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cbrownjc · 13 hours
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Thank you for the rec @virginiaisforvampires! 🥰
Hello! I've just joined tumblr and the iwtv fandom on here and I was wondering, am I welcome? R there any more iwtv blogs I can follow? 🖤
Hi there! 💜
Yes, you are welcome here!
For starters, I would recommend you follow @nalyra-dreaming @cbrownjc @emeraldinerosefaedragon @eosphoroz @cloudsofbespin @showmey0urfangs @toriangeli @squirrellypoo @neverswungonswingingstars @keybearer92 @suikamelon6 @bratprnce @kaelio
Of course, there are so many wonderful IWTV/VC accounts, and this isn’t meant to single anyone out. These are just off the top of my head who regularly post great content/metas/updates/gifs. 🥰💕
Enjoy! Xx
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cbrownjc · 18 hours
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Some people are not going to be able to handle, or stomach, what's coming and that is fine. Not every story is for everyone.
But the story being adapted is very much headed deep into the gothic horror parts of this gothic horror romance. Rolin Jones said it himself -- they are now headed into, and opening up, the vampire world of this story. And instead of pulling punches, I think the show is actually going to lean into things and crank up those parts even more. Just like they did in Season 1.
Remember this moment from Episode 1? With the two priests?
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And this moment wasn't even something Lestat did in the books.
So yeah. This show isn't going to tone down anything that is actually in the books that are in this same vein. Especially not to just make some characters more "likable."
And honestly, when it comes to Armand? Even after reading "The Devil's Minion" chapter, as well as the full horror of his own backstory in The Vampire Armand, there are still some book readers who will tell you that they still hate him and don't forgive him for what he did to Claudia. Even after all of that. So if the same thing ends up being true for some people who've only watched the show? I don't think the showrunners/writers are going to sweat it much.
It's been said multiple times, even by Rolin Jones himself recently, that this isn't Twilight or The Vampire Diaries. This isn't a "lighter and softer" vampire story like those stories are. The gothic horror parts are very much there, just as they are in the books, and aren't going away or being toned down -- nor should they be IMO.
Me again (the one who inquired about Claudia's death in the books).  And Louis and Lestat just forgave him after that?!?!?! I get that relationships work differently in the TVC, and they will likely stick closer to the books than the movie for Claudia's death, but do you think they will make her death less graphic than the books or make Armand less at fault because they risk making Armand too unlikeable or too irredeemable to the casual viewer? I'm brought back to the podcast where Levin said that Lestat was not involved in Paul's death because then he would be irredeemable to most viewers.
I had the suspicion that the show would make Santiago look like the villain, and it would be a sort of plot twist that Armand had a hand in her death the entire time, but after watching the Jones cut, I'm unsure of what direction they will take Armand. He does appear remorseful and exceptionally doting. It'll be very interesting to see how that all plays out but that would be a satisfying twist for television. As a fan of the horror genre, I kind of hope the show remains true to text, but then again, I worry the majority of people outside of fandom and book readers who don't know this is coming are going to be shocked.
I don’t think they are going to soften anything or make anything less graphic or lessen Armand’s role in anything. I also don’t think they give a shit about fan reactions. There will be shock. There will be outrage. It’ll make Rolin giddy with glee. It is what it is.
But to your point about Lestat killing Paul? Lestat didn’t kill Paul, so why would they even consider adding that? He wasn’t involved in Paul’s death in the show, because he didn’t kill Paul in the book. He also never beat the shit out of Louis or choked Claudia in the book, which is interestingly one of the events confirmed to be revisited in the show (an element I’ve vehemently disagreed with entirely).
As far as Armand goes, unlike Lestat, they are not making him do anything that he doesn’t canonically do, and I think the Devil’s Minion arc will serve as Armand’s redemption like what it did for book readers.
The thing is, we don’t actually know if Louis ever forgives him for Claudia. It’s never outright addressed in any of the books. It’s only ever said that Louis knew all along Armand was the one who killed her, yet he still stayed with Armand (granted to self-punish), but I think that’s gonna be another thing audiences find hard to swallow. Of course, Louis doesn’t know the true scope of her death (i.e. the horrific surgery) until Armand divulges it to David in The Vampire Armand, but I digress. He knew Armand was the mastermind behind the trial and that he could have prevented her death. You know how one of the S2 episode titles is the “I could not prevent it” quote from Armand? Yeah.
Lestat forgives Armand (for more than just Claudia), because that’s Lestat. He forgives a lot more than he should just like with Magnus or Amel or Rhoshamandes or even with the way he continued to care for and provide for his abusive father and brothers. Lestat has a very complex “who am I to judge?” headspace wrt people doing him wrong.
Anyways, you’re actually inadvertently touching on an incredibly hot topic of discourse that’s been happening for the last year, and it has left the fandom divided. Certain ones feel certain book canon things won’t happen due to certain show-only factors, and it’s just becoming more and more blatant that couldn’t be further from the truth. Now whether people agree with this concept or not is another can of worms entirely, but there it is. They are doing the books “pretty religiously” according to Mark Johnson at TCA.
So no. I don’t foresee anything being toned down or softened and like I said, that within itself will cause a nuclear bomb explosion amongst the fandom. I’ve said it before, but this material is not for everyone. The books are full of some of the most horrific, graphic, uncomfortable, icky, blasphemous, grotesque pieces of writing. It’s not up to the show to hold the audience’s hand, and that applies to all of us whether we love every single thing about the show or hate the show or are lukewarm about the show. I mean, S1 should prove they don’t have any qualms about serving up the vicious.
