#tod cult

[sarcasticdolphin]

Chapters: 1/19 Fandom: Elisabeth - Levay/Kunze Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Rudolf von Österreich-Ungarn | Rudolf Crown Prince of Austria/Der Tod | Death (Elisabeth) Characters: Rudolf von Österreich-Ungarn | Rudolf Crown Prince of Austria, Der Tod | Death (Elisabeth), Die Todesengel | Angels of Death (Elisabeth), lots of oc angels Additional Tags: Master/Servant, On BOTH SIDES, todesengel Rudolf, Biblical Symbolism (Abrahamic Religions), Birds, lots of birds, tod pov, rudolf pov, More tags to follow, hyacinth macaw, david and bethsheeba vibes, Power Imbalance Summary:

Tod didn't pay Rudolf von Habsburg any special attention in life. The boy had been a tool, nothing more. Why would he even remember such an insignificant soul?

But how could he not notice the angel that tends to his birds, to his lorikeets and his macaws, to his birds-of-paradise?

[diana-andraste]

John Gilbert and Edna Tichenor in Tod Browning's The Show, 1927

Available to watch on Amazon

[schlock-luster-video]

On April 17, 1976, Dracula was screened on Creature Features.

Here's some new Bela Lugosi art!

[kitschykitschykoo]

Creepy Bela...

[cinemgc]

Freaks (1932, US)

 • Dirección: Tod Browning

 • Guion: Willis Goldbeck, Leon Gordon

 • Cinematografía: Merritt B. Gerstad

 • Cast: Olga Baclanova

[anhed-nia]

BLOGTOBER 10/21/2022: POPCORN (1991)

I hate this movie with my whole heart. It isn't just that it's obnoxious, inauthentic, unfunny, and not scary; it's that it insults me as someone who loves movies. It's a personal attack that weaponizes my favorite thing in the world against me, and I can't forgive it. This condescending wankfest poses as an homage to William Castle and the glory days of the gimmick, but POPCORN's B-movie impressions have none of the zany charm of that kind of filmmaking, and its Castle-esque gimmicks are so complex and unwieldy as to totally defy the original idea of making money from nothing. Few things are worse than an homage that doesn't show any real understanding the reference material.

This movie doesn't deserve this great poster.

Jill Schoelen does her very best with the character of Maggie Butler, an irritating film nerd who lets us know she's a film nerd by name dropping Orson Welles for no reason, and hustling around acting very busy with a movie that's just a direct translation of her dream journal. She's even too busy to fuck her mouth-breathing boyfriend Mark (Derek Rydall), whose sexual frustration is his only characteristic. Soon Maggie is busier still, when her classmate Toby (Tom Villard) proposes that they and the other film dorks put on an all-night movie marathon to raise funds for their university's film department. They somehow stage this event in a condemned movie palace with the help of quirky old Dr. Mnesyne (Ray Walston, who the film tries to force you to love in the smarmiest way possible), who turns up with trunks full of old props to help drum up publicity. The marathon is a gigantic success, but during the night, the dorks are picked off by a killer in disguise—a refugee from a massacred "movie cult"—who holds the key to Maggie's apparently mysterious past.

This is not Maggie, but...???

Without even getting into Maggie's convoluted origins and how her destiny is intertwined with the killer's, there's a lot of stuff about POPCORN that just doesn't make any sense to me. If the film department is so impoverished, how does this huge project get authorized? Why, and actually how, would the school allow students to operate in a decaying building that's on the verge of being razed to the ground? (Hopefully these plucky kids have all had their shots) How does a group of college students (especially Maggie who is so very busy) find the time and resources to refurb an entire movie theater, outfitting it with complex systems like this movie's version of Odorama, which blasts the audience with billowing, opaque clouds of noxious gas? How are the movie goers supposed to see through this fog, and how are they supposed to see around some of the costumes dispersed throughout the audience, which have gigantic rubber heads and other sight line-obscuring appendages? When the power goes out in the theater, what's going on with the swirling spotlights, mics, and amps used by the awful reggae band that's supposed to keep everybody entertained? And if most of these props are supposed to be original, like from the golden age of B-movie ballyhoo, why the fuck are they so complicated, like the gigantic movie-quality mosquito that, instead of just being drawn across the house by pulleys like William Castle's Emergo skeletons, is operated with a high tech remote control?

