#Armand/Marius

[kaelio]

your usual heartbeat (none at all)

follow-up to this one

[hekateinhell]

Welcome, Armand lovers! I’m so excited it's finally time to share my little project with you! 🖤

From November 1 - December 5, I'll be hosting Good to Embrace, Good to Love, a fandom event celebrating Armand's relationships with his four greatest loves—Marius, Lestat, Louis, and Daniel—from the book series The Vampire Chronicles.

Each week will be dedicated to one of these ships, with a bonus week of prompts that can be used for some of the many others Armand has loved in his long immortal life i.e., Bianca, Nicolas, etc.

There will be two prompts per day: a quote from the books that represents an aesthetic of the ship + a word/sentence prompt. Do one, do both, combine them—it doesn't matter as long as you have fun!

AUs and genderswaps are more than welcome!

𝕲𝖚𝖎𝖉𝖊𝖑𝖎𝖓𝖊𝖘

Submissions can include fic, art, meta, headcanons, graphics, playlists, crafts, whatever!

Submissions must focus on a romantic and/or sensual element of the ship. It is ship fest, after all!

Ship combinations (threesomes or more) are also welcome—you decide which week you want to post! For example: an Armand/Lestat/Louis fic can be posted either during Week 2 (Lestat) or Week 3 (Louis).

Bonus week prompts can be used for whatever Armand ship your heart desires! And if you want to use them for Marius, Lestat, Louis, or Daniel, go for it!

Tag your submissions #ArmandShipFest and I’ll do my best to reblog! 🖤

AO3 collection here!

𝕻𝖗𝖔𝖒𝖕𝖙𝖘 𝖇𝖊𝖑𝖔𝖜 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖈𝖚𝖙!

Day 1: “A blending of sadness and simple grace” / Love Affair with Damnation

Day 2: “You took my blood and it made you my slave” / Greedy Creature

Day 3: “I would have given all the world to see him white again, my marble god, my graven Father in our private bed.” / Paternal

Day 4: “My frankly carnal embraces” / Fateful Moment

Day 5: “I want to be a fool for you.” / Bruise

Day 6: “Be my challenger, be my questioner, be my bold and ungrateful pupil.” / Rebirth

Day 7: FREE DAY

Day 1: “Cinderella revealed at the ball” / Succubus

Day 2: “You break my heart, you little fool. You always did.” / Heartbreaker

Day 3: “Stinging insults and worshipful analyses” / Yearning

Day 4: “You look good to me, you damnable little devil” / Fatal Attraction

Day 5: “I wanted to polish him with kisses, clean him up, make him even more radiant than he was.” / Dress Up

Day 6: “I hate you as much as I have ever loved you.” / Enemies to Lovers or Lovers to Enemies

Day 7: FREE DAY

Day 1: “The only promise of good in evil of which I could conceive.” / Enchanted

Day 2: “You would yield to me now” / The Alluring Embodiment of Misery

Day 3: “I want you more than anything in the world.” / Evanescent Flush

Day 4: “A stranger to himself and to me.” / Withering Rose

Day 5: “To seek for grace once more” / Pillars of the Household

Day 6: “Elegant phantoms in our lace and velvet” / Flame

Day 7: FREE DAY

Day 1: “I like kissing. And snuggling with dead things” / Cold To The Touch

Day 2: “Let me be a lover in the Savage Garden with you” / Exquisite Monsters

Day 3: “The freedom, the power, and the luxury” / Million Dollar Man

Day 4: Dark-Eyed Cupid / Erotic Anguish

Day 5: “Say the word my love, I'll do it. We'll be in hell together after all.” / Unholy Consequences

Day 6: “There was never any innocence for us, there was never any springtime.” / Hunting In The Rain

Day 7: FREE DAY

Day 1: “These violent delights have violent ends”* / Cage

Day 2: “You look like an angel and hold forth like a tavern knave” / The Devil's Road

Day 3: “Not made by human hands” / Lotus

Day 4: “Yet he seems the naughty boy who mocks all things” / Careless Words

Day 5: “In the very depths of Hell, do demons not love one another?” / Home

Day 6: “Vile precocious child” / Drunk

Day 7: FREE DAY

*This is the only quote not directly lifted from the books, it’s taken from Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet.

**a huge thank you to the lovely @apoptoses for the graphics, and to the Morzoi Girlies (gn) for assisting me with the prompts and always hyping me up! Love you lots. 🖤

[wretcheddoll]

So this might be a hot take, probably not to any fellow Marius/Armand shippers but for people who dislike them I know this scene is quite controversial...

But, I love the bath scene and yes I do think in the context of the story that was a "good" thing for Marius to do.

"But Armand was a sexually traumatized minor with amnesia and the first thing Marius thought to do was to have sex with him?!"

-Yes, something that would be an extremely bad and a morally corrupt thing to do in real life can be a good thing within the context of the story you are reading.

"But Armand didn't want it! He was practically mute; he couldn't say no!"

-But he did want it, he literally thinks in his mind that he wants it before Marius does it, and Marius can literally read his mind.

