#and Armand is really REALLY not a nice person

[avelera]

What if Louis/Armand in AMC IWTV is meant to be torture... for Lestat?

Basically... what if the whole relationship between Louis and Armand, going back to when Armand first encountered him, is a deliberate "fuck you" to Lestat by Armand, and that is his chief motive for having the relationship at all? For keeping Louis in a gilded prison, for making Louis his love at all, for allowing the interview, and for little things like telling Lestat that Louis was injured, but not telling him where or how to help or passing on the "I love you" to Louis, and perhaps effectively keeping Louis away from Lestat ever since in a game of keep-away, as the most effective way to torture Lestat that Armand has in his possession.

I want to preface this theory by saying it's probably a bridge too far. That's a lot of premeditated malice to ascribe to Armand. I do think there was and is love there between Armand and Louis as seen in the show.

But at the same time... this might surprise some show watchers, but book Armand is an ancient creature of malice who uses his boyish looks to appear soft and gentle when he is anything but. He's over 500 years old and he spent 200 of those years running the Paris Children of Darkness, a Satanic organization that gave his life meaning and purpose during those years.

And even with show Armand, we've seen him capable of playing the long game, pretending to be someone else in Season 1 as he played Fake Rashid, with motives for doing so that are still inscrutable.

We've already seen as of ep 2.6 that Lestat broke up Armand's Paris Coven, the Children of Darkness. But I want to get into why Armand might have been lying about how he was fine with it, that he saw it coming for years, that Lestat was just the instrument of his own desire to move on from that squalid situation.

What if he wasn't fine with it? What if he still isn't fine with it? What if the long game, ever since, is to take everything away from Lestat that Armand can get his hands on, including Claudia, but especially Louis?

Well, to give my evidence for this I'll have to delve into the books a bit, so proceed at your own risk for spoilers.

Here's an excerpt from The Vampire Lestat, with Armand speaking to Lestat after the events in Paris, when he forced Lestat to testify in the trial against Louis and Claudia, because it was always Armand's plan to put Claudia on trial so he could get rid of her and have Louis for himself. For Louis to be buried alive in punishment so that Armand could save him and they could depart together:

"[Armand] leaned forward, and his face transformed itself as it had done years and years ago, as if his rage were melting it from within. 

“You, who destroyed all of us, you who took everything. Whatever made you think that I would help you!” He came closer, the face all but collapsed upon itself. “You who put us on the lurid posters in the boulevard du Temple, you who made us the subject of cheap stories and drawing room talk!” ...

...“We had our Eden under that ancient cemetery,” he hissed. “We had our faith and our purpose. And it was you who drove us out of it with a flaming sword. What do we have now! Answer me! Nothing but the love of each other and what can that mean to creatures like us!”"

Armand plays the long game. Armand is a creature of spite and malice, at least through Lestat's eyes in his own autobiography.

Armand was not fine with the Paris Coven being dispelled. He was not fine with Lestat's generosity or the new purpose given to him by Lestat by establishing the Theatre des Vampires. He loathed it.

And after this above exchange with Lestat, Armand picked up Lestat and flew him up high above Paris and dropped him. Armand did that to Lestat in the books, it wasn't Lestat to Louis (though that could simply be a change for the show, or perhaps even reinvented as a deliberate act of revenge on Louis' behalf for what Lestat did to him, and not some sort of mind alteration by Armand but... we'll see.)

It would be a hell of a twist to end the season on. Arguably, a twist akin to the reveal of Rashid-is-actually-Armand at the end of the first season. That this has all, all of it, since the 1940s been one long revenge play against Lestat.

Again, I think it's probably a bridge too far, too cartoonishly evil, but...man, there is that but lingering in my mind. Because this is the sort of thing Armand would do. He's done it before in the books with the trial of Louis and Claudia being one elaborate pantomime to punish Lestat and Claudia and get Louis to himself.

And it's been bothering me ever since the reveal at the end of S1 that we're in an AU where Louis/Armand stayed together instead of breaking up right after Paris like they did in the book. And if I was writing this canon divergence AU, it would be a hell of a thing to make the pivot point be, "No, Louis and Armand didn't break up because Armand wouldn't let Louis go because all of this has been one long elaborate fuck you to Lestat for destroying the Children of Darkness and robbing Armand of the purpose he'd had in life for over 200 years." 70 years of revenge by comparison? That's nothing.

[phagodyke]

iwtv is rly getting to me 😭 I feel sooo bad for claudia no one tell me anything bc idk the book lore + I dont want spoilers but istg she's gonna kill herself in that theatre fire...

[zoe-oneesama]

The Kwamis! Some of these came easier than others, but since Angelic Layer has no magic involved, all the kwamis became human~ They won't be very prevalent, they're mostly here to fill in background character roles - shop clerks, MCs Tournament Directors, fans - so they won't have a whole lot of speaking roles (aside from, you know, the MCs who're there to commentate on the fights lol). But I thought I'd give them all a nice nod in the story somewhere.

As expected, Tikki and Plagg are the main MCs. Marinette and Adrien's fights will be going on concurrently so Tikki will be commentating Marinette's fights while Plagg commentates on Adrien's. They'll have the most dialogue of the kwamis, so I do want them to have unique ways of discussing what they're seeing.

Pollen will be working directly for the Bourgeois'. As a VIP with a direct relationship with the international director of Angelic Layer, Chloe has her own private practice layer in her home and Pollen is in charge of it's upkeep and maintenance. She matches Armand the Bulter's levels of competence.

Trixx is a Rena Rouge mega fan. They've been following Alya's blog for as long as they can remember and are mega stoked that Alya moved to their city. When Alya starts to doubt herself, it's Trixx's voice that can be heard cheering her on to not give up.

Nooroo and Duusu are servants in the Agreste Estate. Unknown to Adrien, they are fully aware of his sneaking around to play and the two do what they can to make excuses and deflect Nathalie when Adrien isn't where he's supposed to be. They're rooting him on from the shadows!

Wayzz is the adult son of Marianne and Fu. He brings them to Angelic Layer fights against his will because the two really enjoy them. The two seem to be really invested in Ladybug and Chat Noir's career (and the behind the scenes shenanigans that they secretly spy on).

Longg is Kagami's bodyguard. Like Nooroo and Duusu, they are fully aware of what Kagami is doing behind her mother's back and feigns ignorance when Kagami pulls something..."sneaky" to get to a fight secretly.

Here's where we get into some existing jobs from the show:

Orikko and Kaalki are the "Layer Hot Girls (and boy)". lol I just thought it was funny that Angelic Layer even has them.

Mullo is the sales clerk at the Princess Piffle store (the store where you can buy your Angel and all the accessories). All of them lol. Mullo and her many many sisters who look just like her.

Barkk and Fluff take similar but still different roles (the uniforms are ALMOST the same but there are some tiny differences). So Barkk is the receptionist at the Practice Ring (literally you pay to reserve a mini-layer to practice on) while Fluff is the waitress/cashier at the cafeteria at the Tournament Center.

(and back to making shit up lol)

Daizzi is a nurse where Rose goes to the hospital and she has segmental localized vitiligo. Rose is particularly close to Daizzi since she helps Rose make her donations to the hospital.

Sass is the backstage directory, aka, the guy who makes things run. He has an earpiece that has the same diamond pattern as his pants on it! The anime does show one person who helps backstage, but I wanted to have a little fun with Sass's look and tie in to him being "in charge" of the kwamis.

Ziggy works at Socqueline's family art supply shop, which is frequented by Angelic Layer players who are on a bit of a budget. They love talking with the customers about their angels, though mostly the design part.