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cbrownjc · 19 hours
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yeah Romeo and Juliet suuucks they should’ve both survived at the end and lived happily ever after instead. but of course the writer kills them both off for shock value.
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cbrownjc · 19 hours
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So I can only give my POV on this, but I do agree that Louis (and Armand) were set to try and make Daniel think Lestat died in New Orleans. Or, at the very least, Lestat was out of commission during the events of Paris and was never there.
But IMO, Louis knew very well that Lestat survived the murder attempt in New Orleans, despite what he was trying to convince Daniel of. But what Louis thought -- or at least convinced himself to believe -- was that 1. he was the one that slit Lestat's throat when it is more than likely that Claudia alone was the one who did it; and 2. that he and Claudia both couldn't burn Lestat when, in truth, he stopped Claudia from burning Lestat's body after she slit Lestat's throat.
And I think that is because Louis can't face the fact that, when he stopped Claudia from burning Lestat, Louis himself set the stage for Lestat to go to Paris to find Armand to heal him . . . which then led to Armand using/manipulating Lestat via the Mind Gift to testify against Claudia during the trial.
That is the major sticking point Louis gets stuck on as he tries to flee from Daniel's confrontation about it all in EP07 -- that "she couldn't burn him."
Louis had to believe that Claudia couldn't burn Lestat too, just like he couldn't, separate from whatever he was trying to convince Daniel of about Lestat's fate in New Orleans. Because yes, it is mainly the events of Paris that Louis can't face.
And that, in his decision to stop Lestat from being incinerated, he allowed for the stage to be set for Lestat to be used to seal Claudia's fate.
As to Louis knowing where Lestat is currently, yes, I do think Louis knows Lestat is "alive" as it were. Louis, IMO, knows Lestat is there in Dubai, asleep. I too think that Louis was even visiting with Lestat in EP04 in Season 1 when he was "resting."
However, I think, like in Merrick, Louis thinks Lestat's spirit is gone, and possibly gone forever. So while Lestat's physical body is there, in Dubai (probably in some chapel located in the tower or whatever), it's only Lestat's physical body that is there. His "spirit," however, is "gone." (As we learn in a later book, his spirit was on another plane, fighting with "angles." But Louis doesn't know that right now.) And Louis probably does think Lestat is never going to wake up. Which has all just contributed to his depression and despair.
Hi! I'm loving a lot of yours, Nalyra's, and C Brown's theories. But I'm struggling to keep up here so I apologize if you have already discussed this but I know you can point me in the right direction. If Lestat is in the building in a coma, why does Louis think he killed Lestat at the end of season 1? Does Louis not know Lestat is there but Armand does? Is that why Armand is apprehensive about Louis and the interview as indicated by the opening conversation of the Jones trailer?
Hey! Xx
So Louis didn’t think he killed Lestat. He wanted Daniel to think he’d killed Lestat so as to omit Lestat’s role in the Paris events.
From everything we know, there are gaps in Louis’ memory. He’s missing pieces of his life, and he wants to remember them. Armand, however, knows what will happen if Louis truly does remember everything, and he’s trying to protect Louis in his own way.
As for Louis knowing about Lestat, I think he maybe does. I think he was possibly with Lestat during 1x04 in which he was “resting.” I’m just not sure if Louis is aware of the full circumstances. It’s very hard to definitively say what Louis knows and what he doesn’t, because we don’t know where we are in the timeline or what events have happened between San Francisco and Dubai.
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cbrownjc · 1 day
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I predicted it over a year ago, and I'm going to predict it again: Season 3 is very much going to be the Vampire Chronicles equivalent of the play Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?
Meaning -- four people, two couples, all bitching at each other. Talking, secrets revealed, the whole shebang. 😏
Real talk though, Rolin Jones described Dubai as being a 2-character play in Season 1, and said it would be a 3-character play in Season 2. So I just think the next logical step is it's going to become a 4-character play in Season 3. With everyone staying in Dubai when it does.
If the theory of Lestat saving Louis holds, does it mean they will be together when Lestat tells his story in s3? Or does he leave for some reason?
Why would he leave?
Like, getting Lestat's story is something he wants very much?!
I... am not sure if they will be "together together" then yet, (because, you know, the story must be heard, too), but...
As said before, I don't think the show will benefit from much back and forth. That said, there's also the "in love and petty" stuff both Jacob and Sam commented on, so maybe that coming back together will go on for a bit, and I for one am all for it.
I want Loustat bitching at each other, while at the same time unable to keep their hands off, and go to each other for "Netflix and chill", and burn their houses down, walk the other's dog, and so on.
I'm not sure how that would fit into the show, but I want it *laughs*
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cbrownjc · 2 days
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Also, the way it kind of works is that if Louis does what he does in Merrick at the end of Season 2, then they are on a limited time frame regarding reviving Louis. Or else, Louis might come back wrong.
It is one of the first things Magnus tells Lestat to do before Magnus himself goes into the fire is to scatter his ashes, or he could come back wrong.
So, with Louis, they either have to revive him or scatter his ashes, and make that decision pretty soon afterward. There's really no time for Lestat to just sit there and talk to Louis' burnt form for any major length of time (especially not for days/nights). Because, at least in Merrick, Louis was reduced to pure charcoal ash when he attempted what he did. That left Lestat, David, and Merrick with only two options -- crush his remains into pure ash and scatter them . . . or try and revive him. Leaving him alone and doing nothing for too long would mean he'd come back wrong.
