#episode: feast

[science-fantasy-superheroes]

(E)GG AU: Fu’s Story

One day, Wayzz sensed the Peacock cracking. He couldn’t tell exactly where it was (a precaution to protect against bad Guardians), just that it was in Paris. Fu transformed, intending to handle it himself, but quickly realized he was too old to wield the Miraculous.

(As kids lack maturity and the elderly have lived long enough to reach insanity, the Miraculous are designed so that holders outside of their “prime” can only use a power once per recharge (without the use of spells). Due to the effects of aging, elderly holders typically also experience loss of agility.)

Knowing he’d have to trust another holder again, he traveled to Paris to start seeking out new heroes.

(His experiences during The Great War influenced him to only release the Ladybug and Cat Miraculous, be adamant about not revealing their identities to anyone, and (partly influenced by his upbringing in the GO) seek out teen heroes: old enough to handle the power (though limited if he needed to relinquish it), but also too young to easily pack up and go (unlike the couple of adults who’d tried that). (Furthermore, though he had an understanding of modern revelations about youth, thus also being against teen marriage, it was still through an ancient lens. So, though he was aware of how stressful and demanding heroism and a double life would be, if they proved to be “mature”, he viewed placing the responsibility and high expectations on teens just the same as he would with a young adult.))

By the time the Butterfly was activated with nefarious intentions, he was prepared to give his top picks a final test just to double-check. (He’d admit he was more than a bit biased in picking Adrien, but how could he deny someone who only wished for freedom? Besides, as the boy was beloved by all, it would spare Plagg from having to once again deal with his power being used to tear down all his holder’s enemies. (Even still, the (subconscious) influence of The Great War made him hesitant to reveal his existence to the Cat holder (and the Ladybug holder by extension).))

Marinette and Adrien did even better than he expected, despite the first-time hiccup. He surely thought Marinette would quit after forgetting to purify the akuma, but she got back out there (which is far more than he could expect from himself) and exceeded all his expectations. He felt terrible for just throwing them into the fire, but he couldn’t risk connecting them to him. It wasn’t like he would be a good guide anyway, especially not above ancient beings.

But fate had other plans (yes, eventually meeting Adrien, but that would be later): Marinette brought the Grimoire to him, and gave him hope. Perhaps false, but hope nonetheless. The Grimoire had been left back at the temple, and if it survived, maybe some of the Guardians survived too. Much better suited for passing on the legacy than he was. Even still, Marinette certainly had the kwamis’ favor and the skill for it, maybe it was time to pass his knowledge on before time caught up with him. Passing on the Turtle (however temporary) must’ve been his first hint.

(He refers to his box as the “Chinese Miracle Box” because it’s the last box from the Chinese temple. With all the cross-culture influences, box trading, and even some Miraculous swaps between boxes, most of the boxes only represented awkward mash-ups of cultures.)

Getting sick was a stark reminder of his mortality. He wasn’t all that sick, he knew he wasn’t. He would recover just fine, probably in a few days and the medicine would quell his symptoms in the meantime. But… thinking about if he was that sick, the possibility of him later becoming that sick… It left him in the kind of mental anguish that hurt him physically. He was glad the doctor brushed it off as him being dramatic– he was! And neither she nor Marinette deserved to put up with his problems. But… still… He wanted to see Marianne again. He wanted to be with her again. And he completely understood if she didn’t want to after he left her behind for so long, but she deserved closure for why; that she did nothing wrong. And his anxiety pressured him to tell her now, so he asked Marinette to pass on his letter to her.

Marianne knew Fu’s letter was off. She knew reading to the end would clear everything up. It was just… all the talk of being “too late”… it sounded like the words of someone… No. No! It had to be something more bearable! It had to be… He didn’t love her anymore! Yes! Something she could get over. After all, they hadn’t seen each other in years. It would be pretty messed up that he sent Ladybug to deliver his message instead of coming in person to say so, but that’s a much better option than he physically couldn’t. Because he could! He’s fine! He’s alive! He’s not…! He’s not… He just doesn’t love her anymore because they haven’t seen each other in so long…

“Backwarder… You want to go back and make up for lost time.”

Oh, how she did. Maybe… Maybe they would’ve had more time before… before… Just become akumatized and you won’t have to think about it.

