love will be the death of me

This is the vampire Louis Du Lac. I live in the penthouse apartment of the Al Sharaf Towers in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The security staff here is robust but mortal. My front door is always unlocked, as are the windows to my balcony, which were designed with a protective film coating for those of us "sun-challenged". So for all you cowards out there talking shit, talking about taking a run at me, hear this now and hear it plain. I own the night.

The "Come to me" of IWTV!Lestat was not only the seduction of Louis De Pointe Du Lac- it was a call to seduce us as well. It's the vampire story reeling us in, and we are both mesmerized and horrified on account of Louis. IWTV weaves its sensuality from the very first frame; Daniel Molloy in his own apartment, all alone in a pandemic. We are allowed to see him in an intimate setting. He is watching his own commercial, he is bored, he is listless and then he gets a package and suddenly he is breathing heavily- Daniel is afraid (fear and arousal both are enmeshed in vampiric stories). The way that scene is shot with Daniel going through his things to find the old recorder letting us get a glimpse of the life he has lived, to those tapes being played and the camera staying in on Daniel and letting us stay with Daniel as we hear the voices on the tape before it abruptly cuts off with the shout of a young Danny Molloy; I don't think Eric Bogosian has ever looked so good throughout IWTV/TVL as he did in that first scene. It is also here that for the first time we get to hear Louis! And oh how blessed are our ears to hear Jacob's voice in that cadence. Come to me is what he says to Daniel Molloy basically; I have watched (over) you, your whole life Daniel..Come to me. And off we go following Louis's voice to Dubai and then we are in his penthouse.

Usually it is the vampire who has to be invited in, but in IWTV we are being invited into Louis's coffin itself! ( Where's your coffin?/ You are standing in it). There's something so deliciously vulnerable in being invited into a vampire's "coffin" (where would you run to now?) and lo and behold it is here he wants to tell the journalist his story. It's intimate, vulnerable and yes it is sensuous. There's nowhere to escape, no room to move, they are trapped in the penthouse ( here's the horror, neither of them knows just how trapped they are and who has keys to the door- iPad controlled protective windows). I think we all talk about Louis's beauty but what about his sensuality? Louis is a sensuous being. All those feedings set up across from Daniel at the dinner table, the whole Rashidmand thing-> there always has been a very tangible push and pull between the interviewer and the interviewee. It's what made the Dubai setting come alive. This was what made it interesting. And not only in Dubai. Think about Louis in his red suit with Jonah. Think about Louis with Armand and gang going to hunt together for the first time. Think about him telling Armand " been thinking about you". Think about Louis and Armand's first time together and the shot of Louis in his undershirt with birth of Venus painting in the background ( if I am not mistaken), think about Louis in 1973 meeting Daniel for the first time- there's a lot going on in that convo including hints at Louis being suicidal ( what's in the bag? Is it a gun? are you an assassin? Are you here to kill me?)- but again there's always an underlying sensuality woven into these scenes. Episode 5 of s2 starts with Louis being playful with Daniel; Daniel is embarrassed with his "so we have never..." And Louis giggles out a 'No'. He goes onto tease him about if he wants to do it now since Armand lingers to watch the boats. What I am trying to say is in s1/s2 Louis has been filmed to be both beautiful and sensuous and playful in his sensuality.

I am not going to lie, this series always had a problem of subjecting Black bodies to the most graphic violence, but it also once knew how to show beauty and desire too. I will never not be mad about how Claudia and Madeline never got to kiss onscreen, some stupid decisions were made to have it so I am sure; but even then we knew how desire looks on Claudia. We saw it when the smell of Madeline's blood hits the air. Madeline getting her period and bleeding through leaving little droplets of blood all over the floor. Madeline saying she is leaving behind a trail, like in Hansel and Gretel and Claudia's fangs dropping. It's Claudia's sexual desire intermingling with her deepest wish to attain "womanhood". All of it filmed in a way that's just incredibly hot. What horror is it then that as Louis is draining Madeline, Claudia dives in for a taste? The blurring of lines and boundaries between her and her father-brother who later makes himself throw up the blood.

Vampirism is erotic. The monster has to penetrate the victim to suck out their life force to satiate itself. Think about Sheridan Le Fanu's Carmilla. Think about the ethereal vampire feverishly grabbing onto the hands of the young girl ( Laura) and confessing how she loves her. Carmilla is in parts rapturous in pleasure and in parts manic during her confession, and at night she crawls into Laura's bed to drink blood from her bosom with every intention of draining her dry.

