most analyses of lestat and gabrielle's "consensual" incestuous relationship overlook the fact that gabrielle is the one with the emotional power. her lifelong detachment from lestat's needs outside of her own create a dynamic where lestat is in a state of perpetual age regression because he is willing to accept whatever scraps of affection she might offer. his sexual attraction to her is born from this deprivation. it is an attachment wound that he misinterprets as desire because he has never known love from her in any other form. this also contributes to his hypersexual tendencies and his need for constant physical validation/reassurance because he must be effectively consumed in order to feel loved. this is reflected in his relationship with louis, where he seeks outside gratification from antionette because louis does not meet his extremely specific needs that were encoded by gabrielle. i think it's reductive to say that gabrielle "groomed" him (especially within the book, though this may be emphasized more in the show), but an argument can be made regardless of vampires existing outside the laws of human morality and sexual norms. there is also the issue of enmeshment, as gabrielle merely sees lestat as an extension of herself ("a secret part of her anatomy"), and not as his own person. it's often speculated that the scene where lestat kills the wolves is actually a metaphor for gabrielle giving birth to him, because she is the one who amplifies lestat's sense of violence and masculinity as a form of liberation from their shared struggle, so she might live vicariously through him. gabrielle also experienced gendered violence throughout her entire mortal life and was a victim of marital rape, and she thus views femininity as a form of weakness, so she assumes the dominant role in her relationship with lestat and projects her values onto him. their trauma bond contributes to a disorganized attachment style in which maternal and erotic roles collapse into one another, further destabilizing lestat's agency. i might write more about how this affects lestat's perception of gender later, but for now my main point is that incest is never consensual or mutually empowering, because it is always structured by an inherent imbalance of emotional authority and identity formation that predates any supposed "choice."

what iwtv the show has done well is deduce how much of louis’s first interview is really just an attempt to exorcize or consolidate his attraction to lestat, primarily through emasculation. in both the book and the show louis does this by opining how feeble and incapable lestat is, which clashes with how fearful and reverent louis becomes at the sound of lestat’s footsteps, how offhandedly he rhapsodies about his strength or clings to him in moments of peril. but i think hands down the funniest and most flagrant example of this is when book louis is like “and then i saw armand’s masculine face, more masculine then i’d ever seen lestat’s” and then you keep reading and find out armand looks like castrato ariana grande

the thing about ldpdl is yes he did all that but best believe he is pretty enough to get away with all that & then some

Why don't they make stained glass fish tanks? Give those fish Catholic guilt

fascinated by the implication that it's the stained glass that gives catholics the guilt

I've been put in the tank 😔

i know the way people talk about their pets now is probably how we’ve been doing it for all of history. a cat owner in ancient rome saw their cat lounging on the dining pillows and commented “he thinks himself to be the senator claudius 🤣”

The first attested cat in Japan was given to a young 9th century emperor and his diary about it includes such gems as 'I affixed a bow about its neck, but it did not remain for long.", "The color of the fur is peerless. None could find the words to describe it, although one said it was reminiscent of the deepest ink.", "When it lies down, it curls in a circle like a coin. You cannot see its feet. It’s as if it were circular Bi disk." and "I am convinced it is superior to all other cats.” Basically posting about how his void is the best little void and so good at getting really round

Diversity hire bryson ur absolutely slaying

hi everybody if there is a food or medicine recall and it is only an issue in the USA can we please make sure that this is mentioned somewhere in the post so that people don't have to hunt through articles and comments and ask follow up questions to make sure we don't have to freak ourselves or our friends/family out about the food we eat or the meds we take. peace and love! and sorry about the recalls!