#Sybelle TVC

[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 😭😭

[simplemanmp3]

Girlfriendsisterdaughter <3

[lady-phasma]

What if I were to post a short fic (like 800 words) before kinktober starts that's just Armand x Benji x Sybelle x reader fluff? Just some cuddles with the fam.

Update: I did.

[with-a-point-of-view]

Unironically one of the most accurate and poignant ways to update Sybelle's exploitation would be to draw on those family channels on YouTube which exploit autistic family members. Social media thrives on very old archetypes, and the "savant" (as well as the "rescued" adopted child of colour) is still a profitable one. It's an invasion of privacy and commodification of someone's life on a scale which has not been previously possible.

[this-world-of-beautiful-monsters]

it's been said but they're literally so. so neurodivergent. all three of them.

[mercuryspit]

vamp intel

[platoapproved]

Something about Armand’s detached pragmatic certainty that if he just goes and walks down the street looking helpless someone will inevitably attack him sooner rather than later. And he is not wrong.

[tulinokkaelain]

Queens of the Damned, Day 3: Kitten

Sybelle banging out the tunes. Digital piano & cat ear headphones. 🐱

[marysyp96]

This is Daniel posting a picture of Benji 🚬 and Sybelle

[botticellibabyy]

“anne rice didn’t write compelling female characters.” ok. maybe to you. Those are my girls though

[nanathebunny]

doodle requests from twt

[nightcolorz]

armand playing minecraft with benji while sybelle plays piano in the background send tweet

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armand playing minecraft with benji while sybelle plays piano in the background …we all say in unison

[inexplicablepeas]

Thinking about Marius telling a fledgling Amadeo that no, he won't turn Bianca and Riccardo for him and having bitter arguments about it and then 500 years later after Armand goes into the sun he's turning Sybelle and Benji without a second thought.

He got his leggy blonde and his childlike caretaker in the end.

[helianthus21]

The door has barely fallen into its hinges when Daniel asks, “Do you think they like me?”

Since he's already in the process of moving over to the other side of the room, Armand has his back turned to him as he slips out of his cashmere cardigan and hangs it gingerly on its assigned coat hanger in their (now shared) closet. Like this, Daniel cannot see his face, which is why he allows that mild smile to creep onto his face when he answers, “Of course they do.”

But Daniel makes a noise that sounds like a blend between a huff and a snort. “You’re just saying that because…”

Armand whirls around to face him when Daniel doesn’t elaborate, smile firmly in place now, half-amused, half-fond. “Because what, Daniel?” He steps closer to Daniel who straightens immediately, abandoning his attempt to slip out of his shoes (which he should’ve left at the doorstep before entering but Armand will let it slide just this once). When Armand places his hand on Daniel’s cheek, he leans into it like second nature and Armand thrives on knowing what effect he has on his boy. “Because I love you?”

Daniel actually blushes. In the warm golden light of the dimmable ceiling lights, it makes his pale face look especially handsome. “Yeah. That.”

Pleased, Armand smiles wider. “I will admit to a certain bias,” he amends. “But it’s true that Sybelle adores you. And Benji thinks you're the funniest vampire in the entire coven. An opinion which I, of course, share.”

“Aw shucks.” Daniel tries to bite into Armand’s thumb in an attempt to distract from the red heat that spreads further on his face. “Not a grand feat when most of this folk is dreadfully serious at best, or downright gloomy at the worst.” He flutters his eyelashes up at Armand. “Except you, of course.” A little belatedly he adds, “And the kids.”

Once they’ve changed into their pajamas, they brush their teeth side by side in front of the sink, occasionally sneaking childish glances at each other through the bathroom mirror as though their revived romance were a secret even in the privacy of their own bathroom. Save for his occasional humming, Daniel is silent through it all until they crawl into bed, side by side, and slip under the covers. 

Then, Daniel turns his head towards him. The motion flattens the curls on the right side of his head in a way that makes him look strangely cute. “You sure tonight went well?”

“More than.” Armand resists the urge to roll his eyes. “You were witty and charming and said the right things at the right time. It’s fine. Don’t worry so much, beloved. ”

“This makes me nervous, sue me,” Daniel says. “I wanna do right by your family.”

Something swells in Armand’s chest. Something that feels solid and fragile all at the same time. Family, Daniel says. So casually, like it’s a known fact. Like the four of them are a unit, a togetherness. Not to be separated. 

Solid and fragile it tastes, that word on the tip of Armand’s tongue when he shapes it voicelessly with his mouth. Like a bird on an open palm who might fly away or end up crushed within your grip. But looking at Daniel who is looking back with wide eyes, Armand reminds himself that Daniel, too, must be feeling this fragility between them. That as his maker, it is Armand’s job to assure him of the solidity of their bond. So, “You are my family,” Armand says to him, feels the truth of it with all his heart. “You are part of it as much as Benji and Sybelle are.”

Daniel tries to hide it, but the glimmer of vulnerability in his eyes doesn’t escape Armand’s notice. It soothes some of the rawness within Armand. He no longer knows which of them is the hand that holds and which is the bird begging to be crushed in its grip. “Yeah,” Daniel says, voice breathy. “I’m your firstborn.”

“The first,” Armand agrees as he rolls half on top of him so they’re chest to chest under the covers, and he frames Daniel’s face between his hands. “And the last. My only.”

The answer breathed out like a prayer, “Yours.” 

Armand can’t be sure if Daniel meant to say that aloud, if he’s even aware he said it but even so, he presses his mouth against Daniel's like he can swallow the word right into himself.

“The funniest vampire in the coven,” Armand says, punctuating his words with a kiss to Daniel’s cheek. “And the prettiest,” to his temple, “Smartest,” to his forehead, “Most irritating,” to his nose, but before he can go on, Daniel tangles his fingers in his shirt and shoves lightly at his chest, making Armand look at him.

“Irritating?” He protests. “Hey!”

“Irritating, yes,” Armand hums. “Quite a feat, considering your strongest contender is Lestat himself.”

“Well, okay, I'll take it,” Daniel grumbles, but it's half-hearted, a sliver of satisfaction shining through a little too obviously. "Long as I'm your most everything.”

“Most everything, yes,” agreed Armand readily, and drops his head down to capture Daniel’s lips in another long kiss.

[moonchildillustration]

Sketched Sybelle again I love her 🎶

She fed messily again sorry Mariuuuuuus

[aliasmard]

sybelle