Stompp is Ivan's foster mother and Roarr his foster sister (Stompp's bio-daughter). I actually didn't think of what kind of job this outfit would be good for, but I think she'd make a good security guard - usually working at rock concerts, which she bonds with Ivan over, but she's also been hired for Angelic Layer tournaments. Sometimes sore losers get a little...violent.

Roarr falls in love with Juleka's Angel Purple Tigress immediately thanks to her pre-existing love of tigers in general. She's even bold enough to proclaim her love to Juleka herself!

Xuppu is Ondine's sibling and a fan of King Monkey, though they'll go out of their way to make fun of Kim himself. Secretly, they're very invested in Kim's career and get very upset on his behalf when he loses.

[loumandism]

“Anderson argues that Louis did not enter his romantic relationship with Armand out of spite — he feels there was a genuine love between them, and Armand represented a “calmer” and potentially more healthy partner than Lestat ever was.” - The Hollywood Reporter

“I think Louis has something else that lights a fire inside Armand again…He’s enthralled and enraptured by Louis at this point, definitely, for sure.” - Assad Zaman, Autumn Brown Interview

“Vampires are the most human monsters. They really desperately want this happiness, and to be fulfilled. And Louis finds that with Armand, certainly, in episode 4.” - Adam O’Byrne, Episode Insider

“Lestat has never gone away. Lestat is there to pass judgement on decisions that Louis is making, and one of those is his falling in love with Armand.” - Mark Johnson, Episode Insider

“There’s an inevitability about Armand for Louis. It’s like, ‘he’s nice to me.’…as Louis sees it, Armand is not without complication, but is nowhere near as messy as Lestat…With Armand, it’s like ‘we can coexist nicely, and I care about you’…Lestat is his great love. I think he does love Armand, but in a different way.” - Jacob Anderson, Collider

“This is a new dynamic for Louis and Armand together as a couple, but also, Armand's relationship with his coven because of the choice he's made in choosing love, in choosing his pursuit and happiness with Louis.” - Assad Zaman, Entertainment

“For Armand, I think in that moment, that’s Louis seeing Armand for the child that he is, for the sort of innocent that he is, and that’s what makes Armand melt…He kind of sees Louis as his protector.” - Assad Zaman, Katie O’Shaughnessy Interview

“This is really representing Louis letting go of Lestat so he can move on and build a relationship and new persona with Armand.” - Sam Reid, TV Guide

“Armand is seemingly calmer, and kind of a more, I think, gentle creature.” - Jacob Anderson, 92NY Panel

“I think he also got into that relationship knowing that there was an edge to Armand, but he kind of just chose to focus on the sides of him that were gentle and sweet and seemingly the opposite of any of the relationships that he’s had so far.” - Jacob Anderson, TV Insider

“Louis has such a curiosity and zest for life, still, and curiosity about the purpose, and I think Armand has lost that, or keeps losing it…I think there’s a light in Louis that, I don’t know if Armand understands what it is, but he just wants it, he just wants it because it keeps him going.” - Assad Zaman, ATX TV Festival

“But I think that scene in Magnus’ dungeon tower is the beginning of the spike in Louis and Armand’s relationship. I think he continues the relationship with Armand out of spite for the next 70 years.” - Jacob Anderson, The Hollywood Reporter

“…Everybody in the room relives their worst fight with someone they shouldn’t have been in love with but wanted to be; that’s the episode you come up with.” - Rolin Jones, Vulture

“The real tragedy of Armand is that even with Louis, he hasn’t fully given himself, shown himself, and revealed himself. I think, if you can’t be true to yourself and to the person you claim to love the most, if they can’t trust you to be authentic, how can you ever really be authentic?” - Assad Zaman, Autumn Brown Interview

[iwtv-theories]

Armand name dropping the film “now ,voyager” is foreshadowing his future character arc (analysis)

You know how Iwtv is constantly references plays, films ,and paintings to foreshadow plot points or allude to character arcs or motivations ? I really hope Armand dropping the film title “now, voyager” is alluding to the Armand and Benji dynamic in future seasons . And also Armand’s character arc in general.

The main character Charlotte is paralleled to Armand on multiple occasions . Charlotte had an abusive-controlling parent that was her “companion” and who treated her like a “servant “ (cough Marius /Armand parallel). Charlotte is mistaken as a nurse ,went by a (fake) French alias, and was also called a “fledgling” .In one scene Charlotte discusses “immortality “ and jokes that she’s “immune to burns” (like she is to happiness) and says she’s so “OLD” and at this point would be grateful to simply get “crumbs “ of romantic affection (hello, Armand ). Charlotte also says another character is a “gift “ from their ex (Armand says Daniel was a “gift from Louis”,in the books) . There’s even a scene where she shows her love interest an old (unrecognizable) picture of herself, refers to the image of herself in the 3rd person , and then mentions her past trauma.

She also mentions how she was so desperate for romantic love that she did sexual things that her romantic competition wouldn’t . She even says she really doesn’t understand romantic love (despite wanting it) so she just repeats things she’s heard in romance books. Armand also recited Romeo and Juliet ( to Louis), and didn’t understand that -that’s not love but infatuation. And of course the infatuation between the 2 led to a blood bath of those around them (the Romeo & Juliet reference foreshadowing the coven and claudeleine’s fate).

Also Charlotte starts mentally healing after becoming a foster parent to a 12 y old (who reminds her of her past self). Hmm like 12 y old Benji who was sold by his parents and exploited and abused (who Armand later fosters)?

Also , one thing that always bothered me about benji’s characterization in the books was the fact that him being book-smart, street-smart, and adultified (somehow equated to him being as independent and mature as a literal adult). Which is just … not realistic at all! He’d still just be a kid faking it to survive. He’d still be a “boy masquerading as a gentleman.”He’s a 12 y old who was abandoned by his birth parents (so would probably have abandonment issues). He’s Palestinian (so probably has plenty of trauma because of the violent and dehumanizing occupation he suffered through-more than 90% of Palestinian kids have ptsd ) .And he was physically abused and forced to work since he was a little kid (after being sold) . He was so stressed/traumatized that he became a chain smoker by 12 years old!

So yeah , in the show, I could see him behave more like the 12 y old Tina (in now, voyager). Who literally screams themselves awake because of nightmares (ptsd).And who has abandonment issues and feels they’re fundamental unloveable (and thinks all the kids,teachers, and psychiatrists secretly hates him). Who would probably question why Armand is even nice to him to begin with -cause he doesn’t feel he deserves it .

And it would make sense that in the show adaption he’d latch on to (the older looking) Armand and see him as a father figure . When his own birth parents abandoned him, and he never had a positive male role model. And the last guy who had custody of him-hit him and never treated him like a kid (but a servant) . And then after he prays for help : Armand swoops in , kills his abuser, and then proceeds to dote on him and spoil him.

The first thing Armand thinks of when describing “goodness” is : “the child which is innocent” . He even asks madeleine is if she'd have mercy on kids, if she was a vampire. In the books he literally loved seeing human kids be innocent and happy because he never got to experience that as a child . So … he may shock the entire audience and actually be a good parental figure .

By the end of the film Charlotte also says that receiving parental love was more fulfilling than romantic love . * Armand describing his love for his (human) "children":

He literally said he's the happiest he's ever been in his entire immortal life because of his kids. You know it would be super ironic if Armand is the one vampire to prioritize his adopted kids over romance (when even Louis and Lestat couldn’t do that).

Charlotte also says all the men she ever tried to love romantically never reciprocated to the same degree she, herself, did . And it just made her feel empty inside . Charlotte at the end of the film : “ some man that will make me happy? (Scoff) . You talk about some man? Apparently , you haven’t the slightest conception on what torture it is to love a man and to be shut out , barred out , to be always an outsider. An extra.” Let’s be real he was the “extra” / ���rebound’ in regards to Louis & Lestat.

