murfpersonalblog - Tumblr blog

[murfpersonalblog]

IWTV S2 - ANOTHER commercial teaser!? Analysis & EP5 Theories

Lord, I have places to be in the morning, but AMC thinks it's cute to release multiple teasers in a day. 😭

This is a SPICY one for Louis, too! 👀

We start with the familiar "Me n' you; you n' me" from Louis, but we see a teensy bit more of his fallout with Claudia:

Claudia's head is being pushed down into something as she screams.

And thanks to the teaser we got earlier today, we can assume Lou's in the burlap sack the (the night the Theatre jumps him, Claud & Madz).

They jump from Claudia yelling at Louis, to Louis yelling "YOU left ME!" I NEED to know who Louis is talking to--it's a hard cut from Claudia to Louis, but I bet he's talking to someone else.

Cuz of the cut to Armand looking concerned as he calls Lou's name (Merrick?), now I'm thinking about the books, where we know Armand left Louis (in IWTV) for Daniel (in QotD). So is that a Loumand argument? 👀 Cuz I'm telling y'all, I don't trust them in Dubai, and the goat Carol Cutshall already threw shade their way, with the "so-called love of his life" line. I'm side-eying them HEAVY.

And good grief, poor Louis' going THROUGH IT in his dark room.

But the REAL reason I'm posting all this is cuz of this juicy morsel:

😳 LOUSTAT KISSING IN EPISODE 5 FOOTAGE. 😳

AMC, what in heaven's name is HAPPENING!?

Neither Louis nor Lestat are injured here, so does this clip happen:

1) In 1931, right before Claudia came home?

2) Or even earlier, back in 1923, when Loustat was arguing about Claudia's "hunger strike"? Cuz we know Louis wore the same blue sweater TWICE in Ep5.

3) OR, this is legit from the Ep5 fight, while they were upstairs, during the parts we didn't see while they were in the coffin/bedroom?

Was it "over" cuz Louis was desperately tryna kiss and make up? Did it not work, cuz Lestat knew/convinced himself that Lou was playing him--"maybe it's the gin, my love"? Cuz Les is the one to push Louis through the wall.

I dunno, I need sleep. 😫

[murfpersonalblog]

This looks so immaculate, we really are about to see the Theatre and Loumand and Lelio Rising and the Trial and Devil's Minion in full effect, I feel like crying???

"Intermission is almost over. Take your seats and prepare for Act II."

[murfpersonalblog]

I am shooketh.

Did BOTH of them bite Daniel!? The same dang day!? That's the same shirt Daniel's wearing when Louis jumps him.

OR they're faking us out, making it only seem like Louis bit him, when really Armand intercepted them in the nick of time?

I am so confused and so excited--the hype is killing me!

muahahaa

[murfpersonalblog]

i always convince myself i dont sound that weird and then i go out in the world and get involved in anything longer than transactional small talk and its like ohhh thats right ive only been hanging out with gay people who speak in riddles

[murfpersonalblog]

Carol Cutshall better get an Emmy this year, I ain't playin!

"Cutshall and her team had to embrace a new reality, one initially devoid of the first season’s material pleasures..... Free of their maker, an austere Louis and Claudia flee New Orleans for Europe in search of a coven of vampires to call their own. There they find themselves in the ravaged wasteland of World War II, where sorrow pollutes even the blood they drink."

"It was such a drastic change going into season two. We went from the height of glamour, which we last saw during a Mardi Gras party, to the polar opposite in the premiere. When you look at Louis and Claudia in their shearling coats in Romania and the amount of mud and blood on them, those looks are built for surviving and searching and starting over."

This what I meant when I talked about AMC intensifying the horror for show!Claudia vs book!Claudia. They're starting over, runaway slaves free at last from Massa Lestat's domestic terrorism; following the Drinking Gourd north to the promised land of milk & honey--but their exodus isn't some glorious adventure--it's Hell on Earth!

