#lestat answers ask

[the-rockstar-lestat]

Fuck yeah Vladdy is back?? We've missed you

💕💝

Strength, The Star

& of course:

Forrest

Vladdys never gone, just an attention whore who needs constant attention or he forgets that things exist.

(I forgot a whole fledgling, people. You know who I am, and you love me. )

And, to start out, for those of you who don't feel like scrolling back, anon says they follow me because I'm the stupidest motherfucker alive and they love me.

I'd LIKE to fight the charges, but I think 13-or-so books that I voluntarily wrote of my own free will would be enough evidence against me, so I'll just plead guilty. As long as you love me. (Isn't that a song? From the 90s? Who the hell sang that? One of those addictive boy bands? I could never tell them apart, then or now.)

Anyway! Answers! Yes!

What is your dream occupation?

I want to be a movie star. Not an actor, a MOVIE STAR. I'm not the connoisseur of film Armand is, I just like MOVIES. I want to laugh and weep and scream and play all sorts of different characters, and show up at red carpets in fabulous clothes, and give interviews about my latest roles, and set fashion trends, and have everything I say taken out of context and....

Hang on. Maybe I wouldn't be a great movie star. First of all, I don't think the boulevard du temple acting style would suit a close up lens. Second of all, my mouth would get me cancelled within the week, if not my ....spotted past. Can I be everyone's problematic fave?

Have you ever seen a psychic?

If you don't mind I'll answer that in its own post, because that's a BIT of a story and my long-winded prose style is already threatening to make this a novella.

What's the best present you've ever received?

....you're hoping for something sentimental, romantic, probably given to me by Louis, aren't you?

I have a vinyl copy of Ziggy Stardust signed by David Bowie. It was actually an I'm -sorry-for-being-a-two-faced-asshole-trying-to-rule-the-vampire-court-behind-your-back present from my belovedprime minister, Marius. I don't know where he got it. I don't know how much it cost him. I don't know who he killed for it. What I do know is I HAVE it. And I LOVE it.

What fictional duo do you and your partner act like?

Louis and I have two modes. Will and Hannibal (partners in crime, corrupter and corrupted, drawn to each other in spite of it all, yet ultimately not healthy for each other, full of cryptic talks, sexual tension and dark secrets.) or Eleanor and Chidi from The Good Place. (One of us is Too Much and The Worst, yet trying to be a good person, and the other is so anxious. All the time. About everything. And so frightened they're NOT a good person they freeze up. And yet we love each other and ultimately help each other heal.)

We're thankfully a lot more in Eleanor and Chidi mode.

[hallowvamp]

[cbrownjc]

The one thing that I don’t get is if Devil’s Minion happened during the 70s, that means that Armand was basically leaving an heavily injured Louis alone in their house for long periods of time. In the book, Daniel and Armand basically move in together and spend all their time together. The Chase also seems like a full time job. I feel like Armand wouldn’t go do that, as he’s still madly in love with Louis during that time. He’d probably devote all of his time taking care of him. Or do vampires just heal faster, even with significant burns?

Hi!

So see, The Chase is actually why I think it was clever of the show to have Louis attempt what he did when he did, and be so severely injured by it. Because, as I said here, Louis having such extensive burns means there is really only one way for him to truly heal from them quickly and that is if he does the same thing Lestat had to do in the books when he was severely burned in the same way in the books and I feel we will see him be on the show (and probably was doing when Armand contacted him in 2x05 back in 1973) -- and that is to go underground, into the very earth itself, to sleep for a time and heal.

See, that is one reason Louis begged Armand to put him in his coffin at one point after he was hurt. Vampires heal quicker from injuries when they are in their coffins. And they heal even more quickly -- and grow even more strong in their abilities and powers -- if they go into the earth to sleep for a time.

In the books, Lestat went to sleep underground in the earth for 55 years from all the heavy injuries he got -- first when Claudia slit his throat, then when Louis set him on fire, and then, in Paris when Armand threw him off a tower. Lestat went underground, into the earth, to sleep from 1929 to 1984, to heal from all of that.

So I think Louis likely did the same thing for a short time after he and Armand left Daniel at the drug den -- Louis went into the earth to sleep and heal from his wounds.

And when a vampire is in the earth asleep, they are at their most safe from harm. Even during the burning from Akasha, the vampires who were asleep underground were not burned by her, because they couldn't be burned while within the ground. I'm only up to Chapter 15 of Prince Lestat, but that is a word and tactic that is being broadcast by Benji for all vampires to do during the worldwide second burnings -- to go into the earth, underground, if a burning begins where they are to escape it.