Oh, and also? I suspect the show is going to make a tie to this -- a vampire who is reduced to ashes but coming back "wrong" if those ashes aren't scattered -- with the revenants we'll also see in Season 2. Like, this is what Louis and Claudia could both become if their ashes aren't scattered . . . or they are not correctly revived, and in time. (Putting it along with the canon that revenants are born when a vampire is turned but not given enough blood for the transformation to fully take hold.)
What if Lestat will tell his story to "dead" Louis in s3 if he really tries to die at the end of s2? Maybe while he is recovering? And that's why Jacob said he had to tell Louis goodbye for a bit?
Mhhh no, I think Jacob had to say to Louis for a bit bc Louis cannot be in Lestat‘s backstory.
So Jacob will film Dubai in s3 “only". I‘m quite sure there won’t be anything “only“ about it 😅, but he won’t be filming in Prague or Paris 🤷🏽‍♀️
Lestat tells his story for Louis. So Louis will be able to hear it, if and when he does.
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cbrownjc · 2 days
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Also, given the way Kirk's character specifically notes that Daniel fears Armand, I'd say their little sushi restaurant meetup probably happens before the end of the season, but after the start of it. Meaning sometime after Daniel has probably gotten a few memories back of before The Chase, and the start of it, when Armand was literally threatening to kill Daniel. But before Daniel had gotten back any of the memories from when after The Chase ended, and he and Armand had fallen in love and were a couple.
So yeah, I agree, episode 5 or 6 sounds like the right time for when Justin Kirk's character will first pop up.
what episode do you think Justin Kirk will be in?
No idea :)
I mean, Daniel wasn't afraid at the end of season 1 so something must have happened to make him fear for his life, one way or another. Memories, events. Emotions.
So for the fear to make sense in the story I would say he will be in episode 5 or 6?! (And if he is who I think he is he will likely show up at a later point.)
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cbrownjc · 2 days
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Regarding the Merrick ending being the perfect culmination of everything for Louis in Season 2: I agree, it would just be the perfect parallel, and contrast, to the end of the first interview between Louis and Daniel back in 1973, as I noted in this post.
In 1973, the interview ended with Louis getting angry at Daniel and almost killing him out of that anger. Whereas, in 2022, the interview would end with Louis not angry at Daniel, but the both of them actually having real affection for each other. And then, Louis tries to kill himself -- out of grief. And he almost succeeds. Just like he almost succeeded in killing Daniel back in 1973.
Plus, Armand intervened and saved Daniel's life in 1973. So it would be rather perfect for it to (mainly) be Lestat who intervenes and saves Louis' life in 2022.
Until I saw your gif, I didn't even realize those were books falling around Daniel. I thought the ceiling was caving in because they were being attacked or something. I'm a little less nervous now, but I still hope Daniel doesn't get hit by those books.
Yep. When I first saw it, I was like no! Don’t hit Daniel!
But having a longer version of the clip in the full trailer to see it was actually the bookcases exploding gave me pause, and my mind immediately went to this passage from Louis in Prince Lestat:
He’d learned once more somehow, after Lestat had shattered the Undead realm with his antics and his pronouncements, to live from night to night in a semblance of happiness, and to seek for grace once more in the music of operas, symphonies, and choruses, and in the splendor of paintings old and new, and in the simple miracle of human vitality all around him—with Armand and Benji and Sybelle at his side. He had learned his old theology was useless to him and perhaps always had been, an incurable canker inside him rather than a spark to kindle any kind of hope or faith.
“….after Lestat had shattered the Undead realm with his antics and his pronouncements….”
This is referring to Lestat breaching the veil between the natural world (in which vampires exist) and the supernatural world (in which “angels” and spirits and “devils” exist).
This is what Lestat tells Quinn Blackwood in Blackwood Farm about his time in the coma with these supernatural beings called “angels”:
“This right eye was torn from me,” he said, “just as I described it, by those spirits who would have prevented me from fleeing Memnoch’s Hell. And then it was returned to me, here on Earth, and sometimes I believe that this eye can see strange things.”
“What strange things?”
“Angels,” he said, musing, “or those who call themselves angels, or would have me conclude that they’re angels; and they have come to me in the long years since I fled Memnoch. They’ve come to me as I lay like one in a coma on the chapel floor of St. Elizabeth’s….It seems my stolen eye, my restored eye, my bloodshot eye, has established some link with these beings, and I could tell you a tale of them, but now is not the time.”
“They harmed you, didn’t they?” I asked, sensing it in his manner. He nodded.
“They left my body there for my friends to watch over,” he explained, and for the first time since I’d seen him, he looked troubled, indecisive, even faintly confused.
“But my spirit they took with them,” he went on. “And in a realm as palpable as this very room they set me down to do their bidding, always threatening to snatch back this right eye, to take it forever if I didn’t do what they bid me to do.”
He hesitated, shaking his head. “I think it was the eye,” he said, “the eye which gave them the claim on me, the ability to reach down to me, in this realm, and take me—it was the eye, stolen in another dominion and then returned on Earth to its rightful socket. You might say that as they looked down from their lofty Heaven, if Heaven it is, they could see, through the mists of Earth, this bright and shining eye.”
He sighed as if he were suddenly miserable. He looked at me searchingly. “This wounded eye, this tarnished eye,” he continued, “gave them their compass to find me, their opening, as it were, between dominions, and down they came to enlist my spirit against my will.”