I promise I would kill anyone who sat in front of me in a movie theater with that jumbo fright wig on the left or that big rubber fake head on the right.

OK OK, so we're supposed to understand that the killer has outfitted the mosquito with remote control capabilities, but…it just doesn't make any sense that this should even be possible with an ancient advertising prop. And this problem connects with what really bothers me about this movie: its basic misunderstanding of the form of production that POPCORN supposedly-lovingly sends up. The gang are using materials that Dr. Mnesyne has preserved from back in the day, but stuff from back in the day would be way cheaper and simpler than this. The point was to make money without spending money that you didn't have in the first place. Cardboard axes for STRAIT-JACKET. Seatbelts added to the "Shock Section" of theaters playing I SAW WHAT YOU DID. Fake life insurance policies lest anyone die of fright during MACABRE. A flimsy yellow "Coward's Corner" booth for anyone who was too scared to watch the end of HOMICIDAL. The most high tech thing you might encounter were the Percepto seat buzzers that went off during a key moment in THE TINGLER, but you can hardly imagine a dedicated Percepto operator sitting at an elaborate switchboard in an opera box, hand-selecting victims in the theater below like you see in POPCORN.

While the gimmicks here are crazily luxurious compared to the real deal, the movies in POPCORN's meta marathon are very deliberately limp, dry, and stupid. The audience is only there to laugh, sneer, and throw shit, which is the most miserable thing I can think of as somebody who loves movies. Imagine being trapped in a theater filled with people who think that being incredibly rude and hateful is all it takes to be as witty as the cast of MST3K? Where this film really has its wires crossed is, the Castle movies were both cheap AND good, or at the very least, entertaining on their own virtues. Even "the worst movie ever made", PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE, is creative and unpredictable, with wild dialog delivered wildly by certain stars. Many of the low budget movies that people would actually come out for in the slavering droves you see in POPCORN had more going for them than wooden acting, laughable effects, and bad writing. But, that's all you see in POPCORN: bad imitations of bad movies, and bad people laughing at them sadistically. You'd never know what's supposed to be enjoyable about the B- or even Z-movie experience, in all its campy, unhinged glory, from the shitty situation set up by Maggie and her friends. The gimmicks are way too overblown, and the movies are so bad they only invite cruelty from viewers. Like…why are we doing this, you guys?

The point of the rubber head above is that when the wearer leans over, it dumps a pint of neon green "vomit" onto the ground (so make sure no one is standing next to you I guess). But I have questions about that, like, does the guy have to reset the thing every single time he does the gag? Can he only do it once? Is this possibly worth the effort? It seems like a huge pain in the ass all the way around.

Somehow POPCORN is even worse when it occasionally does things I wish I could enjoy. The "movie cult" of which the killer was once part made a psychedelic snuff film that we catch intriguing glimpses of, partially filtered through the bizarre dreams that plague Maggie's nights. Some of the special effects are decent, too, and the performers are really doing their best for the most part (including a sadly squandered Dee Wallace). There was some kind of potential here, but it all gets gobbled up by anonymous characters, demanding leaps of logic, brutally unfunny jokes, infantile music, and what can feel like an antagonistic attitude toward film itself. By blowing everything out of proportion in its shallow attempt at homage, it feels like POPCORN is saying, "The original gimmicks were so stupid we had to upgrade them until they're unrecognizable, and the original movies were so stupid that you can only enjoy them by treating them like punching bags." The logical conclusion of which is, "If you like any of that old stuff for what it was, you're an idiot." Not a great thing to hear. I don't feel like getting into the story of this movie's tortured production, but let's just say that it didn't surprise me to hear that it was as hard to make this movie as it is to watch it, effectively ending the relationship between creative partners Alan Ormsby and Bob Clark, and creating various miseries for the others. You can always tell when there's some joy missing at the heart of a film, and that is never clearer than when the film is supposedly about people who love film. Hopefully this is the last time I watch POPCORN.

EDIT: It has come to my attention that I got some of the plot points wrong here, but I think if you've seen this movie, you can probably forgive me.

[vintagevamp876]

[cannibalcaprine]

(Cults picked more or less at random since Tumblr is a Cruel Beast who only gives us Twelve poll options)

(deepest Apologies to The Slug's Lament, The Procession of Woe, The Aunts Ascendant, and The Temple of Swellings.)

If you have any questions about a Particular Cult, I am happy to Answer!