So in truth, Louis wouldn't actually need Armand to watch or take care of him once he was in the earth, underground, asleep. Because that's how Daniel actually first met Armand in the books. Armand was just hanging out at Lestat's house for decades, waiting for Lestat to wake up again while Lestat was asleep underground. Armand didn't need to watch or take care of Lestat as he was doing so -- Armand was just there because he had nowhere else to go. So when Daniel stumbled into Lestat's house looking for him, chasing Daniel actually gave him something to do.

And so I think the same will be true wrt the show. Once Louis goes into the earth to sleep and heal, Armand really isn't going to be needed by Louis for however long Louis sleeps underground. Just like in the books when it came to Lestat doing the same thing.

In fact, I can see a parallel with Lestat and Louis now both being underground and asleep at this point in time in the show, both healing from everything they have both gone through, as I honestly expect Lestat to also get severely burned during the events of Paris, just as we saw Louis get burned in 2x05.

So yeah, once Louis is safely underground, Armand will basically be by himself for however long that may last. And I can see his curiosity with that boy Louis called "fascinating" occupying his mind again, and him deciding to check up on that boy out of curiosity. And, as I said here, Daniel remembering the first interview still -- as well as the inspiring words he now had on repeat in his mind -- I think is going to have Daniel first looking for Louis and then, failing to find him again, will have him try to find Lestat.

Because in the books, all Daniel did to find Lestat's Garden District house -- which Lestat was sleeping under at the time -- was to go through property ownership documents in the Hall of Records in New Orleans, and find Lestat's name listed, right there, for a few properties, the Garden District house being one of them. Daniel, of course, would have never been able to actually get to Lestat himself, because Lestat was deeply buried under the earth at that time, but he still found the house easy. And then, when he arrived there, that's when Armand first caught him and locked him in the cage.

One of the things about The Chase I always wondered about before now wrt the show's version of it was what Louis would have been doing during it, as I always thought it was critical that only Armand and Daniel be involved in it. This is the main reason I thought The Chase in the show would only last a year or so, instead of the 4 years it lasts in the books.

But now, with Louis being so severely burned, I think that gives the answer. Just like Lestat, Louis will go into the earth, underground, to sleep and heal. And, just like in the books when Lestat did the same, Armand will be alone and on his own while he waits for Louis to wake up again. Which will probably take some years to happen.

And the only reason I don't think Louis will be asleep for the whole time Devil's Minion happened in the past -- which was 12 years in total -- is because of Louis calling Daniel "our boy." Meaning I think, at some point, Louis was with Armand and Daniel both sometime after Armand and Daniel fell in love and came together while Louis was asleep, and he and Daniel became even closer friends during that time. But who knows? Maybe Louis just calls Daniel "our boy" because of what took place during those 3-4 nights back in 1973 and nothing else, and Louis just sees Daniel as a "testament to their companionship" or whatever, and he really was underground asleep during almost the whole of Armand and Daniel's relationship. That is very possible as well IMO.

At any rate, I do think there might be something to Armand saying that he and Louis have been together "for 70 years" in the bedroom scene in episode 2x01, but then Louis saying they've been together "for 77 years" at the top of episode 2x02. Armand could have just been speaking in general numbers, or . . . maybe there is a 7-year gap when they weren't together. And maybe that gap is talking about the years Louis spent underground asleep and healing -- which it's clear that Louis himself wouldn't remember in the present-day, since he didn't even remember attempting to kill himself in the first place (thanks to Armand's memory reprogramming on him). And, during that 7-year gap, that is when The Chase happened, as well as 3 of the 8 years Armand and Daniel were fully together after confessing being in love with each other as well.

Which, come to think of it . . . if you do the math on that? 1973 + 7 years takes you to the year 1980. And if you look at Daniel's LinkedIn page, his writing credits didn't really start accumulating until 1981. As Daniel said himself, the 1970s are just a blur to him. And this could be why.

So I can imagine Louis waking up around 1980 or so and learning from Armand that he and Daniel are now together. And yes, I think Louis would be okay with it -- because hell, at least Armand wasn't alone while Louis was asleep healing, and Louis himself already has a fondness for Daniel anyway. (All of this happening being something Louis doesn't remember anymore now of course).

