#but i do not believe for a SECOND armand got with him

[shippy-from-apocalypse]

Armand is operating on a Whole New Level of fucked upeness can you imagine having LESTAT look at you and go "YIKES 😬no thanks you're a freak and i'd rather avoid that kind of drama"

[wizardpink]

I screencapped these two posts four days ago because I had Something to Say and now I have no idea wth it was.

I think it had something to do with power dynamics and how Armand making Daniel a vampire actually handed Daniel a huge amount of power over Armand despite being the fledgling?

So number one Armand rendered his primary weapon against Daniel / form of self-defense completely useless by making Daniel his fledgling. He can no longer use the mind gift to manipulate Daniel or erase his memories. Which of course is true for all makers and fledglings, but most makers' fledglings aren't Sherlock Holmes with a BSJ. Daniel beat Armand's mental saw trap as a human. Armand is never, never getting one over on him now. Daniel will perceive the slightest change in energy coming from Armand and immediately know that he's lying, and 3 seconds of deduction later and he'll know why. He's an open book now, which must be terrifying.

Number two: mentorship. This is how Lestat kept control over Claudia and Louis for so long: he kept them dependent on him through ignorance. He only told them enough about vampirism to get through the day to day: don't go in the sun, don't drink dead blood, the other vampires of the world are vicious, etc. Every fledging needs their maker at LEAST in the beginning to teach them the ropes. Well, Daniel just wrote the goddamned book on vampirism, literally. Daniel sat there and listened as Louis told him everything he knew, everything Lestat ever taught him, everything Armand ever taught him. What other vampire ever got the in-depth two week course on Vampires 101 before they even got turned?! Crazy stuff.

Number three: vampire loneliness. Supposedly the most cruel and painful thing a vampire can endure. It keeps fledglings and makers tied to each other well past the point of being able to stand each other. And god knows Armand is staring down the barrel of having no one but Daniel. Which is unfortunate for him, considering Daniel is besties with his ex husband and touring with his ex boyfriend. Daniel has friends, friends that didn't torture him for 4 days then try to kill him. Oof.

All of this is to say that, with the info we have right now, Daniel has very little need for Armand. Armand in comparison needs him at least not to be alone, but what leverage does he have to get Daniel to stay with him? He's got nothing babes. I'm not a strong believer in the Armand is running from Daniel theory on season 3, but if he is, it's hard to blame him. He is shooting 0 for 1,000 right now, losing left and right, dying of shame and guilt and embarrassment. I'd probably crawl in a hole and die too.

"Oh but wizardpink, that's not very Devil's Minion of you!" AU CONTRAIRE. Because what could be more compelling and romantic than someone who has no use for you but nevertheless wants you? Thinks about you constantly and doesn't know why? You tried to capture them in a glass jar but they broke out and flew away, only to flutter back because they missed you? Yeah inject that straight into my veins.

And on the flip side? Maybe Armand goes straight back to that headspace he was in in '73, the crazed look in his eyes when he told Daniel he was going to teach him to be fascinating. That's ONE thing Armand still has on Daniel, he could probably overpower him enough to keep him trapped somewhere, if Armand thought Daniel was going to leave him. This, too, is Devil's Minion as fuck. Slowest of burns, as they say.

Hmm. Yeah I guess that was what I was gonna say.

[frigidwife]

do you think louis chose/believed armand over claudia in the scene after armand threatens and chokes her? i was under the impression that louis reflexively disagreed with claudia because he didn't want to believe it, but the fact that he also reflexively lit armand's photo on fire makes me think his response to claudia ("he wouldn't do that"/"sit in your choice") was a denial of the real horror he was feeling, that he did believe her and just wished it wasn't true. i rewatched that scene and when he notices the picture is on fire, he waits a second before putting it out, which makes me think his commitment to armand following this scene wasn't out of genuine love, but a strategic choice made out of fear, the same way he martyred himself for lestat to turn claudia. i still see people talking about how much louis and armand did love each other, and i was briefly convinced when madeline called it out (though that scene also contains claudia thanking armand for not treating her like a child, so the legitimacy of the entire scene is thrown into question imo). but after rewatching the season, i don't think they were that devoted to each other. between the actors deliberately playing their flirtations super awkward, the fact that louis never commits until armand threatens claudia and his commitment itself following louis' pattern of chaining himself to his current lover/shark for claudia's survival (a pattern the show goes out of its way to emphasize with lestat's retelling of her turning), and the fact that armand apparently did choose the coven over louis...idk. maybe i'm biased and just sick of the idea that armand and louis' love is some torrid gothic romance when it seems clear that louis and armand's insistence that it was in dubai is deliberately at odds with what we saw, despite how hard they were trying to make it seem that way. even the way they gassed up their first meeting felt staged, and if we're supposed to understand that louis and armand's growing physical distance in dubai denotes emotional/romantic distance as louis' memories are restored, it seems in line to realize that the distance isn't what's new, nor is the performance of love; it's the realization that it is a performance. SORRY this got long, i feel like i'm going a little crazy because i feel the show is saying the exact opposite to much of the analysis on here. in a way i would love to be convinced towards a different perspective because then i could just relax

no i agree with you completely ur not insane and neither am i.... i havent watched that episode in a while but the way the events are sequenced it's not even ambiguous--the relationship with armand is strategic and it has been since the beginning. like i dont think louis's "he wouldn't do that" is even a denial of the kind of person armand is. Bc in the previous episode armand literally almost killed louis for the same secret he's just threatened claudia about. so why would he actually disbelieve her? (laying it out like this i'm realizing why the victim blaming interpretation of louis as ditzy is so prevalent lol.) his frustration reads to me like: i've already sacrificed my freedom and happiness so you can join the coven that you love so much, and now you're saying you don't like the coven? you can't tough it out and trust i have armand handled? the disbelief in "he wouldn't do that" is not that louis wants to believe armand is a better person; it's that louis wants to believe his control over armand is more complete, bc otherwise claudia is right and his sacrifices are doubly pointless. this is the same pattern we saw with louis and his siblings as a human--telling grace to worry about herself, telling lestat how they were four months from bankruptcy; he takes pains to keep them ignorant but then is frustrated they wont register his sacrifice; they see it as him pushing them away (literal knife to paul's throat). louis starting to burn the photograph is him giving up--claudia is ungrateful; this task is impossible. but then the dream lestat which is ofc just louis calls claudia "our daughter" and that's when louis stops burning the photograph of armand. at the reminder that no matter how he tries to accept her as grown and autonomous, she's his child first. and then you can see him double down and regroup--get rid of ghost lestat indulgence to commit fully to companionship with as much control as he can leverage

[hvnnigrvhm]

devil’s minion questions hopefully s3 will answer;

1. why was armand so nice to daniel when he was disguising as rashid? now that we have a comparison with real!rashid and how professional he was, armand!rashid was really, really trying at times. are we meant to believe nothing really happened for those 50 years?

2. why did armand know what alice thought when daniel was proposing to her? was he there? + how come one of the first major flashbacks to SF daniel got after being triggered into thinking about ALICE? how are these things connected?

3. why did armand suddenly lose his ability to read daniel’s mind in s2?

4. did armand really didn’t want the second interview? having proven himself to be a constant manipulator who whipes out people’s memories, are we just going to believe he didn’t want the interview to happen and yet still let it happen? do we think it’s a coincidence that the second interview takes place after louis and armand learnt that daniel is dying?

5. why daniel took his meticulously-created identity and destroyed it piece by piece in the finale and yet armand didn’t even look mad at him? only shocked?

6. when did armand start thinking about turning daniel? was it the reason it didn’t work between them in the 70’s? would that explain his resigned dead stare when louis was ranting about turning madeleine? when did he decide daniel was worthy? is it connected to the fact daniel was dying - just like in the books?

7. how come the only time armand used daniel’s name was in ep4 and right after that daniel got a massive flashback? is that why armand is so careful with addressing him? because there’s more there to unpack?

8. how are we supposed to interpret jacob’s words that daniel had been some sort of a “kept thing” for armand all those years?

9. wHAT HAPPENED AFTER LOUIS LEFT THE PENTHOUSE??? may i remind all that armand literally had a MENTAL BREAKDOWN at the mere THOUGHT of turning madeleine, that one decision alone made him turn against louis, that only single decision made him direct the play to KILL louis without a single blink of an eye. AND YET HE TURNED DANIEL????

