wordforworldisforestdeactivated

its like. i wholeheartedly agree that one of the things iwtv does best is nuance. social power dynamics fundamentally inform interpersonal ones whether we want them to or not. people are not fundamentally good or evil. abuse is cyclical. it is deeply dangerous to turn victims into saints. trauma informs how we behave. its about “are we the sum of our worst moments?” its about asking if people are capable of change! of giving or deserving forgiveness! its about the fundamental humanity of monsters.

HOWEVER. i am also very leery of saying that “all readings of their roles can be validated” since vampire companions are “everything to each other simultaneously.” i agree that they have different forms of power over each other but i think we ought to be wary of saying they are “equal” inequalities bc 1. its incidentally abuser logic 101 💀  2. i think that it actually flattens the depiction of ambiguity. and 3. its just not true. like its not true that lestat’s assertion of control over louis is at odds with him humbling himself groveling eating dirt waiting for him for years. bc the gifts and the groveling are ALSO part of his control. the way his devotion traps him with louis is entirely different than the way louis has been isolated gaslighted and physically coerced into staying. the silence IS cruel but its also reflexive self defense. or u cant really in good faith establish a parallel between claudia calling lestat master and then claudia manipulating lestat in order to murder him. bc claudia manipulating lestat is in direct response to him being her master. violence might be proportional but its not equivalent.

and theres fundamentally something a little off about saying “well theyre both the dad” yes On a literal level they are both the dad. but louis’s human attachment to being the provider (masculine role) is (A) pretty quantitatively different from and (B) consistently thwarted by lestat’s NEED to have all the power in the family which they have arranged in a nuclear configuration. Its not equal in some ways unequal in others its just unequal! personally i dont want to shy away from addressing this! and i dont think its erasing ambiguity to do so.