[l-just-want-to-see]

Jason (from the Greek Iásōn, “healer”) Peter Todd (from the German Tod, “death”) - I hope you find your way out of that grave.

dc comics + The Oresteia, Aeschylus / Lady Windermere’s Fan, Oscar Wilde / Grief Lessons: Four Plays [tr. Anne Carson], Euripides + Batman v1 #385 / Batman: The Cult #3 / For Example, Mary Oliver / Batman: Legends of The Dark Knight #100 / Batman: Under the Red Hood / Eight, Sleeping at Last / Red Hood and the Outlaws: Rebirth / Batman: Urban Legends #10 + ? / On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, Ocean Vuong / Red Hood and The Outlaws #25 / Slay the Princess / pinterest + Batman #422 / Batman #424 + Rilke's Book of Hours: Love Poems to God, Rainer Maria Rilke + Batman #428 | A Death in the Family / @/metamorphesque, tumblr / American Teenager, Ethel Cain / Anecdote of the Pig, Tory Adkisson / interpretations of A Death in the Family + The Oresteia, Aeschylus / Nightwing: Secret Files and Origins #1 + the Haunting of Bly Manor + Red Hood and the Outlaws #23 / @/petrichara, tumblr / I Didn't Apologize to the Well, Mahmoud Darwish / Infinite Crisis: Secret Files + pinterest / Ruin and Rising, Leigh Bardugo / Red Hood and the Outlaws #26 / The Cruel Prince, Holly Black / pinterest / Red Hood: The Lost Days / Sue Zhao / Red Hood: The Lost Days part II + Red Hood: The Lost Days #4 / I See Boats Moving, Fernando Pessoa / Oedipus the King, TV Tropes / @/devilsmoon, tumblr / Red Hood: The Lost Days + Speeches for Dr Frankenstein, Margaret Atwood / Saving June, Hannah Arrington + embroidered patch / Slay the Princess / unaligned, @/hamletmaschine + Batman: Under the Red Hood / Batman: Under the Red Hood + Batman and Robin #11 + South and West: From a Notebook, Joan Didion / The Good Fight, Ada Limón / Batman: Under the Red Hood / Grief Lessons: Four Plays, Euripides [tr. Anne Carson] / Batman: Under the Red Hood / Slay the Princess / Under the Red Hood / Slay the Princess / @/sainticide, twitter / The Truth About Grief, Fortesa Latifi + Batman: Under the Red Hood / Batman: Under the Red Hood / Ten Legs, Eight Broken, mandana on tiktok / War of the Foxes, Richard Siken + Under the Red Hood + Batman #428 | A Death in the Family / The Unabridged Journals Of Sylvia Plath, Sylvia Plath / Under the Red Hood + Batman #428 | A Death in the Family / @baitmeat, tumblr + Batman: Under the Red Hood (Deluxe Edition) / Origin Story, Desireé Dallagiacomo / Vive, Vive, Traci Brimhall / The Dogs I Have Kissed, Trista Mateer + Batman: Under the Red Hood + Three Jokers / Red Hood and the Outlaws Rebirth #9 / @/sainticide, twitter + Red Hood and the Outlaws #10 / Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve, Taylor Swift / ? + Robin 80th Anniversary 100 Page Super Spectacular / Ep. 4: Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth -- 'Sacrifice and Bliss', Joseph Campbell / White Knight #7 + Heaven, Mieko Kawakami / Forest Fire, Mitski / Red Hood and the Outlaws Vol. 2 #9 + Batman Annual #25 + Free Will Astrology, Rob Brezsny / Letter XV, @/lucidloving / Red Hood and the Outlaws Vol 1: REDemption / briscoepark + The Civil War, Anne Sexton [compiled by @/lovejoyparadox here] / @/soapstore, tumblr + I Await the Devil’s Coming, Mary MacLane + Claire C. Holland / @/havingrevelations, tumblr / Meditations in an Emergency, Cameron Awkward-Rich + Deathstroke #34 / Grief Lessons: Four Plays by Euripides [tr. Anne Carson] + Red Hood and the Outlaws

[sarcasticdolphin]

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[celluloidrainbow]

DER TOD DER MARIA MALIBRAN (1972) dir. Werner Schroeter Maria Malibran, a legendary Spanish-French opera singer who died in 1836 at the age of 28, forms the starting point for a series of stylised tableaux introducing variations on different levels, including in the form of musical phrases. Fragments of stories that take place in a non-existent country, in which the characters do not have any clear identity and are mutually interchangeable, a reflection on the 19th century cult for geniuses and divas. (link in title)

[schlock-luster-video]

On November 18, 2006, Freaks and Mark of the Vampire were screened as a double-feature on TCM Underground.