But between Daniel's growing career and Alice somehow coming into the picture sometime in the 1980s (because yes, I do think Alice is real, even if I also think a lot of Daniel's memories of her are really memories about Armand), things begin to go sour, with Daniel probably insecure because -- like in the book -- Armand kept refusing to turn Daniel so they can be together forever, and Armand reluctant to turn Daniel for a host of reasons I mentioned in this post, as well as probably not trusting Daniel to not run off and leave him once he is immortal (which is also a fear that Armand had wrt turning Daniel).

Anyway, so yeah, I actually think the reveal of Louis' burns strengthens the argument that Devil's Minion happened in the past because it now gives us an idea of what was going on with Louis not only during the time of The Chase, but also quite possibly the first 3 or so years of Armand and Daniel being a fully in-love couple. And that is that Louis went underground, into the earth, to sleep and heal. Just like Lestat was probably also doing from his own post-Paris wounds and injuries at that same time. Louis and Lestat both were safe underground in the earth -- which is the main way for vampires to heal faster from heavy wounds while being safe while they do so -- and didn't need anyone watching over them or taking care of them.

And so, just like in the book with Lestat when he was underground asleep (because in the books Armand and Louis had already long broken up and gone their separate ways when Armand was just hanging around Lestat's house waiting for him to be fully healed and wake up again), I feel the same thing likely happened on the show with Louis. Louis was asleep underground, in the earth, healing; and Armand was alone and left to his own devices because of that when The Chase between him and Daniel first began.

[ivyithink]

part 2 to this, kinda + older doodle

you wanna chomp on a tasty fresh frenchman, you be prepared for what comes after, armand

translation!

lestat: “You're going to teach me everything you know, now, aren't you?” (if google translator doesn’t lie, I don’t know french sorrrrry)

armand: “How the devil did I get mixed up with this imp?” (sorta, god it’s hard to translate idioms)

speaking about idioms! there’s another ukrainian one that really does fit these two like a glove imho (at least from armand’s pov). “лежати на серці” which literally translates to “to lie on the heart” (like in the first pic, get it?), and it can mean two things: 1. to be the subject of constant thoughts, worries, sufferings; to trouble, weigh someone down. or 2. to cause someone’s affection, to be liked by someone. liiiiiike, how perfect is that????

enjoy the stupid ass sketch of pic.1 that made me laugh, so I saved it

[divorceblogger]

Hi,I feel like I'm being gaslighted into thinking that AR wrote Marius & Armand"s relationship in a positive light? That wasn't my impression at all. Am I mistaken? I ask you this because you seem to have good Armand takes.

Hm. I do consider the vampire chronicles a study in power, abuse and sexual violence, personally. the books often take advantage of elaborate metaphors and heightened violence to do this and the different perspectives sometimes distort the narrative to either reveal or obfuscate abuse so they’re not always straightforward which can sometimes complicate interpretations. the victims have incredibly complex and realistic reactions to the abuse they face.

so where I approach this from is - ‘they said a child had died in the attic’ -> opening line of all time to me. particularly in terms of how TVA is concerned with exploring csa + the narrative structure of armand’s history in the book being bracketed by chapters which involve him trusting his children into marius’s care only for marius to betray it and every single principle he stands for to turn them (in TVL he advises lestat to allow people to live full human lives before turning them while confessing that he failed armand by not giving him the same grace) in order to entrap armand by establishing a bond with benji & sybelle that can never be severed. this is specifically because armand rejects the invitation to resume a domestic relationship with him in the first chapter of TVA. this generally sets the tone for how their relationship plays out over the course of the book. ultimately it’s also narratively important that armand is unable to fully come to terms with the abuse marius inflicts on him and is able to express how betrayed and angry he feels only when the bodies at stake belong to people he cares for very deeply - he’s able to better articulate his feelings through secondary subjects who’re similarly abused, i.e. namely sybelle and benji (and lestat! he feels very deeply about gabrielle’s neglect of him).

that said I cannot emphasise enough that I feel it’s impossible to interact with renessaince venice without the historical context for how sexual relations were organised at the time- and homosexuality was practiced almost exclusively through pederasty. anne is extremely conscious of this - she rarely shies away from examining how power differentials play a role in generating conditions where abuse is fostered. it would be antithetical to the premise of the vampire chronicles to do so. I think people may often find it distasteful that she eroticises dynamics which feature abuse but it works for me because I find it to be brutally honest and prefer to see depictions of abuse that encompass their complexity - so although this post is about lolita I do always come back to it when I try to express why TVA being an erotic text doesn’t particularly bother me (and speaking of lolita. I do also like to make a point about the very intentional ways in which immortal humbert humbert marius chooses to identify armand - armand/dolores being ignored in favour of amadeo/lolita which is a sexual identity that marius specifically bestows).