…

Why did she act so rashly? Now she and Fu were going to lose even more time together because she couldn’t just read to the end… That’s okay. He’s okay. That’s what’s important to her. She missed Fu, but if Ladybug was with him, that means he’s not alone. And she has Mr. Ramier, so she isn’t either. They’re okay.

It hurt Fu to lose Marianne again, but he should’ve known he was asking too much. He was supposed to be focused on helping Marinette become a Guardian, not his late-life romance. Though it was nice to know Marianne was okay.

[In this version of the Butterfly, Hawkmoth’s empathy is so bad, he constantly misreads feelings/doesn’t bother to look deeper into buried feelings (often just makes stuff up when he can’t tell at all). (There are many akuma I apply this idea to, but that’s a discussion for another post.)]

When he heard of the new exhibit from China, he was curious about what was dug up in his first home, and decided to tune in to the news broadcast. He never knew whether or not that had been a good thing.

He couldn’t leave her to fix his mistakes again. Not this one. He knew Marinette. He knew she would do everything she could to stop it. But she couldn’t. And she would die trying. After Adrien sacrificed himself first. No. He would handle this himself. He’d take their Miraculous to keep them out of danger and lead that beast away from everyone. He’d lead it all the way back to China and drown with it in a volcano if he had to. He would not– could not– let it destroy innocent people all over again. Perhaps Hawkmoth and Mayura would leave Paris to avoid getting their Miraculous eaten, or simply because he took the Ladybug and Cat with him. Maybe he could take them down with that beast. If he couldn’t, maybe the other heroes Marinette and Adrien met could. He just had to get that beast away from Paris. Away from Marinette and Adrien and Marianne. He had to.

…

He really shouldn’t have underestimated Marinette. She was an incredible Ladybug, and once again, she proved she’d earned her spot among the legendary heroes. He hoped he wasn’t too insulting in his doubt. The restoration of the temple, the Guardians, Su-Han, the news brought him to tears. But he knew he had to remain in Paris. Hawkmoth and Mayura were his responsibility. Besides, he was surely exiled now that Su-Han was back to explain what Fu had done. Someone would certainly come for the box, and he would give it up, but he would still stay to deal with the consequences of the attacking akumatized victims and sentimonsters.

(He even got his magic compass, and other assorted treats, back from the staff. His staff which was now at the Louvre. He allowed Ladybug to give it to them, as it was beautiful and well-designed and a piece of his history that should be shared with the world. Though he had mixed feelings about giving it to the same people who literally dug up his trauma.)

He never wanted to make Marinette the Guardian like this. If she didn’t need the magic he was passing onto her, he wouldn’t have put the burden on her at all. She didn’t need the stress. She was going through so much already. But someone would come for the box, and they could help her. He just hoped she’d be okay in the meantime.

…

It was strange not having memory. He didn’t even have enough to miss it. A courtesy of fate, he supposed. He felt bad not recognizing the people who apparently knew him, but they were so kind, he could hardly be upset by the idea of getting to know them again. Especially Marianne. He didn’t know why, but he felt so safe with her, like he could tell her anything. Maybe he used to.

Marianne thought she would’ve been more upset seeing Fu without his memories, but he looked so… relaxed. It was the first time she saw him without the weight of the world in his eyes. It was in an admittedly tragic way, but he was at peace. And she found herself just happy to be with him again. That they could be in peace.

Fu was different, of course. Sort of in the way that she felt like she was making a new friend (which she believed was only fair, as Fu was experiencing the same but to an even higher degree). Yet, he wasn’t as much of a “blank slate” as she had initially worried, and still retained many of his old habits and sense of morals. Just more relaxed, and less nervous. She supposed that made sense; the memories weren’t gone, even if he couldn’t access them. It would take some getting used to, he really wasn’t her old friend anymore, but she had no complaints, she liked her new friend too.

Masterlist

[cptnbeefheart]

this old world may never change and sometimes i wonder: do you ever think of me?

[dollsome-does-tumblr]

this is like the tiniest moment in all of television that i am THRILLED exists, because it’s just so satisfying to see karl clocking gerri’s roman feelings and gerri oblivious to the fact that someone has noticed, and probably even to the fact that she’s doing anything that could be noticed, because she’s so nervous for roman up there trying to give his eulogy in a state of clear distress. gerri! gerri being that off her guard! gerri! and in relation to j. smith cameron’s recent comment about gerri not realizing how attached she was to roman or really comprehending her own feelings for him because she’s not a sentimental person ... aaaaaaah. aaaaahhh!

