#he actually believed armand was the love of his life

[cbrownjc]

Hi! Love all you have to say abt dm & theories for the show. I was wondering, do you think its possible for armand to turn daniel seemingly out of spite, but actually of genuine love? And for that to still be accurate to the heart of their book relationship?

I like the theory of marius being the one who wiped daniel’s memories and therefore being harder to recover than when armand did it. if 2x05 is the reason daniel is doing the interview like rj hinted at, it feels like an introduction of just how much daniel’s own gaps of recollection really plague him. Especially with the end of 2x05, daniel saying he fucked up his daughters and two marriages but kept up his career, he’s realizing the amount his life has been influenced by altered/erased memories.

Daniel’s feelings towards sex & personal relationships are either shallow or regrettable (sex as entirely transactional, stealing playboy magazines to sell, “save it for rent boy”, “my side of the social contract”, “i could be on my knees”, fucking the girl w a bag on her head, alice being pregnant and daniel not gaf, daughters no longer speaking to him etc) After revealing Armand’s true role in the trial, I could see it trigger a spiral in Daniel’s selfhood- maybe not right in that moment but eventually, how much of himself has been manipulated? How much of him has been defined by time he cant recall? He didn’t accept louis’ s1 offer to be turned bc that was before he realized the magnitude of his unknowing, and now he Needs to know. And the more he reflects the more holes he finds.

Armand knows daniel’s Parkinson's is getting worse and is now watching him die tortured by all his own inconsistencies, and in reviewing his life he’s coming face to face with how intimacy was always little more than transaction- his career of interviewing itself being example. He’s watching daniel lose function believing he never had meaningful connection, meaningful sex, and never truly loved or was loved. Because he can’t remember having it with armand.

Quite the opposite of an easeful death. If armand meets with him I’d imagine daniel would be quite angry and aggressive, setting the tone for a layered scene. I dont think show armand could stand letting daniel die suffering emotionally and physically, and daniel isnt going to accept “rest” with the truth of his past unknown. So if armand turns him before daniel has his memories, it could very well be so daniel has the capacity to remember how loved he is. I honestly can’t see how their turning could happen accurate to their show characters without love as the main drive

Thanks for reading :>

Hello,

So first of all, I want to apologize for taking so long to answer this ask. It has basically been almost a year since you sent it, so you might not even care for the answer I have to give at this point. But I always wanted to answer it, but my personal life was just taking up too much time and energy for most of the second half of last year (mostly dealing with a surgery I was having).

And I will say, all the time that has passed before answering this has given me more time to reflect on the answer to the question you asked.

And the answer is that no, it absolutely is possible that the show could have had Armand turn Daniel out of spite. But if the show did really have Armand do so for that reason, then they have not only gutted Devil's Minion, but they would have also seriously gutted Armand's character. And will have gutted it all in a way that there would be absolutely no recovery from. None whatsoever.

However, I don't think the show has actually done that. And that the "spite" thing is a total misdirect. And I don't think my thinking so is just wishful/hopeful/copium thinking.

So first, let's look at the definition of the word "spite":

To deliberately hurt, annoy, or offend (someone).

If Armand really turned Daniel out of spite, then who was he trying to hurt by doing so? (Or annoy, or offend?) The quick, easy answer is, of course, Daniel himself.

And, ignoring what we know from the books, the context for why Armand would want to hurt Daniel is all right there, over the course of Season 1 and 2. We know he never wanted the second interview to happen. We saw what Armand did to Daniel after the first interview back in 1973.

And we saw Daniel destroy the whole house of cards that Armand and Louis' relationship was built on. How did Daniel put it? "77 years based on a seismic lie!"

And then, of course, we know very well that Daniel rejected Louis' offer to become a vampire in the present day, back in Season 1. Something Daniel asked, almost begged for back in 1973, Daniel appears to not want at all in any way anymore.

And, again, ignoring the books for now, Armand is presented as being a big manipulator by the final episode of Season 2. One of the highest order, having orchestrated Claudia's death and (from Daniel's presentation of it) also trying to set up Louis to die with her. And then erasing both Louis and Daniel's memories after the first interview in 1973.

All of these are things that give great context as to why Armand -- as we see him up to the end of Season 2 on the show -- would see turning Daniel as a spiteful thing to do. Why turning Daniel would be a hurtful thing to do to Daniel, and why Armand would have a reason to want to hurt him.

However, this is where knowledge of the books comes into play. Because while Armand did give us a bit of insight into how he feels about turning someone into a vampire on the show -- that it disgusts him, the very idea of it does, and that he's never done it ever before because of that (which all lines up with his character in the book) -- there is even more, specific insight he gives in the books about his thoughts on turning someone into a vampire:

"I would not do that to those whom I find to be despicable, whom I would see burning in hell as a matter of course."

Hating someone, wanting to hurt someone he hates, would never be a reason for Armand to turn them. Not if the show, in any way, plans to stay true to Armand's character.

We must remember that it was Louis who declared that Armand had turned Daniel out of spite. Daniel didn't agree or disagree with that comment from Louis about it, and, of course, we've heard nothing of Armand's POV on the subject.

The passage I screenshot and quoted from above comes from the Devil's Minion chapter, from right after Armand lets Daniel out of the cage he locked him in for 3-4 days, after Daniel came stumbling into Lestat's Garden District house. Right before Armand and Daniel's cat-and-mouse chase is set to begin. Something that we have yet to see on the show, but I feel 99% sure did happen in the past between the two of them, given all the context clues the show has sprinkled through its first two seasons.

Clues that, if you had no idea that The Chase was even a thing (let alone their romance that came from it), you could easily miss.

However, the idea of Armand turning Daniel out of spite works as a very good, very believable misdirect if all you know about Armand's character comes from the TV show.

And yeah, you could have Armand turn Daniel out of spite, and then have them fall in love later. But to do so would be to change Armand's character in a pretty 180-degree way from what he is in the book.

It also changes the whole heart of Armand and Daniel's relationship into something that is the antithesis of what it was. Which was a reverse of the vampire-falls-in-love-with-a-human trope. Yes, the vampire learns more about the human world via the relationship, but in the case of Devil's Minion, the human in question -- Daniel -- lost his humanity over the course of the relationship. Therefore, making either his death or turning, by the end, inevitable.

Armand turning Daniel before any of that happens? Armand turning Daniel out of a desire to hurt him? Armand turning Daniel in order to hurt him, not loving him in any way, but maybe falling in love with him later, afterward? No. That is an entirely different story with two entirely different characters.

I'm actually in a place now, almost a year later, where I'm okay if Daniel doesn't remember a past relationship with Armand at the moment. I'll think it's weird and off-book if Daniel really doesn't remember a past relationship after having been turned, since -- in the books -- Jesse Reeves very much remembered everything her mind had been clouded over with by her Aunt Maharet, wrt vampires after she was turned. And Maharet is not just a Child of the Millennium, but a part of The First Brood, even older than Marius.

So the fact that Marius might be the one who altered Daniel's memories (and yes, I do still think that Marius is the one who did it) really shouldn't have much bearing on whether Daniel remembers anything of a past relationship with Armand after he's turned, going by the books. He should remember it. If he doesn't, then I'll be slightly worried that a past relationship actually didn't happen (which I've already laid out what the problem with that would be) unless Armand himself fully clarifies otherwise later on that yes, one did (and we finally get flashbacks to it).

