Someone in my family is reading interview with the vampire and when i asked about Armand they said that he, despite being weird, seems like a genius and is probably so intelligent because of his age

Lestat for the character impressions!!

fjdjsksk ok buckle in this is gonna be long

first impression: just like with armand it was the movie as a high school freshman, and i was immediately extremely obsessed with him. that kind of lovable antagonist has always been my favorite archetype, like spike from buffy etc, so it was very easy to become attached to him, especially in CONTRAST to movielouis who sucks. when he “died” i was very surprised and disappointed, which i think then colored my initial viewing of the second half of the story lmao i was like where the fuck is lestat why is antonio banderas here. after i watched the movie i looked up the books, and when i realized he was the protagonist for the rest of the series i was like oh ok i’m gonna read them now. i really did start reading them exclusively for him. when i read the book, i was taken aback by how he was much more of an abusive piece of shit, because i think the movie skips past a lot of his more cruel acts with louis and claudia and boils it down to claudia just growing up and louis being sad for no reason. (i have issues with the movie.) (the musical does this to an even more ridiculous degree.) anyway i was like wow he actually really sucks but that made me even more obsessed with him because it made him much more interesting to me, a real multifaceted dynamic character! and once the ending scene with him and louis occurred i was so struck by the entire tragedy of the book and how there wasn’t a true villain in the end. anyway then i read tvl and i lost my mind

impression now: i have a whole other post that i think encapsulates all my bookstat feelings so i won’t type it all out again. as for showstat, he’s less of my best friend who i have to berate for being a fucking idiot and more of my favorite science experiment, something thrilling and terrifying that i’m enamored with and am dying to dissect until i understand every inch of what he’s made of. it was very much a rollercoaster for me watching it week to week because i was never totally sure where they were going with him, but now that the dust has settled i think they made some really fantastic choices with him. they didn’t shy away from his horrific acts of abuse like anne did in the movie and musical, while also keeping the thread of tvl lestat. it’s interesting, because while bookstat also commits absolutely heinous, unforgivable crimes, most of them are from his point of view, so we have a much clearer idea of why he’s committing those crimes. with showstat, we get no explanations, no internal monologue, no perspective, which makes my brain burst from all the different ways one can interpret him. i love showstat with all my heart and soul but i viscerally hate him but he is also my girlfriend so there’s that to contend with as well

favorite moment: wolfkiller. idk the book started with that and i giggled and kicked my feet “wow you killed a pack of them wowww” just call me nicki de lenfent. for showstat “this CHARLATAN” he looks like he has rabies <3

idea for a story: i wanna see him go back to acting and he’s in a soap opera and he has joey tribbiani’s storyline from friends

unpopular opinion: i do think showstat loved claudia despite everything, that one interview sam had where he said he was proud of her gave me enough energy to power a small town. for bookstat i think he deserved to be the main character of the book series even though i wish that didn’t mean anne lobotomized everyone else. but like he’s written specifically for my enjoyment so i’m glad that i have a wealth of text of widely varying quality to enjoy him from lmao

favorite relationship: romantic relationship is loustat both in the books and the show, nothing will ever compare to them i want them trapped in a jar on my shelf for eternity. non-romantic relationship is him and claudia “my dark child, my love, evil of my evil, claudia broke my heart” what if i killed myself

favorite headcanon: he loves the phantom of the opera. i think he actually mentions it in memnoch, they’re playing something from it in the background. anyway he’s pro phantom/christine