#2) hating marius and david

[bisexualsbuck]

me every time i find out some random person i’ve never heard of in my life has me blocked but apparently follows mutuals and even besties of mine

[amber-angel]

Part 2!

ON MY OWN

Seriously, Mya Rena Hunter has such a good voice, there was a part in the song that had me and my roommate glancing at each other with dropped jaws. I got goosebumps

Once again, Kyle Adams. I absolutely love the way he performs in Drink With Me. He was the first person I saw to sing it with an angrier tone, and it's absolutely breathtaking

Also I may or may not have kept an eye on him throughout the barricade scene because Grantaire is my favorite, and he is so good at his job. The interactions with Gavroche were so touching. Him just cradling Gavroche's body after he died was heartbreaking. He only left Gavroche when Marius was hurt, and you could just see the depths of the relationships these actors have built between their characters

Speaking of Gavroche, I'm not sure which actor was playing him when I went, but he did such a good job. I was super impressed with both him and little Cosette. Their voices were clear and steady, they've got a lot of talent

I heard some people say Grantaire says something as he climbs the barricade but unfortunately if he did I didn't catch it

Bring Him Home made me cry. I'm ngl it's usually my least favorite song but Valjean's voice was so beautiful that I finally got the appeal

Also I have to reiterate that Marius was so good, Jake David Smith instantly gave him so much character in such a subtle way, and I loved the choices

Javert's Suicide was interesting, it came across more spoken than sung in places, but it worked. There was a lot of emotion evident in his voice, and the harness with the background when he jumped was a cool effect

My roommate really liked Javert's performance

And his hat

I hate that a lot of the details are already slipping away from me. I wrote down most of my first post during intermission, but this is a couple days later, and I have a bad memory.

OH, Turning made me cry

The way the students sort of mirror Marius during Empty Chairs at Empty tables was beautiful, the lighting and the staging really made that scene feel very ethereal

And then Enjolras paused before leaving the stage and it was just him and Marius standing across from each other, and I know it doesn't sound like much from my description, but believe me, it was such a weighted moment

The finale was great, and I just loved Fantine's part, and her, Valjean and Eponine harmonizing

I do remember Javert hugging (maybe shaking hands with?) Valjean when he dies, I thought that was a really sweet choice, it made me smile

[cher-horowitz]

hello i’ve just discovered your blog after being a huuuuge fan of you on ao3! my question is, i’m assuming you suffered through the tvc books with some tvc characters being present in some of your fics; would you recommend finishing the series as someone who has only read up to memnoch? in particular the prince lestat books?

first of all, thank you for reading my fics!!

and LMAO oh boy. yes i've read them all. it was a challenge i gave myself and i don't regret it, but... it was not always easy.

usually in my fics when i need a name i just will randomly pull one from a tvc character. i do not have positive feelings for most of these characters save for jesse reeves who is my girl (and i hope that if she's in the talamasca show, they do do her justice). and though i hated her book, i thought merrick mayfair had a lot of unused potential. EDIT: i cannot believe i forgot to shout out akasha here as well. these books could have done with more female characters.

i'm gonna try to tread lightly here because i know people have very STRONG opinions about these books. you've already read the only books i would ever willingly reread and actually really enjoyed (iwtv, tvl, and qotd).

now let's discuss the rest past memnoch 🤣

if you are an armand fan, i would rec the vampire armand, but BEWARE. this book is trigger warning after trigger warning. i know that sounds kinda stupid considering the others are not really fluffy romcoms, but still. it's beautifully written but it's dark as hell. marius is a key character here, of course. and while there are A LOT of people in the fandom who love marius, i am not one of them! i don't care if this makes me someone who "doesn't understand gothic literature," but i would gladly beat that man up with a hammer. not only that, he's boring as hell imo. i powered through this one for armand and only armand.

again, i think merrick, the book and the character, HAD potential. but it is essentially just 300 pages of david talbot lusting over merrick with about 10 mins of plot at the end. after i'm done beating marius up, david is next! there are like 2 incredible pages of loustat content at the end of that book (somewhat relating back to 2x05) but i'm sure you can find that online.

i think, unless you really want to get into marius' backstory, or a one-off about a guy who has sex with ghosts, or a sad attempt to do a lestat/mayfair crossover, i would skip blood and gold, blackwood farm, and blood canticle. i kind of thought people were exaggerating when they said they were terrible, but... yeah, i hated these books. the writing remains good, but the plots are just so dispensable i cannot rec. i had to use the audiobooks while reading along to these because my mind wandered too much.

the last 3 books (prince lestat, realms of atlantis, and blood communion) really are dealer's choice LOL. i know that's probably not the answer you want, but while i don't love those books i also don't find them offensive. they go off the deep end, but you just sort of laugh at it. or, at least, i laughed at it. fair warning, there ARE aliens. there are some great loustat moments throughout. and it's like modern loustat, so i think that's why i have a BIT of a soft spot for them. plus lestat with an iphone, dr. fareed bhansali inventing vampire clone children... like... it's campy. but there's not MUCH plot. they're sort of just chilling and then a couple dramatic things happen and are sorted out rather swiftly.

sorry this was long! but i hope that helps a little. 🩷

also may i suggest the vampire chronicles tag (below) on my blog? if you want to see how batshit these books really get lmao.

[andthentheylosttheirlove]

Okay, I have to ask about "The law & daniel molloy"

YIPPEE!!! Law & daniel molloy is my baby

There's 2 universes of it right now. Both are the same premise, but the minor characters are different. All human AU.

The Law & Daniel Molloy is a crossover with one of my favorite tv shows, The Law & Harry McGraw, which itself is a spinoff of Murder, She Wrote. Harry was in 6 episodes of MSW iirc, and the spinoff had 16 episodes before it was canceled.

The show revolves around Harry, who is a private investigator in boston. His closest friend works across the hall from him in the same building, a defense attorney named Eleanor Maginnis. Harry is kind of uncouth, but nice. Ellie is fancy. You wouldn't expect them to be as close as they are from appearances/personality alone.

Ellie's husband, Matt, died two years before the last episode, and the timeline is in spinoff hell because why wouldn't it be. Harry was an alcoholic and Matt, before he died, was the one who got Harry to attend AA.

Next is Harry's niece, EJ. She works for him as his assistant. Ellie's nephew Steve works for Ellie, and he's a tax lawyer.

There's other characters, like Cookie. He is the bartender at the bar/restaurant Harry loves. Everyone else thinks the food is bad except Harry.

As well as that, there is Tyler Chase, a district attorney, who hates Harry and is in love with Eleanor. He is... something. AND he was played by Peter Haskell, the guy from the Chucky movies, I guess.

I swear, all these characters are relevant.

PART 2: CHARACTERS

Daniel takes the role of Harry, and Armand of Ellie, and Marius of Matt. I've changed my mind about EJ and Steve, I think Sybelle may be EJ and Antoine be Steve.

Thorne is Cookie. That's not truly important but it is a silly little thing and why I mentioned Cookie at all. Yippee! Thorne!

And David as Tyler Chase.