So, yes, this basically all boils down to whether the show is going to stay true to the heart of the characters, particularly Armand's character, when it comes to the very idea of him turning someone out of "spite."

And, at the moment, I do think they are, and the whole "spite" thing was strictly Louis' -- and Louis' alone -- read on the whole situation, based on very little that I think Louis actually knows about it all. (I don't think Louis knows anything about Armand and Daniel having had a relationship together in the past, nor do I think Daniel was turned in Dubai and then was just left there for Louis to find him after Armand did it.)

And that, most of all, it is all a misdirect being played for the sake of the general audience who only know of Armand what has been shown, framed, and presented on the TV show up to this point.

And by the end of Season 2, with everything that has happened and been revealed up to that point, the show presenting the idea that Armand would do something like that out of spite is not only believable, but possible.

But, in the end, I very much think it will be revealed not to be true at all.

Again, I'm so sorry it took so long for me to answer this. 😊

[louisdulacblog]

𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘪𝘷𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦, 𝘐 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘖𝘧 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘔𝘺 𝘋𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘚𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘈𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘴 | Maggie Smith

Interview with the Vampire AMC

[the-woman-upstairs]

Really beholden to the idea that at least part of why Louis was fascinated with Daniel initially was because of his project of interviewing citizens of San Francisco, documenting their stories and voices, in much the same way Louis was trying to do with his photography in Paris.

[thelioncourts]

+

[yesimwriting]

i NEED to see Louis having the biggest crashout of all crashouts over reader. He don’t play about the people he loves in his life.

Also, Im so curious about how he reacts/talks about her without her being in the room. We know he’s caring and funny to her face, but I want Daniel to notice Louis indeed does have someone close to him in modern age and ask him about her. Will Louis show Daniel her paintings Louis has in his home? (anonymously purchased with the highest offer, just so his bestie racks in some dollars. Bc we all know bestie reader would give him her work for free)

a/n i can't put into words how much i love this. louis is so lighthearted around reader, but he becomes so deeply un-chill the second something reminds him of her mortality.

omg the interview potential is too good 😭. i love that you used the word 'notice' bc i think daniel would pick up on a vibe (similar paintings all over the penthouse, louis periodically looking at his phone and smiling, louis occasionally using phrases that feel gen-z) so when reader actually comes up daniel's like yeah. there it is.

anyways, here's a fic that explores both louis talking about reader and louis crashing out over reader and her mortality :)

----

There's something about the painting serving as the living room's focal point, and the smaller piece in the foyer, and the art work decorating the guest room. Not necessarily a style or a specific theme, but some underlying quality that conveys a sense of unity between them.

"Are you recording yet?" The prompting is small and far from an accusation. Daniel still finds himself shifting slightly, his gaze tearing away from the painting as if he's been caught staring at something not meant for him to notice.

"Uh--yes." It takes him a second longer than it should to meet Louis's stare. "That's an interesting painting."

The corner of Louis's mouth tugs itself upwards at that, not quite a smile but something that feels incredibly warm. He turns his head slightly, looking back at the painting as if to re-experience the details of it. "It's from a dear artist of mine."

Daniel's immediately thrown by the phrasing. His attention shifts away from Louis and onto Armand, whose lips are pressed together but is otherwise giving no indication of how he feels. "...An artist of yours?"

"Don't get him started." Armand's warning feels much too tired to be amused.

Louis halfheartedly glares at his companion before returning his focus to Daniel. "There's an artist, and she's..." Louis trails off, his eyebrows drawing together as he thinks through the best way to make his point.

"His very best friend in the world," Armand finishes for him, the words flat in their blatant sarcasm.

"Stop it," Louis sighs, the defense so halfhearted Daniel has to believe that this is an argument they've had regularly enough. "She is my friend, but it...it sometimes feels so much more important than that."

Okay. So Louis has a friend--an important friend--that Armand doesn't seem to like. It's hard to imagine them embracing other vampires these days, but the thought of a human girl so casually and openly important to Louis and disliked by Armand is even harder for him to grasp.

"Yes, she's like you," Louis offers after a beat, "And it's not like that. She's--like family to me." Daniel's questions are distracting enough to dull the usual annoyance he feels when Louis enters his mind. "And Armand's a lot more accepting of her than he'd ever say."

Armand's gaze flits towards Louis. His lips are still pressed together, but he's not exactly frowning, and there's something behind his eyes that almost feels thoughtful. It's not so much his expression as it is his blankness. It's a neutrality that almost feels methodical. "Clearly."

Daniel reaches for his pen. This 'friendship' seems like the kind of thing that might warrant a few rewrites of the more current chapters. He'll need extensive notes for the sake of continuity.

"So," Daniel starts, "This artist..." Louis provides your name. Daniel writes it down, making a mental note to look you up online before his revisions for the sake of accuracy. "How old is she?"

"Twenty-two." It's not the most surprising thing. They've mentioned other friends and acquaintances in passing, and they're often close to the ages they resemble...but Daniel's never seen evidence of them in their home. And Louis has never spoken so fondly of a human before.

Daniel looks at the painting again. He still hasn't been able to decipher what makes your work feel so cohesive, but he's starting to think it might be feeling. For the briefest moment, it's almost enough to make him wish there was a way to keep someone he doesn't even know away from them.

"I know," Louis says flatly, something behind his eyes briefly hardening. "But we're...careful. I ne--"

"Does she know?"

For whatever reason, the question seems to remind Louis of his fondness for you. "She knows." Daniel resists the urge to sigh. Twenty-two and willingly running around with vampires. He's not exactly in a position to judge, but it's difficult not to.

Louis relaxes slightly, his hand moving to rest against his knee. "She even knows about you."

"Really?"

"Please, they don't go long enough without speaking for her to not know anything." Another passively-aggressive comment from Armand. Still, there's relevance in what he's implying. How close are you and Louis? And why does he choose to spend so much time with you?

Daniel hums once in acknowledgement of Armand's words as he finishes writing down his last thought. "Why?" The question feels like something crafted by a very bad journalist. Daniel tries again, "Why her? What about her made you want to be her friend?"

Louis is quiet for a long moment, and to Daniel's surprise, Armand allows it to pass without any sort of comment. "When I'm around her, I can almost remember what it felt like to have sunlight touch mortal skin."

There's an affection there that's impossible to deny. If Daniel didn't think you needed to be a part of this before...

"She sounds--nice."

Louis eases at Daniel's tentative approval. "She's funny, too." He relaxes, allowing his shoulders to slouch as he leans forward. "And talented--during her gallery debut, an anonymous bidder paid a hundred-thousand dollars over asking price for her first piece." Daniel writes down the detail. "I've got more paintings I can show you later."

Daniel has a feeling this isn't as much of an offer as it is an inevitability. He agrees anyway, "Yeah, later." He turns to a new page in his notebook, writing your name at the top before drawing a bullet point beneath it. He'll need to figure out where you fit within the larger narrative. "So how did you meet her?"

----

Interviewing vampires isn't that different from interviewing humans. Not when you disregard the lack of effort it'd take them to end your life if they dislike your line of questioning and focus on the stiffness that characterizes the beginning of each interview.

When individuals, human or otherwise, are made to dissect their thoughts and memories, they tend to be slow to share until they've answered a few questions and start to feel like they're having a genuine conversation. Daniel's used to the phenomenon, used to the shallowness of the answers provided earlier in the evening. What he isn't used to, however, is Louis's irritation.

