#tv: interview with the vampire

[idontwikeit]

It's all creeping back. Paris and the, uh, what, what, what? But there's… all of it coming back. There's, uh, Paris. Paris. Can you hear that? Can you hear that, hm? Can you hear her? She's calling me.

Interview with the Vampire 2.05 // 2.07

[ddagent]

I'm guessing you haven't heard from my maker? No. Fucking asshole. I'm sorry you were burdened out of spite.

[blairwaldcrf]

@lyinoptimist On why Louis is a better character with a richer story because of the way they brought race into the show:

[captioned: I agree with his Interview with the Vampire take, and it's not just that I care more that they're black, it's that I care more that they are black in a world where the creators know that they are black and write the story accordingly.

I remember when they cast Jacob Anderson to play Louis in this story a couple years ago and people were confused and nervous and a little bit angry as to why they cast this black man to play a character, who at least in the original story was a plantation owner that owned slaves & let them go I think eventually, but still it's like "what is this choice that you're making?" and the creators were like "no, no we know what we did".

And so now Louis like owns a brothel instead, and it's like Creole and like down in Louisiana 1920s, and you're like, "Oh, that's a pretty solid adaptational choice."

And I think ultimately the decision makes Louis look a lot more relatable, and also makes the story a lot more relatable because at least it would be harder for me to recommend this story if old Louis was the one I was telling you was in this really great show. It's like, "yeah... but he owned slaves...", you know what I mean?

It's just one of the things where it's not something I have to get into with other black fans who are really into like fantasy stuff who maybe don't want to engage in that sort of like problematic content.

Beyond Louis and Claudia being black and then Armand being like South Asian, it also gives us a really interesting look into different readings of the text now that the characters playing it are adapted in this way. This happens a lot in season one remember... like, because Lestat makes both Louis and Claudia he can no longer read their minds, but Louis and Claudia can still read each other's minds. And so in this kind of familial dynamic they've established for themselves, Louis and Claudia have this literal telepathic understanding that Lestat will just never be privy to and you can kind of read into that. It's like a metaphor for their relationship being with two black people in the household and then moving through the world and understanding the world in a way that is just different from Lestat. There's an underlying racial anxiety to Louis and Lestat's relationship that makes it, you know, more complex and like more fun to watch.

Season two there's less of it, but you have things like racialized trauma being used as the backbone for the trauma that the characters are experiencing to both highlight how horrific the things they're going through actually are.

Like Armand and his like, being sexually abused as a child in that specific way very much has the connotation of like, this happened to him because he was a vulnerable brown child and this very powerful white vampire came--presumably, i don't know who they're gonna cast but i was reading into it--came by and did this to him. And it's like, okay yeah, that complicates that dynamic a bit more.

Same thing with the execution that happens to Louis, Claudia, and Madeline at the very end of the season which is very reminiscent of, like-- Claudia even calls it a stoning but I would also argue that there's, like, elements of, like lynching to it, right?

Like, it's very horrific in a very relatable way to Black people, which I think it's drawing upon that but it's not necessarily like glorifying it in that way in order to like make the point that it wants about like, the tragedy that these characters are going through and I think it just makes the story that much richer and allows for a lot more interesting new perspectives because these characters are people of color now and that's what you can do with a good adaptation and like, these creators they understand that. ]

[dykerightsmp3]

struggles Armand is experiencing that explain his behavior and general aura

- dating his ex’s ex and they are still in love with each other

- switch forced to live a sub’s life (despicable)

- his actual tragic backstory like I guess

- head of a theater troupe (would make the best of us enter a joker era)

- theater kid dating a capitalist :/

- dated lestat (could make anyone evil)

[damnelves]

I have no words for how I failed her.

[goldenachilles]

big fan of the Louis and Lestat dynamic in the show mostly because they're the embodiment of "gay sex will not fix this. in fact it will probably make it worse. that being said we should give it a try anyways."

