#I never did after Devil's Minion

[theunmarkedtombstone]

I get so sad about TVC because after Devil's Minion it was over for me. I didn't give a shit about Lestat and Louis anymore and that is so devastating cause this is 100% Lestat's show. Anne Rice couldn't care less about Armand and Daniel tbh. She wrote one book for Armand and 10 for Lestat. LESTAT IS THE ONE WHO NARRATED DEVIL'S MINION. Like, they are afterthoughts of the afterthought, she forgot what Armand looked like half of the time and then misspelled Daniel's name several times. It was so joever. I can't wait for the show to inevitably follow this cause like it's so suffered to be on this fandom and not be in love with Lestat or Louis.

[d1sc01nf3rn0]

Everybody has the theory that Armand turns Daniel out of anger; but my theory is that Daniel gets injured, or has like a heart attack or something (the guy is old and has parkinson's, and Louis was trashing his house okay?) and Armand is SCARED AF and ends up turning him out of fear of Daniel dying, like in the books.

And then Armand immediately regrets it, and nopes the fuck out of there; and instead of the Devil's Minion where we had Armand following Daniel, we will have Daniel searching for Armand.

Just think of it, it would be a nice comparison to the book.

[collegeboysam]

parkinson's can cause lung issues (the chest wall becomes stiff and muscles weaker, which can cause a lot of coughing) so maybe being given the dark gift stopped the advance of the disease but didn't erase how it had already affected daniel's body to that point. armand, your fledgling is sick. daniel needs you. armand. armand please.

[pandorxxx]

Uninteresting?

Neteyam (20) x Omatikayan fem reader (18)

Warnings: SMUT THE HOUSE, p in v, pinning, cursing, creampie, praise kink.

🔞Minors, do not interact🔞

You weren’t the most popular. In fact, you weren’t popular at all, and it was mainly because you never talked. If someone showed any interest in talking to you, it was usually to get intel on your older brother. Your older brother, Ralu was one of the best hunters in the clan. He was sought after by many women, second to Neteyam of course.

Even the girls you called your friends, would only ask you about Ralu, and then leave. It hurt your feelings that no one really cared about you, or how YOU were doing. And today was no different…

“Y/n, keep up!” Nat’iyah yelled as she walked deeper into the forest. Her other friends, Si’rah and feima laughed as they watched you scramble to keep up with them, visibly exhausted.

“G-guys…please, wait up.” You panted, trying desperately to catch them.

“You’re going to make a horrible hunter one day, y/n.” Feima laughed, looking back at you with a sarcastic grin. They finally stopped in the middle of the forest, sitting down on the soft moss. You plopped down next to them, as sweat dripped down your face. They were all laughing, watching you catch your breath.

“Soooo, y/n” Si’rah started, looking at the other girls with a sadistic grin.

“How’s Ralu?” She continued, staring into your eyes with a bright smile. You titled your head at her with confusion. Why was she asking about your brother, when you came out here just to train with them?

“Umm, he’s fine.” you trailed out, scratching your head in confusion before playing with the moss beneath you. Feima and Nat’iyah shot Si’rah a death stare, before nudging her to get you to spill about your brother. She looked back at you with a sarcastic grin.

“Well, is he mated with anyone yet?” She asked, touching your shoulder to grab your attention. You slowly looked up at her, and then at her hand on your shoulder before pulling away from her touch.

“Did you just bring me out here to talk about my brother? You told me you would train me!” You shout, pursing your lips. Si’rah looked back at the other girls, and they all chuckled.

“Listen y/n” Si’rah started with an obnoxious sigh.

“Your brother is hot, and I just want the scoop. If anyone is ever trying to talk to you randomly, they just want to know about Ralu. You’re just….not all that interesting.” She laughs, making the other girls chuckle. You felt your heart crash and burn into your stomach. You bit your tongue as you held back tears, face burning hot.

“I’m pretty sure you’re going to tell your brother about this, and that’s fine. There’s always Neteyam. He was my second choice anyway.” Si’rah giggle before standing up as the two girls follow. Their necks snapped in the direction of the tall trees, hearing footsteps. Out comes Neteyam, in all of his glory. He was gorgeous, you couldn’t deny that, but he was your older brothers best friend. What would he see in you, when there were girls like Si’rah around.

“Speaking of the fucking devil.” She whispered to the other girls, eyeing him up and down before walking towards him, slowly.

“Heyyy neteyam” she muttered seductively, circling him like prey.

“Hey Si’rah..” he whispered, grabbing her arm tightly. He eyed her up and down licking his lips. She grinned up at him, trailing her hand down his abs.

“Come see me later.” She bit her lip, walking away as her minions followed. He turned all the way around, watching her sway her hips as she walked away.

“God, that girl is such a slut.” He whispered to himself shaking his head before turning to see you, sitting on the ground with your head down. He walked over, sitting next to you.

“How are you, y/n?” He asked, nudging your shoulder with his to get your attention.

“Fine.” You sniffle, still looking down at the ground as you played with the moss.

Fine. That’s all you ever said. Even though him and your brother were very close, he felt like he barely knew you, because you never talked. He sighed, before looking around the forest.

“Do you want to talk about it.” He grinned sarcastically expecting you to say no, but to his surprise, you broke down in tears. His eyes widened at your sudden burst of emotion.

“Everyone hates me, Neteyam! They only care about Ralu.” You sniffle, as tears flow down your face. He watched you with a sad expression before pulling your head to his lap. He looked into the sky, pursing his lips as you weeped in his lap.

“What happened, y/n” he asked angrily, ready to rip everyone apart for you.

“Si’rah! She’s such a bitch! She told me that she would train me today, but all she did was drilled me about Ralu.” You started and neteyams eyes widened.

Wow, she really is a slut, Neteyam thought.

He caressed your shoulder, leaning down to see your face. “What else happened? I know that’s not what’s making you cry, y/n.”

“Sh- she told me that people only want to talk to me to get closer to my brother because I’m not that interesting. That bitch called me UNINTERESTING! I mean…I am, but that is not the point, ya know? Who says something like that to someone?” You blabbered, as you whined in his lap.

He didn’t know what to say to you. You never showed this kind of emotion before. All he could do was play with your hair, and caress your shoulder as you whimpered loudly. Then he got an idea. His eyes lit up, as he pulled you over to face him, still laying in his lap.

“How about I train you? Huh? Would that make you feel better?” He asked with a bright smile as he wiped your tears. You pouted up at him, nodding as you panted loudly. He smiled, before lifting you off of him. He stood, and then grabbed your hand to pull you up before walking deeper in the woods.

It was almost eclipse as you were about to hit the last target of the day. Neteyam seemed to take a liking to you seeing as he finally spent time with you. He grew to realize how nice, and sweet you were over the course of the day. The big brother act quickly turned into something darker, and deeper. He wanted to know how it would feel to be inside you, you screaming his name, seeing how bad the good girl could get.

You lined up your bow with the target as he admired your small waist, and lean back. Your huge breasts moving up and down with every deep breath. he walked towards you to angle you right.

“You’re doing good, but hold the bow like this.” He grabbed your hands, placing them where they needed to be as you felt his bulge rub against your ass. You gasp a-little bit, not enough for him to notice.

“Control your breathing, it is elevating.” he whispered in your ear, making your body hot. You were completely oblivious to what he was doing. You thought that maybe it was an accident, or coincidence, but Neteyam was testing you. He wanted to see how far he could go, before he made his move.

“I-I’m sorry” you stutter, shaking your head to snap back into reality. You angle the bow correctly, and shoot, hitting the target straight in the middle. You squeal in happiness as you jumped up and down.

“Fuck yeahhh, y/n” he laughed, clapping his hands. You look up at him, jumping into his arms, and he happily caught you.

“Did you see that!!!” You ask him excitedly.

“ I did!!! You did amazing today.” He smiled, watching you jump up and down in his arms, creating friction between his pelvis and yours.

You finally realized the position you were in before your eyes widened, jumping out of his arms. You looked at the ground, fiddling with your fingers.

“I-I’m so sorry, I j-just got alittle excited!” You smile nervously up at him, as he glared down at your nervous figure, licking his bottom lip. Your breathing picked up again before he placed his strong hand at the back of your neck, pulling you closer.

“Y/n i-“ he started, sighing before looking around the forest, and then back down at your doughy eyes.

“I don’t know what you did to me today, but I can’t get enough of you.” He confessed, sliding his hand down to your neck, gripping it lightly. Your eye twitched, as you melted in his touch.

“I want you so fucking bad…” he whispered in your ear, before focusing his attention on your unmarked neck, so innocent and pure. He gently kissed it, making your knees buckle. He caught you, wrapping his arms around your thighs, pulling you up onto him. He walked you to a tree, pinning you there as your legs were still wrapped around his strong torso. He untied the cloth that covered your breasts, throwing it to the side as he admired your chest.

He looked up at you, with pleading eyes. Before you pushed his head onto your hard nipple. You let out a loud gasp, throwing your head back onto the tree behind you. He swirled his tongue around your hard nipple, looking up at you. Although this felt good, you needed something more, something filling.

you needed him…

“Neteyam” you breathlessly moan, eyes shut closed.

“Yes, my love.” He muttered, still attacking your nipple with his warm tongue.

“I want it, please give it to me.” You plead desperately, sliding your hand down to his loincloth, untying it. He grunts before pulling away from your nipple.

“Y/n, I don’t want to hurt you, let us take this slow.” He explained, grabbing your hand before you go any farther. You pull him in for a fiery kiss, tongues dancing around with each other. You pull away, glaring at him.

“I need it…” you both look down at his huge bulge in unison as it threatened to pop out of the untied loincloth resting between your bodies. You push him back to let his loincloth fall to the ground beneath him. His cock sprung out in between the two of you. Your mouth watered at the sight in-front of you. His huge veiny cock, throbbing for you, yearning for you. You couldn’t take it anymore. You untied your loincloth, throwing it to the side as he watched your every move, hungrily.

He started thrusting his cock between your soaked folds, getting his cock wet enough to slide into you.

“Let me know if it hurts, and I’ll stop y/n.” he commanded breathlessly, sliding you down on to him slowly. You both moan in unison at the feeling of your bodies linking together. He finally slides you all the way down, grunting as he laid his head on your chest, panting loudly. He took a deep breath before looking back up at you.

“A-am I hurting you?” He stuttered feeling your tight walls clenching around his cock already. He wasn’t hurting you at all. He was filling you so good that you could even form the right words.

“MOVE.” is all you said before he finally gave in. Thrusting into you slow and deep, as he dug his nails into your thighs for leverage.

“Y-you feel soooo good!” You whine, gripping his shoulder as you threw your head back. He sped up, making your mouth fly open. He leaned down to your ear, kissing it before speaking.

“The feeling is mutual, baby!” He grunted, nibbling at your earlobe. Your back arched off of the tree supporting you, as the pleasure was becoming too much for you. You wrapped your arms around him tightly, laying your head on his shoulder.

“Neteyam, I- I can’t!” You screamed, tears running down your face, as your face contorted from the knot building in your stomach. He wrapped his strong arms around your tiny torso, thrusting into you quickly.

“Yes you can y/n, I got you…I promise!!” He moaned, feeling his high slowly starting to approach. Your mouth dropped at his precious words.

I got you…

I promise…

It was too much for you. Your eyes rolled back, and your legs started to shake.

“Mmmm neteyammm!!!” You screeched, shutting your eyes tightly as he fucked you sensless.

“Don’t ever let anyone tell you you’re not interesting.” He started, as he made eye contact with you, biting his lip as he felt you clench around him.

“You’re the most interesting thing that’s happened to me all fucking day.” He grunted sending you hard, deep strokes as his face contorted from the pleasure. Yet again, his words sent you over the edge.

“Neteyammm!!!” You screamed, letting your juices flow down his cock. He looked down at the beautiful site, and then back up at you.

“Shittt, where do you want it?” He asked tiredly, with a delirious look on his face as he panted loudly.

“In me, please!” His eyes widened at your answer, before he looked down again, watching his cock twitch with every thrust.

“Y/n, you’re not thinking straight.” He grunted breathlessly as he felt his muscles tense up, sweat pouring off of him into your lap. He went to pull out of you, and you clenched around him.