I talk a bit more about TVA & armand’s complicated feelings about the abuse he experiences here although it was typed out very hastily and I think this conversation between marius and armand from an initial draft for TVA where armand makes very confronting statements is incredibly revealing about anne’s thought process while she was writing their relationship.

[licncourt]

#gabrielle and lestat body swapping might actually fix them both

Tell me more about that………. 🤔

I would love to so much! I think this is a main point of tension between them in the books, almost as much as the strained mother by force/needy child dynamic.

Throughout TVL, their relationship is marked with so much unspoken envy. For Gabrielle, being Lestat would be freedom from her body and what it means for her to be a woman. In a cultural sense, she's chained to her womanhood like a prisoner. She was all but sold as a wife to an abusive man in a marriage transaction, raped into carrying seven children, most of whom died anyway, and kept hostage as a trophy. If Lestat hadn't turned her, she would have lived and died as an object locked away from the world. Lestat was born into the same prison as Gabrielle, but his maleness allowed him to escape and carve out his own way in the world. He was the one who freed her because she had not been given a way to free herself in mortal life.

Once she becomes a vampire, the path she takes (solitude, independence, learning, living off the land) is simply the one she would have taken if she had been born a Gabriel instead of a Gabrielle. Her body is what held her back in life, and Lestat represents the person she could have been, living freely and loving freely and moving through society without restriction. Their taste for adventure, thirst for knowledge, free expression of sexuality, disdain for authority, and desire to drink in all the world has to offer is the same. The only difference is their bodies, and that's something vampirism could only partially remedy. In some ways, she'll never be free of her human womanhood, not the trauma she endured and certainly not the long hair that never stays cut and everything it represents.

As a lesbian myself, I tend to read her a butch lesbian, but this applies to the transmasc reading as well. If you want to take the trans reading with her masculine presentation, that adds a whole other layer to this. It's not like a vampire can transition, her body is static and unchangeable, there's no path away from it. From that angle, the hurt is double.

For Lestat, both his mind and his body are their own ball and chain. So many of the books see Lestat grappling with his own masculinity and what it means to be a man, deeply insecure and failing by his own standards and those of others to live up to the ideal. His brute force tactics are incredibly transparent, it's clear to everyone that the idea of manhood he was raised with does not come naturally to him, but he craves the acceptance it would bring. I think Lelio was so important to him because it was something he COULD live up to, an idealized man he could successfully fill the shoes of, to great fanfare and accolades even. It allowed him to belong and be Enough, no matter how fleetingly.

I think he sees Gabrielle as aspirational because of all of that. She's a woman, but she's transcended her "nature" so easily. The quiet, competent masculine comes naturally to her. She's mentally and physically strong, self-reliant, well educated and intelligent, rarely overcome by emotion, never paralyzed by her trauma or doubt, always in control of herself and her surroundings.

Being a woman in itself could be freedom for him. Freedom from the obligation of masculinity, or at least freedom to engage with masculinity on his own terms. Freedom to be weak and freedom to Need. Being Gabrielle would be more than that though, it would be independence, education, respect, self-assuredness, gravitas, all the things he desires so deeply that exist freely in his mother in addition to the perceived benefits of womanhood. He doesn't just want femaleness, he covets the very identity of his mother just as much as she covets what his male birthright offers him.

[neverswungonswingingstars]

Lestat in I Could Not Prevent It

[lady-phasma]

Could you IMAGINE Lestat’s reaction to the internet? Better yet, imagine his reaction to all the fan blogs that would inevitably pop up after his own interview is released after Daniel’s book is published. Lestat’s ego would be bigger than the moon LMAO. Somebody would have to hide ao3 from that man.

Hi anon! I saved this ask until I could take my time with it, but also so that the amazing and brilliant @aemondsbabe could help me. She and I have literally been having a similar conversation for months!

In fact, I love this ask so much that I had to make a gif for it!

Since season two and the Rockstar promo we have been discussing this pretty frequently. One thing I think we can all agree on: Lestat's Twitter would be phenomenal and hilarious. I live for AMC to do a promo account just for the character.

Here's some headcanon we have about Lestat's internet use:

OF - Lestat 100% has an account. He might not use it for explicit acts, but he would love the "private" style of attention, knowing that he is captivating audiences via computers and phone and tablets in their homes.