[stevesnightmares]

If I'm wrong I'll eat my words and apologise on my knees to all of you, I promise, but I think the Alice is Armand theory just does not work, at least not for me. I can see some of the points you are making, and they do work and make a lot of sense, but others just don't work for me:

If Armand was Alice and he had messed with Daniel's mind, why the hell would he risk constanly bringing Alice up during the interview when that could make Daniel remember the truth? If he were Alice, he would do his best to NOT bring her up, especially not while he's also there because it could make Daniel remember the truth. Unless he wants Daniel to remember the truth, but why would he want that?

Daniel is a famous journalist with also a second wife and two kids, how would no one ever notice or mention that his ex-wife is actually a man? They got married, was no one there? He was somewhat famous, did no one ever look in his life and realise that he does not, in fact, have an ex-wife named Alice? "Alice is in her third trimester" seems to imply to me that she was pregnant. How could that correlate to Armand? And if it doesn't, why would Armand make Daniel him believe to have pregnant wife? Daniel has two children, is one of them the one from Alice? If Armand is alice is the child not real and just a fake memory? How would that work? Why?

It would be easier to change Daniel's memories and make him remember having an ex-boyfriend than a wife, something closer to the truth. Also, her half-blonde eyebrow is a very specific detail, it's not something vague, why would Armand just put in his mind such a detailed and specific memory for and it's obviously not him with the blond eyebrow or Louis would've noticed after 77 years of knowng him and even living together.

I think maybe something between Daniel and Armand has already happened in the past, but I don't think at all that Armand is Alice and if he is they would have to give me some very very convincing explanations for things to make it work and for it not to seem implausible.

[firegiftlouis]

Actually fuck it, I got that person blocked now anyways lol.

Anyways, what the ever loving FUCK did Louis do to Armand last season that justifies all the things Armand did to him, which included but is not limited to; Gaslighting Louis on multiple occasions, letting him convalesce in agony post suicide attempt for nearly a week, threatened to give his former abuser his location while in an incapacitated state, non consensual memory alteration (we have literally no reason to believe Louis asked for it 3 days later in my opinion idc), and literally EVERYTHING that happened during the Trial, the Trial he directed btw and was perfectly ok with letting Louis DIE in.

Like please, explain to me like I’m 5 years old what Louis did to Armand over the course of this season that was so fucking “vile” that he deserved even half of that shit??

And stop me if I’m wrong but is anyone framing Armand as the “Uber bad guy” out here? Or are people just acknowledging that while Armand is a deeply flawed and traumatized character, that doesn’t suddenly absolve him from continuing the cycle of abuse over his partner who, in almost every conceivable way, has significantly less power than him (Armand is older and outside of the human implications of that, that means he’s literally significantly more powerful Vampire powers wise, Armand has more money in Paris, he’s literally in charge of the Coven which means societally he is also more powerful, and while they both aren’t white that didn’t stop Armand from weaponizing the audiences Antiblack racism against Louis and Claudia during the Trial).

Not sure why they even brought up “feminizing” Louis as one of the ways people supposedly try to absolve him of all wrongdoing because if anything that’s what people do with Lestat and Armand, meanwhile analysis of the show acknowledging the gendered roles Louis serves both during the Rue Royale era and later on in Dubai only serve to meet the narrative where it’s at. Season one didn’t go out of its way to call Louis a housewife on multiple occasions and Armand didn’t spend all this season treating Louis in Dubai like his hysterical wife he’s .5 seconds away from shoving back in the attic just for us to ignore these aspects of the show because it makes some of y’all uncomfortable or lack the nuance to understand that a feminized character can still do bad things (and again, the worst things Louis does this season are towards Claudia but despite the lio service at the end, y’all don’t actually fucking care about her.)

[stedes-tarty-pink-robe]

IWTV Season 2 Episode 5 Thoughts

Great episode. It went so many places emotionally. We get Louis wising up, Armand in full predator mode and a shift in the alliances. It's no longer Armand and Louis as a "united front" against Daniel but Daniel and Louis united in pursuit of the truth.

Some thoughts as I watched:

- Young Daniel didn't have "fucking in a coffin" on his bingo card, but he wants it now that it's an option.

-  I think this episode is warming me to Danlou

     Present Daniel: did we bang back then?

     Present Louis (laughing it off) I'd never. (Gets serious) Unless you want to do it now.

- Young Daniel: "Are you the Zodiac Killer?" Daniel ... baby. I know you're high, but really? I'm glad you grew more of brain in later years. As current Daniel put it, you were a moron.

- Uh, oh. Louis's suicidal ideation popping up again. He was not just recounting the feelings from back then. He was actively longing for the sun as he spoke to Young Daniel.

- Yikes at Young Daniel presuming way too much too soon. Comparing himself to Louis's loved ones after one night is ludicrous. Didn't deserve to almost be killed for it, but yeesh.

- Louis hit hard with that speech about how dull Armand is. He doesn't need the Fire Gift for that burn.

- Holy shit. Loumand's going full A Marriage Story. These resentments needed to be aired out, but not like this. They're two vipers who know exactly where to inject their venom to make the other suffer.

- Ouch. I hate being right in this case. Past Louis walked into the sun. And here modern Louis is, his heart breaking as he realizes he had a suicide attempt he wasn't aware of.

- Oh, wow. Louis tried to reverse uno Lestat into seeking him out by publishing blatant slander just like Lestat got Louis to seek him out by sending him a love song but using his mistress's voice. God. They really are two fucked up peas in a pod.

- Poor burnt up Louis. Armand may have saved him from the sun, but he is holding that grudge something fierce. He's in full coven leader mode, dealing with witnesses and interrogating Daniel with a brutal practicality. Reasserting his dominance on Louis (emotionally) and Young Daniel (the whole shebang of torment for being the easy scapegoat). Armand is so frightening when he puppeteers Young Daniel and breaks him down to the worst aspects of himself. As Armand previously said, he's good at finding the vulnerability in the object.

- I do not believe for a second that Armand was going to let Louis go. That coffin scene is Grade A manipulation on Armand's part to guilt Louis into staying. Sure, the emotions Armand claims are real - the best manipulations have truth to them - but Armand's expertly wielding them to achieve his goals - make himself look like a love martyr and Louis feel like a bad person if he doesn't stay.

- Armand being the gentle death, soothing Young Daniel as he washes him and coaxes him into accepting an early grave. How much was Daniel's dumpster fire of a personal life the result of him chasing a high and how much was because Armand mindscrewed him into thinking that such a disappointing life was inevitable?

- Louis upped his manipulation game, too. He got Armand to spare Daniel by reaffirming the vows so to speak.

- Aww. What Louis told Young Daniel was so sweet. While Armand's words guided him to self-destruction, Louis's gave him hope in his darkest times.

- Oh, fine. Danlou can join Loustat in my prefered ships in this adaptation. You won me over, show.

- Yes! Louis finally realizes Armand scrubbed his brain like it was a crime scene. That throbbing neck vein doesn't lie. Louis is big mad at Armand.

[cocogum]

The Great Wave - Chapter 3 Review

‼️ SPOILERS FOR THE CHAPTER ‼️

Warning(s): extreme use of foul language.

Aurora is not pregnant.

I don’t believe it for a second, that cow is lying through her teeth. I already mentioned in the second chapter review that she just couldn’t be pregnant because there are three major reasons that easily disprove her claim.

First, it’s the amount of time that passed by. It has been a few months since Season 4 and the manga, around four months to be exact. And yet, Aurora’s stomach appears to be completely flat. How is this possible? Shouldn't there be a visible bump by now?

Second, season 3’s artbook already confirmed that Aurora was a manipulative woman and wanted to reflect it with her design (by having her hair covering one of her eyes) so who’s to say she’s telling the truth right now??

Third, @kilfeur pointed out in this post that if she was pregnant, Armand would not have allowed her to fly high up in the cloudy sky to gain knowledge about the Eliatrope goddess' eliaculus. Armand was already worried about Aurora when she went up, and the thought of her flying high while carrying their future child would have made him refuse the idea entirely, as he feared it could put their unborn child in danger.

