psychopersonified

[psychopersonified]

Really interesting that some people see the new painting as ‘mother and child’ - which would work.

Significance : nurturing love, unconditional love, protectiveness, security, family.

Is that Louis’ theme for season 3? It’s got hints of Trinity Gate, PL era.

Dubai changes… post breakup

COLOUR. There’s colour now!

Magnolia tree is gone.

Paul’s portrait and Claudia’s dress in its place.

The Bacon triptych is gone. It represented vengeance, now gone. In its place? Anyone figured it out yet? It looks voluptuous, lovers intertwined…

[psychopersonified]

Dubai changes… post breakup

COLOUR. There’s colour now!

Magnolia tree is gone.

Paul’s portrait and Claudia’s dress in its place.

The Bacon triptych is gone. It represented vengeance, now gone. In its place? Anyone figured it out yet? It looks voluptuous, lovers intertwined…

[psychopersonified]

****SPOILERS SEASON FINALE*****

🇦🇺 walk among you….. so yes we get it early if you don’t know by now.

The fucking FEELS.

Revelations, clarifications, self discovery.

One thread gets tied off, another picked up.

Daniel casually lobbing 💣 into vampire marriages. Poking holes into the story that fans have been asking too. Daniel being even more insufferable… at the end.

Sam Barclay a DJ - with a decorative helmet? Daft Punk? 😄

Armand? What’s your next move??

A few funny moments peppered throughout.

Louis looking hella FINE in modern day. Warm light makes his eyes pop. Bittersweet homecoming in multiple ways. Seeing how his NOLA life is reduced to a footnote for tourists. The way he can walk into a luxury hotel now and the white staff treats him like any other patron - the respect he so craved in the past. I’m sure there will be more commentary around this in the next few weeks.

Lestat serving dirty rockstar vibes, funny enough, he’s serving a much better looking Steve Tyler 😁. The ‘plank’, I have jokes for this later (anyone remember Ed, Edd and Eddy?)

THE REUNION…. OMFG…. Decades of grief finally getting processed together. This one is poignant. Firstly Louis coming to terms with his own choices.

Secondly Claudia. You can imagine parents when a child is diagnosed with an incurable disease, if they have different opinions around what’s best for the child - treatment, dignity, suffering… neither is completely right or wrong, but It can tear them apart. And when the child eventually succumbs, they are left with nothing but each other and the grief - some marriages survive, some don’t.

COLOURS finally.

And to those worried about Louis fading into the background in S3, don’t worry. Don’t you worry, our boy throws down the gauntlet!

Overall, a great conclusion to the NOLA-PARIS arc. And laying foundations for something BIGGER. *wink wink*. My shipper heart whist not euphoric, is adequately satiated for now, knowing a more satisfying outcome is in the future.

Season 3 possibilities: We’re going into somewhat uncharted territory now I think. Louis is a much stronger character than the book!Louis. He has bits of Lestat’s personality and vice versa. Honestly I love it, it will make their relationship moving forward more on equal footing. It lays down the possibility of a power couple Loustat (one that I’ve been advocating) going into Prince Lestat. Lestat doesn’t have to shoulder the entire burden of governance through his personality alone, an equally charismatic partner to share it with. Maybe it will be Prince Louis & Lestat of the House of LOUSTAT endgame for the show!

[psychopersonified]

Dissecting the Execution - Episode 7, S2

Ok now that I’ve somewhat swept up the ashes of my emotional sanity (ha! See what I did there?) and stabilised it with craft glue (don’t get me wet guys, it won’t hold)… I’m going to pick a bone with the execution scene.

It was… ‘mild’ in comparison to the other violence, horror and drama we’ve seen. I don’t mean the actual burning, that was gruesome, but the acquiescence of both Claudia and Madeline and to a large extent Lestat too.

Yes they were defiant, but accepting of their fate. I could examine this deeper and say if it were me, I’d cave even before the trial started (I’m a self professed coward). But this is Claudia and Lestat, the two fiercest daddy-daughter vampires around.

That telescope focal point was an unmoving spot on stage. Roll, tumble or fling yourself out of the spot. Their captures cannot physically hold them to the spot without getting hurt themselves.

Armand, crack that lens - shove it out of alignment. He spent all his energy on mind controlling the inconsequential audience. Didn’t Marius teach you renaissance science??

Lestat, who scared the sh1t out of the audience at Renauds in the old days, who rose up in the middle of a church service like the Devil himself - fucking go mental, go to town on the audience. Salt the earth. Even Claudia and Madeline, make an exit the mortals will remember. Burn the theatre down (figuratively) so the vampires have nowhere to hide. The Theatre vamps clearly don’t understand compound interest rates and still depend on Sugardaddy!Lestat for money.

