#including some lestat/armand

[apoptoses]

the mercy in you armand/daniel 3.2k shotgunning/blood sharing/discussion of lowered appetite due to blood sharing

Now on AO3 (thank you to everyone who helped with the ao3 issue, and to @cup-of-lixx for beta-ing this for me!

It was no struggle to look upon his Denis with the cattle farmer’s benevolent detachment, knowing that one day he would die. That Armand himself would give him a good death, and in doing so prevent him from ever suffering the ravages of poverty and plague and the pains of old age.

Denis had been easy. Daniel was a new and delightful challenge every day.

1980

The lights of the fast food sign illuminated Daniel in blue and fluorescent white, carving out the hollows beneath his eyes and the sharpness of his cheekbones in stark relief. He’d always been a slender thing but lately he seemed drawn, worn like a child’s plush toy that had been loved too hard. His hands trembled, crinkling the paper bag as he pulled it open and began to extract the contents, and Armand wondered if he’d been sleeping. He turned the key, cutting the engine but leaving the radio on, and decided once they returned home he’d demand they lie down and watch a film. If he dragged his fingers through his hair the right way surely Daniel would doze off. 

 “You’re gonna give me a heart attack if you keep dragging me through drive thrus left and right,” Daniel muttered as he picked at his fries. “This is the fourth night this week. You speak at the microphone box, food comes out the window, it’s the same thing every time. Even a little kid would find it routine by now.”

 Armand frowned and shifted in his seat, angling to see him better. Even with pale blue grey circles beneath his eyes he was still such a lovely thing, violet eyes still sharp and alert as they flicked back and forth between Armand and the cardboard containers in his lap. 

 “You need to eat, Daniel,” Armand said. “Is there a problem with the taste?”

 Daniel shrugged. “I’m just sick of it. Nothing tastes good when it’s the same thing prepared by different hands everywhere you go,” he muttered. “Not that it really matters. Pretty sure my taste buds curled up and died the week you had me eating nothing but airplane food, even if it was all first class fancy shit.”

 “I don’t understand. How is it that in an age where every type of food imaginable is available at any price you enjoy none of it? In my time-”

 “Yeah, yeah, I know, you had to walk a mile uphill in the snow just for a taste of spice and we’re all so spoiled by having a veritable treasure trove of it in any grocery store. All hail Walmart and the McCormick spice company.” Daniel shook his head. “It just all tastes…synthetic, somehow. Bland. Steak and potatoes is still steak and potatoes whether you get it at a diner or pay out the nose for it, the only difference is whether or not they’ll let you in the door wearing jeans.”

 Ah. That, Armand understood, even though food hadn’t passed his lips in centuries.

 He’d experienced it that first time Marius had given him the blood, when all the world had seemed alight with colors previously undiscovered and mortal needs had ceased to matter. He’d sat with Riccardo at a tavern and marveled at how bread turned to ash in his mouth. 

 He wondered when Daniel would realize it was the blood. Would he care that despite not taking his life in the literal way, Armand was inadvertently taking his mortality from him little by little every time he pressed his wrist to Daniel’s mouth, his mouth to Daniel’s neck? That in meeting Daniel, Armand had begun to learn to be a selfish thing? 

 In all likelihood he would not. It would only be another weapon to add to his argument for giving him immortality. 

 Armand pushed the thought aside and pried into Daniel’s mind. He thought about Thanksgiving dinners, about his mother’s homemade mashed potatoes. All of the butter she mixed in, until they were heart-stopping in their decadence. Such a simple thing to make but so delicious. 

 “You would prefer I cook for you then?” Armand asked. Surely he could do it. Mixing butter and a potato together couldn’t be difficult. Perhaps there was even some machine to do it, something he could order off the television-

 Daniel barked out a laugh.

 “No,” Daniel said. “God no, I’m still recovering from the shit you used to put in the blender and try to get me to taste. You can’t even make a smoothie, you think I’m going to turn you loose with a stove and a sharp knife?”

 “I could learn. We could go to lessons,” Armand said. Daniel shot him a dry look. “Or would you prefer we ask your mother? You have her telephone number in your wallet-“

 An image of how that conversation would go flashed through Daniel’s mind, of him trying to wrestle a phone from Armand’s hands. What a gong show that would be. He grips shit like a vice, there’d be no hope unless I ripped the cord out of the wall. Even then I’d have to call her back and explain to her why my vampire boyfriend is calling at 2am asking how to bake a fucking potato, she’ll think I’m on drugs.