So yeah, this skank is clearly lying her ass off just to manipulate the sadidas so that they could take her side. She’s so fucking petty omg I cannot deal with her. And her father is even worse my god wipe that ugly ass smile off your face you fatass.

This man clearly wants power that’s outside his kingdom. He just wants more even if it doesn’t belong to him and it painfully shows because he won’t stop making this fart face.

But it’s okay because as soon as Amalia opens her mouth, he immediately stops looking like a dumbass and immediately FROWNS because he knows she’s spitting FACTS.

And this is the only reason why I loved this moment. Amalia literally put him in his place and shut him up.

Amalia on the first panel: “What right do you return after you have shamelessly abandoned us? The osamodas kingdom, the nations of Bonta, Brakmar, Amakna, Astrub…”

Amalia on the second panel: “We asked you to come help us!”

Amalia on the third panel: “BUT NO ONE CAME! It was the future of the world that was at stake, not just the Sadida Kingdom!!!”

LIKE YES GIRL YES FUCKING DESTROY THIS OLD WASTE OF SPACE!!!

She literally dragged him on the fucking floor with all these facts omg I can’t she’s such a queen I love her so much. 💖💖

But then, instead of just taking it all like a good boy, this old bag of furry bones only had one thing to say and it was:

Osamodas blue cow king: “You give honor to your egocentrism, Amalia…”

Bruh what.

What are you talking about, you crusty old bat?

She drops so many facts and events that happened and this guy’s only comeback is “you’re being selfish 🥺😡”. Like what the fuck was even that???

Dude if you’ve got nothing to say, then don’t say anything but don’t just blurt out the first thing that comes out of your mouth??? Like what??

This is the equivalent of a detective who presented all the proofs that you committed the crime and the only thing you have to say is “your mama”.

Then, as if things couldn’t get any worse for this guy, he says:

Osamodas blue cow king: “My soldiers would have beat these creatures just as efficiently as yours.”

Oh yeah, where were they then, you fucking liar??? The worst part about this is that you didn’t even try hiding the fact that you would’ve been ‘ready’ but you’re so dumb you have no idea how brain-dead that makes you sound right now. You’re saying you could’ve sent your men BUT YOU DIDN’T DO SHIT. WHAT’S WORSE IS THAT YOU KNEW THE SADIDAS NEEDED HELP CUZ UR STUPID DAUGHTER FLED TO GO BACK TO YOU.

Also didn’t you once claim that Armand’s army was weaker than yours but then all of a sudden you’re now saying that your army could’ve beat the necromes like theirs did???

(oh oop- Armand don’t kill him yet 😭)

Bitch doesn’t even know what he’s talking about anymore. I doubt he even knows wtf he’s saying half the time.

Are you dumb???? Are you actually suffering from constipation????

You’re implying that you were free to help and that you knew they needed help. YOU’RE INDIRECTLY SAYING THAT YOU KNEW AND DIDN’T HELP DESPITE HAVING THE TIME TO DO SO.

While the old fart is yapping, Yugo’s face is just so 🫤😑 I’ve been staring at this panel for 2 minutes now and I love how fucking out of it he looks while listening to the cow 😭 Actually, I’m not even sure if he’s listening, I think he’s just hearing him from one ear but it all goes out on the other side. He looks like a god who’s about to squash an annoying ass ant lol

He’s literally like “is this bitch fr?”

Like Yugo is 100% confident to say that the osamodas king had no idea what the hell he was talking about when he thought his troops and he would’ve been able to fight off the necromes.

Yugo: “You have absolutely no idea what we saved you from!”

Yugo’s making that face cuz he knows the king has no clue what he’s barking about. (Also can’t Yugo just use his wakfu sensing abilities to check if Aurora is actually carrying another twelvian?? Or is he not able to do that because an unborn child does not have wakfu yet?) Little blue bro doesn’t know what necromes even are cuz Yugo never told him about them so how the hell was he supposed to know if his men would’ve stood a chance???? No seriously is this cow okay? Why is he talking? Is he talking just for the sake of talking?? Is he that self-conscious that he’ll make up lies on the spot just to protect his image??? The cow king doesn’t even know that the necromes had a leader. Yugo and Amalia are dealing with a fucking grown-ass child omg.

Osamodas blond cow: “I left because I made the promise to my dear Armand.”

This is a lie. Armand never heard of any promise. An analysis conducted by @geekgirles even indicated otherwise, supporting that the claim made by Aurora was fake. According to the analysis, Aurora was more inclined towards her family than her new life with Armand, and the claim that he made any promises to her was baseless. If you wish to read the detailed analysis conducted by @geekgirles on this matter, you can find all of it in this post.

I’ll now explain to you, in my own words, why her bullshit is hot donkey ass. Keep in mind that the whole reason why she left was to protect “the child” aka “the future heir”. As I said before, Aurora couldn’t have promised Armand anything because he knew she still held a bit too much on her osamodas family. From what we’ve seen, Aurora had the time to go back to the Osamodas kingdom to check up on them because of the eliaculus in the skies, had sided with her osamodas family during the meeting with the eliatrope goddess, had tried to marry off Amalia to one of her brothers and cousin, deliberately brought some of her relatives to Armand’s coronation to….stand around, and even keeps her father around in the Sadida kingdom when he should either be ruling his own kingdom or go back to his cave. Armand is not a moron. He knows that she constantly brings her own family to a place that doesn’t need them. So when he’s about to sacrifice his life unbeknownst to Amalia, he tells her this:

“The future is yours.”

Armand had passed the torch to Amalia.

It's worth noting that this is a crucial moment because he chooses not to pass the leadership to his own wife, Aurora. This decision is based on the fact that Aurora is heavily influenced by her family and is unable to make independent choices. At the same time, he also chooses not to give it to someone else who is just as important.

And that is the imaginary baby that Aurora is carrying.

Remember that the baby doesn't exist, and that's an important fact to keep in mind. Armand, who still loves Aurora, doesn't trust her enough to give her the leading role, or any role for that matter, especially not one that involves a child they could potentially have together. Instead, he gave the role to his sister. Aurora knows this and is fully aware that her promise to him was never even a thing. In Armand’s mind, it wouldn't have mattered if she ran away because he never intended to give her a part of the kingdom’s responsibilities in the first place, even though her getting away like that would have hurt his heart.

And Aurora is over here saying that her dad will help her lead the sadidas while she’s pregnant, girl sit your ass down no one called for you. Hoe thought she was in the same group as freaking warriors, shut up. You clearly want your father to rule for a much longer time literally wtf.

Osamodas blond cow: “During my pregnancy, my father will help me lead the kingdom…and I also count on him to train the future heir.”

It's concerning that her explanation might make sense to the sadidas. I'm not sure how she managed it, but that skank made it sound like her father would automatically assist her in ruling the Sadida Kingdom (despite them being Osamodas) since she would be pregnant and without aid due to Armand's demise. And after her baby would be born, her father would train him under his guidance to make him become strong and successful. She made it sound like a simple plan with no problems attached to it. She hasn’t even mentioned if the “baby” was an osamodas or a sadida. She only mentioned the gender, that the baby was a male (in French, when she calls the unborn child “the heir” she says it by using male pronouns).

Hey, Aurora what happens when your lie doesn’t work anymore because your stomach will still stay flat after eight months? You’re gonna tell the people that you swallowed the baby or something? That it fell down? What happens when you can’t keep up with your lie anymore?? Huh? Ever thought about that, you dumb bitch?

I have an idea, Amalia: how about you throw Aurora to the other side of the world and then try to get yourself pregnant by using Yugo so that you can also have a better reason to stay? Or better yet, you can tell her to prove her pregnancy because again, HER STOMACH IS FLATTER THAN A WASHBOARD AFTER ALL THESE MONTHS. Make her suffer from her lie and try to make her work hard for it.

You know when a dog lifts his tail and head up while he’s walking away from something cuz it shows just how sassy and confident they are? I see no difference with this crappy blue cow ‘family’ except that it ain’t cute when they do it.