Now all that said… this is ARMAND telling us how the end came about. And we book nerds know there was -more-…. Is he downplaying? The show had a mortal audience as witness. Unless the Coven had enough mind wipe powers to inveigle on an entire theatre, I’m going to assume they all walked out faculties intact after a ‘spectacular’ show. What if someone wrote a review of it in some obscure publication? A surviving copy of it makes it way to the Talamasca database, they were watching them after all. And what if the copy ends up on Daniel’s laptop? And what if Daniel uses it challenge Armand on the truth…….? Would this be enough to cause another detonation? One that they’ve teased us about?

*Packing up my literal soapbox*. Time to go fireproof myself for next week 😉

[psychopersonified]

Side Quest Dubai: REAL Rashid…. We’re on to you! (Spoilers Ep 6)

Observe Rashid’s finesse with an eating utensil, must have been a blooper but they kept it in 😆. Comedic timing.

Also… wtf, dude straight up lied in his vampire bossses face. Vampire who can READ MINDS. Cool as a cucumber 🥒. Not even a shake. CIA or Mossad might want to give him a call.

He’s vibing TALAMASCA!Trained. Which explains A LOT. It could be a fun little red herring, or it could blow Dubai wide open. Ah, the theories this will spark.

That empty wall now that the triptych is packed for shipping…. Very ominous. “Inspiration to reveal itself…” + that bit from the trailers of the wall on the other side cracking , bookshelves falling… 🫠

Raglan James. Raglan James. Raglan James. Say his name three times and he’ll appear at midnight. He’s got machinations. Daniel don’t trust him!

Disclaimer : Australia 🇦🇺, we get episodes ‘early’.

[psychopersonified]

Your honor, I rest my case.

Initial thoughts for 2x05 (Episode 12) — SPOILERS INCLUDED!

WOW. WOW. WOW.

In the words of Armand, “He’s fine. He’s just fine. Oh he’s fine. You’re fine! This is fine! We’re all fine!”

(It wasn’t meant to be funny, but I laughed out loud, because I get it, Armand. Truly I do. 🤭😅)

Before I get into the heavy stuff, I just have to say I loved Daniel and Louis in this episode. Their relationship in Dubai is something really special. More on this later, but Louis finally confirming they didn’t fuck each other, but teasing Daniel over the fact he actually stripped for Louis and propositioned him in San Francisco? “Do you want to now? He sometimes lingers when boats come into the harbor.” Idk why, but that is so precious to me. Louis laughing and smiling and joking. There’s the other side to the real Louis. 🥺 Anyways….

*deep breaths* So here it is. Louis attempted to kill himself once before in what can only be described as an AU of the Tulane draft for Merrick. In my humble opinion, the real Merrick event is not off the table. I still believe everything is setting up Louis attempting to kill himself (again) in Dubai, but the next time Lestat will know where he is and will be able to physically reach him, unlike in San Francisco. More on this later.

This episode belonged to Assad. He absolutely did the damn thing. We’ve finally got the full confirmation (🖕🏽 to all the willfully ignorant asshats who tried to say that was something “invented” to absolve Lestat) that Armand is gaslighting and fucking with/removing/implanting memories for both Louis and Daniel. Several echoes in this episode to S1 and why it was told the way it was told. I’ll get to that too.

Having said that, DEAR LORD! The Loumand fight! Absolutely brutal. Yes, Armand is finally revealed as the manipulative and vindictive little gremlin that he is, but also? VALID. He is HURT. He’s had enough of Louis’ shit, and I absolutely understand exactly why he’s doing everything that he’s doing wrt Louis, and it also explains why Dubai is happening the way that it is. As I’ve said, Armand knows what will happen to Louis if he’s not kept under this mental veil in the gilded cage that is Dubai, which leads me into the actual context of the fight:

“You’re boring! You’re boring! You are so boring!”

“Here come the drugs!”

*Armand inaudibly mocking Louis simultaneously*

“Colorless! Flavorless! Dull! Dull! Dull nights! Dull weeks! Dull months! Dull as FUCK! Suffocation by the world’s softest, beigest pillow! The ten hours I spent with that boy were more exciting, more fascinating than DECADES with you!”

“Oh there it is. The half-blank, half-apocalyptic look, but what does it mean tonight? Does he wanna lick my boots? Or chop my hands off? Is it the gremlin or the good nurse tonight?”

“Okay. Okay, perhaps, but am I as boring as the blather committed unto the tapes of your fascinating boy?”

“Picking lint off the sofa?”

*mocking Louis*

“Oh, it’s so hard to be me! It’s so hard to feel human! *inaudible on the tape* Everyone I know has wronged me!”

“Okay. Okay. Let’s wake the boy up and let’s try you.”

*mocking Armand*

“I’m the Vampire Armand and my vampire daddy groomed me into a little bitch!”

“Ah my brother tossed himself off a roof! My sister buried me alive!”

*Louis inaudibly mocking Armand simultaneously*

“But the vampires that murdered my daddy made me act like I didn’t have a dick for 240 years!”

“My daughter was my sister was my throw pillow when he wouldn’t look at me kindly! Lestat! Lestat! Lestat! Lestat! Lestat! Lestat! Lestat! Lestat! Lestat! Lestat! Lestat! Lestat! Lestat! Lestat! Lestat! Lestat! Lestat! Lestat! Lestat! Lestat!”

