𝖁𝖎𝖗𝖌𝖎𝖓𝖎𝖆

Since you could watch the first 6 episodes as a whole without waiting for a week in between, did you thibk there was a pacing issue especially with the devil's minion scenes? I'm glad we're getting there and it seems like there is so much more coming, but the scene in episode 5 felt weirdly rushed and out of place to me. So far I haven't done a rewatch of the released episodes, and maybe it works better with a fresher memory of episode 4, but I was a bit taken aback by Armand info dumping on Daniel.

Soo... die it feel weird to you too? And is there more to come in the bext episode that made this scene (with aaaall this information) necessary?

Mmmm....I'm not really sure how to answer this.

I mean, obviously my perception will be different by default, because I did get to binge the episodes.

As far as DM goes, that didn't feel rushed to me just because I already anticipated it, you know? I've held the belief since S1 that "the chase" aspect of their relationship already happened in the past between San Fransisco and Dubai. So having Armand confirm that was just a checkmark to me. I'm also taking into consideration that these DM drops are only seeds, because Rolin is playing the long game. What he's setting up now will come into play in the future and yes, those bits of info do become necessary for what we see with DM in Episode 6, because I don't think a certain something in Episode 6 would've been feasible without Daniel knowing what Armand told him in Episode 5, but again, obviously some people might disagree with that after they see the episode.

Pacing issues as a whole? Not exactly. S2 had the pacing issues. Time was wasted on things that were totally unnecessary when that time should've been devoted to the reveals in 2x08. I'm not really seeing that in S3. I know others disagree and feel more time should've been spent on the flashbacks, but that would've been for just pure fan indulgence as the main beats from the book are still there in the show, even with the limited flashbacks. In other words, the meaning isn't lost, whereas with the pacing issues in S2, the meaning of the reveals in 2x08 didn't have the proper time to unfold and marinate. We didn't need entire episodes dedicated to theater shit. With S3, the things we are spending time on are very important to establishing Lestat's story and the story overall. There's not anything that could be cut that wouldn't hinder the story, imo.

i do find it interesting that that is what prompts him for a second to verbally be like “wait a second she was a bad mother” before (crushingly) going to back to “but i am no longer a toddler and can do things to make you interested in me now.”

anyways i just want to hug baby and current lestat. i would love to hear about your stick game.

What struck me the most about that is the fact it was a look at Lestat's spirit.

We saw it with the ice cream scoop —

This is what BabyStat would've been like with his sticks. Finding the joy in simple things and engaging with it in delighted whimsy.

And instead of having love for her inherently good and gentle child, she just leaves him.

It leaves an impression on Lestat. He's "too much" and it's "his" fault that she leaves. It's a devastating blow of damage to his development and his psyche, and it does go a very long way in explaining why he operates the way he does. It also reframes a lot of his more....let's say unhinged moments with Louis, such as "I heard your hearts dancing!" because that was never about the relationships with Jonah or Antoinette. That was always about Louis' seeming rejection of Lestat for himself "What can I say? I'm a lot. I'm not perfect." and it spiraled back to these horrors like Gabriella abandoning him at a river as a baby just because he annoyed her with his wonder over sticks.

He's been told his entire life that he's just this colossal mistake and that he's unworthy of unconditional love without any expectations on his part.

It breaks my heart and even with all that damage, he still maintains that tender spirit, and we see it demonstrated all throughout S3, such as when he buys candy to give out on Halloween. I mean, that's him. That's Lestat and no matter how much he's used and abused, his spirit cannot ever be broken, and that's why he's such a beautiful character and such an inspiration. He represents strength and hope and love and resilience. The "failure" makes him better, and I just love how the season is truly bringing that to the forefront, because it's directly from Lestat's arc in the book canon.

That's the epitome of Lestat right there. ^^ That's BabyStat with his sticks and BabyFledglingStat with his ice cream scoop. 🥹♥️

It could, yes.

Rolin actually said that they'll probably revisit that scene later because there are things that Lestat doesn't know while he's recording The Failures: https://www.ign.com/articles/the-vampire-lestat-showrunner-interview-episode-5-new-york

Yep.

And that's highly interesting! Combine that with Rolin saying we're already two moves ahead in the opening auction scene than what we're even seeing in that scene....yeah. Once we get into the present timeline, all bets are off.

Also I CANT WAIT FOR THIS SUNDAY. I think Episode Six might kill me.

I do watch Autumn, yes.

She's one of the rare good eggs in this fandom.

I did get 'Tis Pity She's a Whore, but I simply have no idea what all the numbers are that Nicky is shouting, or, for that matter, what he wrote on the mirror.

Google was no help. Shocker, I know.

