#he actually believed armand was the love of his life

[hummingbee-o0o]

Thinking about how Armand turning Daniel is so meaningful for them, both as individuals and as a couple.

Because look: Armand will get to process his trauma and break the cycle playing on repeat in his head -- to realise that no, he didn't deserve the shit that was done to him, and that turning is not inherently synonymous with grooming. And he will be chased, will be fought for, probably for the first time in his life, and because his one and only fledgling is Daniel fucking Molloy, you best believe he will be confronted with his actions and made to follow through and assume agency.

And Daniel? Holy shit, have you stopped to think about how Daniel being turned by Armand is probably the first time in his life he was somebody's first choice??? First and only, without competition, no settling, no nothing. He just gets chosen. He's truly special to someone at last. (And don't get me started on how Daniel living a full, human life is something that equips him with the ability to love Armand the way he needs to be loved, and also makes him a person that Armand can love fully and securely, asjhfdgsd)

As to them as a couple: they'll have to communicate, holy crap! They won't be able to rely on peeking in each other's minds, they'll actually have to express what they truly, really mean and want and need, which is a pretty fucking foreign concept to the both of them.

It's just... so completely amazing, you know?

Anyway, I'll get back to writing now.

[louis-disciple]

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.

[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.

[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.

[ghouldump]

✧ iwtv imagines

everything is gn!reader or fem!reader.

poc friendly !!

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

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002 004

beautiful deception

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

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.

coming soon…

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 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.

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.

coming soon…

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.

[thefairylights]

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.

[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.

[dreadfuldevotee]

Finally found someone who understands loumand amongst the loumand never loved eachother discourse, feel like I'm going crazy armand loved him (not defending his actions) and i believe louis loved him too in paris and i wanna say after too even if that love was tainted, or faded by the time they're in dubai that doesn't mean they never loved eachother.

They're beautiful and complex! I can't say I'm surprised they aren't a popular dynamic but the unwillingness to engage with their story is what upsets me the most. If you take away the love they share then absolutely nothing either of them do in those 77 years together never meant anything in the first place.

Honestly, the biggest crime of Anti-Loumand readings is that they are wildly boring. Like okay, Louis has absolutely no agency whatsoever, or he's staying with Armand for Claudia but he can't even do that right because he refuses to stand up for her where it actually matters, but also stays with Armand even when he tells him to get out of Paris to....spite Lestat??? And Armand is just....what? Blanket evil with no real motive but to keep Louis like a pathetic goldfish in an gallon tank. Why would you want that, when the story being written is much more interesting? Louis who is troubled yet still wanting, drawn to Armand and despite his reservations and self-doubt finding himself loving Armand despite it all. In each-other they both see something they want and believe they can obtain it if they can possess the other. Armand is dazzled continuously by Louis zest for life, even if he often times doesn't understand the forms it takes. I adore how they each have these pivotal moments where they are disarmed by the others vulnerability. Armand hearing Louis advocate for Claudia in the sewers and deciding not to kill him. Louis hearing Armand talk about his past and choosing to stay in Paris, despite the imminent dangers.

Like of course, they are far far far from perfect, and by Dubai they are both such shells of the people they actually are. And why I keep hope alive about Trinity Gate or really any loumand reunion. The two of them getting to meet again when they have both rediscovered themselves, and seeing each other in new lights would be everything to me. But yeah, truly nothing could make me hate them. I could sit here and wax poetic about them forever, frankly. And I absolutely will continue to on this blog lmaooo.

[toriangeli]

Before this season, I didn't really want Devil's Minion to have happened in the past, simply because I feel like experiencing so much of Armand's character arc via flashback wasn't going to be very effective. At the same time, I thought, if they can leave Armand opaque enough to us that we're always guessing where his head is and what he's up to, it would work.

And by George, I think they've done it.

Because of a look Armand gives Daniel when he's upended his life.

Louis leaves the table. Armand's gaze follows him, then lands in shock on Daniel. He's still staring at Daniel as his shock turns into terror. He's still looking at Daniel when he calls Louis' name, then runs after him.

And we've already forgotten about the surprise they had for Daniel at dinner.

Later, Louis tells Armand not to touch Daniel or harm him in any way.