Here's some new art inspired by both horror classics!

[viaviv124]

The write-out to lyrics i said i'll do

Worte, die mich stachen,

(Words that stabbed me)

- Lamb being degraded as they're prepared as sacrifice

werden dann zu jenem Blut, das auf meinem Weiß dann ruht

(will then turn into the blood that rests on my white)

- Lamb covered in blood after striking down heretics or a bishop

Hey, weißt du noch, wie's sich anfühlt,

(Hey, do you still remember how it feels like)

- Lamb sitting in the Gateway, in the hand of a still chained Narinder, seeming not as cheerful but more thoughtful

das Gefühl sich was zu nehm, um’s zu geben anderswem?

(the feeling to take something to give it to someone else?)

- Lamb looking at Narinders face, momentarily pictures from harvesting bones from both crusades and dead followers before it fades to black

Doch, doch, doch, doch wird es wässrig

(But, But, But, But it'll get watery)

- Each "But" is a flash of Lamb's life, turning from a sacrifice to a leader, the last bit is them entering their cult

Und auch wenn ich es kau kommt der Geschmack nich

(and even if i chew the taste won't come)

- Lamb going into the Temple

Ist es nutzlos, interessiert’s nicht

(is it usless, it's not of interest)

- pride sin ritual

Dies und das ist doch vollkomm nutzlos, ohne Sinn bloß

(This and that is utterly usless, without reason)

- Some followers express their concern with the ritual

Denn ob Ja ob nein gar, am End da, zählt nur wie du es sagst

(because if yes or no, in the end it only counts how you say it)

- Lamb seems a bit taken a back at first before smiling and reassuring them

Throw Down

- Lambs smile in the cult turns into a rather uneasy expression in the Gateway

Kein Jemand ist wem anders gleich

(No one is the same as the other)

- Lamb in the Gateway, telling Narinder about the cult when Narinder tried to ease their worries amd guilt

Auch sein Wert kann nie der eines Andren sein

(and their worth can never be the same as another's)

- the lamb makes a motion as if to hold something that's steadily getting bigger

Throw Down

- segway back into the cult

Vergleichend welchen Wert was hält

(Comparing which has what worth)

- Lamb looking at a damned follower overtaken by sin, other followers are horrified and some even injured

und dies entscheidend dann, stech ich die Verzweiflung in den Tod

(and with that decision i'll stab the despair to death)

- Lamb gets this shadow over their eyes as they kill the damned follower

Es gibt sicher ganz genau so viele Wahrheiten wie’s Leben gibt

(Surely there's as many truths as are there lifes)

- Lamb in the gateway, showing and overlooking their cult from a perfectly created illusion of it Narinder holds in his hands

Nun beginnt das Ende auch schon, ist es fertig, werd auch ich erlöst, nicht wahr?

(Now the end finally begins, is it finished i'll gain salvation, won't i?)

- Lamb looks up at Narinder and smiles painfully

Nun schließ deine Augen ohne Hast,

(Now close your eyes without haste)

- Narinder pets Lambs head in a comforting manner as good as he can

dann sieh dort vor dir deine Last

(and picture your baggage)

- Lamb hugs one of Narinders fingers tightly for comfort

und wünsche dir ein Selbst, das um zu helfen existiert

(and wish for a self that exists to help)

- Narinder comforting Lamb fades to Lamb back in the cult, looking back at the entrance

Egal, denn wer immer kommen mag, den gleichen Ausdruck ich immer trag

(No matter who keeps coming, i'll wear ever the same expression)

- Followers come to greet Lamb, Lamb smiles at them

Und grade weil ich’s nicht versteh hab ich auch keine Angst, so kommt’s mir vor

(And exactly because i don't understand i'm not scared, it seems to me)

- Lamb looking back at the door that in the end leads to Narinder

Throw Down

- Lamb killing Leshy

Moral ist doch nur Illusion

(Moral is just an illusion)