I adore the juxtaposition Carol makes between the obscene opulence of Mardi Gras NOLA vs the Grimm realities of war-torn Europe. Book!Lou&Claud traveled across Europe in a lavish carriage Claudia picked out, and had the luxury of taking their fancy coffins with them in it.

NGL I was hoping Carol would talk about these outfits in particular:

AMC's Lou & Claud look like they've been sleeping underground/in a battlefield, dressed in animal skins/furs--not the fancy furs PETA jumps folks for, but nasty Caveman Couture rags. And I can't help but think about the furs they wore in the film, looking rich AF, even as Lou complained about how sad he was. 🙄😒

So I am SO IN LOVE with AMC sending Louis & Claudia to WWII Europe. They're in Ploiești/Romania in 1941--in the book they're in 1800s Varna/Germany. Romania was a major ally for the Nazis in WWII, and the LAST place Claud should be--let alone Louis (a gay Black African American man)--let alone because Romania was bombed TF up in the early 1940s.

They're running slow AF like regular humans--no super vamp speed at their disposal to flee from the bombs--cuz they've been STARVING. They're eating the dead like a bunch of ghoulish necrophages (come through, Witcher 3 folklore!).

Like, in the film the big idea was that drinking dead blood could kill a vampire. But in TVL & Blood Communion we know that's not the case when Lestat drinks the corpses Armand gave him, and when Lestat gives the Vampire Court Rhoshamandes' corpse--it's not deadly, but it's not great, either. Drinking blood should be PEAK sensory pleasure; but this just shows what they've been reduced to.

So to see Louis & Claudia tearing into pieces of the dead to suck up what's left is like cannibalism at its rawest, basest & most primitive--straight out of a dystopian zombie apocalypse. There's no transcendent power in the dead like what Maharet & Lestat described. Lou & Claud are scavengers in as battlefield, fighting for scraps just to survive and endure, but not really live.

And I feel so much worse for Claudia, cuz she LITERALLY didn't ask for this mess! Unlike Louis--and unlike book/film!Claudia--she was Born into Darkness w/out her awareness or consent. AMC puts this poor girl through HELL. The things she's seen & experienced made her "built for survival;" but she's also "built like a bird," and just as ignorant about vampires & the Old World as Louis--though they're both bookish intellectuals who THINK they're ready for Europe.

So they have no effing idea, cuz Lestat never told them WHY Europe was such bad news. They're blind and completely in the dark!

And then they FINALLY arrive in Paris--a breath of fresh air after the war.

But glamour returns to their lives as the pair forge ahead in Paris.... Seduced by their habit of living loudly and proudly — at least at night — Louis relaxes into his post-Lestat life, taking up photography and exploring his sexuality in subtle ways. “The look I landed on for him was that of artists and café society, and French workwear with a little bit of a blue-collar look,” Cutshall says. “It’s not the finery that we are used to for Louis, but his fastidiousness in how he wears it — tucked and belted — is still there.” There is a visual hierarchy among these old-world vampires. Louis wears the costume of the common man, placing him below the coven’s creative director, Armand, the so-called love of his life"

The "visual hierarchy" of Louis being "placed BELOW" the Old World vampires had me vibrating in my seat, especially wrt Armand, the biggest baddest boogeyman vs fledgling vampires in the books.

"We want to break away from the disguise he had in season one, because he is the mega predator,” Cutshall says. “He's not threatened by anyone. So, in everything he does and wears, he can be like an animal who is not afraid to lie on their back and bare their belly."

Which is precisely what I said about Lestat in his Mardi Gras dress & his Matador pajamas. Cuz Lou & Claud are constantly put on the exact same level--at the BOTTOM of the food chain & the gendered/social hierarchies of vampire covens in both NOLA & Europe.

But what's interesting's that AMC diversified the Theatre--there's Black & Asian vampires, not the all-white coven from the books.