[shitpostingkats]

"Make sure to cut his head off so he can't be revivified." This is the same guy who said, mere seconds ago, "Set timers to: We're gonna win."

Riz Gukgak the range that you posses.

[fukutomichi]

The Rings of Power | Season 2 | Aug 29 - Oct 3, 2024 S2.E6 ∙ Where is He?

[justaz]

semi-dark king merlin au, someone from ealdor tells king cenred about merlin and he is captured and held as a slave in essetir. since merlin despises captivity and servitude, he’d rather be dead and free than alive and in chains so he acts out and pisses people (especially the king) off so they’ll think him too much trouble and kill him. at first they stick to beatings until merlin manages to get his chains around a few necks and now has a body count so they kill him…..only he wakes back up a few hours later and king cenred is Intrigued and keeps him close. merlin keeps acting out but no matter how many times they kill him, he won’t stay dead. merlin has this moment after waking up perfectly fine after his twenty seventh death where he is hopeless and believes there to be no escape, not even thru death. a few other sorcerers in chains come and help him clean up and give him a lil peptalk, realizing him to be emrys, and then they revolt and take over the kingdom and crown merlin as king and now uther is like “wtf” bc his neighboring kingdom who was kinda sorta on his wavelength about sorcery, though uther did not approve of keeping them alive, is now a kingdom ruled by magic. he goes to war with them but with magic running free and fucking emrys on the throne, they don’t make a lot of headway. anyways merthur meet on the battlefield, enemies to lovers, you get it

[chewwypepsicola]

avm fans when two character's almost beat each other to death: wow they're so in love!

[wejustvibing]

casually telling his near death wipeout story over vegan wings dipped in hot sauce. this man 😵‍💫

[campbenji]

yasammy week 🌸🏅 - day 1: hurt/comfort

IT'S FINALLY YASAMMY WEEK LET'S FUCKING GOOOO!!! i'm late (again), capcut crashed on me like 3 times while doing this lmao, but i really wanted to edit them to this song <3 @yasammyweek

[doortotomorrow]

fallout » episode two : the target

[ciaomarie]

Yes, we are insane BUT they made us that way! The way her voice got soft and higher, like DANG GIRL!!!! Sorry I couldn't embed the video here. Just click on the View on Twitter link I also posted the link in the comments.

[science-fantasy-superheroes]

(E)GG AU: Fu’s Backstory

During a time when the Chinese temple had positive relations with the nearby village, Wang Fu’s family received a letter. It said the Guardian Order had seen great potential in Fu, and were inviting him to study with them. He didn’t want to go: he and his little sister would miss each other, he had no idea what the GO expected of him, he might not be able to return home, and then his baby brother would never know him. But his family knew how great an honor this was, and he felt like he couldn’t turn it down. So, after everything was packed, he went to the temple.

Fortunately, the GO wasn’t so bad, and being a Guardian sounded a little cool. (He’d still rather be home, but he would never say that.) Training consisted of being assigned a box, learning to read the journal that comes with it, getting to know the kwami within, and learning to use the Miraculous.

(The journals aren’t written in code nor do they have a spell on them, they’re written in a language, obscure even to Fu, that the modern day doesn’t know ever existed.)

Although he was an expert at befriending the kwami, he didn’t feel as adept at using the Miraculous as he thought he should be. But Su-Han, his mentor, was really encouraging and helped him master most of the Miraculous, especially Turtle. Unfortunately, despite getting along with Nooroo and Duusu best, it was hardest for him to get used to their powers. He finally managed to successfully use all of Nooroo’s powers, and finally, it was time to try out Duusu’s.

Fu tried to create a trash-eating creature to help clean, but his homesickness and bitter feelings about having to leave arose, causing the monster to essentially see the GO as trash. Its first act was eating Su-Han, causing Fu to panic and draw the monster’s attention to him. He held the amok (a staff) up as a futile shield, and the monster simply pulled it from his hands with its tongue. It started to go after the box, but Fu had just enough awareness to grab the box and run. Still transformed with the Peacock, he was able to easily outrun the monster, but he didn’t stop until the transformation dropped and he collapsed. By then, the temple was out of sight, but the thick, inky smoke rising from its ashes was not.

