Lookie lookie what I just found
Ok but what I love about this is that the COVER of Lestat’s book, the COVER IMAGE, is him reading IWTV. That is no random paperback. The way that he’s holding it, too, is very Lestat. You can tell he’s thinking, “Well this is kind of how it happened, but overall HONESTLY Louis, I was not that big of a jerk to you and we’re gonna need to correct the record ASAP also my nails are nice.”
The short answer is Yes.
I think vampires going underground is a metaphor for when people need to withdraw from society and practice self-care. A kind of convalescence. I think that’s why AR has made such a big point about it, in terms of vampire physiology, that those who suffer physical/emotional damage and then go underground for periods of time end up much stronger for it. Same can be said of people, right?
Oh absolutely, Lestat could have bipolar depression, or manic depression, at the very least post-traumatic stress disorder… he had a very abusive childhood (and some fanfic speculates he had a history of sexual abuse as well as emotional & physical abuse).
The reason and manner in which Lestat was “given” the Dark Gift would be considered rape, as well, so even if his mortal life had been relatively normal, it wouldn’t be surprising if he developed stress-related emotional issues and coping mechanisms bc of that experience. Plus a lot of other traumatic experiences all within a short time of his turning (the forced breakup with Nicki, turning Nicki, Oedipal issues with Gabrielle, Akasha, etc).
The fact that he did the same thing to David Talbot so much later on shows just how true the line that one of those vampires said, and I’m paraphrasing, “As we go on, we become more truly ourselves.” Clearly what Magnus did to Lestat is still fresh in his mind, always there, regardless of his many triumphs in the face of adversity.
The way Lestat treated Louis and Claudia in IWTV was similar to how his father and brothers treated him growing up, who knows how much of that was nature or nurture, but the de Lioncourt men seem to have a certain attitude that’s hard to shake.
G.O.B: I’ve made a huge tiny mistake.
Episode 3×01 “The Cabin Show”
“I’ve made a huge mistake” might as well be Lestat’s catchphrase.
Lindsay: Oh really? What did he say? What was the last thing he said?
Flashback
Tobias: I just blue myself.
End flashback
Michael: He said some wonderful things.
”The One Where Michael Leaves” Episode 2×01
Edited slightly to accommodate Louis’s quote (page 31 of the Interview mass market if you want that.)
I re-read Interview recently after about ten years, and I forgot how every other line in that book is an absolute gem of Louis being ridiculous.
real acting
This is how I picture 90% of Armand and Lestat’s conversations
Basically.
Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for I am the meanest motherfucker in the valley.
okay but modern-day louis and lestat where louis is a total hipster who wears his long hair up in a messy bun and spends his nights in little coffee shops watching his beloved mortals, and lestat is still stuck in his 80s goth rocker phase and blasts the cure and bauhaus on vinyl while louis’s trying to read some poetry
^This is heartwarming ❤
Lucille: Is that for Lindsay? Because she’s not scared to eat in front of me anymore.
“Sad Sack” Episode 2×05
No Lestat, they’re for you.
Ah, there are so many. Sometimes though, when he reads, he unconsciously twists a lock of raven hair around his finger and his face becomes perfectly animated with the emotion of whatever he is reading. Sometimes his lips move too, just a little as if he were whispering the words.
Oh and that look he gets on his face when I can just tell he wants comfort but is being too strong willed to take it. His nose wrinkles and gets all screwed up and his lips press together and his brows furrow and he just looks every bit the wounded animal. So precious.
I-want-my-IWTV 