Any hesitation Armand has is more to do with religious shame then not wanting it, which feels like a classic erotic scene, shame giving way to pleasure when your older more experienced partner guides you through it. And yes, a real minor cannot consent to a 1,500 year old vampire but again he’s not real and the key is to pay attention to the actual sentiments Armand is expressing in this scene, that of repressed desire and pleasure. He's filled with "warm thrilling sensations" he doesn't claim to feel bad in any way.

I also want to disagree with this notion that Armand instantly clings to any "abuser" that shows him an inch of kindness. Armand did not cling to his slavers, not the man who was "nice" to him and didn't make him do sexual things and stopped him from being beaten.

On the contrary, Armand is endlessly defiant towards his abusers and only surrenders in Marius's arms because he feels safe and loved with him, partially because he sees Marius as some sort of ethereal being and not a normal man. And also, because he finds Marius attractive of course😏.

The boys in the brothel being “soft” with him, he’s not into it at all.

The old man who never touched him, and showed him “kindness,” Armand saying he didn’t love him.

Armand finding Marius hot lol

Armand feeling like an active participant in his sexual experience with Marius, “We began the kisses again,” not Marius did this to me.

I know a lot of people say that Armand is an unreliable narrator in this scene, which I find silly because even if he is, this is still his emotional truth about this experience, and he doesn't feel bad or exploited or like he was raped by Marius 500 years later. I think you're supposed to take the "victim's" feelings about an event into account, no?

But for the sake of argument let's look at Marius's perspective of this scene from Blood & Gold.

So Marius is pretty lost in the daddy sauce from the moment he scoops Amadeo up, his caregiver instincts take hold lol

He's truly in his element.

Marius confirms that Amadeo is quite accepting and willing with his intimacy unlike how he was with his abusers.

I see this quote thrown around a lot without context, but all you need to do is keep reading and, oh wait that's not so sinister... He literally stops wanting to die because of Marius's kisses.

I also see this line used a lot to show how "bad" this scene is.

But again, I'd argue based on everything we're shown in TVA this has more to do with religious trauma/shock then being traumatized by what Marius is doing. We know Armand does not reflect on this experience in a negative way and remembers it being pleasurable.

The immediate after math of the bath.

"He was breathing as though he were safe." and "Yet in his mute expression now I saw pure trust." And Amadeo immediately calling him "Master." To me this shows that the bath was in fact a healing experience for Amadeo, he feels incredibly safe in Marius's bed, he's not having nightmares, and he's looking to Marius as his Master already without being told or influenced to think that way. And well, yes this doesn't heal his religious trauma or bring back his memories, (I don't think even the greatest head in the world could do that) it does relax him in the moment and make him feel good, which is exactly what Marius wanted to do. I certainly don't think there's evidence to support that it traumatized him or was a negative experience for him in any way.

All this to say, I don't think you're wrong if this scene makes you uncomfortable or grosses you out. I think it's perfectly valid to have big problems with the way AR wrote about teen sexuality and age gap relationships, but what I'm sick of is people acting like I'm stupid or a pervert for not "getting it" and finding this scene appealing. I get that a situation like this involving a real minor and a real adult would be inherently traumatizing for that minor, but Marius and Amadeo are not real, Marius is an ancient vampire without a human sexuality, not an adult man using Amadeo for his own pleasure.

Just because I find their relationship kinky and appealing does not mean I lack media literacy, but if you think Armand's story is supposed to be about his trauma from being "sexually abused" by Marius, I am going to question if you are actually reading the text as it is written, or if you are projecting your own feelings of discomfort onto Armand's character and their relationship as a whole. For me the crossing of taboos is a feature of Rice's vampire relationships not a bug, I like the father/son/lover dynamic that they have.

[perladivenezia]

For Good to Embrace, Good to Love #ArmandShipFest

Week 1 - Armand/Marius Day 2: “You took my blood and it made you my slave”

[desertfangs]

Armand has never let go of the love he's held for anyone.

Time and again in the books, we see him mourning the loss of those he loved: Marius, Louis, Lestat, Daniel... and time again, we see that the love is still there inside him, ready to burst out of Armand when the opportunity arises.

[lunelised]

“Suspicion”

My fan art illustration of Armand and Marius from “The vampire chronicles”. Hope you like it!

[tulinokkaelain]

The original sketch had Marius painting Lestat and Armand, but then I got sad that he was way over there 😭

[vamptember]

VCKinkFest is back and this July it's bigger, better, and with more prompts to inspire all of your kinky desires. Each week of July will have its own collection of prompts to pick from (and don't worry if you're feeling pressed for time: late submissions are better than no submission at all). Some prompts are specific kinks and some are more kink-adjacent, so feel free to get creative.

Present us with fic, fanart, meta, headcanons- anything goes, even reposts of older works that fit the themes!