PART 3: THE AUS THEMSELVES

Section 1

Like I said, there are 2 AUs. One is of an episode of the show, the other is the ACTUAL AU.

The one that is just an actual episode of the show is the last episode, Maginnis for the People, in which Ellie is upset when her friend is accused of murdering her (the friend's) husband, and hires some famous fuck from texas instead of her (Ellie).

In this AU, which I've called De Romanus for the People, the plot is the same.

Armand's work has been slow lately

He goes to a dinner party held by Louis and Lestat, David is there, as well as Madeleine. There's others who do not matter, perhaps

David asks (read: begs) Armand to work for him, and he denies

After the dinner party, the last person leaves (Madeleine), and Louis closes the gate and sets the alarm (the housekeeper is off for the night)

The next morning, the housekeeper comes in and finds Lestat dead, an apparent suicide. Louis is upset and confused, and people are acting very strange about him

They think Louis killed his husband! But he didn't :(

Daniel and Armand go to Louis, so Armand can talk to him. Armand comforts him a bit, until Louis gets a call. Its revealed that he'd already hired Raglan James as his attorney, and didn't need Armand for it

Daniel asks housekeeper about it all (im thinking the housekeeper may be Babette, either way doesn't matter) and learns that the marriage wasn't doing too good. Separate bedrooms, Louis having a possible affair. But the weird thing is? The alarm was off when Babette got there that morning...

David has Daniel thrown off the property, and Armand is here now and FREAKING OUT! Angrily agrees to lunch w David, that he may go to work there

Of all people, Louis hired that bitch Raglan James! Instead of Armand! His friend of many YEARS!

Speedrun of the next bits:

James asks Daniel to work for him, and eventually Daniel agrees, but James tries to get him to pay off a witness. He thinks Louis is guilty. Daniel and Armand fight over his working for James. Armand has lunch w David; Claudia and Madeleine meet for the first time. He really does go to work for David but HATES it. Quits. Daniel quits working for James, too. Louis shows up, hears that Armand thinks he's innocent, and him and Armand make up.

Eventually some things happen and the killer is revealed. I won't spoil it all. But the bad guy gets arrested and everything is OK.

Section 2

This AU is not based on an episode, just the premise of the show itself. It involves Louis and Lestat, with the murder of their daughter and trying to figure out who did it. There's less thought put into this one so far, but it's more important, as it's the actual canon for tL&DM

CONCLUSION

De Romanus for the People is NOT canon to the real lore, just kinda fun

If you made it to the end WOW cause I have typed far too many words here and I apologize. Passionate soul and all that

If you have lore questions feel free to ask because I am actually insane about the show + this AU

[beautifulsavagegarden]

I am going to address some TVA related stuff here because there's a couple of things there that have considerable bearing when it comes to how I'm playing Armand.

1: He has an extremely complicated relationship with Marius and oscillates between hating him and loving him. He finds it practically impossible to occupy a middle ground. That being said, even when he is loving him from their reunion in QOTD onwards, Armand is well aware that he has grown and developed beyond the point of a romantic relationship being possible. It should be noted that, at Trinity Gate, there are always two chairs in every room that are specifically empty. One of those chairs is for Marius should he visit.

2: Armand has tried on multiple occasions in the modern era to paint but with extremely limited success. He cannot bring himself to reforge that connection. He had painted through well over half of his mortal life but it has developed a new meaning for him. Now that he is older, and presumably wiser, he sees the painting for what it was to almost everyone else; valuable. It and his beauty were the only things that made him valuable, that made him something of worth to others. It had never been about who he was as an individual, whoever that may be. In modern era, he did pick up the paintbrush again but only once and that was to painstakingly paint a mural in Daniel's room detailing their adventures together across the years. After he was done, Armand snapped the brushes and threw them and the paints away.

3: Armand deliberately downplayed his relationship with Daniel in the book. It was still too soon, the pain of their parting still too raw. This was meant for Sybelle but ultimately it was dictated to David and Armand didn't want David to know all that about him and Daniel and what he truly thought of him, of how much he still loved him and how much pain it was causing him. David did not deserve that information. The second empty chair in each room of Trinity Gate is for Daniel. In a bedroom set aside for Daniel specifically there are several items that he left behind that Armand regularly cleans so it looks as though Daniel left only moments before. Nobody else is allowed in that room until Daniel comes back and says otherwise. More than once, Armand has fallen into the death sleep on the bed, holding one of Daniel's jumpers.

4: Armand has a severe complex when it comes to his beauty. He does not like it when people only comment on his beauty because it reminds him that, that is all he is to them. He is a physically beautiful creature but not one worthy of love for anything other than that. He tries his best to avoid that sort of thinking but it keeps coming back round again and again. Every time, his already fairly low self esteem takes yet another knock.

[missfreija]

louis for the ask meme ❤️

favorite thing about them: his tendency to react with great fervor only to the topics that interest him, his love for literature, his reverence for life only after becoming a vampire, his emotional vulnerability and weird moral principles, his introspective and anguished narrative, his physical appearance lol i like that the author wrote him as a sort of naive dramatic romantic mc.

least favorite thing about them: he is so judgemental. (real answer: his almost total absence after iwtv. I need a trilogy slice of life from his pov lol)

favorite line: 'The great adventure of our lives. What does it mean to die when you can live until the end of the world? and what is 'the end of the world' except a phrase, because who knows even what is the world itself? I had now lived in two centuries, seen the illusions of one shattered by the other, been eternally young and eternally ancient, possessing no illusions, living moment to moment in a way that made me picture a silver clock ticking in a void: the painted face, the delicately carved hands looked upon by no one, looking out at no one, illuminated by a light which was not a light, like the light by which god made the world before He had made light. Ticking, ticking, ticking, the precision of the clock, in a room as vast as the universe'

brOTP: david (basically canon, they often live together for years between memnoch and post merrick, they seem to have a mutual admiration and sometimes david can kiss his maker's husband ahah), gabrielle (a girl can dream lol i wanted more interactions between them), armand in tg era, and i think marius would be a good friend for louis. marius likes louis right away in qotd and once louis got over his reverential fear of the roman they could often discuss about art and other interesting topics. I think louis would get along with almost all the cast

OTP: lestat

(honorable mention under the section 'emotional relationship that made me cry a lot' for louis and claudia <3)

nOTP: i don't Hate them but i've never been a fan of armand/louis

random headcanon: 1) when he was human his only sexual experiences were with prostitutes, he never had a lover. 2) he is a decent billiards player. 3) during the nineteenth century he read and enjoyed penny dreadfuls. 4) even in the present sometimes he confuses words and mixes French and English

unpopular opinion: i dont know, people only talk about show!louis (and i couldn't care less about that version of the character...) or how they hate him in the books.

i like to think that his angsty reunion with lestat at the end of iwtv happened in 1920/'30 (we know that Lestat affirms that this fact never happened and that Louis only spied him from the windows but I don't really like this explanation sooo I prefer to believe louis' version and to think that lestat lied or doesn't remember lol).

