Okay this is going to be looong but bare with me. Iâve seen a few comments trying to pit Lestat vs Armand in their ability to cope with their traumas and making it like Lestat is better for it. AND I NEED TO RANTâŚAllow me to paraphrase a comment that I saw.
â¨âLestat has had traumas and he hasnât mindfucked people around him the way Armand doesââ¨
Okay first off⌠WTF ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?
Did you watch Season 1? Have you forgotten that Lestat dropped Louis from the sky?? How he killed that opera singer???How he killed that priest??? Do you think those are actions of someone who hasnât taken out his traumas on others and mindfucked them too???
Do you have object impermanence? You knowâŚwhat babies have?
Iâm sorry if Iâm coming across as mean, but Iâm just seriously concerned about peopleâs inability to remember things as soon as they are presented with a shiny new toy, and as someone who has had EMDR sessions, people dismissing or ranking traumas just hits a sore spot for me.
Secondly, we havenât actually *seen* Armandâs traumas and backstory, weâve only heard a fraction. And itâs horrifying already. You have no real point of reference to try and make this into âLestat was just born betterâ thing. What we know is the following⌠he was sold by his parents at the age of 12 to a Shipâs Captain, that Captain then sold him to a brothel where he experienced such severe abuse he canât really remember his true name, he was then sold again at age 15 to Marius a vampire who groomed him, then turned him to a vampire when he was dying from a mystery illness, then was kidnapped by a cult (i have my suspicions that thereâs more to this story. He was sold again by Marius is my theory) they âkilledâ his maker but whoâs actually alive, but he doesnât know this and oh yeah, who referred to him as a rotten boy to Lestat. Iâm sure his maker was wonderful/s to him.
Thirdly, thereâs something that Lestat has that Armand hasnât had so far (until very recently) â¨Lestat found Louisâ¨
Despite how it ended, clearly the time he had with Louis has been crucial for Lestatâs continued development.
Meanwhile, Armand spent centuries underground without a Louis. Ruminating in darkness for years and years until Lestat came along. No wonder he became obsessed with Lestat. He probably thought he had found love at long last. But nope.
Lastly, are you aware that psychotherapy wasnât a thing back in the Renaissance period? They either thought you had imbalances in your bodily fluids or you were possessed by a demon.
People who are looking at this show through a modern lens are missing out a crucial point in the show, which is these vampires are stuck in their time period and their old state of mind! Yes, physically they change clothes and learn new ways to adapt but mentally theyâre stuck. Itâs a curse not a blessing despite them calling it âthe giftâ
#âBut itâs no excuse. He chopped-â
<It actually irks me whenever people *immediately* jump to the old âitâs no excuseâ shtick whenever you try to have a nuanced discussion about people with mental illnesses and tragic backstories who canât function properly in societyâŚâźď¸Because itâs never helpful! Because it usually comes from a place of judgement not of compassion and understanding, which is what actually helps peopleâźď¸>
Anyway, letâs play the gameâŚ
# EhemâŚLouis has chopped a few heads as well, funny that no one really mentions that. The only reason why you bring up Armand and not Louis is because you care about Louis, and you care about him because youâve been seeing things through HIS eyes and not Armandâs. Be honest you would be pro-Armand if the story had been about him. There Iâve said it.
#Claudia was just another vampire to Armand, an abomination that should have never been created because she was just a child, in his twisted way he thought it was a mercy.
Again you only care about Claudia because youâve been seeing her through Louisâ eyes.
Itâs about perspective.
The takeaway of the story is not who is better or worse, itâs about how memory is the monster, because memories are shaped by a single perspective. YOUR perspective, THEIR perspective. And your perspective is always shaped and clouded by your pain and trauma.
You will never know the complete truth. In real life and in the show too. So stop comparing their traumas.