Charlotte : “What man would look at me and say -I want you?"/ Armand to Louis : " I want you, I want you more than anything in the world ." (Louis doesn’t verbally reciprocate the statement cause he didn’t actually want Armand ). And earlier Louis said to him: "Your problem, not mine. You want me" . Symbolically that line is interesting because later Daniel says to Armand: “He (louis) didn’t even want me in the end” (it applies to both of them-in the end, Louis didn't want either of them like that) . Louis to Daniel: “what do you want ?” (And I know the literal context of this next scene but the texted convo of: Reciprocation? What do you want? (could be foreshadowing that Armand and Daniel, in the end, will both want romantic reciprocation). But I know that’s a bit of a stretch

Also another important part of charlotte’s growth (in the film) was standing up to her abusive parent (Armand , please, please, stand up to Marius ). The only time he actually gets furious and calls out Marius for being a manipulative-liar was when Marius hurt Benji & Sybelle . After this, even Marius admits Armand “loves” the 2 “selflessly” and “more respectfully than (he's) ever loved (Armand).”

Armand about Benji:" I love him enough to tear limb from limb anyone who so much as lays a finger on him."Maybe Armand will finally start to get why Louis was not willing to forgive him (over claudia)?please king ,have some positive character development (before getting into a romance with Daniel ) 😩 🙏 Daniel & Armand only become a couple again- after Armand met his 'children'.

I really hope we get sybelle and Benji in the adaption. They’re fundamental to Armand’s character arc. And I want Palestinian rep sooooo bad.The show has already altered multiple timelines (so why not introduce them earlier...maybe s4? I wish s3 but , I know that’s not realistic ). Give me Armand’s orphan family - right now! 😩

[angrybubbles]

This has been said by many many people here before but-

We all know Daniel is not the Good Heroic Character, right?

A lot of those traits that could lead to us assigning him that are are because he's the closest to an audience insert and says things we agree with (confirmation bias), rather than because he's a good guy.

He's the Byronic Hero but that doesn't necessarily mean he's "good." It's a Gothic Fiction character role, which means morals are going to sit at a solid grey.

Him pointing out the racism of Louis and Lestat's relationship isn't done to help Louis. He says it belligerently. The tone is off. He's saying it for the audience as much as just... pointing it out in the worst way possible. He's being a dick, even if he's right.

That's the thesis of his character, really. The truth isn't good, it isn't nice, and it can be spat at you like an insult just as easily as a lie can soothe the pain (thematic mirroring with Armand and Daniel here. Delicious).

And there's also the journalism aspect. Journalism isn't a force for good, and it regularly is used for evil. Daniel knows this, and doesn't really give a shit. Once he puts the narrative out there, it's in the readers hands. There's no "good" he's doing here, past sitting on a couch and asking questions to help clarify why Louis wants to tell him all this.The ethics of journalism is a well-worn topic, and Daniel has the career to show he doesn't really care to fit the mold or be "correct" about it.

Daniel is a tool, he's a wedge used to get to the heart of the matter. When he criticizes Louis' idealism, he's not doing it to help Louis find the truth as a friend (not saying they're not friends, but it's not his motivator). He understands this is Louis' narrative, but he has his parallel narrative as well, the "truth" of the matter isn't about truth so much as it's about comparing realities and supporting it with evidence. Daniel being worldly, experienced, and a journalist isn't him saving Louis. He doesn't even want to do that until Armand pisses him off personally, and even then it's not in the "saving" sense as much as the "proving" sense.

As a Leftist reporter who speaks about things people are likely to hide, he's doing it to expose bullshit. To expose lives that no one looks to think about (the Vietnam Vet with his disabled Vietnamese boyfriend, and the single mom working at the titty bar. Even as a kid, he listened to those no one else would think to listen to.) The help is there, but it's a side-effect, not a goal. He's not a white-knight, he's a white guy with a need to stick it to the man (being the "traditional" narrative).

So keep him an asshole. The truth hurts, especially when you dig at it as voraciously as Daniel does.

Also please don't misconstrue this as me saying he's the most truthful character. Again, Gothic character, he's just a force that includes pushing and idealizing truth.

[kindaorangey]

i've mentioned this before but louis and armand's relationship in paris after the trial is so hollow, and at the beginning of their story they had so much chemistry, so much respect for each other, they were having philosophical conversations and romantic walks, they had so much potential. and you can tell it's gone a bit wayward even before the trial, with how louis removes himself emotionally from their relationship, but the trial really yanks the rug out from under them and shows just how Nothing their bond has become.

and i think it's best exemplified by louis warning armand about his plans to burn the theatre and everyone in it. because i can't read that as anything other than, like, the internet joke about a school shooter warning the only person who was nice to him to stay home from school tomorrow. all that potential, all that loneliness, all that they tried at first to confide in each other and heal the heartbreak they both sustained from lestat, and by the end it's as if they're acquaintances, who only know each other just well enough for louis to refrain from killing armand alongside the rest of the coven.

[yesimwriting]

Do you think whether Louis shares this past family at all?

I imagine it’d hard to talk about Claudia being that he doesn’t really acknowledge vampirism, and it plays such a huge part with her whole stunned body, the broken laws, and the coven. Not to mention Claudia took pride in being vampire and was phenomenal at it.

Also, I think about the conflict with his late human family. Paul’s death was crazy af, and the blame he got for it. The whole Graces’s baby thing. Him watching his family mourning his death.

I know he had to tell Daniel in order for the book to happen, but how much could he possibly tell the reader?

OMG what if she could create a painting with Louis and late (actually dead, not undead) his loved ones, that he either didn’t have a lot of photos of or they were lost in time.

Ohhhh this is such a good question/ask 😭 I've been thinking through their dynamic in relation to this for such a long time.

The painting idea are you kidding me 😭. That's such a great idea and something she'd definitely do/try to piece together based on any remaining photos and Louis's description.

Okay so, onto what Louis has told her. Louis has definitely told her about everyone/everything at least once. He trusts bestie reader sm and he wants her to know that, and also they're together so much it'd be kind of hard for certain things to never come up.

However, Louis isn't consistent with the level of details he provides. Bestie reader knows more about Lestat and Louis's fights and the complexities of their relationship more than anyone else. He's told her things about Lestat he's never even mentioned to Armand. Some of this is intentional, but sometimes it's just bc they're both drunk (or on other substances) and he's thinking about it and she's serving as an outlet.

Also, because I'm a firm believer that no matter how separated Louis is from Lestat, he still loves him, he talks about Lestat a lot bc it's the closest he can get to reader meeting Lestat. In some ways, reader knowing Lestat is this fantasy Louis has that he's incapable of acknowledging, but I digress.

Anyways, back to Louis's inconsistency in detail. Some of what he leaves out is because of his memory and limited perspective (kind of like what we see in the show), and other things are left on purpose. He's so afraid of reader seeing him how he sees himself, so he'd never directly address how he failed Claudia. For example, he'd tell reader about how Claudia came to be and the age that she was turned and how hard it was for her, but he'd never talk about all the ways that he made her existence harder.

Claudia is also a difficult topic for him to discuss with reader because while he doesn't see reader as Claudia, he sometimes sees a little bit of Claudia in her. Sometimes when they're really happy, Louis remembers the early years when things still seemed like they could work out. When reader wants to do things that make him nervous, he sees the ways in which he could have tried harder to keep Claudia safe. When the reader is happy and in her element (like at an art gallery), he sees what Claudia might have been.

He censors himself the most when talking about Armand. Partially because of how controlling Armand is, but also because of reader and Armand's dynamic. Armand's behavior around bestie reader is visibly different, he's more restrained, almost gentle. If Louis were to tell reader about some of the things Armand has done, she'd start seeing Armand as a monster, and Armand wouldn't feel the need to play nice anymore bc her mental image of him is already ruined.