Thinking back on it, did we never learn why Armand erased so much of Louis' memory of the events around the original interview? Because where Armand is concerned, that actually resolved well, with Louis recommitting to Armand. Why would Armand return it to the state of endless purgatory it was before? I still don't think Louis asked him to do it.

So I wonder if the plan was to turn Daniel, and Armand's look of terror before going after Louis was him realizing Louis would never agree to do it now. Him wanting Louis to be the one to do it, so that his and Daniel's minds can be open to each other, and Daniel won't inevitably come to hate Armand for his turning. It's too late. Louis won't do it, and he warns Armand not to do it either.

Perhaps, in the past, Louis and Armand did break up for whatever reasons. Armand started stalking Daniel, DM happened to some degree. When it ended, Armand returned to Louis, erasing his memory of what happened after biting Daniel so he could get back together with him. Hearing of Daniel's illness, Armand couldn't bear the thought of Daniel dying, so Louis came up with this plan.

The problems with this: if Louis has agreed to do it, he must know why Armand wants it done. Then why erase the memories of their fight and the suicide attempt? And why would Armand act like he's against the interview? It could be an act, sure, but why? Would Louis refuse to do it if he believed Armand wanted it? WHY?

I don't have answers, just a bunch of pieces. I kind of love it that way, though. Anyone have any ideas?

[isycamor]

i do kind of have mixed feelings about the armand reveal i will not lie. but at the same time, I think we forget that we still do not have all the information (lestat’s pov, and armand’s unfiltered pov of the trial, maybe even sam’s pov loool). also i don’t think this was particularly ooc nor do i think that it flattens armand’s character.

one,i think him doing this is completely in line with what we have seen from his character thus far. at this point (ep4/6 in paris) imo it is clear that he is feeling unloved/rejected on some level by louis [dreamstat haunting their relationship was the proverbial shoe waiting to drop; there was always a lingering feeling of inadequacy armand was feeling in his relationship with louis and considering his history (his trauma) we know how deeply this would affect him]. madeleine semi-confirms that there’s a sort of wall in the vulnerability of the loumand relationship when she asks louis why he doesn’t tell armand he loves him. armand is a character that desperately wants to be wanted, is desperately insecure, and on top of that, like assad said in an interview, very forward thinking. i think he really did not think his relationship with louis would survive — not with the burden of lestat, the burden of claudia/madeleine, and honestly i think it was coupled with a lot of self-hatred. the coven was a far more reliable decision for him. louis, throughout their relationship, was not a very consistent partner if we’re being honest (and i say this as a ldpdl apologist every tongue that rises against louis shall fall unless in defense of claudia). he refused to join the coven, he was constantly haunted by lestat in vital moments of loumand relationship development, he and armand were on verryyy different wavelengths about the labeling of their relationship, madeleine’s turning in itself i think also put a major strain in their relationship, etc. i don’t say this to excuse armand, but to contextualize his feeling of isolation within the relationship.

and thinking about his history, his trauma, i really do think that he would latch onto whatever seems to be the most consistent. he yearns for that commitment, and to feel wanted; and if he was not feeling that with louis, he would make the decision to stay with the coven. years upon years of abuse, and having that abuse be tied with a twisted sense of worship with marius, I believe has stunted armand significantly. armand is cunning, manipulative, whatever, but he really does not like being a leader. he leans into subservient positions constantly, and i think this is a pattern of learned helplessness that would explain why he perhaps may have felt as though he “could not prevent it” wrt the trial. i think him honestly believing he could not prevent it and also directing the whole thing are not really mutually exclusive here.

i don’t think this diminishes his love for louis at all either, he loved louis before during and after the trial, and the trial’s preparation. this was done in response to feeling unloved by him, not in response to not loving him. and i think, at least within the show’s presented narrative thus far, witnessing the actual trial along with lestat’s action versus his own inaction at its conclusion perhaps really put his guilt and regret into perspective which led to him saving louis from the wet room. and after finding a way to be with louis again (claiming to have saved him), and having louis speak to his commitment to him (even if it was done as a way to torture lestat), made armand solely focused on preserving his relationship with louis in any way possible - and unfortunately that meant also preserving this big lie. armand isn’t some supervillain that secretly wants louis dead - he did genuinely spend his life trying to make up for it. he is desperately desperately lonely and he has lived centuries feeling inadequate and unloved. this deep deep insecurity and attachment to preserve feeling loved/wanted drives his actions in paris, in san francisco, and in dubai.

so no! i don’t think it reverses any development of his character at all! honestly, apart from delainey’s claudia, armand was my shining star of season 2. assad played him brilliantly, and i don’t think this finale diminished the complexity assad (and the writers) gave to this character at all.