………………..
“I can’t entirely accept what I learned from Memnoch and those who came afterwards. I’ve never told anyone of my last spiritual adventure, though the others, the Blood Drinkers who love me—you know, my lusty troop of beloveds, I call them that now, the Troop of Beloveds—they know that something happened, they sense it only too well. I don’t even know which of my bodies was the true one—the body that lay on the floor of the chapel of St. Elizabeth’s, or the body that roamed with the so-called angels. I was an unwilling trafficker in knowledge and illusions. The story of my last adventure, my secret unknown adventure, the adventure I haven’t confided to anyone, weighs on my soul as if to make my spiritual breath die out.”
“Can you tell me now of this adventure?” I asked. It took a great sense of power in him, I thought, to look so readily abject, to show me such affliction. “No,” he said. “I haven’t the strength for the telling of that story yet, that’s the plain truth.”
If Lestat is the coma, it would not surprise me at all for the show to go big on such a climatic moment from the books and literally show that Lestat is “shattering the realm” when he senses what Louis has done, because at that point, those “angels” lose their power over him. The worst had happened when Louis “died”, and nothing mattered to Lestat anymore except getting to Louis.
@cbrownjc also made the point in this reblog in that this moment is also around the same time as the shattering bookcases moment, because Daniel is wearing the same shirt:
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As noted in the reblog, Louis looks tired here. He looks like someone who’s accepted stuff with a grief-stricken finality. Daniel, on the other hand, looks tender. He’s looking at Louis with a quiet affection, as if some of his memories are back in place, as if he remembers something between him and Louis, and he’s recognizing that Louis actually does mean something to him. There’s a palpable understanding between them in this moment and yes, a mutual appreciation. It’s giving shades of the moment in 1x06 in which Louis finally offered to turn Daniel. Given the clips we’ve seen of Louis viciously attacking Daniel is the original interview and almost killing him, there’s something quite profound and poetic seemingly happening in this scene. A full-circle moment.
Until….
So yeah, I think the entire penthouse will “groan” and shake, rattle, and roll when Louis’ heart stops, and Lestat feels it. Judging from everything we have to go on thus far, including some of Jacob’s own comments, I really don’t see any other culmination for Louis in S2 other than the Merrick moment. Everything has happened that is needed to get him to that headspace, and I feel like trying to hold off on that and push him to that specific breaking point again at another time would just be repetitive. He’s in that headspace now.
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cbrownjc · 3 days
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Cocteau's Beauty and the Beast is a lovely film.
But, like, the mind flip of me reading Tale of the Body Thief for the first time after I saw the 1994 Interview with the Vampire film directed by Neil Jordan. And then finding out that one of Louis' favorite movies was The Company of Wolves, which was also directed by Neil Jordan.
And Jordan directing having been one of the reasons I went and saw Interview with the Vampire in the first place, since I started trying to watch some of his other films after having seen The Crying Game. And one of the first post-Crying Game films of his I watched being The Company of Wolves.
If it wasn't for the publishing date of that book being 1991, I would have thought Rice was making a sly reference to the ITWV film, for sure.
Anyway, at some point, I hope the show does show Louis watching those two films, on some big large TV. Whether it's in Dubai, or somewhere else in the recent past.
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It's amazing how often he came to visit me in my overheated and brilliantly illuminated rooms downtown. There he watched my giant television screen for hours. Sometimes he brought his own films for it on disk or tape. The Company of Wolves, that was one which he watched over and over. Beauty and the Beast, a French film by Jean Cocteau, also pleased him mightily.
— Lestat about Louis in Tale Of The Body Thief
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cbrownjc · 3 days
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LDPDL, our delulu king ♥️
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cbrownjc · 4 days
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You mean this one, right?
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gif credit to @fairweathermyth
I swear there is a recent post from someone somewhere that compared the robe to what Lestat is wearing in the hugging image/scene with Louis and said they were not the same. I remember seeing it, but I can't find it.
And honestly, looking at it now, they could be the same, only just with all the yellow in the robe having faded. However, the one thing that keeps me from 100% saying that it is the same thing is the collar portion of the robe vs what Lestat is wearing in the hugging picture doesn't seem to match.
The color of the collar of the robe is a solid-color one. Whereas, if you look closely, the color of the collar in the hugging image is of the same pattern style as the rest of the robe/jacket. And doesn't look quite as broad as the Leyendecker one.
So yeah, at the moment, I don't think they are the same article of clothing. But that is just what my eyes see regarding this.
Heeey , Nalyra !!! If Louis's suicide scene occurs, how would it work with that scene where he hugs Lestat, possibly in NOLA? I'm confused . Would the suicide event occur before or after the meeting in NOLA?
Hello dear!
The suicide attempt will likely be the cliffhanger of season 2. IF they go there. So that will be modern Dubai.
The hug...
It could be NOLA, yes, if it is, then it's likely the disputed-to-have-never-happened-in-the-books scene... and if that is it then I think that is in the year 2000. (They were looking for trucks for the street which are older than that, which was interesting.)
So it would be after the NOLA meeting.
I do not think we will get a full Loustat reunion this season, at least not in the sense of the word.
But, of course, Lestat has to show up somehow for season 3. :)
If that hug is not NOLA though then I take it for an hallucination.
Possibly during the travels.
Because Louis will miss Lestat, terribly.
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That said: However, while I was making the gif I noticed the jacket (and therefore threw a screenshot into the editor):
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That is a floral pattern on a jacket.