i don't know if it's an unpopular opinion but i noticed that many fans love his character development/glow up post merrick (having accepted his nature and no longer being sooo weak) but I have always been a bit perplexed about this event, in the narrative his resurrection is rushed and shallow, to me it felt basically just a pretext to awaken lestat (even his chapter at the end of pl is so...random and out of context but ok). on the other hand I'm happy that Louis got some peace and happiness after so much suffering but the (offscreen) process that led to this change disappointed me

him being the 'royal consort' in the final books gives me second hand embarrassment lol

song i associate with them: saint bernard - lincoln, california - lana del rey, his Canonic Song aka moon over bourbon street - sting

favorite picture of them: there are so many amazing fanart 🫶🏻

i love this artist - this - this

[4th-make-quail]

5, 6, 8, and 18! (If you want to do all of them :3)

Fandom Questions

5. Which fandoms have your written fanfiction for? ahaha quite a few!! mostly video games with a few other canons scattered here and abouts

Final Fantasy XIV (27) Biohazard | Resident Evil (Gameverse) (26) Final Fantasy XII (18) Final Fantasy XV (13) inFAMOUS (Video Games) (13) British Comedy RPF (9) The Magnus Archives (Podcast) (8) Devil May Cry (Gameverse) (7) Supernatural (TV 2005) (7) Baldur's Gate (Video Games) (5)

Interview with the Vampire (TV 2022) RPF (4) Compilation of Final Fantasy VII (4) Interview with the Vampire (TV 2022) (3) Overwatch (Video Game) (2) Final Fantasy X (2) Dishonored (Video Games) (1) The Goblin Emperor Series - Katherine Addison (1) Uncharted (Video Games) (1) Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga (1) Metal Gear (Video Games) (1)

6. List your OTP from each fandom you’ve been involved in. AHHHH THIS IS SO HARD I HAVE SO MANY OTPS SDLKGJL'FG okay here goes!

FFXIV: Sartauvoir/Basch, Gaius/Estinien, Lyon/Menenius Resident Evil: Chris/Wesker, Leon/Krauser, Jake/Sherry FFXII: Cid/Vayne, Ghis/Bergan, Ashe/Basch/Vossler, Ondore/Reddas, Ashe/Balthier(/Al-Cid) FFXV: Gladio/Noct, Prompto/Ignis, Nyx/Drautos, Regis/Clarus inFAMOUS: Cole/Zeke, Reggie/Delsin, Eugene/Reggie Britcom RPF: Charlie Brooker/David Mitchell TMA: Jon/Gerry, Martin/Mike Crew, Peter/Elias, Jon/Elias DMC: Nero/Credo, Dante/Vergil SPN: previously Dean/Cas, now Dean/Sam, Dean/Crowley, Sam/Rowena, many many others.... bg3: Omeluum/Blurg, Tav/Emperor, Orpheus/Voss iwtv rpf: Eric/Assad ofc!! iwtv: Armand/(old)Daniel, Louis/Armand/Daniel, Louis/Daniel, Armand/Louis FFVII: Cid/Vincent, Turks Gangbang in various combos Overwatch: Reaper/Soldier 76, Hanzo/Mcree (sorry idr his new name sldhglg) FFX: Auron/Jecht/Braska, Seymour/Anima(or Seymour's mother) Dishonored: Corvo/Daud The Goblin Emperor: Thara/Iana Uncharted: Sam/Sully!!!!! but i wrote Nate/Elena as a gift lol Full Metal Alchemist: Hughes/Mustang, although I wrote Ed/Winry for an exchange MGS: Sam/Raiden, Vamp/Raiden, BB/Ocelot, BB/Kaz, although when i wrote for this fandom it was..... a britcom rpf crossover LOL

8. How did you get involved in your latest fandom? well, i was SUPER into the vampire chronicles as a young teen but i basically read iwtv -> TVA -> blood & gold and then stopped, cos i was mostly HUGELY into Armand and then Marius, and less bothered about the rest. then when iwtv (tv) came out, i was HUGELY into it, but i wasn't back on tumblr back then so i just kinda squeed in my own head? so when i found out s2 was airing (i'd missed like 3 eps i think??) i just finally got into the fandom proper! and having Armand there now just gave me all the impetus i needed to start making things heh. god i love him so much... needless to say young teen me HATED the casting choice from the original film LOL

Current Fandom

18. What ship have you written the most about? it's definitely Eric/Assad atm!! i've written three Armand/Daniel drabbles for Seasons of Drabbles exchange, but man, the rpf has taken me overrrr

[loelett]

Akasha, Marius, Daniel, Riccardo, David

Daniel- he's quirky, he's insane, he's fucked uP!!!!! i love him i love what he stands for! although i stand by what i said before i am kind of turning around on him being a vampire. as long as he's insane and maybe hates being a vampire a little. his entire thing in qotd was sooo good and the highlight of the book. i'd like to see him and louis talk!! honestly maybe they do i haven't read past totbt lols. also he's in lesbian love with armand thanks ray

Akasha- i like her more than the other guys but i also don't love what she stands for hahaaa. i don't like that the origin of vampires are explained tbh. i think the mystery shrouding the whole thing is kind of what made vampirism feel more like a curse than a fun cool thing that can just happen to you. the unexplainable is scary and vampires are supposed to be scary!! sorry if this is a hot take... i do love women though so 10/10 for being a woman. i think her obsession with lestat is kinda funny like he is literally just some guy. based. i think i only like her as a concept, as in something to drive lestat more towards losing his 'humanity' which is kinda interesting. i also liked the debate at the end of qotd where people had to convince her not to murder the men lol

Riccardo- i don't actually know who this is but he's probably better than the last 2 guys so. i think he is friends with armand? was he the guy from tva who he was buddies with sorry i forget. i'll get back to this if i remember sorry

DAVID TALBOT!!!!!!- I HATE DAVID TALBOT I HATE HIM. I HATE HIM. DAVID TAL BOT. i actually thought he was cool at the end of qotd and enjoyed him and then EVERYTHING ELSE HAPPENED i cannot stand him. all i remember is skimming all of his text at the end of totbt. and also hating him when i skimmed merrick. he should have stayed human. why is ar allergic to letting some people stay human? cringe lestat moment for turning him because now he's immortal and people have to be in his presence

Marius- L for tva and L for the 500 monologues he gave in tvl that i could not care less about. i got to his backstory monologue (audiobook) when i was driving home from college. the drive is 2 1/2 hours and it took up that entire ride. the entire time i was so miserable he ruined my life. i don't really have much opinion on the discourse for him because i am just not really interested in his character (reasoning: monologue) so i'm not the one to go to for opinions on marius. BITCH STOP INFODUMPING I DONT CARE!!!!!!!!!! he could have explained that shit in like 2 paragraphs and saved so much time. sorry

[themosleyreview]

The Mosley Review: Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom

Remember back in the mid 2000's where ever major studio film had a summer blockbuster that was filled to the brim with an insane amount of nonsensical action which was fueled by CGI and about 2 gallons of Redbull? One film in particular comes to mind that was the major culprit of having an over abundance of CGI and a very comical attempt at a story. G.I. Joe: the Rise of Cobra was that film and the studio tried their hardest to make up for with a more "grounded" sequel I guess. I hoped that no film would ever take the same route as that film. Well here we are with a another film that prioritizes demolishing your senses with an insane amount of sonic and visual noise to distract you from the abysmal storytelling. The DCEU as we know it comes to an end with this film and they do send it off with a huge amount of action, but showcased why it was failing. The lack of consistent tone and character development was appalling and boredom set in heavily halfway through the film.