They just ignored everything Amalia and Yugo said, looked the other way from every proof and situation that they were currently in, and only brought out Aurora’s pregnancy as a trashy uno reverse card, then decided to dip out before blurting out that they were gonna wait NEXT TO ARMAND’S FUCKING TREE GRAVE SO AMALIA CAN PREPARE HER STUFF TO LEAVE.

Osamodas blonde cow: “We are going to pray at Armand’s grave tree, while you make your arrangements.”

The fucking nerve to say that.

I don’t give a shit if she’s crying while saying it, this bitch is supposed to be a professional manipulator.

She and her family have no shame whatsoever. They genuinely thought they did something there. The only thing they had as “leverage” against Amalia and Yugo was Aurora’s stupid “pregnancy”. And even if she was actually carrying Armand’s kid (for whatever reason), her reason would still be shit cuz Armand already declared in his final hour that Amalia was going to take his role.

Osamodas blond cow: “Your presence here is no longer desired, sister-in-law. Just do what you’ve always done…Go explore the world!”

Like-

Who are you???

Blond cow had the audacity to exist.

Not only do we know that the royal osamodas family are liars and manipulators, but we also now know that they’re complete dumbasses for even wanting to rule the Sadida kingdom of all kingdoms. The Sadida kingdom is not built like theirs. The Sadida culture and its customs are extremely different and very much the opposite of the Osamodas since these two races are polar opposites. The Sadidas care about plant life while the Osamodas care about wildlife. It would be extremely hard for the osamodas to fully accept a culture that preaches everything that opposes what they preach. Not only that, but the Sadida kingdom is the literal embodiment of nature. If anything tries to hit its source no matter how big or small, then there would be dire consequences to the entire ecosystem of the world. The Tree of Life is such a big deal in fact that Armand even nicknames it “the lungs of this world”.

And to protect it, you not only need to be one with nature, but that also means you need a SADIDA to guard it which is a person that can literally SPEAK FOR THE TREES. Aurora you NEED Amalia, not only because she’s a Sadida, but because she’s also a royal AND has the strongest connection to the tree more than any other sadidas. You’re not just ruling a kingdom, you’re taking care of the world’s core.

And Aurora’s father doesn’t seem to understand that very important detail. When Armand reveals to him that the sadida kingdom keeps getting targeted at all times because it represents the lungs of the world, this fucking dumbass cow thinks that it’s because the sadidas are weak and can’t protect their own home which is why it keeps getting attacked.

Aurora’s father is such an idiot that he doesn’t even understand why the kingdom is so precious when he’s just been TOLD THE ANSWER DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF HIS FUCKING FACE.

At this point, even a iop would get it. BECAUSE THE PERCEDAL FAMILY ACTUALLY UNDERSTOOD THE ASSIGNMENT-

This is why imagining an osamodas ruling the Sadida kingdom is a literal death sentence. Because an osamodas, someone who only takes care of beasts, shouldn’t be able to properly take care of the sacred tree that links every single living plant in the world. For fuck sake, Aurora, why do you think they call it “the Tree of LIFE”?????

If the Tree of Life doesn’t have a proper guardian (aka A FUCKING SADIDA), then it dies. And if it dies, that means the ecosystem dies. Aurora, you dumb blond, let me explain it in osamodas language: if every green that you see outside disappears, that means that your stupid animals won’t be able to properly eat, shit, reproduce, drink, breathe, and live. And yes, Aurora that last one also means that they won’t have a surface to walk on, aka death.

You don’t have a brain because you keep listening to your egocentric manipulative fat father every time he opens his mouth and you keep making constipated decisions without thinking about the later outcomes because you think you’re in control of the situation.

The only thing you can do, and I’m being generous here by giving you a “talent”, is to shut the fuck up and sit there looking pretty. You did a good job doing that in Season 4 and I want you to do that again. And while you’re at it, go make me a sandwi-

Not only does Aurora need Amalia, the sadida who has the strongest link to the Tree of Life, but the Osamodas king also needs Yugo. I’m not sure why these blue people didn’t catch the fact that there’s a gigantic ass necrome dragon that’s only been PARALYZED and is currently standing in the fucking Sadida Kingdom’s backyard. The dragon is very easy to spot and the only reason why Yugo still keeps the eliatrope dofus on him at all times is to prepare himself for when the dragon gets out of this state. Because yes, Armand did beat him, but he didn’t kill him. Again, you are not able to kill a necrome. If the royal Osamodas family somehow takes hold of the Sadida kingdom, how the fuck are they gonna beat a fucking dragon, one of the most powerful fucking entities of this world who also had been necrofied to NEVER FUCKING DIE??? The osamodas cow king never saw a necrome, never beat a necrome, doesn’t know how it became a necrome, and doesn’t know where it comes from. Since he doesn’t know shit about the necromes, how is he gonna be able to fight a fucking necrome DRAGON?????

Sweeties, do you get it now?

Staying in the Sadida kingdom isn’t for power-hungry clowns. Staying in the Sadida kingdom means that you’ve gambled with your life more than once and you know the taste of adventure and combat. Staying there means knowing that your life can be taken away from you by either the enemies who try to take the literal lungs of the world, or the paralyzed undead dragon who can wake up at any time if he simply wanted to.

You bozos NEED Yugo and Amalia to the point where you can’t even be the ones to stay there, let alone own the place. You can’t stay there because there is so much to keep guard of, to be aware of, and to be ready for. The sadidas have practiced this dance for centuries now and they’ll keep doing it even harder because of an additional menace that is living on their grounds, the dragon being that very threat. Now, not only do the sadidas have to be vigilant of the outside, but they also have to be vigilant of the inside.

So yeah, the royal osamodas are a goofy ass family and I hate the circus.

(i love how the French commentaries on Allskreen and the Krosmoz app are clowning this family lol everyone understood the assignment)

[geekgirles]

Aurora's Claim: a Chapter 3 Analysis

Okay, so I read the chapter and, as expected, I'm fuming. However, it does give me the perfect chance to mention how, no matter what the Osamodas said, it still doesn't contradict my thoughts on Armand and Aurora's relationship and her lack of agency outside her father's thrall. Thoughts I discussed in length here.

On the contrary, I'd say it actually proves my suspicions right. So let's dive in, shall we? (Spoilers for the chapter under the cut).

First of all, I still don't trust a word that leaves Aurora's mouth, so I refuse to believe Armand knew about the pregnancy and told her to flee until we get more tangible evidence. After all, what good would it have done? If the Sadida and Eliatrope fell, the rest of the world would follow soon. And even if he did, I maintain that he didn't want her to rule his kingdom alone, because he still told Amalia it was up to her to take up the mantle.

(I finally got to take that screenshot)

But see? Not once did Armand mention Aurora or tell Amalia to please help her rule or anything like that. He didn't even take advantage of those precious few seconds he had left to let his sister in on such major news, to tell her she was gonna be an aunt. Nothing. He instead makes it pretty clear his sister is the Sadidas' next queen, not his wife. Which I'm convinced is because he knew all along his in-laws couldn't be trusted.

See, not even after these frames did Armand mention Aurora's supposed state or what it would mean for the kingdom. Not even then did he think she should ascend to the throne if he wasn't there by her side. Armand never wanted Aurora to rule on her own, child or no child.

Again, because he most likely suspected what the Osamodas would try as soon as they got the chance. Their people might have been joined by marriage, but they were never allies.

Which is something that is immediately proven as soon as Aurora reveals she's pregnant. Her family has no intention of honouring Sadida traditions. They don't even mention the very real possibility that the child might end up being an Osamodas and, therefore, unfit to rule the tree people inhabiting the World of Twelve, in which case I'd say her claim on the throne would be void.

No, as soon as they arrive and drop the bomb, Aurora makes it clear she has no intention of allowing Amalia anywhere near power. Just like she makes it clear she is nothing but her father's pawn, seeing as in no point in time she intends to part from him, even if she were to ascend to the throne.

And the Osamodas intentions of controlling Sadida politics become crytal clear from that point forward. Because Aurora never tries to include Amalia in any of this, despite her being the last Sheran Sharm and, thefore, having received training on how to rule (as seen in season 2 when she was busy with her duties and kept sending Yugo and Ad to help) or sharing the strongest connection to the Tree of Life. You know, the very same thing Aurora and her child would be in charge of guarding with their lives should she become queen? With that in mind, it would only make sense to keep Amalia close in order to help her rule.