And remember kink isn't necessarily sexual! Smut is not required ♥

• Pet Play • Overstimulation • Somnophilia • Collars • Voyeurism/Exhibitionism

• Edging • Double Penetration • Lingerie • Breathplay • Figging

• Watersports • Blindfolds • Humiliation/Degradation • Roleplay • Free Use

• Medical Fetish • Leather/Latex • Foot Worship • Size Difference • Good boy/Good girl

• Spanking/Whipping • Body Hair • Bondage • Daddy/Mommy Kink • CNC

Unsure what a particular kink is? Feel free to inbox us for a technical definition ♥

Hope you're inspired! Have fun and get creative - we can't wait to see what you come up with for #VCKinkFest this July.

[dumbvampire]

X-mas exchange fanart of Marius/Armand for @mariusofvenice ✨

[kaelio]

really, the situation -- it's a bit of a mess ! but you should definitely do it in real life because that's what fanart means, and does . anyway, off to crime jail

[Armand and Marius, TVC]

blood alt:

[hekateinhell]

Daniel's turning scene is my favorite in all of canon tied with Armand's, and the parallels make me scream!

Both of them dying from some sort of poison (Daniel, alcohol; Armand, literal poison). Both of them finally having worn down a maker that wasn't ready to make them quite yet but their clocks were running out.

Even parts of the phrasing where Marius and Armand ask for the final consent to seal the fate of their young lovers (Daniel is young compared to a five hundred year old Armand, don't @ me) sound remarkably similar.

TVA:

"Very well, beautiful one. This is the moment. Would you come with me, and be like me?" His [Marius'] voice was rich and soothing, though it was full of pain.

"Yes, always and forever yours."

"Forever to thrive in secret on the blood of the evildoer, as I thrive, and to abide with these secrets until the end of the world, if need be."

"I shall. I want it." ~ Armand

QotD:

"Say the word, my love," Armand said. "I'll do it. We'll be in hell together after all."

"But don't you see," Daniel said, "all human decisions are made like this. Do you think the mother knows what will happen to the child in her womb? Dear God, we are lost, I tell you. What does it matter if you give it to me and it's wrong! There is no wrong! There is only desperation, and I would have it! I want to live forever with you."

Except Armand to Daniel sees the Dark Gift as the ultimate condemnation, whereas Marius to Amadeo presents it as a world full of new possibilities—even though he himself is hurting.

[wretcheddoll]

Remember during the banquet when one of the men told Marius that he could father Amadeo better than him and Marius immediately killed him?

Cause I do 👀

[joinmeindeathh]

Let's say it's one of Marius' warm up paintings of Armand

[desertfangs]

The Parallels Between Armand and Daniel's Turnings

I’m rereading Blood and Gold and I was struck by how similar Armand and Daniel’s turnings are.

Armand and Daniel were both mortals in love with vampires. Armand (Amadeo at the time) knew Marius was something “other” pretty quickly, and eventually Marius even shows him that he’s a monster as a sort of test to see how he’ll react. Armand is no less smitten and still wants to be with Marius (and be like him - he even cutely asks if he just needs to drink the blood of evil doers to become like him.)

Daniel, of course, knew Armand was a vampire when they met, and he is also enamored with his monstrosity as well as his humanity. He wants to be a vampire when he finds Armand, but by the time he's turned, he also wants to live forever with him.

Both were given little drinks of vampire blood repeatedly as mortals before their turning, although for Daniel this went on for 8 years, and while it only lasted 2 or so years for Armand.

Both Armand and Daniel are dying when they’re turned (Armand from poison and Daniel from alcoholism). Marius had decided to turn Armand already, though he was waffling a little, and I'd argue Armand had made the same decision about Daniel.

Both Marius and Armand are brought to tears when faced with the reality of turning the one they love and both Armand and Daniel tell their would-be makers not to cry. From Blood and Gold: He smiled. And it was never innocent, no matter how beautiful, his smile, "Don't weep for me, Master," he answered. He struggled to rise a little from the pillow, his eyes very wide. "When the ikon fell, my fate was made, Master."

From Queen of the Damned: "Don't cry! It's not fair," Daniel said. "This is my rebirth. How can you cry? Don't you know what this means? Is it possible you never knew?" Both Armand and Daniel have to affirm that yes, they do want the blood, and to be with their soon-to-be-maker:

Blood and Gold: “Would you truly have the Blood, Amadeo?” I asked. “Say it to me, that you forsake the light of the sun forever, and forever you will thrive on the blood of the Evil Doer as I thrive.” “I vow it, I will it,” he answered. “You'll live forever, unchanging?” I asked, “feeding upon mortals who can be your brothers and sisters no more?” "Yes, forever unchanging," he answered, "among them, though they are my brothers and sisters no more.”

Queen of the Damned: "Say the word, my love," Armand said. "I'll do it. We'll be in hell together after all." "But don't you see," Daniel said, "all human decisions are made like this. Do you think the mother knows what will happen to the child in her womb? Dear God, we are lost, I tell you. What does it matter if you give it to me and it's wrong! There is no wrong! There is only desperation, and I would have it! I want to live forever with you."

Anyhow, I just think the parallels between Marius/Armand and Armand/Daniel are really neat and this is a really stark example.

[lunelised]

Hidden gem

My illustration of vampires Armand and Marius from The Vampire Chronicles. Hope you like it🌹

[half-as-big-as-life]

They mean so much 2 me (based on that kojima painting)