Artful Kind of Order

Yes, I was tearing through books constantly, and talking to this teacher at least weekly. Because even though I always loved reading as a kid, literature was always a very weak subject for me in terms of a teaching-to-standardized-test school setting (I just do awful on "what color were the curtains" type multiple choice questions. Those details don't stick in my memory THEY JUST DON'T). But that didn't matter for this class. I could just read my way out of any bad test score. I have always had fond memories of how I "fudged" my way through that class and "abused' the extra credit policy.

I can't take Gabriella seriously at all as a character. Or, she's not Gabrielle. Her character is an interesting plot device for the show, and I think her (show) relationship with Lestat goes a long way to explaining Lestat's mainstay damage and justifies why he goes with Akasha. Book Lestat circa tVL/QotD is suicidal, almost, and genuinely stays chronically unhappy. Post QotD he's miserable, still suicidal, and sulking about. He's seemingly always seeking out the next delusion, emotional bender, or adversary to beg for attention.

And, Lestat's emotional damage is a well-travelled Catholic fever dream in the books with cycles of self worship, self abandonment, and self flagellation, but the show has a slightly more grounded, modern, explicitly queer Lestat. We really could not show Lestat's first major existential crisis in an inn with Nikki and have it hit the same way, especially for a modern watcher who would be like, "yeah, of course nothing matters and we'll never know why. Duh."

I don't mind a different Gabrielle, and I feel we got a thin shade of truth in 03 04 with the vampire wedding ring and the cut hair, but I still can't tell what they're trying to do with her. It was not a grooming narrative in the book, with his mother. His mother was unhappy and vaguely inappropriate at times, but it was emotional incest at most until she became a vampire.

If anything, Marius was the secondary groomer, not Gabrielle. Gabrielle never resented Lestat, the way Marius did, nor did Lestat have the same desperation to please his mother. Marius actually dramatically abandoned Lestat without warning! Gabrielle and Lestat had a reasonable, sad discussion about parting ways. Maybe we should ask- can Marius mess with memories, too?

Is the meta text (fim?) trying to figure out why Anne Rice hated Gabrielle so much later on? Are we exploring our fear of women's sexuality? I've been otherwise happy with the show, and I don't buy that they've had this unreliable narrator show with misinterpretations and twists abound but we've just turned Gabrielle into a monster for comic relief.

Hear me out: what if Akasha is actually possessing Gabrielle? Akasha would follow the lives of others when she slept, and I wouldn't be surprised if she could actually take someone over. This power is actually shown in The Tale of the Body Thief.

I'm writing something up about it tomorrow with screenshots.

He starts recited and rehearsed, Lestat is not buying it and he already got uncomfortable about Armand breaking in his room while he slept, so he goes for an insult to make him react.

Baaaaaaad. He starts in the worst way. Bad. Weird. Victim blamy trying to sound like a compliment.

Funny, because you said to Daniel in Season 2 that Lestat 'made a remarkable recovering' from the whole brutal seven days of rape business and then proceeded to say his heresy and rejections 'inflamed you'.

And his fans are currently throwing a tantrum because of the rag doll line in the song, even when the creators already said the song is about the trial.

You can see Armand's expression grow enraged every time Lestat reminds him the shit he actually and factually did.

Moving on...

I don't know why this line makes me pause, I don't believe him when he says 'sharing'. Especially not after 'his kisses put you in a coma.'

So, basically admits he deluded himself into thinking they were in a relationship... I don't buy this is all you did, Armand. If it was that, I don't think you would have pursued Louis or killed Claudia.

He is so pissed off, look at his face. Are Assad fans actually calling him a bad actor because how the hell you call this genuine and honest? He is literally seething.

Your involvement? You literally directed the play, love. And you have the power to literally put twenty vampires to sleep without sweating or bleeding like Lestat does when he controls that many people.

Again playing the victim. And here is when Lestat starts getting angry, the trial is no small matter for him and he won't let Lestat forget it:

Armand doesn't address this because he is a chicken coward.

Can't put more images, but he continues saying that Lestat not telling Louis about him killing Claudia was 'richness of character', meaning probably that he is suggesting that Lestat save him from Louis killing his arse.

Okay, long story short, this apology is terrible. Not only is not an apology, but Armand's body language gives him away so easily, he is constantly rolling his eyes, frowning and he keeps looking at Lestat's body even when, if he was really apologizing, he wouldn't do it out of respect.

More pictures of the book. The cut-outs on the cover are in the form of French curve templates used in fashion design. Letterpress cover, decorative endpapers, and colored pages for Wilde's essay and lecture.

The main lintels are all single old-growth tree trunks that have been hand carved on front and bottom with intricate scenes and designs. They are topped with smaller carved wood panels and sections designed to mimic roof tiles but also made of wood. The ceilings of the entrance are also intricately carved.

Everything is held together by precisely fashioned joints and wooden dowels.

We're shown bits from the whole construction process - starting with debarking the huge trees after they're felled, all the way through the hand carving, joinery, and erection.