The Theatre has truly become a microcosm of the entire world, highlighting just how sheltered Lou & Claud were in the New World. The history of America is very black and white--or rather: white versus black. After the Native Americans were wiped out, American racism molded & shaped centuries of slavery & oppression specifically designed to keep Black people at the bottom of barrel, even when they were "freed/emancipated." But in the Old World, power & conquest was continental--Africa & Asia & Europe were ALL major superpowers at one time or another, kicking each other's arses. Race & racism still plays a huge part in European imperialism, OF COURSE, but WWII showed how white folk are just as prone to killing & oppressing each other, let alone anyone else. 😂 Louis & Claudia's problems w/ Lestat are radically different from their problems w/ Armand (now a brown Asian, as Russia & Ukraine are also globalized; dispelling the myth about Russians only ever being white people).

But Santiago's an altogether different beast--but eerily familiar.

"Her thirst for attention is surpassed only by Santiago, the extravagant emcee of the theater troupe. For Santiago’s big onstage entrance in episode two, Cutshall took inspiration from performers like Peter O’Toole and Laurence Olivier. “I started with Fred Astaire, but with a bit of a bondage twist for Santiago’s curtain look,” she says. “Who were the top dogs of the time that he would want to emulate? You can feel him striving for that."

What is fundamentally wrong with Santiago (and Lestat) is that he's a HUGE showboat, desperate for attention & validity, specifically from LOUIS, a vampire older than Santiago, attractive & new & interesting, who's approval he actually wanted & expected. But Louis's too mature/smart for Santiago, and immediately clocked him as a clown and a BUFFOON.

AMC dyed Santiago's hair blonde on purpose, ISTG, cuz the parallels w/ Lestat are hilarious. Armand's the coven master & creative director, but Santiago's the emcee & "show pony," just like Lelio!Lestat was back in the day. Les' pony on meth meme is SO apt!

And just like Lestat pulled the rug under Armand at Les Innocents, taking on a leadership role for the Children of Satan and ushering in their new era as vampires who'd join society via the Theatre, Santiago usurps Armand's position as the ringleader against Claudia & Louis. Even though Armand wanted all that to happen, he's more passive than Les & Santiago, far more active & dominant despite being significantly weaker & younger in the Blood than Armand. Wolf Killer Lestat and "top dog" Santiago are cut from the same cloth, down to the pinstripes--which Carol already said were supposed to symbolize cage/jail bars--"back in your cage, sweetheart."

CAROL! I desire you CARNALLY! ❤️

[murfpersonalblog]

Welcome to MerMay - Vampire Chronicles edition! Vampire lovers, please join us in celebrating another category of mythological creatures and monsters: mermaids, sirens, rusalkas, selkies, and so on, combined with the VC characters we know and love all month long! 🫧🐠

Create fic, art, playlists, moodboards, photo manipulations, and anything else you can think of that relates to the theme of bodies of water and their inhabitants! 💙

Base it on the characters of the books, the movie, the show, the musical, or even that other movie! Genderswapped and trans versions welcome! Whatever ships, pairings, genres, tropes, and ratings you feel like doing! 🐙

𝕽𝖚𝖑𝖊𝖘 & 𝕲𝖚𝖎𝖉𝖊𝖑𝖎𝖓𝖊𝖘

1. MerMay VC will run for 4.5 weeks with each week featuring FOUR THEME PROMPTS and a bonus FREE SPACE prompt where anything in the spirit of MerMay goes! Prompts can be interpreted as SFW or NSFW — go nuts! Pick one or combine them or rearrange them, it's up to you!

2. Tag your posts #vamptember so that we can reblog! If your post isn't showing in the tag please don't hesitate to send us the link in our ask box! Delayed submissions are always welcome!

3. AO3 collection for fic will go live sometime during the last week of April. There will be another post announcing it then with instructions on how to add your works!