 “Daniel, I would never be so rude as to call so late.”

 Daniel’s cheeks flushed. Great, he heard me thinking of him as my boyfriend, I’ll never get to live that one down. 

 “We’ll go to a class,” he finally said. “Just please don’t call my mom.”

 Armand considered pressing him on what was so shameful about the word boyfriend, but then again Daniel had already derailed the purpose of their evening enough with his arguing. He pushed the still wrapped burger towards Daniel instead. “Eat, beloved. It’s getting cold.”

 Daniel didn’t pick it up. “Jesus, you sure you haven’t called her already? You two are starting to sound alike with the nagging.”

 Armand sighed, soft enough Daniel couldn’t hear. Of course he had to pick the defiant one, the one who required so much care. 

 There was a tin in the glove compartment, meant for mints but Daniel had taken to stashing a joint inside it. Armand took the thing out, placed it between his lips, and without asking rummaged through Daniel’s pocket for his lighter. Daniel jumped but he didn’t protest; he was too used to Armand picking his pockets, and besides he was too curious about what he was about to do. His eyes tracked Armand’s hand as he flicked the switch and brought the flame up, lighting the end of the joint. Armand made a little show of it for him, hollowing out his cheeks as he inhaled, acrid smoking filling his mouth and spilling out into the car when he exhaled it in a steady stream. He couldn’t resist, Daniel was just so easy to impress. 

 His mouth was agape when Armand held out the joint to him. He didn’t take it right away, in his mind he kept replaying the sight of Armand’s lips around it, the way his eyes had closed when he’d inhaled. 

 “You’re staring,” Armand said. 

 Daniel shook his head and finally he reached out. “I just didn’t know you could do it, being dead and all.”

 “I don’t have to breathe but I can. Muscle memory never dies,” Armand said and settled in, back against the car door as he watched Daniel carefully. “And besides, it unnerves people when one doesn’t breathe or blink.”

 Daniel made a quiet sound of acknowledgement as he wrapped his pale lips around it and inhaled. “You do a lot just to keep me comfortable, huh?”

 Armand settled in, back against the car door. Daniel understood so little. 

 It didn’t take long for the thing to do its job and stimulate his appetite. Armand watched him unwrap the hamburger, pull back the bun and take the pickles from it, tossing them into the bag and sucking the condiments from his fingertips. He considered asking him why, if the taste of the pickle doesn’t remain after their removal anyways and if so why hadn’t he told Armand to order it without them, but Daniel was lifting the thing to his mouth to take a bite. He didn’t want to distract him. To distract himself even. It was so easy to get caught up in their conversations and forget Daniel’s needs. 

 He’d never tried to be so careful before. Armand wondered how that had happened. Surely he hadn’t planned for things to go this way. 

 His previous pets had been different. Denis had been an innocent orphan boy he’d pulled from the streets and made into his little ortolan. Kept him in a gilded cage and fattened him on figs and brandy, his entire existence revolving around being fed and then fed upon as Armand handed him life upon a silver plate and then took it right back from his little throat. Armand never had to cajole him to the dinner table and never suffered guilt upon bewitching him into sleep. 

 It was no struggle to look upon him with the cattle farmer’s benevolent detachment, knowing that one day he would die. That Armand himself would give him a good death, and in doing so prevent him from ever suffering the ravages of poverty and plague and the pains of old age. 

 Denis had been easy. Daniel was a new and delightful challenge every day. 

 Perhaps it was because he had never been an innocent, that he’d shown up with the urge to run head on into chaos. That he’d read Faust and the Divine Comedy and the poetry of Keats specifically to debate them with Armand, go toe to toe with him and then dismiss them all with his great modern flippancy. That he’d come to forget that Armand was a powerful, ancient thing and would tell him off as easily as he would any mortal, as if they were truly equals. 

 He’d never treated Armand as a thing, a toy to play with and put down, or as a monster to which he had merely bent and scraped and obeyed, and that was how he’d dragged Armand out of detachment and into the mortifying world of feeling. 

 Perhaps that was how Armand had ended up in a car in some suburban rest stop town worrying about such mortal cares as hunger and nutrition and exhaustion. At the root of it was love after all. 

 Daniel wadded up the empty wrapped and tossed it in the bag, joint dangling from his lips as he hunted for a little packet of salt. Armand watched him, helpless as a butterfly pinned to the board with the realization of just how much he’d learned to care again. 

