Do you think Lestat's outburst against Claudia before the drop, is also informed by his relationship to Gabriella? Doing everything he can to make Gabriella love him- the incest ( even though he doesn't say it, there must be some revulsion subconsciously). The love perverted by Gabriella-> unconditional between Louis and Claudia. In his jealousy he says some crude and unthinkable things about Louclaudia. None of his parents were ever there for Lestat-Gabriella never was his immortal companion. Louis was ready to be so for Claudia.
About 90% of Lestatâs feelings about LouClaudia are related to Gabriella. The last 10% is more about Lestat projecting his grief over Nicki onto Claudia. But thatâs a diff convo.
So yes, Lestatâs reaction to the love between LouClaudia is heavily based on the traumatic relationship with his own mother. But imo itâs about more than the unconditional love between them. Itâs about their enmeshment and Louisâ dependency on Claudia. LouClaudia had the unhealthy dynamic Lestat wishes he had with Gabriella.
Young Lestat & Gabriella looked a lot like LouClaudia. Bonding with each other to a heightened degree due to the patriarchal abuse in their household.
Similar to Louis, Gabriella projected her own identity onto Lestat. However, the difference is Gabriella turned their dynamic into sexual assault. She felt empowered living vicariously through Lestat, while at the same time feeling empowered by hurting and controlling him.
On the flip side, Louis seeks redemption and purity through Claudia. He feels his life can finally have value by identifying himself solely in relation to her (âWho are you, Louis?â âIâm your brother.â) He is not living through her, he is being saved through her.
Both GabiLou reached for their ideal selves through LesClaudia, but where Lestatâs masculinity was the goal for Gabriella, Claudiaâs innocence was the goal for Louis. (And both were false perspectives, mind you, but thatâs also a different convo. Iâm going to kms with all these possible tangents!!)
So LouClaudiaâs relationship does not and would not ever turn sexual, but it was emotionally incestuous. Their identities blended together and eliminated the very needed boundaries that are supposed to exist between parent/child or brother/sister.
The âtwo blood fat cocksâ line in S2 was funny from an outside pov, but what siblings are actually saying that to each other?!
The Loustat sex scene where Claudia telepathically talks to Louis is referenced often, but even before that.
Lestat wasnât wrong that Antoinette should generally be his and Louisâ business rather than hers. But LouClaudia (as one identity) felt she had the place to get involved.
And even before that, before the drop, Louis became despondent when Claudia went off on her college phase. Itâs one thing to feel guilt given they just had an argument when Claudia left out the door, but Louis practically fell apart. And stayed this way for years!
I say all this to point out that Louis & Claudiaâs relationship, while beautiful and full of love, was also unhealthy.
And it was the way they were unhealthy that Lestat was envious of. Lestat projects onto Claudia a LOT and the older she got, the more he saw of himself in her. And this viewpoint leads him to becoming paranoid about LouClaudia given what happened with him and Gabi. Except there is no sex(ual assault) involved. Only emotional codependency. And this, ironically, makes Lestat even more furious about it.
He does not want to be in a sexual relationship with his mother, but he does want to be in a codependent relationship with his loved ones. He wanted Gabriella to âbelongâ to no one except himself, and the same with Louis. He wants all of their attention all the time, and wants to be needed & sought after by them always.
He wouldâve done anything to have a mother whoâd waste away by the simple suggestion he go somewhere by himself. He wouldâve done anything to have a mother who would want to forever share a coffin with him and have little to no interest in separating.
Louis is not ever abandoning Claudia, the only way sheâd gain independence is by being the one to leave him (and the second time she tries to in S1, Louis literally plans to kill himself the morning after. He could not live without Claudia!) Itâs the direct opposite of GabiStat where Gabriella routinely leaves him behind without a care in the world. Lestat wanted that part of Louisâ attachment to Claudia. The ruinous devotion with no threat of abandonment ever. Where separation would feel like the equivalent of death for both of them.
One of the biggest reasons I think Lestat fell in love with Louis during their courtship era is because he could see how full of love and affection Louis was when it came to the people he cared about. Itâs a trait they both share, being lover boys, while also being complementary: Lestat feeling wholly unloved and Louis overflowing with his capacity to love.