4. Follow @vamptember to see everyone's incredible creations and keep up with our latest fandom events! Our sister blog @priapus-at-the-gate will also be a hosting an exclusively NSFW MerMay event, so feel free to give us a follow there as well for more fun stuff coming soon! And as always, let us know if you have any questions about anything, we're here for you!

𝕿𝖊𝖑𝖑 𝖞𝖔𝖚𝖗 𝖋𝖗𝖎𝖊𝖓𝖉𝖘 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖘𝖍𝖆𝖗𝖊 𝖙𝖔 𝖘𝖕𝖗𝖊𝖆𝖉 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖜𝖔𝖗𝖉! 𝖂𝖊𝖊𝖐𝖑𝖞 𝖕𝖗𝖔𝖒𝖕𝖙𝖘 𝖇𝖊𝖓𝖊𝖆𝖙𝖍 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖈𝖚𝖙! 🪼

WEEK 1 (May 1 - 7)

fishing net / stuck on land / gore / pearl / FREE SPACE

WEEK 2 (May 8 - 14)

lighthouse / curse / knots / thalassophobia / FREE SPACE

WEEK 3 (May 15 - 21)

sea cave / pirates / specimen / myth / FREE SPACE

WEEK 4 (May 22 - 28)

rescued / song / bioluminescent / depth / FREE SPACE

WEEK 4.5 (May 29 - 31)

tentacles / under the moon / eggs / shipwreck / FREE SPACE

[murfpersonalblog]

Starting a collection

[murfpersonalblog]

How do I make a character’s death really sad? (For a VC fic.) (-Memnoch, The Devil.)

I think there are many ways to make a character’s death really sad, and bc we can all have different feelings about a given character, any individual reader will be very sad about the death, when another reader might be totally indifferent (or even glad!). I’ve only written fanfic myself, and I know what makes me sad when I read/write character death, that’s about as informed as I am on the topic, DISCLAIMER: I’m not a professional writer and this is not professional advice.

💀 Some things that come to mind re: making a character’s death really sad: 💀

How they die, 

How preventable their death was, 

How other characters feel their loss and/or the loss of their potential, 

And how much that character meant to the reader/audience, did they like the character?

I don’t know what specifically you’re doing in the Memnoch timeline… I won’t use any examples of deaths from that book in case of spoilers (Idk sometimes I’m more respectful about spoiling ppl than other times *shrugs*)

In IWTV, it was a very sad death when Claudia died. It’s portrayed differently in the book(s) and the movie, but I’m just going to address it re: the points above generally and drawing from both.

1. She died by sunlight exposure and it seemed extremely painful. 

Louis would not have seen it, so he can’t describe the moment of her death in the book, but it’s shown in the movie. Leading up to the death, the tension builds and builds, all these moments where Louis, Claudia and Madeleine are hoping for Armand (or some other deux ex machina) to swoop in and save them all. It doesn’t happen. Probably one of the last shreds of hope they had was when the troupe pull Louis and Claudia apart, from that point on, he can no longer protect her ;A; 

As it was so painfully underscored in Claudia’s Story, the last name Claudia hears Louis call for is “Armand,” bc calling her name won’t do them any good. But to her, it feels like a final betrayal, that he’s calling for Armand bc he cares more about him ;A;

Claudia and Madeleine get locked in the well, and when Claudia sees the sunlight approaching, she’s already starting to cry, trying to wake Madeleine to try to figure out a way out… there is none and then they can only brace themselves bc there IS NO ESCAPE ;A;!! The acceptance of their own deaths is part of the tragedy.

It’s a pretty universally nightmarish situation, even though sunlight is not fatal for ppl (most, anyway), but we can all relate to the experience. It’s like being pushed onto subway tracks and not being able to escape in time ;A;

2. Her death was a failure in diplomacy, basically. The Theatre des Vampires, led by Santiago, held a kangaroo court (although they may have felt that they were within their rights) in which they found Claudia guilty of attempted murder of her maker, and decided to punish her with the death penalty. 