"It felt like what you'd assume it'd feel like." The answer is so nondescript, Louis might as well have not said anything at all.

Daniel's instinct is to ask for elaboration, but Louis gives him a look that feels like a warning not to. Daniel glances at his notes, thinking through his latest line of questioning. Is this...a sensitive subject?

"Don't mind Louis." Armand's responds, answering the question that Daniel has yet to ask out loud. "He's beside himself because his darling angel hasn't answered him in almost two days."

Louis turns his head to look at Armand. "I'm not beside myself." The correction is sharp, but Daniel can't help but feel like Armand might have a point. Louis straightens to face Daniel again. "It's not like her. She either answers or tells me she's going to be busy."

It's a concern that's almost unnerving to witness. "...The artist?" Louis dips his chin downwards once in silent confirmation. "She's twenty-two, she probably just forgot--"

"She wouldn't forget me." There's a harshness to the interruption that Daniel sometimes forget Louis is capable of.

"No," the response is more a result of an instinct for self preservation than a genuine attempt at agreeing with him. "I didn't mean it like that." Surprise aside, there's something interesting about Louis's defensiveness. "There are a lot of reasons for someone to not answer their phone."

Louis's quiet for a moment, his expression slowly morphing into something more neutral. He's not exactly easing, but it's a step in the right direction. After another second of silence, Louis parts his lips. Before he can actually speak, he's interrupted by the ringing of a cell phone.

Louis picks up the phone from the couch. He accepts the call so immediately, Daniel already knows who's on the other end. "Give me a minute," Louis mumbles as stands up.

Daniel sighs, leaning forward to pause the audio recording. At least Louis has a reason to come back in a better mood.

----

"No texts, no calls, you turned off your location--"

"I didn't want you to freak out."

The response only amplifies Louis's irritation. You didn't want him to freak out. What do you think he's been doing for the last day and a half? And what could possibly be so bad you needed to cut him out completely to keep it a secret?

Louis resists the urge to scoff. "What happened that was so bad you needed to keep it a secret from me?" The words are sharper than he usually is with you, and his phrasing isn't exactly fair, but he's not feeling very patient right now.

"It's not a secret--I just needed a second to deal with it before telling you." The vagueness only annoys Louis further. "I hurt my wrist." You pause, thinking through your wording, "I was out with a friend, and someone tapped the back of his car and I instinctually put my hand on the dash, and the pressure snapped my wrist."

What. "You were in a car accident?"

"No, it--" You cut yourself off with a partial sigh as you think through how to proceed. "It was a total fender bender. Josh's car isn't even totaled."

That's nowhere near as assuring as you think it is. "Thank God for that. Your arm's broken, but Josh's car is okay."

"My arm is fine." The defense means very little to him. "It's only my wrist." Louis rolls his eyes at the technicality. This is what he gets for leaving you alone. "But it's in a cast now, and in four to six weeks it'll be off."

The thought of you existing in New York by yourself, even more vulnerable than usual leaves a pit in his stomach. "I'm scheduling a flight."

"You don't need to do that." There's nothing surprising about the protest. "It's not a big deal, I've been checked out and the only thing wrong with me is my wrist." When Louis doesn't respond right away, you continue, "A lot of people break things."

Louis has never liked that kind of argument. You're not meant to be lumped into such a general category. "Those people aren't you."

The directness of the comment seems to soften you. There's a moment of hesitation, and then a reluctant sigh. "You're busy, you've got your book thing, and Armand--"

"If he has a problem with it, he can come, too." This should be enough to make the suddenness of their trip seem a lot less dramatic to you. Armand and him visit you semi-regularly, and they are over due for a trip. The thought of Armand being there might even be easing to you.

There's a brief stretch of silence, and then a careful, "You guys don't need to stop everything because I'm accident prone."

It'd be fair to argue that this isn't a result of your clumsiness. You were in someone else's car, and they weren't paying attention to the roads enough to keep you safe. Josh--you've mentioned him a few times in a variety of contexts, and Louis has yet to find a reason to be a fan. But that doesn't matter right now.

You're alone and even though you're not complaining, Louis can't help but imagine the pain you're probably in. You don't need to be lectured, and you don't need to hear anything that might make you worry about Josh. After a moment, he offers you something small, "Not your accident."

He wonders if there's a chance that you're injured in any other way. You said that you only broke your wrist, but that doesn't mean the accident didn't result in any superficial injuries. "Thanks." The word feels small. "I didn't call during a bad time, did I?"

Louis briefly thinks of Daniel and Armand waiting in the living room. "It's never a bad time to hear from you. Even when you're calling to tell me you've been in an accident."

"I considered texting, but I didn't want to give you a heart attack." He can hear the smile in your voice. "I really didn't like not talking to you."

It'd be easy for him to hold onto his worry, onto his anger, but he can't stand the thought of you being physically and emotionally wounded. "I didn't like it either." It didn't take much to hide this from him. There are so many ways in which you could be hurt, in which something could happen to you that he'd have no way of knowing about. "I also don't like the thought of you all alone."

There's the briefest crackle of static and then a soft sigh that feels like a yawn. "You sound like my mom."

"She's not wrong."

You sigh, the sound so familiar in its exasperation Louis is almost comforted by it. "You two have been on each other's side since Christmas."

The memory of meeting your mother when she came to visit you during the holiday season is one he's extremely fond of. It had been a brief shift, a small window into who you were before him, but everything about it had made him feel so normal. "I can't help that she's always right."

The crackly hum of movement briefly returns. Louis can picture you adjusting your hold on your cell phone. The thought is so tangible it only adds to the weight of your absence. "Why don't you come here?"

"Really?" He can hear the excitement bleeding into your voice. You recover quickly, the gentle static of movement briefly taking over the other end of the line. "You--you think that'd be okay? You have that writer over, and you're doing your--"

"Daniel's fine." In all honesty, Louis isn't sure if Daniel will mind another person around, but it doesn't matter. Injured or not, he can't imagine ever telling you to stay away from him. "He may even want to ask you a few things." That's true enough. Daniel was intrigued by the thought of Louis having a mortal friend. You'd be a good way at rounding out the modern era.

You're moving again. It isn't difficult for Louis to imagine you in your bedroom or on your couch, a heavy throw blanket on your lap. "I get to talk about you to a journalist?" The words are much too amused. "I'm going to tell him about the--" You're interrupted by your own laughter. "The club in Milan, with the LSD guy that smelled like--"

"Don't," it's a halfhearted attempt at stopping you, "We said we'd never tell anyone about that."

"I don't know, I think it's a story that deserves to be immortalized."

It's only an expression to you, but the reminder of the concept of permanence tarnishes the little peace the conversation has managed to bring him. Without intervention, you'll eventually vanish and leave him the sole holder of your shared memories. If he's not careful, that day might come sooner than it needs to. However, with intervention...

He pushes against the thought immediately. The prospect of turning you, of separating you from your soul for the sake of keeping you here is one that he only considers when he is at his most selfish.

Besides, he doubts he'd be able to bring himself to turn you himself. Armand is repulsed by the idea of having a fledgling, but there's a chance that he'd come around to the idea if you were the one to ask him. For all of his complaints and your shared bickering, something about the way that Armand never attempts to retaliate against you makes Louis think he might have a greater soft spot for you than he'd ever admit to.