Louis is not risking reader's safety and peace to tell her about things like Armand's torture era in the 70's.

Also, Louis isn't planning on leaving Armand so it's kind of like when the person your dating has seriously wronged you but you can't tell your friends bc then they'd hate them too much. AND reader would probably try to slap Armand or something if she knew everything, and Louis doesn't think Armand's patience with her will extend that far.

I think Louis is very back and forth on mentioning his family to bestie reader. Stories about them are, by far, the least dangerous, but they also make him think about things in certain ways. Sometimes it's weirdly healing to be able to tell her about the way that his family viewed him and other times it's nauseating.

I think he'd talk about Paul's absence the most, but he wouldn't delve into the details of what happened if that makes sense. Like he talks about his feelings over Paul's death, but he divides his emotions from the chain of events that caused them. Tbh that's how he handles most discussions of grief.

Okay, some new bestie reader lore that you have no way of knowing about because I haven't written it into existence yet that's super relevant to this question, but part of the reason that reader lets Louis get away with being relatively 'cagey' about certain aspects of his grief is bc she's doing the same thing.

Not to drop crazy lore here, but in my head, bestie reader lost someone important to her a little before she met Louis. In some ways, she feels similarly to what Louis feels, in the sense that sometimes she's scared that she's replacing the person she lost with Louis. However, her grief is much more plain sadness than actual guilt, and so she assumes that Louis doesn't want to talk about certain things because it's hard and not bc of vampire self hatred/guilt.

Louis also knows that there's someone reader isn't talking about enough because he pays attention to how she acts, but also because he can see into her thoughts. I do think he works hard at actively giving her mental privacy, but at times he gets really worried or her thoughts are particularly loud bc she's distracted or overwhelmed and he hears things.

So basically, to an extent, they're living in a mutual denial. I have an idea for a drabble/fic where this is forced to end and they talk about a lot of things, and if you'd be interested in that pls lmk!

Also, slightly off topic, but a big part of the reason he keeps anything from reader is rooted in a subconscious self hatred. Bestie reader is going to get Louis to love himself or die trying, and I'm so serious. As the story progresses, bestie reader is going to lock in and get Louis to feel less guilty about what he is.

He's actually so delusional, so convinced that any blunt conversation about vampirism could be the thing that pushes reader away. In reality, reader does not gaf about him being a vampire. She is generally curious about vampires, but she thinks everything about Louis is so much more interesting.

That's her Louis, and if she walked in on him actively draining seven people at once she'd just be like 'sometimes I need a late night snack too'. She'd actually become a vampire activist if it meant Louis would feel better about himself.

[verysmolnerd]

Dating post NWH Otto

Been wanting to do a hc collection of Otto related stuff if you’ve seen my previous headcanons. But they’re really not HCs as they are more story oriented. :p

First of all, dating him appeared to be off the table. In his mind at a least… Even thought he was no longer seen as an enemy of the public, there is so much suspicion that he’s still evil. Like all reformed criminals are.

Not to mention that since he’s a supervillain, he doesn’t get privacy from the daily bugle. Not to mention finding a job that’s willing to hire him. The robotic arms welded to his back and his criminal record is enough evidence of what his previous experiments did to him.

He can only work for Oscorp which also has a reputation of cranking out scientific orientated supervillains. He’s making a living, but the judgement of others becomes more prominent.

It’s hard to tell at some point. Which is harder? Reforming and reconvening into society or fighting off the actuators and Spider-Man at the same time.

He’s pitied by the public eye or alienated entirely. Nobody takes him seriously, even if he’s never killed a person, nor attempted to. He only wanted to finish his work under the influence of his own work.

Then along came you with a company merger when Oscorp was bought by a larger company.

You never interacted with him, you were in a different department and were far too busy to talk to any of the newer Oscorp employees, which includes a lot of the supervillains.

It’s not like you wanted to talk to them. They’re still people, not zoo animals like your colleagues assume they are. So the best way of showing respect in your eyes is to give them the space they needed. If they want to talk to you, then they’d find you.

However, neither of you expected to meet outside of work.

Of all places you’d meet…. a public library. Informal, tired, and bags under your eyes. It’s almost like a college love story, while one partner sacrifices their grades in order to help another graduate with honors.

He was holding a book by Neil deGrasse Tyson and you were holding a three pines book. (Honestly, you though he was Armand with the level of exhaustion you had)

You just stared at each other, Otto even dropped his book. He apologized and then you commented on the book.

So now you’re both sitting in a lounge talking about the type of books you had. Which buds into conversation.

There’s almost a relief in his eyes that you were holding a normal conversation, as if he’s a normal person. He felt seen and purely human only for a moment.

So it’s natural for him to gravitate to you. AKA you see him near your office during work. Whether he needed something, he’d get it from your side of the building just to see you.

You’ve caught him gazing at you from your door window. For a man with four additional arms and eyes, he seemed pretty blind sighted by you and would walk into a water cooler.

So he also starts messaging you via faxes or other mundane office supplies. You’re shocked that he’s using them to lure you into his clutches.

One fax you got was just his phone number. Like that’s anything subtle. Smooth one, Otto. There was also one just asking you out for dinner… you faxed him back.

“Ask me in person and then we’ll talk.” He read aloud. The fact that you’re going to play his silly games is promising on his end. The last person he’s done that to was.. well.. it’s best not to bring up the past… for now.

So when you have him ducking under your door to get in your office with a paper rose (that he folded himself) he’s nervous, and the actuators are giving that away very well. Other than that, he’s very good at hiding emotions.

And now you find yourself sitting across from him at a nice restaurant.

Now that the professionalism line has completely evaporated, you both open up. Otto seems to loosen quite a bit the longer you two were talking.

You ended up closing down the place, and the wait staff were kind enough to remind you that they need to leave.

Then, he ended up spending the night with you. Not wanting to part with you. And you are you to deny that. He intrigues you as you do him.

Then one thing led to another and now you both are sitting on the couch, sharing a bottle of wine.

He trusts you with information that no other human being could have ever known.

Of course he tells you about Rosie. He hesitated at first, but you were quick to reassure him that he could. It was therapeutic almost. To hear about the previous light in his life.

“Oh, you’d love her. She thinks outside of the box. And she always had riddles to tell, never the same ones. She was so smart.”

He’s more vulnerable around you! He trusts you with his life, even though he’s probably protect you more than you can him.

That being, you both move into an apartment and now you’re with him almost every waking moment.

His actuators do a lot of work for him that he doesn’t like doing. The menial tasks that are just awful to him.

He carries you to rooftops to get a view of New York or any other surprise date he’d come up with.

The actuators wrap around you to show his subconscious form of admiration. Sometimes the actuator claws would clamp on your body as a form of kisses or long hugs.

He loves to cook. He knows recipes and often makes the same dinners that Rosie would make him.

You know that woman is happy to see that he’s moved on, the shadows of his past are able to be forgiven.

You also pet his actuators and sometimes use them as an extension to his hands, so you hold hands with his actuators.

He also uses the arms to pick you up for a proper kiss. He’s super affectionate if you haven’t picked that up already.

He loves to read books to you. Sitting on his lap, snuggled up against him as he reads TS Eliot.

You wear his glasses sometimes, you have no idea how he can see. He’s blind pretty much.

He’s wearing his heart on his sleeve around you, and he loves with all his being.

Treat him nicely, he’s already lost someone before and he’ll go to wits end to make sure that doesn’t happen again.