Jason Mamoa returns as Arthur Curry / Aquaman and honestly, it was 90 percent Jason having fun and about 10 percent Arthur's story. Don't get me wrong, its always fun watching the man work, but I wish he matured the character into the King of Atlantis instead of the fun surfer dad. Amber Heard returns as his wife Mera and she was good for the amount of time she was on screen. She gets to play in the action, but not much else character development wise. You know those type of characters that are written in to be the moral compass and also the very cheesy comic relief that has an overused catchphrase? Well, Randall Park as Dr. Stephen Shin was exactly that character and he was great in the opening but after that, I couldn't stand him. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II returns as David Kane / Black Manta and for the most part he was good and menacing. His motivation for vengeance knows no bounds and that's really all he has to do in the film. There really wasn't anywhere for him to take the character or evolve him in anyway. He was whittled down to a cliche in so many ways and I felt sorry for him. Now the one character that actually had substance and had the best performance was Patrick Wilson as Orm Marius. He understood the film he was in and had the most character growth. I loved his chemistry with Arthur and I wish the film was about just the two of them. The path of redemption for Orm was way more interesting and sometimes hilarious as he gets a taste of surface life. There is a great emotional scene with him toward the final act that really solidifies the brotherhood between him and Arthur that was the gold standard I wish the film reached.

The soundtrack was fun and served as a driving force during the majority of the action and comedic scenes. Composer Rupert Gregson-Williams did what he could to underscore the scattered emotion in the film and his score during the massive action set pieces was good. I'm all for fun and action fueled stories, but when it is earned and the story calls for it first. This film felt like it had so many people throwing in different ideas to spice up a dish that didn't need it and now its just a soggy mess that people might say they liked, but don't love. I didn't hate this film for it is watchable, but its definitely one of the worst ways to end a cinematic universe. I truly wish the same amount of love and care went into the finale of this universe and it breaks my heart to see so much potential wasted on a cheap and rushed sequel. Even the mid credits scene was unnecessary. Let me know what you thought of the film or my review in the comments below. Thanks for reading!

[cbrownjc]

Well, I can say they've been popular at least since 1995 which is back when I was first in the VC fandom. It was very much the second most popular ship after Lestat/Louis back then -- which might have something to do with the fact that there were only 4 books back then when I first joined VC fandom: IWTV, TVL, QotD, and TotBT.

So back then, the fact that we only had the Devil's Minion chapter of QotD to go by wasn't so bad. Yes, people were desperate to hear/learn more about how Armand and Daniel were doing (as we got no word or glimpse of them at all in TotBT), but people were still okay with that back then at the time. Mostly because many people hadn't even expected the books to go past QotD anyway back then. So everyone was still pretty chill about not seeing them in TotBT, just one book later.

People didn't really start getting angry/disappointed by the lack of Armand and Daniel in the books until Memnoch the Devil and Armand seemingly killing himself toward the end of that book. And no, people were not happy when we finally got The Vampire Armand book and got a one and a half paragraph explanation that they'd broken up sometime before that.

We didn't see Daniel in the flesh again until Blood and Gold, when he was now with Marius after having gone mad. And, you know, for some of us, we were at least happy we actually got to see Daniel again finally, as it were, even if he didn't do much.

But fandom was kind of a mess at this point by the time that book came out anyway; between the fanfic crackdowns and the book right before Blood and Gold being Merrick which was super hated -- especially by Lestat/Louis fans -- because of David.

So, you know, Devil's Minion fans weren't the only ones going through it at that time wrt the books. Lestat has been asleep since Memnoch and even after he woke up again in Merrick, he still wasn't the main POV character of any of the books anymore after that (until Blood Canticle -- the most hated book in the entire VC series btw); Louis was being sidelined even more -- even in books that many thought should have been from his POV, i.e. Merrick; Armand had seemingly killed himself and then, when he came back, brought two kids with him that most of the fandom thought were flat and boring -- and then didn't really tell us his backstory so much as he dictated it to David; and Daniel -- in all that time -- only made a minor appearance in one book between 1988 and 2002.

There is a reason I consciously chose to stop reading the books after Blackwood Farm back then.

But yeah, to answer the original question, Devil's Minion really was the #2 most popular ship in fandom even back in 1995 when I first was in fandom. And even when the books were doing . . . what they were doing, I didn't really see that change much.

Hi! So I was hoping you could shed some light on a question I have had for a while now. I have heard people say that Armand/Daniel is the second most popular ship in TVC. I just find that so interesting because from my understanding this couple's entire story is told in the DM chapter. I have become obsessed with this ship but from what I know about them in the book I feel like the show is giving me so much more to work with. So I guess my questions are Is it true there really isn't that much material about this ship after the DM chapter? In your experience has this ship always been popular been? Were they popular from the start or did they become popular later on? I hope this makes sense! Thanks!

I'm not sure at what point this relationship became as popular as it is now... but yes, it is mostly in that one chapter in QotD, yes.

There are a few hints and mentions later on. Armand and Daniel are together (again) last Daniel is mentioned in the books.

But the show has already elevated them - a lot.

It will be quite the slow burn for us to watch, and personally I love that^^.

Maybe someone else knows how long DM has been popular?^^

[wolfkller]

i don't have to be an "apologist" for evil characters because there is nothing to apologize for. they did what they came to do and were sexy while doing it. what more do you want

[house-of-slayterr]

INFP - INFJ Characters I Relate To

Luna Lovegood - Harry Potter 

Wanda Maximoff - WandaVision 

Number 7 - The Umbrella Academy 

Cassie Ainsworth - Skins

Max Caulfield - Life Is Strange

Peter Parker - Spider-man

Lapis Lazuli - Steven Universe

Raven Queen - Ever After High

Bubbles - Power Puff Girls

Newt Scamander - Fantastic Beasts 

Nico di Angelo - Camp Half-Blood

Charlie Kelmeckis - Perks of Being a Wallflower

Amelie - Amelie 

Aurora - Sleeping Beauty 

Musa - Winx Club 

Alice Kingsleigh - Alice in Wonderland 

2-D - Gorillaz

Persephone - Greek Legends 

Victor Van Dort - Corpse Bride

BMO - Adventure Time

Asriel Dreamer - Undertale

Jason Dean - Heathers

Courage - Courage the Cowardly Dog

Lucy Pevensie - The Chronicles of Narnia 

Romeo and Juliet - Romeo and Juliet 

Barry Allen - The Flash 

Davy Jones - Pirates of the Caribean 

Merlin - Merlin 

Susanna Kaysen - Girl, Interrupted 

Emma Chotta - The Red Band Society

Carrie Krueger - The Amazing World of Gumball

Arwen Undomiel - The Lord of the Rings

Ethan Lewis - Euphoria 

Anne Shirley - Anne of Green Gables

Rue - Hunger Games

Ratcatcher 2 - Suicide Squad 

Misty Day - American Horror Story

Lydia Deetz - Beetlejuice

Joshua Washington - Until Dawn

The Phantom - The Phantom of the Opera

Aurora - Maleficent 

Alison Cameron - House M.D.