I have a coat by Desigual that has something like that, too, here is a similar one:
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Now, we know Carol Cutshall is on top of her game (and I am no expert), but that jacket calls back to "velvet jacket / court cut / pattern" for me. In the books Lestat would wear red velvet, but we know Sam likes black, and I mean...
I think that's modern day (or at least closer to modern day) Lestat.
So. I'm staying with NOLA (for now), though... I mean... could be... like... the possibility is there... 👀
IF they're not mean and do a cliffhanger again.
And I am quite afraid they are that mean *laughs*
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cbrownjc · 4 days
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Can I also throw out another possibility?
The hug might be from the reunion between them from toward the end of The Vampire Lestat.
Now, granted, that would mean that:
Rockstar Lestat happened in the past, probably in the 1980s still. And that,
Louis going to the Moss House would have to have occurred way before the year 2000. Like, at least before 1985 or thereabouts. Or, his going there might actually be about something else altogether.
For the first point, I've always felt that Lestat's rockstar career already happened in the past. And that the setup for it would be quite easy to do IMO, even without the ITWV book having not been published. And that it just makes more sense to me for it to have still happened back in the 1980s instead of happening in the present day.
But what you said here about the jacket Lestat is wearing in the hug scene is what just made it click for me that this very well could be from when Lestat and Louis finally met again during Lestat's rock career; which he not only did to try and protect Louis but to find Louis again as well. Because that jacket looks pretty new-ish and, as you said, modern. Not worn, old, or threadbare, which is what I would more expect from a Lestat living in an old moss-covered shack.
Now, as to the second point, I'm not going to pretend that I know a lot about cars. But is there any possible way that by at least getting cars from before 2000, they could fudge the exterior shots a bit, to at least make it look like Louis is there in the late-70s or even the very early 1980s looking for Lestat? And, if not, then maybe Louis goes to that house for another reason than to look for Lestat which, whatever it may be, becomes the reason why he stops trying to feed on humans in the year 2000? I honestly don't have any idea why or what that could be, but . . .
Anyway, I do agree with you 100% that the scene isn't Louis and Lestat reuniting in the present day with him having left Dubai. For the simple reason that, unless the show is going to break its own setup with this that it established in Season 1, all the present-day scenes are seen from Daniel's POV. If Daniel isn't around for it in 2022, then we, the audience, don't see it. So for that scene to be Louis and Lestat reuniting in the present, with Louis having left Dubai to go find him then, as the show has currently set it up, Daniel would have had to go with him. And I really don't think that is the case here.
So yeah, at the moment, I think that hug is from the Rockstar era, which still happened in the 1980s, just like in the book. And that note about the jacket, and the style of it, is what clicks it, at least for me.
Heeey , Nalyra !!! If Louis's suicide scene occurs, how would it work with that scene where he hugs Lestat, possibly in NOLA? I'm confused . Would the suicide event occur before or after the meeting in NOLA?
Hello dear!
The suicide attempt will likely be the cliffhanger of season 2. IF they go there. So that will be modern Dubai.
The hug...
It could be NOLA, yes, if it is, then it's likely the disputed-to-have-never-happened-in-the-books scene... and if that is it then I think that is in the year 2000. (They were looking for trucks for the street which are older than that, which was interesting.)
So it would be after the NOLA meeting.
I do not think we will get a full Loustat reunion this season, at least not in the sense of the word.
But, of course, Lestat has to show up somehow for season 3. :)
If that hug is not NOLA though then I take it for an hallucination.
Possibly during the travels.
Because Louis will miss Lestat, terribly.
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That said: However, while I was making the gif I noticed the jacket (and therefore threw a screenshot into the editor):
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That is a floral pattern on a jacket.
I have a coat by Desigual that has something like that, too, here is a similar one:
Tumblr media
Now, we know Carol Cutshall is on top of her game (and I am no expert), but that jacket calls back to "velvet jacket / court cut / pattern" for me. In the books Lestat would wear red velvet, but we know Sam likes black, and I mean...
I think that's modern day (or at least closer to modern day) Lestat.
So. I'm staying with NOLA (for now), though... I mean... could be... like... the possibility is there... 👀
IF they're not mean and do a cliffhanger again.
And I am quite afraid they are that mean *laughs*
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cbrownjc · 4 days
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Heyy
Do you believe Daniel's going to be turned? (I've seen quite a lot who prefer old Daniel to die) And if yes, do you believe if will be consensually or not (Since Daniel in the show refused Louis' dark gift and because it could be the rappresentation of why Daniel in the books is gone a little mad after the turning that he went with Marius).
Yes, he's going to be turned - eventually.
And yes, I totally see it as being consensual then, because... old Daniel has forgotten that he wanted to be turned. And he has forgotten why, too.
That will come back. And that will then shift everything.
The love will come back. And with that love... will come the desire to have more time. And then things will unfold.
(But that won't happen next season^^)
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cbrownjc · 5 days
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If you look, Daniel isn't wearing the same shirt when the books fall that Armand is wearing when he's up floating by the books.
The shit Armand is wearing in that scene is, in fact, the same shirt he's wearing at the end of the "Don't be afraid, start the tape" trailer:
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This is the shirt Daniel is wearing during that:
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Whereas, this is the shirt Daniel is wearing when the books fall:
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gif credit to @sanctaignorantia
Now, granted, Daniel could have put that shirt over the one he's wearing in the shots with Armand. But the shirt matches up much more with what he's wearing when we see the shot-reverse-shot between him and Louis in the extended trailer:
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So I think things match up much more with Louis being the one Daniel is talking with before the books fall than Armand. As to the possible why of the fall of the books, I give my speculation about that here if anyone is curious to read it.
