Today, again on the recommendation of @i-want-my-iwtv, I visited Oak Alley Plantation, the plantation Pointe Du Locke was based on, and the filming location for Pointe Du Locke in the film.
Once again I have captioned each of these photos with where they appear in the film/their relevance to the series. If you would like to see the other photos I took/their info just message me.
Fun fact about this location – Brad Pitt returned to the NOLA area after IWTV for 12 Years a Slave, and Oak Alley was the neighboring plantation set for that film. He occasionally visits on his own and stays in one of the guest houses.
This is great @stardustschild! ❤ I’m glad you took my suggestion and visited Oak Alley Pointe du Lac Plantation and shared your lovely photoset with us ^______^
I had to pull this comparison out, of the dining room:
Request for Louis and Lestat “KISSY KISSY”. Louis is trying to be coy and act like he doesn’t dig this but…. Anyway, this scene is maybe one of the times Lestat mentions in TVL where Louis would come to him desperate for affection and to be reminded that Lestat desires him.
♛I certainly do use emojis, I can have whole conversations through emojis, conveniently. >:} and >:C are favorites…
I often prefer the emojis made by letters to the more modern preset versions, as I started using them before the presets existed, and I find that they are more vague in simplified form, and can be more effective that way. These two are nowhere near the same emotion:
The older version conveys dissatisfaction layered with ennui, possibly disgust, or resignation. The drawn version is more pleased with itself, teasing. Of course they each have their use, some of the preset icons are excellent for quick requests…
To Louis: this message, for “Thirsty?” I had the droplet icons modified in our phones:
or:
To Louis, when he refuses:
To Louis when he puts his foot down about it:
Of course I very much like to send him barrages of flowers, hearts, and such, on a whim.
…And it irritates me beyond measure when he replies with this, repeatedly:
This could mean I am in for a serious tongue-lashing, or, a pleasurable tongue-lashing. He’ll keep me guessing until we’re face-to-face.
i was just kinda toying around with facial expressions and then suddenly noticed that one of them looked like that cat at knifepoint meme??? and i mean what’s more hannibal than loving the fact that you’re being threatened with a blade
//ooc: This is another fairly old ask, from November, 2017. I think anon was trying to rile Lestat by calling Louis “a sad sack of a man and doesn’t really seem to be worth loving.” Limiting him to just being “beautiful.” And while it is fun to rile Lestat and see how he reacts, idk… I was kind of taken aback by this and I had too many thoughts about it to have Lestat respond flippantly, which he would have. I think Lestat either gets defensive about loving Louis, or just dismisses these kinds of comments, one less person for him to compete with for Louis’ attention, lol.
TL;DR: I think when ppl ask that, part of where they may be coming from is that THEY feel like a “sad sack” who’s maybe not worth being loved, especially by the main character in a series, a flashy glittery murder machine. They worry that even if they’re loved for being “beautiful” that that really isn’t enough for a relationship, and that’s absolutely true, if we’re defining beauty as superficial characteristics. The beauty of Louis, to me, is in his character, and the emotions of the scene.
I’ve written a lot about what draws me, as a reader, to love Louis, probably the best stuff is in my #we appreciate and love louis in this house tag. But I’ll try not to go overboard and answer you here, anyway!
I think the deal with describing Louis as *~SO beautiful~* is partly that, hey, it’s fun to do, like having a favorite flower, and AR takes the opportunity to remind us of it, and put the camera on him in a scene, so we know he’s present. It also serves a purpose, we usually get at least a scrap of context about him and/or the scene:
“I glared at him, at the sharp graceful angles of his imperturbable face, […] his wide-set eyes, with their fine rich black lashes. How perfect the tender indentation of his upper lip.”-Lestat, The Tale of the Body Thief
^Let’s take this line and unpack it a little:
Lestat glares at Louis. –> Lestat is clearly pissed.
Louis’ imperturbable face –> Louis is not scared of Lestat being pissed.
And then Lestat lavishes this extra description on him, appreciatively. Attention on the lip area, now we’re picturing him pointedly staring there, which might precede a kiss, so we can infer that Lestat desperately wants to kiss him, probably. What I get from all that is the exquisite tension of Lestat wanting someone he can’t have, someone he treasures and wants even MORE bc of the difficulty.
It’s the tension of Lestat and other characters pining for Louis that AR wrings every drop out for us, she’s showing us how helpless these other characters are that they can only try to capture Louis with descriptions since he defies being owned by anyone. Unrequited love is a powerful thing.
Bringing these back, in case anyone else missed them and want to indulge in some Louis praise/discussion:
We can find ourselves slipping into the characters we love and identify with. Some ppl find Lestat relatable in his lust for life, self-centeredness, refusal to quit, constantly screwing up and berating himself in the narrative (but rarely being able to outright apologize to those he hurts)… a flawed character for sure but an inspiring one.