But what does Aurora do instead?

She insists her father will help her until the baby is born, and from that point onwards, he will still be around to raise the kid. In other words, that child has been doomed to become the Osamodas King's puppet even before they're even born! They intend to raise the next Sadida ruler to have their people's best interests in mind, not the Sadidas'.

And where does Amalia fit in all this?

She doesn't, because Aurora's very last line about how Amalia should do what she does best and travel the world could not be any more of an abvious way to tell her she doesn't want her anywhere near the kingdom, where she could get in the way of her family's scheming.

Before I finish this rant, I feel morally obligated to point out the sheer disrespect everyone seems to feel for Amalia. Yes, she's always been very free-spirited and spent long periods of time away, but if it weren't for her, her people and the World of Twelve would have died three times over (not counting the Nécromes attack because that was during the only time she remained in her kingdom).

Amalia's adventures have allowed her to grow and mature in ways no other ruler has had to go through. It's thanks to her and her friends that her kingdom and the rest of the world are still standing. And no one knows of the sacrifices required to save the world like she does.

She couldn't be there when her father died because she was saving the world from Oropo, for fuck's sake!

But sure, the Osamodas can keep calling her selfish and spoiled. After all, it takes one to know one. Because let's not forget how Aurora being pregnant or not is still no excuse for her father not sending help, meaning they're still very much a bunch of cowards and traitors insteads of the martyrs they're trying to present themselves as.

Literally the only way I can ever see myself coming to like Aurora is if she actually matured and developed beyond being her father's pawn and turned against him, realising Amalia is indeed the rightful ruler.

Until then, I'm going to be cheering for Amalia to wipe the floor with her.

@cocogum @vinillain @onyichii I hope you don't mind another analysis on the same topic.

[nalyra-dreaming]

Nalyra!!!

At first I was outraged by the Marius change. I was so disappointed. My first thought was oh great they've changed a vital point in his relationship with Armand just to make him even worse to the viewers somehow. But after watching it for a second time I realized...it is actually the other way around!

First of all the change is not even that much of a change since in the books Marius actually takes Armand to those brothels. So no reason to fear in relation to the accuracy with the source. They really know what they're doing.

What I had never expected is that, by adapting Marius and Armand relationship to the show's circumstances, they will actually go down the route of stablishing parallels between Marius AND Louis??! It's not just the pimp thing. It is also the commentary about Louis wanting to be both a dealer and an artist and then Marius being presented as a donor and a painter. Like, they're not painting Marius in a better light whatsoever (pun intended). On the contrary, this is a direct confrontation with the "fuck Marius" section of the fandom that refuses to see him as nothing but the only true monster while they make Louis the only true victim. And it is BRILLIANT the way it challenges the fandom's own conception of evil in the story that it's precisely about that

Yeah, there are a LOT of layers to that part we got. (I wouldn't call it "other way around"^^, but of course these writers would make more of it, than "just worse" :))

The "donor" part also struck me. And, given how the relationship Armand and Marius had also parallels part of what he will have / has had with Daniel? They are setting up powerful narrative structures there.

But yeah, Marius did take and send Armand to brothels to... "learn". Said it yesterday, but it opens up the "cuck chair" rather uncomfortably, too.

In the parallel you described the art of Louis is also something of which little survives, just as with Marius' paintings.

I'm not sure this is a direct confrontation with the fandom... I don't think the show or its writers care much about that.:) I do agree however that this show won't go the easy route with the characters, there is no "evil", no "good". No morally pure.

There's just people in impossible circumstances, changed into monsters, in a way. And given time to fully expand on their own toxic traits. (And I cannot believe how lucky we are that they are indeed going full mess.)

I think these writers will be able to paint Marius in all colors, when he's finally there. And he will be there, so we might want to brace ourselves :)))

[sillyvampireboi]

Why are you tormenting my kitchen??

~AO3~

Summary: Armand is fascinated by blenders. Who knew that there were many different types with different functions? Do they only blend liquid or flesh too? He must experiment.. to Daniel’s demise.

Contents: pov Armand, romantic, fluff, attempt at humour, armandaniel, Armand being Armand, blood, gore, not beta read, description of cutting someone up ^^’ 

a/n: I feel like Armand is like a little child, regarding discovering new technologies and finding joy in trying them out. | I wrote it totally self-indulgently. I have that urge in me to see Armand destroy Daniel’s (blender at first) kitchen 👁️v👁️

tagging: @okaytosave

~ English is my second language ~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So Daniel, you grew up and lived in this era, which one is the best?”

“How the fuck am I supposed to know?” 

“Well, I suppose you used these machines before.” 

“Sure, but that doesn’t mean I compared all brands in the world. “ — chuckled my fascinating boy. — “But buy that one. It’s the most expensive.” 

We were standing in the Aisle of Blenders in Media Markt. Recently, I became spellbinded by this store. It showcasted the best and most popular technology on the market during those years. My love laughed at me many times, when waking at night and not finding me at our home, discovered me studying iPads in that store for hours to no end. How fastly changeable technology became! It felt like there were new updates to my iPad every month, new features were added which became more colourful, more easy to use and were more apps to choose from. Sims and Minecraft became my favorites to spend my time on. I created our own avatars, mine and Daniel’s, in Sims where we lived happily as a married couple. I even found a kitten, when I told Daniel about it, he simply asked me to make him a successful writer and ‘WooHoo’ him every night. He didn’t tell me what that meant. I need to check its meaning in the near future. 

However, back to me and Daniel looking at blenders: When I got used to the innovations phones and tablets offered, I found my new interest stirred in kitchen items. I have to admit, I abandoned my interest in kitchen utensils. They remained more or less similar for hundreds upon hundreds of years, so I let my curiosity wander to other directions. Then sweet Daniel stepped into the timeless night of my life, introducing me to feelings I’ve been absent from, besides human contraptions I didn’t pay attention to. Such innovation was this engaging appliance called Blender. 

As far as I understand, it can mix liquids and soft objects such as fruits and vegetables together. Mortals use these devices to create ‘smoothes’ and other drinks Daniel told me about. Sadly, they can’t break bones or other hard surfaces into tiny pieces. Believe me I tried, that was the reason me and Daniel were shopping for a new one.

“Are you still angry at me, love?” — I temporarily turned from the shelf to look at Daniel. He sighed deep, feeling frustration omitting from him rather than anger. 

“No. But I’m getting a little vexed since you keep tormenting my kitchen.”

“I’m only experimenting my beloved.” 

“Yeah, right” — The innocent voice I used had a nearly immediate effect on him. His eyes softened, and the aurora around him became a lovely pink coloured mess.  — “Just buy more, so we don’t have to come here every night, hm?” 

“Everything for you dear!” 

“Sure, don’t have to be in my ass. Just choose 3 and let us go already.” 

The night was hot and breathless, attacking our senses constantly with the noise of the beeping city. The streets were nearly as light as during the day in this new century, illuminated by hundreds of lamps, advertisements and closed shop windows. 

As I was walking beside Daniel, carrying my “newly doomed Blenders” - as he tells me - in their boxes, I thought back on the previous night. 

I was in the kitchen, while my beloved was still in our bedchamber. The sun just started leisurely sinking lower and lower on the darkening sky, painting it with pink and purple and then blue at last. While the shadows began climbing along the lengthy sides of buildings, I set up the kitchen. 

My love already had a Blender in his home, which I borrowed for my investigation. I prepared a victim for the night: a young, muscular boy. Barely scraping the threshold of twenty, full of life and strength, his young face shining with his youthful years I’ll be draining out of him. 

“Rest.” 

My voice covered him gently from his curly head, till his long legs. He truly was a beautiful boy, one I’ve seen centuries ago in the palace of my Master. His muscles and mind relaxed, regardless of his integral struggle for life, while I opened up his wrist and let his warm blood fill several cups, I organised in the kitchen. I let his blood flow until his heart began to slow, losing his hopeless battle against his fate, until it fully stopped. 

First, I poured one cup of his blood into the Blender, and turned on the machine. It began to buzz and whirl. It moved the blood around in circles, creating light bubbles in contrast to the shadowless. 