(i also think having this revealed and what this will do to armand’s psyche (as a character who i think is really really afraid to look inward) is such fun setup for season 3)

[professional-girlkisser]

Loumand + Love

Am I up at 8am thinking about Loumand? Yes, yes I am. Loumand rant incoming in 3...2...1

This scene specifically is stuck in my mind.

Armand looks casually at Louis but Madeleine reads his mind and knows that his immediate question is "Does he love me?" I think this is mainly what Armand was thinking about in the days after Madeleine's turning. (Picture Armand picking off flower petals going He loves me...He loves me not...)

Now, (some) Loustat fans think Madeleine was actually feeling Dreamstat here and not Armand. Their explanation (as far as I can tell) is that Madeleine asks Louis "Why don't you want him to know how much you love him?" And apparently this couldn't apply to Armand bc Louis had already said I love you to him but had never said it to Lestat. Well, Louis here says, "He gets enough affection" so that pretty much establishes he knows they're talking about Armand.

It still doesn't answer the question though. Why doesn't Louis want Armand to know *how much* he loves him? Especially at this point when Armand is so full of doubts? A few scenes before this Armand established a boundary, which Armand rarely does because (my guess) he's terrified that will lead to rejection. When he told Louis he wasn't comfortable turning Madeleine, or watching her get turned, he needed a lot of reassurance in that moment. He needed to know he hadn't just fucked everything up. That Louis still loved him.

But what did Louis do? He dismissed Armand's fears bc he was angry and/ or irritated that Armand wouldn't just do what he asked. So Armand, a known catastrophizer, thought Oh, he doesn't care about my concerns which means he doesn't care about me which means he never loved me. Hence why Armand betrayed Louis right after. Sure Louis said I love you to him but Armand couldn't trust those words bc 1) Dreamstat was there mocking them 2) The last person who said those words used him then dipped (from Armand's pov).

So right until this "last supper", Armand doesn't trust Louis' love. But he finally believes it when it comes from Madeleine bc she has no reason to lie. Madeleine has spent enough time with Armand at this point (remember the conversation they had just the two of them before she was turned) so she knows what his presence feels like. Why would she confuse that with Dreamstat? Also, Dreamstat isn't real!!! He's a phantom embodiment of Louis' doubts which Louis lets go of when he takes control of the relationship. So if Madeleine were to feel Dreamstat here she would be feeling Louis' doubts not Lestat.

Which is why Armand KNOWS Madeleine is telling the truth and he immediately distances himself from the table bc he's thinking Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit. He does love me and I just made the worst mistake of my life. That's what makes this a tragedy! By the time Armand realizes Louis loves him, it's already too late.

Also, I think Armand distanced himself (physically and metaphorically) so Madeleine would stop reading his damn mind. Madeleine was having way too much fun with her new found powers lmaoo.

[nightcolorz]

thoughts on the presence of marius’ painting in dubai in the show? ive been thinking about this since episode 7 aired because louis threw a bowl of blood at a painting in one scene which wasn’t marius’, yet made me think it should have been. but its interesting that its there at all? of course they’re art collectors and dealers in 2022 but god. i feel like the painting might end up being a chekov’s gun. it cant be there for nothing, right?

(also the scene of “rashid” armand in s1 telling daniel about it keeps coming back. how did he FEEL about that especially if daniel is indeed someone he loves and has loved for years)

AHHH OMG!!! LOVE THIS QUESTION!! I’ve been thinking about this constantly since s1, which believe it or not spurned some theories about Armand’s relationship with Louis that ended up being surprisingly accurate 😭. I can’t tell u how many times I rewatched the Rashid-mand tells Daniel about marius’s painting scene before s2 aired (definitely more than any other scene in the first season 💀💀). Ughhh!! omg!! U r so right 😭😭 the painting Louis threw the blood at should have been Marius’s. The thematic implications!!! The impact!! The way Armand would feel!! It’s making me crazy thinking about it

