the seance scene... the more i turn it around in my head the more insulting and disgusting it is. not only it isn't given the weight it needs by making louis and lestat get over it so quickly and bonding over it (!!!!!) but it also destroys the tragedy of louis and claudia's dynamic. saying that claudia preferred lestat to louis and only chose louis to run away with her because he was easier to manipulate completely undermines the love claudia had for him. they had a complex relationship! claudia hated him and loved him so deeply all throughout her life. she loved him so much! she came back to rue royale because she knew he couldn't get out of that abusive relationship by himself. because she wanted to save him. she nurtered and took care of him for months after the drop. she tolerated lestat for him! even after he chose armand over her in paris, she still visited him with madeleine. she screamed his name in the trial after they dragged him away.
louis and claudia's relationship is tragic and doomed. it's not black and white! she hated him for what he did and how he failed her and she loved him deeply! that's her father/brother she couldn't save, who would never choose her first, who would always put someone else before her. that's why it hurts! it's crazy to even think she hates louis and lestat the same amount
retconning this to portray lestat in a better light makes no sense, because it doesn't even make him more likeable. instead of justifying his abuse or revealing that the poc characters were actually lying/manipulating each other they should've made him acknowledge his actions and look at what he did to those he loved in the eye. this is disgusting, cowardly and bad writing