“Y-y/n, wait, FUCK!” He threw his head back, releasing his seed inside of you. You moaned at the feeling of him filling you up just right.

He thrusted into you softly, grunting with every stroke. You looked down, seeing his cock pulsing inside of you. He took a deep breath placing you back on the ground. He chuckled, still trying to catch his breath. He leaned into your lips, pecking them before eyeing you up and down. He grabbed your neck before speaking:

“Uninteresting my ass.”

Okayyy, this was the second most voted story in the poll, and idk y’all I kinda like it😏. As always, I love y’all to death, and I’ll see yall later.

Outtie❤️🖖🏾,

Pandorxx

[asthedeathoflight]

I do think 70s devils minion adds a whole layer to Daniel and Armand's relationship that we're not really taking into account enough bc while it does kind of technically happen in canon (that they break up and then get back together) we never actually get to SEE them when they're back together and so its not really taken into consideration for their dynamic.

But like Armand is someone who has for his entire life been another person's possession, who has defined himself as a person that people Have instead of Love. And what the Queen of the Damned chapter shows is Daniel Molloy as someone who Armand wanted to possess and who wanted to be possessed by Armand. Armand has never owned anything in his entire 500 year life and so he NEEDS to own Daniel, he needs to have just this ONE THING to himself after all this time. And Daniel for his part is very into being so consumed by another person. For a time, Daniel is exactly what Armand needs. Here is a person who cannot hurt him, who wants to belong to him, who he can finally assert authority over and in doing so assert his own independence. Nobody in Armand's life has ever been truly HIS in the way that Daniel is.

But the longer theyre together the less urgent the need to possess and control is, and the more Armand is able to love Daniel selflessly, the more they come into conflict because Daniel still WANTS that level of obsession. Their breakup in the books is inevitable because their relationship was built on impulses that, while important stages in their growth, over time became unhealthy. Daniel needs to get out of his cycle of addiction and Armand needs to grow past needing to possess people to believing they'll stay of their own free will. So they need to break up.

BUT unlike in the books where Armand's resolve ultimately fails him and he turns Daniel anyways, cementing the both of them into both of their unhealthiest habits, show Armand manages to work through his issues to the next stage of his growth: that he needs to let Daniel go. And he does! He lets Daniel go and he bears the burden of their relationship alone for 50 years so that Daniel could not only have a human life but also develop as a person in a way he never could have if he stayed with Armand. Show Daniel is a different man from 70s/book Daniel. He knows who he is. Even though he's falling back into old patterns now that he's a vampire he's still been through this cycle a few times and hes stronger now than he would have been if he was turned when he was 30.

I think, assuming devils minion did happen in the 70s, the present Daniel/Armand dynamic will be different from what we're expecting because they've finally grown enough as people so that they can come together on equal footing which is really important bc Armand has never been someone's equal in a relationship before! This is new territory for him! So I think their relationship has potential for development of both of them as characters to places they never got to go in the books. Please note that this is NOT me saying they will have a perfectly well adjusted healthy relationship I just think that this is the next step past their old dynamic and probably will be more dangerous for other people than it is for them which is always a win.

[the-winchester-s-guardian]

Phrases (besides the usual ones) that stuck on me in no particular order aka Devil’s minion brain rot

“You worked so hard to get that table right in the corner”

• why work so hard for a table in the corner? Maybe they were two men?

“She makes you scrape it off with a credit card” “it’s not a credit card. I have no credit. It’s a library card.”

• how did he travel to Paris if he had no money?

“Woke up in a parking lot in Milwaukee once, don’t know how I got there”

• it’s probably just the drugs but still

“You were an ancient vampire. You could read any mind you want.” “I was in love.”

• is this why he never read Daniel’s mind? He could have read it after the dinner at the sushi place with Rashid, or in the last ep when he noticed something was up with Daniel, and yet.

“I wouldn’t let you near my neck if you-”

• why? Because you know the kind of damage your blood could do to him?

“His were better”

• does Armand know how Daniel likes his martini or is he just an exceptional bartender?

[moonbaby26]

Title: Trust

(Chapter 19 of Doflamingo’s Marine Series)

*Crossposted to AO3 Here*

Chapter Pairings: Doflamingo x Reader, Smoker x Reader (in the past)

Chapter Warnings: language, toxic relationships, Doflamingo is still insane, breeding kink

Chapter Synopsis: As the marines begin to react further in response to Doflamingo’s public ensnarement of you and their true helplessness in it all, the warlord still grapples with the mistakes of his past that he now refuses to repeat.

Chapters: 1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  8,  9,  10,  11,  12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19

Fic Masterlist

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——————————

Only once in Sengoku’s life could he remember ever truly yelling at this woman. And he’d had tears running down his face the night that he’d done so.

Five years ago, when they’d also been on the phone together, oceans apart much like they were now. 

And to his shame, in the grief of that moment, Sengoku had had the gall to accuse Tsuru of holding back. He’d told her that her softness had allowed Doflamingo one too many second chances.

Sengoku had blamed her for still wishing to save what was already long gone within that boy, and thereby enabling every subsequent tragedy which followed from his actions. 

He remembered yelling that it should have been Doflamingo lying cold and dead two decks below her in that makeshift morgue on her warship, and not his precious Rosinante instead.

He’d berated a woman he trusted more than any other in this world. As if she hadn’t been sitting there in silence with that very same pain in her heart that night. 

Sengoku had been too consumed in his own emotions then, when it’d only been Tsuru who had had to personally oversee the retrieval of the body once Doflamingo’s ship had again escaped over the horizon.

Only she had been the one barking orders at her entirely confused crew. Telling them to treat a former Donquixote executive’s remains with care befitting one of their own as they’d unknowingly dug Sengoku’s adopted son from the still falling snow with their bare hands.

“I gave you as many days as I could.” Is what she told him now.

And her voice was as cold as that snow must have been then. Though she still didn’t yell at him in the way he deserved. Tsuru didn’t return that cruelty that he’d given her those years ago.

Not yet.

The fleet admiral’s eyes were closed behind his glasses in guilt regardless. His forehead rested against his hand in his disgust for what these webs had really become.

Somehow they had all become entwined.

Somehow this nightmare had still never stopped.

Rosinante had sworn to him that he would not go back to his brother in the end. Because they had all known the danger and most likely final result. 

And Tsuru had never expected you to have needed to make that same promise to them.

Rosinante had gone to Minion Island willingly. Just as you’d gone to Scylla, specifically requesting leave there that Momonga hadn’t known enough to deny.

And Doflamingo had been ready and waiting both times.

Neither you or Rosinante had left that devil again after stepping willfully back into his strings.

And why?

Why could Doflamingo never be sated? Why did it always have to be those that they already loved that he took?

“Every day, Tsuru. Every day I have been asking the Five Elders of when enough is enough. Or even for them to give me a single goddamn reason. A reason of why he’s now become this untouchable.”

Sengoku had taken all the criticism from his admirals, from Garp, and from Tsuru. But he had never stopped working towards a resolution behind the scenes.

Because this was so deeply personal.

It didn’t matter that you were only a captain, only a single marine in his ranks of thousands.

He’d never wanted Tsuru to have to go through this as he had with Rosinante.

But today’s newspaper and the lies within had been her final straw. 

This phone line was encrypted. But it may not have mattered today. She was that furious.

“I want you to understand that this call is simply a courtesy. I will not be returning to HQ. I will not be maintaining the blockade here. Cipher Pol is welcome to keep chasing my ship as they see fit. But we’re crossing the calm belt and heading for Dressrosa.”

His most steadfast vice admiral was now abandoning her post in Lyra.

“I’ll deal with Cipher Pol.” Sengoku muttered. He’d have to lie that he had given her specific orders to leave. 

Lyra was still under full World Government quarantine. No one was allowed in or out as they finished whatever bioweapon testing they’d really chosen that island and its rebels as horrific test subjects for.

Tsuru had hated that too of course, as anyone with a soul should.

But this additional stress with Doflamingo had broken what remained of that dam and all she’d been holding in. She would not be cooperating a moment further.

“I also want you to check with Mariejois for a marriage registration in his name. I suspect he’s already signed her over to him if he was willing to make this public declaration and antagonize us outright this way.”

Sengoku’s eyes finally opened again there. 

He also knew Tsuru well enough to understand that the false calmness as she said these things meant nothing of her true intentions.

“And if he has done that…what are you going to do with that information?” He asked her with the tension far clearer in his own tone.

The silence hung for a moment.

“You understand what he’s really doing, don’t you?” Her voice sounded briefly more cutting there.

“I don’t try to understand the reasonings of the insane.” Sengoku’s bitterness was reemerging as well.

An enemy would always be an enemy. And Sengoku lived for the day that Doflamingo’s immunity would finally fail him.

But that day was not today.

“He lost his previous marine. By his own hand.” Tsuru said next, somber but factual.

An assumption they always knew must be true. Though Doflamingo had never once confessed to Rosinante’s murder to them outright. 

“He thinks she’s strong enough to survive his madness where so many others have not. He’s betting on that. Because he’s terrified of ending up alone. He always has been.” She said so surely, with that additional impatience that meant she would be hanging up momentarily.

The fleet admiral’s eyes narrowed. But he knew it was already futile. He could stop his own admirals easier than he could this woman once she had made up her mind.

“And how do you know this isn’t exactly what he wants you to do, Tsuru? Just to draw you in as well?”

“I’m an old woman. So it doesn’t matter anymore. I’m not letting her endure this alone. Just be ready to mobilize if the winds change in Mariejois.” Her finality was clear.

And it still hurt. Be it today, five years ago, ten years ago, twenty, or more. Sengoku had lost too many loved ones already. 

One day she wouldn’t come back to him either.

This was the way of their world.

“Be safe, Tsuru-chan.” Sengoku’s voice quieted. “Please.”

The snail’s eyes looked out in that knowing silence.

“You know my answer to that.” She spoke one last time before hanging up.

And he could only smirk sadly. “I do.”

Sengoku, Garp, and Tsuru had once considered themselves a trio. They used to laugh about inescapable danger.

Death will come when my purpose is done.

That had been their irreverent rhyme of a saying. One far easier said in the arrogance of youth. And not from the aged veterans they’d become, just trying to protect their vulnerable seeds of the future.

——————————

“Oh, boo hoo! Just get over it already! If you didn’t want to share your notes, then you should have encrypted your data better!” Caesar’s golden eyes had gleamed as he floated closer, the newspaper still spread taut within his grip.

He was grinning too, flipping through the pages again and the pictures that graced them. “What a lovely couple! So how could you be so selfish as to not grant their hearts’ desire?”

Vegapunk made another disinterested noise, looking through large goggles and still trying to resume the experiment he had so frustratingly been interrupted from when Caesar had first burst into his lab. 

“If you had any ethics or common sense at all, you would drop this subject immediately. It’s not our place to interfere in something like that.” The older scientist tried to rebuff again.

“You think I don’t have common sense!?” Caesar’s voice was immediately more grating as his thin lips moved back into a scowl.

“I look the other way repeatedly for you,” Vegapunk reminded, already used to these theatrics from the other. Though still watching the beaker in front of him as its contents began to change in density and color. 

“I’ve ignored your greed and resulting moonlighting of still selling illicit compounds right from our backdoor. As well as your questionable tastes in companionship at all hours in your quarters. Your ‘socializing’ is quite loud and distracting.” Vegapunk also criticized.

Caesar blinked. So what? When he did have escorts over to visit from Dressrosa, they were paid very well for their trip. And he’d be damned if after spending that much of his payments from Joker on such entertainment, that he would have just let those women lay in his bed quietly. 

“Ugh, spare me your false modesty! You dirty old hypocrite.” Caesar clucked, waving a gloved hand dismissively even as he now floated to Vegapunk’s other side like an insistent child. 

“These two are my friends, I’m telling you. And they are desperate to start a family!” He just went on, then trying to shove the newspaper in front of the other scientist again.

“I already read it.” Vegapunk responded flatly. “And you don’t have any friends. I know Doflamingo must be your client. There is no other reason for you to be as fixated as you are with him. Money and cruelty are the only things which have ever enticed you to this degree.”