“Fu?” a small voice called out to him.

Seeing Duusu startled Fu into tearing off the Miraculous and throwing it away from him, but the act only led to more guilt eating away at him.

Eventually, the sky cleared of smoke, and Fu finally got up. He carefully returned the Peacock to its spot in the box and started walking. Although beautiful, forests are dangerous too, so he eventually resorted to wearing the Turtle as a precaution. Though he assured himself he didn’t deserve it, he appreciated Wayzz’s company, especially since he didn’t bring anything up and just let the quiet pass between them. He felt terrible keeping the other kwami in the box, but he couldn’t bring himself to face them.

Still, the kwamis (especially Plagg and Tikki) were naturally drawn to conflict, and they found even more lures as Fu wandered through the world, so there was a bit of solace in that they’d be free when they needed to. Yet, the kwamis couldn’t help but worry as Fu continued to pack up and go as soon as they weren’t needed. Humans need companions, they need friends– Wayzz is only so much to mitigate insanity, as kwamis aren’t meant to fulfill those needs, but it was even worse with Fu distancing himself from all the kwamis– and with the Turtle’s passive ability drastically slowing down his aging, he’d be suffering loneliness all the longer.

(Guardians unlock a Miraculous’s passive power when wearing it.)

One day, The Great War began, and most of the kwamis yearned to be freed and spread all across Europe. Some of the Miraculous holders trusted the others with their identity, and others trusted their friends. But as the war carried on, paranoia brought about betrayal, and all but the Cat and Ladybug Miraculous were compromised by the war’s end. Fortunately, Fu was able to retrieve them all.

(Cracked/broken Miraculous and kwami of a compromised Miraculous can send out signals to their Miracle Box, and the kwami of Miraculous with active passive powers can sense those signals (otherwise, the Guardian will find out when they notice the box glowing).)

On the other hand, the information spread by the betrayers led to people seeking out “The Gifter”, many with ill intentions. Thus, Fu had to collect the final Miraculous in the dark of night, but shortly after collecting the Cat in France, he ended up being chased. Sure he was going to get caught, he threw the Butterfly and Peacock into the Seine in a desperate bid to avoid their misuse. But, just in time, he was saved by Marianne. As soon as his pursuants were gone, he thanked her and tried to leave, but she refused to let her guest leave while injured. At which point, he realized he was shot in the leg (luckily, the blood dripped into his thick boots and not all over the path leading to her house).

Being helped by Marianne gave him the opportunity to reach out to someone, and she already figured out he was “The Gifter” (and had the genius idea to disguise the Miracle Box in a gramophone), so after several years, he finally confided in her. They lived a happy life for the next decade. Near the end of which, she and Fu realized the Turtle’s passive power was affecting her.

(The power works like an aura, and the more a person has been in the presence of the Miraculous, the more they will be affected by it. But, the more people sharing the power, the less potent it is. The Guardian can choose to focus the power on themselves/off of other people, but it can be difficult to maintain without the use of spells/potions.)

Their happiness was interrupted by World War II. Again, all the kwami were itching to help, but Fu refused with all those hunting him since The Great War surely on the lookout for him and the Miraculous. Marianne understood and helped him escape to England, but stayed in France to help how she could. Fu supported her in turn, gifting her his pin (he bought it years ago as a birthday present to himself; it reminded him of his home) as a sign of their bond.

Once the horrors of the war were revealed, Fu felt incredibly guilty for hoarding the Miraculous, and punished himself by staying in solitude. Decades passed, and he realized he was getting noticeably older. At which point, Wayzz revealed Marianne was still connected to the Turtle Miraculous. Fu wasn’t fully sure how he felt about that, but he assured Wayzz he wasn’t upset.

(Kwamis are able to grant non-Guardians a connection to their Miraculous’s passive power. The farther they are, the more “stretched” the power is, the weaker it is. If the Guardian deactivates the power (such as by taking off the Miraculous long enough), they’ll be cut off too.)