 “What? Do I have ketchup on my face?” 

 Daniel wiped at his mouth, suddenly self conscious under Armand’s gaze. There was nothing there but Armand rubbed his thumb against the corner of his mouth anyways, just for the way Daniel tilted his face into his touch. He was always so easy for affection, even more when he was intoxicated. 

 His fries still remained but he’d finished his burger. Perhaps he deserved a reward. A pleasant distraction for the both of them. 

 Armand kept his hand on his cheek and took the joint from his lips. It tasted no better the second time around but he let the smoke fill his mouth. In an embarrassingly human gesture he wrinkled his nose at the burn of it as he held in his mouth and leaned in. It took Daniel a second, whether that was from the effects of smoking or because he was busy staring at Armand’s mouth he wasn’t sure. He didn’t bother to rifle through his thoughts to find out, he was too busy sealing his mouth to Daniel’s to care. He was always so deliciously warm. 

 Daniel got the hint, let his lips part so that Armand could exhale the smoke straight into his mouth. He brushed his thumb back and forth on Daniel’s cheek, waiting until he’d breathed in to brush his tongue against his lips. Daniel’s heart was racing again but it was a lovely sound, better still when it mixed with the desperate groan he gave as he clutched at Armand’s shirt and tried to drag him in closer. 

 Armand should have broken the kiss. He should have pulled back and used Daniel’s neediness to convince him to finish his meal. 

 Deep down he’d always been a selfish thing. 

 He stubbed out the joint on the dashboard and hooked his fingers in Daniel’s belt loops. Pulled him across the bench seat and into the narrow space between Armand’s body and the steering wheel, where Daniel settled easily into his lap. Daniel had six inches on him and at least fifty pounds but he made himself small as he hunched to keep kissing him, made himself fit perfectly in Armand’s arms. 

 Daniel’s hands were everywhere on him, tangling in his hair and caressing down his chest, fascinated by the texture of his sweater and the smoothness of his skin. Embarrassing, how weak he was to a pair of broad hands, especially when they touched him like he was such a precious thing. Daniel had only to curl his fingers around the back of Armand’s neck, to squeeze there and groan into his mouth, and already the thirst was building in him. 

 Armand bit down on his lip. It was all he could do to keep from groaning right back, to keep his reactions in check. Not that it really mattered. There was no way Daniel hadn’t begun to realize how he affected him. 

 Daniel shuddered at the pain and pressed harder into it, desperate for Armand to kiss him deeper. He tasted like salt, like sharp and acrid smoke. And then when Armand let his fang nick his tongue came the hot and metallic taste of blood. He sucked at it and reveled in the sound that dragged from Daniel, something close to a whine. 

 Dinner for two, Daniel thought, soft and delirious. Armand pinched his ass for making such a terrible joke and Daniel laughed against his mouth. 

 He’d only meant this to be a little reward. A kiss and a cuddle while Daniel was feeling good. But a kiss turned into Armand’s mouth roaming over Daniel’s throat, sucking marks into his skin like any needy teenager while Daniel clutched at his shoulders. If Armand didn’t have such a tight grip on his waist he probably would have been rutting against his thigh. 

 The feeling of Daniel’s pulse beneath his mouth had him on edge. It would be easy to bite down and drink his fill. Any other night Armand would have, without fear or guilt. But he couldn’t stop thinking about Daniel’s tired eyes, how he’d only just gotten dinner in him and he would drink it right back out and leave him exhausted. Armand rested his forehead against his shoulder and took a deep breath. 

 “Come on,” Daniel murmured against the side of his head, where his face was buried in his hair. His heart was pounding. Armand could barely hear the radio over it. “Do it.”

 Armand caught his earlobe between his teeth and worried at it until Daniel gasped. “Do what?”

 “You know. I know you’re hungry.”

 Daniel rolled his shoulder down, tilted his head. He was practically baring his throat for him and just the sight of his skin bathed in neon light made Armand tighten his grip on him. 

 “You want it that much?”

 “Yeah. It feels good,” Daniel said, unusually honest. Perhaps Armand would have to get him to smoke before dinner more often. 

 It feels like the only way I can truly be close to you. To really be intimate.

 There was no mistaking that Daniel had wanted him to pick up that particular thought. He drew back, craned his neck awkwardly to meet his gaze. 