“Well he enjoys my creativity! And he knows a real genius when he sees one!” Caesar didn’t even bother to fully deny the accusation that time. If Vegapunk really was going to tattle on him just for taking money under the table, he already would have. Though Caesar was sure even Dr. Vegapunk didn’t know all the things they’d been cooking up together.

“He’s just using you. And you’re insecure enough to encourage it.”

“He is not just-” Caesar’s quick temper nearly got away from him all the way there, before he briefly bit his own lip to stop it. “Okay, fine! Doflamingo wants a child with her. I don’t even know this girl or care what she thinks! But look at the full picture. What happens to queens that don’t hold up their end of the bargain in giving a man like that his heirs?”

Caesar rather gleefully made an exaggerated pantomime of moving his finger in a sharp slice against his own throat to this.

And finally, only at that insinuation of barbarism to a supposed innocent like yourself, did Vegapunk actually look him in the eyes. Secretly sympathetic as that fool could often be. 

“And how could I trust he wouldn’t still harm her regardless?” The older man asked, rightfully skeptical.

“Because it doesn’t matter of course! Doflamingo will be here tomorrow night to pick this up either way!” Caesar exclaimed, lifting the small vial he’d already made from his gaseous coat pocket. 

“But my serum for her will be meaningless if he isn’t capable of delivering on the other half of the equation!” Caesar attempted to reiterate that need for urgency as well. “After all these years of working together, you’re really just going to leave me hanging like this, Vegapunk?”

“You should be embarrassed is what you should be. You got yourself into this mess. And now you come to my lab, interrupting me just to admit you don’t know how to mitigate something as simple as varicoceles in the testes?” Vegapunk asked with further incredulousness.

Yet Caesar ignored that heavier insult just this once, eyes widening as he pointed at the other scientist instead. “Aha! So you did already look at the data to figure out a solution! I knew it! Your ego couldn’t help it, could it? You prideful monster!”

“Of course I can correct it! At least temporarily at least. His lineage factors are a mess of recessive alleles.” Vegapunk did look properly shamed for only that moment to be so called out though. “But how far were you planning on going? What’s in your serum that could conflict with mine if I do make one? Is this full blown eugenics?“

Caesar paused, his seeming victory only weakened in his belated realization that Vegapunk may have indeed noticed more disfunction in Doflamingo’s bloodline than he had at first glance.

But Caesar would never admit aloud that his own concoction could be even further insufficient then. Yet he knew just how to give Vegapunk that extra, personal investment to do the rest of the hard work for him.

“He was aware of Vinsmoke’s wife.” Caesar admitted abruptly there, feigning an extra somber expression even if this was actually the truth. “And Doflamingo was explicit about wanting both his baby and the womb owner to survive without permanent damage this time. So I’d say whatever it takes to ensure that.”

Vegapunk lifted up his goggles then, watching the gas logia user carefully. Those stressed brow lines were now wrinkling all the way up the older scientist’s unnaturally large forehead.

He had indeed taken that emotional bait when it came to thinking of Sora’s death.

A tragedy that his weaker heart did not think worth repeating.

“If you’re going to be like Judge to do this to some poor woman either way…it might as well be safe. Give me your serum so I can analyze it. I’ll come up with something.” Vegapunk sighed.

And Caesar smiled.

It really was too easy.

————————— 

The sun was beating down by midday. Hot and relentless, just the way Doflamingo wanted it to be for this as he stretched his long legs across your lap, relaxing on his outdoor couch together by the pool.

At least he was relaxing anyway. You were quite a different story.

You hadn’t yet recovered from his confessions of this morning. And well…also from the totality of every other thing that had occurred from the moment he’d first kissed your hand in front of those camera flashes in the bloodied ballroom in Scylla to today.

And it had only been days, not weeks since then. But he lived a fast paced life.

One which you were now living too.

The newspaper had finally come as well, just as over the top and simultaneously aghast and excited by his manufactured drama as expected. The world would be salivating to see the navy’s next official reaction to your and his sordid love story he was sure.

But you’d refused to read a word of it yet. 

Just as you also refused the untouched food still on the tray in front of you.

Only Doflamingo and his crew ate. Enjoying lunch and drinks as he took a few more phone calls while the other Donquixote members either sunbathed or played cards in the shade beneath the archways.

He’d left the palace gates closed. There were no money hungry sycophants in their little string bikinis bouncing around to distract him today.

He already had the pretty toy he wanted most right now.

Though you had needed a bit of help. He’d made you change out of the ugly clothes he knew you’d been hiding your wounds in this morning. 

So you were currently in a very short sundress he’d chosen instead. One he could tell you hated as his gaze rarely left your more exposed figure and bared shoulders while he talked on the phone.

He didn’t conduct any business conversations he was too concerned with you hearing though. He made sure of that. It was mostly just receiving flattery as other high ranking contacts of his called to offer their mix of congratulations and surprise.

Everyone wanted to know a wedding date. They wanted to know his next move with the marines. And if they knew him even a little better than most, then they were trying to get a sense of his motives too.

What was in it for Joker?

Surely Donquixote Doflamingo didn’t have a heart.

They all knew he already had money, power, and more lovers waiting in the wings than he could possibly run his cock through on any given night.

So what the hell could a random marine provide to him now?

And such burning curiosity about you apparently extended to his uninvited guests as well, just as Doflamingo had ended another call, returning the receiver back to his snail beside him.

The Tontattas had been especially bold ever since your arrival in Dressrosa. As if they really thought he hadn’t noticed their little scouts flitting about more and more often.

Target practice was all he’d call them whenever they failed to stay on his blind side though. And he enjoyed the way he did see you startle as that bullet string left his fingertip without warning.

The resulting pop of the then exploding terracotta roof tile he’d hit had his officers looking briefly skyward as well.

But there was no blood spatter running down the eaves this time, a rare miss for him.

“Just clearing some of the bigger bugs we get around here.” Doflamingo chuckled as his vague explanation to you anyway, kicking his shoes off then as he kept his legs still across your thighs. “They’re a nuisance.”

“I didn’t see anything.” You said quietly. The first words you’d spoken in a few hours at least.

“They’re fast.” He answered simply, albeit smiling just to hear your voice again.

It was true he hadn’t intended to have this morning go as oddly as it had with you.

But he hadn’t expected to find your tired eyes boring through him just like his brother’s used to either. Only complimented by the haunting smell of the cigarette smoke as it’d drifted from you like a vengeful ghost, there to grab a hold of him as soon as he’d reentered his suite.

It was too many memories for him, too many feelings all at once. And things had just started falling from his lips afterward.

He’d told you how you did remind him of Corazon. 

And how he couldn’t lose that twice.

How badly he wanted his blood family back.

And how he would make you be the means to that end in any way necessary.

But he hadn’t yet taken your contraceptive pills away either. Because you were this stressed already, even with you believing there was still more time for you.

He’d let you think you were still being protected by those pills for now. Not so much as a real mercy to you, but more because he wanted you to eat again. He needed you to relax again.

So that he could have you functioning to do what he needed to do with you. It made his life easier if you weren’t in a full blown breakdown twenty-four seven.

Though since you were already this upset this morning. There was one other thing he’d planned to now get out of the way as he felt that first bead of sweat running down his chest in this oppressive heat.

Doflamingo smiled wider at you as he slid his legs back off of your lap for his bare feet to meet the warm ground.

This dangerous idea was yet another reason he’d shut everyone but his most trusted out of the courtyard now.

“I think we should cool off, love.” He said so casually then too. His head turning to look briefly towards that tranquil water which sparkled in the sunlight without a soul yet within it.

And his sunglasses were just as reflective as that deep water when he looked back to you. You and the dark realization already beginning across your own face while his hand grazed your bandaged thigh.

That wrapping would just have to be redone again.

“I’ll get in if you do.” He promised then, but unable to keep the cruelty from his resulting smirk either. You were just too smart as he saw the correct assumption fill your eyes, hungover or not. You were learning the proper times to assume the worst in his intentions.

“But yes…you first. I want to see you swim for me.” He confirmed as his smirk grew into a grin.

“You already know I’m not a devil fruit user. A test isn’t necessary.” Came your first attempt at argument regardless.

And he’d known it would be this way. He had no illusions of you going easily to anything right now.

His executives were already getting up though, listening to you both as they began to spread out around the pool.

He had warned them of this earlier.

“Just like we knew my brother wasn’t hiding a power from us either?” Doflamingo tutted at you anyway. “Official records can lie, darling. And you’re so good at what you do. I just need to be sure this time. I’d hate to ever carry doubt of my own wife…that’d just be miserable for me.”

For him.

At least he said it out loud this time.

Because his own emotions were all he thought of as he refused any further stalling on your part. The sooner this was over, the faster he could return to the pleasure he wanted.

“I’ll be waiting for you on the steps. That will be your only way out.” Doflamingo spoke so calmly, even as he’d yanked you off that couch by your arm when he’d stood.

And you’d still almost set him off balance in return when the struggle began. No small feat for someone already injured and only partly his size. But his strings pulled your legs out from under you with equal vigor before you could kick him.

He had to be fast, very fast, throwing you before your strong grip could get a solid hold on him either.

There was no guilt in him either of course. No matter how many times you’d already gotten further upset over this exact kind of rough treatment.

Part of his shirt sleeve which you’d ripped still ended up in the pool however. Floating, torn on the water’s surface once that large splash collapsed back in on itself after you’d hit the water.

“She sank!” Trebol exclaimed, sounding delighted.

“Everyone does at first. It’s whether she comes back up or not.” Diamante answered slightly more sensibly, but looking at the still rippling water with an eager anticipation all his own. 

Doflamingo knew there was some jealousy at play in their excitement of course. They thought you hadn’t yet earned your place at his side.

And only they’d seen the mess he’d really been after Rosinante. To which they’d all vowed never again.

They had every right to be this overprotective of him now.

Doflamingo’s own grin had vanished with your body as he’d stalked the edge of the pool in that brief time between. His height giving him an excellent vantage point while the still disturbed water now lapped the sides.

“How long do you want to wait, Doffy?” Pica was the only one already sounding anxious by comparison. Pica’s devil fruit could lift the entire courtyard, and dump all that water in an instant if his master only bid it.

“Her wounded leg certainly won’t help her. Give it a little longer.” Doflamingo answered firmly.

He couldn’t let them rush things. Because this trial was actually two fold after all.

Part one was just to clear the last of his anxiety of your hiding any secrets like his last Corazon.

And part two…

“Remember, if she comes up at any of the sides, don’t let her out. She only leaves the pool through me.” Doflamingo reminded his men as he now removed the rest of his torn shirt.

He had seen the warped shape of you finally moving along the bottom. You weren’t paralyzed, though he hadn’t truly expected you to be. His stress could now shift to what he had to do next to himself. 

His men hadn’t liked this portion of the plan earlier when he’d said it in private. And they certainly didn’t enjoy seeing it in action now as Doflamingo first stepped off the side and onto the underwater stairs which led to the pool’s bottom.

But he’d timed it well, wading in only in his capris pants. The cooler water was all the way to his knees just as your head at last broke the surface.

You looked initially furious of course. Spitting out water and barely staying afloat, fighting your weakened leg just as he’d thought while you kicked hard to stay upright. Your feet were nowhere near the bottom in that deepest section of the pool.

And just as you’d spun to curse or even fight one of them, his breath had caught as he felt the paralysis begin through his own lower body all at once when the water met his thighs.

Doflamingo’s power was fully ripped away as he landed on his ass on one of those submerged steps. The water then up to his chest so quickly as he panted, his weight falling back just enough to touch his shoulders to the pool wall.

He’d barely managed to keep his arms above the water. Now only able to move them weakly as they laid limply stretched on either side of him along the pool’s edge.

This was much deeper than the time he’d sat in the bath with you. That time had only made him feel pleasantly sluggish on top of disconnecting from his devil fruit.

But right now, he couldn’t even have stood up if he’d tried.

And if he slipped further down or fell forward instead…

“So you can swim.” Doflamingo spoke through his now labored breathing, forcing a smile regardless of that near atrophy then spreading into his chest muscles. 

There was still a very specific high in this for him of course. The rush of experiencing such primal fear he rarely got to play with. Not when he was so much stronger than anyone else he normally faced. 

His crew was horror stricken to silence however. But the executives were keeping the officers dutifully back. Letting their insane master do as he wished. Even if it meant now handing himself to you on a platter just to see your reaction.