Still, if Louis is allowing himself to imagine a completely self indulgent reality, the thought of Armand turning you doesn't fully fit into his ideal version of your transformation. Not when Armand's blood doesn't flow within his own veins. He banishes this thought more immediately than the last.

"Maybe I could be convinced to let you share that story if you agree to something."

You sigh in a way that's so incredibly telling. "You're not flying to New York to help me fly to Dubai."

Louis's not sure if he's more amused or irritated by your ability to read him. "I don't like the idea of you traveling by yourself, especially with a broken wrist."

He can practically feel you rolling your eyes. "It's this or no trip."

Louis doubts that you're extremely firm in this position, but he's willing to let you have a win. "You wouldn't do that to me."

You yawn, the sound low and tired. "Tough love."

"I'm not keeping you up, am I?" It's not particularly late, but there's a chance your body's exhausted. He'll have to read up on human injury before you get here. "You sound tired."

"The doctor gave me some pain killers for my wrist, and they make me kind of drowsy."

Great--you, all alone in your apartment, with a broken wrist, and painkillers in your system. The sooner Louis can get you here, the better. "You should get some sleep, I'll send you the flight information as soon as I have it."

"Okay." Your lack of questioning reveals more about your drowsiness than your words ever would. "Do you want me to send you my credit card info?"

"I've got it."

You let out a small breath that indicates resistance. "Louis."

There has to be a line somewhere. "It's this or no trip." He means the echoed phrase as much as you meant it, and Louis is convinced that you can that you can tell.

His hollow threat works. After a second, you give in with a small, "Okay." Wow, you must be more tired than you're letting on. "How long should I pack for?"

Louis isn't in the mood to think about your eventual departure. Fortunately, there's one topic that almost always works as a distraction. "Pack light, we'll go shopping when you get here."

"You so get me."

Louis smiles at that. "I know." The silence that follows feels a little less like a choice on your end. "Get some sleep, I'll send you the flight details tonight and I'll call you tomorrow." And then, just because he's not ready to let go of all his worry just yet, he adds, "Please answer."

"I was trying to spare you."

He doesn't doubt that at least some of your motivations were noble, but he also knows you, and he knows how you feel about his general wariness of the world around you. "That was the opposite of sparing me."

"Fine." You let out a breath, and Louis can practically feel you rolling your eyes. "My beloved Louis de Pointe du Lac, I promise to never intentionally ignore your calls again." The sarcasm in your voice isn't enough to taint the sentiment. You really do mean it.

Louis is nearly overwhelmed by his fondness for you. Things will be better, easier when you're here. "That's all I ask." You're quiet in a way that makes it impossible to not feel your drowsiness. "Goodnight, love you."

"Goodnight," you echo, "Love you. Tell Armand I said 'hi'."

"I will," he says, "Now get some sleep."

You mumble a response he can't fully make out before hanging up.

----

It's earlier in the evening than Louis wants it to be.

You're asleep in your own apartment, but it's difficult to not think about things much more gruesome than that. You kept the accident from him so easily, and you're at a greater physical disadvantage than you usually are.

You're also alone, not that you're safer when you're with others. The thought of the boy that allowed the accident to happen only adds to Louis's irritation. Josh. Josh, who crashes vehicles. Josh, who must have done something to make you think the accident was your fault in some way.

Louis pushes against the feelings. Josh, the details of the accident, the state that you're in. There will be time to deal with all of it later. He just needs to get through tonight. You'll be here tomorrow.

"It's still early," Louis's words are sulkier than he wants them to be, "We could go out for a bit."

"If you want to." Armand's response is slow and almost painfully nondescript in a way that suits the way he's been all evening.

Louis lets out a partial scoff. "What is it?" Armand angles his head to the side slightly in a display of synthetic confusion. "You've been passive aggressive all evening. What is it?" Armand doesn't respond. "Was it my worry? The phone call? The fact that I can't leave her alone like that?"

"You shouldn't have left her at all." The response is surprising enough to briefly silence Louis. "I told you it was only a matter of time before something happened to her."

The novelty of Armand almost expressing concern over you fades, leaving an unstable irritation in its wake. What right does Armand have to accuse Louis of abandoning you? Maybe if Armand didn't treat you like a puppy he didn't want, you would have wanted to live near them. "I didn't leave her--she chose not to move."

"You could have tried harder."

Louis blinks, his surprise clouding the potential anger. "Maybe if you didn't threaten her after every comment."

Armand's eyebrows draw together as if the possibility of you not enjoying your halfhearted spats had never occurred to him. "I have never once attempted to hurt her."

The distinction means very little to Louis. It's a statement that doesn't need to be made, because if Louis had sensed so much as an inkling of actual malice towards you on Armand's end, Armand would have never been allowed to be alone with you.

"We're different than her." The words are directed at Armand, but Louis's thoughts still latch onto the ways in which they apply to him as well. "After awhile, it has to be off putting to always be reminded of that."

Armand notes the thinly veiled self hatred immediately. As exhausting as it is to constantly hear about the poor saint cursed to be surrounded by such vile creates, it's even more draining to watch these sentiments impact Louis...and you.

He stands from his spot on the couch slowly, approaching Louis with slow, measured steps. "If you believe she's afraid of either of us, you are severely underestimating her."

Louis eases, the corner of his mouth tugging itself into something that comes close to resembling a smile. "You're not wrong about that." Armand extends an arm, placing a comforting hand on Louis's shoulder. Louis reciprocates the gesture, his hand coming to rest against Armand's forearm. "It's just hard not to worry."

To Armand, the response is a painful understatement. Louis worries about all that could happen in his absence, he worries about all that's wrong about his presence. Things would be so much easier if he'd get over the paranoia of 'ruining' you.

"You wouldn't have to worry so much if she was here more." Armand drags his thumb against Louis's shoulder. "Maybe this visit should be a little longer."

Louis's expression softens at that. "I'll do what I can to keep her here while she has a cast." He's never once asked you to leave, but he's aware of the temporary nature of your visits. You start missing your home and the access to whatever you need to create whatever you want. "But she starts to miss her home, and her studio."

"There's space here," Armand offers carefully, "You could give her a room." Louis's eyebrows pull together at the suggestion. "You're different when she's with you." Armand continues to trace patterns against Louis's shoulder. "And it's important we preserve that."

Louis's eyebrows draw together again, his confusion a little sharper this time. "Preserve it?"

"Human emotions are fleeting. The more time she spends away from you, the more likely she is to find more permanent relationships." Armand doesn't have to meet Louis's gaze to know that the implication has served its purpose. "And if she finds other people, falls in love and gets married, you can't expect things to stay the same between you."

Armand squeezes Louis's shoulder a little more firmly, a gesture meant to convey something comforting. "As your companion, I'm capable of grasping your relationship and even then, sometimes it's difficult to accept. Do you think some human boy would have the same patience? The same understanding?"

Louis frowns. Worrying about losing you to your mortality is a simple thing, but accepting the fact that he could just as easily lose you to change is nowhere near as easy. "I'm--I'm not going to make her do something she doesn't want."

Armand has to work at keeping his expression neutral. Louis's obsession with your free will is often a limiting thing. "Then we'll make sure she wants to."

----

manipulation is a love language, i promise <3

[ghouldump]

✧ iwtv imagines

everything is gn!reader or fem!reader.

poc friendly !!

if requesting, please provide a generic summary, to give me an idea.

please follow for more, your support is appreciated.