 The hollows beneath his eyes were deep, smudged dark like he hadn’t had a full night's sleep in weeks, his eyes were bloodshot to match. But his expression had gone soft around the edges. All the self conscious, nervous energy gone and left in its place was something so open and intimate caught Armand off guard.

 “And besides,” Daniel continued, as if he actually had to encourage him. “You’ve had that look on your face all night.” 

 “What look?”

 Daniel shrugged. Caught his lower lip between his teeth and worried at it. “Like you want to devour me.”

 “Oh Daniel.” Armand laughed softly and curled his fingers around the back of his neck to guide him back in. I always want that.

 Daniel worked his hands in between Armand’s shoulders and the seat, was practically hugging him against him when he broke his skin. He tried to be gentle, he didn’t want to jar him out of the hazy trance he was in, but it was difficult when the blood was so hot in his mouth. Armand let out a low, pleased sound at the taste of it, at the way Daniel’s fingers curled against his shoulder blades. Other pets had clung to him as sweetly but with them Armand had never struggled so much to pull away. Daniel’s heartbeat raced to match his. It would be so easy to get lost in it. 

 Sometimes Armand wished he could. But already he knew Daniel’s life was the one he could never bear to take. 

 Armand drank deep, until he felt himself grow warm right down to his fingertips, the drugs in Daniel’s blood transferring to him and leaving him in a pleasant haze. Armand shuddered as he lifted his head, kissing over the wound until it had healed. Daniel was trembling in his arms. He held him there while he caught his breath, absently petting his hair as he listened to the slowing of his heart. 

 Armand glanced over and noticed the fries were spilled across the seat beside him, knocked over when Daniel had climbed into his lap. Right. Dinner. By now they’d gone soggy and cold, and he brushed them off the leather and back into the bag before he helped Daniel off his lap. 

 He didn’t go easily. He was hard beneath his jeans and confused about why Armand was pushing him away. Armand gently pried his fingers from his shirt and guided him to settle back into the seat. He looked so sweet in his disappointment. 

 “Don’t worry, beloved. There’s another restaurant across the street, I’ll get you more,” Armand said, as if he actually thought that was what Daniel was worried about. He turned the key in the ignition and the car hummed to life. “Perhaps if you finish them all I’ll suck you off.”

 He was particularly proud of himself for remembering that modern turn of phrase. Even more so when it got a laugh out of Daniel. He was always so startled and delighted by Armand being crass. 

 “Alright,” he said and scooted into the middle of the seat so that he could rest his head on Armand’s shoulder as he drove. “If I don’t leave any crumbs behind do I get a drink off of you too?”

 “Don’t be-“ Armand paused, trying to think of the word. “What is the modern word for someone who requires a great deal of effort?”

 “High maintenance?” 

 “Yes. Don’t be high maintenance, beloved.”

 Daniel snorted. “Yeah, that’s me alright. I’m the high maintenance one in this relationship.”

 Armand pulled out into the street. It was lined with restaurants up and down each side, and as he waited for the light to change he shifted through Daniel’s memories. He had an array of opinions on the quality of the food at each one, a veritable maze of options to dig through to figure out which one he’d be happiest eating from. 

 He reached up and brushed his fingertips over Daniel’s cheek as the light turned green. Oh Daniel, how naive you are. 

[cloudabserk]

lestat and armand are fucking crazy 😭 you’ve known each other like 3 days

[sheisraging]

forever laughing about armand endlessly begging for lestat's dick while lestat, the official village global bicycle, century after century, is just like:

[llycaons]

can I be honest here it's true there's ppl who insist on watching shows like iwtv then wildly misinterpret everything because it's too complicated for them but there's also ppl who will mock you for only watching shows within your intellectual comfort level/for never trying anything new or challenging and ALSO for trying to understand something and getting it wrong. obviously you gotta hear from multiple perspectives and practice critical thinking as a skill and try to learn from ppl who are speaking with authority on their own experiences but that takes time and not everyone you encounter on the internet is gonna be an expert. and obviously outside of bigoted interpretations maybe it's not the end of the world if some people are wrong about a tv show and this is coming from someone who loves to complain about other ppl being wrong about media I mean you know me

