LoustatWorld

SO THIS IS WHY TVL'S EPISODES ARE NAMED AFTER CITIES??? OH ROLIN YOU GENIUS

Ok ok OK you guys probably do not have any idea who Italo Calvino was (best Italian writer of the last 100 years) who wrote this masterpiece (my favourite book) and watching Lestat throwing it at Daniel??? Rolin I'm at your doorstep. Lemme introduce you to:

"Le Città Invisibili"

The book is framed as a conversation between the Mongol emperor Kublai Khan, and Marco Polo. Now, Marco's name was as famous as a ROCK STAR of his era, his travel book (IL MILIONE) written while in prison a best seller. Italo wrote brief prose poems describing 55 fictitious cities that are narrated by Polo, many of which can be read as commentary on culture, language, time, MEMORY, DEATH, or THE ODYSSEY OF RECOLLECTION. Cities made of spiderwebs, sounds, abandoned cities, cities that look completely different when you enter its walls - you should read it. Short dialogues between Kublai and Polo (ALMOST LIKE AN INTERVIEW YOU MIGHT SAY) are interspersed every five to ten cities discussing the same topics. These interludes between the two characters are no less poetically constructed than the cities, and form a framing device that plays with the natural complexity of language, stories and LIES. Kublai also asks about a city Polo never mentioned, his hometown of Venice. Polo replies, "Every time I describe a city I am saying something about Venice." Now, we are listening to the voice of Lestat in his "failures" collection, which are like the chapters of his autobiography. As this wave from memories flows in, the city soaks it up like a sponge and expands. The episodes have been so far extremely hectic, hard to focus on, full of little lies and exaggerated scenes - seen through the main character's imaginative eyes. Cities, like dreams, are made of desires and fears, even if the thread of their discourse is secret, their rules are absurd, their perspectives deceitful, and everything conceals something else.

The ending is a warning against despairing:

"The inferno of the living is not something that will be; if there is one, it is what is already here, the inferno where we live every day, that we form by being together."

I loved the music. I loved it. It was compelling me forward, pulling me through the perennial walls of my psyche. And I thought, why not ride it to blindness? 'Cause it seemed possible this was the muddy bottom, and on the other side, a marble floor polished to the horizon. Music, in its purest expression, would make me worse, and then make me better. Bring on the muses.

It's Louis smirking at Armand attempt at bidding for Lestat's items, because Louis is outbidding Armand, again and again.

(And Armand is exasperated.)

Oh, and for the record, he is doing this in harmony with Lestat, who is imho in Raglan's body, and if you listen very closely you can hear their heartbeats sync as "Raglan" walks by.

And "Raglan" does not behave like Raglan, and if I were to guess, I'd say that we're at the end arc of "The tale of the Body Thief", and this auction is either the "real Raglan's" attempt at making money with Lestat's items, OR - more likely, imho - an attempt at drawing Raglan out with that bottle of Lestat's, with the Queen's, blood.

That is my take on the matter.

And I can only beg you guys to actually look at expressions and what they actually do there. Please. That's not "hand gestures" at each other?!?!!

That is BIDDING at an AUCTION.

And why and where Armand lost an eye? How and when Louis lost a leg?

i love whatever's wrong with him and his ego <3