“I talked shit about him the whole time!”

“The NAME! The name! Unuttered in our home for 23 years said over and over again until it was pounding in my brain like a hammer!”

“Our problems aren’t about him!”

“And you threw her name around just for cover, but it always circled back to him.”

“I loved her.”

“But she didn’t love YOU! Not like he did! Not like I have!”

“I know. I know!”

That right there. “I know!” That is what Louis cannot handle. Lestat loved him. Claudia did not, and Louis allowed himself to be used to destroy their lives in NOLA, which led to Claudia’s inevitable demise. Remember when I pointed out S1 was framed in such a way to show why it was “inevitable” that Lestat had to die to remove Claudia’s (and Louis’) culpability in the breakdown of their family? There it is buried within Loumand’s fight. The crux of it all. Lestat was never the monster, and Louis started spiraling once Armand said that. He started recalling Paris. He started remembering the truth. That is when he throws himself into the sun. In Dubai, when everything Armand has been doing to his mind/memories is undone and Louis remembers? Hello real Merrick moment with Lestat finally showing up when the true extent is revealed of what actually happened both in NOLA wrt Lestat’s murder and what happened in Paris wrt Claudia’s murder i.e. Claudia played Louis against Lestat, because Lestat loved him and Claudia did not and Louis knew this yet still allowed it all to happen.

This behavior from Louis has been happening for years. Armand pointed out it was “128 boys” and always ended with Louis (or Armand) killing them and Armand having to clean up the mess. Daniel was different. Louis spilled his heart to Daniel, something he had never done for Armand, and Armand wants to know why. What makes Daniel so fascinating? *cue the chase era of Devil’s Minion*

The way my jaw dropped when the tables turned, and we realize it was actually Louis who saved Daniel from an “easeful death.” The callback to “Maître” and “Arun” in that moment? The way Armand just regressed back to that hurt little boy looking for love and someone to give him purpose? “Teach me how to be fascinating.” Hoooo boy! 😩

I teared up when Daniel started reading from his book while realizing those words were what Louis told him in San Francisco before they let him go. The way the tides shifted in Dubai. The realization that Armand has been gaslighting and fucking with/removing/implanting memories for them both. The way this discovery was only possible with Armand out of the house. *cue the Louis/Daniel alliance Jacob and Eric told us about at TCA*

The way Armand waltzes into the penthouse, parroting the lines from Louis about Daniel eventually proving useful, making it sound as if he was the one who felt that way/said those things when it was actually Louis. *ahem*

That leads me to the conversation with Lestat. Quite the bombshell. So Armand has known where Lestat is and has been keeping it from Louis. Armand also immediately clocked that the 1973 interview was intentionally full of rewritten “trash” about Lestat in an effort to get Lestat’s attention i.e. the way Lestat knew “Come To Me” would get Louis’ attention. It’s only once Armand holds it over Louis’ head that he knows Lestat’s whereabouts that Louis calms, has a spark of hope, and then goes right back into the self-hatred and self- flagellation and telling himself that Lestat cannot possibly love him hence his “No! No! No!” Lestat has always been the true trigger.

Another thing I’ve pointed out that this episode confirmed? Armand would reach out to Lestat with Louis in the condition that he’s in. That means Lestat, in Dubai, has to be unconscious at this point. Otherwise, he would be at Louis’ side in a split-second. Perhaps Armand later lied to Lestat about Louis? Perhaps Armand later told him that Louis succumbed to his injuries since he left Lestat frantic and not knowing what had truly happened to Louis or how badly he was injured? Imagine Lestat’s headspace, already weak and feeble and hearing that Louis is with Armand and has “injured himself” while having the backstory that he has with Armand in which Nicki also “injured himself” while under Armand’s care and eventually died. Parallels galore! 💔

We also hear from Daniel’s POV that Armand is refusing to tell Lestat where Louis is. “I’m with him now. I won’t tell you why. No. I won’t say where.” How many years has this been happening? How many times has Armand taunted Lestat with Louis’ whereabouts or Louis’ headspace while Lestat has been too weak and injured (*cough* tower push *cough*) to get to Louis?

On the flip side, how often has Louis been in this position, clearly wanting Lestat more than anything, and Armand has refused to tell Louis where he is?

“Louis? Louis. Mon cher? You wanted to say something to me? Why are you ill? What’s happened to you? I love you, Louis. Tell him I love him, Armand. I love you, Louis. Tell him, Armand! Tell him! Louis? Louis? Louis! Louis!”

And now if y’all will excuse me I just —

THAT BROKE MY FUCKING HEART INTO PIECES! SOMEHOW TOPS THE LETTER SCENE AND THE BENCH SCENE! I’M STILL CLAWING THE WALLS WHILE WAILING AND SCREAMING ABOUT HOW MUCH LESTAT FUCKING LOVES HIM!

*deep calming breaths* It’s clear from this episode that Armand is keeping Louis from Lestat and keeping Lestat from Louis. And like I’ve said before, it also confirms that in no real universe will Lestat ever reject Louis.