[very-straight-blog]

<God, I hadn't checked the news in the fandom for about a month, and when I decided to do it, it turned out that people are angry because...the story focuses on Lestat - completely according to the book canon, as it was expected from the very beginning? Okay.>

Why are you so racist? I'm genuinely asking. You have an inherent hatred for Jacob Anderson judging from all your posts and its so obvious that you're white. Why do you hate black people can you honestly answer? Be serious. Are you choosing to ignore that amc has a history of failing to promote their black actors? When you don't know why don't you try and be aware instead of lashing out in defense of white actors instead? Did you know filmupdates offered to do an interview with jacob, delainey and assad but amc refused? Did you know they refused to promote them many times? Did you know there's more happening than your foolish and ignorant whiteass can comprehend?

So genuinely asking why are you so hateful towards black people. Were you not loved enough as a child what is it I want to understand the mind of how white supremacists think though I'm sure I'll regret it. What is it about black people that threatens you? 

You know, every fandom is a bit fucked up, but in this fandom, the theme of RACISM is also added to this. So, where should I start.

I'm completely neutral about Jacob, like absolutely. He seems nice, but our vibes don't match, so I've never been interested in him. He's a good actor. If you find at least one post on my blog with hatred for this actor, please send me a screenshot.

I don't like Louis, you know, the character. The character I didn't like in the books either, where he's white. AND yes, it's not racist not to love a black character if you don't love him BECAUSE OF HIS PERSONALITY TRAITS FOR GOD'S SAKE.

One of my favorite characters (maybe even my favorite one) is Armand. Like, literally our dark-skinned Armand from the show. AND I adore Assad, who is also WELL NOT WHITE AT ALL.

I didn't write about the behavior of AMC, I didn't write about the awards issue, I was talking purely about the reaction of some fans to the central role of Sam and Lestat in the third season. People are really going crazy for absolutely no reason, as I said in my original post. The Vampire Lestat book, which will be filmed, focuses on Lestat. The fact that Sam is going to play the main role in all of this is book canon, whether you like it or not.

And now go and touch the grass.

[monstersinthecosmos]

Do you see Marius as a villain?

If you’re asking if I personally see him as a relative bad guy in a series of bad guys – no! He’s not even the worst guy in the books he shows up in lol. I stand by my problematic wife.

But asking if he’s “a villain” is a really nice question, this is chewy to me, I love it. Like, villainous as in a bad guy in general? Sure! But as a story mechanism? If you’re asking if he’s an antagonist inside the series, also no!

I think we know that, though. VC does not have simple antagonists, aside from the occasional big bad that shows up (Akasha, Rhosh, Santino) but the antagonist in VC is like, the prison of their reality, their condition, the struggle of faith. It’s GRIEF! It’s disability, it’s the nature of evil!!!!!!!!!! It’s THE UNKNOWN!

Like, we can say that Marius is the villain of Blood & Gold in the sense of like “omg my life is so hard who is making my life so hard! OH NO IT’S ME!” and in the same way I could say that Lestat is the villain of VC overall! But again this is getting into like, trying to make the books black & white, which they aren’t, and Lestat can be both the protagonist and a terrible person who causes most of the problems in the story and he’s still our antihero. And like! Honestly while it’s fun to chat about and analyze, if you’re looking for a simple answer or feel the need to file characters as “good” or “bad”, you’re in the wrong fandom!!!!!!!

I don’t want to get into yet another dissertation about how VC is about bad people because it’s  been discussed to death LMAO but let me tackle this for a few minutes because I’m procrastinating.

You can look at some of the “bad” things Marius has done (threatening Lestat, keeping the Parents to himself, not rescuing Armand) and see ways in which those actions rippled to affect other characters or move the story, but no one in the series is a true villain. THERE ARE GRADATIONS OF EVIL, AFTER ALL. Even when we meet a character who behaves atrociously (Santino, for example) we often also get a perspective of them that is generous and still recognizes their nuance and worldview. If we pinned a single person to the antagonist in TVA you could argue that it’s Santino, but we also see that he’s warm and generous in his own way and that he believes in what he’s doing, that he’s acting from a place of devout faith and isn’t acting from a place of deliberate evil. And villains need that! It makes them believable. But even inside the text, the characters are generous towards each other and forgive each other. Armand has Louis's daughter-wife killed, and Louis still dates him! Santino still gets to come hang out at Night Island!

Even these alleged bad deeds of Marius’s!!!!!! There’s nuance, there’s a reason why he did those things. We can add: groomed Armand, destroyed Mael’s village, had Santino killed, tried to manipulate his wives, refused to participate in Roman society by marrying, kicked Flavius out, committed vandalism. There’s nuance to all of these things, and whether or not they were bad or whether or not they were intentionally evil.

And as a story mechanism it just doesn’t really make sense to think of him as a villain. The shitty things Marius did, even when they’ve rippled outwards and affected others, aren’t the driving force of conflict in the story. The books barely even have a single driving force of conflict, they’re stories about trauma that just compounds and compounds and compounds. You could say “Lestat acted shady in New Orleans because Marius threatened him” but Marius didn’t tell Lestat to coerce Louis for decades or turn a small child (in fact he told Lestat explicitly not to turn a child). And why does it lead back to Marius instead of leading back to Santino, Eudoxia, the Parents, the druids? He threatened Lestat, but he also rescued Lestat and let him into his home and what did Lestat do except immediately disobey him and cause chaos!

This is ultimately a series about being loved and being forgiven. They are saying that all of us deserve love, even when we've fucked up, and that forgiveness is divine. So even if we look at evil events or characters who have behaved badly, it's not a sticking point to build the whole story around. There is no single villain of IWTV - people misbehave and pay for it, and people forgive them. The villain is grief and change and the horror of the unknown.

Every character in this series is atrocious. (Not you Mojo.) They’re all villains. And I think like, depending how you find joy in fandom you can take that time to criticize Anne Rice or the way she handled all these subjects (regarding Marius, the subjects of: pedophilia, imperialism, the hubris of  white male privilege) but if you’re here to kinda play in the sandbox and meet the universe where it’s at, he wasn’t designed to be a bad guy, and we can criticize and analyze all we want and it doesn’t change the reality on the page that he’s not the bad guy. You can go “But Armand was underage!” and the book says “That doesn’t matter in this reality! No one cares!” You can see Armand’s story as a series of traumas that compound and compound and even if you place some of the blame on Marius, the text really doesn’t. You can sketch out a framing of TVA that says “this is the reality of abuse where a child doesn’t recognize their experience as abuse” but when Armand is spilling his guts about his religious trauma, his abandonment issues, being kidnapped by a cult, trying to kill himself, it just isn’t intended to be a book that frames his maker as the big bad of his life. It’s just not.

Like everyone’s of course welcome to make transformative fanworks and write the version “what if the text actually condemned Marius preying on Armand?” and that’s fun if it’s what you want to do. That’s not really my bag so I’ll stay over here indulging in my monsterfucker kink. PERHAPS I WILL CELELBRATE FUCKING THAT OLD MAN ON THE FUCK THAT OLD MAN WEBSITE.

Really though at the end of the day, when we look at all the characters, they all do awful things, they’ve all hurt each other, they’ve all murdered countless numbers of people because they valued their own survival over removing themselves from the foodchain. And Marius, to me, is one of the kinder ones, and even if he’s kind of a fucking loser and even when he’s fucked up, I don’t think he’s anywhere near as bad as Lestat LOL.  