002

beautiful deception

moving to paris, the last thing you expected was to come across the ancient vampire.

beautiful deception, untold truth

remembering the truth sometimes hurts, but perhaps love will prevail

bring me back to life

when he discovers something new, rejuvenating him from anything that has happened, and now he has to have her

teacher’s pet

hunting with armand as his new lovely fledgling and companion.

to be loved

idolized and worshipped by your coven members, alive but not living, things quickly change for you when you move to paris, and meet your soulmate.

ride the dragon

during the anticipated interview, daniel didn’t expect louis to have such an alluring companion

001 002 003

anything for you ii

all he wants is for you to be his perfect companion, yet you keep chasing the fleeting things of life.

as you are | bi!reader

cuddling together, the two of you share your experiences with past lovers.

come to me

lestat is willing to do anything to get his companion back, even if it means revealing his identity to the entire world.

diva

lestat is a handful to tour with but he's also incredibly handsome and charismatic.

fallen

princess of demacia, a marine kingdom is temporarily banished. she refuses to conform to the standard, being a heartless killer. wandering the water, she finds herself in new orleans, where she meets a vampire.

fangirl

meeting the vampire rockstar goes surprisingly well.

love me | bi!reader

as your companionship seems to be failing, you retreat, seeking comfort from a woman who looks awfully similar.

masquerade

even with your horrific background, he fell deeply for your heart.

pretty when you cry | bi!reader

when you are hunting, focused on your prey, you don't even realize how beautiful you look to lestat.

spider and the fly

when lestat uses louis as bait to lure and trap his actual prey.

sweet rapture | bi!reader

lestat is a firm believer that as a vampire, your very existence is about pleasure, but for the first time, he meets someone who shares this belief, even beyond his standards.

the miseducation of vampire lestat | series

The story of a forbidden love, when the young upcoming singer gets herself tangled in the dark world of the rockstar, Lestat. He is too captivating to leave, despite everyone’s efforts to keep the relationship from happening. However, the longer you are close to the brat prince, allowing him to consume your thoughts, the more you realize none of them — not a single one of them, actually knew anything genuine about him.

the night is ours

being awakened, naturally you go to your old love, only to find that he is now a rockstar, perhaps now you can have the happily ever after you both once wanted.

thicker than water

you should have known better than to entertain someone who would bring up the idea of leaving your husband and daughter.

trick or treat

sneaking into the supposedly empty townhouse, you are met by a surprise

tu es mon autre

he never thought he would meet someone who brought back such familiar feelings.

your best nightmare

being away from your companion, as both of you take on stardom, can be frustrating, but it is very rewarding to see your maker for the first time in months.

if only for one night

initially finding out about the de pointe du lac’s interest, you wanted to steer clear of him, until you accidentally ran into him and changed your entire perception

all i ask of you | loustat x reader

when lestat takes matters into his own hands, leaving louis to sit in his regret of not complying with your wishes.

back in my arms | loustat x reader

time traveling accidentally and you're able to relive bittersweet memories.

forever young | loustat x reader

you meet someone who reminds you of your maker, and naturally gravitate to them, but your family isn't as welcoming to the idea of the man.

for the love of a daughter | loustat x reader

out of fear, lestat does the unimaginable and has to try his hardest to win his family's trust back, but it may be too late

god complex | loustat x reader

you want out, realizing your little family isn't as perfect as you thought, but they would never let you slip away so easily.

l’amour de ma vie | loustat x reader

while you love your companions, it is no secret that they oftentimes exclude you, and it isn't until you leave that they go into panic mode.

trust | loumand x reader

born for stardom, but destined for chaos, the last thing you ever expected was for two old vampires to become your companions.

[professional-rat-eater]

I do like the concept of Daniel attempting to point out Armand’s extensive trauma from Marius’s treatment because I do think as someone who spent his career cataloging the horrors the world has to offer and has no issue calling things out for exactly what they are, he’d not be able to entertain the bullshit Armand says to justify it. That just feels in character for the man we’ve gotten to know.

However, I do not think it would help. In fact, I think it’s important that it doesn’t.

I think Daniel would learn the hard way, likely through a number of ugly, ugly arguments, that Armand is much too deep in this trauma for merely pointing out the obvious to actually be helpful. It’s cathartic to read fics where Armand gets to heal but often I think it happens far too quickly. He has demonstrated already that he knows what happened to him wasn’t all okay, though to what degree he knows this we haven’t heard in detail as of yet.

What we do know is that it has been sitting in his mind for hundreds of years, undisturbed, blending in with all his other trauma, silently shaping who he is and informing his decisions. That’s perhaps the most difficult part. Most human beings with intense traumas spend their entire lives unpacking it. Imagine if you had centuries between you and what happened to you.

Daniel is the first person Armand has met who both has a modern worldview where abuse is simply labelled abuse and is actually invested in him enough to notice and point it out.

What I do hope and believe could happen, though I doubt we’d see it because these bitches are messy and we’d need fifty more books/seasons to cover it, is that Daniel is able to help Armand, not as someone who is there to save him and ‘fix’ him, but as his companion and someone who loves him as people are supposed to be loved. He can only help him as much as an outside person who was not a witness can, so the majority of the work still lies on Armand and that means Armand has to want to do it. It’s slow, and painful and they fight about it all the time, but they don’t give up.

It’s important that it’s because Daniel loves him, not because it’s his job to change him. When you love someone you don’t want them to suffer, and he spent his mortal life piecing people’s stories together. He helped Louis make sense of his past and demonstrated that it wasn’t out of some ruthless desire to be the one to get the story. He grew to care about Louis. And this is Armand. He’s in love with him, so the investment is even deeper.

When I say it takes a long time, I mean longer than any average human would have, especially since for a very long time, Venice actually was the only bright spot in Armand’s existence. I think I’d look back on it fondly too, and now he has to contend with completely recontextualising it. But look at what the first five hundred years of life turned Armand into. Where could he be in the next five hundred? They have so much time to figure it out.

I don’t even need to see it, it’s just a comforting thought to believe that it could happen.

(And it goes without saying this is a mutual thing. Armand could help Daniel grow in ways we cannot even conceive, but that in itself is an entirely separate post.)

[nightcolorz]

“Armand was lying to Louis about how Marius used to pimp him out to his friends bcus he wanted him to feel bad for him” is perhaps the stupidest and most insane take in the amc iwtv fandom. It’s stupid bcus ik that the ppl saying this r only saying it from a delusional place of “I really don’t want amc iwtv to portray Marius as a bad person so I’m hoping that every instance we have so far of Marius doing bad things isn’t actually canon” and the people who believe this don’t actually think about it in the context of the plot and what a lie like that would mean, bcus if they did they’d realize that it makes no sense and they r delusional.

The craziest part of it is the “Armand is lying about this specifically to try to make Louis feel bad for him” aspect, bcus that implies that armand is 1: willing to vilify Marius (the most important person in his life who he continues to love and admire and hold in deep regard) to gain favor in his relationship with Louis (hot guy he just met) and 2: That Armand somehow needs to make up more bad things that happened to him bcus apparently being enslaved and raped as a child wasn’t enough and he had to throw in a random detail about his makers friends cuz otherwise Louis wouldn’t sympathize with him enough.