like...there are very good reasons why people are so critical of iwtv fans being so so bad at understanding what's happening or being extremely judgemental of some characters over others (racism) but it is also kind of funny to see condescending posts about how 'ugh, everyone on this site only watches kids shows' one day and 'wow, viewerss are SO stupid for not immediately understanding this intentionally complex and confusing situation' the next like I thought we wanted people to challenge themselves! they're not going to immediately understand it perfectly coming from, idk, the hunger games. and if they're not given any grace it's not easy to branch out! again I'm specifically discussing the misreadings of the interview process, the sequence of events, and the structure of the story, and NOT the misreadings of the characters wrt their race. I'm not saying racist viewers who refuse to educate themselves need their hands held by black viewers I want to be clear

imo the 'discussion questions' post was a genuinely fun and accessible way to direct critical engagement over this last episode I'm dead serious I wish we had more of them. I know how annoying it is to see people misread a story and characters you understand, but it's a complicated show and not everyone is going to get it easily or on their own idk. I'm just glad for my mutuals who knows what's going on bc EYE do not <- knows her intellectual limits

THAT BEING SAID the way some of these people are wrong is so goddamn smug and annoying. no further comment. this is the internet. where better to get worked up over poor media literacy shajshfjsjdj

[familyabolisher]

i think there's a very compelling read of young daniel as, like, gay, and somewhat more comfortable in this fact than old daniel -- cf. the immediate willingness to sleep with louis, the gay voice, the gay mannerisms that old daniel lacks -- against old daniel as a vaguely homophobic terminal closet case -- the slightly derogatory manner with which he calls armand the 'rent boy' or refers to lestat and armand as louis' 'boyfriends,' the making excuses for being in a gay bar ("it was a good place to score, i did what i had to") it's muted but it's there -- and the kind of character work you can eke out of someone who at some point had some willingness to act on his homosexuality & then lost that through a presumed compound of forces that includes in no small amount the encounter with louis that night. he thought that he + louis had sex! however i think it's infinitely funnier to say that armand brainwashed him so hard he forgot he was gay for fifty years

[1shroom1]

Daniel, I need your assistance. As you remember I have been gathering quite the following on that publishing website “archive of our own”- or most commonly known as “Ao3”. Many of my stories including Louis and I in various sexual scenarios have received praise beyond what you could imagine. And though these mortals demand of me some preposterous things- namely requesting stories involving Louis and Lestat together in intimacy- some have actually enlightened me with ideas. Before you is a document detailing a story I have written about you and I. Yes, I know we have never had sex before. It is merely a made up tale if it were to happen. No this is not a fantasy of mine, Daniel. Yes, I am indeed planning on publishing it. No, I do not care what you say. My only question for you is whether or not there are any inaccuracies I should see to changing in the story, being I have yet to experience such intimacy with you. Yes, I said yet. You never know what will take place in the future, beloved.

(Part ??? of my Armand lore- sorry it’s been a while �� This is a continuing story line if you’re interested in my prior posts)

[heliza24]

A few Armand thoughts that currently have me in a chokehold:

1. The building in Dubai only “groans” when Armand is around, and specifically when Armand is mad. Some of my favorite times I’ve noticed it include when Louis tells him to go take care of Daniel’s room in ep 1, after Daniel slaps Louis in episode 5, when Daniel tries to put Dr Fareed “on the record” in episode 6, and when he declares “this session is over” after Daniel starts pressing Louis about the rats in episode 7.

2. This, along with the fact that Armand is literally controlling the windows and balcony doors with his iPad, really adds to the feeling that he’s holding both Louis and Daniel hostage in a trap of his own design. When he mentions the interior designer that pitied Louis and his separation from the natural world and added the tree to compensate? That was definitely Armand’s idea, to make the captivity a little more bearable.

3. I’ve always wondered why I find the Beethoven Sonata 14 to be such effective scoring at the end of episode 7. There are a lot of contributing factors I think— it’s dramatic, it’s recognizable and therefore builds suspense, it’s used in the beginning and end of the episode as bookends. But it feels so *right*— even though I LOVE all of Daniel Hart’s original score. But here’s the thing. Armand controls the diegetic music being played in the penthouse. That’s established in ep 2 when he turns it on before Daniel and Louis have dinner. And when the sonata is first playing at the beginning of episode 7, Daniel and Louis are back in the dining room (being served by Armand/Rashid). So we can assume that the music is diegetic in that scene, and that Armand is controlling it. When it comes back in the moment of conflict and reveal at the end of the episode 7, the music is nondiagetic. It’s not playing literally in the room for the characters, but is part of the score. But we’ve already established that Armand is controlling it. It’s like his control has suddenly spread to the entire narrative that we’re witnessing. He’s in control of the whole show.