[bombasticsalt]

Loustat and Loumand love vs fascination (take this analysis with no grammar because it's 1am)

One of the scenes that really sticks out to me with Loumand in season two is when Louis tells Armand he loves him and dreamstat starts laughing it's crazy because if this were a Louis and Lestat scene it would have been framed as dramatic and their would have been tears but it's comedic almost when Louis and Armand do it especially when you remember that we never see Louis tell Lestat he loves him yet we as the audience can obviously see he did. Both Armand and Lestat stalked Louis and they both had some sort of soft spot for him before they even actually talked to him and yet, look at how different the way Louis views their first meeting as he says he left the meeting with Lestat thinking only of him but Lestat was real he said things that he meant with Armand it's almost like their meeting is framed as some meetcute he says I will not harm you which yeah sounds sweet until you consider the fact that meetings later he talks about killing Louis. Ever since they met Armand has been presenting himself as a sheep in wolfs clothing and you can say a lot about Lestat but for all his acting he showed Louis who he really was before Louis got in too deep he shows Louis his temper he shows Louis his passions his ramblings his privilege everything I think that says something that Armand would rather pretend to be anything else but what he is a dangerous predator.

And the worst part is it still doesn't work sure love at first sight wasn't something to expect in a gothic romance but listen to how Louis describes meeting Lestat he wanted to be the man and murder the man when Louis was at the party getting ready to kill Lestat he still wanted him all to himself there was this passion for Lestat since their first meeting yeah sure Louis at the moment thinks of this memory fondly but at that time when it happened he was confused like the scene was almost eerily sweet to me

I don't think Louis feels absolutely nothing for Armand I think Louis thinks he loves Armand or at least Armand interests him at first he loves armand in the way you love a spring fling that you don't expect to last through the winter it's fun, interesting and new and that's the main problem with Loumand it lasted way longer than it should have because both Louis and Armand can't be alone a spring fling is nice during the spring when you're bored and depressed but what about when you have a thousand other things you could be doing and you're stuck in a marriage thats like a candle that went out almost five seconds after you lit it for 77 years when the person stops being interesting and fun what's really left of the relationship? Love? Yeah sure maybe but not when you know there's a person out there you loved more than anybody else somebody like Lestat

I feel like this is further proved by how Lestat and Armand react to the boys Louis confides in, for Lestat it was Jonah he got mad about Jonah because he famously heard their hearts dancing and felt the affection Louis had for Jonah especially since Lestat was a lot for Louis. It seems like Lestat thought Louis could fall in love with Jonah and leave him and for Lestat leaving equates with somebody not loving him anymore what threatens Lestat is the idea Louis might not love him and that's ultimately what Lestat wants love he needs attention more than we ever see him need blood he's greedy for it. However, with Daniel he didn't even sleep with Louis so what threatens Armand isn't that Louis might not love him anymore it's that Louis finds Daniel more interesting than him because I think deep down that Armand knows that their love was short lived and the only reason why Louis was still with him was desperation and fascination because Armand knows things even though Louis isn't exactly always curious about vampires he taught Louis how to use fire he does know things that prove useful he clearly doesn't care all that much about the great laws if he let Daniel live this experience because it was never about the great laws it's about Lestat the first interview was a call out to Lestat from Louis and Armand knew that I'm not saying love isn't involved but I'm saying I believe in my opinion it was more about him not wanting Louis to leave because Armand believes he needs a master he needs somebody else to pretend like they have control over him sure yeah him calling Louis Maitre is just for fun he doesn't have to listen to Louis in fact he doesn't listen to Louis sure he keeps Daniel alive but also he turns Daniel eventually Armand is so interesting to me because Armand is a puppet master who wants to feel like a puppet because he never really realized he got cut loose from his strings that's why he potrays himself as helpless even his clothes are meant to make him seem smaller than he actually is he makes people do things for him indirectly TWICE he lets Lestat and Louis destroy his cult coven and then hides behind the words I could not prevent it. Both Lestat and Armand are afraid that Louis will leave them but for different reasons Lestat's afraid Louis will leave him because Louis doesn't love him and Armand literally fucking tortures Daniel aesthetictly just because he's afraid Louis finds him boring he has to be fascinating or else Louis will leave.

Another reason that really shows the differences between Love and fascination is what Louis says to both of them when he wants to hurt them, Louis tells Lestat that's why he's always going to be alone and why they won't work because Louis knows Lestat he knows the thing that will hurt Lestat more than anything else is threatening to take his love and affection away and leave him all alone because Lestat is also a part of the three musketeers of making bad decisions because he can't handle being alone, with Armand though Louis calls him boring because for Louis the worst possible thing to say to Armand isn't I won't love you anymore and I'll leave it's you're boring something that hurts Armand worse if Armand isn't fascinating or fun to Louis then what's the point? What's the point to be in a marriage of spite what's the point of living if Claudia is dead Lestat fucked off to God knows where after the trial and Louis's only companion has lost all the traits that make him want to stay but Louis would rather die than be alone and unloved. But for Loumand the words I love you are like a dagger in both instances when Louis says it (it's fucking 3:46 am if they say it more than twice I'll edit) it's mocked dreamstat laughs Louis laughs while saying it in San Frisco. Love is a weapon when Louis verbally says it after Paul's death. In fact Louis not saying he loves Lestat seems more romantic than him telling Armand he does. Because we as the viewers know he loves Lestat in the way he talks about him, the way he remembers Lestat's ramblings, the way he reacts to Lestat telling him about Magnus, because even though Louis memory has bias ultimately he remembers Lestat as this beautiful monster who he was in love with we're shown that he loves him. But with Armand and Louis we're told their in love but when is it shown with Loustat their was an intimacy in the shadows because they were in a openly homophobic town but with Loumand their relationship seems more like a performance they hold hands in public but in private they're divided when Louis was supposedly falling in love with Armand in Paris he says they aren't companions to Santiago and I think that's why Armand lied about saving Louis because that was the only major thing he could do that would make Louis want to stay, Lestat turned Claudia for Louis in his love Lestat brought the azalea for Louis because he loves him he shows Louis he loves him but what does Armand do? He threatens to kill Louis he won't turn Madeline for Louis sure he tells Louis he loves him but it's not shown not like how Lestat's love is. AND LESTAT DOES IT AGAIN he saves Louis again he proves that he loves Louis again when Armand can't or won't the only thing is the opportunity presented itself where Armand could take the credit for it he could please the coven and keep the guy at the same time because if Armand wouldn't have taken credit for that they wouldn't have stayed together he would have left. Would Louis have gotten back together with Lestat? Probably not but the point is the 77 years wouldn't have happened. Daniel calls it a seismic lie because it is that's what the relationship is based on that's the reason Louis stayed because he felt like he owed it to Armand and that's why he doesn't hesitate to leave Armands when he learns it.

I think that's what makes Loumand so interesting is that Louis doesn't want someone soft he wants the chaos back of Lestat once it's taken away he doesn't want a manipulative pillow who hides all his flaws and does everything he says he wants Lestat who screams back at him with the same passion that burns like a furnace Lestat who can't help but be so passionate about everything he does Lestat who does too much and that passion makes Lestat feel so human even when he's doing the most inhumane things whereas Armand acts as if he's above it all like he's some type of God but also portraying himself as weak and helpless in other situations that makes him so inhumane which could also be why Daniel ends up falling for him.

[animalceramics]

Young Daniel: Bad at sex?

I’m writing a new fic, set in the San Francisco stalking/obsession phase of Daniel/Armand’s relationship. In the latest chapter Daniel picks up a girl from a bar. The comments on the chapter really made me laugh. Specifically:

I’ve actually given an inappropriately large amount of thought on why I portrayed him as bad at sex here (and of course it’s something that will change/develop through the story via his interactions with Armand).

So here is my own HC on why Young Daniel is a bit shit in bed..

I was inspired by how he conducts himself in the interview with Louis in the show. Like he won't shut up, he's talking over him, he's only really focused on his own interpretation of the story, not listening to what Louis is actually saying or appreciating his feelings. I applied all that to his bedroom moves.

Also young Daniel is extremely attractive and charismatic, so I don't think he has to work that hard for it or put in so much effort if he is not inclined to do so. Here he is not inclined. He’s very distracted and he’s using this girl as a way to not think about his stalking situation.