The Monster - Frankensstien 

Crybaby - K-12

Sweeney Todd - Sweeney Todd

Abigail Hobbs - Hannibal

Credence Barebone - Fantastic Beasts 

Kermit the Frog - The Muppets 

Ofelia - Pan’s Labyrinth 

Ponyboy Curtis - The Outsiders

Coraline Jones - Caroline 

Rogue - X-Men

Candy Chiu - Gravity Falls

Eloise Turner - Last Night in Soho

Zoe Benson - American Horror Story 

Sam Manson - Danny Phantom 

Louis de Pointe du Lac - Interview with the Vampire

Antigone - Greek Legends

Wiccan - Marvel

Orpheus - Hadestown

Melinda Sordino - Speak

Evey Hammond - V for Venddetta

Fisk - Undertale 

Harry Osborne - Spider-man

Greg Wuliger - Everybody Hates Chris 

David - Hilda

Buffalo Bill - Silence of the Lambs 

Christine Daae - The Phantom of the Opera

Scorpius Malfoy - Cursed Child

Frances Houseman - Dirty Dancing

Max - Sharkboy and Lavagirl 

Susie Salmon - The Lovely Bones

The Grabber - The Black Phone 

Ethan Morgan - My Babysitters a Vampire

Stevonnie - Steven Universre 

Abby Sciuto - NCIS

Miles Halter - Looking for Alaska 

Jacob Portman - Miss Peregrine 

Sarah - Labyrinth 

Marius - Les Mis

Bridgitte Fitzgerald - Ginger Snaps 

Thomasin - The VVitch 

Edith Cushing - Crimson peak 

Basil - Dorian Gray 

Allen Ginsberg - Kill Your Darlings 

Jane Eyre- Jane Eyre

Andrew Detmer - Chronicle

Wanderer - The Host

Kurt Wagner - X-Men

Scout Finch - To Kill a Mockingbird

Emma - Blue is the Warmest Colour

Syrena - Pirates of the Caribbean 

Sara Crewe - A Little Princess

David Haller - Legion 

Skeeter - The Help 

Nico Minoru - Runaways 

Dave Lizewski - Kick-Ass

Annie Sawyer - Being Human 

Nugget - Kindergarten 

Chip Dove - Jennifer’s Body

Mia Warren - Little Fires Everywhere 

Chase Mathews  - Zoey 101

Eli Goldworthy - Degrassi 

Willow Rossenberg - Buffy

Fiona - About a Boy

Violet Harmon - American Horror Story 

Anastasia - Anastasia 

Spike - Buffy

Theo Putnam - Chilling Adventures of Sabrina 

Frances Shea - Legends 

Micheal Darling - Peter Pan

Jughead Jones - Archie Comics

Johnathan Morgenstern - The Shadowhunters

Rapheal Santiago - The Shadowhunters 

Bree Tanner - Twilight 

Angela Weber - Twilight 

Michelle Jones - Spider-man Homecoming

Davina Claire - The Originals

April Ludgate - Parks and Recreation

Alec Lightwood - The Shadowhunters

Nia Nal - Supergirl 

Raven - Teen Titans 

Remus Lupin - Harry Potter 

Atticus Finch - To Kill a Mockingbird

Will Grahm - Hannibal 

Harley Quinn - DC Comics

Amy Dunne - Gone Girl 

Lexi Howard - Euphoria

James - The End of the Fucking World

Vision - WandaVision 

Nina Sayers - Black Swan 

Veronica Sawyer - Heathers 

Mathew Murdocck - Daredevil

Gellret Grindelwald - Fantastic Beasts

Dawn - Total Drama

Sally - The Nightmare Before Christmas

Eurus Holmes - Sherlock 

James Wilson - House M.D. 

Professor X - X-Men

Ester Coleman - Orphan

Winter Anderson - American Horror Story 

Needy - Jennifer’s Body

Joan of Arc - Clone High

Micheal Morbius - Morbius 

Nick Goode - Fear Street

Miss Honey - Matilda

Cole Sear - The Sixth Sense 

Brea - The Dark Crystal 

Ingrid Beuachamp - The Witches of East End

Victoria Winters - Dark Shadows

Bella Swan - Twilight

Ramona Flowers - Scott Pilgrim 

Fern Arable - Charlottes Web

Dwayne Hoover - Little Miss Sunshine

Rose Bukate - Titanic 

Candyman - Candyman 

Magenta - Rocky Horror

Tom Riddle - Harry Potter 

Bruce Banner - The Hulk 

Sirus Black - Harry Potter

Barbra Godron - Batman 

The Enchantress - Suicide Squad 

[bubblegum-blackwood]

Tournament: Best Marius ship

Vote for who you ship Marius de Romanus with the most!

If you blanket-statement hate him then this tournament isn't made for you, so please don't negatively interact with it. This is purely for fandom fun and my own curiosity.

Also I scoured AO3 to find enough ships for the tournament and was vaguely surprised by some of the results I got lmao. Y'all freaks

Day 1 (13 Feb 10:00 PST):

Armand vs Louis, Daniel vs David, Mael vs Avicus, Bianca vs Akasha, Pandora vs Benedict, Botticelli vs Zenobia, Eudoxia vs Lestat, Raymond Gallant vs Thorne

Day 2 (14 Feb): Armand vs Daniel, Mael vs Bianca, Pandora vs Botticelli, Lestat vs Gallant

Day 3 (15 Feb): Armand vs Mael, Pandora vs Lestat

Day 4 (16 Feb): Armand vs Pandora

Winner: Armand

[xskyll]

Gravity Falls AU

Izuku and Ochako are Dipper and Mabel, respectively, except they BOTH have braces, cause I said so.

Their Grunkle Stan is All Might?? He is either a legitimate business man or is accidentally, totally unintentionally crooking people.

I'm thinking maybe Bakugou as Wendy??? Izuku thinks he's the coolest mfer he's ever met, and probably has a crush, but that only lasts until...

Todoroki as Pacifica enters the scene! A rich boy with a mean dad. Does he excel at golf and dancing? Maybe! Either way, he hates our beloved twins until Izuku defends him against Enji and encourages him to stand up for himself and live his own life. And also protects him against a ghost, cause you know, Gravity Falls.

So basically he's not here to make friends, but then season 2 his chemistry with Izuku hits them like a freight train. Goodbye crush on Bakugou!

Which is good, because that leaves Bakugou free to be with Kirishima, our Soos who fixes stuff around the shack.