Masterlist

[jsvausvqbd]

Ryu Sun Jae losing his marbles over a woman he’s known for a week at most:

[witchy-capri]

This expression will haunt me for the next months

[rapha-reads]

IWTV rewatch

Season 1 episode 2 [... After the Phantoms of Your Former Self] - part 2/3

- [Daniel] "White master, Black student, but equal in the quiet dark" - *spits out the water I just drunk* DANIEL MOLLOY THE QUEEN THAT YOU ARE. And Louis immediately answering the provocation with a slam down of his own. I am so here for the Louis/Daniel bromance, the way they can just spend hours snarking at each other. Saltmates, if you will.

Louis is such a Bitch, the way he decides to eat that fox in front of Daniel to remind him that "vampires are killers", and the way he lets the blood drip, when canonically vampires never waste any blood (at least in the book, that's one of the thing Lestat repeats often, a vampire's feeding is clean, no trace of blood left anywhere, but in a visual media about vampires, of course it looks better to have the blood dripping on the chin after, sometimes you gotta privilege aesthetic over function).

[Louis] "Vampires are killers, apex predators whose all-seeing eyes were meant to give them detachment, the ability to see a human life in its entirety, not with any mawkish sorrow, but with the thrilling satisfaction of being the end of that life and having a hand in the divine plan."

Yeaaah, like Daniel says, "don't expect every reader to swallow that one". Because for one thing, you don't even fully believe it, Louis, you who's about to spend several years starving yourself feeding only on rats and cats, you who just had a fox for supper instead of going hunting, you who hates feeding on humans and doesn't let even your fellow vampires witness you feeding (book canon), you who also goes during the 20th century from crisis of faith to fully atheist and uncaring about religion... Pretty words. Empty words. I'm not buying it.

"Mawkish": lacking flavor or having an unpleasant taste / exaggeratedly or childishly emotional (Merriam-Webster). Well I didn't know that word. Collins Dictionary tells me that the best translation to French would be "mièvre", and now I am loving this even more. "Mièvre" is not a very used word in French, which is a shame because it's a very pretty and very evocative word, and "mawkish" definitely gives me the same impression. Yey, I learned something new today! New word to incorporate to my vocabulary.

- I swear I'm not trying to comment every single minute of this episode, but every single minute brings something interesting. I have to stop on Louis and Lestat's conversation about languages and killing being its own language, as a multilingual person myself (I could spend hours talking linguistics, sorry not sorry):

[Lestat] "'When I first started learning English, I abhorred it. Every word felt like a doorknob falling out of my mouth. Chapeau is a hat, étoile was a star...' [Louis] 'Killin' folks ain't a second language!' [Lestat] 'But when I started dreaming in English, that's when I embraced it. And now, I have English consonants to thank for this astonishing jawline.' [Louis] 'These are nightmares I'm having, Lestat, not dreams.'"

Firstly, yeah, Lestat's right, "hat" is weird. It's chapeau in French, cappello in Italian, kapela in Greek, even quba'a in Arabic, and Arabic is not even an Indo-European language... The heck does hat come from? *resists the urge to go linguistic deep dive* Secondly, yeah, he's right, he does have an amazing jawline - taking this opportunity to bring attention to the scar on the corner of his mouth, book readers know what's up. Where was I? Ah, yeah. No, Lestat's right about a foreign language sounding weird in your mouth until you start to understand its spirit instead of only its letter - words falling out of your mind versus dreaming in that language. Been talking English for long enough that I do dream in English, and been multilingual all my life so I adapt to languages fast enough, but it's still a struggle. I'm fluent in Spanish now, but I don't dream in Spanish yet, and I sometimes feel like the word sounds wrong when it actually sounds like it should.

What it means in regard to Louis is that he's a slow learner. Gotta sound the kill one by one, taking your time, before you get to be a consummate killer. Can't learn a language in a night. Can't learn a language if you don't practice. Can't get used to killing if you don't kill, and can't survive if you don't kill, and vicious circle, doesn't kill>doesn't survive>doesn't practice>doesn't learn>doesn't survive>doesn't kill... Extremely interesting to see that Lestat IS actually teaching Louis about vampire ways, but Louis is not ready to listen yet, or, to continue the metaphor, they're not speaking the same language and they haven't learned to understand each other's language (not talking about accents obviously, but once again taking the opportunity to praise both Sam and Jacob's vocal work, between Sam's French accented drawling English and Jacob's Creole slang in NOLA and flat "standard" English in Dubai, it's a feast for the ears).