The love. The desperation. The yearning. The way Lestat sounds so weak and so sick and doesn’t even try to roust himself or gain strength until Armand says that Louis is injured and his immediate reaction is “WHY ARE YOU ILL? WHAT’S HAPPENED TO YOU? I LOVE YOU, LOUIS. TELL HIM I LOVE HIM, ARMAND. I LOVE YOU, LOUIS. TELL HIM, ARMAND! TELL HIM!”

Lestat doesn’t know what has happened to Louis. He just knows he’s hurt or sick and all he wants Louis to know is that he loves him. He probably thinks this might be the last time he ever gets to speak with Louis. How is he to know Louis isn’t dying in that moment just like Nicki? He wants his last words to Louis to be his undying love. “All my love belongs to you. You are its’ keeper.” Just shoot me now. 😭💔

Armand claiming he was leaving Louis prior to reaching out to Lestat? I actually think he fully intended to do it. I think he changed his mind when he heard Lestat’s love for Louis, the love Armand begged him for but that Lestat would never return. Lestat will never love him like he loves Louis, and Louis will never love him like he loves Lestat. Armand realizes this and digs his heels in even further in that moment. I’m coming to this again.

Also! Did y’all catch that last “Louis!” from Lestat? It was the same “Louis!” from 1x05 right before the fight. We see Louis lying injured in his green satin coffin after a huge and hurtful brawl with Armand. We see Armand being apathetic to his injuries, and we hear Lestat screaming for him in the exact same way as right before their fight. Something something about 1x05 being revisited….something something about Armand coloring the tale….

Now for the second part of Lestat’s pleadings to Louis….Armand DIDN’T TELL LOUIS! He really is such a complicated character, because the reasons for him withholding are quite complex. On the one hand, fuck you, Armand. Lestat is begging for you to just tell Louis that he loves him and you said nothing! You could see the longing on Louis’ face, hear the frantic aching in Lestat’s voice, and you said nothing! You vindictive little manipulator! On the other hand, I get it! Hearing Lestat so earnestly and emotionally telling Louis that he loves him, after everything Louis has done to Lestat, and Lestat never returned that love to Armand. And then on the third hand, hearing Louis “rant” about Lestat for ten hours to this “fascinating” stranger in an attempt to get Lestat to come running after him, spending years with Louis never verbally saying Lestat’s name but thinking of him always i.e. “I told him (Lestat) you (Louis) were thinking of him again.” — It’s no wonder Armand withheld that. Hearing Louis, whom Armand also loves, say the vicious things to him that he said, basically telling him that he’d never be Lestat and seeing that Louis will clearly never love him like Lestat? Ouch! Combine that with the fact Louis has just went off the deep end and tried to kill himself, tried to abandon Armand, and it’s honestly no wonder. Armand will do anything to not be alone and to keep Louis safe and to keep his purpose. Dubai is the result of San Francisco. Armand asking Louis if he was going to be on “suicide watch” for the next thousand years? 😬😬😬😬

Also! Did y’all hear Armand scream “Louis!” when he realizes what Louis is doing in the exact same way as he does in Dubai when the bookcases shatter? Again, the foreshadowing and parallels!

Remember Armand’s face in 2x04 when Louis was describing to Daniel how DreamStat felt? That was Armand realizing that, even all these years later, even after Armand has done everything he’s done to keep Louis sheltered, it is still “Lestat! Lestat! Lestat! Lestat!”

Luke Brandon Field as young Daniel was incredible. He truly felt like watching a young Eric. Superb! And like I said, I think this episode is showing us the start of “the chase” era for Devil’s Minion. After all, we know Louis and Armand kept tabs on Daniel all these years, and we know Armand was aware of Alice’s true feelings when Daniel proposed. How did he know that unless he was around for that? 😈

Lastly, Armand strolling in all tickled and aroused in Malik’s glasses? Never change, Armand. I love you just the way you are.

If y’all actually read all that rambling, I hope it was worth your time. 😆

To all my anons? I’m getting to you guys. Just have patience with me. We are on information overload compounded with all the feels. 😅

[psychopersonified]

May I add…. Lestat might not be seeking Louis out because he thought Armand would keep him safe.

But then he is informed that Louis has injured himself and he goes all desperate. Armand withholding the last message was cruel, especially to Lestat. Lestat is not necessarily wanting to ‘claim back Louis’, but he wants Louis to know he is loved, that if nothing else, someone will be devastated if he was no longer around. He knows Louis’ depression, he did the same back in New Orleans. He’s desperate to stop Louis from injuring himself further.

For Armand to withhold the last message… he’s denying Lestat that comfort. Another fledgling he has consigned to Armand’s care meeting a devastating conclusion.

I’d like to think this will be Lestat’s catalyst to rouse himself (if he’s wallowing in New Orleans) and come roaring back to be The Vampire Lestat.

Initial thoughts for 2x05 (Episode 12) — SPOILERS INCLUDED!