Idk about the gnomes, but I feel like Ochako has a brief romance with Tsuyu/Mermando, who ultimately leaves for the ocean. Maybe the gnomes were a bunch of Minetas in a trench coat, lolol.

And then, hear me out, Gideon is....Toga.

She's super cute, and no one realizes she's a psychopath. She's obsessed with Ochako. She gets a redemption arc eventually.

Of course All For One is Bill Cipher. There's a good Villain Deku appearance during the sock puppet episode.

Idk who All Might's twin would be. Obviously it would have to change to a fraternal twin. Nana? David Shield? Nighteye? Runner-up on that vote gets to be Old Man McGucket.

Robbie, Tambry, Lee, and Nate might just be the Bakusquad, so Mina, Sero, and Kaminari, with Jirou thrown in for Robbie. I'm gonna say there probably aren't any romance subplots with them. At least none involving Bakugou.

There are soooo many options for Grenda and Candy! I don't even know where to start, especially if 1B kids are also up for consideration.

Aoyama is probably Marius von Fundshauser, that pretty rich kid who they meet at Pacifica's family's party.

The sheriff and the deputy are, naturally, Aizawa and Present Mic. Like, that's just the most obvious thing.

Update: Gran Torino as McGucket???

[enjolraspermettendo]

I was bored so I played Bitlife as Grantaire and added the others as custom characters:

So, I was born as R Grantaire on the 14th of August and my parents are Anna Grantaire (22) and Paul Grantaire (26). The mother has an Italian name so I'm keeping my headcanon that R is Italian

R has Looks at 78% so he's beautiful, suck my dick Hugo

Oh okay, R's three years old and he just got a baby brother named Victor, which, weird, because I didn't put Victor Hugo as a custom person. This is completely random and almost scary

Oh okay, apparently R and Victor hate each other.

Wait I just realized R is blond, of all things. Gonna dye his hair as soon as I can

R is 6 years old and started school; Mme Thenardier is a classmate, definitely staying away...

Oh we're getting bullied. I decided not to react since he always accepts and makes even worse insults to himself in canon

R has low smarts and I can't make him keep good grades :(

R started Jiu-jitsu classes

R is 11 and he just received another baby brother named Noah

I just made R join his Middle school's Politics club LMAO

OH a classmate named Napoleon Bonaparte, who is also a popular kid, just asked R out. I'll accept just because, I mean, I can make R hookup with Napoleon, think about it

Grantaire and Napoleon are officially boyfriends

Grantaire has been elected secretary of the politics club

Cosette and R are classmates!!! Gonna befriend her because Cosette and R friendship is precious

R is 14 and 1) his parents gave him yet another sibling, a sister named Victoria seriously guys, learn how to put a condom on, they've all been caused by it slipping off, and 2) R JUST GOT ELECTED AS PRESIDENT OF THE POLITICS CLUB

R started secondary school and joined the dance club; he also started working as a part time golf caddie

VICTOR HAS BEEN BULLIED AND CALLED RACIAL SWEARS AND NO, WE'RE NOT OKAY WITH IT. GONNA FIGHT THE MOTHERFUCKER

The game said I can't attack him cause he lives in Afghanistan and I am in France???? What???? How does he go to school with Victor???? I'm confused

R and Feuilly are classmates so I made them become friends :)

R is 18 and his parents divorced :(

R started studying arts at university. Eponine is a classmate BUT SHE REFUSED TO BEFRIEND GRANTAIRE

Grantaire and Napoleon broke up 😣

Grantaire came out as gay. Uhm, we been knew honey

classmate Hugo Fontaine asked R out but he got rejected

R and Combeferre are now friends. Eponine keeps rejecting Grantaire

R's mum just married a very rich guy named Rousseu but he hates Grantaire sike. R calls him "bro"

R's dad remarried too, she's normal. R calls her "sis". She has a daughter called Juliette, so now she's R stepsister

Grantaire graduated and started a position as Junior graphic designer!

Grantaire started drinking wine

Oh okay, R and Bahorel are now dating

They broke up

Bishop Myriel asked R out on a date... R refused, sorry it's too weird even for me

R and Montparnasse are dating. Damn R you really go around

They broke up. And R started dating Courfeyrac

They lasted two years

BOTH MARIUS AND JEAN VALJEAN HAVE ASKED R OUT GODDAMN

Grantaire and Enjolras are dating!!! (yes It's because I wanted it to be like this shut up)

Okay, I looked at Enjolras's info and I shit you not, he graduated in political science. He's a real estate agent tho

Enjolras came out of the closet as gay

Grantaire proposed to Enj and he accepted 🥺🥺

They got married at the beach and went to Pompeii for their honeymoon 🥺🥺🥺

Feuilly got married to a certain Mila

Grantaire is now an uncle! His brother Victor fathered a baby girl called Camille!

Grantaire and his brother Noah got in trouble for dancing in the middle of a road 😬 they've been declared not guilty tho

Grantaire and Enj adopted a little girl named Iris!!!!

Enjolras and Grantaire have been married for 10 years :)

For some reason the game is not proposing the other custom characters I added sike

They adopted another girl named Eva 🥺🥺🥺🥺

Cosette had a son called David Antoinette. The father is unknown

Grantaire's stepfather died of Hepatitis C

Feuilly pranked R by setting 15 alarms on his phone hours before he was supposed to wake up

Grantaire's brother Noah fathered a boy named Ethan

Eva wants a cockatiel so OF COURSE WE'LL GET HER A COCKATIEL

We got her a cockatiel named Ronda :)

Enjolras and Grantaire have been married for 20 years

Grantaire's father died of leukemia ☹️ Grantaire and his siblings inherited quite a lot

Eva and Iris started secondary school 😭 they grow up so fast

While at a soccer game a brawl started between parents... So of course Grantaire joined in

Feuilly and R went partying. 55 years old and still kicking

Iris and Eva graduated 🎉

Grantaire's mum died of tuberculosis

Ronda the Cockatiel died too of dehydration after her water bottle malfunctioned :(

Eva moved out

Iris is a writer, while Eva is a cadet at the police 😬 imagine the tension at home.

Grantaire just befriended Joly!!!! Joly is married to a Charlotte Clement

Grantaire's stepmother died of Aids

Eva has been promoted to patrolman

Joly and Grantaire are officially best friends

Enjolras retired (both him and R are 62 now)

Eva has been promoted to Trooper. Enjolras must be going crazy

Feuilly has invited R to do mushrooms so of course he accepted

Eva has been promoted to corporal

Grantaire retired (he's 67)

Eva has been promoted to sergeant

Enjolras is nagging at Grantaire to buy a car so R bought a purple lambo 😎

Feuilly keeps inviting Grantaire over for drugs and OMG FEUILLY YOU'RE ALMOST 80 STOP IT

IRIS GOT MARRIED!! To a certain Paul Girard

NOOOO FEUILLY DIED OF FUCKING EBOLA

Iris had a baby girl named Alice 🥺🥺🥺 Grantaire and Enjolras are grandpas 😭😭

Omg, now that Feuilly is dead Combeferre is the one that keeps offering drugs

Iris had another daughter named Olivia 😭😭😭😍😍😍

Eva just had a son named Ethan 😭😭😭 there three grandchildren now omg

4 grandchildren!!!!! Iris gave birth to a girl named Lina!!!!!!