But when Louis gets turned and Lestat stops being able to read his mind, and they stop having sex, and, presumably, stop sharing blood, Lestat feels denied this aspect of Louis while believing Claudia is receiving all of it.
Lestat wants the love and emotional intimacy, but more pointedly he wants the enmeshment. He wants the âIâll completely fall apart or even kill myself if you leaveâ, he wants the codependency. And it all ties back to Gabriellaâs abuse as her relationship with Lestat was at the extreme other end in terms of affection and care. Because of how deprived of love Lestat has been his entire life, he craves the near-obsession toxic kind. LouClaudiaâs codependency was his most desired kindâve dynamic to have with someone, and the fact he witnessed it every single day drove him mad.
Mind you, LouClaudiaâs enmeshment is a result of Lestatâs own abuse towards them. He played a role in creating the very relationship he always wanted. Just that its foundation is built as an outlet from him, their own messed up safe space. Making the cycle never ending where Lestat abuses LouClaudia -> LouClaudia grow closer to each other in response -> Lestat feels more excluded and the abuse gets worse. And it just kept going until you got the drop and again and again before exploding as Mardi Gras.
A lot of what happened at Rue Royale were the three of them projecting onto each other. We know Louis loves Lestat & Claudia equally. In 1x05, Louis doesnât even actually agree to leave with Claudia and abandon Lestat. He wants to be with them both. And if S2 Dreamstat isnât a reflection of Louisâ cavernous grief during Claudiaâs college phase then idk what is. But it really is about Lestat projecting his own trauma, desires, and fears onto LouClaudia that makes things spiral into hell.
This isnât to say Louis was completely blameless. He wasnât. 2022 Louis looked back and acknowledged that during Claudiaâs college phase, he took satisfaction in provoking Lestat. In his depression, he wasnât only sad but was also weaponizing his own guilt against Lestat. And so after years of this, Claudia does nothing but walk through the door and instantly receives a gentle, worshipful hug from Louis. On top of everything else, itâs contrasts like these that also unravelled Lestat, who laser focuses on the negatives of his and Louisâ relationship while only seeing the positives of Louisâ relationships with other people.
But overall, yes. A lot of what upset Lestat about LouClaudia was a trauma response from his relationship with Gabriella. Unholy Family is an extremely complex dynamic that you could spend years talking about, and this is definitely one aspect of them.
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Personally I think the âteen Lestat reaches out for Gabi while his brothers attack him but she does nothingâ scene, parallels more with Claudia screaming âyouâre gonna let him do this to me?!â when Lestat got physical after reading her diary post-Charlie and Louis looked away.
I suppose the GabiStat moment can parallel with Louisâ depression during Claudiaâs college phase. From Lestatâs POV specifically, he was feeling neglected / shut out by someone he loves and like he was alone in the present family dynamic. But other than reading also being involved, the two situations feel quite different to me.
But regarding the Claudia scene, both are moments of a (relative) child begging for their parentâs help against domestic abuse and pointedly being denied. Passivity that emotionally hurts the child just as much as the physical violence theyâre experiencing.
Of course the situations still have their differences with the whole killing and eating people partâŠ. but you could also parallel Claudia recklessly / poorly burying her kills with teen!Lestat recklessly / poorly trying to buy the entire troupe a round at the inn. Overindulgence that impacts the whole family and ultimately gets them in trouble. Either way, whether itâs Claudia hunting alone or Lestat performing with the troupe, both were striving for independence.
Alongside this, LouStatâs anger in that moment was heightened because of the âunkindâ words Claudia wrote in the privacy of her diary, similar (but not the same) to the Marquis and brothers growing more furious the more TeenStat âtalks backâ and defends himself at the table. So in these moments, TeenStat and Claudia are not only being punished for seeking independence and for the way they prefer to express themselves, but also for not being eternally grateful for their abusive households.
TeenStat and Claudia were both severely unhappy with their living situations and desperate for an outlet, safety and exposure be damned. So for the parent they trust most and hope would support them in times of trouble, to look away and refuse them this, is a betrayal to the connection they believed the two of them had. Claudia & TeenStat had hoped Louis & Gabi respectively wouldnât let them suffer alone, only for them to do so.
Either way you look at it, GabiLou & LesClaudia parallels really are all over unholy family.
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