Twitter/X - This account would be the rambling, unhinged shit we expect from him. Typos, Franglish, absurd comments because he misunderstood a pop culture reference. But most of all, he probably would direct most of his tweets to close friends and we'd get to see his tweets to Louis and about Armand. And the occasional interaction with fans or other celebrities when he figured out retweeting (which would result in the inevitable cancellation that he wouldn't care about at all).

Insta - We discussed this and at first I didn't think that he would have Insta at all. Then aemondsbabe suggested that he would have an account, but he would only post what his PR manager told him to post. I hope someone teaches him to take pictures of things other than shit in Walmart and candids of Louis.

Tumblr - aemondsbabe is a fucking genius! 100% credit where it is due. Lestat would have a Tumblr blog, but wouldn't quite understand that it's not a private diary. In fact, earlier this month during a discussion about this subject, she wrote a blog post for him:

louis, mon cher, how i wish you could be here with me on this, the most périlleuse des nuits… i have fallen prey to an evil poison, a foul spirit! the tour bus, you see, we had to stop to get l'essence ou, how you say, the gasoline… louis, mon cœur, i was tricked at this heinous shoppe! they had peculiar wares, des médicaments, promising virility of the gods! i have taken one and i fear this will end me, mon cher! please avenge me by slaying the most wicked of men known as Daryl! he has taken up résidence at l'Exxon outside of Tampa!

I laughed until I cried! Brilliant!

AO3 - I really don't know that he would find AO3 on his own. I think someone (maybe Graham Norton) would show it to him at some point and then he would speed read everything he could and write a "private" entry about the fics on his Tumblr diary. That would be something to read!

Thank you for this ask, anon! This was so much fun!

I hope AMC goes all out with Lestat on social media the way they gave Daniel his own LinkedIn page. I need him to have a twitter at the very least, but they could so much more.

[westwingsolo]

❝ Tell me you do not feel it, and I will name you a liar. ❞ Lestat for Alex !

"I have no idea what you're talking about..." Alex really didn't know what the French sounding man was saying, but there was a part of him that felt like he really shouldn't be talking to him...

[covenofthearticulate]

helloooo i have a fluffy ask! how do you think loustat would plan a romantic date for each other and who's better at it? i loved side effects may vary btw, who would have thought sex pollen pwp could make the best louis character study 💖💖

Silly Fluffy Asks // Forever and Always Accepting :)

OMG YAY MORE FLUFFY ASKS

I feel like Louis and Lestat rarely go on specially planned date nights because they mostly both enjoy meandering around the city without any particular agenda, but I do think they both have their own strengths and weaknesses when it comes to planning!

Lestat tends to overthink things, which makes planning an absolute nightmare because he knows how particular Louis is about things, so even though he acts arrogant and confident, he's really freaking out the entire time and worrying about Louis judging him LOL. That being said— I think he's actually very good at finding activities that push Louis just a tiny bit out of his comfort zone so that he gets to discover a new side of him. Best date nights include pub trivia night, board game cafe, and that one time Lestat drove them to the middle of nowhere and brought a fuckton of fireworks for Louis to set off LMAO

Louis on the other hand is a total sap, which means a lot of their date nights are a little less adventurous and more nostalgic and emotional. This is great, except for that it sometimes ends in tears. His most successful date nights include open mic night (in which Louis signed Lestat up for a slot and asked him to sing), volunteering at the local dog shelter (in which Lestat cries for like 3 hours both out of happiness but also because he misses Mojo), and that time he found one of the last drive-in movie places (in which he tried his very best to act Innocent and Scandalized when Lestat wanted to make out the entire time).

TL;DR I think their date nights are less Big Romantic and more of an excuse for them to learn how to be together again in this new era!! They're just now learning how to have fun with one another after 200 years and it's weird and sometimes uncomfy but it's worth it every single time!!!

[cbrownjc]

Hi there! I'm sorry if this feels super obtuse and it has been ages since I read the novels, BUT...

After this recent episode I was a little confused about what Armand had done to infuriate Louis and Daniel so much. If he simply wiped their memories so neither Louis or Daniel didn't remember everything that went down, that doesn't seem so awful, especially since what went down WAS awful. So I think I must have missed something substantial because I was distracted by my cat, or something. 😅

BTW I love your blog and all the fantastic insight you provide! I used to be ride or die with IWTV but haven't paid much attention to it in the last 15-20 years, so I'm finding it immensely helpful for getting back into the swing of things!

Hello!

