#Louis' fucked up Armand's fucked up lestat's fucked up

[nalyra-dreaming]

re: Armand forgetting Florence's name, I agree with what you said, and also think the writers were hinting that Armand isn't the ultra-attentive lover he pretends to be. Like Assad said, Armand sees Louis as a "vessel", his love is fundamentally selfish and he's far more focused on controlling Louis than connecting with him on a real level or understanding him to his core.

I'm not trying to malign Armand here - imho he's a deeply damaged person whose desperation for control is rooted in years of trauma & abuse and is still in "survival mode". Idk if he even realizes how fucked up he is, or that he's setting himself up for rejection & unhappiness by stifling their love before it can grow. But yeah, he def approaches Louis like a problem to be solved rather than a person to be loved or valued in his entirety. I feel like we were never meant to take his lovelorn simp performance totally at face value lol.

Yes, but also...

We have to remember that Armand is old. And he spent centuries of that being brainwashed by a satanic cult. As the coven leader, responsible for solving problems and dealing out punishment.

AND he is a vampire. He simply does not think like Louis, who has been kept more or less "mortal" in his behavior by Lestat (who did not want a coven, but a family).

To Armand Louis' mortal mother must seem as distant as his own, and in the headspace he is in in Paris, she must have seemed inconsequential and long gone. Dust on the floor. That plays into why he does not (care to) remember her name, why he is so fatalistic about Claudia's fate, why he clings to the things he has - namely the coven and Louis' love, at least to an extent - with such a grip that he tears it all apart at the end.

Yes, he is very damaged, by fate, time and circumstance. He is also not human. And especially with the older ones, that does show in the chronicles, and I do think it shows in his characterization here.

[vincentpriceofficial]

Honestly letting Louis go with Armand is probably the second most fucked up thing Lestat ever did to him and he absolutely did it out of sheer spite. Louis was being mean to him on purpose so he was just like Hm. Well have fun with that bitch!

[pynkhues]

How do you think Lestat conceptualizes what Louis feels for him? Watching s1, especially with the context of s2, it really looks like Lestat genuinely thought Louis never really loved. I find the contrast between 1x1 and the latter half of s1 so interesting. It seem to me that without being able to read Louis' thoughts and with Louis' refusal to verbally affirm his feelings, he genuinely started to believe that Louis was interested in him physically at most, and then not even that (which must've stang especially, seeing how it can be argued that Lestat has a tendency to objectify himself and tie his self-worth to his desirability as a trauma response). We're really just speculating for now, obviously, but I'm wondering about your thoughts on modern day Lestat especially!

That's an interesting question, anon! Mm, I'd say that he must have known Louis had feelings for him at the very least before he turned him - he could still read his mind at that point after all, and they were courting for a year - but I tend to think that would probably have been a combination of deep affection and attraction more than anything else, given - - y'know. Louis didn't even know they were courting, haha. During their relationship - - I don't know, I suspect he probably pendulumed between knowing that Louis loved him, and having genuine doubt too.

Lestat's raised by Gabrielle to understand that love is something that's generally withheld, and depending on your reading of his relationship with Nicki, I do think that perhaps further entrenched parts of that. While Nicki can be generous, loving and affectionate, the way they break up with Nicki swearing he actually hated him all along and wanted them to die together in Paris would fuck anyone up, especially given Louis and Nicki have some similarities (although I don't think they have as many as parts of the fandom do, really, same with Louis and Gabrielle - I think all three of them are pretty unique characters).

Lestat's a chronic romantisier of his own history as a means of emotional survival, but I don't think he forgets much, and I imagine that the memory of his and Nicki's break-up probably coloured a lot of his and Louis' fights, particularly the one where Louis technically broke up with him before returning with Claudia (Louis, the disaster you are, ily), so in those moments - - yeah. I think he probably thought Louis had never actually loved him, but I think in the moments when they were good, when they were happy, he probably was unwavering in his belief that Louis did.

