'we had what we needed from each other and our roles figured out' hmm 🤨
who was it that inspired JA for this scene...I don't rememberrrrr but it was such a good impression
daniel explaining how louis's syntax indicates he's circling something he doesn't want to address directly was actually quite interesting
when louis claims that they choose prey based on the harm they do the world it's a halfway convincing argument. but then louis says 'oh he'll make his prey beg for death. and this isn't violent. in fact it's...humane (?)' its like jesus christ so actually hunting humans and killing them for sport is bad this is a bad thing to do and also torturing them to the point where they want to die is also bad like!!!!!
daniel's flashbacks now include louis's agonized apologies and pleads. GOD...
ARMAND PRESERVES MY HAPPINESS EVEN WHEN I DON'T OR CAN'T
on god louis we are getting you OUT OF THERE!!!!
daniel asking if they had sex akahhfjsjs
goddd young daniel is so bright-eyed and naive. I do love him. he's kind of an idiot but he's supportive of louis in a very clumsy and sweet way. and he's cuter and WAY more charismatic than the angry cynic he is later in life
THE SEXY MUSIC??? DANIEL LOOKING SHY??? oh I cannot believe they didn't fuck
the fact that daniel sees the coffin and is like 'oh so you fuck in it? okay I'm down' lmao. he's into countercultures
daniel's quite astute. louis DOES seem like a veteran of many wars
he's a bright young reporter with a point of view 🥺
oh my god daniel was SO down to fuck and louis was like what are you doing. this is an Interview young man. modern day daniel SO let down. and louis like we could now lol. Crazy
daniel's so high. freaks out when louis reveals himself. starts cryinggg. ARE YOU THE ZODIAC KILLER. well he was certainly murdering gay men left and right
daniel commenting that louis just Talked without prompting. he was lonely...also just processing his daughter's recent death at the hands of his former lover
louis tearing lestat to shreds and daniel cheering him on high was So funny
this bit is wild but the 'frail, dried twigs, thin carping voice' is actually insane. Lestat???? FRAIL???!!!!
his french accent was so good. shoutout to sam reid
the elevated language for a couple of coked-up dudes ranting about an ex. very Shakespearean
I like young daniel bc he says sorry when he thinks he hurt louis :)
in s1 after louis narrates how claudia left and he felt so lonely and miserable he almost killed himself right there, and then he's like 'and this is where you said you wanted to become a vampire' I think we were all maybe comfused by how daniel got there
but this scene builds it up rly well. high, callous, losing interest in louis's heart and just hearing his story.
I COULD BE YOUR LESTAT AND CLAUDIA????? DANIEL. JESUS
the cut back to modern day is funny bc Daniel and Louis are both embarassed. daniel is like well I was stupid and a bad journalist ao maybe I should have gotten beaten up. and louis is like 😔 okay so killing you was an overreaction
personally I think killing daniel here would have been warranted plus louis gotta eat anyway but I'm a louis apologist lol
ugh this fight is so good. gotta go to bed tho
BACK. louis IS bored with armand. I think that's true. he's dull and flat and beige. suffocating! and he's a nag. actually the way that he's complaining abt armand here reminds me of how lestat used to complain abt louis - dull! uninterested in me anymore! claudia called louis the unhappy housewife in NOLA. in the 70s, it's armand who's nagging and nitpicking over their safety
complaining abt being the person the clean up after louis too...
picking LINT off the sofa???
this fight is so insane. nothing off-limits. child sexual abuse, family suicide, the deepest of traumas thrown in each other's faces. did I call this relationship stable?
AZ is great ofc but JA absolutely KILLED this scene. louis is unmoored, unhappy, dazed, angry...
armand is mad that louis is even TALKING about lestat - they haven't spoken his name once in DECADES? that sounds...unhealthy. no wonder louis is desperate to speak to someone about his life. louis even has to defend himself - I only said bad things! - because he's not allowed to still have atrong feelings for him. bc of armand sure but also bc it feels like a betrayal of claudia
'she didn't love you' man fuck you armand what's that supposed to mean
and as soon as louis remembers Paris he literally runs out and tries to kill himself. oh GOD....
and he finally remembers...daniel helps him remember...the grief, the despair. the pain, the horrific pain
pieces of his life gone! I KNEW WHO I WAS BEFORE REMEMBERING THAT!!!!
I love this line so much. he can't remember it but he tried to kill himself. what does that mean about him, his sense of self, and the people around him? his relationship?
this slides so well into a horror scene. the eerie music, the camera angles, the psychic powers, the blood, the paon, the fear. the power armand casually exerts over louis while denying him comfort or care. and yes, louis did say horrible things to armand but...so did armand. armand's acting like the only victim in this situation when 1. he hurt louis back in the same way 2. louis literally tried to kill himself immediately afterwards and 3. louis is lying helpless, grieviously wounded, and in excruciating agony in front of him.
at the risk of sounding incredibly obvious and missing the point about how abuse coxists with love: I just don't think that's how you treat someone you love!!!!