4. This is kind of a separate thought and more oriented towards season 2, but Armand is always styled— costume but also especially hair— to match whoever he’s romancing at the time.

I kind of assume the Dubai aesthetic is what he has chosen, and Louis is more matching him (see above points for my reasoning on that I guess).

But when Louis meets him in Paris, he’s perfectly positioned aesthetically to be attractive to Louis (especially coming off his experience with Lestat). He looks mature, capable of leading the coven. He’s suave, with his well fitted suits and slicked back hair.

In the 18th century flashbacks (god I can’t believe we are getting to go back to the 18th century, my favorite of all historical eras) he is matching Lestat like, down to the color palette.

But in San Francisco (and forgive the bad quality screen grab for these, I don’t think we have any high quality stills of this yet) his hair is light and curly, and he looks a fully 5-10 years younger than the Paris or Dubai scenes.

Because he’s matching a 20-something Daniel.

*proceeds to internally combust*

[joseigamer]

Interview with the Vampire Manga Adaptation (Yoake no Vampire) by Udoh Shinohara + DL Link

DL LINK HERE

Happy new episode of IWTV AMC day! Today though, I want to share something I've teased earlier on my blog, which is the Japanese manga adaptation of the Interview with the Vampire gothic horror novel. See under the cut for more details!

It came out in 1994, a bit after the movie, but it only referenced the book itself. It consisted of a single volume made up of three chapters, so events are condensed and abridged, and it skips Part II in Eastern Europe. The first two chapters were scanlated into English by a group named Trine and distributed on the aarinfantasy forums in 2007, but the third chapter was kind of lost to time, especially after all the links to the raw Japanese scans went down years ago. However, I discovered that a now defunct Portuguese scanlation group did the whole thing (individual credits included in the .zip), and I was able to recover chapter three, use heavily cross-checked and edited MTL (PT-ENG), and deliver the final product to you all. See more notes about this process or where to read the PT version in the readme file included in the .zip! It's not 100% perfect and I would not call it true 'scanlation' obviously, so if anyone can do a better job I welcome them to! I hope more visibility on this manga makes the raws become available again so a true JPN-ENG translation can be done on the last chapter!

This manga obviously has major IWTV book spoilers, but it does NOT include anything from later books in the series and is honestly quite faithful overall. It even includes Lestat's father. I might actually call it slightly gayer than the book, since Louis and Armand become more obviously in love. I would recommend it to anyone who's watching the series and hasn't read the book yet, as well as to anyone who enjoys the books alone! The art style is very 90s, but it has some really beautiful visuals sometimes, especially with Claudia. I hope everyone enjoys reading it!

[dykesynthezoid]

I do think we’re getting at least some escalation of devil’s minion in s3 btw. And I don’t think that’s even me being hopeful or optimistic I think it’s literally just logical.

I’ve seen people say oh, but devil’s minion happens in QOTD, and s3 is TVL; and firstly, they’ve definitely made it sound like some elements of queen of the damned are going to be present in s3. Secondly, I suspect season 3 is going to end with the lead up to Lestat’s San Francisco concert. So the whole season will be both Lestat backstory + the set up for the events of QOTD. And devil’s minion happens, guess what, before Lestat’s San Francisco concert. It would almost not make sense to not at least touch on it while the other story beats are culminating up to that moment. Like, Daniel and Armand are already present in the story (where they aren’t in the book in the modern day storyline), why would you not continue their storylines to the next logical step?

Also, I think you have to consider just how many new characters and storylines QOTD introduces and how daunting that can be to absorb if you’re unfamiliar. Waiting to do anything with devil’s minion until season 4 means that’s just one more new storyline to have to inject into a narrative already very crowded with exposition. It just doesn’t make a lot of sense to do that, and I suspect the writers are pretty aware of that.

And frankly like. What other storylines would Daniel and Armand be getting? Like how are either of their stories supposed to move forward without, y’know, each other? Are we supposed to expect all of season 3 just to be one big pause button on both their larger narratives? That seems very silly. Daniel at least has the journey of adjusting to vampirism, but Armand especially is like. His semi-redemption and character evolution comes from devil’s minion. That’s the only real next step for him.