(It's kind of interesting to think about too that Louis did tell Lestat he hated him too, only where Nicki said it while breaking up with Lestat, Louis said it while getting back together with him, and I'm genuinely looking forward to those parallel gifsets in s3, haha).

I do think he took Louis saving his life as an act of love though, and I think in the long aftermath of that, both before the Trial and after it, when Louis chose Armand, it's probably the thing he clung to the most as reflective of that. There's so much that he feels - the cord between them, their hearts beating in time, the memories of the best of it all - but Lestat's also a character with just so much baggage (totally agree about Lestat objectifying himself as both a trauma response and a manifestation of insecurity, and that Louis no longer wanting to have sex [which is absolutely his right, and normal] was something Lestat took as a much deeper rejection than Louis realised), that I think can outweigh that sometimes.

So yeah, I'd say it probably varies based on his mood and maybe even the minute. A part of him knows, a part of him doubts, the only thing he can be sure of is that he himself loves Louis, and Lestat might withhold his history, but he rarely withholds his emotions.

[femslashspuffy]

Why is it Armand’s responsibility to reconnect his husband with his ex. He has every right to reject relaying Lestat’s “ily”. Louis is honestly really fucked up for stringing him along for decades gestating all this insecurity but he plays victim and everyone forgives him. I was obsessed with him last season but this season’s kinda put a strain on my relationship with him especially when I see everyone letting him get away with his abuses

It's not his responsibility and I do understand why armand didn't do it I'm just saying that omission is really giving away Armand's motivation. Still though why is it Armand's responsibility to reconnect with Lestat at all? Louis did not ask him to do that Louis is actively saying "no no no" he did not want this. Armand is NOT doing it out of responsibility or as a favor like he says in the show, he's doing it to scare Louis back into his arms and because of that he can't relay Lestat's love because he is still scared Louis would choose him.

And as to Louis abusive behavior I don't care about that as much. I get what you're saying but the show isn't really about choosing the better half of each toxic relationship for me. They're all toxic and they're all abusers from one angle or another and actually I like the show better when they're doing it out in the open like that. The Loustat domestic violence scene is my favorite in the whole show

[tuserlivia]

“Listen to me. And listen very carefully, my infant death. It was never you.”

[winchestress]

[fanfictionroxs]

Daniel working on his laptop ignoring Louis/Armand fighting in the background like the perfect child of divorce lmfao. Reminds me of Claudia writing in her diary ignoring Louis/Lestat arguing lmaaooooo

Who's the band aid for a shitty marriage now huh Danny baby?

[shelfperson]

okay but WHYYY is no one talking about louis and daniel WHYYYYYYYYYY is no one talking about the greatest grandpa4grandpa relationship known to man and i don’t even mean romantically i mean in the most basic human platonic level their relationship is FASCINATING.

like louis SAUGHT HIM OUT after FIFTY YEARS he FOUND HIS BOY, this horrible infant who DID NOT UNDERSTAND A THING HE TOLD HIM, who saw his raw, decades-old pain and wanted in on it, AND HE GOES BACK FOR HIM BECAUSE HE KNOWS HE’S CHANGED. he can understand now. he can help him find the truth.

and like, they’re both absolutely terrified by each other because they’re both uniquely skilled at getting under each other’s skin and finding that truth (and also because… louis could just up and eat daniel anytime but shhhh…) and it’s because they UNDERSTAND EACH OTHER. louis’s interviewing daniel as much as daniel’s interviewing him, just. pulling teeth from each other’s head, trying to pull out all the rot with such violence and cruelty (from both of them!! daniel is a cockwallop!!) but they want to help each other they CARE ABOUT EACH OTHER.

LIKE THIS????

THIS FUCKING SHIT?????

GAGGED ME. RUINED ME. I HAD TO STOP AND TAKE A WALK AROUND THE ROOM.

(the gifs are from @loumands account btw. great work my guy)

[hallowvamp]

If you wanted to see ethical characters and perfect, healthy, wholesome, non-toxic relationships, then clicking on a gothic romance involving murderous blood sucking monsters with centuries of trauma was your first mistake.