WOW. WOW. WOW.

In the words of Armand, “He’s fine. He’s just fine. Oh he’s fine. You’re fine! This is fine! We’re all fine!”

(It wasn’t meant to be funny, but I laughed out loud, because I get it, Armand. Truly I do. 🤭😅)

Before I get into the heavy stuff, I just have to say I loved Daniel and Louis in this episode. Their relationship in Dubai is something really special. More on this later, but Louis finally confirming they didn’t fuck each other, but teasing Daniel over the fact he actually stripped for Louis and propositioned him in San Francisco? “Do you want to now? He sometimes lingers when boats come into the harbor.” Idk why, but that is so precious to me. Louis laughing and smiling and joking. There’s the other side to the real Louis. 🥺 Anyways….

*deep breaths* So here it is. Louis attempted to kill himself once before in what can only be described as an AU of the Tulane draft for Merrick. In my humble opinion, the real Merrick event is not off the table. I still believe everything is setting up Louis attempting to kill himself (again) in Dubai, but the next time Lestat will know where he is and will be able to physically reach him, unlike in San Francisco. More on this later.

This episode belonged to Assad. He absolutely did the damn thing. We’ve finally got the full confirmation (🖕🏽 to all the willfully ignorant asshats who tried to say that was something “invented” to absolve Lestat) that Armand is gaslighting and fucking with/removing/implanting memories for both Louis and Daniel. Several echoes in this episode to S1 and why it was told the way it was told. I’ll get to that too.

Having said that, DEAR LORD! The Loumand fight! Absolutely brutal. Yes, Armand is finally revealed as the manipulative and vindictive little gremlin that he is, but also? VALID. He is HURT. He’s had enough of Louis’ shit, and I absolutely understand exactly why he’s doing everything that he’s doing wrt Louis, and it also explains why Dubai is happening the way that it is. As I’ve said, Armand knows what will happen to Louis if he’s not kept under this mental veil in the gilded cage that is Dubai, which leads me into the actual context of the fight:

“You’re boring! You’re boring! You are so boring!”

“Here come the drugs!”

*Armand inaudibly mocking Louis simultaneously*

“Colorless! Flavorless! Dull! Dull! Dull nights! Dull weeks! Dull months! Dull as FUCK! Suffocation by the world’s softest, beigest pillow! The ten hours I spent with that boy were more exciting, more fascinating than DECADES with you!”

“Oh there it is. The half-blank, half-apocalyptic look, but what does it mean tonight? Does he wanna lick my boots? Or chop my hands off? Is it the gremlin or the good nurse tonight?”

“Okay. Okay, perhaps, but am I as boring as the blather committed unto the tapes of your fascinating boy?”

“Picking lint off the sofa?”

*mocking Louis*

“Oh, it’s so hard to be me! It’s so hard to feel human! *inaudible on the tape* Everyone I know has wronged me!”

“Okay. Okay. Let’s wake the boy up and let’s try you.”

*mocking Armand*

“I’m the Vampire Armand and my vampire daddy groomed me into a little bitch!”

“Ah my brother tossed himself off a roof! My sister buried me alive!”

*Louis inaudibly mocking Armand simultaneously*

“But the vampires that murdered my daddy made me act like I didn’t have a dick for 240 years!”

“My daughter was my sister was my throw pillow when he wouldn’t look at me kindly! Lestat! Lestat! Lestat! Lestat! Lestat! Lestat! Lestat! Lestat! Lestat! Lestat! Lestat! Lestat! Lestat! Lestat! Lestat! Lestat! Lestat! Lestat! Lestat! Lestat!”

“I talked shit about him the whole time!”

“The NAME! The name! Unuttered in our home for 23 years said over and over again until it was pounding in my brain like a hammer!”

“Our problems aren’t about him!”

“And you threw her name around just for cover, but it always circled back to him.”

“I loved her.”

“But she didn’t love YOU! Not like he did! Not like I have!”

“I know. I know!”

That right there. “I know!” That is what Louis cannot handle. Lestat loved him. Claudia did not, and Louis allowed himself to be used to destroy their lives in NOLA, which led to Claudia’s inevitable demise. Remember when I pointed out S1 was framed in such a way to show why it was “inevitable” that Lestat had to die to remove Claudia’s (and Louis’) culpability in the breakdown of their family? There it is buried within Loumand’s fight. The crux of it all. Lestat was never the monster, and Louis started spiraling once Armand said that. He started recalling Paris. He started remembering the truth. That is when he throws himself into the sun. In Dubai, when everything Armand has been doing to his mind/memories is undone and Louis remembers? Hello real Merrick moment with Lestat finally showing up when the true extent is revealed of what actually happened both in NOLA wrt Lestat’s murder and what happened in Paris wrt Claudia’s murder i.e. Claudia played Louis against Lestat, because Lestat loved him and Claudia did not and Louis knew this yet still allowed it all to happen.