And I mean. Look at Assad and Eric. I don’t think Rolin Jones could convince them to wait a whole other season for something to happen if he tried. I know, I know it’s easy to be like “oh but maybe it’s just actors being silly” but compare how open they’re being about it now and how much more tight lipped they were in between seasons one and two. It’s night and day. It is a very very different vibe. And apparently, Assad has been plenty excited about it this entire time, so he was actually somehow managing to keep his mouth shut before. But now maybe he doesn’t need to, because he knows season 3 will at least offer something in the way of that development.

I think it’s entirely possible we won’t necessarily see the full “culmination” of their relationship until season 4, but I do think season 3 will at least have development and escalating tensions that are undeniable. I think it’ll likely start out slow and ramp up as the season continues. I’m not going to panic if we don’t get much in the first few episodes or if it takes until episode five to see Daniel’s turning. That might be needed, honestly, in terms of giving Lestat his necessary focus. But I think more small pieces will begin to accumulate, will escalate to a place of higher tension by the mid season, and then the finale will include some type of reveal or emotional climax, setting things up going into season 4.

And you know what, it’s worth mentioning: things have happened faster on this show than I expected before! I did not expect Daniel to be turned at the end of season 2. I thought we probably had a whole other season to go before that happened. “Well they were afraid of cancellation” / “well Eric just wanted to be a vampire so badly” and will these things also not apply to season 3/Eric and Assad wanting devil’s minion?? Idk babes. I’m doing the math and it doesn’t seem that crazy to me

[mothmans-side-ho]

Armand called Lestat a clown in the most round about way

s2e3 hot wired the two passions in my brain into this info dump, however seeing as a central theme of this episode (and the season) is power, status, and their subversions, it seems relevant. for context, I have 2 degrees in theatre, specifically theatre history and how trends effect form. (I am in no way an expert though, and this is very simplified). long story short, I'm relishing in being a big ol nerd about this entire season

FINALLY, we got to see Lestat (a version of) strutting his stuff on stage in a scene with peak commedia dell'arte shenanigans. Commedia dell'arte is/was an originally Italian form of theatre which was defined by lazzi (comedic bits), improv, and stock characters. these stock characters have been around from Roman times and are still super familiar to us today - the young lovers, the pervy old rich man, the soldier with bravado, etc. It's been seen as a somewhat formulaic form of theatre which relied on quickly identifiable characters and situations so audiences can sit back and enjoy the butt jokes and servant beatings.

In the book - specifically The Vampire Lestat - our beloved Lestat RELISHES in playing a character called Lelio, one of the young lovers. It is in playing Lelio that he "found a tongue for verses and wit [he]'d never had in life" (TVL pg 31). It is in playing Lelio that Lestat first gets a taste of the person he can become, and it is in Lelio that we see the first glimpses of the Lestat which so fully seduces Louis. In short, Lestat casts himself as the suave and handsome romantic protagonist, here to sweep people off their feet. The young lovers are also notably some of the only roles portrayed without masks, to emphasize their youth and natural beauty.

SO IMAGINE MY SURPRISE WHEN LESTAT SHOWS UP IN S2E3 DRESSED LIKE THIS:

He has a half mask! He's wearing all sorts of colors! He's clearly acting as a go between between two other characters who seem to be of a higher status than him! As I said before, commedia dell'arte can be very formulaic (especially by the late 1700s when it is being codified away from being improv focused to being cemented into scripts). From all of these visual and characterization clues, Lestat is not playing Lelio the young lover, he's playing a Harlequin! And his costume seems to be heavily based off of this Harlequin (Arlecchino, Arlecino, etc.) which is literally the wikipedia image of a Harlequin.

(note, if you give a fuck, this image is depicting an Arlechino from 1671, roughly 125 years before Lestat on stage. in my mind, this accounts for the changes in silhouette, styling, why Lestat doesn't wear the mask for the entirety of the performance, etc. Also, just while we're talking about costuming, I believe the late 18th Century was still a time in which actors would have been expected to provide their own costumes, which would explain why Lestat's version is made with expensive fabrics and includes cunty little details like the bow in his hair. At the very least, I can see him making looking good a priority as the owner of the theater and as...well...Lestat.)

Okay, okay, okay. Why does this matter?

Harlequins are not characters of any social status. They're servants who are quick witted enough to get into antics but stupid enough to be commanded by animalistic instincts (lust, food, you name it). The Harlequin being beaten by their master was ENORMOUSLY funny, and is the origin of the term "slapstick comedy". They a memorable iteration of clown.