Okay, while Lestat's teaching Louis how to read minds (the Mind Gift, that book!Louis actually doesn't get in the books until very, very late on, and isn't good at, and doesn't show), wanna just say: look how giddy they are! Look how soft they are with each other! Look how fondly Louis speaks to Lestat, how fondly Lestat looks at Louis! We forget, and Louis too, but in between the misunderstandings and the drama and the anguish, they DID love each other, they DID have good times, they DID build a life with each other. It wasn't complete (and no I'm not talking about darling Claudia, I'm talking about speaking the same language), but it was good enough for quite a few years.

Oh man, Louis reading his family's minds, I coulda told him that's a bad idea *points to every literature with a man reader*, but also that passage in Narnia (Dawn Trader) when Lucy spies on her school friends and hear things she didn't want to read and didn't have to know. Don't have time to go search for that passage now, but Aslan tells her something like "some things really do not need be done", or sum' like that.

- Oh, hey, look. More social commentary. That white guy's gonna get eaten if he keeps patronising Louis like that. "You truly are an exceptional Negro" - hey Lou baby, can I kill him please? Lemme kill him for you. "I had let them talk to me like that so long, I had stopped hearing it" - oh, and Louis' accent is slipping here, can you hear it. Really, REALLY love how that change from book canon adds so many layers to Louis' character. Hey, have I said lately that Louis' my favourite? 'Cause Louis is my favourite. "Yes, sir. Of course, sir. Subject, verb, agreement, sir. Smile, nod, yes sir." - AWARDS FOR JACOB, all the awards for Jacob please, and my gods how much do I adore Louis, that sassy, snarky, bitchy queen. I want to have a book club with him.

"But I wasn't a man anymore. I was something else. I had powers now, and decades of rage to process, and it was both random and unfortunate, the man picked that night to dabble in fuckery." - so first, Jacob keeps on flexing his vocal skills by letting Louis slip more and more back to his original accent, and then, YES KING, get his ass, DRAIN HIM. And in a more meta way, all hails liberation movements and the process of reclaiming one's identity. Maybe not through murder, we all ain't lucky enough to be vampires, but yeah, rage is a good tool actually. Rage can lead to enormous movements that change the fabric of society for the better. Never underestimate the power of repressed rage finally expressing itself when it's yielded by clever, resourceful, empathic beings. Sorry, that was the "segregated Southern States social commentary as a mirror for 21st century's current liberation movements social commentary" minute, back to the vampires.

[Lestat] "You are a library of confusion" - first of all, Sam's delivery, with the hand gestures and the head shake, MAGNIFICENT, but also, it's Lestat starting to realize that maaaaaaybe he bit more than he can chew. Maaaaaybe.

[Louis] "'There's some things you don't get about America, Lestat.' [Lestat] 'Yes, let's have this conversation again.' [Louis] 'Colored; white. Creole; French. Queer; half-queer, mostly queer, what is it?' [Lestat] 'Non-discriminating.' [Louis] 'Complicated situation we got here is what I'm saying.'"

ICONIC. And also, maaaaan do I love that that's the road RJ and Cie decided to go with, one of the only changes I've been having issues is the time skip (from 1797 to 1910, cf. episode 1 part 1 rewatch). But this little conversation here actually warms me to it! The layers, man, the layers. Also, love that Lestat self-identifies as non-discriminating, that's so totally him about basically everything: skin color and ethnicity, sexuality and gender, species, age... Drama Queen really said "everything goes, eeeeeeverything".

- "How can I say no to you?" - awwww, Lestat is so whipped for Louis.

[Louis] "From 1912 to 1917" - oooh thanks for the time stamps. So it's been two years since he's turned, and it's on for 5 years of stability. The famous "honeymoon era".

[Louis] "I made a mountain of money, enough to retire and be buried like a pharaoh" - uuuuuh *side-eyes cautiously Queen of the Damned* let's not talk about Egyptian monarchy yet, yeah, that'll come to burn us soon enough.

Oops, the baby scene. And Louis realising he can't hold on to his family, that they're about to slip between his fingers like sand... Ow. [Grace] "I'm sure Mama would love to see you" *rapid glance* *giggles* That's siblings for "yeaaaah no, lol, Mama would definitely NOT love to see me, you crazy".