Louis tried to protect her from it as best he could, he tried to make a deal to save her life, but failed. In the book:

“ `Listen to me, Lestat,’ I began now. `You let her go, you free her… and I will… I’ll return to you,’ I said, the words sounding hollow, metallic.

3. It kills a part of Louis when Claudia dies. His immediate reaction is extremely sad (not even factoring in the revenge he takes after).

I have a more thorough commentary on this scene here. It’s in this moment that Louis has lost the most precious person, the one who’s told him what to do, someone he could worship and follow, someone who metered out his doses of happiness with her approval. In the movie, he calls her “my child,” Armand tries to correct him: “Your lover,” and Louis compromises with “My beloved.” 

In the book, the next night, Louis finds Lestat clutching Claudia’s bloody dress and sobbing over her death, too. Even though he was the very person who testified against her! Even he could not prevent their “justice.”

“And then I saw the thing in [Lestat’s] hands. I knew what it was. And in an instant I’d ripped it from him and was staring at it, at the fragile silken thing that it was - Claudia’s. His hand rose to his lips, his face turned away. And the soft, subdued sobs broke from him as he sat back while I stared at him, while I stared at the dress. My fingers moved slowly over the tears in it, the stains of blood; my hands closing, trembling as I crushed it against my chest.

Louis was expecting Claudia to go on and live with Madeleine, that he would still be in touch with her and see her occasionally. So that potential continued relationship was destroyed, too ;A; 

4. What did Claudia mean to the audience/reader… 

I know I sympathized with her and very much enjoyed her overall, and I like to think that other readers/viewers agreed, and don’t totally blame her for her actions against Lestat… after all, she was a victim herself. Lestat doesn’t blame her when he speaks of her in canon. We saw the love they both had for her

Is that enough to convince the readers/audience to care enough for her that her death is sad for them? All those factors help!

~💀I hope that helps, Anon! Now make us cry!💀~

[murfpersonalblog]

Rewind the tape —Episode 6 highlights

One of our favorite outfits is…

...to nobody's surprise, the key-patterned shirt from the first chess scene! This is one of the looks that show us how time has passed and how it has changed Claudia: the waist has risen again since the 1920s, and Claudia now styles herself as a woman, with her hair pulled up. And the key motif works on several levels: earlier in the episode, Claudia throws the car keys away, keeping them temporarily free of Lestat; now they're once again caged in Rue Royale. In this scene, Claudia says she's trying to understand Lestat: trying to find the key to break them out. And yet she's the key that Louis used to lock himself in with Lestat in the first place!

What's a favorite look of yours? Louis' loose brown shirt, or his tan jacket and high waisted slacks? Claudia's red bullfighter jacket, or her loose light dresses from the beginning of the episode?

Reblog with your highlights, or make a new post with the tag #vampterview to join the conversation! And, if you're just getting caught up, learn all about our group rewatch here ►

[murfpersonalblog]

Reconstruction ended in the US in 1877, and during that year, as well as the years immediately post civil war, there was an especially huge push for black people to find loved ones who were sold off the other states or countries during slavery, especially those who had children fathered by their masters as their masters were the ones who sold off the child/ren or had the best information on finding them. People would send letters, put ads in newspapers, even take trips themselves to go find loved ones that they had lost due to the scurge that was slavery. And I keep thinking about Louis du pointe du lac, sending all those messages to find his daughter that was sent out of state by her white father

[murfpersonalblog]

my upstairs neighbor is so loud and annoying and all he does is yell and play video games but right now he's explaining the civil war and like the entire history of slavery and the prison industrial complex to some guy in overwatch voice chat so

[murfpersonalblog]

It's insane how casually the calls to end a genocide, not just the students in Columbia University but pro Palestinian views in general, are labelled as terrorists. The audacity to still publicly support Israel's actions even after the horrific bombings these last months and then turn around to say that the ones who oppose it are violent anti semites is just baffling

[murfpersonalblog]

Bonus:

[murfpersonalblog]

[murfpersonalblog]

🤩

Holy god this is AMAZING!!!