It passed the first test. After emptying its container I added another cup of blood into it, then turned back to the body of the boy. With a knife in my hand, I let my gaze travel over his lifeless shell. His pink flesh lost colour and turned to gray, and his eyes which were filled with fearful tears a few minutes ago, now stared blankly at the ceiling. I let him free of his thin shirt, and opened up his delicate skin. 

I put slim pieces of his muscles in the blood at first, then steadily increased the amount. The Blender succeeded these challenges, cutting the meat into smaller and smaller parts, until it became a bloody meat ‘smoothie’. I poured it into a new cup and started again. 

At this time, I used his heart, lungs and a part of his brain in one session, mixing it with more blood. The machine seemingly struggled quite a bit, but mixed them nonetheless. It wasn’t as perfect as the previous one, but still liquid-y. 

I continued experimenting with his other organs, the Blender struggling more and more, until it reached its breaking point. 

It was bones that broke this interesting innovation.

I began with his blood again, and continued with adding tiny parts from his limb bones - which I smashed with my hands -, until I carried on with bigger bones: fingers, toes, and collar bones. However, as I added a forearm, it couldn’t pierce through the stone-hard surface of the white parts and its scales stopped while the motor still ran. I watched with wild wonder, while the buzzing got pregnant with panic, until it stopped with a sudden bang. The remains of the meat, blood and bones flew up in the air, and blanketed me and the kitchen furniture with a nasty, sloppy sound. 

Oh no - I thought - I broke Daniel’s Blender, there is still time to buy him a new one. He isn’t using it anymore, so he won’t notice and then I clean— 

“What the fuck has happened here?” — My beloved was standing at the door of our bedroom, arms crossed in front of his chest, sleep still heavy in his eyes. His gaze naturally traveled to me first, next on the body of the cut up form of my victim, until at last, traveled over the rain of dark red, thick wetness on the walls and ceiling. 

“Daniel, I can expl—“

“What is this? Why are you tormenting my kitchen?!” 

“I merely wanted to experiment dear. You showed me a lot about new technologies and the one that interested me the most was this apparatus called Blender! It moves and has knife-like edges inside and mixes substances! My beloved, you must understand I had to try! And what fascinating discoveries I made.” 

Daniel stood there completely spellbounded, staring at me in the grotesque scene I created. For a long time he said nothing, until I saw the slight smile in the light of his eyes, which meant he wasn’t angry at all even though he tried to appear to be. A deep sigh which he didn’t need anymore, escaped his lungs while he roamed his gaze over me and our kitchen again. 

“Alright, this is what we are going to do. First you clean this whole mess and then YOU buy a new blender. And I’m going to ask for a fucking expensive one, you can be sure of that.” 

I couldn’t help, but giggle at his mocked fury, that imitation of frustration he forced on his lovely face. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The moment we arrived home, I organised our new Blenders in the cabinets, taking out plates and glasses, just to put them back and find a new place for them. Daniel was enjoying my structuring skills with an open delight, from the dining table. 

After I was done, I walked to him, sly as a cat, sitting on his lap and putting my arms around his neck.

“What?” 

“Will you show me how to order from Amazon?” 

“Why? “ — he eyed me with suspicion. 

“I want to order a robotic eater!” 

“Robotic eater? You mean a robot vacuum?” 

“Yes! Please Daniel, I have to see if it really eats everything and moves around furniture.” 

“God. What did I sign up for?” 

My soft laugh disguised us from the outside world, leaving us in a light pink bubble. 

[aizenat]

This episode was the first full episode where we don’t have Claudia’s perspective to corroborate anything being said. And while her perspective is limited at times, if it aligns with what we’re seeing, it helps to discern truth from embellishment. But without it, this episode was messy in the sense that we got a lot of info but almost nothing to help us discern the facts. So now we have to rely on context clues and what we’ve learned so far, and let’s be forreal with how a lot of yall are NOT up for the task with this.

My biggest personal example being how quick you all were to believe and align with Lestat’s pov. Lestat the drama queen, the man with an admitted temper remembering how he watched Louis clutch at the air desperate for something to grab and stop his fall, who went across the ocean to step on stage and condemn the supposed love of his life to death. The Lestat who watched Claudia die on stage, and would have done the same with Louis on stage had Armand not did what he did to “save” Louis. But because he did it while crying, yall just buying everything he said? What?

Lestat is just as unreliable a narrator as Armand. And even Louis revealed this episode that he’s always going to remember himself in the worst light—or at least pursue that portrayal without argument—much more than Lestat and Armand because he carries his guilt with him in a way they don’t. He BLAMES himself for a lot of things they don’t blame themselves for. I believe Armand feels zero guilt for what he did to Claudia; just irritation it may have affected his relationship with Louis. Lestat doesn’t regret his actions, just that they sour his relationships with his paramours and result in him being alone again.

They regret the impact their actions have on them personally but not the result of their actions. Louis can be selfish too, but he feels the hurt he’s given fully. He feels how he failed Claudia, Grace and Mama Flo, Miss Lily even, and of course Paul. Even when he asks Lestat if he did something to cause Paul’s death, he always wondered because he likely blamed himself for bringing Lestat into their lives if Lestat had been responsible. Even if Lestat had done something, Louis would have found a way to make it his fault.

There’s a lot influencing this, but this episode really hit for home to me that Louis’ issues with guilt and shame, taking on the blame for things that aren’t his fault, also make him an unreliable narrative. Not because “oh he’s making people around him look worse so he looks better,” but actually because he makes excuses for them. He denied Lestat was abusive towards him, sympathizes with his tears of apologies and sob stories both after the fight last season and again at the trial, and he makes excuses for Armand’s inactivity. Even jumps to forgive him the second Armand implies he should carry some of the blame in situations too: he didn’t hesitate to believe he agreed with Armand on what to do with Daniel during that be apology scene. Louis runs to take blame in situations. It’s like he knows ifs hard to reconcile these men who claim to love hurting him so bad, so if he takes some of the blame for their actions, he can understand it.

It’s also, honestly, part of why he is quick to say things that he knows will go for the jugular. So he can say in the aftermath that he said horrible things “too,” as if they will mean he would have deserved what they do to him.

But it’s never that deep and words don’t ever excuse the level of violence and manipulation and control Lestat and Armand have used towards him. And the show is trying to emphasize that. Daniel not buying Louis’ excuses for Armand, insisting Armand sold Louis out despite being his boyfriend at the time; a betrayal that doesn’t justify 70+ more years of marriage. Claudia calling the audience (and subsequently the iwtv audience) out on gleefully accepting Lestat’s apology but not even giving her the opportunity to make one herself. And then I see fans do exactly that, using what Lestat says happened to undermine what we’ve seen so far.

Like all this hard work for the writers to make this shit plain for y’all to miss it every time.

[avelera]

I saw the IWTV finale early thanks to a kind soul sharing it with me!

A few (spoiler-y) thoughts:

Really interesting how they reimagined and framed the ending of this take on IWTV with Louis and Lestat mourning Claudia together. It feels like Justice For Claudia in many ways, it feels like a fitting homage to the origins of Claudia's character (the dead of Anne Rice's daughter from leukemia as a child), and in general was just a really interesting way to sort of give this closure the book never did and also use it to realistically allow them both to push forward past their toxic and abuse past into a somewhat plausible healed future.

It was also a decent reminder, to me, that these are vampires. These characters live forever. I would not condone Louis/Lestat in real life because life is too short to keep going back to an abusive ex. But these guys are vampires. Do not do as they do. But genuinely 70 years, a human lifetime, is realistically long enough to say, "Hey, we're new people now, we've learned and suffered a lot, we lost our daughter and it was fucked up. Maybe all we have is each other." And make peace with each other on that front.

BUT NOW I'M WONDERING HOW WE GET ROCKSTAR LESTAT - ok because Louis kind of got Lestat's book motivation for becoming a rockstar? The "Fuck you, come find me," to all the other vampires. Lestat I believe only speculates that as Louis' motivation, but they made it canon (or I could be wrong).

But that was Lestat's motivation for HIS book, making Louis and the others come find him. Since that's been solved with Louis coming to find him (lovely little homage to the IWTV movie with him playing the harpsichord) now I'm wondering if Louis is the one who encourages Lestat to become a rockstar and write down his book.