It is a puzzle, yes. More layers than a cake. 😅

Rewatches are of the utmost importance, and it does help to make notes. I have pages of shorthand notes for each episode that I have to compile into coherent rundowns, and that's usually when I do my most thinking and piecing the puzzle together.

since daniel mentioned that louis told him that lestat was a stutterer as a child, do you think there is an indication or something that's still coming where we see louis basically react to it? or maybe react is the wrong word, but i'd love to see - after we saw daniel pestering lestat about the stutter and also how awful lestat's brothers were to him about it - how louis would, let's maybe say, work with it, if it happens while lestat is with him

again this might be a really unimportant detail to the story (NOT saying lestat's stutter is unimportant, just that this detail stuck to me so much compared to what's been going on in the rest of the story) and my ask really may be too blunt XD sorry

anyway i love your blog and i also love that you've given me a lot of hope again after escaping the hating hellscape that is the fandom side on twitter😵‍💫 thank you for that

I try. 😅💕

As for the stutter, well, Louis already knows about it, right?

There are things in Episode 6 that are treated with nonchalance (as in — no grand reactions from the characters) as a testament to the fact that Louis already knows Lestat and Lestat already knows Louis.

That's one of the aspects that took me by surprise this season. A lot of reveals to the audience aren't framed as huge beats between the characters exactly because those reveals already existed between the characters, and they're used as a demonstration of the intimacy and also to hammer home to the audience that certain elements of the tale from S1/S2 weren't true.

Apart from the narrator aspect, it seems that the fandom at large has also become really good at ignoring things they don't want to acknowledge, like the new context for the drop. When you hinted at the new context before the episode aired, I expected it to be far subtler than what they went with. And yet, dead silence...

I mean, it really raises a lot of questions.

For one, they're having meltdowns over the "writing" instead of stepping back and asking themselves why things would be written the way they are unless, I don't know, a story is being told.

For another, the excuse of Lestat "lying." Yeah, we're spending all this time on this story just to have everyone be lying in the end and nothing be true. That's absolutely nonsensical, and it's demonstrating the lowest levels of intelligence (or lack thereof entirely) that they cannot step back and understand that what they were told in S1/S2 was the lie hence why the show is being written the way it is now and that it directly correlates with the book canon.

And yes, the silence always speaks volumes. To be fair, I was approaching the Amel context with the POV of fully knowing this fandom needs things directly spelled out before they'll barely comprehend it or begrudgingly acknowledge it. As you said, they've all gone quiet on that, because it wasn't subtle. The show made the direct connection of Amel being the cause for the drop, yet to hear this fandom tell it, that context "changes nothing." Mmmm....yes, it does change things, but as with everything else, we can't acknowledge that yet until the show spells it out down the road, and then they'll all quietly shift their stance to "I knew it all along!"

Uh, no. You did not know it all along, and you actively villainized those of us who did know and tried to explain it to you, but I digress.

It was the same with the revisit to the fight in 2x07 with the context of Louis being the one beating Lestat combined with the context of the truth about Claudia's turning. That....changed everything, yet we still have people refusing to engage with that new information and to acknowledge how it rearranges the previous framing of what they were told in S1.

And, unfortunately, that pattern of ignoring reality continues. They all parrot the same talking points, yet everything they say is easily dismantled with actual facts from the show.

Rinse. Repeat.

It is the Loustat song, yes. ♥️

??? We see him push back at the start of the episode when he’s reminded of all the times she left him.

That's not pushback.

This entire sequence is still performing the role she wants from him — sexual/vessel. It's the same mask he puts on in Episode 1.

The pushback doesn't *start* until he leaves the studio to go to Louis. (That's the only time he leaves, btw. When Louis calls. He abandons her quest to flee to Louis' side. Quite the statement within itself.)

And guess what?

As for what I meant about the canon love confession from Louis I was just referencing what followed with him being taken and Lestat believing he could be dead. Obviously coming into fandom later I knew that wasn't the case by the time I read the books but it was a moment where I remembered being excited he finally said it and then worried about what could happen to Louis. By the time they were reunited in the Prince Lestat books I was beyond thrilled about their relationship and getting to see Louis by his side supporting Lestat. Their earlier moments in Merrick were breathtaking too though I hate that David was the narrator there because I would have rather followed them deeper in the aftermath of Louis's revival than David. Anyway I was just implying about Louis being kidnapped there and not that their relationship had taken any devastating turns as I loved how strong they were together when they were finally reunited.

Oh! You're talking about Blood Communion! 😅

I thought you were referring to the love confession in QOTD!

Yeah, that moment in BC always gets me, because Lestat literally cannot respond to it. He's so overwhelmed by it that he just can't. Words are not enough to encapsulate what Louis means to him.

I don't know how the show will spin the first love confession from Louis, but I would imagine it happens like it did in the books — after Akasha.

Or! They could surprise us and give it to us before, but I think Rolin would be that cruel and would delight in the angst of it all.

I just know the concept of Louis being worried and/or protective of Lestat scratches an itch, and Lestat being worried and/or protective of Louis scratches an itch.

Apparently they did keep the illiterate plot, because Sam's post-Episode 3 interview with Playbill confirmed the illiteracy, and he said Lestat was reciting those prayers as he'd "heard them from the pulpit" instead of having actually read them.