More vintage!Black!vampire period-flicks!? 😭

Multiple roles! 👀 A PAIR!? 👀👀 What sweet sorcery is this!?

LOUIS DE POINTE DU BLACK, the revolution WILL be televised! 👏

AND there's the upcoming Blade video game from Arkane--what a time to be alive!

Louis got sons

I'm so excited for this!

[murfpersonalblog]

Recently learned that the color of the vest and tie Arthur wears during the Saint Denis ferry gambling mission changes depending on if you have high or low honor (blue for high and red for low) so now i am obsessed with the idea that the prominence of the colors red and blue on certain gang member’s outfit also reflects their honor level.

Whittemore variants versus Arthur’s default outfit, which doesn’t have a scrap of red on it, however no matter what his blue shirt is always fucking dirty and stained. And remember the gang criticizes you if you have blood all over you.

Hosea wears the blue vest (sometimes brown) but he generally has his red neckerchief on, but he also owns a red and black scarf. Mostly good but a little bit of bad.

Red is prominently featured on Micah. His entire shirt is red and he’s usually wearing his jacket like he’s disguising his nature. Even the the grips on his guns have red. And when you rescue him from Strawberry he does not have his coat.

Dutch is the most interesting to me. He has the checkered red scarf which he rarely wears and the red pocket square over his heart. Only the back of his vest is red, like he’s in denial about it, or that it’s only possible to see who he is when he isn’t facing you and putting on a show. Meanwhile on guarma his vest is suddenly reversed!

EDIT: addition

When Hosea is killed he is wearing a completely different outfit with a blue vest and absolutely no red, and both Milton and Dutch are covered in red!

[murfpersonalblog]

I genuinely hope so! I've been praying he's a Talamasca member, cuz the theory that he's another secret vampire is just so tired; I really don't want another "Rashid" hat trick, when AMC could be so much more creative. 😩

I assumed this guy was Daniel's editor, but I forgot Dan has a researcher too (unless they're the same? I don't work in publishing, lol). And research is 100% what the Talamasca does. 👀

And we NEED more crossovers with their Immortals Universe. The Talamasca crawls all over the place--it wouldn't surprise me that they'd have a mole in journalism, getting the scoop on any and all supernatural shenanigans.

It would make sense that they'd be snooping on LDPDL & Armand--anyone with "your own hangar at the airport, privileges on the Royal Meydan Bridge," and special access to the Prime Minister's personal Dr. Fareed (who is ALSO linked with oooold AF vampires) should be throwing up major red flags for the Talamasca.

Especially with photographer!Louis and "Armand Marius" having potentially left a paper trail all over Paris w/ their name & faces everywhere (X X X X).

And apparently Armand's been an artist this whole time--that was literally how The Talamasca found out about Marius in the QotD film.

And Daniel already has a link between Armand & Marius that his reasearcher/editor could've looked up.

And if the Talamasca's been following the history of the weird goings-on at 1132 Rue Royale (like we know Jesse Reeves did in Merrick), then they'd know all about what went down on Mardi Gras in the 1940s, and that Louis has a freaking tombstone with his name on it in NOLA.

And if Lestat's been holed up in NOLA like he was in book/film, then I wouldn't be surprised if they've seen him and tried to get in contact with him--which would be the perfect segue for Lestat's run-in with the Talamasca in AMC!ToTBT (esp. if the recent spoilers are legit).

And it would thus make sense why this researcher/editor "friend" of Daniel's is warning him about Louis--cuz Louis is an ON SIGHT kind of guy.

Throwing some guesses out here. Daniel's interaction with the mystery man suggests a degree of familiarity. Perhaps this is the reseracher he mentioned in s1. Perhaps the Talamasca tracked down young Daniel in the 70s and kept in touch?

Since they're planning the Talamasca spin-off show next, it makes sense to start introducing/crossing-over characters.