So why Louis and Daniel are so angry at Armand isn't because Armand simply erased their memories. (And, to be clear, their memories weren't actually erased, but just clouded over and blocked). Armand rewrote them. Armand basically reprogrammed Daniel and Louis' minds after the OG interview, Louis' mind especially.

That was what that final scene was about, what it was demonstrating. The answer that Louis gave at the beginning of the episode, as to why Armand saved Daniel's life in 1973 was a word-for-word repeat of what Armand's own answer was at the end of the episode to that same question.

The answer wasn't something Louis truly felt wrt his own real feelings. It was something Armand put into Louis' mind to think and say about the incident after the events of it from Louis attacking Daniel on were blocked and clouded over.

As @virginiaisforvampires notes here, the way Louis speaks of Lestat in the OG interview vs the new interview is very telling wrt that reprogramming done. Yes, in the OG interview, Louis was talking down Lestat in spiteful ways, but it was all surface-level stuff. Just saying that the way Lestat spoke revealed how stupid he was and that he wasn't at all skilled when trying to play music.

That is all a far cry from the things Louis has said and spoken about in the Dubai interview about Lestat. Lestat's crimes, as they are being talked about in this second interview, are not just surface-level transgressions said to simply make Lestat angry and draw him out, as Louis was originally trying to do back in 1973. The crimes of Lestat laid out in the Dubai interview, in contrast, are very much there to justify the murder of Lestat.

Because without that justification?

Well, we see that starting when it comes to the false memory -- yes, false -- of Louis thinking Claudia couldn't burn Lestat. Louis thinking that -- that Claudia couldn't burn Lestat -- would take away Louis' guilt at having stopped Claudia from trying to burn Lestat if it was something they both couldn't do. Especially if the killing of Lestat had been justified.

But if there was no justification for killing Lestat? Then the reason Louis stopped Claudia from burning Lestat was because Louis knew that killing Lestat had been wrong. Louis knew it the night Claudia did it, which would be the real reason why he stopped her from burning him.

And because Lestat didn't burn, because he was still alive, that led to the events of the trial in Paris and what happened to Claudia there. And what is looking to be the show's version of the Merrick reveal about Claudia's true feelings wrt Louis. Which, in the book Merrick, the revelation of that is what sent Louis to try to destroy himself via sunlight exposure, as we saw him try to do back in 1973 -- which the cocaine and other drugs that were in Daniel's blood had Louis unable to either ignore anymore -- or lifted a veil that had been placed over his mind about it until then.

Do you see the cascade effect in all of this?

And look, maybe some will see what Armand has done here as not that awful, but Armand didn't do it just to try and protect Louis. That was very damn clear when he didn't relay Lestat's full "I love you" message to Louis after Louis' 1973 attempt to end his life. It's because part of Armand very much still wants to live with the illusion that he and Louis can be happy together, even after what happened in Paris and Armand's role in those events.

I've said before that Armand's flaw when it comes to love is that he will go way, way, WAY overboard to obtain or keep love. And this is all just, once again, him repeating that pattern. Armand rewrote Louis' memories of both Lestat and Claudia's actions all to try and assuage the true guilt and pain Louis has over everything that happened and Louis' own role (mostly due to his own inactions) in it all that has led to such suicidal guilt about it, but also because IMO Armand wishes to hide -- as much as he can -- his own role in everything that happened as well . . . and all of this so as to keep Louis by his side so that Louis doesn't leave him -- be it for Lestat, or even in death.

Armand isn't being altruistic in his reprogramming of Louis' mind and memories. Because really being so would have been not only telling Louis what Lestat was trying to relay to Louis back in 1973 but then probably having to let Louis go as well . . . let Louis go back to and be with Lestat, the person who Louis was trying to draw the attention of with that whole OG interview in the first place.

Honestly, I see the whole situation as kind of expanding on this line of Louis' in the book, as he and Armand are breaking up:

And when I came to Paris I thought you were powerful and beautiful and without regret, and I wanted that desperately. But you were a destroyer just as I was a destroyer, more ruthless and cunning even than I. You showed me the only thing that I could really hope to become, what depth of evil, what degree of coldness I would have to attain to end my pain. And I accepted that. And so that passion, that love you saw in me, was extinguished. And you see now simply a mirror of yourself.

With the rewriting/reprogramming of Louis' memories, this is very much what Armand has created with Louis in many ways -- a mirror of himself. The pieces of himself that Armand blocked and changed had Louis "knowing who he was" . . . but who that person is, isn't the real Louis. Just a reflection of the person who made those changes.

