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literally when have they trolled people?

rolin and the actors have only ever said daniel's turning was violent and non-consensual. so why act shocked when yet another interview comes out where they say that? how can it be the final straw when they've never said otherwise? rolin said lbf wasn't going to be in tvl and then had to reiterate before ep 7 that he really wasn't going to be in the season and people still acted like anyone who believed him was an idiot because "he's a master troll" and acted surprised when lbf didn't show up. as far as we currently know, there was no past reciprocal relationship between daniel and armand--it was just stalking. yet if you take this at face value (when we have no reason not to) everyone acts like you're a gullible idiot. the writers have never said lestat wasn't willingly at the trial--the only person involved in the show who has ever disagreed with it is sam and he's not in the writers room--but the fandom still acts as if the show has confirmed armand forced him to be there

i have never seen another fandom where the majority of people in it form their opinions (and even attack others) based on what they predict is going to happen rather than what has actually happened on screen and what the writers and actors involved have said. it's so weird. do people not see how weird that is?

all of these posts and comments speculating about how they're going to course correct or how they'll change what happened in tvl to fit the events of the book

what makes everybody so sure they're planning to accurately adapt anything in queen of the damned or future books when season 1 and 2 already changed a lot (in ways that mostly worked imo) and season 3 did something completely different? we have just been given 7 episodes of proof that the writers are not interested in adapting the books faithfully any more and aren't particularly concerned about how book readers or fans of the first 2 seasons feel about it because they're doing their own thing now and even enjoy the outrage

how do you see what they did to gabriella and her relationship with lestat, the invention of jarda, aging up baby jenks just to put her in the most explicit sex scene yet, ignoring most of lestat's backstory (which was the book), creating more OCs (including black OCs who exist just to be tortured or insulted or a walking bag of drugs), creating entire plot lines for louis that still focus on him being a "pimp," switching armand experimenting on claudia--a tiny and bizarre retcon in the books--to armand cutting louis's head off as punishment and to force an apology out of him, armand branding louis, the transphobia and homophobia and ceaseless misogyny, making the vampires consume human drinks and piss blood, the complete lack of care given to how the gifts work and who gets them and how they work, the lack of vampire lore in general, making lestat a passive character who things just happen to, the changes to twmbk and marius, the lack of queer intimacy, changing lestat and nicki's pasts to give them a large age gap and have them meet in paris, changing magnus's motive so he's just a stalker with a crush, cutting out anything from armand's chapter, the total disinterest in philosophy and the nature of vampirism, having nicki cut his own hand off, the general prioritization of shock value over substance, giving claudia racially-charged language that wasn't even present in the books

how do you watch that low quality fic play out and still have hope for future "adaptations" of these stories?

To be honest, I was really excited about a third season of IWTV because the first two literally kept me on the edge of my seat, so I wanted to see what would happen with this incredible world.

I think it’s best to be upfront right now: I’m not a fan of Lestat. Lestat has always been a difficult character for me (mainly because I find him insufferable), so when I heard the third season would focus on him, I wasn't exactly thrilled. Still, I told myself, "Well, maybe this season will help me understand him better"—after all, that’s what happened with Armand. So, I decided to give the season a chance (spoiler alert: huge mistake)

To start with the biggest issue: I think there is a major problem with the storytelling and the plot. Starting off that way was already a bad sign.

Throughout the trailer phase and our expectations for the season, it seemed like it would be told in a documentary style—maintaining the interview format, intercutting with Lestat’s concerts, and so on. Well, that was used in just one episode and nothing more; so, how is that narrative structure actually sustained? I mean, previous seasons let us into the story through Louis’s words, Claudia’s diaries, and even the Talamasca material. But not here; we get the occasional interruption from "The Failures" and the occasional voice of Lestat. Yet, since we’ve always been told that "no narrator is reliable," why should we believe Lestat? He presents no proof— like for example how does he know what Armand and Daniel discussed? Wouldn't it have made more sense to stick to the documentary format while also incorporating the other characters' points of view?