This second test was him wishing to confirm that additional difference between you and his brother in the end. 

And all the more reason he really had thrown you into the deep as violently as he could.

Because humans showed their true colors most in times of duress. And he already had an idea of what you really were. 

But he wanted to show the others. And he wanted to remind himself after he’d briefly seen his brother staring back at him this morning.

“The fuck.”

He saw you mouth those two words more than you actually said them as you finally saw him and his too precarious placement on those steps.

Your eyes narrowed and you took a sharp breath before going immediately back under.

It was easier for you to swim just beneath the surface, not fighting to keep yourself above it as the shape of you then moved towards him quicker than even he’d expected.

And he could still feel everything so acutely too as his body beautifully suffered. Your soft hands as they opened against his bare chest. Your knees as they bumped against his inner thighs.

You emerged right in front of him in no time at all, shoving him to put his back harder against that pool wall. The texture was so rough, scraping against his shoulders as he breathed louder.

“Was I already slipping, my love?” Doflamingo asked, trying to keep his head raised to watch you as a chuckle rumbled through him. You were fully holding his torso up by then.

“What the fuck is wrong with you!? You think this shit is funny!?” You bitched loud enough that every member of his crew surely heard you that time.

And it was a little frustrating to him, not to be able to just kiss you then and there with that lovely fear still in your eyes.

But he couldn’t move his body enough to do it. So he had to settle for another intoxicated smile instead. He couldn’t get enough of you like this. 

“You surpass every expectation…you really do.” He tried to purr through his panting.

Because he knew it.

It wasn’t just about this silly game for you. It wasn’t anything about this goddamn pool at all really.

Your eyes said everything you were feeling.

And so Doflamingo laughed, even as your smaller arms tried to catch under his and force him up one stair step at a time. Wet skin to wet skin as you fought his dead weight with no help from his crew.

Donquixote Doflamingo could make anyone do anything. He could beat them, break them, cut them, or shoot them.

But he couldn’t make someone care. 

Not the way you did, so naturally and sincerely.

You were too obvious, and he was loving every moment even as his back finally fell out flat and hard to the ground. Laying beside the pool with only his legs then still in the water as you nearly fell on top of him after forcing him out.

“You are too damn big! You fucking asshole!” You were breathing harder, in clear pain for the unexpected exertion you’d just endured.

No, you were not at all the next Rosinante in his mind at least.

Because your feelings for him were different than that, and his anxiety of this morning had finally quieted in this affirmation.

The heated air now against Doflamingo’s skin revitalized him rather quickly too. Only his knees were still bent over the pool edge with his calves and feet in the water as he grabbed you quickly before you could think twice.

“And you were so upset this morning…and for what?” He teased, pulling you down onto his chest to stop you from getting away. 

He didn’t care if the girls in his crew would already be blushing now. 

The two of you were laid in quite the compromising way then, glistening in the sunlight together.

Doflamingo was already strong enough again to grab one of your hands as he forced it over his still racing heart, continuing to talk to you. “Yes, you’re a marine. But the last one that lived with me aimed a pistol to this instead.” He said in reference to that hotly beating muscle inside, his mouth almost against yours too by then. “If I hadn’t answered with my own, none of this would be possible. Do you understand? He wanted to erase me…and you…” Doflamingo smiled, searching your still emotional eyes from behind his glasses.

“You only want to save me.”

He kissed you right after those words had left his lips, pulling you to him even tighter as he forced his tongue up into your mouth. 

He might have heard Baby 5 gasp. 

Maybe Dellinger had made a retching sound.

But they’d just have to get used to it. 

You were here to stay. And soon enough they’d have a new little brother or sister to go along with this perfect family addition.

—————————

“Vice Admiral Tsuru has abandoned her post in Lyra and is no longer updating her coordinates. At least on our channels.” Tashigi said quietly. “The fleet admiral has ordered no one to speak to the press. And there is still a travel embargo in place to Dressrosa per HQ. No navy ships are allowed to port there until further notice. This order will be strictly enforced by the sailors of base G-5 and their commander Vice Admiral Vergo.”

Smoker remained silent, looking out to sea as his subordinate gave her latest updates from the bulletins that had been coming periodically across the snails all day.

Some transmissions were official, some more secondhand, leap frogged in communications from navy ship to navy ship here in the New World as everyone clamored to make any real sense of this new humiliation.

“We’ll still beat Tsuru there.” Smoker finally said gruffly.

He was standing alone otherwise.

Even as much of a rookie as Tashigi still was, she was the only one willing to approach him after he’d exploded on the rest of the crew earlier.

Smoker had yelled, asking how braindead they had to be to believe these steaming piles of dogshit being purported as the truth about you now.

And he could rage at his own men to knock sense into them all he wanted. But he knew their opinions would now reflect the majority of marines regardless.

Doflamingo was purposefully cutting off your support.

Just as Smoker and Aokiji had both assumed that pirate would further try to.

Yet that didn’t mean that Smoker was reacting well either. And he was certain Aokiji would be laid over a bar somewhere in Marineford by tonight.

“Are you okay…Captain?”

Tashigi’s damned soft voice only irritated him further as he bit against his cigars. “Shut off all our snails from here out until Dressrosa is in sight. Then start the S.O.S. signals. Tsuru has the right idea about going dark. There’s nothing else we need to know about this. We stick to the plan and that’s the end of it.”

“Yes, Captain.” She saluted only half heartedly however before walking away to deliver those orders to the communications room.

She even had the audacity to look back over her shoulder too. Her concern so insultingly etched over every bit of her body language as Smoker tried and failed to focus only on the ocean’s windswept whitecaps still in the distance.

He was a practical man. A straight forward man who loathed the idea of ever living within the failures of the past.

Everything should only be the next step forward. The next answer to what existed now, not to what was before.

But even his resolve was not enough to overcome this twisting thing, now eating through his heart and mind as he went through cigar after cigar.

He didn’t care if you hated him any longer.

He only cared if you hated yourself. And if he had so stupidly contributed to it in the end when he’d thought he’d only been pressing you to be better.

You had never been in love with him. Smoker was still certain of this. You’d just been killing time. The two of you were friends that’d gone too far, because it had felt good and you’d both been so similar.

He could trust you and you could trust him. And for almost two years that had been enough.

Until it wasn’t. Until he’d wanted more and it had started to hurt. But you’d never change. And you couldn’t understand why it was wrong. 

Smoker had tried to pull back, expecting you to see it and cut him off with a vengeance. He had no insecurities that made him need to be the first to end it.

He’d wanted you to. To say you’d dumped him so you could walk on with your head held high. You’d needed that win far more than he did.

But you’d clung to him in your own way. And he’d been so irritated by it. Because in every other aspect of your life you were one of the fiercest women he’d ever known.

Yet you just wouldn’t walk away from him as many times as he’d tried to push you towards freedom.

The true end in his mind, being that last time the two of you had ever been physically intimate. Both your ships had been in a port in the East Blue at the same time. He had tried to have an honest conversation with you alone then. Because he’d never wanted to do something that serious over the phone.

But you’d wanted to go drinking instead, and he’d gotten all the more frustrated. Culminating in bending you over in the bathroom of the bar as he’d used himself up again inside of you.

He’d still wanted you so fully and he’d hated it. Because he’d seen your own anger and hurt. Drunk as you’d been, wanting his attention and affection even in the aftermath. 

He didn’t enable you further to give it that night though as he’d only refastened his pants and helped you straighten your skirt before making sure you made it back to your ship safely.

You were never ready to listen to him. And you’d probably cried that night. He’d stayed awake the entire time on his own ship, waiting by his snail.

Surely he’d thought you’d call cursing and fussing by then. That you’d finally break up with him and wake up to what you were really doing to yourself.

But it was so much worse than he’d ever believed.

Because the next time he’d seen you had finally been in Mariejois. And he couldn’t wait any longer by then. He’d prepared to say what you wouldn’t and cut you loose. 

And he’d known you wouldn’t handle it well. Tashigi had followed him to the courtyard, worrying as always. But Smoker had felt a rare dread in himself that morning.

Much like he did today.

You’d been using him to feel something. And he’d let you, until the day he couldn’t anymore.

It’d hurt like hell.

And it still hurt because he knew you’d learned nothing even as many times as he’d tried to show you. 

You’d pour yourself into every goddamn other thing but actually saving yourself. Chiefly your career and your shitty taste in men, himself included. 

You didn’t trust yourself to deserve better. You didn’t know your real worth. And now the absolute worst fucking candidate Smoker could ever think of had to have learned this about you too.

Smoker had done his damndest to make you take flight.

And all you’d done was double back right into the strings of the next man in waiting. 

One that wasn’t a man at all, but a demon to be beaten back before he broke your wings entirely.

But did you want Doflamingo to lose when it came to you? That was a question Smoker still couldn’t answer either. Despite all his bluster, defending you so doggedly before his own crew.

All he could really do would be to try and wake you one more time. 

And hope that this would finally be enough to be different somehow. That you would want to be free instead of just holding tighter to the chains you’d already made in your own mind.

The ones Doflamingo surely kept tightening once he had found them.

Hell itself couldn’t have dreamed of a worse combination than the two of you.

———————————

  �� T⨂  BE 

CONTINUED

———————————

Thanks for reading!

Author’s note: I’m pretty sure that in canon Law is the only person ever shown knowing of Rosinante’s devil fruit ability. For purposes of this story, I’m assuming some of the marines Rosi served with ended up also knowing. And Doflamingo dug up that information after his death, bothered by just how much else his brother may have been hiding from him. I didn’t want to spoil Doffy’s “are you or aren’t you a witch?” pool trick by posting this note at the beginning. 🫣

[queerfandomtrifecta]

IWtV is finally gonna be the fandom that I write fic for, I feel it, because I think it would be deliciously heartbreaking and fascinating to explore Armand trying to balance putting in a genuine effort of mending his companionship with Louis after 1973 while also inadvertently starting all the Devil’s Minion stuff with Daniel on the side as a secret shortly after and just never being able to choose for decades. in and out of Daniel’s life when he can be even though they both know it’s a bad idea, unable to leave Louis because he does love him too and just. following that juggling act as Louis goes from San Francisco era property investor to Dubai era multimillionaire art dealer, following it through Daniel’s career and marriages and divorces and children and relapses and almost being able to keep it all at least separate until Daniel is old and suddenly dying of Parkinson’s and Armand still. won’t. Turn. him. and Louis brings out the tapes from the interview he did with that boy fifty years ago, set on redoing it the right way. And finally Armand has to do something and has to make a choice to keep things from all crumbling down immediately, so he spends a last night with Daniel in their place in New York, removes himself from the past fifty years of Daniel’s memories before he wakes, presses a teary kiss to his forehead, then uses his mailbox key a final time to put the unaddressed box of tapes and Louis’ invitation inside cue s1e01 DO YOU SEE MY VISION alllll of the angst I’m gonna write it I swear

[cbrownjc]

image credit: c2299cLance on Twitter

The above image is from the Episode 2x05 insider. And boy oh boy do I (did I?) have a question about this.

Because if that really is the book being published in the present day . . . then that pretty much upends the format of the show. Because the book being published means there is absolutely no reason for Daniel to stick around Dubai anymore IMO. Because why would he? His job is done.

And truth be told, I've long thought the interview would be finished in episode 2x08. That Daniel would finish it, and talk about heading home to being writing and editing it.

However, I never really thought he would actually leave. Because Daniel's character basically does leave the story at the end of Interview with the Vampire. And we don't see him again until Queen of the Damned, during the chase. (And we already know Season 3 is The Vampire Lestat).

But I really couldn't work out how the show could ever have that happen -- because that basically means Daniel's character leaving the show for a time. Possibly a long time, as time jumps just to account for the book being published would have to happen. And that, well . . .

See, I very much noticed how much Daniel's Parkinson's was making him shake this episode (2x05). And I in no way think Armand and Daniel are doing the Devil's Minion chase in the current day with Daniel having Parkinson's during a pandemic (which is still going on in the show's timeline). Sorry, no, not happening IMO. Because there is no damn reason for Armand to chase Daniel now, IMO. The reason Armand even did so in the first place was because he found Daniel fascinating/interesting. And well, as we just saw in episode 2x05 that already happened. It makes no sense that Armand would wait 50 freakin' years to follow up on that with a chase around the world.

