cool

Thank you SO VERY MUCH for your time as a reader and as an artist!

This is remarkable. I am really just so moved by this!

but look, I'm sure it's in good faith, but most of the 'defence against criticism' don't seem to be engaging with actual criticism of the season?

here's a list of stuff I've seen.

"People don't want believe that lestat was a victim of sexual violence." -> this one stands out the most to me because....huh?? yes we do?? I thought we were going to be delving into lestat's past to understand why he keeps perpetuating the cycle of abuse. Instead, we barely get any scenes of lestat's past and this season seems more concerned with making everyone else more evil (e.g. gabrielle/a, louis, armand, claudia) to absolve lestat of most of his terrible actions. Tvl apologists seem to think that us critics don't "understand" morally grey male victims when... yes we do!!!! we understand that untreated abuse can manifest in more abuse... that's exploration we wanted to see! maybe tvl apologists do not want to see the nuance they claim they understand

"they're all horrible people! why are you watching a gothic vampire show if you want morally good characters" first of all, this season is barely gothic. it's campy gorey drama at best. and also... erm who said i want morally good characters. they're all killers i've known since the pilot. My point is that these characters are not morally grey ways that is consistent with their writing in previous seasons or the books (louis, armand and claudia in particular!!!!).

"tvl is structured so chaotic and disjointed because that is how lestat's mind/character is." no. he is. is not!!!! In both the books and the previous seasons, lestat can wax poetic lines like it's nothing. Yes, he kept his past hidden from louis and claudia, but by tvl he also wants his story to be told!!!

"the violence against louis and claudia isn't racist, it's in the books." ah yes, the books where louis and claudia were Black. Also, this argument is weird because the books had armand chopping nicki's hands off and throwing him to the fire. the books showcased magnus turning lestat in excruciating detail. The book showcases many instances of violence against its white characters. i could go on, but the show however, clearly has a pattern of showing Black people being brutalised, and cannot do the same for it's white characters. both louis and lestat's heads were chopped off but only one was shown being brutally tortured. if this type of violence was occurring to characters of all races, it would appear a lot less racially charged.

"louis perspective wasn't accurate. louis was a liar. louis was a pimp." shutupshutupshutup. this obsession with "humbling" louis needs to be studied. It's clear that the writer's have some weird distaste for louis as well. I don't understand it.

"it's lestat’s unreliable narration..." why the fuck am i watching this show. if everything is unreliable and past scenes are retconned constantly, why am i wasting my time