Am I the only one who thinks that festivities like decorating for Halloween/Christmas, trick or treating, ect. Has significantly declined?

I'm 20 right now so I'd imagine some of it is just bias (I'm not in elementary school forever) but I recently started to get so nostalgic for the Halloween decor I'd see in my area, and buying candy for kids and traditions like that

The last few years I think trick or treating has been super quiet in my area, and if I walk outside right now I don't see any decor. Is it just my area?

I'm planning a little shopping trip next week to find some fun stuff to put outside. But obviously it's Calgary so it's gotta be snow proof too lol

I hope I can word this in a way that makes sense, because the whole thing is weird

I've been struggling for most of my teen/adult life to figure out my gender identity. For a long time I was sure I was a trans male. I love having short hair, and mostly dressed boyish. And if course, a touch of that obligatory "I want to do the cool boy things and not the lame stupid girl things!"

Eventually as a teenager I got my hands on testosterone. I love having a deeper voice and I'm excited at the prospect of more muscle mass. I don't envision myself being extremely masculine - I like being "pretty" - but I also like the idea of at least a little ambiguity in my physical appearance

But as I got older I realized that I also sometimes like a feminine presentation. I like to look at pictures of girls in fun and interesting outfits, I love seeing the creative makeup and clothing looks that come up. I think in general, men do not have a lot of options for clothing or fashion whereas women can experiment with so much - style, colors cuts ect.

But the thought of being perceived as a woman or a girl in public has never sat right with me. I don't necessarily hate it. It just feels... Wrong? Even though I think there are lots of pretty skirts and dresses I don't think I've ever worn an explicitly feminine piece of clothing in public since I was like, seven. But also... Butch women exist. Some women love femininity, but some women are extremely masculine yet they still love being women

And on the flip side of that, I have a deep envy for feminine gay men. Especially twinks and pretty, young men (I'm young myself dw lol)

I've heard a lot of people talk about how cis women still may go through "not like other girls" because the world is misogynistic and we have a very limiting, and often dehumanizing, view on what women are. "Not like other girls" can be a code for "please believe that Im a full and complex person"

For all the women who comfortably and happily exist as women, what does that feel like? Do you have experiences questioning your womanhood due to misogynistic expectations, or do you always feel confident your a woman even when people mistreat you because of gender? This goes for women with all kinds of presentations - butch, femme, in between

I just don't know if it's trans dysphoria or if I'm just trying to run away from misogyny

I love Armand as a character and I've just been feeling a bit irritated about the state of his character so far

I try hard to not be a doomer. I'm aware that the show-canon will always be disappointing compared to the elaborate fantasies I create in my head about a character I like

But I've been feeling more and more discouraged

It's pretty obvious that whoever is marketing the show is actively avoiding putting Armand in any ads/trailers/teasers ect. Which is weird, but whatever. Marketing is pretty insignificant

But then there are also little details in the writing that feel a bit frustrating to me, as if they are downplaying Armand as a character and basically simplified him. Obviously there are Armand moments I really loved in season three (and previous seasons) but still

Again, I really don't want to be a doomer and start lamenting about how the world is ending ect. Ect. Maybe its copium. I know that because Im so obsessed with his book/his character I'll always be let down by whatever the writers cook up, so I'm trying to appreciate the whole story as I comes

I'm just not sure whats going on anymore. They did say that season three is about 50% of TVL. There are hints that Lestat is biased about Armand, and in season four maybe we will let Armand push back on the narrative more, to add nuance to his character

Something I've been thinking about a lot is the philosophical perspective this universe takes towards love

I think it's very interesting the attitudes we have towards love, and those who "deserve" to be loved and those who do not

I know that there are a lot of Armand fans who feel Armand hasn't really been humanized yet. And to be honest I kind of agree, as a big Armand lover I agree it's a bit frustrating that they seem intent on making Armand this humiliated, unattractive third wheel

But I do think it's an interesting contrast between Armand and Lestat. Neither of them are ugly in any capacity but they both share the deepest fear - that they will never be truly loved

This season has been a look into how Lestats trauma informed his choices, and how his behaviour stems from a dee insecurity. I think it's important to emphasize that Armand is basically the same thing, and that Armand and Lestat are more alike than they are different

They also weirdly borrowed a loumand quote from the books (we are the only ones who can love eachother) which.... I mean I have complicated feelings about how loumand was adapted for the show. But I do think that's an interesting perspective too. I don't believe Armand needs to be punished or will be punished for wanting to be loved, but I think it'll take time for him to develop as a character

Other than Assad I've never seen Armand be spoken about so well!