This behavior from Louis has been happening for years. Armand pointed out it was “128 boys” and always ended with Louis (or Armand) killing them and Armand having to clean up the mess. Daniel was different. Louis spilled his heart to Daniel, something he had never done for Armand, and Armand wants to know why. What makes Daniel so fascinating? *cue the chase era of Devil’s Minion*

The way my jaw dropped when the tables turned, and we realize it was actually Louis who saved Daniel from an “easeful death.” The callback to “Maître” and “Arun” in that moment? The way Armand just regressed back to that hurt little boy looking for love and someone to give him purpose? “Teach me how to be fascinating.” Hoooo boy! 😩

I teared up when Daniel started reading from his book while realizing those words were what Louis told him in San Francisco before they let him go. The way the tides shifted in Dubai. The realization that Armand has been gaslighting and fucking with/removing/implanting memories for them both. The way this discovery was only possible with Armand out of the house. *cue the Louis/Daniel alliance Jacob and Eric told us about at TCA*

The way Armand waltzes into the penthouse, parroting the lines from Louis about Daniel eventually proving useful, making it sound as if he was the one who felt that way/said those things when it was actually Louis. *ahem*

That leads me to the conversation with Lestat. Quite the bombshell. So Armand has known where Lestat is and has been keeping it from Louis. Armand also immediately clocked that the 1973 interview was intentionally full of rewritten “trash” about Lestat in an effort to get Lestat’s attention i.e. the way Lestat knew “Come To Me” would get Louis’ attention. It’s only once Armand holds it over Louis’ head that he knows Lestat’s whereabouts that Louis calms, has a spark of hope, and then goes right back into the self-hatred and self- flagellation and telling himself that Lestat cannot possibly love him hence his “No! No! No!” Lestat has always been the true trigger.

Another thing I’ve pointed out that this episode confirmed? Armand would reach out to Lestat with Louis in the condition that he’s in. That means Lestat, in Dubai, has to be unconscious at this point. Otherwise, he would be at Louis’ side in a split-second. Perhaps Armand later lied to Lestat about Louis? Perhaps Armand later told him that Louis succumbed to his injuries since he left Lestat frantic and not knowing what had truly happened to Louis or how badly he was injured? Imagine Lestat’s headspace, already weak and feeble and hearing that Louis is with Armand and has “injured himself” while having the backstory that he has with Armand in which Nicki also “injured himself” while under Armand’s care and eventually died. Parallels galore! 💔

We also hear from Daniel’s POV that Armand is refusing to tell Lestat where Louis is. “I’m with him now. I won’t tell you why. No. I won’t say where.” How many years has this been happening? How many times has Armand taunted Lestat with Louis’ whereabouts or Louis’ headspace while Lestat has been too weak and injured (*cough* tower push *cough*) to get to Louis?

On the flip side, how often has Louis been in this position, clearly wanting Lestat more than anything, and Armand has refused to tell Louis where he is?

“Louis? Louis. Mon cher? You wanted to say something to me? Why are you ill? What’s happened to you? I love you, Louis. Tell him I love him, Armand. I love you, Louis. Tell him, Armand! Tell him! Louis? Louis? Louis! Louis!”

And now if y’all will excuse me I just —

THAT BROKE MY FUCKING HEART INTO PIECES! SOMEHOW TOPS THE LETTER SCENE AND THE BENCH SCENE! I’M STILL CLAWING THE WALLS WHILE WAILING AND SCREAMING ABOUT HOW MUCH LESTAT FUCKING LOVES HIM!

*deep calming breaths* It’s clear from this episode that Armand is keeping Louis from Lestat and keeping Lestat from Louis. And like I’ve said before, it also confirms that in no real universe will Lestat ever reject Louis.

The love. The desperation. The yearning. The way Lestat sounds so weak and so sick and doesn’t even try to roust himself or gain strength until Armand says that Louis is injured and his immediate reaction is “WHY ARE YOU ILL? WHAT’S HAPPENED TO YOU? I LOVE YOU, LOUIS. TELL HIM I LOVE HIM, ARMAND. I LOVE YOU, LOUIS. TELL HIM, ARMAND! TELL HIM!”

Lestat doesn’t know what has happened to Louis. He just knows he’s hurt or sick and all he wants Louis to know is that he loves him. He probably thinks this might be the last time he ever gets to speak with Louis. How is he to know Louis isn’t dying in that moment just like Nicki? He wants his last words to Louis to be his undying love. “All my love belongs to you. You are its’ keeper.” Just shoot me now. 😭💔

Armand claiming he was leaving Louis prior to reaching out to Lestat? I actually think he fully intended to do it. I think he changed his mind when he heard Lestat’s love for Louis, the love Armand begged him for but that Lestat would never return. Lestat will never love him like he loves Louis, and Louis will never love him like he loves Lestat. Armand realizes this and digs his heels in even further in that moment. I’m coming to this again.

Also! Did y’all catch that last “Louis!” from Lestat? It was the same “Louis!” from 1x05 right before the fight. We see Louis lying injured in his green satin coffin after a huge and hurtful brawl with Armand. We see Armand being apathetic to his injuries, and we hear Lestat screaming for him in the exact same way as right before their fight. Something something about 1x05 being revisited….something something about Armand coloring the tale….