[weclassybouquetfun]

We bid a very fond adieu to INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE and the coven Théâtre des Vampires.

Take a bow, luvvies!

Especially Esme Appleton and Suzanne Andrade (who play Estelle and Celeste, respectively) the duo who are co-artistic directors of theatre 1927 which was responsible for the expressionism style of the plays and its projections.

Fans can at least rest easy knowing that there will be a third series.

Until then they and swoon over, swear over, sneer at or salute series two's finale.

SPOILER FILLED THOUGHTS

THE GOOD

-Pretty much everything: Louis avenging Claudia (and Madeleine though IIRC her name wasn't even uttered this episode).

The bad thing about a fantastic villain is losing them and Santiago you had to die.

You did what with Claudia's ashes???

But Ben Daniels, how do I love thee.

-Armand and how he fumbled a bad b*tch part 2. My maître made mistakes, yes. But I'm going to pull a page out of Claudia's playbook of how she asked the coven if she could cry and say she's sorry too. Can't Armand cry like Lestat and be forgiven? What do you mean what he did was unforgiveable?

It's terrible that Claudia was used as a pawn in Louis, Lestat and Armand's relationships. Louis needed her for salvation, Lestat had to turn her for the man she loved then resented her for the space she took in their relationship and then Armand, whether he was adhering to the Great Laws or not, went along with her murder IMO because he was fed up with Louis performing an affectation of love while Armand's neck was on the line.

Louis knew how to use Armand's vulnerabilities to keep him compliant and would turn cold when Armand wouldn't do what was being asked of him. Whether Santiago and the coven were gunning for Armand or not because of him letting the de Pointe du Lac de Lioncourts slide, Armand was ready to kill them because he hated that he was used and willingly let himself be used out of a need for love.

He was so angry that he workshopped his hurt with the coven. I absolutely loved that he gave Sam a note about how the script didn't go deep enough into Louis' hoarding. Armand sat there listening to Louis talk about his Grey Gardens years like,

Armand was fine with killing them in this protracted show trial, but had Louis burned, it would be a relatively quick death. I think when Armand heard Louis' screaming and knew he was approaching death, he had a change of heart and freed him.

And LOUIS STILL WOULDN'T LEAVE TOWN WHEN ASKED!

These three led their relationships as poorly as their joint hand hearts.

-That leads to the reveal that Lestat made the choice to save Louis over Claudia and Madeleine. Which I don't think was even much of a choice to him. Yes, he would rather not Claudia die, but he figured it was fait accompli because he knew these vampires (as he warned Claudia in S1) and knew their ruthlessness. But there was no way he was going to let Louis die.

He brags about having Akasha blood in him, but he's still bleeding from the ear when using that mind control power. You still need to level up after Akasha?? A booster from a more powerful vamp?

Claudia's death hurt him much more than he thought it would. He probably figured there would be feelings - she is his fledgling - but the horror and the finality of it devastated him. His daughter (and how great was it that Louis kept pushing that fact. She was their daughter.)

Which leads hovel Lestat.

Candlelit, ramshackled dwelling, with a wooden "piano", but practising with an iPad?

Lestat, if you don't get on Amazon and order one of these!

Lestat, know who you should bring on your tour? The grandson of Tom Anderson, Sidney.

The Louis and Lestat reunion was beautiful and perfect in every way. But then again, I love when characters have a powerful moment while chaos is around them.

And Louis chose himself! He didn't need to get back with Lestat, they both just really needed closure and forgiveness. The rest can come later.

And even though we will likely never know what Louis says to Lestat, I think he says "I love you" at the end because that would be the last bit of healing Louis needs because kept himself from saying those words to Lestat their entire relationship.

THE BAD

FIle Not Found

THE REST

-Sam isn't author Samuel Beckett, but Sam the Talamasca informant and helmet wearing DJ, possibly Deadmau5?