So yeah, that is where the anger is coming from. Moreso Louis than Daniel when it comes to the rewriting aspect of it all I'd say; Daniel is likely just angry that his mind was messed with in the first place. One thing you can say about Daniel is that he's brutally honest, even when it comes to his own foibles. He's the type who'd rather know all the horrible shit that happened to him, than not.

Anyway, I'm glad you like my blog and comments about the show, and I hope this answer explains some of it for you. 🙂

[darklinaforever]

You can still be racist while being a person of color, the fuck. It's often that people prefer to see a white person with a non white person over another non white person. Try to justify it however you want but your brain is wired to lean on the white's favor. Another white lover at its finest.

What the hell are you talking to me about ?! What even led to this anonymous statement !? 😂😭

No but seriously wtf ?

If it's because I prefer the CANONICAL couples of Louis & Lestat, and Armand & Daniel, rather than Louis & Armand, I'm LAUGHING !

Couples that I ship from books, books where none of these characters are characters of skin color like in the show. 🙄

[lotstradamus]

i'm loving all your vampire posting lottie! if you're ever so compelled i'd love to hear what you make of the books vs the show and if there are any book things you'd especially like to see done on the show! (also, bookwise, are you a lestat girl or an armand girl or a louis/marius/david/akasha/claudia girl or or or)

as someone who tried to read Interview with the Vampire thrice (THRICE!!!) pre-AMC show revival and simply could not get through it (it is melancholy), I cannot BELIEVE how down bad I am for these books right now. I keep seeing bad reviews on goodreads and girding my loins for each new book expecting the quality to nosedive, but 1 star bitch WHERE? WHERE??? I AM HAVING THE TIME OF MY GODDAMN LIFE

in terms of books vs show, honestly after a point the books are kind of Unadaptable unless they radically change the main cast, vibe and format of the show every single season, and the changes they made to IWTV were good to the point of sending me fucking insane so they can just keep on doing whatever their little hearts desire with the source material imo!!! howmever I DO have some suggestions for the upcoming seasons:

Lestat crying twice an ep (non-negotiable)

I would kind of love it if Lestat is the only character who tells the truth. the most reliablest narrator and normal girl to ever live. and yet every time he says something like "I killed a pack of wolves single-handedly" or "I woke Those Who Must Be Kept by playing violin" or "I snog my mother with tongue" Daniel is just sitting there like "............riiiight."

Gabrielle. Gabrielle Gabrielle Gabrielle. mainly I would like to smash cut to Gabrielle in the middle of really intense Lestat/everyone else scenes and she's just like peacefully sleeping in the ground... strolling through a distant jungle... sitting on a mountain looking at the stars in silence...

EXCEPT that one scene where she pulls up to Lestat's concert like she's in 2 Fast 2 Furious

it'll be interesting to see how they adapt Queen of the Damned because so little of it is actually from Lestat's pov, and all of it is amazing and cannot be cut out: [Stefon voice] the Twins, Jesse, specifically Jesse being haunted in Louis and Lestat's old New Orleans house, everyone hanging out/playing out terrible interpersonal dramas at the Sonoma compound, NIGHT ISLAND...!

I cannot stress this enough: GHOST CLAUDIA.

I want them to do Body Thief. fuck it, why not. must haves are Mojo, a random hunk with a PhD in Sam Reid's mannerisms playing Lestat for 6/8 episodes, Lestat nearly dying 25 times cos he pilots his human body like a drunk muppet, and, most importantly, Lestat BEGGING David Talbot for some old man pussy

oh and an entire episode set on a cruise ship

my favourite scene from the whole of Body Thief was Lestat turning David at the end against his will cos it was genuinely quite awful and frightening but also. um. you know. awooga

if they include Gretchen, then I would like the opposite of my Gabrielle request for everything post-Body Thief: whenever there's a peaceful, quiet scene it smash cuts to the wilds of South America where Gretchen is absolutely stark raving mad on the floor of a chapel with stigmata

I can't even begin to think about how they'd adapt Memnoch, but regardless I want them to keep the scene where Lestat drinks someone's period blood. thanks

also his cunty little lilac-tinted sunglasses that he will not fucking stop talking about

and finally, human Armand getting drunk and falling into the Grand Canal

bookwise, I am a Lestat girl the house down boots... I love his over-dramatic idiot crybaby ass!!!!! although the final page of Memnoch the Devil made me burst into tears and cry my whole face off until I confirmed that Lestat comes back as the narrator in future books soooo maybe like calls to like. self recognition through the other, etc. I do also get a shot of pure joy every time Armand shows up, especially in Lestat's pov. 'ah, there he was, the Botticelli angel, so beautiful. I fucking hated him. we kissed.' sis THEE dopamine.

currently suffering because I want to a) stop reading the series immediately so I can go back and reread The Vampire Lestat, and yet also b) never ever stop reading the series for love nor money. please help me budget this my family is dying

[pynkhues]

Lestat is sitting on a pillow in the next shot. I mean, come on!