Grantaire's brother Victor just died :(

Omg the grandchildren are starting to go to school, my heart cant

NOOOOO JOLY DIED

Grantaire's brother Noah died too

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO ENJOLRAS DIED IN HIS SLEEP 😭😭😭😭 at 91 tho which is way better than canon

COMBEFERRE DIED TOO FUCKING FUCK

Grantaire died at 93. Game over. Here is the grave:

[365days365movies]

May 1: The Prestige (2006) (Recap: Part Two)

Now, where were we? Oh, right!

Wolverine’s trying to take down Batman for killing his wife and ruining his life, but can’t do it, even with the help of Black Widow and Alfred Pennyworth. So, he goes to the United States to meet Gollum, who’s working for Nicola Tesla. 

That sound about right, Nick Jonas of the Jonas Brothers: Living the Dream?

Awesome! Thanks, man; thought you were underrated as Marius in Les Mis. Anyway, let’s get back to it! 

Part One is right here!

Recap (2/2)

We flash forward AGAIN to Borden in prison, who’s agreed to sell almost all of his tricks to the representative from before. However, he will only sell the last trick (the Transported Man), if Caldolw comes there himself, with his daughter (whom he agreed to keep out of the workhouses). Meanwhile, he plays a magic trick on a guard, in a fashion that’s genuinely funny and well-done.

The builder of the machine, who is once again friggin’ Nicola Tesla, appears to speak with Angier. Oh, and by the way, Nicola Tesla is FUCKING DAVID BOWIE OH MY GOD!! After showing him a lightbulb powered by bioelectricity, the two sit down for a meal. Tesla speaks on how his visionary status is less-than-appreciated at this point. Still, he offers to make the machine for Angier, but also asks if he’s considered the cost. And not just the monetary one.

While Tesla recommends against Angier’s passions, recognizing it as an obsession, he does agree to build it, recognizing that he will not stop these obsessions. From there, we flashback AGAIN and see Angier backstage, shortly after his failure (and Borden’s sabotage). Still angered at Borden’s new life and success, he goes to his show to observe a new trick he’s debuting, called “The Transported Man.” 

Consorting with Olivia, he gets a better disguise to look in on Borden’s act. And when he does...he sees the greatest trick he’s ever seen. Borden goes in through one door, then comes out of another. When he tells Cutter about the trick, Cutter insists that it’s a double. But both Olivia and Angier agree that it wasn’t a double, given that both had the missing fingers from Angier’s shooting attempt. Still, they don’t know HOW Borden does it. So, with Cutter’s advice, they find a double to sit in for Angier for their own version of the trick. This double is drunk and unemployed actor Gerald Root (Hugh Jackman), who is...kind of a dick. Still, the two do look alike (obviously).

With more pizzazz and showmanship than Borden displayed, Angier’s version of the Transported Man is a big success, and Angier is a success as a result. However, there’s a drawback; because he’s switching places with Root, he’s underneath the stage, rather than on top of it. Because of this, he can’t actually appreciate the applause of the audience first hand. Which means quite a lot to him for some reason. And so, he STILL needs to figure out how Borden’s act work. To do so, he asks Olivia (with whom he’s in a new relationship) to spy on Borden by pretending to defect to his side. Which angers Olivia, but she agrees.

Flash forward to Colorado, and to the first experiment of the machine that Tesla’s built. He believes that the machine should be able to transport a person or object from one place to another. They use Angier’s top hat for the demonstration, watching electricity arc around it, and...nothing happens. The hat’s still there. The experiment is a failure, but Tesla will keep at it (for Angier’s money, of course).

Back to the past, where it’s revealed that Olivia is...really fucking pissed at Angier, it turns out. See, she actually did LOVE him, and he cast her away like little more than hired help in order to succeed in his rivalry with Borden, basically telling her that she means little to him, as compared to the feud. So, she betrays Angier by telling Borden about Root. Borden tells Root that he holds power over Angier, convincing him to blackmail him. A drunken Root agrees, but this is also part of Borden’s plan.

See, Borden shows up at the show, and takes away a pad under the trap door through which Angier falls for the trick, causing him to hit the floor badly, and permanently hobbling him. Now under the stage, the asshole Borden takes Root’s place, and Angier’s spotlight, humiliating his rival to LITERALLY add insult to injury. Fuck Borden, he’s a dick.

An understandably enraged Angier goes to Olivia to find out, y’know...what the FUCK? But, after she angrily confronts her, she gives him Borden’s journal, which she’s pinched. However, the journal is written with a cipher in order to prevent any looky-loos from figuring out his secrets. To get the cipher’s key, Angier crosses YET ANOTHER line, and kidnaps Fallon, Borden’s stage engineer. Reluctantly, Borden gives Angier the key to the cipher: TESLA. That leads him to Tesla, and back to America, where Angier is from. But Cutter’s done; he’s not coming along this time. Angier’s obsession with Borden is just that: Angier’s obsession, not his. So, Angier’s on his own.

That night, with Olivia, Fallon, and his wife Sarah, Borden celebrates at dinner! However, Sarah’s not happy, AT ALL, it turns out. I haven’t mentioned this yet, but Borden’s relationship with Sarah is tumultuous as hell. As she describes it, some days he’s all into their marriage and their relationship, and he truly seems to love her. But some days...he isn’t. Some days, he’s into magic whole-heartedly, and into his secrets, which she HATES. This comes up at dinner, where it’s also fairly apparent that Borden is cheating on her with Olivia. YIKES.

As the marriage is falling apart, we go back to Colorado Springs, where Angier is once more reading Borden’s diary. He’s had it the whole time he’s been in Colorado, by the way, but we only now found out where he got it. As he reads it, he’s shocked to see that the diary is now...directly addressing him. Oh...fuck.

Turns out Olivia was REALLY FUCKING PISSED at Angier, and has COMPLETELY betrayed him for Borden, with whom she’s fallen in love. Yeah, fuck. Borden told her to give Angier the diary, knowing that it would send him back to his home country of America on a wild goose chase, as he actually NEVER went to Tesla for the key to his trick. Which means that Angier is there for absolutely no reason.

So, uh...Angier’s gonna punch a genius right now, because he’s now ALSO FUCKING PISSED (which pleases Borden greatly as he reads this in the diary). Convinced that Tesla was stealing his money for a fraudulent cause, he storms there immediately. The lab’s been burned out by Edison’s men, but Tesla and Alley are still there, and they actually don’t know why the experiment didn’t work. They give it one more shot, with Alley’s cat this time. And...

Nothin’. Just an electrified cat. Alive, but probably all static-y now. Anyway, Tesla apologizes, and a frustrated Angier leaves the facility, followed by the understandably freaked out cat. And the other cat is also freaked out. And...oh. OH.