Now for the second part of Lestat’s pleadings to Louis….Armand DIDN’T TELL LOUIS! He really is such a complicated character, because the reasons for him withholding are quite complex. On the one hand, fuck you, Armand. Lestat is begging for you to just tell Louis that he loves him and you said nothing! You could see the longing on Louis’ face, hear the frantic aching in Lestat’s voice, and you said nothing! You vindictive little manipulator! On the other hand, I get it! Hearing Lestat so earnestly and emotionally telling Louis that he loves him, after everything Louis has done to Lestat, and Lestat never returned that love to Armand. And then on the third hand, hearing Louis “rant” about Lestat for ten hours to this “fascinating” stranger in an attempt to get Lestat to come running after him, spending years with Louis never verbally saying Lestat’s name but thinking of him always i.e. “I told him (Lestat) you (Louis) were thinking of him again.” — It’s no wonder Armand withheld that. Hearing Louis, whom Armand also loves, say the vicious things to him that he said, basically telling him that he’d never be Lestat and seeing that Louis will clearly never love him like Lestat? Ouch! Combine that with the fact Louis has just went off the deep end and tried to kill himself, tried to abandon Armand, and it’s honestly no wonder. Armand will do anything to not be alone and to keep Louis safe and to keep his purpose. Dubai is the result of San Francisco. Armand asking Louis if he was going to be on “suicide watch” for the next thousand years? 😬😬😬😬

Also! Did y’all hear Armand scream “Louis!” when he realizes what Louis is doing in the exact same way as he does in Dubai when the bookcases shatter? Again, the foreshadowing and parallels!

Remember Armand’s face in 2x04 when Louis was describing to Daniel how DreamStat felt? That was Armand realizing that, even all these years later, even after Armand has done everything he’s done to keep Louis sheltered, it is still “Lestat! Lestat! Lestat! Lestat!”

Luke Brandon Field as young Daniel was incredible. He truly felt like watching a young Eric. Superb! And like I said, I think this episode is showing us the start of “the chase” era for Devil’s Minion. After all, we know Louis and Armand kept tabs on Daniel all these years, and we know Armand was aware of Alice’s true feelings when Daniel proposed. How did he know that unless he was around for that? 😈

Lastly, Armand strolling in all tickled and aroused in Malik’s glasses? Never change, Armand. I love you just the way you are.

If y’all actually read all that rambling, I hope it was worth your time. 😆

To all my anons? I’m getting to you guys. Just have patience with me. We are on information overload compounded with all the feels. 😅

[psychopersonified]

S1 & S2 x Episode 5 parallels….. [spoilers, no read if ya ain’t ready]

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Louis is in SEVERE physical pain. Levels no human can experience and survive. And in both cases is left by his spouse(s) to endure it all.

Season 1 - We are led to believe Lestat abandoned Louis in the care of Claudia and played no part in his healing. Ran away like a coward in shame, only to return when the worst is over, all contrite. 🤔

Season 2 - Armand -allows- Louis to suffer the pain, makes him -beg-. Armand could have spared much more healing blood. Then there’s the line “…if you wanted escape from this prison of empathy…you only have to ask.” Last ime Louis asked to be “let go”, didn’t work out too well for him…

Then there is Armand calling Lestat to tell him about Louis’ situation, and we hear how concerned Lestat is about Louis’ illness…. Something is not adding up.

The kind of love they both profess to have for Louis, you would think in both circumstances they would be falling over themselves to ease his pain. How can either wax romantic about eternal all consuming love and watch as Louis heals slowly, agonisingly, night after night?? 🫣🤯

Armand’s Anna Wilkes-Misery motivation I can understand, he doesn’t know how to love without imprisoning that love. A true gremlin-night nurse combo.

Lestat however, I need his side of the story like NOW! Explain yourself! 🫠

[psychopersonified]

Interesting choice, implying Marius commissioned Palma to paint it with his beloved Amadeo as the ‘donor’.

[psychopersonified]

Episode 4: Short phrase spoilers, cause there were so many good lines and scenes! I’m still reeling from it!

Amadeo was 27 when turned. Writers making us do math…

Maitre…. oh the power shifting everywhere.

The cigarette on the bench, the lighter being discarded - some visual storytelling right here.

Buffoon! … Wanker!… beef gonna be epic….

Who is Kathryn Mitchell?? Why does Daniel hover over her name??

Donations… what a way to put it.

“I know where he is…”… what, what?

Cradle my t1ts! Oh I like Madeline.

[psychopersonified]

Ep4 Spoilers….Things are moving now!

Favourite so far. Things are coming to a head now, it fills in a number of blanks, but also opens up a number of others. This ep feels like the moment the cork is about to pop. Pace is picking up.

Vampire powers flexing from everyone, especially Armand. Have to say the way Armand flexed it… is kinda hot 🥵. I like this take charge Armand. Yes we get a lot of Arun 😉 in this one which makes him a better fleshed out character.