I really like her point in the very start about how she first viewed Armand as "getting in the way" of loustat. I think that's the biggest hurdle that the audience experiences if they want to understand Armand. It takes some effort I think to see him as more than the "other woman" interfering with Loustat. He's his own, incredibly complex, character

Tbh i sometimes feel frustrated and unhappy with the direction of the writing for show! Armand, but I hope they will dive deeper into him beyond "humiliated/unlovable third wheel"

I saw this NYT review going around and I agree and disagree with some of the points

I 100% agree with their take on gabi - I've frequently complained that they completely sucked the soul out of the character and it pisses me off how badly they managed to mangel her into this weird caricature for no reason

However, I love Armand and I don't know what to think about how they handle him in the show. Obviously I want to remain positive simply because it would break my heart to let Assad Zaman go to waste

As an Armand fan, I'm fully aware he's batshit crazy. But I would never want the audience to think that Armand is a one dimensional character who twirls his mustache

Like any good villain he starts with understandable motives but his mind twists it into something horrible so he does all these grotesque things

I can appreciate that the writers seem to be making an effort to sprinkle in little moments of empathy or at least understanding for Armand. If we didn't get one or two monologues talking about Armand's human life or his internal struggles, he unironically would just be a flat Vampire Joker atp

So yeah, what do we think? Has Armand been balanced correctly as a villain?

I'm working on yet another TVA reread (who's surprised) and it's occured to me that none of these characters look like their book versions to me anymore

Armand is literally Assad. Louis is Jacob. And Lestat just looks like Sam to me. This season I was enamored with Joshep as Nicki. These actors seriously bring the characters to life

Obviously sometimes it's a bit of a jump scare (I remember reading the IWTV book and then Louis starts talking about his slaves and Lestat is playing with a whip 😭)but yeah

For me, the Assadmand brainworms have gotten really bad. Thinking about Armand's backstory/Marius and Santino makes me shake like a little caffeinated Chihuahua. Him and Christopher are such amazing actors it'd be criminal not to let them act alongside eachother

Hi folks! I've just got news that I've been accepted into the bachelors of nursing. I'm feeling pretty nervous because a lot of people have said nursing school is really stressful and hard 😅 any advice or thoughts? Or commiseration from new nursing students?

Hopefully this is coherent:

Recently there have been a lot of discussions surrounding Lestats agency and power in the show versus the books. In general, we also have a lot of discourse surrounding abuse - what is victim blaming, how should abuse be portrayed in media, ect.

I fell in love with the books specifically because of the philosophy in it, so after a while I realized the whole thing made me think about the serenity prayer:

#God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.

To me, what's so interesting about the depictions of abuse in this show is that it really questions your beliefs regarding agency. I think this prayer encapsulates a lot of the challenges these characters face. I'm going to try to illustrate my point via my personal interpretation of lestat

Lestat is obviously famous for being the brat prince. He challenges everything, won't back down, and does things simply because he knows he can. This is what makes him the hero of the story and the main draw of his character.

My interpretation of Lestats mentality right now in terms of agency is that hes trying to learn the difference between things that are immutably a part of himself and things that are not. It's interesting because he struggles to blame his abusers for the things they do to him and hes relatively open when he knows that he's wrong

BUT I also wanna talk about the blood of Akasha thing. I know it's a meme because he just brings up her blood every fucking chance he can. But it is legitimately interesting. In a roundabout way he almost treats his decisions (for example, dragging and throwing Louis) as an inherent part of him. He cannot remove blood from his body, therefore he must be genetically prone to sadistic violence. It's just a part of his genetics and there's nothing he can do to control himself

In this way I would say Lestats struggle is that he doesn't have "the wisdom to know the difference". His being abused by those more powerful than him is not a moral failing or a weakness, that is something that is out of his control. HOWEVER, by resigning himself and claiming that evilness is simply encoded into his DNA he's putting a buffer between himself and some of his more unsavory decisions

I also have some rambling for Louis and Armand which I'll put as comments cause this post is probably too long

Look, I know that I have been a negative Nancy especially in regards to gabi. Honestly the way they wrote her has tanked my enjoyment of the show by a long shot, along with minor complaints in other things

Bur I saw a few interviews and a theory that's been floating around that fhere may be a reason some characters appear more one dimensional right now, through Lestats perspective

I think it could be interesting if gabi kind of gets an arc where she has less of a need to live vicariously through her son and becomes the untethered, unbeholden woman that she was in the books. Although I still wouldnt like her characterization in season three at least that could redeem her writing to me at least a little

It does seem that many arcs that previously happened during "backstories" (for example gabi no longer needing to use Lestat to fulfill her own desires) may get translated into "real time" arcs. It could potentially explain why Armand's screentime is so limited and disjointed? Idk

Just throwing it out there. I know I may be coping but Gabi was such a dignified and elegant character, so I'm pretty heartbroken they've butchered her so badly in the show. Unfortunately, after these six episodes all I'm clinging onto are my hopes and dreams

I've always praised this show for being able to depict evil/toxic characters as multifaceted and human, so it kinda bothered me that the two evilest "villians" (Armand and Gabi) are basically mustache twirling supervillains now. Like yes, I understand gabi is a bad mom and a toxic influence to Lestat. Can we please do more with her character?