Yep that makes sense. Not even to mention how Armand explicitly softens the way he words the fact that Marius pimped him out in a way that makes Marius *look better* bcus he loves him and clearly based on performance context and actual dialogue isn’t looking to make Marius out to be a bad guy when talking about him to Louis. That is definitely the tone in which someone lying about being abused for attention would talk about their abuser! Also, the insinuation that Marius would not do this so it must be a manipulation of the truth is hilarious, bcus Marius sending Armand to have sex with house guests seems to me like a very clear adaption of his actions in the books where he sends Armand to go have sex with ppl at brothels to try to “flesh out his worldly experiences” or whatever. In an adaption where Armand is more explicitly and functionally Marius’s slave (and also a poc with less social privileges) it makes sense that marius making Armand have sex with other people for his warped reasons would translate to house guests instead of prostitutes. Marius does arguably so many more worse things in the books then tell Armand to have sex with his house guests so I don’t see how this is the line that can’t be crossed for some people. I don’t mind if anyone rlly likes Marius or stans him but nothing bothers me more then seeing huge mischaracterizations of my boy Armand so like in conclusion shut up.

[asthedeathoflight]

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

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

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

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

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

[xxgothchatonxx]

I cannot believe just how perfect Assad's performance was in that art gallery scene.

I feel like this was to Armand what the confession scene was to Louis. As a viewer, this was the moment where I thought "this is The Vampire Armand". I mean, I've been loving Assad's performance from the start, but I feel like this was the make-or-break moment for the writing of Armand in this show. Because yes Armand is manipulative, yes he does truly horrific things, but he is also broken. He's been hurt so much in his life but what's both so horrifying yet also heartbreaking is how he views that hurt. His devotion to his maker, even after he did so many horrific things to his "beloved Amadeo" (god I felt my stomach drop when he said that...) is so tragic.

And I think Assad captured that tragic devotion perfectly. Because we as the audience know just how fucked up this story is, and I'm guessing the show-only viewers have now got a very strong impression of just how much of a gross asshole Marius is. But Assad delivered those lines like he's telling a fairytale. It's so eerily peaceful and almost romantic, which creates a vivid contrast against what he's actually saying.

From an adaptation standpoint, I think it was a brilliant choice to place this backstory here. Because it provides a logical reasoning for why Armand is the way he is, and why he acts the way he acts (and will act). How he views love, why he's so obsessed with maintaining tradition and order. And I think it's smart from a show perspective to reveal it here and now rather than wait a few seasons. The horror of Armand is still there, but he isn't Armand without the tragedy.

Assad and the writers absolutely nailed this scene. It's such a crucial part of Armand's character and I thought it was both incredibly disturbing but also tastefully done.

[theauvergne]

the fact that marius finds and grooms armand into the perfect vampire companion for himself as a distraction for bianca and pandora (and literally botticelli himself) is so diabolical. to be fair all the vampires do insane shit and it isn't particularly just for me to criticize marius but. i hate him. and he isn't real. ANYWAY. he takes armand's vulnerability and because he believes he can't turn bianca because she's "good," he twists finding armand into "he's beautiful, and his life is already ruined so i would be doing him a favor. plus, he's the perfect candidate for vampirism because he's vulnerable and therefore pliable" .... HELLO? it's also funny now marius somehow didn't expect to care for armand on the same level as pandora or even bianca and he takes it out on armand (cue the axe scene from TVA where marius whips the shit out of armand and asks him "why do i love you?" - A SCENE MARIUS CONVENIENTLY LEAVES OUT IN BLOOD AND GOLD). like buddy... you did this to yourself. 

marius does everything to himself. he ruined his relationship with pandora because he was intimidated by her intelligence as a woman and would rather her be submissive to him than actually argue with him as an equal even though he doesn't really fully admit that. maybe he enjoyed the push back from her like he did with armand, but every time they reunite and cohabitate it doesn't work out because literally all they do is argue. they obviously love each other but marius romanticizes pandora and pandora's just like "well he's just there i guess" even in her own novel. when he talks about being w bianca in the years after he was attacked by the children of satan he says he loved having her as a companion because they never argued, and the one time they did get into an argument he drops her in the middle of nowhere and threatens never to come back. but then he also tells pandora the minute he finds her that he'll ditch bianca in a heartbeat to be with her. marius when i catch you marius

[heliza24]

Armand and Unbreakable Cycles

So (perhaps unsurprisingly at this point) I have a TON of Armand thoughts after yesterday’s episode. Specifically I want to talk about the function of the 1790s section, and how it perfectly illuminates the cycle of maladaptive behavior that Armand is caught up in and the difference between his stated wants and his actual needs. I think the setup we saw in this episode will also be crucial to understanding how Dubai plays out, so I want to talk about that too.

I know a lot of people love the show and TVC because of Lestat, and there’s some frustration that Lestat was presented in a way that was untrue or filtered. But I really think you have to view this episode as a lens into Armand, which we in turn need in order to understand Louis. Everyone has someone similar to Lestat’s role in Armand’s life; an ex or a situationship or a former friend who takes up so much real estate in your brain because of their outsized impact  on you, who probably never thinks of you in return. We give these people a role in the story we craft of how we became who we are. That narrativizing is kind of the only way to understand yourself and survive (especially if you’re going to live forever). So I don’t doubt that there are things that Armand says that are untrue, or exaggerated, or twisted in his favor. But I do think the important part is the emotional impact his encounter with Lestat had on him, and I do think he’s being honest about those emotions.

(That being said I am of course very excited to see these events play out again in season 3 from Lestat’s POV. Don’t fuck it up AMC!!!)

The main thing that the flashback does is set up the cycle that Armand finds himself in over and over again. He consistently finds himself clinging to control in an institution he is starting to lose faith in, and is then shaken out of his complacency by a new love that seems– falsely– to rescue him.

Depending on how they adapt his very early backstory, I think we can probably assume that this pattern started in childhood for him. Marius rescued him from being forced into sex work, and seemed to offer a much better life. But in reality he was just grooming Armand. (Thanks @toriangeli for correcting a piece of my Marius lore here!)

In Paris he continues maintaining a strictly enforced life of misery for the coven long after he stops believing in it himself, and (by his telling at least) he was grateful to Lestat for having the strength to end it when he could not. It’s so clear why Armand falls for Lestat. Lestat’s refusal to live in shame, his love of the arts, his ability to exist amongst humanity (at least when he is on stage). Lestat is of the world, while Armand and the coven hide from it. 

The reason I think it is so important that we got to see this play out in Paris is the way it illuminates the sometimes tricky relationship between Louis and Armand. Once again, Armand is the head of an institution that operates on strict and oppressive rules. Once again, we can feel Armand’s enthusiasm for this system waning (and see it reflected physically in the lack of ticket sales and general shabbiness of the theatre). And once again, Armand is swept off his feet by this new vampire who refuses to join, who loves humanity, and who has a passion for art. Louis is very much of the world. He refuses to be pinned down into coven life. Armand can’t resist taking what looks like the opportunity for escape in Louis’s love. 

What I think is so fascinating about this cycle is that it allows Armand to remain passive. He never has to be the one to make the hard call to walk away from a kind of life that is no longer serving him. He just has to wait for the next gorgeous man to arrive to deliver him.  As he says to Louis, “those with the most power are often the weakest”. His status and power in the coven prevents him from changing his own life. Or at least that’s what he believes. 