So the book being published at the end of the interview always meant, to me, that it would mean bye-bye to Eric from the show. Which, I was NOT looking forward to. Because I honestly couldn't see any reason for Daniel's character to stick around, at least in Dubai, never mind the next part of the story. Especially if Lestat isn't going to be in Dubai and we might have to start doing freakin' time jumps to account for the publication of books.

And, once again, Daniel has a degenerative disease. That, once again, I noticed very well how much he was shaking from. So unless Devil's Minion really didn't happen in the past, there really was no way for Daniel to enter or be part of the story going forward. Because yes, I very much think Armand is going to be prepared to let Daniel leave Dubai and not stop him. Right now, Armand is very focused on keeping his life as it is in Dubai, and I think part of that is due to him not thinking Daniel would ever really remember anything of the past anyway.

So yeah, if that prop is for the book actually being published in the modern-day, I was already beginning to mourn Daniel leaving the show. Because from how I looked at it, I couldn't figure out any reason why his character would stay in Dubai, around these vampires anymore. Right now, if Daniel leaves Dubai, he leaves the show IMO. And probably for a good long while, given where the story is going. (With maybe Armand coming to see Daniel later at some point when he's dying to turn him or something, IDK).

And then, I was reminded -- by @nalyra-dreaming -- of this picture that Eric posted on Twitter a few months back:

And it all began to click.

Because for a real time there, for a few weeks at least after Eric first posted this, I seriously thought that Daniel's character was going to, well die.

Between the posting of this picture by Eric as well as a few other things, no joke, I was getting a real vibe about it, that Daniel was going to die this season . . . but not stay dead of course. I just held back on talking about it because it felt so damn early, story-wise, for it to happen.

And then something during the lead-up to the more recent press events made me stop thinking Daniel would die. And that Daniel's turning still wouldn't happen for a few more seasons yet.

But now . . . if the book really is going to be published . . .

I think it's going to be published posthumously. Or, at least, posthumously to the human world.

Because why would Daniel stick around in Dubai if the book is published? As we saw in the preview for next week, he's already saying to Justin Kirk he wants to get out of this alive. The minute he's done with the interview he's leaving, make no mistake about that. So why would Daniel stay?

Well, becoming an undead vampire would do it.

So everyone who wanted Eric's Daniel to become a vampire? You might actually be getting your wish this season. Because if those books above really are real and Daniel really is publishing it in the modern-day . . . then the only reason I can think of for him to not only stay in Dubai/on the show but not visibly age -- or get sicker like Daniel very much would wrt such time jumps that would require not only a publication of such a book but for Lestat to see it, read it, etc -- is this. Daniel becomes a vampire at the end of this season.

Because otherwise, IMO? There is no other reason for his character to stick around. Not from anything else I've thought of so far at least that would make any type of sense.

And what is going to force Armand's hand into turning Daniel? (Because yes, I do still think it's going to be Armand who does it) Well, very likely this . . .

gif credit: @hermit-frog

I already thought Daniel was going to get hurt when it came to this happening. But now I think Daniel getting hurt will be the least of it . . .

[saintundying]

IIRC you also think DM happened in the past. Do you have a theory as to why Daniel's memory's were erased?

Are you ready for something insane???

I think it has to do with Marius de Romanus.

The epicenter of Armand is Marius. He is in every crack and corner of how Armand exists. His shadow falls over the dynamic of Louis and Armand in the show and Armand and Daniel in the QotD chapter. In the book, once Armand realizes Daniel truly loves him in Pompeii, what does he do? He resorts himself back into the role he knows, except he casts Daniel as Amadeo and himself as Marius. Daniel becomes fully dependent on Armand because isn't that what love is? Armand understands his love properly right when Daniel is dying so he turns him. Armand can't stomach turning Daniel (sounds like s2 finale babes) and Daniel loses his mind and ends up isolated in Marius' care.

1940s AMC Armand believes Marius dead. Does 2022 Armand? Timelines can change easily. He spent time with Lestat for the trial, it could have been revealed. Lestat would hold it over his head for making him do this. Or maybe, reveal it through a relationship with Daniel.

Armand makes sure the SF edit of memories allows him to flaunt he saved Daniel's life. This is important to him. Except, he didn't save Daniel's life at all in that apartment. Why is it important to Armand that Daniel (and Louis) believe this? Why is it important Armand can hold onto that? I think he really believes he saves Daniel's life, just not in SF.

In the books, Bianca, Daniel, Benji, Sybelle all become objects Marius takes from Armand. So if Marius did come to check up on Armand unseen (funnily enough he does so in Paris and it's in Paris that Daniel's memories start to form a coherent timeline again) and finds him in a relationship with a human boy? Oh no, Armand is Marius'.

Oh Amadeo, I've come to you again. You have a human companion? He is addicted to you, you hurt him, give him the Gift! Turn him or free him! You cannot love properly because that is your nature. Let me take care of this one for you, Amadeo.

There is a glaring neon sign stating the love has already happened because Armand turns Daniel in the show. He has no other reason to do so. Armand doesn't punish this way. Okay so past relationship, but Armand doesn't want Daniel in Dubai, except he is and he allows it. Why? The entire thing reeks of "I don't want this interview happening. I don't want you here, but I am weak and selfish and I wanted to see you again. I want you to remember me."

I think he believes he saved Daniel from a life of damnation and Armand by allowing Marius (or himself, but I don't think he is that strong in the Mind Gift) to remove the memories of their time. I free you from me and you can go onto live a life. I won't let you be cursed.

So yea, Marius. Show wise look at who is about to get the scoop on Armand and Marius through Lestat. You set up Armand as this false villain, Daniel starts realizing there is more memories missing, anger at Armand for taking more. Look at what you did to Nicki, look at what you did to Claudia and Louis, look at what you did to me. Drop the twist that Armand truly thought he was saving Daniel, start Armand's backstory/redemption arc, and you build them reuniting.

Devil's minion break up and reunite in the books, but that is never shown beyond a few lines. No way, this show wouldn't want a deep exploration of a human/vampire relationship. They're dramatists. Rolin Jones and co. have such a sandbox to play in with these two during the time Anne Rice doesn't write for them and that's why I think their timeline appears all over the place.

OH! Daniel sits by Marius' portrait in the dining room every time by the way. Also, crazy first name drop of a major character in a line from the episode titled "...after the phantoms of your former self" where only Armand is present in the scene.

Yea, I bet you never heard of him

[and-fishing-equipment]

an underexplored devil's minion concept is if 70's devil's minion did happen and armand did delete daniel's memories but he's really wiped them. they're gone. he doesn't have them, he can't give them back to him. daniel can't remember.

endless opportunities.

armand wanting desperately to make daniel remember this precious time they spent together but having to suffer the consequences of his own actions.

daniel feeling like armand is chasing after some version of him that he doesn't remember being. feeling like he came back wrong.

armand trying to give daniel something of that time back through his own memories but the memories being all wrong and altered and an unreliable account of what happened that contradicts itself. a story of two people shared among those two people but with only one perspective of it, completely unbalanced and devoid of their true emotional value, only making that time more confused for daniel.

daniel being all too aware of a gap in his mind where something good and important used to be but he can never truly know what.

armand feeling that important treasured moments between them are barely even real anymore because the understanding and trust they created among them functionally never happened. but he will know. he will always know.

the inherit imbalance of beginning a relationship from two completely different points. the respective feelings of

"i love you but there is this suffocating feeling of loss in me every time i look at you"

and

"i can never be enough for you because there is someone you look for in me that i can never be."

[wildernessuntothemselves]

Devil in Me (teaser)

A/N: basically oc is like the queen of angels and gyu is the prince of darkness but with a twist. oc is the one controlling gyu. gyu is also slightly yanderish in this. i'm thinking of adding more parts to this as i have a couple other ideas in mind.

warnings: devil!gyu, angel!oc, mean dom!oc, cunnilingus, slapping, frotting, cumming in pants

_______________________

“I’m just saying you’re not doing a very good job, and the big guy can see it too. Soon, he’ll have someone come to replace you and you’ll be stripped of your powers. And when he does, maybe he and I can make a deal–I tell my demons to back off a little bit and he gives you to me as a gift. I could use a little sex toy–”

You don’t let him finish his filth, slapping him right across the face. He stops immediately, staring at you wide eyed and breathing heavily. As soon as he gathers enough brain power to open his mouth to talk back again, you slap him a second time, finally shutting him up and showing him you’re done with his bravado. 

He surges forward, trying to catch your lips with his but your hand wraps itself around his neck and pushes him down. He knows what you want and he eagerly gets on his knees for you.  

“I don't want to hear another word out of your filthy mouth.” You snarl, pushing your index and middle finger inside his mouth. “You’re a disgusting, wicked thing. He would never give me to you. I am worth more than you and all your minions combined.”

He makes a choked sound that resembles the words “I know” but you push your fingers further, choking him and shutting him up. 

“You know nothing.” You hiss, taking your fingers out of his mouth, saliva dribbling out onto his chin. “The only toy here is you. So shut up and make yourself useful.” 

You walk towards your chair and order him to follow. He crawls towards you just like he's been trained to. You push your white dress up and spread your legs, exposing yourself to him but he knows not to dive in before being given the command. 

You make him wait a bit just to torture him. You make him wait until he starts whimpering and squirming, looking up at you with eyes that betray his angel origins before you finally give him the go ahead. 

He dives right in, starved. If you didn’t know any better you'd think he's an incubus that survives on your arousal. But he doesn’t even have that grace to spare his ego. He is fully in control of his actions and he chooses to be on his knees for you. 

You throw your head back and stare at the ceiling as he uses his mouth and tongue to try to get your attention. You know he hates when you’re not looking at him. He hates when you treat him like he’s so far beneath you even if he consciously put himself there.

You feel him whine against you, the sound accentuating the touch of his tongue as it laps up your arousal and flicks over your little sensitive nub, making your toes curl and your vision to go spotty. He’s so good at this. After all, he had plenty of practice, unlike you who only ever had him. So it isn’t hard for him to rip an orgasm out of you so quickly. This just makes you arch your back and throw your head back further, your eyes scrunching close as the waves of pleasure dull the edges of your anger. 

But it’s not entirely gone, and as he whines again for you to look at him, you finally do, growling, “What?” 

“Did that feel good?” He mumbles, eyes shiny as he stares up at you, looking for your approval. You groan, pushing his face back down and starting to grind your hips against his mouth. He mewls pathetically but obediently sticks his tongue out so you can use him. He still continues to whine but doesn’t once try to pull away, staying there until you’ve had your fill of him. 

It is moments like this where you feel the real danger of his temptation–his pretty eyes, his pathetic whimpers, his need for you… maybe this whole thing is just a massive scheme to corrupt you and drag you down to his realm. He knows he can’t intimidate or scare you into going the wrong way, but his puppy act sure is a lot more convincing. 

Twisting his hair in your fingers, you push him away, exhaustion settling deep into your bones now that the pleasure has left. “Get up. You're dismissed.”

He lets out a heartbroken whine and his fingers dip into your thighs. “Please.”

___________________

You can read the whole thing on patreon or kofi. though i'd prefer you go on patreon as not all my writings exclusive will be posted on kofi later on

[killerelysia]

𝐅𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞, 𝐔𝐬?- 𝐑𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐧 𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐱 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐥! 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

Header used from my old one-shot of his! It sucks!

Reader is from https://www.tumblr.com/elysiaheaven/767040370156699648/ronin-x-devil-reader-like-were-an-actual-devil?source=share

Just a future look into their stupid relationship! I missed writing killer chat!

Words:

Genre: Fluff/Sfw! Make out session.

Summary: — Tsundere devil(you) find yourself tangled in a battle of wits and emotions with Ronin. After a heated moment leads to a confession of your succubus nature, a mischievous minion of Satan appears to expose your deepest secrets, revealing not only your innocence but also your undeniable affection for Ronin. Flustered and humiliated, you try to maintain your tough facade while Ronin relishes every moment of your embarrassment, pushing your buttons with his teasing smirks and cutting remarks

( Reader is a g.n!)

SFW!

EXTRA: He's a character from a game named Killer chat! Please play it! It's so good!!!