Moving on to the plot—or rather, the lack thereof—there is a major issue: I simply can't find a coherent storyline. If I were to ask you what Interview with the Vampire is about, you’d say, "It’s the vampire Louis recounting his life in an interview"—or something to that effect: understandable, simple, and concise. But if I ask about The Vampire Lestat, the answer is neither short nor simple. You might say it’s about Lestat’s life, but that isn't entirely accurate, because there is no narrative through-line in anything being told. That is a problem in itself; a story needs a beginning, a conflict, and an end. In this season, I couldn't pinpoint where any of those elements exist because the (non-existent) story is so scattered that I can't find its focal points.

Speaking of the plot—or the lack thereof—it is impossible not to mention the holes riddled throughout the scant storyline that actually exists. This could well be called the season of doubts and loose ends—and I’m not talking about cliffhangers or anything like that. I’m referring to specific important things, like the book; honestly, I thought—and I think we all did—that the book would play a major role this season, serving as the basis for understanding Lestat’s vision. But no: we don’t even know what the damm book actually says, so we have no idea what angered Lestat and Louis, what changed the Talamasca, or why Armand gained so many followers. And yet, that book is arguably the single most significant element of the past two seasons.

Let’s also talk about the narrative pacing; it is completely unbalanced. There are episodes (like the first one) where an exorbitant amount happens, while in others (like the second or third) absolutely nothing occurs; then there are episodes that feel cut in half (featuring the "The Failure" intro twice). I know Lestat is chaotic [or whatever other excuse there might be] but you can't simply have an entire episode focus on one thing only for it to vanish or lose all relevance by the next one; nor can you cram everything into one episode and then have nothing happen in the following one.

But let’s move on to something important: the characters. I think if I had to define them in a single word, it would be "caricatures." Any semblance of characterization or complexity they once displayed seems to have vanished.

It’s as if they want us to forget the Lestat from the first two seasons and instead show us a version that just seems like a "misunderstood fool"—ignoring the fact that he has been cruel and evil. It feels like they tried so hard to make the character likable that they lost sight of who he actually is.

As for Louis, aside from the fact that his entire storyline seems to hinge on an issue he’d already resolved last season (I discussed this in a separate blog post; I’ll include the link) (https://www.tumblr.com/zzzzidkzzx/820663061295824896/so-honestly-i-wanted-to-wait-until-the-end-of?source=share), we mostly just see him acting as a personal punching bag for absolutely everyone—Lestat, Armand, Daniel, and so on. He maintains an almost submissive attitude; the only time we saw a more sadistic side to Louis was in that single episode with Bruce (and by the way, whatever happened to Baby Jenks? Nobody knows).

Armand’s screen time is almost ridiculous compared to previous seasons. His character arc shifts from "I’m going to be good... just kidding, I’m actually evil, hee-hee" (that’s how I picture the writers' room)—only to drop the "Devil's Minion" bombshell and never revisit it.

For his part, Daniel has lost any semblance of being a real journalist. It seems like the writers just said, "Yeah, let's have the old guy shout mean things.🤣🤣" Don't get me wrong—I know Daniel is a terrible person—but we never see anything truly genuine in him. Except for those two scenes with Armand, which serve only to say, "Oh, look: Devil's Minion," with absolutely no follow-up on any of it afterward.

—and don't even get me started on the new ones. Gabrielle comes across as nothing more than a wicked woman whose only activity is sleeping with her son; there isn't a shred of depth to her. Oh and Nicky—I really hoped to fall in love with him and the love story with Lestat, or whatever happened between them. But everything moves so fast (thanks to the stupidly rapid pacing of the flashbacks) that you never really get captivated by the story. And of course is there’s Lestat’s band—remember when this show could make you get to know a character in just fifteen minutes? Well, it seems the show itself has forgotten that; we spent about seven episodes with the band members, yet we know nothing about them—despite them getting more screen time than Armand himself.