Re: the stuff falling on Daniel, I think it’s soon after the shot from the trailer with Armand floating by the bookshelf. The setup of Daniel’s things on the table is the same and his laptop is closed – I think he’s maybe preparing to start another session, says something to piss off Armand, who then takes it out on the bookshelf.
(I don’t really participate in the IWTV fandom, I’m just trying to piece things together from what we’ve seen so I have no idea if this is in-keeping with Armand’s character)
While Armand certainly has a temper at times (and while the books are not necessarily anything lethal) I cannot quite see him taking the risk of hurting Daniel. 🤷🏽‍♀️
But we'll see. There's always the possibility too of "The Groan" getting worse and that being the source of this event.
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cbrownjc · 5 days
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If it means anything, I'm obviously a big Devil's Minion fan too, and I don't feel worried about them at all when it comes to the show. Maybe not as "not worried" as I think people can be about Louis and Lestat's relationship, but still not worried.
Yeah, it's hard not 100% knowing, because, so far, Rolin Jones hasn't really talked openly about them in the same way that he has about Louis and Lestat's relationship. The actors haven't talked openly about it either. (With only Assad and Luke giving cryptic hints via IG posts and showing up at the TOWL premiere). However, I think that is truly down to the show actually being faithful to the adaptation of the Devil's Minion story.
Because, before reading that chapter, if you weren't spoiled about it before you read it, did anyone have any idea that romance was coming? No, you didn't. There wasn't one single hint toward it before that. Even just reading the chapter title in the QotD book doesn't really tell you what to expect.
And I truly feel that, at the moment, everyone involved in the show is just trying to not spoil the reveal of it before the show actually does.
And yes, I'll be honest and admit that if I didn't know DM existed, I'd be thinking Daniel's life might be in danger this season too! Because it's actually not an unreasonable assumption to make if you really don't know that DM is a thing. Because how did the book version of IWTV end? Yep, with Louis attacking Daniel and almost killing him. Frankly, that Daniel didn't die at the end of that book is a miracle, given the later lore afterward that established that Louis was not capable of doing the "little drink" during the time period he almost killed Daniel.
In the show, we're going to see young Daniel back in 1973 say something that has Louis basically lose it and attack Daniel, almost killing him. And I suspect we'll see all that go down in the first episode of Season 2.
And so, for that reason, people will rightly be on edge that that very thing can happen again in the present day. And when you add in the threat from Armand that I feel we will also see back in 1973, the threat to Daniel's life will appear to be there still, and now in a second instance that people didn't know about before.
So all of this would be a perfect setup to foreshadow one or both of them taking Daniel's life by the end of the season.
However, what it all really is, is also the setup for a perfect misdirection.
Yes, I 100% feel this is all purposeful misdirection going on. One, simply because I know DM is actually a thing that exists. And that, the one thing Rolin has been willing to say about DM publically was that DM fans "would be happy." And happiness for DM does NOT involve killing Daniel . . . and having him stay dead. (Nor does it follow the books, which RJ and other writers have flat-out said, time and time again, that the show is doing.)
But also because I, personally, have always felt we would never get the full DM storyline in Season 2 anyway. As far as the past events of it go, I always felt seeing the first interview and parts of the chase were all we'd get; along with a reveal toward the end of the season (so either EP07 or EP08) that Armand and Daniel were lovers in the past.
As to the present-day stuff, I still feel that it's too early for Daniel to be turned. And look, if he does end up getting turned at the end of Season 2, then I'll take the L on that one. But what I really feel all the undertones being given that Daniel's life could be in danger this season, during the present-day sections of the show, are all a misdirection to hide the actual ending of Season 2.
And I feel that ending is what I, and others, have felt and predicted will be the real thing that will end Season 2 for a long time now: The Merrick ending.
Even more than DM, a general audience has ZERO idea of the events of Merrick, and what happens in that book -- and specifically toward the end of that book. They are as in the dark about that as they are about DM. In some ways even more so. Because there are people out there who've only read the IWTV book and no others in the VC. There are even more people who've seen the 1994 movie and not read any of the VC books at all.
And both the first book and the first movie point to a threat being there to Daniel's life at the end of the story. So thinking his life might be in danger toward the end of Season 2, again, isn't an unreasonable assumption to make (if you don't know DM exists).
The events of Merrick, in contrast, are completely unknown to them in every way. And not something they will be looking for at all.
There are even some book readers who think the modern-day parts of the show are just following along with the same sequential timeline as the books. But if the Merrick ending happens, not only will it come as a complete surprise to those who are at least slightly familiar with the IWTV story -- and no others in the VC outside of that -- but it will come as a surprise to even many book readers as well.
And will reinforce what Rolin Jones said when he said and did this:
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The Merrick ending would also be a perfect parallel to how the first interview back in 1973 ended between Louis and Daniel. Daniel almost died at the end of the 1973 interview. And now, at the end of the 2022 interview . . . .
So yeah. Why give away twists even the books didn't give away before they happened? In fact, why not find new and creative ways to present those twists instead? So that you can even surprise book fans when they are revealed? That, in fact, was the very thing AMC wanted and requested of RJ and his team to do with this adaptation. Remain faithful to the heart of the story and its major plot events, but present those events in a new way that would even surprise book readers.