I think some ppl who relate to Louis and feel less flashy, less glamorous, there’s smtg very appealing about how such a character could be so idolized by the more flashy and glamorous one. What could such a *rockstar* like Lestat find attractive in Louis?? You said yourself Louis is a sad sack. And yes, beauty is not enough to keep a relationship going. But, as I mentioned above, Louis’ beauty is often described in a context that charges it with the emotions of the scene. At least to my reading, there’s more conveyed than just eye color.
Still, why wouldn’t Lestat demand someone who was more like himself?
But here’s the thing I think a lot of ppl miss when they’ve only seen movie!IWTV, or only read a few of the books.
I personally believe that Lestat sees in Louis a similarly wounded soul with a lust for life. At their core, neither really want to die. Louis kept getting into fights with ppl bc he couldn’t kill himself as a mortal. Lestat has stubbornly refused to die his entire life and has had plenty of reason to want death. They’ve both almost killed themselves and been brought back. There’s a similar torment in them dealing with their natures.
As an anon put it so eloquently: “I think ppl forget that Louis is just as passionate and vengeful as Lestat, it’s just that he isn’t as vocal or showy about it. He’s more intimate and intense.”
The way they communicate/express themselves, and the way they practice self-care is vastly different. Lestat builds up his beautiful shell with retail therapy, redecorating and refurbishing his dwellings, and attending all kinds of shows and making elaborate plans with his kills, just spoiling himself silly. Always down for indulging his senses. He’s chasing new experiences, learning the new slang, trying to keep himself in the latest fashions. Novelty.
Louis prefers his nights at home, low-drama, in his own creature comforts, with his books and poetry to escape into. We don’t know much of what he’s read but he seems to want to spend eternity reading. What is reading? Even if it’s nonfiction, it’s learning, being told a story, being more informed. It’s novelty, too. Escapism through the imagination.
And their personalities seem to complement each other. Lestat’s lust for adventure spices up Louis’ otherwise too-calm existence. Louis’ calm and dignified manner brings Lestat back down to earth when he gets too untethered. Their bickering is bc they care for each other, can see beneath each other’s disguises. Louis sees the frightened boy inside the frustration that makes Lestat lash out and attack first. Lestat sees the potential in Louis of someone who, if he could get over his inhibitions, could experience so much more in his life.
“…but if I did have to choose, the companion would be Louis. My longest most enduring friendship and love affair in this world was with Louis. And though his limitations can be maddening, they can also be as inspiring to me as his virtues… the best choices we make are not always the wise choices. Sometimes they are intensely emotional choices. And I’ve always had a deep Romantic respect for emotion. My love for Louis transcends wisdom. And I may need the pain as much as the consolation that an eternal relationship with Louis would involve.“
^This is one of those moments I talk about where I feel like she recaptures the old magic, taps into the vein (pun intended) that got us all addicted to this series in the first place. Why I can’t just discard the crackier later books. She’s not all that specific here, but it’s believable. At least, to me. Lestat admits that Louis’ limitations (and this can be so many things, things Lestat disagrees with him about as well as things Louis refuses to do) can be maddening, and inspiring.
And he admits that his love for Louis transcends wisdom. That may be a cop-out answer, but I’ve felt that kind of love in my life. Inexplicably bound to someone, despite the math of the personalities not seeming to mesh.
Love works in mysterious ways. Even for beautiful sad sacks and the arrogant bastards who love them ❤
♠ *a smile tugs at his lips, considering his responses*
*writing:*“By now, after decades of his antics, he hardly has any new tricks to pull, just variations on the old ones. And I know how to firmly put him in his place when necessary. So, I’d say, not terribly hard.”
*Louis stretches, glances at Lestat across the room* “It has been a learning experience, shall we say? I had to learn his noises, his expressions. He doesn’t always say what he means, or mean what he says. He also knows how far he can push me before I’ll snap. Still, he has to test that boundary.”
“One might think that needing to learn his language renders him unlovable. On the contrary, I understand now that his pestering about my fashion choices, and the like, it isn’t simple berating, it’s more that he wants my attention, like a puppy nipping at the fingers of his human companion. No harm is actually intended, it’s merely a less vulnerable means of begging for attention and care.”
“ ‘Putting up with’ also includes the situations he hurls himself into despite my advice, and I do fear for his safety more often than I’d like. Strong as he is… I don’t want to think of him truly in peril. Yet. He insists on testing those boundaries, too. That’s when it’s the most hard, for me.”
I-want-my-IWTV 