at all (did anyone catch the flash of anger in Mike's face in that throwback scene?). The fact that Claire and Carmy have known each other forever has been brought up many times as grounds for why they belong together. But does Carmy really know her? And it probably doesn't even matter, but, what might she be hiding or what is it that makes her unable to be who she really is?
*unfortunately this posted before I was ready to post so forgive it's unfinished-ness
can’t stop thinking abt the only time we see carmy wear a The Beef tshirt is when he cooks dinner for claire. you know, the piece of clothing he refused for all of season 1 (when their restaurant was Actually called that) and asked everyone else to switch OUT of (to white shirts and blue aprons).
something something claire fundamentally does not allow carmy to grow as a person + represents carmy’s backsliding into his past something
I love Syd and I’m so curious about her… and the one thing I’ve really been thinking of is how she told Carmy that one bad catering event sunk her business (the Hawaiian rolls substitution). It just seemed odd to me that ONE mishap ruined her but then I got to thinking… did it ruin her or did she give up? We know Carmy self-sabotages but I think Syd does, too.
She has seen the kitchen absolutely fall apart, has seen Carmy scream and yell, seen the other staff at each other… but when does she quit? When she directly causes the meltdown with the preorders. Syd cannot handle her own failures. And instead of sticking around to try to sort out the mess, she runs.
It’ll be interesting to see how that works in the SydCarmy future because Carmy is a “I will go down with this ship regardless of who hit the iceberg” person and Syd is a “I hit the iceberg and I’m the first on the lifeboat” person.
Listen, Claire chased Carmy. Carmy gave her the wrong number on purpose and she still pushed her way into his life. She essentially forced him to accept her which is what has happened to Carmy his entire life. He’s basically never chosen anything for himself… he’s just had people push and poke and prod him into “deciding” (not deciding, just doing what’s expected). He became a top chef to spite his brother. He inherited The Beef. He inherited an entire staff. Nothing was what he chose.
I used to be a hater, but I’m actually obsessed with the idea of Claire as a literal, physical representation of Carmen’s past that he carries around with him now. Specifically because of S2E5 when they’re doing introductions and because Carmen brings Claire with him whenever he does do shit during the renovation.
Everyone in the room knew Claire except for Sydney. Natalie knows his past, Richie knows his past, even Fak off screen - he knows Carmen’s past too. When his past introduces itself — wearing a bullet necklace btw thank you to @currymanganese for pointing that out eons ago — Carmen realizes he’s gonna have to acknowledge it… But he still can’t quite meet Sydney’s gaze to do that. He introduces Claire to everyone but Sydney, downplaying it like she’s an old friend and not the past that hunted him down quite literally.
Sydney tries to get him to focus on the present, what they’re doing in the here and now, but Carmen keeps getting stuck in the past. “No one eats this shit,” when Donna is making the seven fishes, but when Carmen makes the menu with Claire, that’s one of the things he includes. They need a liquor beer and wine license, but he rushes it in with Claire, one of a few things Sydney questions that Carmen dismisses. Carmen goes to a party with Claire and tries to rewrite the past and become someone new, but said past then asks him why he tried to escape. “Why did you give me a fake number?” He brings that past with him to The Bear, the dream he shared with his brother, and we fall directly into my setup here where Carmen tries to pretend the past doesn’t exist while dealing with [checks notes] an energy problem. Not enough energy… being put… into The Bear.
👁️👄👁️
Amazing.
Anyway, this all makes the conversations in S2E8 and S2E9 more damning than they already were. Sydney has been trying to create a space where there was trust, where they could work together, but Carmen wouldn’t play in it. So, when he introduces that past to Marcus and misrepresents it, Sydney gets frustrated. What do you mean, “friend that’s a girl?” You couldn’t even introduce Claire to me, so what does that relationship MEAN to you because it can’t be insignificant if you’re building our menu with her.
“I just need your focus like you need mine.” (“I understand.”)
The real nail in the coffin on this metaphor is the fridge and the door handle. His past comes knocking when he’s in the throes of a professional panic attack, angry because the moment he finally wants to live on the present he gets himself locked in the physical representation of his mind. And now Carmen has no means to keep the past at arm’s length. He’s powerless to keep his past from collapsing onto the present.
He said he wanted to start fresh and have honest partners, but he carried the past with him and injected it into everything. He wasn’t honest with himself, the past (Claire), or his partner. He didn’t start fresh.
I am a supporter of the concept, “Disliking media does not equate to bad writing/bad media,” so believe me when I say that I genuinely think it would be bad writing for The Bear writers to have Carmy end up with Claire.
Call me biased because I want him with Syd, but do you expect me to believe that he’d be better off with someone he likens with being set on fire, over his business partner who validates his feelings but does not fail to call him out and defends him fervently? What character development have we seen in Carmy when he was in a relationship with Claire? Everything has literally been three steps back whenever he was with her. The writers cannot be serious now…
In all honesty, I would rather watch Carmy end up single than be with Claire.
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