lestats stutter starts when he’s just nine years old. while i believe this can also be due to the physical and mental abuse he suffered at the hands of his father and brothers. or his illiteracy as a child. and while it probably added fuel to the fire. it’s a fact that stuttering can stem from severe child sexual abuse. when we go back into the modern timeline and lestat sees gabriella for the first time, his stutter immediately comes back. this is known as psychogenic stuttering. it appears suddenly, often triggered by something or someone, and is tied to a specific traumatic event.

when armand and daniel leak the revenge “porn” against lestat, he becomes incredibly distressed seeing it. throwing up, shaking, having a panic attack. and stuttering several different times throughout the conversation with louis. he’s trying to justify this relationship to louis, to himself, and to us as the audience, as we know through the failures. but us and louis are able to see through those cracks and are able to understand that what’s happening is wrong. and what’s happening between them is not justifiable.

and maybe a hot take…but i think louis reaction is incredibly raw, and real, to find this information out. even as cruel and heartless as he is about it. but as he understood what was going on, he immediately switches how he reacts to the situation. apologies, holds and comforts lestat, and tells him that it’s okay. grace he has never ever been given by anybody. which is all he ever wanted.

i also noticed in the bar with louis and lestat, louis asks if it ever happened before paris. lestat never answers his question. last time he tried to confront his mother about what she was doing to him, it was shut down, and immediately tells him “i love you” as a way to manipulate him further. because she knows that’s the one singular thing he wants in life from somebody. this is something she does through the entire season, so she can get her way with him.

and then i'm like "Oh. oh wait this is not ten million years long, this is still well within the normal range, it is only tipped a little bit towards a Slightly Leisurely and Cinematic Experience. Oh ok."