I feel like armand's love is more akin to possession of a beautiful thing. obvi so was lestat's but lestat's was warmer and in many times very sincere. I don't really see that w armand. what loving gestures do we see from him. what loving words? he didn't kill louis that one time. that was nice ig. louis liked him early on for his....mysterious sexiness ig but what is there behind it? his fragility? he uses that as a weapon to hurt louis too
the good nurse or the gremlin tonight...
their dynamic is quite interesting. not rly into it romantically but its got a lot to it
side note but louis fucking and killing hundreds of gay guys in san fran in the 70s is crazy. was this homophobic
it's interesting how louis and daniel remember DIFFERENT small details. both their memories fallible, but trying to make something cohesive
and louis trying to protect him....
oh yeah armand and daniel. I actually did miss that daniel offers sexual favors for his safety/freedom. to ARMAND too and we know HIS history. this scene is insane. daniel's actor is incredible
armand's got such fragile self-esteem that louis calling him boring is driving him to torture this poor kid bc louis likes him better than armand. all this supernatural horror torture and it's just the petty tantrum of a very pathetic man at its heart. like how the horror of the domestic violence fight last season was ultimately a petty, possessive loser who lashed out when he felt abandoned, armand and lestat were both at heart very fragile and emotionally immature men who hurt the people around them when they felt abandoned or unwanted. and I mean, because they feel entitled to comtrol and possession over louis as a person. I don't want to downplay the danger or violence of their abuse. but they're losers
also I finally get why ppl are so into DM stuff even tho I think it's stupid. ppl love torture and stuff that could be read sexually. and the scene later...the embrace of death...
armand starts to reveal his past and then is like oh right. I have horrific lifelong trauma from child sexual abuse that I don't want to talk about haha. The Eager Black Hole
this is kind of like. deep sigh. john s*lver black sails
I feel like I've downplayed that trauma in my lb bc of how armand treats louis and how he weaponizes his own vulnerability, but I really do want to acknowledge his history here and his pain. he was a sex slave for like. his entire human life starting as a very young child. and the way he talked abt the mercy of his abuser was very haunting. that man was like a god to him. marius, right? and then as a vampire he's given a job and he does it for hundreds of years. its horrifically sad. what does he even want?
anyway in the present day he's torturing his partner and this 20 yr old boy and he really seems like the kind of person to learn therapyspeak just to manipulate people with it. he KIND of does that in canon but not quite bc it's still kind of obvious
in contrast, lestat was much more umm straightforwardly abusive and domineering and patronizing. and more physically violent rather than, what? mentally? he was def emotionally violent too
louis was more aware of it but couldn't leave then either and would have killed himself without claudia then too. and he also defended lestat just like he's defending armand here
armand does eventually bring louis to the coffin and give him a LITTLE blood and guilt-trip him about still caring abt lestat and then CONTACTS LESTAT And lestat is like my love....have you harmed yourself...TELL HIM I LOVE HIM ARMAND!!! but armand can't do it...and louis is like no baby it's not like that he was just my maker! a likely story!
armand theorizing that he did this to write a book that would bring lestat back to him...I wonder if that IS true deep down. probably it was a lot of different things
okay and armand going 'I shall release you from this prison of empathy of that if what you wish' okay PRISON OF EMPATHY 🙄
armand presenting louis as having the choice between only lestat or armand is so dark, but for vampires, solo living IS very lonely and difficult. louis chooses it in the end, but it's a hard choice, and one that facilitates and exacerbates abuse...another way that vampirism enhances and illuminates issues that humans face
AND THEN MAKING LOUIS'S SUICIDE ATTEMPT ABT HIM??? 'ohhh nooo you tried to LEAVE ME by killing yourself???' dude. this isn't about you!! I mean as his partner yes he should be concerned but there's a difference between 'I'm really concerned about you how can I help' and 'will I be on suicide watch forever now?'
'have I atoned' STOP MAKING YOURSELF THE VICTIM OF HIS SUICIDE ATTEMPT!!!
he's not! doing it! to punish YOU!
this scene here between armand and daniel is truly one of the most haunting and memorable of the show. I am death and I am inevitable and I am coming for you today and it will be peaceful and you will be grateful to me. and as much as daniel cries and denies, by the end he's convinved, transfixed. yes I will come into your arms and die in them without a fuss. he's lost any hope for the future or any sense of his own worth. this is what vampires take from people - what armand taught the theater so well to do. what lestat did with glee to every human who ever offended him
but armand wasn't right! daniel didn't have a perfect life, but he became an award-winning journalist and travelled the world! of course, even a quiet and mundane or unglamorous life is worth living - miss lilly's, claudia's, ones that lestat sneers at - but it's also significant that armand is literally wrong about daniel
the analyses don't often talk about the value of human lives in favor of character and interpersonal analyses, which is a shame. like lestat's views on the value of black women's lives, of black sex worker's lives, even of louis's life as a closeted gay black man - that matters in how he targets them to take those lives from them
in the present louis claims that armand only kills people who have it coming. still, a human life is a human life.
and in 1973 it's louis who stumbles out of the bedroom, burnt to shreds, in horrific pain, to save daniel. flexing the maitre/arun dynamic, claiming that it's necessary as a testament to their companionship. louis found a way to save daniel at last
aww and their feets in the rocks together. to remember <3
louis's words to daniel made me year up. listen to me like I'm the voice of an angel! this room doesn't matter...you're not inconsequential...you're a bright young reporter...
and THEN. and then. Daniel's like huh it's strange that our memories cut out at the same time so precisely
armand returns! cool glasses. very eerie how he says verbatim what louis does. hmmMMMMM!!!!!!