I speculate that Armand is trying to seek out and reclaim as many of Marius’s painting as possible. I imagine that Armand acquired the painting in the dining room by searching intently for any paintings of Marius’s that survived the fire. Part of him likely feels entitled to them. Legally he’s just Marius’s slave, but the way he sees it it’s so much deeper than that. Marius is his father, his husband. He should be given his possessions, his works of art, after he’s died. And I think the fact that Armand, by both historical records, and by anyone he knows, will always be viewed as Marius’s slave, his victim, before he is Marius’s closest loved one, feels disempowering and invalidating. Technically, if they weren’t vampires and legal consideration was given to who Marius’s possessions should be given to after his death, as a slave Armand likely wouldn’t be considered. But, Armand believes that because of the role Marius had in his life, he is rightfully owed that inheritance. And the symbolic value of that fact is important to him.

I think sometimes the show fandom doesn’t realize how attached to Marius Armand actually is 😭. If they’re going by the books, Armand is longing for Marius and for Venice. Marius is the love of his life the same way Lestat is the love of Louis’s life (maybe even more so considering he’s not just his lover but his father 😭 Marius played every major role in Armand’s life, he was his father, his lover, his maker and his god). Armand is stuck on him, he is always longing for him, never able to move on. So I think for Armand owning paintings of Marius’s is partly an assertion and a reclamation of the way he perceives his relationship with him. By owning them and displaying them on his wall, not only is he allowing himself to live with a comforting reminder of Venice (which I’ll get to), but hes also asserting that Marius loved him, and he was important to Marius, and he deserves to and is entitled to owning his paintings after Marius has died because he is the person who these things should go to, he is displaying that he is the most important person to Marius, that he is the person who would be in his will.

on the Venice note, Armand is also indulging in a small little fantasy by putting Marius’s paintings on his wall. He lived with those paintings, his father likely painted them while he was in the room. He saw them in the halls in the palazzo, maybe even in his lavish old dining room. In the books Venice was and continues to be Armand’s perceived “best part of his life”. Venice was his childhood, the only time in his life he remembers being taken care of, well fed, spoiled, loved. And from our perspective it was horrible, he was being sexually abused and beaten regularly, literally pimped out and enslaved. But think about how Armand told his story to Louis, he was smiling wistfully, longing despite it all. And I think even in Dubai Armand misses Venice, feels comforted by the memory of it. So it makes sense that he would hang Marius’s painting on the wall, as a small comfort, so that maybe sometimes he can stare at it and picture he is back there, in his master’s studio, basking in the sunlight, loved.

The scene where Armand as Rashid shows the painting to Daniel is so so loaded. Daniel initiates the conversation, but Armand definitely indulges in it more than he needs to. That scene is the first time we rlly see Armand using his Rashid persona to tap into his past. He says, “I serve a God, it’s my honor to serve” which is fucking weird 😭 and no one but Armand would say that (real rashid wouldn’t💀 he definitely sees the vampires in a way that is more grounded and empathy based then god like). He’s clearly tapping into how he felt as Amadeo, a servant to Marius, rather than playing his part. It seems like Daniels interest in the painting and him talking about + bringing attention to it brought Armand back to that Venice mindset in a way. Even with this, he’s definitely pushing Daniel away, trying to change the topic as quickly as possible while remaining in character. Which makes me think that Armand wasn’t happy at the prospect of being so vulnerable with Daniel so soon. The impression I get (especially from season one) is that despite his past and current love for him, Armand sees a different person in old Daniel, and is very hesitant to open himself up to him. Considering how different (and mean) he is, and how painful and loaded their past was, it’s a very hard thing for Armand to approach, and it doesn’t seem currently on his agenda.

What I rlly am curious about is how Louis feels about Armand keeping Marius’s paintings in their home, displaying them on their wall. I imagine it would be uncomfortable for him, if not upsetting, in a similar way to how Armand feels about the presence of ghost Lestat, if not more complicated with the layer of how extremely abusive Marius was. But how can Louis judge? Who is he to give push back on smth like this when he is still actively hallucinating his dead, abusive ex husband 😭🙏there’s a lot going on there.

