#and that set decorator? was assad zaman

[vaperarmand]

Currently reading notes from the underground by one Mr Eric Bogosian and he is obsessed with cheese crackers. Like, truly addicted to them. Correct me if I’m wrong but weren’t there cheese crackers on the counter in Louis and Armand’s SF apartment? Am I going crazy?

first of all i’m in love with you. second of all you’re not crazy and there are potentially two boxes of crackers on the kitchen counter in the SF apartment.

in the second one it literally looks like there might literally be cheese as well. but i can’t decide if it’s a block of cheese or matches. kind of funny to believe that it is cheese because of the idea that they’d go shopping for food items and just be like sure. cheese on the toaster oven.

and last but not least i never really caught onto the term “corn plating” because i never saw encanto but i have always been obsessed with it as a concept because it’s something i love to do. which is why i’m thrilled to launch the term “cheese cracker” to describe the same phenomenon. not to cheese cracker but ………

[lemonandpie]

Any headcanons as to what Loumand's day to day life was like in Dubai (prior to the Daniel Molloy marriage wrecking ball)?

I feel like Loumand has three distinct phrases: post-Paris, post-SanFran, and pre-Interview.

In the immediate aftermath of SanFran, there seems to have been a lot of walking listlessly through the world. Louis is severely depressed and has the feeling of constantly being on eggshells, even if he doesn't remember why. Armand is the one guiding Louis with a hand around his wrist like a vice, just as afraid but unlike Louis he knows exactly why.

(My headcanon is that post the disaster telepathic zoom call, Lestat tries to track them down, and that's when Armand pushes him off a tower. Or skyscraper)

Louis said his last kill was 2002. Who or why we don't know, but that gives us a date for the end of the turmoil and an idea of when the truce like period between Armand and Louis began.

Dubai is very much home for them-- they have servants (which is basically a Talamasca bat signal, they must have figured they would at least attempt to infiltrate), decorations, specialized accomodations. Dubai would have taken a long time to set up and not be worth it just for a short time, so Dubai must have been their home base.

Armand seems to be the one in charge of the day to day running of things. He's the contact for buyers, for dealers; he is the directing the staff. I've seen so many takes (comedic and otherwise) about Armand being unemployed and I think those people need to rewatch the show 😅. Louis seems to take the CEO position. His word is the final say, he is the one making the wider decisions. I do not doubt he is the one charming the prospective clients. But Armand seems to be doing the legwork (head of household, shows submission by dominating everyone else, master's favorite, etc etc).

To get to the point where he wanted to do the interview again, Louis probably was growing increasingly introspective, and from what we've seen that means spending a lot of his time alone. In the interview, Louis seems to have been withdrawn while Armand was still very heavily revolving around him. So Louis retreats to be on his own, and Armand busies himself with running their company.

I doubt Louis would be the one to suggest hiring people to drink from, so I'm going to guess that was Armand's idea. The staff know they are vampires, so being snack food is probably part of the job description (unless, of course, Armand was trying to keep Louis from fucking the help. Though Assad Zaman said Armand's having orgies with all the Rashids, so maybe that's Armand's job instead). Armand hires and vets the "donors", then it's probably supplemented by animal blood, staff donations, and of course, the weekly feed from Armand.

Louis said "Rashid" has a very regemented routine, and I like to pretend that is Armand's routine as well (even if Armand's got more tasks). In general, I think life in Dubai is very ordered.

Armand needs less sleep, so he gets up first. Does all of the necessary business work, (swims, prays), showers, dresses. Once Louis wakes up, Armand helps him get up. Gets Louis' clothes, helps him dress, puts on his shoes, (the good nurse who kisses Louis' feet).

Louis has less an orderly routine and more of a depressed routine. Floats through life, eats because he's fed, sits with his feet in the rocks and remembers. His sex drive remains but he's disengaged from it. Only when he and Armand fight does he feel that spark of genuine passion again, and while the sex is always good it's those times when Louis remembers he and Armand are in love.

It's definitely Louis' idea to do the interview. Armand tries to change his mind, over and over again. Reminds him about Paris, about the Children of Darkness, about all of the horrific things vampires to do people who break the great laws (which they have already done, repeatedly). Armand knows that if Louis does this, he's going to die, and Armand is not going to be able to prevent it from happening.

But they're trapped in a stalement, slowly decaying in their endless monotony. Maybe Louis just wants people to know his story. Maybe he misses Claudia, and is dreaming of a second chance. Daniel, the 'symbol of their love', is dying, and maybe Louis wants to keep that symbol alive.

(I'm not actually sure whether Louis was planning to turn Daniel or not. It could go either way. If so, then the interview is a test to ensure they are compatible. If not, then Armand's weighing up if Louis' wrath is more important than his life. Either way, Armand's spending the entire time deciding if he's going to kill Daniel or not).

Eventually, Armand caves, probably in an "are you asking or making me" moment. So for the both of them, the interview is essentually the end of their relationship as they know it. Either Daniel will join them, or Louis will die after the book's publication. And Armand is too preoccupied about those two outcomes to worry about what other relationship destroying secrets could be revealed