And that, IMO, is what we're getting with the show's version of The Devil's Minion. Because it is not only something that is being set up to be revealed as having happened in the past but, with that reveal, be something that has been happening in the present as well, all this time. And, at least as far as Season 2 goes, we're only finally reaching the reveal of its existence.
It will be in the next few seasons where more will be revealed and explored about it. But that can only be done once even general audiences know it's a thing in the first place. And, right now, that fact is being carefully hidden, particularly when it comes to the marketing of Season 2. And rightfully so IMO, so it can be an actual impactful twist when it's revealed.
Im praying for devil's minion to be spread across seasons. There's no way that whole chapter which could easily fill it's own season can be done justice in one episode unlocking. I'd probably be genuinely pissed if it did.
This is likely the only chance ever for book fans to see this pairing on screen. I want it to be everything it can be and more. If there's no room, then just do a small spin off mini serie, I'll happily take that too.
Not knowing with this pairing can be so stressful though haha. It's so changed, there's always someone talking about the logic behind Daniel dying (even if I don't see it, it feeds a what if fear) and then not knowing how much you will get. Which quotes, which scenes.
Loustat' is far less stressful for me, you know you will get everything and even more as Rolin already said. Dm got 'dont worry about it' but I feel all most dm fans do is worry. Including me 🙈🤣
:) I can empathize! *hugs*
But... truly. I wouldn't worry. Look at this show and how it's being set up. They do not shy away from anything.
As for DM specifically I truly believe it's going to play out over all the seasons. There'll be some twists incoming, and I bet there will be some crossovers with other books/characters (whose parts Daniel might or might not pick up for the show?!) but in total? I BET it's gonna play out over ~5 seasons (at least).
I say 5 here because I (and others) think that there's a more or less 5 season arc being set up (there was also the rumor that Sam was signed for 5 seasons from the start), though Rolin has already talked about plans for 10 seasons. We'll see.
But I think we'll get to see the beginnings of DM next season, and what it has become... but resolution and then what will happen next will be in future seasons.
Dubai and the Devil's Minion is the "glue" that holds it all together.
It's the red thread that can be used to spin the tale.
But yeah, seeing it all come to life is nerve-wrecking, isn't it?! *laughs* I would not have dared to hope for a show like this, honestly. What a blessing. And AMC said they're financially out of the woods, wohoo, sooooooo :)))) (But waiting is hard, I get you^^^^^)
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cbrownjc · 5 days
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So, I can see that as a possibility. My only hesitation about it is that I don't think Armand would give Daniel his blood to heal him, and then immediately turn around and offer to kill Daniel within the same moment. Why heal him if he's just going to die anyway, via what Louis did?
What I, at the moment, think happens is that Armand, and probably Louis as well, notice Daniel is still alive -- barely, but still alive all the same. And so Armand takes Daniel off his hands and takes him across the hall to his own apartment.
And what happens is that Armand's apartment kind of functions like the cage Armand locked Daniel up in when he arrived at Lestat's house in New Orleans when he came looking for him in the books.
And I think Armand just watches Daniel to see if he'll die or not. (And it's book canon that Armand liked to watch his human "pets" die.) But Daniel doesn't die, he lives. And, after a time, he recovers enough to finally regain consciousness.
And that is when Armand comes over to Daniel with his "quiet you've been longer for" Gentleman Death offer.
At the moment, that's how I think/feel it'll play out. So yeah, I don't think Armand is going to heal Daniel before then making him an offer of an "easeful death." I think he's just going to watch and wait to see if Daniel dies on his own. And what actually ended up saving Daniel's life was Armand initially stepping in to stop Louis while Louis was attacking Daniel in the first place, which is why Daniel was only drained close to death, but not drained enough to be past the point of no return, or something like that.
Like, if Armand had only been a few seconds too late in stopping Louis in his attack, Daniel would have died that day.
"I'm the quiet you've been longing for." Or, in other words, Gentleman Death.
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So yeah, there are people, rightly, laughing at Armand calling himself the "quiet" that Daniel's been longing for because if you know anything about their relationship, particularly with how it started, it was anything but quiet. Quite the opposite in fact.
But see, I think, when it comes to the moment in the image above, that is actually the whole point. Because this moment isn't from some point when they are romantically together. I think this moment is from when they first really meet and speak to each other after Polynesian Mary's. More importantly, I think this is sometime after Armand had stopped Louis from killing Daniel.
There is a great observation/analysis post here that notes the clothes both Armand and young Daniel are wearing, and how they match up to what they were wearing that night when they first encountered each other at Polynesian Mary's. So this moment above being either later that same night, or maybe even the next night after Louis attacked Daniel matches up.
And this moment is very much Armand offering Daniel an "easeful death." Namely, killing him, probably because of what happened with Louis. Armand likely only stopped Louis from doing so because he knew Louis would feel guilty about it later, as Louis doesn't actually like to know anything about his victims before he kills them. So Armand likely stepped in and stopped Louis to spare him from that and such guilt.
However, Armand probably also thinks Daniel now knows too much to risk letting him live. And so is going to kill him himself. And I think what we are seeing here, above, is one of the ways Armand will sometimes present himself to his victims. And I think it is something he learned from Lestat, which is to be "Gentleman Death."
It's been noted by the writers of the show that they were looking to drawn things from Anne Rice's short story, Interlude with the Undead, for Armand in Season 2. (A short story, btw, which you can read online here and here.) And, of course, the line about "easeful death" that we hear in the trailer can be found in that short story, not once but twice:
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But if you notice, during the first passage, Armand also talks about being "Gentleman Death." The same exact thing Lestat said to Armand to explain his outlook on being a vampire during the time period when they first met; and basically upending Armand's entire worldview (and cult) under Les Innocents.
