#cdldpdl

that said, claudia is also a character within the narrative, with her own interiority and trauma and perspective. i often feel like people in the fandom say things like “claudia is never wrong!!” in a girlboss kind of way that is actually an attempt to not have to engage more deeply with the nuance of her character and relationships. but she's not some objective, all-seeing being whose word we're supposed to take as absolute fact. the story goes out of its way to remind us of this in 2x01.

claudia wrote in her diary that she doesn't dream, and we initially take that statement at face value because we have no reason not to. but later in the episode, louis remembers an instance of her dreaming as she slept beside him.

so why did she write otherwise? probably because she's traumatised and is having constant nightmares that she doesn't want to think about, prefers to push it all down and pretend they aren't happening. probably for a similar reason it takes her as long as it does to open up to louis about bruce. claudia hates feeling weak, helpless, vulnerable, so she bottles up things that make her feel that way.

right from the opening of the season, we're primed to keep this in mind. she may say things, but that doesn't necessarily mean they're true, or even that she herself fully believes them. she's complex, just like every other character on the show, and she should be allowed to be so.

@thisredwine also pointed out to me that there's also the fact that in 2x02 she assumes poc solidarity means that armand will be an ally just because he has dark skin.

we don't know it at the time, but that turns out to be a devastatingly false assumption, seeing as armand threatens her in 2x04 and lynches her in 2x07.

so when we get to 2x04 and claudia says that louis "picked another one over [her]" its important to remember that she isn't omniscient. she's a survivor of abuse who has been hurt and let down by loved ones several times and comes to a conclusion based on what she's seen and what she's experienced in the past. when she tells louis that armand just threatened her and he responds that "no, that doesn't sound like him" she thinks this is a repeat of 1x06 when louis took lestat back and was too loved up to see the danger.

it's a completely understandable conclusion to draw, based on what she's seen.

but we as the audience have seen more than she has. we've seen private moments between louis and armand that claudia wasn't privy to and throughout the episode, it could not be clearer that louis is not swooning over armand.

for one, when they're in bed after sex and armand asks the dreaded "what are we", louis isn't exactly rushing to formalise things between them. he says that companion isn't "the word [he] would use" to describe them, but is rather ambivalent as to whether armand does.

it's glaringly obvious that louis is less invested in the relationship than armand is. he's approaching it like a situationship, with no deep emotional connection. and when you factor in dreamstat's words and reactions, not only is louis not invested, he's annoyed by the whining and then pissed off about armand bringing up "the secret" (so basically implicitly threatening louis).

as another example, louis' reaction when armand comes to his balcony is... not exactly wooed.

louis' sigh and facial expression are enough to show that he's not swooning over this (he kinda looks like he just wants space and armand is smothering him). add to that dreamstat's laughter and disbelief at armand fashioning himself a romeo when he's "barely balthasar", and it's clear that louis is not feeling the romance.

and then another example in the museum when armand tells louis of his past.

despite the display of vulnerability from armand, louis still isn't in any hurry to deepen their relationship. he doesn't offer anything back to armand, no vulnerability of his own and no affection.

claudia isn't privy to any of these moments so she can't possibly know what we know about how uninvested louis is in the relationship. but there are no other scenes between louis and armand before the louclaudia argument because armand leaves the museum to go and drag claudia back and threaten her. so by the time the argument happens, louis' feelings about armand can't have changed from where we last saw them at because nothing has happened to change them. he's still not swooning! claudia's conclusion is incorrect.

so why does louis say "no, that doesn't sound like him" if he's not head over heels for armand? well, i think he simply underestimated how much of a threat armand was. he recognised that they were in danger because armand made it very clear that louis had broken several laws and should be killed for it. but armand also deliberately crafts an image of himself as passive and emotionally "weak", and especially so for louis. when he takes louis down to the tunnel to kill him, he doesn't threaten claudia directly but makes it clear that he won't look out for her because he expects her mind to break apart.

from the way armand presents things, louis recognises that himself and claudia are in danger but he thinks that because armand wants him and will break the great laws to have him (or at least will not kill louis for breaking the great laws - he doesn't force louis to join the coven, doesn't punish him for for turning claudia as a child, or for killing lestat) then so long as he gives himself to armand, they'll be somewhat safe (he's quite literally bargaining with desire).

armand actively threatening claudia is incongruous with louis' assessment of the situation so he rejects it in surprise. it's not out of some deep-rooted love for or faith in armand, because shortly after louis takes the threat of danger seriously enough to let go of dreamstat, who has been a source of comfort all episode and fully commit to the companionship with armand, taking on the dom role armand wants him to in an attempt to manage the elevated danger.

in 2x06, when louis comes home and sees claudia with madeleine, he gets upset and frustrated with her because he thinks she's messing with the delicate balance of things by disobeying armand's orders. he tells her "i had you covered", which confirms the notion that this serious companionship with armand and the d/s dynamic they adopt was supposed to act as protection for claudia.

so at no point is it ever supported in the show that louis picked armand over claudia. that said, the fact that claudia even thinks its a possibility, let alone believes it to be true, is demonstrative of just how traumatised she is and just how badly louis failed her and betrayed her trust.

in a healthy parent-child relationship (because that's ultimately how they always saw each other, regardless of what labels they used externally), the child should be assured in the knowledge that when they need their parent, the parent will always be there for them. that's not entitlement (as i've seen some people bafflingly claim), that is a parent's duty to their child.

the fact that claudia doesn't have this confidence in louis is because in 1x06 she saw him take lestat back, bring their mutual abuser back into their home and ask her to make more of an effort with him, as if she owed lestat forgiveness and kindness after he abused her. as if that wasn't enough, in 1x07 louis slammed her against the wall and choked her to protect lestat's corpse. that kind of betrayal doesn't ever go away and it colours their relationship all through season 2.

louis loves claudia and she knows it, that much has never been in doubt. but louis is also a survivor of abuse, himself traumatised, and a flawed person. as such, he hasn't been the best parent to her and that has impacted the level of trust she has in him.

almost everything louis does in season 2 is for claudia, and even the things he doesn't do for her aren't things that would be to her detriment. she's his number 1 priority. and she knows this, to an extent, but to her it's tied to the enmeshment, which is why in 2x02 she urges him to find himself outside of both lestat and herself.

but because of her broken trust in him, she doesn't have the confidence that if he's in love, he will still prioritise and protect her.

it doesn't make her love him any less. even when he calls her a burden to armand in 2x06 to try to convince him to turn madeleine, claudia is a little hurt but she knows he doesn't really mean it. if anything, she's more concerned about him, what he's given up to become this hardened version of himself.

ultimately, despite whatever anger, frustration, betrayal they feel towards each other, they still love each other fiercely and they both know that. claudia came back to paris to see louis, after all. she wasn't trying to cut him off completely, she just needed to live her own life, just like any kid that grows up and eventually moves out of their parents' home goes off and lives their own life.

even in their final moments, despite the revelations in the trial, despite her frustration at once again feeling like a roof shingle caught in storm loustat, you can still see them desperately crying out and reaching for each other.

right up until the end, the love they had for each other never wavered.

tl;dr, louis picked claudia :(