- Lamb wipes blood off their face back to after they killed the damned follower

Und selbst wenn das Morgen kommt, die Sünde bleibt

(and even if tomorrow comes, the sin remains)

- Lamb carries the body away with a heavy heart

Throw Down

- Lamb killing Heket, the view a bit more distorted

Wenn solch Gefühle, kalt und fahl,

(If such feelings, cold and muted)

- Lamb is inside the Temple, looking outside a window watching the cult with an empty look

in mir verbleiben gar, ob ich so dann wirklich sterben kann

(stay within me, if i can really die then)

- Lamb looking at their hands and clean clenching them into a fist

Throw Down

- Lamb killing Kallimar, even more distorted

Das Jemanden von Jemandem kombinieren

(combining the someone from someone)

- Lamb is harvesting bones from the dead, damned follower

Ist das, was dich am Leben hält

(is what keeps you alive)

- resurection ritual

Throw Down

- Lamb killing Shamura, very distorted

Die Einladung verbindlich ist

(The invitation being binding)

- Lamb extends their hand with a friendly to indoctrinate someone they found

und drum betrüg ich sie indem ich mit Hoffnung sie ersetz

(and that's why i betray them by replacing it with hope)

- Lamb smiles at the new follower the new follower as they lead them in the Temple where they get sacrificed

Throw Down

- Lamb enters gateway for the finale

Genug jetzt ist genug,

(Enough it's enough now)

- Narinder demands for the crown

denn loslassen kann ich nicht

(because i can't let go)

- Lamb holds the crown ans tenses up, their eyes turning red

Darum vergib mir bitte nicht

(So please don't forgive me)

- Lamb has tears in their eyes as they smile at Narinder, the crown turning into a sword

Und deshalb wünsch ich das End herbei für mich

(And that's why i wish for my end)

- Lamb gets in battle with Narinder

Throw Down

- Lamb lets themself be killed by Narinder, smile as they die, as the music fades out they close their eyes before as fades to black

Throwdown by Deco*27 & Rockwell (MILGRAM)

German Translyrics by Lolina

German ver

Original

[jellogram]

Johnny Eck was a performer from the 1930s who was born without any legs:

He's primarily known for appearing in the 1932 cult classic Freaks directed by Tod Browning.

However what I'm mostly obsessed with is this account of a magic trick he did with his non-disabled twin brother (text under the cut)

Like this is the funniest thing I've ever heard. Can you imagine

Wikipedia screenshot:

"In 1937, Eck and Robert were recruited by the illusionist and hypnotist Rajah Raboid, for his "Miracles of 1937" show. In it they performed a magic feat that amazed audiences. Raboid performed the traditional sawing-a-man-in-half illusion, except with an unexpected twist. At first Robert would pretend to be a member of the audience and heckle the illusionist during his routine, resulting in Robert being called on stage to be sawed in half himself. During the illusion, Robert would then be switched with his twin brother Eck, who played the top half of his body, and a dwarf who played the bottom half, concealed in specially-built pant legs. After seeming to have been sawn off, the legs would suddenly get up and start running away, prompting Eck to jump off the table and start chasing them around the stage, screaming, "Come back!" "I want my legs back!" Sometimes he even chased the legs into the audience. The subsequent reaction was amazing – people would scream and sometimes even flee the theater in terror. As Eck described it, "The men were more frightened than the women – the women couldn't move because the men were walking across their laps, headed for the exit." The act provided the perfect jolt by frightening people at first but then caused just as much laughter and applause. The illusion would end with stage hands plucking up Eck and setting him atop "his" legs and then twirling him off-stage to be replaced by his twin Robert, who would then loudly threaten to sue Raboid and storm out of the theater. Their act was so popular that they played to packed audiences up and down the East Coast."

[cinemgc]

Títulos: La parada de los monstruos (1932)

[runningwithfangs]

Vampire Chronicles Book Review/Rant #2

The Vampire Lestat

I think we can all agree, what a turnaround! So completely different from IWTV. I’m not sure what I was expecting, probably something more like a Midnight Sun (Twilight from Edwards’ perspective) or a Slayer Chronicles (to the Vladimir Tod series) Turned out to be more of The Saga of Larten Crepsley (to the CIrque du Freak series)(I was raised by vampire books, apparently).