It was surprise, You didn't expect to fell for this little shit of a human.

That fucking calls himself the devil to piss people off.

But you did.

You FELL hard.

He always managed to get under your skin, teasing you just enough to keep you on edge, but never enough to push you over the edge. You hated him for that.

Or… you didn’t.

Ronin’s eyes gleamed, sharp and filled with that dangerous kind of curiosity you hated so much—yet couldn’t resist. You leaned against the wall, arms crossed, tail swishing behind you like a warning, but it was a warning you didn’t know if you wanted to give. Your heart beat fast, chest tight, but you refused to show any of it.

"You're being awfully quiet tonight," Ronin teased, stepping closer, that signature smirk spreading across his lips. He was leaning in, moving so effortlessly toward you, his footsteps echoing against the concrete floor, just loud enough to drown out your thoughts.

"I’m not in the mood to listen to you right now," you spat, your tail flicking impatiently at the ground. You could feel the weight of his presence, how it drew you in despite your protestations.

"You're in a bad mood again, huh?" Ronin's voice was as smooth as ever, his smirk spreading across his lips like a wolf circling its prey. You couldn’t quite tell if he was mocking you or genuinely curious, but either way, it drove you crazy.

You crossed your arms tightly, your tail flicking behind you in irritation, curling around his wrist as you tried to keep your distance. "Shut up, Ronin," you growled, narrowing your eyes. "I’m not in the mood for your games."

He stepped closer, completely unbothered by your gruffness, his gaze darkening with amusement. "You're always in the mood for my games." His hand reached for your tail, gently tugging at it, his smirk widening when he felt it coil around his wrist. "Doesn't seem like you're avoiding me, huh?"

You huffed, eyes darting away as you tried to ignore the heat creeping up your neck. Your tail, as much as you hated to admit it, loved the way his touch sent shivers down your spine, and you hated that it betrayed you so easily.

"I-I said… stop that!" you snapped, pulling your tail away, but it was already tangled with his other wrist, wrapping around his body. The more you struggled, the more it seemed like you were pulling yourself into his grasp.

"Yeah, you always say that," he muttered, tilting his head, his fingers brushing across your horns, feeling the sharp edges that were part of you, the mark of your lineage. It was a soft touch, almost affectionate, but it sent a tremor down your spine. He knew exactly how to make you react.

You hissed, your tail instinctively wrapping around his wrist, pulling him closer. "Don’t touch me like that!" you snapped, your voice strained with a mix of frustration and something else, something deeper. You hated him—well, you hated the way he made you feel, at least. But... there was something in you that craved it. His touch. His attention. The way he made you lose control, even for a moment.

He grinned wickedly, unbothered by your outburst. “I think you're lying," Ronin said softly, his voice low. "You say you hate me, but you're shaking.” His thumb grazed across your wrist, where your tail was still curled tightly around him, constricting like a serpent in a death grip.

You pulled back sharply, feeling the sting of embarrassment burn your face. "I—It’s not like that!" you stammered, trying to pull your tail free from his hold. "I-I’m not some easy target for your stupid games!"

His smirk widened as he took a step forward, bringing you face-to-face with him. His intense gaze bored into yours, and for a moment, all you could do was stand there, your heart racing wildly in your chest.

"I think you’re more of an easy target than you want to admit," Ronin muttered, his voice dripping with dark amusement. Then, before you could even protest, he grabbed your tail and twisted it gently, the sensation almost too much to handle. You gasped, your body involuntarily shuddering from the sensation of him controlling you in that way.

"Ronin..." you tried to warn him, but your voice faltered. You could feel the heat building between you, the tension too thick to ignore. Your mind screamed at you to push him away, to remain strong, but your body didn’t seem to listen.

He chuckled darkly, not letting you go. "I’m not done yet," he whispered, leaning in closer.

Your eyes widened as his lips captured yours in a sudden, burning kiss. It was desperate, wild, as if he was trying to take everything from you, as if he wanted to break you. And God help you, part of you wanted him to.

You struggled beneath him, but you couldn’t fight the overwhelming surge of desire that surged through your veins. Your tail wrapped around his wrist tighter, pulling him even closer, while your other hand instinctively grabbed his shoulder. It was a mess of passion, of power plays, and you were helpless to stop it.

His hands were everywhere—on your waist, your shoulders, your horns. He grabbed your horns roughly, holding them in place as you let out a sharp hiss. Your breath hitched, a quiet moan escaping your lips before you could stop it. The mix of pleasure and irritation only made you burn hotter.

Ronin pulled away from the kiss with a smirk, his breath ragged as he leaned down to nip at your neck, his hand still gripping your horns tightly, just enough to make you hiss in pleasure. "You like that, don’t you?" he murmured, his lips brushing against your skin. "Don’t lie to me."

"I-I don’t like anything about you!" you gasped, but even as the words left your mouth, you knew they weren’t true. The heat pooling between your legs was enough to betray you, enough to let him know that, despite your protests, you wanted him.

But that didn’t mean you’d make it easy for him. "You’re such an idiot," you muttered, trying to regain some semblance of control, but it was slipping away too fast. "I don’t need you to—"

"Shut up," Ronin growled, pinning you down against the floor, his body pressing firmly against yours. There was no escape. Not from him. Not from this.

"You're not in charge here anymore," he said, his voice dark, full of arrogance. His smirk was cruel as he hovered over you, dominating every inch of you.

"You think you can control me?" you hissed, eyes narrowing, the heat in your body making your tail writhe beneath you. "You’re just a man—I’m the devil."

His eyes burned, dark amusement flickering in his gaze. "You think so? Then show me."

Your tail whipped around him again, tightly, wrapping him up in a coil of heat and need. You tried to fight it, but Ronin grinned as his hands gripped your horns once more. And with that, you lost. The control you had, the defiance, everything melted away under the weight of his touch and the fire building between you.

And all you could do was moan, losing yourself in the kiss, in the heat, in the overwhelming power of him. He was right—maybe you didn’t have control anymore, but you were finally free in the chaos.

Ronin let out a low chuckle, clearly enjoying your frustration. "Look at you," he murmured, his hand resting against your hip as he leaned in, his breath brushing against your ear. "You hate me, don’t you? You’re all bluster and no bite."

You gritted your teeth. "I don’t hate you," you hissed, the words slipping out before you could stop them. "You’re just… annoying, and I’m just trying to get some peace. That's it."

But you couldn’t even say it with a straight face.

His lips grazed your ear, and you could feel the tension in your body melting into something else entirely. You were mad at yourself for it. For how your heartbeat quickened in his presence.

Ronin’s smirk never faltered. He knew exactly what was happening, and it made the air between you two even heavier with tension. "You're so cute when you're angry."

Before you could stop yourself, your voice raised in frustration, a blush spreading across your cheeks as you fumbled to come up with something to say. "W-who are you calling cute?! I’m not cute, I’m—"

He was too quick for you. One moment you were standing, flustered and riled up, and the next you were on your back, Ronin looming over you.

"You’re not in charge anymore," he murmured, leaning down, his face inches from yours. His voice was low, the playful edge replaced with something far darker. "I don’t take orders from you. Not anymore."

Your heart raced in your chest. "I—I never asked you to!" you snapped, trying to twist your wrists free, but his grip was firm, holding you captive beneath him.

"Sure you didn’t," he teased, pressing his lips against the side of your neck. "But deep down, you’re still just waiting for me to take the lead, aren’t you?"

You cursed yourself as your body flushed with warmth, your tail wrapping around his waist instinctively. You hated this. Hated how easily he could get you flustered.

With one final smirk, Ronin kissed you hard, his lips crashing into yours, taking the kiss with a kind of predatory hunger. And in that moment, you hated him even more.

But not really.

Not at all.

Your heart pounded as Ronin's lips pressed against yours again, this time more forcefully, taking control of the kiss as his hands roamed over your body. You felt your tail twist tighter around his wrist, pulling him deeper into the embrace, but it wasn’t just your tail. It was the overwhelming need for him, the connection you couldn't deny.

His lips moved against yours in a rhythm that bordered between rough and needy. He kissed you like he couldn’t get enough, like he was starved for this moment. His tongue swiped against your lower lip, demanding entrance, and you hesitated for only a moment before you parted your lips, giving him what he wanted. A soft growl rumbled in his chest as he deepened the kiss, his body pressing harder against you.

Every nerve in your body was on fire, your senses heightened. The warmth of his body against yours, the way he gripped your horns tightly as if trying to keep you in place, made you feel like you were losing yourself in him. Your heart raced, and yet, you couldn’t help but moan into his mouth, a soft sound you tried to suppress, but couldn't.

“You like that, don’t you?” Ronin murmured between kisses, his voice low and teasing as he pulled back just enough to gaze into your eyes. His smirk never left his face, only deepened, and his gaze was full of that dark, almost predatory satisfaction.

You didn’t answer immediately, your breath shallow as you tried to collect yourself. “Tch… Shut up,” you managed to mutter, but the words were weak, coated in the heat of the moment. Your tail involuntarily tightened around his waist, pulling him back to you, as if you were trying to force him to kiss you again. You hated how much you craved it, hated how much he affected you.

Ronin chuckled at your reaction, clearly amused, but it was more than that. There was a hunger in his eyes now. He lowered his mouth to your neck, pressing a searing kiss just beneath your jawline. You couldn’t stop the breathy moan that escaped you, your body arching instinctively into him as he nipped at your sensitive skin.

“Admit it,” he whispered against your skin, his hot breath sending shivers down your spine. “You want this just as much as I do.”

His words made your stomach flip, but there was no denying the truth of it. Your body betrayed you every time he touched you, every time he kissed you. You tried to resist, tried to hold onto that anger, that defiance, but all you could focus on was him—his lips, his hands, the way he made you feel like you were losing yourself, and yet somehow finding something you didn’t know you craved.

Your hands found their way to his back, nails digging into the fabric of his shirt as your lips met his again, this time with more urgency. You weren’t sure who was kissing whom anymore. Your hands fumbled at his shirt, pulling at it in frustration as if it were a barrier between the two of you. But Ronin was faster, ripping it off with a low growl, his bare chest now pressed against yours.

Your tails slid up his back, tracing the lines of his muscles as your lips parted once more. You didn’t even realize it was happening, but in that moment, all of your inhibitions, all of your anger, melted away. There was only him. Only the way he made you feel.

“Stop pretending,” Ronin muttered, pushing you down onto the soft surface beneath you. His body loomed over yours now, strong and commanding, pinning you in place. His fingers curled under your chin, tilting your head back so that you couldn’t escape his gaze. His eyes were dark with desire, the playful smirk still present but with something far deeper beneath it.

“You’re not in charge anymore,” he repeated, his voice thick with confidence, as his lips hovered just over yours. His breath mixed with yours, tantalizing and heated. Your heart raced in your chest, but despite the intense wave of emotion, there was an undeniable truth in his words. You couldn’t fight it anymore. You didn’t want to.

Instead of speaking, you pulled him in for another kiss, deeper, rougher, desperate. Your tail wrapped around his torso again, pulling him down, urging him to come closer. He responded in kind, one hand gripping your horns once again, his fingers tugging at the sensitive points, making you hiss in a mix of pleasure and frustration.

His lips moved to your neck, kissing and biting as you moaned beneath him. Every part of you felt consumed by him—by his touch, his kiss, the way his body seemed to overwhelm you. And yet, there was no fight left in you. You had no choice but to give in.

"Tell me," he whispered into your ear as his lips trailed down your throat, "tell me you need me."

Your body shuddered in response, but you couldn’t help it. His lips were on your skin again, biting and teasing in ways that had your breath catching. With a sharp gasp, you whispered the words you’d been holding back. "I… need you," you breathed out, the confession slipping from your lips before you could stop it.

The air between you and Ronin grew thick with tension, each passing moment more charged than the last. His lips lingered close to your ear, his words sharp and teasing.

"You must have done it with a lot of devils before, haven't you?" Ronin's voice was low and almost mocking, but there was an edge of curiosity there, a desire to dig deeper, to push you into revealing more.

You hissed, trying to suppress the sudden surge of heat in your body, and yet, you couldn’t help yourself. "Yes," you admitted, the words slipping from your mouth before you could stop them, "I'm part succubus. I love lust."