Louis is finding his backbone too, which is …hot. Everything is hot in this show! We see how Louis gets in involved in art. As JA says in the end, the flip flop between Loumand around dominance makes their relationship super interesting and volatile, even more than Loustat imho.

Lestat…. Oh Lestat, we say goodbye to him briefly but as usual he has a way with words…. but I get the sneaky suspicion he’s gonna come roaring back in a way no one will be left on their feet.

The way they didn’t shy away from “women’s issues” is liberating.

Santiago being an abloslute cunt… love it! Bitch loves stirring drama.

Daniel ‘remembering’….. oooo episode 5 gonna be lit!

[psychopersonified]

Perfect, no? That cute little pose, hands behind his back, boyish and defenceless in his nervousness.

“…and Louis, ah, well, Louis of course had been picked for the exquisite bones of his face, for the depth of his green eyes. He had been picked for the inveterate attitude of somber appreciation that he revealed now. He looked like a human being lost among them, his face softened with color and feeling; his body curiously defenseless; his eyes wondering and sad. ”

Excerpt from - Queen of the Damned

[psychopersonified]

Vampire Web

What if Daciana’s inability to turn others is a result of the weakening of the vampire web? The “bad blood”. Her last successful turn was merely a revenant. What if this is happening across the web? And the further you are in the periphery the worse it is? Setting up QoTD neatly and the “great conversion” in present day.

Now that would be some legit reasons for the coven’s “blood sharing orgy”, no one gets to horde power. Keeps thing more even. Then comes long Louis who would not partake, and the misconception that Louis is weak when he actually has more recent infusion from “the source” than perhaps any of them.

Then we have Armand who is notoriously selective of whom she shares with (books anyway), and all of a sudden Louis and Claudia turns Madeline. Oh the jealousy that would entail, would be deadly…

Can I say how much I LOVE the way Daciana is written into the story. Like eventhough she is a OC it felt the most anne ricean thing that've seen so far. I think it has to do with the compassion with which she wrote monsters, specially vampires. It felt more like a tribute to her writing than just a remarkable and beautiful plot device. The way she foreshadows Madeline, Magnus, Nicolas, somehow even Gabrielle🖤

She just fit. So, so well. Old, disillusioned, broken.

And yes, the way she foreshadows so much?

And god the choice to make that revenant not only a simple mindless vampire but her beloved child. Someone she cherished, despite and maybe because of everything.

Not just a thing. Not just an abomination. Not just a… mistake.

[psychopersonified]

There has to be significance in getting Lestat to look at her. He’s looking at her with some tenderness, during one of the most despairing time of her life. Reminds me of this passage. She’s almost regretful here, even through the resentment. She’s acknowledging that the time she felt most complete, the last time she felt like she was part of a family unit, was when both her fathers were with her. I wonder if Louis picked that up from her mind. His insistence on “me and you, you and me” carries even more poignancy if you match it to this point in the book.

[psychopersonified]

Tidbits S2 Ep 1 (Spoilers)

Daniel and Morgan - Wanna point out if Louis chose Daniel because of his experience with Morgan however brief - the observant reporter(s) that picks apart his story in the past and in the present.

Armand’s choice in clothing colour - when he’s in white, he’s oppositional to Louis. When they agree to close ranks against Daniel he dresses in black like Louis. Oh the little show they put on at the end, the hand on Louis knee, just screams trying too hard. These boys underestimate Daniel.

Claudia is… inaccurate in her diaries - not maliciously, but it’s her diaries, it’s not factual reporting. It’s her way of coping, her wants, her self affirmation, maybe even her writing what she wants to have happened. The bit about her denying dreaming, and then Daciana saying what she wants to hear before she throws herself onto the pyre.

Louis gets called pretty twice. Yes layered with connotations, but not disingenuous either. I hope they make it a running Easter egg and it happens every episode even in passing.

[psychopersonified]

Season 2 Claudia & Louis frame of mind…. (Possible spoilers)

First Ep available in Australia so I’ve watched it.

It’s so clear that Claudia is still a child - a vampire child. She has the determination of a child on a mission, but with the horrifying grit of an adult. She is tactically brilliant but strategically blind - she had no other purpose and when that falters, she’s lost.

Louis despite depressed and hallucinating, is to me the saner one of the two and the one with survival instincts. He has the attitude of someone who’s lived through depression and understands that there is no ‘one thing’ that would cure it. That you cannot hang your will to live on a force you cannot control.

His guilt towards her manifests as wanting to let her have her way… to the detriment of the pair. He doesn’t play the parent role till the end.

But god is the writing good in this show. Layers upon layers.

Oh and the snark is fantastic between Daniel and Armand too 😆

[psychopersonified]

“Harlequin inherits his physical agility and his trickster qualities, as well as his name, from a mischievous "devil" character in medieval Passion Plays.”

So he isn’t Lelio here but, if this is Armand’s POV, then it accurately describes what he thinks of Lestat.

my wolfkiller