Thing is, it's not totally contradicted by the book. (SPOILERS) TVL does end with a beat where Louis and Lestat reunite and Louis is kind of his groupie for a bit. Moving that up so Louis is part of Lestat's rise is actually a really lovely touch, it gives them a bit more time together before shit goes down, and I could totally see this version of Louis as Lestat's agent since he's shown to have that business acumen.

Now that Daniel is a vampire (OMG OMG OMG MORE ON THAT IN A SECOND) the risk is no longer so bad for him to come interview Lestat and I'm sure he's salivating to do so and Louis would definitely invite Vampire Daniel to do the interview for Lestat's book, since there's no fear for his safety (or at least, not as much) anymore. And Daniel would jump at the chance. It would be a fabulous framing device, Rockstar Lestat with his agent, Louis, inviting Daniel to interview Lestat for his next book AND it means we get Daniel's snark throughout Lestat's story.

OK SO DANIEL BEING A VAMPIRE. Definitely leaves the door open for past AND present Devil's Minion WITH THE ADDED BONUS of Daniel not going insane after he's turned (likely owed to not being turned while still a drug addled young man so, hey, if there was past Devil's Minion where Armand said no, kudos to him for reading the situation correctly that vampirism would drive young Daniel insane but not Old Man Daniel).

I was SLIGHTLY, SLIGHTLY bummed to see Daniel as a vampire without getting to see the whole Daniel/Armand situation but only slightly. There wasn't enough room in the season, it would have been a distraction, and IMO we can now save it properly for its place in either TVL or QOTD, which I bet are going to be Seasons 3-4 or as many as 3-6 if we stick to 2 seasons per book.

A take on Devil's Minion where past and present Devil's Minion are intertwined would be AMAZING and I've got my fingers crossed that's how they do it. Maybe interweave a bit of Vampire Armand.

I don't think/know if we're going to get a full Vampire Armand season BUT I do believe the show is going to pivot its POV lens to say, hey, everyone's got a point of view, everyone's got a reason. At some point, we're going to get more of Armand's POV and why he did what he did because I imagine his version will be different from Louis', just as Lestat's is, that's the whole basis of the show. And in there maybe we'll get some past Daniel/Armand.

Ok this already got away from me but ANYWAY, those are my thoughts for now.

[joefangs]

There are so many discrepancies if we compare season 1 Louis' memories and season 2 recollections of his. He made Lestat look almost bad, devilish in season 1, blamed everything on him, and stayed clean with Claudia. In season 2, we can finally see the issues with his memories of Lestat. Even in season 1 Louis changed his words in front of Daniel. In S2 it kind of proved that Louis' collections were muddled. He changed his memories way too many times. At last he admitted to go on with Lestat's version. I mean, I know and I can confirm that Lestat has always been good as far as the definition of "a good vampire" can go, and all the things Louis said about him are not all true.

If I go according to the books, Interview with the vampire and The Vampire Lestat are two different books with different Lestats to be precise. TV Louis said that Lestat didn't hesitate to kill, but the book Lestat from the second book, said he made a grave mistake of making Claudia ( About who, he said that he loved his dark daughter, and he didn't want that fate for her. He regretted making a young fledgling because Marius warned him about his mistake of creating Armand that young) and other than that he vowed to never kill any innocents. He only killed the damned ones, and the ones who were about to die. Also, got me thinking, how can he kill innocent people, when he took care of his family in France, who were all human. Even his mother opposed his actions, but Lestat didn't listen. So, how can a century old vampire, who still cares about his human family, gives them financial support all along, can kill mercilessly. It just didn't add to my wits. Most important of all, he loved Louis, more than Nicki even and admitted it over and over again. He longed to be with Louis, not because he always felt lonely, but because he loved Louis the most, so much that he rejected Armand in the book.

Louis' recollections of Lestat in season 1 is filled with somewhat hatred, because at that moment he thought Armand was his saviour. In S2, he started to have some clarity, mostly thanks to Daniel, and finally we know what happened.

In the book, Lestat was there at the Theatre the Vampire, he did accuse Claudia for his attempted murder, but let me tell you, he wasn't even in his right mind at that time. Even so, at that time he didn't accuse his Louis, and looked for his love, asked Armand, who (the B***h he is) lied to him about Louis' whereabouts. Lestat was somehow tricked by Armand, his thinking didn't work, as he mentioned that everything went in a trance, and after he accused Claudia, he was taken away forcibly, and he screamed Louis, Louis but with no avail, and they again fed him blood, and he forgot everything. I think Armand used magic, or he fed something to Lestat so he doesn't protest. After all of these, Lestat looked for Louis, and asked Armand to help him, and that BHole said he will not.

So, what I can surmise is, whatever you watched in S1, do not entirely believe it. This is mostly because, Lestat wasn't the one who lost his mind and hurt his Louis entirely. Louis was the pioneer of trouble in their home. He wasn't satisfied, he didn't accept the dark gift completely, and despised Lestat for that. That physical fight between them you can see, Lestat was hurt the most, both physically and mentally. And now I understand, why Louis kept seeing Dreamstat over and over again. Because, his guilt made him conjure Lestat everytime he thought he wanted a "home" with Armand.

Finally, the last episode depicted almost what The Vampire Lestat book has. They didn't show it, but Louis came back to Lestat, which he said was 'you came back to me'. Here, Lestat talks about a world tour, which is his rock concert in San Francisco. Here, Louis asks him to take him, and Lestat complies ecstatically. Also, they hugged compassiontely after meeting each other, just as they showed in the series. However, TV version displayed it as a part of Interview with the Vampire book, which is in reality from the book The Vampire Lestat.

[cocogum]

Each passing day I'm more and more convinced of the fact that Aurora is unworthy of the Sadida throne, not only because she's an Osamodas who refuses to have the one (1) person she actually needs around (Amalia), but because it's blatantly obvious she never cared about her husband's people and, more glaringly, his family.

And the biggest evidence I have of that, besides her scornful treatment of Amalia, is the Sheran Sharms' tomb-trees.

Season 4 opened up with what seemed to be Armand bidding his father goodbye and then returning to the palace with Aurora, instead of, you know, his wife being there with him as he mourned his father like in any good marriage.

At first I attributed that to the possibility that the tomb-trees were meant to be a sacred place only the royal family had access to, but the webtoon has swiftly debunked that theory.

Because upon returning in chapter three she announced she and her father (an even bigger outsider than she is) would be waiting by Armand's tomb-tree while Amalia got her things in order. Likewise, in chapter 5, Yugo was there beside Amalia as she spent time with her late family and reflected on what to do, supporting her.

And while it could be argued Aurora simply didn't want to intrude upon her husband's grief, it should also be pointed out the second Yugo learned Amalia lost her father his first instinct was to go and be there for her, only being stopped by his mother pointing out Amalia would most likely prefer to be alone. Whereas, as I mentioned before, married couples are expected to be there for each other when one of them loses a loved one.

(Which already reflects how Yumalia is the superior royal couple, but I digress).

This all comes to show Aurora never cared about her in-laws and, therefore, even if she came to care for Armand and vice versa, what they had was never true love, they just grew fond of each other with time. And, quite frankly, someone with so little regard for the people and family she's supposed to serve just doesn't deserve to be queen, period.

Hey geekgirles ✨

Let me just say that I 100% agree with you on the fact that Aurora DOES NOT deserve the kingdom for all the reasons you stated.

What’s funny is that before The Great Wave chapter 6 was released, I believed that there was one thing that was acceptable about her.

And I now hate that idea for even thinking about it.

And that was her view on the sadidas.

Yeah, I’m not going to stand here and tell you that she actually absolutely cares for them or secretly wants to be with them rather than in her father’s kingdom. No way in hell.

She fled like a coward from the necrome war that would have completely annihilated the entire Sadida race so her level of care for the sadidas is extremely low. Lower than a bottom feeder.

Despite this, and the very accurate facts that you enumerated, I used to think that she strangely had some kind of…endearment towards her late husband’s people?

(I genuinely don’t know if I’m making any sense saying this)

What I mean by that is that she might have felt some type of pride or emotional pull to them. She never ruled anything before, much less been married to another royal. So seeing all these people praise and call for Armand, a man who she genuinely loved, made her feel pure joy at the idea of being with them.