Anyway, what a ride! About halfway through I was feeling a little frustrated that we hadn’t gotten to when he met Louis yet, but I was also having so much fun reading about this Chaos BisexualTM. So much happens, so many dumb Lestat adventures, Nicki, Lestat’s turning, Gabrielle, Armand and his coven, Marius, Akasha and Enkil, Louis and Claudia, Rockstar music video films, vampires ablaze out of nowhere! 10/10 Romp, I had so much fun reading this.

Lestat is so many things, he’s cheery and determined to brighten the day of those he loves, he’s been beaten and abused by his own family, he hopes and dreams like any young person, yet also deeply fears the meaninglessness of life itself. I can for sure relate. 

I also enjoyed the way it was written, easy and lighthearted, even in darker parts Lestat describes things with humor to mask the pain.

Favorites:

I appreciate when Lestat takes the time to describe the wonders of the modern world, what stands out to him, what doesn’t. He’s blown away by film, excited by women in bare arms, that even poor people could eat meat. In later books he’s so excited by pens that can write forever. Super interesting to think about, and the though experiment of “what would a vampire think of world through the ages” is one of my favorite things about vampire media.

Lestat and Nicki’s relationship is so cute! Their drunken afternoons in “the conversation,” they take turns comforting each other from their familial demands and expectations. They go to Paris and live in a shitty apartment while they work their asses off in the theater trying to pay rent. It’s almost like a CBS sitcom, but like, in a good way. It’s so devastating to me that Vampire Nicki ended up like he did.

Gabrielle, my love! What a queer icon. She cuts her hair, wears men’s clothes, even Lestat gets in on it, trying to find her the manliest jewelry. I think about the freedom female vampires must experience in this series a lot. Gabrielle clearly hated being a mom and wife and living in a crumbling castle. And now she is finally free, freer than any of her wildest fantasies.

When Lestat asks her if she had become a vampire first, wouldn’t she also send money and gifts to the family and keep caring for them, and she’s just like, oh psssh yeah, of course 😂 

Armand/Lestat being worsties.

Marius spending eons hiding Those Who Must Be Kept only to pick up Lestat, go: I like ya kid, you got spunk, let me spill all the vampire secrets. Only for the Most Special BoyTM

When we FINALLY get the 3 whole paragraphs about Louis and Claudia at the end of the book, it’s not enough, but what is there is lovely. “Even in his crudest moments, Louis touched the tenderness in me” “But I loved him, plain and simple” UGH, Anne PLEASE. 

Least Favorites:

Why did Lestat slip his mom the tongue 😭

Not enough Louis 😡 (Little did I know there would only be crumbs of him from then on)

Vampire Nicki 😣 He hated Lestat in the end and then Armand cut his hands off! He deserved better. 

Smutt:

Nicki and Lestat getting drunk and making out at the tavern! Love that for them.

I am NOT counting Lestat/Gabrielle kisses.

If I missed something maybe y’all can let me know.

Nonsense Meter:

Medium nonsense, I think. Especially considering the books to come. 

Lestat flying and SCREAMING at the Theater. Lestat showing up to the catacombs to utterly destroy the cult with facts and logic and “New evil for a new era.” Lestat giving into the intrusive thoughts to kiss Akasha and play her the violin only to nearly get killed by Enkil, and OF COUSE, the whole Rockstar Lestat thing, with the music videos and the song lyrics and the Halloween concert. 

Misc:

It was Marius’s fault for sending Lestat to go live a human life! Thank you/goddamn you.

I am confused by how at the start of the book Lestat is interested in rock, he goes to jam with Satan’s Night out and loves the attention that would come with being a rockstar, but it’s only after he reads IWTV and gets all upset about it that he decides he’s going to get Louis’s attention by becoming a world-famous rockstar. “I ached for him, ached for his romantic illusions [...] his physical presence.” But once Louis does find Lestat, not much happens.

I was so excited for the reunion once Louis find’s Lestat and his band chilling before the concert, would they fight?! Would they make out?! And it was. . .ok, Louis tries to warn Lestat, and they dance around their feelings, and that’s kind of it. Lestat doesn’t even ask about the book!

Then I was excited that Gabrielle (post-concert disaster rescue) got to meet her shit son’s ex-husband! Was she going to be disapproving (no one is good enough for her boy), furious about the release of IWTV, or maybe try to convince them to give up mortal world shenanigans and go climb waterfalls with her? Nope, we got nothing, just wondering if it was Marius setting all the fledglings on fire. Anne . . . I don’t get it.