Anon!!!! I have watched this scene 1,200 times and still somehow never noticed that they straight up have him lower back / butt supported on a bolster cushion. I've lightened a screencap to share, and:

Yeah, haha.

[lady-phasma]

Hello!

I've been a follower for a while, love your HotD stuff, but just wanted to say I am DELIGHTED that you're starting to write for IWtV! There is a devastating shortage of lestat x reader imo lol, I'm buzzing to read the one you posted a snippet of! We all need some Lestat-flavoured hedonism in our lives. I love thinking how he'd be with an equally hedonistic partner who encourages him and delights in it as much as he does. All that to say, welcome welcome welcome we are so blessed to have you writing for this fandom!!❤️❤️❤️ your work is always wonderful and I'm always glad to see you on my dash!

-floof x

Oh wow! Thank you so much! 💕 Seriously, that is so incredibly kind of you to say. I'm thrilled that I could come into this fandom after my Tumblr hiatus. The timing was great.

Interview was my first fandom and my first fanfiction. Around 1994/95 (before I saw the film) I read as many of the books as I could get my hands on and then my pre-teen mind overheated with the possibilities. Not smut then, obviously, but pages and pages of notebook paper filled with romance and drama between Louis and Lestat then Lestat and Armand. Lestat has been and always will be my first love. Armand became my second in 1998 when his book came out.

There is a devastating shortage of lestat x reader imo lol, I'm buzzing to read the one you posted a snippet of! We all need some Lestat-flavoured hedonism in our lives. I love thinking how he'd be with an equally hedonistic partner who encourages him and delights in it as much as he does.

You are so sweet! Thank you again. But also, I agree 1000% with you about the hedonism! Here's what's in my head at the moment: the snippet (I can't find the post to link it here for other people because Tumblr search sucks) is from a Dom!Lestat x fem!reader that might be along the lines of what you're talking about with that lovely brand of hedonism, we'll see. I was also inspired to write a Lestat x fem!reader after the finale. I'm going to go with whichever has momentum. I also really really want to write a gn!reader for him as well at some point.

Alas, I can't write full time, so I'll do what I can. I try to honor these characters as much as possible and treat them with the utmost respect to how they are in the series (and books) because they are all very dear to my heart. I am so glad I could come back to this fandom as an adult and actually be part of a fandom. I didn't even have the internet when I start writing for them all those years ago!!

(Also, those who might be interested I have two Armand x gn!reader fics on my masterlist.)

[leslutdepointedulac]

TELL ME ABOUT LOUSTAT MISSING SCENE PLEASE PLEASE

Omg gladly!! 🥹 It's about something that I think about often and that's the missing scene from Merrick when Lestat gives Louis more of his blood after reviving him. Being that Merrick is from David's pov obviously, we never get to see that bit between Louis and Lestat because David leaves the room. But it seems like such a vital point in Louis and Lestat's relationship.

Lestat wakes up from a several year long coma to find that his lover has died by suicide. Once he's revived him, surely he would have questions. The main one being simply 'Why?' Why would Louis be driven to such a thing?

And I think that Louis would have things he'd want to say to Lestat about his time alone, waiting for him to wake up.

Overall, as well as being a pivotal moment for Louis (getting a major power boost), it's also a vital point in his relationship with Lestat imo. There are many things they have to say to each other after being apart for so long, so to speak, as well as talking about Louis' suicide specifically.

Idk, I just wanted to explore that moment between them because it feels important to them. Louis needs more blood, sure but they also needed to talk. I imagine that emotions were running very high; they were both hurt but also relieved to have each other again. I think their emotions were all over the place, one minute they don't know what to say to one another, the next they're pointing fingers and placing blame and excuses for why certain things happened, then the storm passes and they hold each other tight before Lestat gives his blood to Louis.

There are many missing scenes that I'd love to explore more but this one stands out to me and like I said, I think about it a lot so it made sense to go with this one.