I also wanted to draw some parallels between what Armand is doing or will do to Daniel and things Daniel himself does to others. Specifically that he is also very curious about people in (maybe) a sort of detached way and can use that insight to manipulate others to get what he wants. I think part of why A/D work so well is that they are very similar, sometimes in quite dark ways.

Because this story is very strictly from Daniel’s POV, I’m not able to show Armand’s internal thought process or motivations. So I'll share a bit of it here instead; There is the ‘must find out why this boy is fascinating’ thing from the episode, BUT I think he’s using that more as an excuse or distraction. Distracting from the shit-show with Louis, the things thrown at him in that argument, the fact Louis chose death over him (his words) etc.

Stalking and obsessing about Daniel gives him that distraction, just as in this fic, Daniel uses the girl from the bar. It gives them both a sense of control and power, something they’ve both just taken a hit on.

My additional HC for young Daniel regarding who he is sexually, is that he doesn’t really know himself that way yet (not many of us do at that age I suppose). He’s happier being led by others or adapting to their wishes (he was ready to jump in that coffin!) and he’s needy for approval, so that’s an easy way to feel ‘successful’ at sex i.e. by giving the other person what you think they want. This is obviously not helped by the way he uses/sees sex as transactional at Mary’s. My whole thinking is that Daniel actually doesn’t really know what HE wants yet. That applies doubly to sex with men because he is perhaps not being honest about his motivations for that.

I’m going to expand and develop all these ideas over the course of the story, as Armand directly challenges him on a lot of it. But of course he doesn’t do it in a nice romantic safe or sane way, because that’s not who they are to each other here, it’s in more of the psychosexual torture way. It’s the early devil’s minion brand and I subscribe happily to it.

Anyway if you want to enjoy Daniel being bad at hetero sex it’s in chapter 3..

[serpentarius]

humbled and excited to see that the very first Armand/Daniel fic I wrote, time is a mouth as bloody as any other, has received 10,000 hits!

I know AO3 stats are not necessarily an indication of anything, really, but I do want to thank everyone who’s read my silly little fic. ♥️ It’s a nice lil’ personal milestone to have reached, and I felt it was worth celebrating. None of you owe us fic writers anything so just know that I appreciate y’all so much! And I’m SO happy to see the surge in folks who are discovering and loving this pairing. DM nation unite 🙏🏽

Now, to be a little more overtly self-promotional… I thought I’d take the opportunity to plug some of my other Armand/Daniel fics! 😄

🩸 as long as I find you interesting (I won't kill you) [4/4]

🩸 the talisman [1/1]

🩸 he makes the sun rise on the evil and the good [1/1]

🩸 faultlines [1/1]

… & feel free to drop your fave Armandaniel fics in the comments! 😄💕

[nightcolorz]

Can I ask what was Armand 's time like with the original coven/cult? I haven't read the books but I have heard how he was forced into him and it seems like a terrible time. I get how it started but he seems to have spent centuries working for the cult, if you can call it that and I was wondering how was it like? Did he really spent all that time in a cemetery? The coven seems to form the largest part of his life and I have really been wondering what those years have been like to him.

omg good question!! Thank u for the ask!!

the cult backstory part of the vampire Armand is actually relatively short considering how much time he spent there, but we r given a lot of details that give us an idea of what it was like. U said u know how it started but imma talk about that anyway for comprehension sake lol. So when he’s seventeen (in the book of course lol, in the show he’d be much older when this happens) and he had been turned into a vampire maybe within the last month or so, very very young vampire, the “children of darkness” storm Marius’s palazzo with intent to kill him. The children of darkness are a vampire coven (that most ppl in the fandom call a cult bcus they r by definition a religious cult lol) that has existed for a long time, has multiple covens throughout multiple parts of Europe. and believes that vampires are part of gods plan as demon like servants who r put on earth to serve him by spreading evil that god can fight. They believe that goodness can only exist if evil exists to combat it, and by spreading evil they r working for gods plan. So the children of darkness think that vampires, as servants of evil, should live in cemeteries with the rats, bcus they are meant to be low lives, and to refuse any indulgences such as living in houses or having mortal friends. The logic is that bcus they r like devils, they must create their own personal hell, bcus Devils arent worthy of having nice things and shouldn’t be nice to humans. So that’s why they live in cemeteries lol, and don’t have clean clothes.

so Marius is not catholic lmao (all children of darkness members are), he literally is Roman and was born before the Christian god was created. And he lives in a giant palace and has a team of mortal servants and, yknow a prostitute child who he turned into a vampire recklessly. So the Children of darkness r a very big cult, and so they believe that they r the ultimate authority that every vampire should follow, and vampires who don’t follow them r heretics (basically like Christianity historically). So to punish Marius they kill him with fire, kill all his mortal residents and the children who r living with him as his painting apprentices. They obviously can tell Armand is a vampire lol, and for being a breaking of the laws in his very existence (a vampire who was made without authority from the coven and was made as a child, also a vampire who has severe mental illness that Marius acknowledges as a disability that will make him unable to function as a vampire), they plan to kill him, sort of for the same logic Armand kills Claudia and Madeline, bcus he will die soon anyway. They line all the children (who Armand considers his brothers) up in front of a huge bonfire and throw them in as Armand is being held back screaming and trying to fight them. They are about to throw Armand in the fire with them, but the leader of the coven Santino, who is an Italian catholic who u can tell is sort of resigned and non violent, believes in the coven but doesn’t take any joy in the cruelty, sees that Armand has a history of being very very catholic and sees that he has a learned servitude and learned helplessness that would make him a very willing part of a catholic cult. He knows that Armand’s devotion to god and willingness to debase himself to honor god (he used to be a monk as a kid) would make him a good cult member, but he also can see that living with Marius has buried those tendencies in him, and he’s much more secular now. So he decides to let Armand live and indoctrinate him into the coven, aiming to beat the cult member tendencies back into him.

Santino takes armand into the catacombs and Armand is very resistant lol, he’s like why do u think I would join u I hate u u killed my master and u killed my brothers. He’s being mocked by the coven members, one guy throws his brothers ashes on his face 😭 and Armand in retaliation violently kills the guy and rips his head off and throws it into the skulls lined on the wall. Santino is Like wow. This kid is strong, he has like genuine potential. So he becomes dead set on making sure Armand becomes a part of their cult.

Santino talks to Armand to a while and explains their beliefs, hoping to convince Armand to be complaint that way. He tells him he’ll kill him if he doesn’t join them, which still doesn’t get Armand to want to comply. Santino introduces Armand to a vampire named Allessandra, who becomes sort of a maternal and mentor figure for Armand while he joins the coven. To force Armand to comply Santino then locks him in a cage and starves him of blood for weeks and weeks on end. Since Armand is a very young vampire, and young vampires need to eat multiple times a night, he’s been reduced to an animal because of how hungry he is. It’s basically like when Louis is trapped in the coffin in iwtv s2. It’s described that he’s yowling and throwing himself at the bars, biting into his arms and drinking his own blood, going completely insane, hallucinating. (Alessandra sometimes comes to sooth him while he’s loosing his shit in the cage and calls him a poor boy, pleads with Santino to let him out, stuff like that, which I think is sweet lol). Eventually the coven vampires feed Armand, and they release a teenaged boy into his cage. Armand instantly attacks and kills the boy without thinking or seeing him, and after he’s already dead Armand realizes that he just killed his closest friend and brother Riccardo, who was kept from being killed in the fire for this purpose. Armand desperately tries to turn Riccardo so he won’t die, but he’s long gone.