Hey y'all, with the help of the show and books armand has quickly become one of my favorite fictional characters

While waiting for the season to drop I tried to remind myself that Armand is a huge character in TVL but he's also the most simplified in that book. Most of the characterization that I love the most about Armand comes from much later books. So I knew that I was biased and needed to approach this season knowing that I wasn't gonna be the one being "fed" for now

After 5-6 episodes I'm curious what fellow Armand lovers think about the material of Armand right now? Assad has never once disappointed of course, but I'm a bit conflicted about how they are portraying him. Especially since his screentime is so incredibly limited AND they basically didn't adapt any of his canon scenes in TVL... So I'm just feeling a bit disoriented

Any thoughts? Positive, negative, hopes and expectations?

I know that I ought to keep my expectations low and just enjoy the series as it comes instead of fantasizing, but I keep thinking about the unlimited potential that exists within "the vampire Armand"

If they knuckled down and did a TVA season (or hell even a TVA episode!) I don't think they understand the power it would hold. Christopher and Assad are just amazing actors, and the material of TVA serves a specific niche of horror/psychodrama that (in my opinion) is extremely unexplored

It kind of breaks my heart that they didn't even use 90% of the vampire Lestat this season, and I'm worried that means that Armand's backstory/his dynamic with Marius will be reduced to random blips. I love historical fiction and I love horror in general but Marius/Armand is such a specific type of horror that Anne is really really fucking good at, so I hope that this trend of rejecting most of the historical book canon doesn't continue :/

I know that we are all very passionately debating about the new season and adaptation, which made me think about Anne's chaotic style as a writer and as a person

I'm not sure about y'all but I personally have always viewed Anne rice as a kind of sampling platter. Even in one series (the TVC) her interpretations of her characters and her themes, writing style ect. Change drastically so you kind of have to sort through all her stuff to find what works for you

Like for me personally, I've always loved AR for creepy/erotic historical horror. The IWTV book was so brooding and sleepy and it fully entranced me, and I loved the swashbuckling feeling of TVL. I'm overall very into the sort of dark and romantic aesthetics, which was the selling point for me when I got into AR

I also love the gorgeous sweeping, poetic prose, so the first two seasons of the show were basically perfectly curated for me specifically. I also was specifically a big fan of the style of story she features in Cry to Heaven and The Vampire Armand, which are my two favorite AR books. But TVA is literally the sixth book of the damn series and it's nothing like any other book in the TVC. So now I'm the psycho who became a fan of a book series and then hyperfixated on ONE of the books even though anne typically isn't writing this subject matter

It definitely surprised me how little time they spent on Lestats historical past, but it also reminded me that Anne wrote a lot of modern/urban storylines for her vampires too. I just forgot about it for a long time cause that's not what I prefer lol

So yes Im having fun, but I also sympathize with those who feel a bit lost or who don't love it. I think Anne Rice's writing just allows people to come and go as they please depending on what their personal tastes are

So some people like me may adore Louis' sensitive and brooding monologues and some people may prefer Lestats glorious coke ranting. One isn't better than the other, but they serve different purposes

I think if we are gonna be fans of Anne Rice IP we gotta accept that it's all over the place, so it may be hard to find someone who loves everything about it and that's perfectly okay

basically, when it comes to Anne Rice you'll be wading through a long winded acid trip and along the way you'll probably stumble across some snippets of absolutely soul crushing writing

Why is everyone so mean to my pookie bear armand :( all he did was kill someone's child, commit psychological warfare for 77 years, and then turn Daniel into a vampire without asking............

😣😣 All jokes aside I can't get over how good Assad is at making Armand look like the wronged party. I remember seeing a tweet that basically said - Armand could commit crimes against humanity but Assad will make a little twitch or facial expression and suddenly Armand feels like Carrie being slimed by pig blood

My poor baby.... Just because he did that shit doesn't mean you have to be mean!

EDIT: I just remembered the "ragdoll for sale" line... Why is everyone slutshaming Armand like WHAT DID HE DO