It was a dangerous admission, one you only half meant, but there was no taking it back now. Ronin’s expression was unreadable, but you could feel the weight of his gaze on you, his eyes now flashing with amusement as if he knew exactly how to push your buttons.

Suddenly, a figure appeared beside you, a tiny minion devil emerging from the shadows. Its form was slight, almost comical, yet it radiated a sense of otherworldly power. It chittered in its high-pitched voice, its words laced with mischief.

"The punishment of Satan," it began, "is that if you lie, the lie will be revealed. The minion tells the truth, always."

You instinctively covered your face with your hands, knowing where this was headed. You had said too much, and now you were stuck with the consequences of your own bravado.

Ronin raised an eyebrow, clearly amused. "What’s this about a lie?"

The minion turned toward Ronin, its tiny form practically bouncing with energy. "Oh, it’s obvious," it chirped. "This one has a lot of affection for you, Ronin. They claim to love lust, but they’re still pure. A virgin, even."

You froze, your blood running cold. The minion’s words hit like a slap to the face. Pure? A virgin? You couldn’t let that stand. You were supposed to be fierce, bold, full of fire, and yet here the minion was, revealing something so private. Something so vulnerable.

“NO!” you spat out, your face flushing crimson. "That’s a lie! It’s not like that!"

But the minion didn’t stop. "It’s true," it said, turning its wide eyes to Ronin. "They’re a pure one, untouched by anyone but themselves."

Ronin's expression shifted from amusement to something more intrigued. His lips curled into a smirk, his eyes gleaming with something darker. "Is that so?" he asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "A virgin? After all those bold words, you’re still a little angel, huh?"

You could feel your body grow warmer, your heartbeat faster as you tried to cover your embarrassment. "Shut up, Ronin!" you snapped, trying to recover some semblance of control. "That’s not... That’s not how it is!"

But Ronin only laughed. It was a deep, throaty sound, like he was genuinely enjoying your discomfort. "Sure, sure. Whatever you say." His gaze flicked back to the minion, who seemed to be thoroughly entertained by your reaction. "And you," he added, eyes narrowing slightly, "what’s your opinion on all this?"

The minion squirmed, clearly relishing the chance to continue. "They’re a pure one," it repeated, its voice gleeful. "But they do have a great affection for you, Ronin. You’re special to them."

You almost choked on your own breath, the words making your chest tight. You hadn’t meant for that much of the truth to come out. The minion’s statement stung more than anything else—it was undeniable, and yet, it made you feel weak in front of him. Ronin didn’t seem to miss the change in your expression.

"Is that so?" he asked, voice quiet now, almost too serious. "You’ve got a thing for me?"

You tried to hide behind your hands, but it was too late. Your face was as red as a tomato, your body betraying you once again. "N-No!" you blurted out, turning your head away to hide the heat in your cheeks. "It’s not like that!"

But the minion wasn’t about to let you off the hook so easily. "Liar," it chirped, laughing as it floated back into the shadows, leaving you and Ronin to deal with the fallout.

Ronin stared at you for a long moment, his smirk still there, but now it was laced with something more dangerous. He leaned in closer, his breath hot against your ear. "I think we both know the truth," he whispered, his voice low and teasing.

You clenched your fists, trying to hold onto the last shred of your pride. "Tch... Whatever. I don’t need to explain anything to you," you muttered, but even as you said the words, you couldn’t shake the feeling that Ronin had won.

He laughed again, that deep, mocking laugh that sent shivers down your spine. "You really are something," he said, before pulling away, leaving you to stew in the mix of frustration, embarrassment, and something else—something you couldn’t quite place. Something that made your heart race every time you looked at him.

The air was still charged from your earlier makeout session, but now you sat with Ronin at a small table, sharing a tub of apple crumble ice cream. The bastard had a smirk plastered across his face, clearly enjoying the aftermath of his relentless teasing. His smugness annoyed you to no end, but the way his sharp features softened when he took a spoonful of the dessert somehow melted some of your irritation.

You sat across from him, arms crossed, puffing out your cheeks in frustration. He noticed, of course—he always noticed—and leaned forward slightly, resting his chin in his hand. "What's with the face? Missing my lips already?" he teased, his voice as smooth as ever.

"Shut up," you hissed, snatching another spoonful of ice cream and popping it into your mouth. The sweet and tart flavor distracted you for only a moment before your annoyance bubbled up again. "You’re insufferable."

He chuckled, his laughter light and warm, and for a moment, you caught yourself staring. He looked different like this—less like the devil he claimed to be and more like a man who knew how to enjoy simple pleasures. The way his eyes lit up when he tasted the cinnamon and apple was endearing, even if you hated to admit it.

Despite your frustration, you couldn’t help but soften at the sight. His joy was contagious, and before you knew it, a small smile tugged at the corners of your lips. You leaned on your hand, watching him quietly as he scraped the last bit of ice cream from his cup.

Noticing your gaze, he paused, his smirk deepening. "What? Falling for me all over again?" His teasing tone was back, but this time, it didn’t annoy you as much as it should have.

You shook your head, refusing to rise to his bait. Instead, you asked, voice calm and deliberate, "Want another cup?"

Ronin blinked, caught off guard by your unexpected gentleness. For a moment, his smirk faltered, replaced by a flicker of something softer. "You offering to get it for me?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"Obviously," you replied, rolling your eyes but unable to hide the faint warmth in your tone. "I’m the one who picked this flavor in the first place. Wouldn’t want you to miss out on more of my good taste."

He chuckled, leaning back in his chair with a satisfied grin. "Alright, sure. Get me another. You’ve got good taste, after all. it's my fav too."

You stood to grab another cup, you glanced back at him. He was watching you with a look you couldn’t quite place—half amused, half intrigued. You hated how it made your heart flutter, but you also couldn’t bring yourself to look away.

This bastard. Always teasing, always smirking, always getting under your skin. And yet, as much as you wanted to strangle him sometimes, there was a part of you—small, quiet, but undeniably there—that didn’t mind it at all.

[collegeboysam]

My main Devil's Minion theory for the finale, taking into account both the show so far and parts of the books, is this:

Armand has been giving Daniel his blood (in his drinks, in his food, in his IV drip) to cure his Parkinson's. But, without realizing, it caused secondary effect he didn't expect: the blood is what helped Daniel remember what happened in San Francisco. And will continue to help him remember more and more as time goes by. Perhaps do even more than that in season 3.

Leaving the long ass explanation as to why I think this could be it along with heavy book spoilers:

To me, one of the biggest clues for this is that Daniel does not remember anything about the first interview beyond the moment Louis invites him to his place (Daniel says he always wakes up at that moment anytime he thinks about it), which is the exact moment when Armand appears.

He does not remmeber him this until he goes to Dubai and is around Armand for the first time in decades.

Daniel's answer about him "waking up" at that point everytime indicates he has tried to remember that day all these years but he never could go beyond that point. And I don't think that talking about it with Louis is what made the memoris return.

The first time Daniel sees Armand in the dream after all these years, is the exact same day that he gets his levodopa transfusion. That night, after he falls asleep on the couch, he sees Armand arrive at the bar and from then on he continues remembering more and more details.

This ties back to the books, since in Queen of the Damned and more so in the Devil's Minion chapter we find out in the 70s-80s Armand used to feed Daniel his blood. Since the first time Armand feeds Daniel, he has visions. It creates a connection between him and Armand but later on also allows him to have very vivid dreams and have visions that only vampires should be seeing.

It's an established canon detail that consuming Armand's blood as a human makes Daniel have dreams/visions related to Armand and other vampires.

We still don't if DM's happened as it did in the books (at least the part about his 12 year relationship with Armand, since he ofc never got turned in his 30s), but there is a clear connection with the book.

In the show, he shouldn't be dreaming and remembering Armand in the first interview, since Armand erased his memory with his mind gift. Armand is a really old vampire, he has Marius' blood, his erasing of Daniel's memory should not have stopped working randomly.

And I don't think is random, I think it's happening because of the vampire blood is mixing with his medicine and food. It's making him remember and see things he once forgot since the mix is not only curing him, it's taking down the walls Armand himself put in his brain.

I don't think this is what Armand intended, it can be a secondary reaction he didn't anticipate.

Why the mix works on Daniel in particular? Could be any reason they want: Armand's blood is that powerful since he's ancient, it works because Daniel used to drink his blood in the 80s so his body is used to it and now mixing medicine with said blood has a reaction it never has with anyone else, it works because it's mixed with this particular medicine, etc. They can go with many options here and change it depending on what they decide for DM's in the 80s.

Now, another reason why I'm suspicious about the blood-in-medicine bit is another spoiler from the books: Doctor Fareed is actually a vampire. Not only that, he and his immortal companion and maker (Seth) develop medical science on vampires. Additionally, they run a clinic for the treatment of mortals, particullarly for incurable medical conditions. Parkinson's is incurable.

To me it's not too far fetched that Armand has asked Fareed this favor, of mixing the levodopa with his blood.

What vampire blood can do in the books isn't really a deus ex maquina, since it has it's limitations and it doesn't seem like it could be so potent it can cure every human condition ever and recover vampires from all injuries, but the show has not followed 1:1 all the rules from Vampire Chronicles either. Armand being immune to the sun being one of them, and it's a pretty important one, yet they added that right in.

This doesn't have to mean that vampires could now cure all incurable condutions with ancient vampire blood. It could be only Daniel: because he had it before in the 80s and formed a connection to Armand, or maybe because it's Armand's blood in particular (and he's not interested in helping anyone else lol.)

Transfusion aside, we now have the hint that Daniel likes his martinis better when Armand makes them. Because Armand puts more vermouth in them. Per Armand himself, Lestat tasted "like vermouth and annihilation". Could it be that vermouth is just generally what vampire blood tastes like?

Daniel could like the taste of Armand's drinks because they had traces of his blood in season 1. Armand could know how to make them perfectly because he remembers how Daniel likes them (maybe he used to add the blood as an ingredient just for the taste back in the day lol, since Daniel liked it so much.)

There are other scenes where we see Daniel asking "Rashid" personally for a refill of what looks like wine in one episode. And Armand does grab the cup to bring him more. We see him making Daniel a martini in another scene in particular, when Louis tells him "he's lingering."

Daniel having different drinks, courses of food, more drinks, dessert, it's shown many times in the first season and Armand is always around.

Perhaps Armand saw that only feeding Daniel his blood wasn't doing much and that's when he decides to go with the IV drip. More direct method, straight to Daniel's veins. As soon as he does, Daniel starts to remember.

Being "Rashid" is what gave Armand this advantage, since it would have been suspicious to have an ancient vampire who supposely "doesn't know Daniel", making him martinis and bringing him drinks, keeping tabs on his medical treatments and scheduling him a doctor.

But as a supposed member of the staff and pseudo asistent, Daniel thought it was kinda normal that Armand was doing these things for him.

And why would Armand want to help Daniel? There's a couple of options to choose from:

DM's did happen in the 80s and he still cares for Daniel, loves him even: It's important to note that one of Armand's big hopes when he's with Daniel is for Daniel to grow old. Armand wanted him to live his mortal life and mature, experience life as a human to its fullest. Daniel would argue and constantly try to push Armand to turn him when he was "still young". (Also motivated by Armand's own looks, he wanted to be with Armand as an immortal and also appear young next to Armand.) But for Armand, what was important was Daniel living his human life, as he would love him regardless of his physical age. Not to mention Armand is sure the maker-fledgling bond is destined to fail, and all fledglings will eventually resent their makers, he doens't want Daniel to hate him and end their relationship. Daniel argues that as a human he could die at any moment, as a vampire he can be strong like Armand, he doesn't have to worry about protecting him, and they can be together forever, young and now. This causes tons of fights between them. The show has actually given Armand what he wanted in the books, and it's Daniel growing old. In the show, he made Daniel forget their relationship when they reached the impass of Daniel wanting to let himself die on purpose so Armand would have no option but to turn him. Armand, not wanting to take Daniel's life away, erases his memory to protect Daniel and let him have a normal life. (There's also the theory that erasing so much, 12 years, out of Daniel's mind is what have him parkinson's eventually.) Additionally, per the books, Armand was correct and once he turns Daniel he starts to resent him as his maker and they break up for a while. Armand knows Daniel is strong and can take care of himself, so he doesn't force him to stay. But Daniel loses his mind while being away from Armand (Armand doesn't know this), ends in the care of Marius of all people, but eventually Armand goes looking for him and Daniel becomes his immortal companion once more, choosing him over Marius. Daniel and Armand end up together as endgame. I think the show has changed the time Daniel spends with Marius, and has instead made the breakup happen between them from the 80s to the current timeline, by the means of Armand never turning him and erasing his memory instead.