So, we have no story, no plot, and the characters are practically a joke. What’s missing from this season? Oh, right—racism. I think it’s stupid to overlook the number of hurtful things said about Louis—calling him a slave or talking about his hair—(especially considering that everyone who wrote this is white). Then there’s (spoiler alert) the gratuitous torture scene inflicted solely on him, and not on Lestat. (I discussed this more in another post; I’ll include the link so I don’t drop too many spoilers here. (https://www.tumblr.com/zzzzidkzzx/822376856919621632/spoilers-spoilers-for-episode-7-they-take-away-my?source=share) But I found it absolutely terrible—all that crap they said—especially given that Season 1 of IWTV already addressed what it was like for Louis to experience racism as a black, queer person in 1910, and the consequences of that. So, did they just decide to go back to being racist, as if we were living ten centuries ago? (I know the world is sadly racist and horrible, but in a series that portrayed those pieces of shit in the past exactly as they were—pieces of shit—you’d think phrases referring to Louis as food wouldn't come out of anyone's mouth in the year 2026... but apparently, they do.)

But don't worry, because we don't just have racism—we have misogyny too! YAY. I already knew that the women (in both the book and the series) weren't handled well—often due more to the actresses' portrayals than the script itself. But I found it ridiculous that the only thing we know about Gabrielle as a character (I refer to Gabrielle as a woman because that’s how she’s treated in the series—I know the books involve trans allegories, but we clearly didn't see that here) is that she fucks her son, and that’s it; we never learn anything else about her as a character. Something similar happens with Regina: in her first interactions with Louis, she basically tells him that if he wants to get anywhere with her, he has to pay her? Totally unnecessary. Or the mention that she has an OnlyFans—completely unnecessary. Is that even important to the plot? Couldn't they have just said she didn't have any money and left it at that? But don't worry if you don't like over-sexualized women, we also have TC. We don't see her portrayed that way, but we also know ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about her (apparently, one thing we do know is that she watched Twilight), even though she appears in every single episode.

Since I’ve mentioned Gabrielle and her sole contribution as a character—which I think has to be named: the incest—I have to say the number of sex scenes between Lestat and Gabrielle is ridiculous; there are arguably more of those than there are scenes featuring Armand. But my issue isn't really the quantity (well, partly that, sure), but rather how it’s portrayed. It’s never shown from a repulsive or unpleasant angle (I mean, the act itself is), but if you didn't have the context that they are mother and son, it wouldn't register as anything unusual. By contrast—AND I KNOW IT NOT THE SAME BUT IS THE SHOW ITSELF DO THIS PARALLEL —when Louis convinces Regina to play the role of Claudia, there’s a palpable sense of awkwardness from both of them; you see it in their expressions and gestures—Regina even wears ribbons like Claudia—and that elicits a specific reaction from the viewer. With Gabrielle and Lestat, however, the scenes go beyond merely illustrating the horrible dynamic that has Lestat in its grip; at a certain point, it just feels like someone's fetish.

Ah, the music—right, they spent a lot of money on that. Some people love it and others hate it; to be honest, I’m somewhere in the middle—there are songs I like and others I don’t. At first, I thought the idea of ​​Lestat releasing an album was fun (and if I had the chance, I might even buy it just for the laughs), but I feel like a significant amount of plot time was lost to songs. I get some of them, but there are so many concert scenes—which I thought would be tied to Akasha, but weren't—that many of them genuinely feel like filler.

So yes, concluding with this we have a non-existent storyline, plot holes the size of meteorites, characters reduced to ashes, racism, misogyny, and incest. And that is how the worst season of IWTV—I mean, The Vampire Lestat—was created. To be honest, the only good thing this season did was encourage people to read the original book (let's hope the writers and Rolin do so too, since he seems to like parading that book around without ever actually opening it). In fact, I haven't read the book either (because I'm still reading Interview with the Vampire). But if I felt disappointed without even having read it, I can't imagine how the people who read the book—hoping to see its great moments—must feel, or those of us who just wanted to watch a series and ended up with all this garbage full of racism, misogyny, and bad storytelling.