Thinking about this helped me understand the dynamic of what goes down in the sewers, when Armand threatens Louis’s life. Assad says in the behind the scenes clips that Armand goes into that encounter very set on killing Louis, and I believe him.  So I rewatched it a couple of times trying to understand when, and why, Armand changes his mind. The shift occurs when they start talking about Claudia, and Armand says that her mind will break apart soon because she was made too young. Louis says “you don’t know her,” and Armand responds, “I don’t have to. I’ve seen it before. I’ve seen too much.” That admission– I’ve lived through this cycle multiple times before, it is painful, and I don’t want to do it again– is what shifts Armand from being ready to kill Louis to letting him go. 

There is of course an irony here; mentally ill and child vampires do not necessarily need to go mad. Generally they go mad at least partially because of Armand’s actions. And as we’ve already discussed, Armand going to sleep with Louis instead of killing him is really just a repeat of his actions with Lestat. He isn’t really breaking a cycle at all. But I think in that moment he believes that he is. Maybe he even believes that by being with a man who enacted great violence on Lestat, he can drown out the love and anguish he still feels about Lestat. At the very least, Louis has also loved Lestat and can therefore understand Armand’s narration of his own life in a way that not many other people can. 

Ok, so now we are caught up on the past. Let’s talk about Dubai, and how once again Armand is engaged in the exact same cycle of behavior.

The penthouse is Armand’s new coven. He maintains perfect order by controlling the physical environment and shaping Louis’s moods and memories. But just like before, this way of life is no longer serving Armand (or Louis for that matter). You can see that the spark between them has died, only rekindled as a kind of performance when they are in front of Daniel. When Armand is telling Daniel about Lestat destroying the coven, and Daniel accuses Armand of leading Lestat to the coven intentionally… he might as well be talking about himself. Armand has let Daniel into his fortress, and there is at least a part of him that wants whatever destruction Daniel is about to bring into his life.

Daniel fits Armand’s type completely. Daniel is of course more human than Lestat or Louis could ever be. He knows about telenovelas and Bollywood and all other types of art. He’s whipsmart and inquisitive and is not going to let Armand get away with passively maintaining his old order. He’s of the world in a way that Armand finds irresistible. 

I specifically found it interesting how many of the “Great Laws” Armand would be breaking by being with Daniel. Granted, Armand isn’t in the coven anymore when he meets Daniel. But I imagine old habits are hard to break, and being with Daniel would break almost all of them. Daniel is a mortal Armand has revealed his true nature to and allowed to live, Daniel has written about and exposed vampire secrets, and (if we’re looking at book canon) Daniel begs for the dark gift himself, a thing only the maitre is supposed to be able to approve. 

Assuming that a chunk of Devil’s Minion did happen in the 1970s, something interrupted that love affair, before it could settle back down into a new but still oppressive status quo. Something prompted Armand to actively break his pattern of behavior and erase Daniel’s memories. I think it’s impossible not to think about Nicki’s example here, especially after seeing the 1790s flashback. I’m going to assume that 1970s Daniel was struggling with addiction and mental health issues in a way that may have been reminiscent of Nicki. How intentional was Armand in withdrawing because he saw what vampire involvement- his involvement- did to Nicki? How much was his treatment of Daniel a reparation for past mistakes he made?

These last couple of paragraphs are speculation, really, because we won’t know exactly what Armandaniel looked like until Ep 5. But I think it was crucial that we saw this part of Armand’s story before we see San Francisco, because his actions with Daniel will make more sense if we can compare them with the love affairs of Armand’s past.

Regardless, I do think the disparity between what Armand claims to want (maintaining the status quo) vs what he actually wants (to be liberated by a romantic partner) vs what I think he actually needs (to take action himself, instead of waiting for someone to do it for him) is going to play a role in the way Dubai unfolds. I don’t know that Armand will ever get to the point where he’s actively able to break out of the cycle he’s in, because this is Interview with the Vampire, the show of fucked up gothic romances. Vampire life is a series of bad decisions! It’s a weird arrested development you never quite get out of despite living for forever! So it would make total sense if the ending of Dubai mimics the ending of the Children of Satan and the Paris Coven in an unhealthy way. But regardless, it’s gonna be a fun ride, and I can’t wait to see it.

[nalyra-dreaming]

Hi there!

Just saw one of your reblogs for lestats role in the trial and it reminded me of something I was thinking the other day that has actually more to do with louis.

Louis chose to stay with armand, is shown to forgive armand and even present him as his current love of his life despite armand fully knowing about the premeditated public executions of himself and his daughter.

From louis pov armand knew for months, could have prevented it for months and only at the last minute "changed his mind" (we know the reveal showed that was not the case but louis didn't know that). And he STILL chose to stay with him. For all his talk about avenging claudia he let armand go unpunished.

Why? Because he thought armand saved him.

That is shown to be louis' choise way before any mental influence from armand started taking place.

When the reveal about lestat happened the same parameters were shown but reversed to lestat instead of armand.

He is shown to rehearse, know about the trial and choose to save louis in the end. We don't know his actual state during that (and rolin loves to make all lestat injuries imaginary 🫠)

Book readers know what happened and what might get picked up in season 3... but then again they have changed a lot of aspects from the books especially where lestat is concerned. Changing this too would not be a stretch given their choices so far.

Also a lot of show watchers know nothing about the books and if you only watch the show coming to this type of conclusions is understandable imo.

I hope and pray rolin will choose to actually follow the books for this one but I can't know that he will and unless proven otherwise we kinda have to live with these takes for now 😅

Hey nonny,

ermmm.... I - forgive me - but no. We do not have to live with these takes, because actually the show gives us everything we need - you just have to pay attention.

This is what I meant in another post about what I would change on the show with the show being too subtle.

Because you obviously missed a few rather important clues.

Louis didn't choose to stay with Armand.

(Outside the initial spiteful decision, maybe. And even that I doubt, because the tower scene... is damned weird, and I doubt it happened as told.) Armand manipulated, lied, edited Louis' mind, and kept him in a literal golden cage. THIS is Louis' face when Armand chose to reveal himself at the end of 1x07:

That's trepidation.

You might want to read this post, as to "The Graduate", which Rolin Jones named for that scene, it is a direct reference, and has not much to do with why you take it for. Keep in mind that this analysis was written way before s2 though and does not contain its reveals.

In s2 it becomes clear over the episodes that Armand keeps Louis as the proverbial "Stepford Wife" in Dubai - edits his mind when he acts out, edits it when Louis asks questions, the diary request is not followed up on, Louis' mood changes are blatant.

He literally puts words into Louis' mind to say. 2x05. Daniel Hart accentuated it all beautifully with that single note.

Louis does not forgive Armand.

Louis literally does not forgive Armand, because IN THE VERY MOMENT when he gets the truth, in 2x08, he throws Armand into the wall for it and leaves him.

Like, these are Armand's words there, when he runs after Louis:

One night, 70 years ago. You are over this, Louis! The pain of it has left you. Don't let an insignificant detail, delivered from am insignificant mortal... You have forgiven me for what part I played in her death! And time has opened back up to us and we are once again teachers of one another.

And who knows, maybe Armand even believes it. (Though I doubt it because Assad says Armand sees Louis as a vessel for himself.)

But Louis throws Armand into the wall after this, and Jacob said it was to "make him stop lying".

That's not forgiving.

Louis thought Armand had been roped into the trial, had been made to think Armand was only a victim in it, like he was.