This absolutely pushes Armand over the edge, and he’s forced to share his containment now with the corpse of his best friend who he just killed. He tears his corpse apart so he doesn’t have to look at his face, starts throwing his limbs outside the bars, insane stuff like that. Armand is then starved again for several more weeks, and when he is eventually fed he is given a scared orphan child. Armand kills the child in his starvation and then starts to hallucinate guilty visions of the dead child in containment with him. It’s implied that this goes on in similar fashion for a long time.

when Armand is eventually released the indoctrination has worked. The intent of the torture was to teach Armand that he was a monster who deserved to live in catacombs, and that he wasn’t meant to live a life of indulgence like his master. The torture was also intended to drain him of any fight he had and to drain any hope he had of escaping. Armand is so defeated and devastated that he doesn’t care about escaping, he just goes through the motions, he’s lost everything. The coven decides that Armand’s name can not remain Amadeo, bcus of what it represents, since Marius named him Amadeo and means it “beloved of god”. Alessandra renames Armand to well, Armand lol. Armand means warrior.

after this Armand’s time in the coven isn’t described in depth, but we r told that the daily routine of the coven includes going out and tormenting and violently killing humans, indoctrinating and kidnapping vampires, and sleeping in coffins and doing rituals in the catacombs. Pretty quickly into his time as a coven member Santino sends Armand to go rule a coven in Paris, which has been abandoned by its master and needs a new one. Armand is given this opportunity bcus of how strong he is from Marius’s blood, and bcus of how uniquely dedicated and obedient he is. Santino knows that Armand is strong and resilient enough to be a leader, while also being obedient and compliant enough to not abandon his position. Armand asks to bring Alessandra with him bcus he needs someone to guide him in this position he’s never had before, and Santino allows him to.

Armand falls into the role of leader easily, just going through the motions passionlessly. He’s never been a leader before, but he’s able to fall into it with the mindset of obedience he has taken when being a part of the cult. Armand is in charge as coven master of doing all the thing to others that he was once put through, he tortures and starves vampires, kills them for breaking rules, stuff like that. Armand doesn’t believe in the covens principles, he is only a part of the coven because he feel he has no other choice. Coven leaders often abandon their stations and live normal lives, but Armand doesn’t do this bcus he doesn’t know how to live without smth to devote himself to. He’s never lived independently, he was turned as a teenager 😭 a teen who was being abused, and that’s all he knows how to be. He daydreams often about Marius coming to save him, but obviously this never happens.

We are told that Armand’s life continues in this way in much the same low action, depressing fashion until lestat comes around, the only change being that Allessandra goes crazy from old age and depression and kills herself. Lestat is the only reason Armand’s life with the coven ends, it’s implied he would have lived that way forever if he hadn’t been stopped.

Even tho the children of darkness part is pretty short and doesn’t detail much of the long time Armand spent there, it definitely informs a lot about Armand’s character. It’s a massive influence on how he perceives life as a vampire and why he reacts with so much disproportionate violence and cruelty for seemingly no reason. The reason Armand kills Claudia is very cult based, bcus for him he sees her death as a necessary part of Vampire Law. And Armand continues for the rest of his life to see extreme violence and torture as a necessary, common aspect of life that some scenarios demand. The cult also changes his personality a lot, within a few months he goes from a rebellious strong spirited kid to a cold and wide eyed monster who moves through the world like a ghost. It’s only during devils minion that Armand starts to regain his ability to be a person and starts to find a life for himself where he isn’t submitting to a purpose or a leader, for the first time in his existence

thank u again for the ask!!! I hope I answer ur question + this is what u were looking for, lol

[hekateinhell]

Thank you so so much to everyone who contributed to and supported my little event! 🥹 Because I hosted this via my personal blog and not an event blog, I thought it would be nice to throw together a masterpost of all of our creations to have in one place to showcase everyone’s talent and efforts. Armandblr, you really are the best! ♥️

The Tumblr tagging system is far from perfect, so please let me know if I missed you somehow!

𝖋𝖆𝖓𝖋𝖎𝖈

*some of these were written specifically for ArmandShipFest from beginning to end, while others are multi-chapter fics where a specific chapter was written for this event—with that in mind, I’m listing the fics in their entirety so they can be enjoyed as they deserve!

ARMAND/MARIUS

A blending of sadness and simple grace [M | 1.9k | VC & AMC]

ARMAND/LESTAT

revealed at the ball. [M | 1.1k | Genderswap | VC]

tied together. [T | 332 | Genderswap | VC]

So Pretty In Your Pain [E | 3.2k | Genderswap & Human AU | VC]

Men of Honor [M | 3.1k | Human AU | VC]

I loved him, I knew it [G | 3k | VC]

Down Where The Church Bells Cry [E | 2.2k | AU | VC]

Untitled Lesmand Elf Fic [E | 2.3k | AU | VC]

ARMAND/LOUIS

Let Me Get Close to You [G | 1.7k | VC]

Crucible of the Flesh [M | 5.5k | VC]

ARMAND/DANIEL

Hold tight to me [G | 384 | VC]

Cold to the Touch [T | 1.3k | VC]

Glass Towers, Spring Flowers [M | 3.3k | VC]

ARMAND/OTHER

A Dog With No Bite [M | 9.1k | Armand/Nicolas | VC]

Venus and Adonis [E | 1.8k | Armand/Bianca | VC]

a laughing boy [M | 2k | Armand/Denis | VC]

A Mother’s Love [E | 1.1k | Armand/Allesandra | VC]

Untitled Denis Fic [M | 5.3k | Armand/Denis | VC]

The Path to Peace [T | 11.8k | Armand/Nicolas | VC]

MUTLISHIP

You took my blood and it made you my slave [M | 1k | Armand/Lestat, Armand/Marius | VC]

On the Grave of Our Old Love [E | 2.9k | Armand/Lestat, Armand/Marius, Armand/Lestat/Marius | VC]

Farewell My Fallen Idol [G | 6.6k | Armand/Marius, Armand/Daniel | VC]

All Grown Up | [E | 16.7k | Armand/Daniel, Armand/Marius | AU | VC]

DRABBLE COLLECTIONS

A Little Night Music [E | 850 | Armand/Marius, Armand/Riccardo, Armand/Antoine, Armand/Claudia | VC]

"so innocent, so passionate, so brilliant!" [M | 3.2k | Armand/Everyone | VC & AMC]

𝖋𝖆𝖓𝖆𝖗𝖙

ARMAND/MARIUS | VC

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

ARMAND/LESTAT | VC

1, 2

ARMAND/LESTAT | AMC

1, 2

ARMAND/LOUIS | VC

1, 2

ARMAND/DANIEL | VC

1 (+ Marius), 2

ARMAND/OTHER | VC

1 (Bianca), 2 (Sybelle)

𝖌𝖗𝖆𝖕𝖍𝖎𝖈𝖘

ARMAND/MARIUS | VC

1, 2, 3, 4

ARMAND/LESTAT | VC

1, 2, 3, 4

ARMAND/LESTAT | AMC

1

ARMAND/LOUIS | VC

1, 2, 3

ARMAND/DANIEL | VC

1, 2, 3, 4, 5

ARMAND/OTHER | VC

1 (Pandora), 2 (Santino), 3 (Riccardo),

𝖈𝖔𝖘𝖕𝖑𝖆𝖞

ARMAND/MARIUS | VC

1, 2

ARMAND/LESTAT | VC

1, 2

ARMAND/LOUIS | VC

1

ARMAND/DANIEL | VC

1

Re: late submissions - I’m trying to cut back on my Tumblr time for the rest of the month due to the holidays and having to figure out some real life work stuff, but I’ll be checking the #ArmandShipFest tag sporadically.

Thanks again, my loves! Happy Holidays and don’t forget to check out @vamptember’s 12 Nights of Christmas Event! ❄️♥️