I rlly hope this painting thing gets explored in depth bcus omg I can not stop thinking about it either. Thank u SO MUCH for the ask I love this topic so much omg!!! Hope my response scratches the painting itch in ur brain<3

[indelicateink]

just going over some things jacob anderson has hinted at in recent press that make me feral about the pending back half of season 2 lol

Louis, for example, might not be the tragic figure we think he is. Anderson teases that viewers still haven’t seen his character as he truly is. Maybe in Dubai, where he lives with Armand in the present as their kind is quietly setting in motion a worldwide coup of sorts. But even there, he speaks of his past from the perspective of a romanticized victim which he cautions the viewer to question as they empathize with him.

—Salon interview with Jacob Anderson and Sam Reid, 26 May 2024

——

Yeah, he’s in a very different space. The dam breaks in episode seven of Season 1, and there’s a level of pretend that he can’t achieve anymore. He still has an innate attachment to modern-day Louis that’s like an alien quality that comes in and out, but he’s pretty raw at the beginning of the season and only gets rawer. So yeah, he’s in quite a significantly different place with Louis’ journey in Europe, as well as him having to come to terms with what he’s really about. In Season 1, and it was a big thing in the book, it was about moral versus aesthetic. You really see the completion of that idea in Season 2. What is Louis really about? Is he all about morality, or is there quite a significant aesthetic element to that? He’s a complicated one with lots of problems.

—Jacob Anderson, Collider, 3 June 2024

——

“It is a very, very emotional season,” he says, before clarifying that he thinks season 1 was also emotional but season 2 provides a new perspective into his character’s psyche.

“I think that it’s an intellectual current that runs through Louis and the way that Louis speaks. It’s a front in season 1. It’s a front for detachment, and it all kind of breaks down to a raw, like what’s underneath the skin," he adds.

The Game of Thrones alum confesses that fans “are going to scream at the TV” but adds that he believes fans will “feel a huge amount of satisfaction and catharsis and all the emotions.”

“I think when people watch it, there are going to be things that are shocking to hear that come out of that,” he notes.

—People interview with Jacob Anderson and Sam Reid, 10 May 2024

——

Louis’ struggles to connect with the two major loves of his life are a sign of his inner turmoil, says Anderson. “Louis self-sabotages all the time because he’s not comfortable with who he actually is. I think being a vampire is actually what Louis always was supposed to be,” he says. “It feels like there’s a relationship between Louis’ vampiric nature and the way he was before he became a vampire. And that’s something that he finds very difficult to accept.”

“His journey in Season 2 is really reckoning with himself,” he goes on. “Imagine you go on a journey of self-discovery and what you find is that you were the problem. What you discover is that you’re kind of everything that you dislike about other people. I think that’s a very hard thing to find about yourself, and he does.”

—TV Insider interview with Jacob Anderson, 2 June 2024

[gallierhouse]

This sounds insane, but I don’t think it’s unreasonable to get upset when people accuse you of things you did. Sure, Armand did do all those things (the lying, betrayal, the orchestrating of Claudia and Louis’ executions, the brainwashing, the abuse, etc.) but it’s simultaneously hurtful that Louis could even believe he did those things. It’s not really about whether he did it; it’s more about how Louis sees him for the monster he is. I think that’s why he reacts with such palpable hurt as Daniel peels more of the lies back (San Francisco, when Louis recounts what happened at the restaurant with Claudia, when he recounts how Armand didn’t prevent it, didn’t see it coming, didn’t help them). It’s manipulative, it’s strategically deployed vulnerability, but it’s not entirely fake. Louis is supposed to love him. That’s his purpose in Armand’s life. Louis pays for Armand’s devotion in love. He’s supposed to keep up the lie of the happy couple in return for Armand’s devotion, his willingness to accept his punishment, his willingness to submit, his willingness to take care of Louis, his willingness to clean up after Louis. So it is hurtful that Louis is even capable of seeing him as he is. Louis is supposed to love him, or at least he’s supposed to keep up the pretense, and part of that demands that he see Armand in the best possible light, believe in the plausible deniability, believe that he couldn’t prevent it. It’s actually hurtful that Louis isn’t sufficiently dedicated or duped to believe his lies. If Louis loved him enough he’d believe him. How could you not choose me over this boy, forty years apart? How could you see me like this when you’re supposed to love me? How could you betray me by seeing me for what I am?