From The Vampire Lestat:
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From Interlude with the Undead:
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From the opening of Interlude with the Undead, we know that this whole short story was actually Louis telling Daniel something Armand had told him. Well, I think not only has the show cut out the middleman on that, but I think what they are about to do is show how very much Armand, in his own way, embraced Lestat's Gentleman Death mission statement for a time. Probably for a long time.
In the show, I think we are going to see Lestat give Armand his Gentleman Death monologue during the scene when these two images happen:
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And I think, by the time Louis encounters Armand in Paris, we will see that he has, in his own ways and methods, adapted to that ethos of being Gentleman Death.
However, time does march on. And I do think Armand will begin to see presenting himself as such is beginning to not fit with the times he is now in. But it will still be one of the things he still will present himself as.
At least until Daniel.
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Because I really do think when Armand presents himself in this way to Daniel, being a "quiet" (ie death) that he says Daniel has been longing for? Daniel is going to flat-out reject that.
Because Daniel doesn't want to die, no matter how many drugs he takes or the reckless behavior he may sometimes exhibit (during this point in time). What Daniel really wants is to live forever. The reason Louis attacked Daniel as he did was because Daniel asked Louis to make him immortal.
Death? Quiet? Hell no. Give Daniel Molloy immortality, thank you!
So Daniel is going to ask the same thing of Armand he asked of Louis. Which is for Armand to make him immortal.
And just like in the book? Armand is, at first, going to be taken aback. And then, intrigued by this brash (and beautiful) human:
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This human whom Armand is sure is going to go completely mad at some point by the knowledge that vampires actually exist. But hasn't gone mad, no not yet:
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So yeah, I feel that the "quiet you've been longing for" moment in the trailer is the moment when Armand presents himself as his own version of "Gentleman Death" and it flat-out doesn't work, probably for the first time ever. And that it doesn't work with Daniel is what starts The Chase between them in the show's universe; the show leaving out the 3-days or so that Armand locked Daniel in a cage before that, of course.
And all because of something Armand has been doing since Lestat first upended his life under Les Innocents centuries ago did not work on this one particular mortal. So, instead, Armand let him go to chase him instead.
And to hell with trying to seduce this human with promises of "quiet" because that sure as hell didn't work last time.
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cbrownjc · 6 days
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Agree. I mean, we've already had Rolin Jones himself recently flat-out state that the show isn't going be like Twilight or The Vampire Diaries when it comes to its story and how they are adapting it from the books.
So yes, when it comes to the people who actually write and produce the show, they clearly have a vision for it -- with RJ specifically dropping the name of John Cassavetes and his directed films for the style they are going for with the show. The complexities of everything is something I don't think they are going to shy away from at all -- or even want to shy away from.
But the viewing audience for the show is a totally different beast. And completely beyond their control.
You can't control how people are going to interpret what the show does with these things. Yes, that is 100% out of the show's control, no matter what they do. Hell, I just recently reblogged something from Neil Gaiman where he talks about something similar -- how he has no control over how someone interprets the things he writes. That some people are just going to miss the point entirely, and that just can't be helped when you have a large number of people engaging with your work.
And outside of trying to dumb things down and holding people's hands -- which also doesn't always work in trying to get everyone to understand something in the same way -- there is nothing you can do about it.
Also, you know, there is that whole school of thought, called Death of the Author, when it comes to readers' (or, in this case, viewers') interpretation of a work anyway. That it doesn't matter what the author (or director and writers in the case of film/tv) meant when creating the work, each reader's (viewer's) individual interpretation of that work matters just as much, if not more.
So yeah, in the end, as far as the audience goes, there is nothing the show/showrunners/writers can do on that score about it. All they can do is try and present those complexities in the best way they can, both narratively and visually. Because some people will still miss the point entirely, no matter what they do. That is completely beyond their control.
Do you think the show will be able to capture the complexity of Louis, Lestat and Armand’s relationship? I find that people who watch television shows struggle with grasping relationships that are not binary. It’s either good or bad, friends or enemies, jealousy etc, and anything that does not clearly fall within those relationship tropes are simply not understood.
If the show starts veering into Prince Lestat era, where the love between Lestat, Louis and Armand is present but distinctly different from one another, I don’t know if television viewers will get it. I just struggle with the idea that the show is going to be able to really deliver. Or maybe I’m just anticipating them getting it wrong so I’m not disappointed. 
In terms of acting, I think all three actors are more than capable of depicting the complexity of the relationship, but can the writers deliver when the everyday viewer eats up the traditional love triangle.
I feel like the looming reality of immortality just changes dynamics of what relationships are for vampires. And the Lestat, Armand, Louis relationship definitely reflects that complexity. 
Anyways, do you think they can deliver? 
Based on everything they’ve served so far, I don’t foresee them having any issues with delivering the goods on the complexities of these relationships.
Now whether or not audiences actually understand it? That’s beyond the show’s control.
If I’ve learned anything over the last year of running this blog, and I say this with all due respect, it’s that some people are just willfully ignorant and no matter how plainly something is spelled out for them, if they don’t wish to grasp it, they simply won’t.
I mean, if I had a dollar for every time I’ve had to state “these relationships do not work like this”, but alas. It is what it is. 🤷🏼‍♀️
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