[armandofnowhere]

Men and women fell in love with Armand, of course, “so innocent, so passionate, so brilliant!” You don’t say. In fact, Armand’s power to seduce was almost beyond his control.

ARMAND + paramours throughout the ages

[rocks-in-my-vodka]

this will probably nvr see the light of day but i do think in s3 they should hve dreamlaudia (like dreamstat) but hve both bailey and delainey play claudia interchangeably, with lestat hallucinating bailey's claudia more and louis hallucinating dealiney's claudia more. rlly commit to the memory is a monster bit. idk i think it'd be poetic in the way tht they both love her so much but can't remember what she rlly even looked like

[sophsun1]

I LOVE YOU LOUIS MON CHER. BRB KILLING MYSELF

[natandacat]

For s3 i either want armand to be lost in the fog absolutely no contact whatsoever with any of the cast (potentially they could do something fun by putting him in his suicide attempt era now and hes currently somewhere doing his thing with sybelle & benji) OR i want him to be fucking everyone but like. In secret.

Louis is fucking armand bc of bad divorce decisions and bc its somehow a better idea than fucking lestat right now (aaaand he kinda accidentally called daniel claudia during his early fledgling craze so hes forbidding himself from fucking him until that starts making sense). Also the sex was real good for 74 years and fucking around is a bit too san francisco for his taste so as long as he doesnt think about it too much this is a good arrangement. Armand is NOT allowed to call him maître or to mention anything serious at all though. The longest sentence they say to each other is like "take off your clothes" and thats IT.

Lestat is fucking armand bc louis wont fuck him and armand is looking reaaaally dishevelled these days and its activating his obsession with dolling him up. Lestat gets to give him long scented baths every time he shows up grimmier than the last and dress him up in whatever high fashion garments hes got in his closet that armand can make snide comments about -which they both enjoy as old snobs. Also gabrielle might be more around bc of the akasha business so shes on his mind a lot and armand is always eager to indulge his mommy kink as a way to one-up gabrielle.

Daniel is fucking armand but armand does wipe his mind about it bc he still wants to do the whole absent father thing as a misplaced act of what he believes is kindness but also hes very lonely and he cant help but indulge in the fantasy of a fledgling who wants him around (which is kinda real by daniel molloy standards but armand is convinced that he knows best and daniel hates him. Which is true but daniel kinda just needs like an apology and to scream at him for 3 uninterrumpted days which armand cannot comprehend for now)

None of them are aware that everyone else is fucking armand so when they meet theyre all like "ah yes armand... havent heard of him... yeah its been years..." when they just got their backs blown out like 2 hours ago

[steviebunny]

I'm so tired of watching some of that interview with the vampire discourse. They are flawed characters for a reason they literally have eternity. Obviously they're going to be immensely flawed. You can both love lestat for his good moments, his affection, his ability to see beauty everywhere, and have empathy for his childhood , what Magnus did to him all while acknowledging that he was a toxic partner to Louis and guardian to Claudia. You can feel empathy for Louis, and acknowledge his rage and quiet resentment as a flaw. You can love Claudia and criticize that she murdered her parental figure. You can feel for Armand and want to give that poor boy a hug after the 500 years of suffering he's had at the hand of everyone who was supposed to care for him while also being upset he's a manipulative gaslighting bastard.

The only two least flawed characters internal struggles we even get a look at are Daniel and Madeline. Who are both remarkably human for the majority of the show.

Not to mention for a majority of the centuries each of these vampires have been alive. Therapy has not existed! For most of these characters, the peak of their own self-reflection is Claudia's journaling or finding themselves through art, be that music, directing, or photography.

We all know people in the year of our Lord 2024 who don't go to therapy because they think it's useless or just for the "crazies" If you thought your toxic gay vampire franchise would be beyond that you're delusional.

[nalyra-dreaming]

I just realized you can see Louis hold open the door for Lestat there, and argue with the air… 😳

[limpwristssavelives]

the way i had to pause my tv in shock when louis said “besides one incident it was a happy time” about his time in paris where his DAUGHTER WAS MURDERED???