Where is this 'terrific' eroticism in The Vampire Lestat? In IWTV, Lestat massacres the priest to get to Louis. Louis is stumbling and falling and Lestat crawls over to him, hands outstretched offering him a way to be all the beautiful things he is without the world ever hindering him from doing so. Louis accepts and of course not all of it is so simple or straightforward since he is reeling from his brother's death, but when the camera flashes onto Lestat, we see him drunk on Louis's blood. He is drunk on Louis. Again I ask you where is the horror intermingling with the erotic in TVL?

What this season has done, and which I think is another problem is that it's unnecessarily voyeuristic without having any intention to address this voyeurism in any meaningful way. Which is crazy because many interesting things could have been said about the voyueristic use of camera, in reflection of our current times where we don't really know if we will end up on the net because some asshole decided to film us and post it. But for it to be so the documentary style for the season would have had to be treated seriously and Rolin and co, just abandoned it halfway through.

Ok… okokok this is what we should be discussing right now… Louis cute shoes with a bow in them

Lestat abused Louis, so in order for Louis to get back with Lestat the show has to prove that Louis is actually just as bad as Lestat (via Claudia's condemnation and the things Louis engages in with Regina). Armand's abuse of Louis was less physically obvious than Lestat's, so in order for Louis to comfortably get back with Lestat, Armand's abuse needs to become physical.

Armand needs to be seen as evil, and Lestat needs to be seen as good, so they paint Lestat as uncaring and Armand as desperate. We can't see them hookup on screen or care about each other, because then that puts them on an equal playing field. Even though none of what happened in the 1700s should affect Louis's choice. It still feels calculated as a way to justify Loustat.

They decide they don't have time to explain DM's connection, so they create a vampiric bond for them that forces them to be connected. The apocalypse effect does the love math for them.

the whole season is transparently a meta storyline of a gay white man who believes that he's the victim of unjust persecution --

-- not any kind of systemic societal persecution, because he's too powerful and flippant for homophobia to ever touch him, nor do vampires even really want him dead because he chickens out of convincing the world that they're real --

-- but of some vague prejudice against him for existing because he's just too cool and radical, in some immaterial way that like the aesthetic rebelliousness of tim burton and rolin jones doesn't stand for anything, even any principles specific to vampires in-world.

Welcome to post 1 of many about the knits I noticed in IWTV/TVL, with suggestions for patterns to recreate these looks. First up is Louis de Pointe du Lac's cabled cardigan from Season 1, episode 5.

Louis' iconic blue cardigan was the first piece of knitting that caught my eye in this show as something truly knitworthy. It's an all-over cabled raglan cardigan with sewn-on pockets, a double knit button band, and a shawl collar. Cuffs and hems appear to be knit in 1x1 rib, and if I had to wager a guess, I'd say this was made with a heavy worsted to aran weight yarn. It's knit in a gorgeous shade of blue that reflects Louis' mood.

This cardigan (and others like it) contrast sharply with Louis's sharp suits and businesslike attire (which tend to be in warm tones). In some ways it represents the softer, domestic side of Louis - but it also reflects his depression and need for comfort in any form.

The pattern that immediately sprang to mind for me is one I've wanted to knit for a very long time, Timberline by Jared Flood. Before Brooklyn Tweed ceased yarn production, I fantasized about knitting this in Shelter in their colorway Old World.

Just look at those gorgeous Timberline sweaters! The main difference is in the types of cables and Timberline's set-in shoulder, but it otherwise captures the effortless swag and domesticity of Louis' blue cardigan.

A close runner up is the Ashby Cardigan by William Hou aka Will Knits (left), which features a drop shoulder and multiple textures. Tamarack by Jared Flood (right) features moss stitch rather than cables, but has raglan shaping.

Three more pattern options (shown L-R) include Bee's Knees, Chocolate Stout, and Oban by Thea Colman, all drop-shoulder cabled cardigans with shawl collars.

For a yarn that matches the vibe of Louis' 1930s cardigan, I'd suggest a tried and true worsted spun variety such as Kelbourne Germantown, Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride, Cascade 220, etc. Any commercial yarn will do - the pattern is the central focus so the yarn matters less.