But Armand was the director, as is very much evident in the trial script. And when that becomes clear, his rage is quite clear as well. And he goes to Lestat immediately.

____

A lot of show watchers (only) seem to not pick up on a lot of clues, and I don't mean this in any ill will.

But this show needs you to think when you watch it, at least if you want to analyze it. It's okay if you don't - but if you want to understand it, or follow the twists, then you need to pick up the clues.

And pay a LOT of attention to the details.

Because the details are there. Hints to the truth are there.

For example Murder Night - that cannot have happened as shown either. The writers said they would revisit still, and Claudia's little diary with Lestat' blood does not match what Louis told. Or the train scene - neither the time tables nor the cities match, Lestat cannot have brought back Claudia as told. Or the twice given speech on the radio on different evenings that was actually only given once. The wound of Antoinette's taken off finger, which doesn't match. Louis and Claudia being not as afraid of Lestat as they claimed. Lestat's outburst at the chess game being about more than just a temper tantrum.

And so on.

You think these are coincidences?

On this show?

No.

But they are subtle.

Very subtle.

And I have a feeling they are too subtle for some.

Because people are used to be fed a story that they can believe, for a show to have an objective truth.

And that is very much not the case here.

And it doesn’t have anything to do with book reader‘s knowledge and all to do with attention to details. And the willingness to doubt what you’re told.

Because we were fed a tale - not the (whole) truth.

[persepinas]

Lestat allowing Armand to take his glorious moment, to steal away the one truth that would have likely given him Louis back in Paris, to have let Louis go instead of telling him that he saved him, is so devastating yet selfless. Lestat fully knew Armand was taking credit for what he did, but he let it happen. He let Armand win, but it wasn’t an actual win, right? Despite everything and Louis saying what he did in the lair, deep down, Lestat knew that Louis would never love Armand the way he claimed.

And Louis, Louis, Louis, spitefully remaining with Armand for nearly eight decades to hurt Lestat. Jacob has said so as well. It is not only my opinion! But to stay with Armand when you know you will never forgive him for his part in your daughter's death? My god. They, Louis and Lestat, really are petty and in love.

It’s just so surreal to see it play out before us. To see that all Louis really needed was to know it had been Lestat who saved him. That is what he needed to finally leave and go back to him, to see his maker again, his great love, the actual love of his life. That moment between them in the shack while a hurricane battered against its walls was full of a vulnerability I don’t believe the two had shared since their wedding in the church, on the altar, surrounded by fire and blood while Lestat offered Louis the gift he never saw as a gift until then, and there, standing with Lestat in his arms as the roof came crashing down onto them.

They love one another. Even when they part again and again and again, the love remains. It is there, in the blood, never able to be forgotten and forcefully ignored. Not anymore. Not when all their walls have finally come crashing down. Louis doesn’t have to hide what’s there, what’s always been beneath the surface. That’s incredible. That’s moving. That’s love, honest, painful, messy, devoted, I’m never gonna let you go, but you’ve made me so mad I need a moment away. God get back here and kiss me and come home, don’t let me go, but if you piss me off, I will be petty, but damn, no one else is ever going to be you for me, love.

No one’s doing it like loustat.

[professional-rat-eater]

There’s something about the seemingly hopeless complexity of Armand’s trauma and that the concept of having him unpack and process it would be to take apart the only blip of light in the endless shadows of his life and throw reality in his face which would be inarguably cruel, because even though he was heavily abused by Marius, from Armand’s perspective it was the closest to actual happiness he’d ever been.

Yet as someone who deeply loves the darkness of gothic literature but also refuses to believe that a survivor of such severe abuse could ever be a lost cause, I still want to imagine a future where Armand finds actual happiness and then perhaps, only when he has something better to compare it to and sufficient time has passed (more than the show or books allow for), would it be safer for him to begin to unpick the threads of his traumatic mortal life and beginning of his immortal one. I don’t want Armand to be lost. There is better out there and he will live forever so he has the chance to find it. He can be happy. He can experience love that isn’t conditional and predatory. He doesn’t have to settle for lesser abuse. He doesn’t have to fight tooth and nail to preserve the little love he does find, because the love he seeks exists and will be given freely, he just has to wait for it.

And maybe that’s the point. It’s not the only point, but maybe it is one of them. The humanity at the very core of these monsters. Things could get darker for Armand after we as reader and viewers leave him. It could always get worse. But it could also get better. He could heal. That path is an option for him. There are endless possibilities in an immortal life. Our hopes for these characters reflect our hopes for ourselves and I don’t think he has to sit in his trauma and suffer forever. I certainly don’t want him to.

[lizardkingeliot]

The thing is tho... okay.

Here's the thing.

AMC’s Interview with the Vampire has so effectively driven home the point that Lestat loves Louis without condition and will continue loving him to the same degree forever regardless of the passage of time and regardless of what Louis has done that sometimes it's easy to forget that, like... Louis doesn't actually know that. Sometimes I'm really just like what do you MEAN Louis de Pointe du Lac doesn't know he's Lestat de Lioncourt's heartbeat now and forever Louis de Pointe du Lac do you even watch the SHOW.

Anyway. I don't know what I'm trying to say here but I think it's something about the romantic angst of it all. The way Lestat is going to be forced to betray Claudia and Louis in Paris during the trial leaving Louis with the belief that Lestat doesn't want him. He will view this as a rejection and this is the reason why he is going to spend the next 77 years of his life with Armand. This is why he couldn't just reach out to Lestat post-Paris and try to work things out. I’m not saying anything new here, I know. Most of us have worked this out already. It took me a while to get there yesterday when I was digesting the episode because, like I said, Lestat’s love is so obvious it’s easy to forget Louis really doesn’t know. But listen….

Louis is deeply unwell in 1973 San Francisco. When Lestat asks him why he’s ill all I can think right now is… well. Because he doesn’t have you. Even before he walked into the sun he was ill because he doesn’t have you. Ill in New Orleans after the deed was done. Ill in Paris and sustaining himself with memories so vivid it was like Lestat was there in the room. Ill in San Francisco when Armand could have ended it all by relaying Lestat's words to Louis, and didn't. Ill in Dubai searching the well of memory trying to find his way back to something like sanity again...

But listen. Sam Reid said Lestat very much thinks Louis is dead after 1973. This tracks. It fits very neatly with the ~theme. With what this season is trying to do wrt the romantic angst of it all. Maybe Lestat is still locked up in a dungeon or underground somewhere sleeping, maybe he isn't. Maybe he's rotting away in New Orleans, wrecked with grief, thinking about walking out and greeting the sun every morning when it rises and he's reminded Louis is gone. I guess we'll find out soon enough…

But listen. There's not some great conclusion I'm trying to arrive at with this post. I'm just spinning my wheels thinking about how delicious the tropes on this show truly are. To separate a love like that, to have Louis believe Lestat doesn't want him and have Lestat believe that Louis is dead. Well, friends... that sounds like a recipe for a grand reunion to me. And maybe what I'm trying to do with this post is toss another coin in the wishing well of a potential season 3. Because you can't have a love story like this that is destined to end in a reunion only to come back the next season to pretend it doesn't matter. I don't know. Maybe you can. But I really hope they don't. I really hope when they come back together at the end of this nightmare, when Lestat is finally permitted to have a voice of his own, that voice will be echoing through the halls of their home, because he'll be telling his story to Louis.