[Louis] "I no longer kill. My last victim was in the year 2000." BUT DID YOU EAT THE BABY, LOUIS. "I sit here a master of my instincts." But did you eat the baby, Louis. Slight aside, but how is this dinner still on going?? WAIT, go back a second: [Daniel] "And you know this how, you guys have a thread on 8chan?" - BENJI MENTION? I sooo want to see Benji's radio. Though if we still follow book events but on show timeline, Armand hasn't met Benji and Sybelle yet, because they're turned a decade after Daniel. Repeating myself, but RJ did say he'd adapt Prince Lestat, and Benji's one of the main players of this book, so I'm sure we'll see him, but it's going to be a while, I think.

- Wait, I need to relisten to that conversation:

[Daniel] "'And what about the others out there? Have they mastered theirs?' [Louis] 'Just the opposite. Most of them are slaves to the blood, exhausted from decades, centuries of hiding, giddy to increase their numbers.' [...] [Daniel] 'Is the pandemic the opening they've been waiting for?' [Louis] 'Pandemic, the unravelling of geopolitical foundations. [...] One of them, a brute in Madagascar, called it 'the great conversion'.'"

Oh, lots to say here. Lots that will spoil the books too. Because hey, y'all know what happens in Queen of the Damned, after Lestat's concert? Yepppp. Pretty sure Rolin Jones just planted the seeds of seasons 3 and 4. And served on a silver platter with delicious 21st century social commentary. I'm having the time of my life.

[Daniel] "'Well most people I know like to play a little ball in the afternoon, or maybe go down to the beach, catching a few rays.' [Louis] 'Yes. What on earth would a meth-addicted son of a coal miner in West Virginia want with eternal life?' [Daniel] 'Did you eat the baby?' [Louis] 'Or the Arab youth whose whole family were wiped from existence...' [Daniel] 'Did you eat the baby?' [Louis] '... by a Western drone? No, I'm sure you're right.'"

SHOTS FIRED. And another Benji mention! And a personal attack. And Louis being his glorious catty self. And Daniel being his glorious one-minded self. We're heading for another "outburst", lmao.

The Damek scene is just so fucking weird, I'm wheezing. Nothing to say here, just: this show is a freaking comedy. Between Louis perfecting the Little Drink but his taste of the night just passing out, and Daniel going "you might have a drinking problem" and then going back to his idea of the night, "the goddamn baby, Louis, did you fucking eat the bloody baby", this is peak humor.

Aaaaaand we need a third part, still 15 minutes to go.

episode 1 | part 1 | part 3 | episode 3 | episode 4 | episode 5 | episode 6 | episode 7

[cable-salamder]

So in my long analysis post I briefly touched upon this cloaked figure that we see, and how we don’t know who they are.

Well, I was wondering about who this was, and I realize that none of the (current) villain’s outfits match this figure

Long story short: I am a little bit of a dumb dumb and did not realise we did actually see this outfit: the temple guards.

(Others have pointed this out, I’m just a little silly and slow, sorry y’all. I think the fact that the Temple guard minifig doesn’t look much like the canon thing threw me off a little?)

This probably isn’t anything new for most people because it wasn’t a hard thing to figure out, so this is moreso for me, but I’m still curious about the color palette of this character.

Up above I did a bunch of color splotches of Lloyd’s outfit in that night setting and how it would look in normal light. White becomes a sort of grey-blue, and the green becomes darker too. However, Lloyd’s skin is still clearly yellow. What ISN’T yellow is the outfit of the other person, which should be assumed if we were to think they are just a normal Temple Guard in the middle of the night. No, if this outfit was in daylight, it would very likely be some sort of purple. Not to mention that the dots, while green in daylight, appear to become red.

What do I think this means? …I’m not quite sure, but I kind of doubt this is just a normal Temple Guard gone bad. I think it’s much more likely that this is one of the bad guys trying to sneak into the Temple City (I’m pretty sure one of the leaked descriptions said something about a thief? I’m not sure.). As said, I’m assuming this clip is from the Feast episode, which would make sense: someone trying to steal something while everyone else is distracted at a big dinner is quite literally Basic Heist 101 (go read Six of Crows y’all). The fact that, whoever this is, put enough effort in to either make themselves Temple Guard armor, or steal some and I guess recolor it, means they were putting quite a lot of thought into this. Whoever they are, they’re being smart about their plan, and were almost 100% not expecting to fight with Lloyd.