When she and Armand walked up to the balcony to talk to the people, we can see Aurora smiling while Armand looks much less happy (due to his father’s passing).

She has a hand behind his back, supporting him through this moment.

When they walk up to the balcony, the people rejoice in their new king and we can see Aurora’s smile getting bigger at the praises. She was even going to shed a tear!

As much as I loathe this woman, I cannot ignore the fact that she does care about Armand, and due to that, loves the attention he is receiving from his people.

So to make it short, I used to think she loved the sadidas on her own accord but it turns out she used to appreciate them because she loves Armand.

That’s how I would describe her relationship with the sadidas.

Everything that relates her to them is because of Armand. That’s it.

And she keeps on loving him even after his death in the worst ways.

(spoilers for chapter 6 under the cut)

She was angry at seeing a sadida and an eliatrope get married because Armand hated eliatropes.

Aurora: “My Armand would have never permitted this!”

Aurora: “He hated the eliatropes!”

She was saying how Armand would have never accepted the eliatropes so therefore she hates the idea of them being here as well.

Aurora: “This little pest doesn’t waste any time!”

Aurora: “In only a few months, she had given some funny ideas to my subjects…”

She was referring to the sadidas as “my subjects” because she still believes she has the right to call them like that, reminiscing about the time she used to be with Armand. If she wasn’t reminiscing, then she would’ve called them “my children’s subjects” or simply “the sadidas”.

Aurora is the embodiment of a trophy wife.

She had been promised to get married to Armand.

She hates and likes what Armand hates and likes.

She doesn’t do anything besides being by Armand’s side and holding his hand every now and then.

She doesn’t speak in any political situation and just sits next to Armand most of the time.

She doesn’t fight alongside Armand and simply stands in the back waiting.

She doesn’t have a throne seat of her own. She sits in the only small space available to her in Armand’s seat.

Her only excuse for getting the throne back is her pregnancy.

She listens to her father most of the time.

She listens to her husband most of the time.

Her only accomplishment was getting married.

This pretentious blue cow has nothing special or charming about her.

The only skill she has is literally looking petty.

So yeah, based on what I gathered, it doesn’t even matter if Aurora did like the sadidas because she’s not even suited to be their ruler. I think Armand was just horny so he accepted the arranged marriage (if he couldn’t get Eva then he might as well pick another blonde lol)

But with the things she has said, I believe Aurora only likes the sadidas by default because she likes Armand. That’s it. If Armand never existed, she wouldn’t have even glanced at the Sadida Kingdom, let alone think about these people for a millisecond.

[savagewildnerness]

OK!  Thoughts on S2E2, Do you know what it means to be loved by death?

I love the gold (Pegasus?) statue Louis and Claudia sit upon at the start of the episode

“We’ve been together 77 years Daniel.” …”44 more than he did with Lestat.” LOL Armand (I agree with Daniel: “Keep selling it!” !!!!)

LOL @ Louis’ Parisian neck scarf

The fashion plates Claudia has cut out and stuck inside her bed… my heart

Louis looks so good in the red darkroom light, oh my!

Claudia asking Louis who he is reminded me of my thoughts the other day (a very brief summary):

Louis is afraid to look deeply within himself at who he is, in case he is not perfect, as he needs to believe he is.  But he does believe he deserves love.

Conversely, Lestat knows himself - for his evil especially, and despite it all, he still likes himself mainly. But he is afraid he is utterly unloveable.

Claudia talking about a new brain in her head and Armand a new body for her brain… are they *really* going to go there?  It is seeming like it?

I like Madeleine from the wee bit we saw, and I love Claudia’s dress

“It’s just Rashid” LOL

The first meeting of Armand and Louis:

Armand is like a poem made into the form of a being - the way Assad’s Armand speaks, how he looks, how he looks at Louis: he radiates a quiet peace, calm & poetic gentleness, which gave me shivers and goosebumps. Like the beautific gaze of an angel. All added to by Daniel Hart’s divine score, reflecting exactly the same emotions. This is how Armand is often described in the books (until he’s not), but because of the extremes Armand can go to, I don’t often think of this calm, angelic, almost innocent side to him so much… but oh how I felt it

I love how the lamp lights flicker.  It’s like a fairytale romance and everything about it: down to “I will not harm you” is exactly as Louis would wish to hear

SANTIAGO!  I love Ben Daniels.  I love Santiago’s outfit and his eyes and his theatricality and his evident cleverness.

Interesting how dilapidated the Theatre des Vampires is.  Seems like it hasn’t been updated since the ’20’s - half empty; broken bulbs… I am sure we have more to hear on this in the show…

Love how Armand brought cinema into the plays

The plays though have such a tawdry, distasteful feel.  I would agree with Louis’ and Lestat’s visceral dislike of them, even before the human sacrifice.  Though I do like the Brecht vibes.  But it is such a contrast to S1 Lestat and Louis at the Opera…

LOL @ Louis’ face seeing the portrait of Lestat!  And “They’ve got a shrine to him!” Hahaha

Whaaatttt @ Santiago and star charts!! Hahahahaha??!?!?!

Claudia on Loumand… I guess we have our answer now as to whether the vampires really are having actual sex and exactly how!  Cheers Claudia!!!

Roget knowing about Lestat potentially sleeping… interesting…

I’ll copy and paste from elsewhere my thoughts on the Loustat scene…

“Do not waist life…” - Oh Lestat, the illiterate boy & young man you were; so desperate to learn & be good, with a Mother for whom knowledge & escape through books was her only solace… who couldn’t even be bothered to teach you the alphabet.  Now, with your preternatural skills, you can read & write & do any thing you wish… but of course - it makes sense that you would never have entirely learned how to spell, or at least that there’d be the odd, common words you didn’t know. (Occurence, too.) Little details, breaking my heart even more. Thank you everyone for caring so much, you thought about the spelling of Lestat’s letter. I noticed. I care about every tiny detail like this & feel it, like love: deep in my soul.

Also: is Dreamstat *really* going to make me cry in every single episode of season 2, even when he’s barely in the episode for a breath?! (1 min 40 seconds to be precise!) He made me cry in episode 1, and here he made me cry too. 

Oh Louis: to read this letter & all your internal pain & shame & sorrow & guilt & love to deepen, I’m sure even more. Oh Sam, how you spoke the letter. Oh Lestat’s outfit, from their first “date”….

Another link to the episode title here -  Do you know what it means to be loved by death? too

For anyone who’s like the full text of the letter:

“My Louis

In the event you are reading this, something dreadful has occured, which is not my own death, but rather the fact that we now both exist (e?) in two different worlds.

Do not waist life seeking revenge on the person or persons responsible. Do not give them the satisfaction of the hunt. Let their treachery eat them from within and instead…”

(Continued as spoken…)

“And you… you go carry on with your living. Know only this, Mon Cher, you are the only being I trust and whom I love, above and beyond myself.

All my love belongs to you. You are its keeper. A veil will now forever separate our union. But it is a thin veil… and I am always on the other side, my face pressed up against your longing.

Lestat de Lioncourt”

Alice truly doesn’t exist, does she?  Armand: what *have* you done to Daniel!?!  Is all of his life a lie? Is Daniel's shaking here evidence that Armand's mind-altering has had physical impact on Daniel too?  And Louis clearly knows some of it too… though I presume not the love part…. And THEY MUST LOVE EACH OTHER like Devil’s Minion which always makes me sob. (Or maybe Alice does exist, but Armand is why she wouldn’t marry Daniel?)

Oh Claudia - your GLEE at Murder mansion

“I like how you withhold” - Armand providing your next chat up line - you’re welcome!

OMG we’re going to actually see Nicolas play violin!  I am SO SCARED!  I hope I’ll adore it and I have faith in the show makers. But, I have also seen so much terrible violin miming (it makes me wonder, when people play surgeons, is what they are doing this annoyingly unrealistic too and I just have no idea!?!) and it is particularly noticeable, as usually piano miming is very good!  Anyway, I know it is such a minor thing in the greater scheme of things, but I know I will be so irritated if it doesn’t look like Nicki is playing the violin.  And it’s only that telly violin miming is so notoriously bad.  Oh, please - let me believe in it!  I BEG!