Turns out - TURNS FUCKING OUT - that the machine isn’t a teleporter; it’s a cloning machine! YEAH! And as soon as the cloning is revealed...I figure the whole movie out. I mean it. I figured out the twist! Here, lemme try it on for size. First of all, Angier isn’t dead. His double from the experiment died, in order to frame Borden for his murder and ruin him. Secondly, the person who’s aiming to buy Borden’s trick? It’s him. He’s the “mysterious collector.” 100%, I goddamn guarantee it. Oh, and while we’re at it, I know who Fallon is! Fallon is Borden’s double, because Borden’s only performed the experiment successfully ONCE! When he did, he made a double of himself, and that double is the silent and mysterious Fallon, who seems to care for Borden’s daughter greatly. That’s it! I figured out the goddamn movie! BET. FUCKING BET

Well, I’ll find out soon, I’m sure. Tesla’s forced out of town the next day, but he’s left Angier the box, containing the cloning machine that would be his end. He tests it...but we don’t see whether or not it works. Hmm. Borden’s as interested as I am in this...and then reads on as the diary starts addressing HIM. FUCK. Angier did in fact frame Borden for his death. And with that knowledge...Borden’s done. Both because he’s been fooled, and because...well, that’s not all that’s happened to him recently.

Back in time again, and Sarah and Borden’s marriage is FALLING APART ENTIRELY. Sarah is done with Borden’s flip-flopping mentalities, realizing even now that he’s not currently in love with her. She’s not OK. And unfortunately...she hangs herself shortly afterwards. Yeah. It’s terrible, and Borden drove her FUCKING CRAZY. I DO NOT LIKE THIS ASSHOLE. Poor, poor Sarah. Sucks.

That’s led, of course, to their child being without a mother, which is why Borden agrees to allow the mysterious Lord Caldlow to look after her. And once he arrives at the prison to collect Borden’s final trick as agreed...yup.

Alive, well, and now ABSOLUTELY AN ASSHOLE TOO, Angier has taken on his ACTUAL identity: Robert Caldlow, British nobleman! Holy shit. HOLY SHIT I WAS RIGHT. Now realizing how...FUCKING CRAZY this whole thing is, Borden’s fucked. At the same time, Cutter is to deliver the Box to the estate. Although Caldlow tries to avoid the interaction, the interaction happens, and Cutter is also ABSOLUTELY FUCKING ENRAGED!!! A lot of anger in this movie.

Anyway, yeah! Angier was fucking dead! And now, Borden’s life is absolutely ruined for something that, to be fair, he didn’t actually do! But there’s a question...how the fuck is this possible? I mean, we know a lot of the details. but not everything. It is at this point, though, that we flashback to the night in question.

First things first, Olivia is tried of this bullshit. She’s leaving before it’s too late, because their obsessions with each other is too fucking much. With Angier about to debut a new trick, a new version of the “Transported Man”, Borden goes to the show night-after-night, despite the fact that his wife is dead, kinda because of him. But whatever, amirite? MAGIC RULES ALL

Borden attends the show multiple times, and night after night, Angier enters the machine, and his double appears above the audience seconds later, which astounds and amazes. Finally, Borden’s fed up, and he makes his way backstage to figure out what the FUCK is happening. And that’s when we get back to the beginning. The clone of Angier dies in the water tank, and Borden’s framed for the crime. And it worked.

Realizing now that he’s fucked, Borden in the modern day says his tearful goodbyes to the always silent Fallon, admitting his faults, and apologizing to him for what happened with Sarah? Huh. But a part of me wonders whether or not Borden can escape. I mean, he’s an escape artist and a magician, right?

No. Borden is brought to the gallows to be done. And when they ask if he has anything more to say...he does.

...Holy shit.

After this, we go back to Caldlow/Angier. He brings the machine to the theatre with the help of Cutter. There, he prepares to burn the theatre and the box, and a water tank also in the cellar. And then, he’s shot. Wait, wait, he’s fucking SHOT? By...oh. OHHHHHH.

Fallon. FALLON shoots Caldlow/Angier. But it’s not Fallon really. No, no. This is THE OTHER Alfred Borden, who’s been disguised as Fallon the whole time. But wait! There’s FUCKING MORE! As Angier/Caldlow dies (YES DIES), we learn the truth from both sides. Let’s start with Borden.

See, this entire time, through all the BULLSHIT that Angier went through to make this goddamn stupid fucking trick work...Cutter was right. THE ENTIRE TIME. But how did Borden to the Transported Man? Easy: he has a twin brother. HE HAS A FUCKING TWIN BROTHER!!! I was wrong! The real trick is that the brothers sacrificed their individuality in order to play the same person! This whole goddamn time! HOLY SHIT! That’s also why Sarah noted that Borden seemed like two people at once sometimes! In fact, one brother loved Sarah, and the other loved Olivia! Holy fucking SHIT! But what about the hands, you ask? Easy! To commit to the bit, the other brother CUT HIS FUCKING FINGERS OFF!!! WHAT IN THE EVERLOVING FUCK?!?

Now THAT is a fucking twist! And Angier’s equally as impressed. But OK...how did Angier do his trick? Simple; by killing his clones EVERY SINGLE FUCKING NIGHT WITH THE WATER TANK! Which is just SUPER FUCKED when you think about it! He’s killing himself every night, because when he steps in to the machine, he never knows if he’s the man in the water or on the stage! He’s literally drowning himself every night, in the same way that his wife died! And you know the REALLY FUCKED UP THING? 

HE ALREADY TRIED TO DO THE EXACT SAME THING EARLIER

Yeah! That’s from before, shortly after his wife died! And he did that every night, WAITING for the right moment to get his revenge on Borden to frame him for murder! ISN’T THAT ABSOLUTELY FUCKED?!? I LOVE IT!

So, yeah, that’s all well and good, but for the love of God, WHY? Angier got his revenge already with the better showmanship from his first revision of Borden’s trick, so why do it like this now? Well, Angier’s reply is that he did it to see the magic on people’s faces when they realized the trick in front of them. I mean...you’re fuckin’ CRAZY dude, but I respect your devotion to the craft?

Angier dies, and the lantern falls on the ground, causing everything to start burning. And as Borden walks away from this mess, we hear Caine’s narration come in again, and go back to that first scene with him and the little girl, whom we now know is Borden’s daughter. And luckily for her, her ACTUAL FATHER, the right Borden, is the one who’s still alive. He comes for her, with Cutter’s blessings, and his narration continues. And as it does, Borden in the fast, in the theatre, looks back at the scene around him. And he realizes what he’s looking at.

Every magic trick consists of 3 parts, or "acts." The first part is called "the Pledge." The magician shows you something ordinary. The second act is called "the Turn." The magician takes the ordinary something, and makes it into something extraordinary. But, you wouldn't clap yet, because making something disappear isn't enough... you have to bring it BACK. Now, you're looking for the secret. But you won't find it, because, of course, you're not really looking. You don't really want to work it out. You want to be... FOOLED.

That’s The Prestige, and uh...holy fucking SHIT. See you in the Review.