DM didn't happen: Let's say DM has not been a thing so far (but with all the looks between Armandaniel and all the devil minion's easter eggs they have put in these 2 seasons, I doubt it. But hey let's consider!) Louis said Daniel was a testament of their relationship enduring. Armand is currently desperate to save it, so he's saving Daniel to somehow show and hint to Louis their relationship should too. Daniel can't die when Armand knows his relationship with Louis is deteriorating, it could be taken almost as a sign that is time to end their relationship as well. In this scenario, I imagine DM's happens after Dubai. Louis and Armand break up, Armand follows Daniel because he blames him for he breakup (since he opened cracks in their relationship) and is when he tells Daniel to keep him entertained or he will kill him, starts stalking him, etc. This also makes sense because originally, Armand starts stalking Daniel in a time period he and Louis have broken up.

Extra: Does Louis know of Armand's plans? Unclear to me. I think it could go either way. Armand is so good at making plans and knitting webs to get wat he hopes/wishes for, he could be doing the entire thing without letting Louis know, going along with the interview because he has other interests for having Daniel close. At the same time, I think Louis wouldn't mind helping Daniel stay alive so he can live longer, publish the book, and I think he considers Daniel a friend. He even offers him the dark gift at one point in the 1st season. But does Louis know of the time Armand spend with Daniel if DM's happened? We'll see.

Finally, I believe this leaves them with many options for season 2:

Does Daniel start to get addicted to the blood? Does he need to keep consuming it to continue to get better? Will consuming it more and more cause for more memories of Armand to return?

Not only that, he can start having visions that directly connect "The Vampire Lestat" with the main plot of "Queen of the Damned". He can be the one to start seeing what Akasha is planning.

The actor for doctor Fareed is going to appear again in season 3. I think that's particular. Even if he's a vampire, he doesn't appear until way later in the books and so far he has only appeared for Daniel's sake. He could be continuing his treatment, giving him more of Armand's blood, and in season 3 Daniel could keep on remembering more and more about Armand or start to form a connection with him because now he needs his blood to stay/get better, but that connection could lead to many other feelings and situations.

That's what I think so far.

I'm more inclined to believe DM's did happen in the 80s, since there have been many clues scattered around these two seasons, but even if they decide to make DM's happen in the current timeline, the blood-feeding could still make sense to me.

But hey, there's also the option that DM did happen, but something health related affects Daniel and Armand sees himself forced to turn Daniel into a vampire in the season finale, since he cannot live with the idea of Daniel dying. Which is why he was maybe giving him his blood in the first place. Having fed him his blood before (and now) could affect how Daniel behaves as a vampire.

And hey, if all this is for nothing and Armand never gave him his blood and I'm fully delusional 🤡, then I guess I'll use it for a fic or something hahaha since I think it makes sense to me anyway lmao.

One way or another tho, there are enough hints for Armandaniel to come to usssss in season 3 FOR SURE.

[nightcolorz]

Unhinged Sybelle and Benji tangent (cw references to abuse csa trauma etc)

yeah so Marius’s turning of Benji and Sybelle isn’t about whether or not that was the right decision to make and isn’t made better by their contentment living as vampires in late canon. Benji and Sybelle’s relatively happy lives as vampires are irrelevant to me. The cruelty of how he did it is made worse by the hypocritical nature of turning a kid into a vampire after so firmly insisting that turning children is morally abhorrent and smth he should’ve never done, yeah, but that’s only a small part of it.

It was so awful and upsetting to me bcus of the deliberate stripping of Armand’s agency. See, we have a whole book where Armand tells the story of how throughout his entire life and childhood he was forced into the role of submissiveness and/or dependency. whether that be his childhood religious devotion that would eventually lead to his being buried alive for God or being sold into sexual slavery or Marius’s mentorship of him that ultimately intended to teach him to stay loyal and dependent on Marius’s authority to Marius’s relationship with him sexual and otherwise to the cult indoctrination, up until Lestat comes along and tilts his own view of submission and devotion as his only way to survive and function in the world onto its head.

He gives him a theater and then he gives him Louis. Armand floats around, tries to find purpose without devotion through using Louis and Daniel as tools to understanding the modern age. The modern age to Armand is possibility and independence, things he’s never had so much access to and doesn’t know exactly how to apply to himself until the devils minion chapter when he’s like ah ok I get it, life without devotion is something I’ve always been familiar with—it’s what Marius taught me! I Am The Master now with my excessive indulgence and my Boy and my sea side paradise.

But Armand is a Void™️ with no concept of self besides a collection of concepts and experiences and people he’s been exposed to throughout his existence, so rlly he’s kind of a fraud. Internally he’s still a saint who yearns for a God to follow, he’s no Marius, and this all comes to a head in Memnoch the devil when he throws himself into the sun for Jesus etc. and so TVA Armand is mixed the fuck up, he’s lost everything he’s been building for himself, he’s like an open wound, like red and gold sand art shaken around until it’s sludges of brown.

Armand believes himself to have no coherent narrative of a life, no coherent and consistent sense of self, just a collection of unrelated sequences that he draws from to occasionally preform personhood, and at the beginning of TVA he is very much just that. No thoughts only colors and pain. But he’s trying to rebuild himself as best he can, he has these young humans who he’s caring for, and through caring Armand finds meaning.

These humans are very much reflections of himself, or who he used to be, and seeing a personhood reflected back at him through these two gives him insight into his own value as an individual, as someone who is inherently worthy of having a life. So with Benji and Sybelle he tries to rebuild his own sense of personhood by giving them what he would want in there place. The conclusion he reaches at the end of his story to David is that after everything ultimately he is learning and rebuilding, gaining fulfillment and individuality he’s never had before through his empathy and care for these two people in his life. Benji and Sybelle are representative of Armand’s healing process!!! They mirror him bcus they are him!! He’s literally nurturing his inner child!! And with that there comes self care and self love etc etc. but then the book doesn’t end!!

Then after all that trauma and all that healing everything that Armand was tenderly attempting to build for his new life is stripped away ! When Marius turns Benji and Sybelle it doesn’t matttttter that they like being vampires. What matters is that when Armand finally gained agency and individuality Marius decided to take that from him! Marius decided that he actually knew better then Armand, and if Armand would just allow him to do what’s best for him then everything would be so much better and so much easier. And when Armand starts sobbing and screaming and fighting him that’s just justification to Marius that Armand isn’t capable of independence or self sufficiency, that he’s a child throwing a tantrum who can’t make his own decisions, that he should just be dependent on Marius like he used to be and trust that other people know what’s best for him.

That’s why it’s so tragic! That’s why it’s so frustrating and so sad. Armand was on the road to healing but then Marius stormed in like the symbolic representation of his past telling him that no matter what he does or the progress he makes he’s still Armand in the catacombs, Amadeo on the red sheets, Andrei waiting to be buried alive. So I don’t really give af if ultimately Benji and Sybelle are fine! It’s great that despite being a child vampire Benji is able to function independently and contently as an adult with minimal body dysmorphia and existential dread, but you know who’s not able to do that? Armand 😭😭

[heliza24]

Devil's Minion Rec List (Part 1)

So I recently completed a little project I set myself-- to tag and organize all of my (iwtv) A03 bookmarks. I've never been motivated to this before, but there are SO many talented writers in the Devil's Minion tag and I had bookmarked so many things that it was becoming unruly. Devil's Minion is such a fun fandom space to be, because writers are taking inspiration from the book and the show, creating AUs, writing old Daniel/young Daniel/vampire Daniel, assuming the 1970s/80s Devil Minion era did or didn't happen... there are endless variations and it's such a creative space. So it was fun to go through and sort all of the fics I like into different categories. It was also great distraction during a personally stressful time when my disability was making it hard to type and work on my own fics. And now of course that personally stressful time has become a nationally stressful time. I was initially going to write a bunch of different rec lists, each with their own topic/themes, and I probably still will do that eventually. But I thought I would start with a list of some of my all time faves in case you need some sweet vampire escapism in the wake of the horrible election results this week.

cranefucker island circa ‘82

by katplanet/ @gatoplanet

Word count: 22,365

Rating: explicit

Summary/Why I'm recommending it: This is an interactive fic, where clicking through different highlighted words takes you to different parts of the story. I love stories that use interactive or found media, and the nonlinear structure of this one perfectly captures the way that older Daniel recovers his memory of the Devil's Minion era. The individual scenes are also so beautifully written. (The one where young Daniel realizes that Armand can fly is etched into my brain).

Eighty Proof and a Lifetime

by doztoevsky

Word count: 11,003

Rating: Mature

Summary/Why I'm Recommending it: There are so many great "what happened after Dubai/How was Daniel Turned" fics out there, and I have to say that my favorite subgenre is "Daniel goes home to New York as a human and Armand follows him." (I guess I'm biased since I am also writing one these!) This is one of my favorites, largely for it's mix of lighthearted scenes and heartfelt emotions and the perfect amount of simmering sexual tension, and for all it manages to accomplish in a relatively short word count/single chapter. The image of Armand breaking down Daniel's bathroom door and using it to create a temporary coffin lid over his bathtub is so endearing and memorable to me, and there's a scene in a vampire bar that I think is just *chefs kiss* in terms of creative world building, character development, and spice level.

Unmade

Words by Klimppisoppa, Illustrations by @verimuru

Word count: 22,483

Rating: Mature

Summary/Why I'm Recommending it: This is largely based on book canon, with some TV show character flavor thrown in. What if Armand made up his mind to win Daniel back after Daniel went to live with Marius? Armand and Daniel's reconciliation is so gentle and lovely in this fic, and it really lets both characters develop a sense of agency as they separate themselves from Marius. It also has some really beautiful illustrations.

i'll ask for more time (but mother forgive me)

by @ignorethepineapples

Word Count: 3,512

Rating: Mature

Summary/Why I'm Recommending it: I think this is my all time favorite Devil's Minion fic. It's a shorter fic that uses a nonlinear structure to tie together Armand and Daniel's turning and it is achingly beautiful. The author has decided that the illness that nearly killed Armand before Marius turned him was syphilis, which can have Parkinson's like tremors as a symptom. The author connects Amadeo's illness with the AIDS crisis that was ongoing during the first part of Armand and Daniel's relationship with older Daniel's Parkinson's. This fic is heavier than some others on this list, but it is so cathartic and wonderful. I felt like this author reached inside my brain and pulled out the exact reasons these characters are important to me. It made me cry but also felt like the most healing of hugs, if that makes any sense at all.

Backroads to Sonoma

by burntcrimson

Word Count: 16,409

Rating: Mature

Summary/Why I'm recommending it: It's the 1980s, and a closeted Daniel is road tripping across middle America, surviving on gas station food and interviewing run aways and truckers to try to scrape together enough stories for a book. He picks up the hitchhiking Armand, who has a dangerous secret, and offers to drive him to California.

This fic is technically incomplete (one chapter remaining!) but the first four are SO GOOD it absolutely doesn't matter and you need to read it. This is a human AU, which I am not always into, but this author does such a good job of capturing Daniel and Armand's characterization and still maintaining Armand's aura of otherness and danger that it totally works. I honestly think this author could file the serial numbers off of this and expand it into it's own novel. The world building is so evocative, and the pacing perfectly balances Daniel's developing feelings for Armand with dramatic plot developments.

Ok, that's what I've got for you for now. If you want to check out my own Devil's Minion fics they're here. If you want to sort through my now gloriously organized bookmarks for yourself to find something to read you can do that here. Or send me an ask if there's something Devil's Minioned flavored you're craving-- maybe I'll have a personalized rec for you.

Feel free to reblog and add your own recs or reply in comments if you have a fic you think I should read. I am going to try to do more of these soon!

Also if you are one of these authors or know their tumblrs, let me know and I'll tag them.