-At first I wondered why Louis' -whose family had a legacy in New Orleans- name would be lost to history, yet Lestat's alias is known. That Tom's and the Alderman's rep was still known, Louis' would as well and not just call him a Creole businessman. Then I wondered if it was because Grace "buried" Louis but her getting that crypt was symbolic. Even if their deed and other paperwork was under Lestat's aliases, the town knew who they were by name and I would think their names would be bandied about as much as Tom's as Louis and his "child bride" and Lestat went missing the same night as Tom, et al. But then I told myself I'm not Neil DeGrasse Tyson so I'm going to just enjoy and not logic police.

-In post-episode featurette Rollin says Daniel's vampire reveal happens when Daniel take off his sunglasses, meanwhile he's flashing almond shape nails throughout his interview. We know this man has been turned immediately.

-The limo driver talking about his wife wanting to see New Edition at Essence Fest - N.E actually did play Essence Fest in 2022 so hat tip to the writers for putting that in.

-Louis returning home albeit briefly. I love that this episode addresses his family. This is completion. He has put down everything he was carrying and is ready to move into his new life. This was what he wanted to do when he and Claudia first left, but he couldn't move on because of "killing" Lestat. He's exorcised his ghosts.

-A Reddit user pointed out that the name above the crypt Louis uses to store his fresh kills is "Mapothier" and posits if it is a nod to Tom Cruise as his real surname is "Mapother".

-Louis is still an AmEx holder, but now a black card haver.

-Louis was the knight and now he owns it.

Talk your sh*t, LDPDL!

-Not from the episode, but I love how Jacob does the excited smack and it doesn't jar Sam at all.

[jesterlesbian]

obsessed with the idea of armand/old man daniel where when they go out, people assume that daniel is like some geriatric sugar daddy meanwhile the real old ass rich bitch is armand and daniel is his comparably young boytoy

[isagrimorie]

I’m so amused that YouTube recommendations put these two killer drama queens right after the other, with the same color design on their thumbnails.

[idontwikeit]

Favorite shots of Interview with the Vampire Part II

[ddagent]

What do you want, Daniel?

[cyarskj52]

JACOB ANDERSON as 𝕷𝖔𝖚𝖎𝖘 𝖉𝖊 𝕻𝖔𝖎𝖓𝖙𝖊 𝖉𝖚 𝕷𝖆𝖈 INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE 1.05: A VILE HUNGER FOR YOUR HAMMERING HEART.

[theinfinitedivides]

late night IWTV posting bc i want to but one of the reasons Loumand is so compelling to me is bc their dynamic is just. yk. like that. and by like that i mean Like That it contains multitudes. accordingly, when you open up ao3 and click their tag and scroll through the amount of fics labelled DD:DNE and/or CCNTUAW you will receive a range going from poking this dove with a stick so it moves. are we sure it's dead we didn't just pluck a few feathers and stun it with a brick or something to walking into a small dingy room with one light flickering on and off, mold on the walls and in between the tile, yes this dove is being vivisected as we speak in someone's basement with such rusty tools it could give a man tetanus but such gentleness that every organ is in its own container intact. we're wrist deep in its guts. such is the intimacy of the violence of fucking, balls to shaft to bellend. you'll need a closed casket funeral regardless

[dykerightsmp3]

loustat in my mind's eye

[reticentvampyr]

"held" - a loustat fic for saint louis 2024

loustat 5.7k words rated M

in which louis learns to hold memory in his arms -- and allows himself to be held.

written for @iwtvfanevents St. Louis 2024 challenge, a month-long celebration of our titular vampire! i hope you all enjoy it, and do check out the rest of the collection on tumblr and ao3 all month long!

read here

[vampyr-bite]

saw someone suggest that lestat’s rock star look was britney spears inspired and i’m sorry but how are you looking at him and listening to his music and not seeing/hearing blockbuster by the sweet or jean genie by david bowie or anything by t. rex OPEN THE SCHOOLS