In this scene, which I'm willing to bet was inspired by (if not outright) Carlo Goldoni's A Servant of Two Masters, Lestat plays a servant who interacts with two characters. One appears to be a young woman in a breeches part - another common trope of commedia performance. The other appears to be the young male lover! We see Lestat prancing between the two, seemingly facilitating some romance plot, being paid for his compliance, and doing a good ol fashioned butt lazzi. (Could he be presenting his ass for beating? Maybe.)

So why is Lestat not the young valiant lover, but instead A LITERAL CLOWN? Three potential, not conflicting, reasons. By the time Lestat is performing (mid to late 1790s, based off Armand's earlier comment about Robespierre's 1794 execution), the Harlequin characters were the most sought after roles! At this time, we are seeing the emergence of "Celebrity Culture" where audiences sought out actors for their off-stage personalities as much as their on-stage ones. This is an extremely fitting position for Lestat to fall into. Yay a semblance of historical accuracy!

Secondly, Lestat's ENTIRE ROLE in season two is to come between this season's new pair of young(ish) lovers: Louis & Armand. Lestat's function is to repeatedly detract and distract from their relationship through Dreamstat's antics (appearing at the piano calling Louis a whore, having Louis re-kill him, etc.). Additionally, simply put, Lestat (and Sam Reid as Lestat) is a lot of fun to watch. He is absolutely a stand out (if not THE stand out) of the show! His constant ability to serve cunt is often what your eye is drawn to, he pulls focus to himself, and often undercuts the more subdued, philosophical, and morose nature of others. Both on-stage and on-screen, Lestat continuously upstages his screen partners. He does kinda function as a Harlequin. But in the end, the Harlequin's antics are also what ultimately drive the young lovers together. If not for Lestat's actions, Louis and Armand would have never met nor bonded over knowing this fucked up brat prince.

But we also have to remember! This portion of the episode is presented by Armand the mind fuckery master. It is absolutely in his best interests to paint Lestat as some sort of ridiculous, lesser being driven by animalistic nature. Especially if - by extension of the metaphor - this frames he and Louis as the virtuous and optimistic young lovers, striving to cling to each other in a world of chaos. I would be EXTREMELY interested to see if, when recollected by someone else, Lestat appears in a different role or characterized differently.

Again, given the celebrity culture of the time and Lestat being himself, it is entirely believable that he would appear in the Harlequin role (Truffaldino, if this is Goldoni's Servant). However, I think it's extremely telling that in Armand's iteration of the story Lestat is not the dignified, refined, and sympathetic young romantic. He is instead a literal fucking clown.

[danlous]

I'm getting tired of hearing the sentiment that Louis doesn't care about Armand's trauma or have any sympathy for him. In the museum scene his expressions and body language were almost exactly similar to the scenes where Claudia and Lestat talk about their respective assaults. And in all these scenes he's mostly quiet. So does it mean Louis doesn't care about Claudia's or Lestat's traumas either? Of course not. It's just how he outwardly reacts in situations like this. He tends to shut down and doesn't know how to express his empathy and distress. Dreamstat represents Louis' hidden thoughts, but at the museum he's actually next to Louis listening quietly for the most of the scene. It's only at the end when Armand compares Marius, Magnus and Lestat to each other that dreamstat reacts angrily. And it's not mocking what happened to Armand, it's a manifestation of Louis' discomfort, him fearing that he's being manipulated and being uncomfortable that Lestat is brought up and that his relationship with Lestat is compared to Armand and Lestat's disturbing relationships with their own makers.

What Louis says to Armand in San Francisco is incredibly cruel. He's on drugs and extremely upset and intentionally trying come up with the most hurtful words he can think of, they both are. He very obviously deeply regrets it later. When he wakes up after the sun scene and remembers what he did and what kind of things he said before it he's ashamed and distressed. He's crying (though partially because of pain) and immediately tries to apologize to Armand and reach out for him. He's not angry when Armand leaves him in pain, probably thinking that he deserves it. When Armand later says "after what you put me through here i deserve this" Louis agrees. That's not someone who doesn't care or have empathy.

As often with Louis, i think the things he says to Armand are as much about Louis himself as they're about Armand. He sees himself in Daniel, and his entire speech to Claudia in 2.01 is directed also at himself, and he's projecting his own self-hatred and insecurities onto Armand. Louis fears that he is boring and dull. His husband repeatedly cheated on him and laughed in his face when Louis asked isn't he enough. During his depression years Lestat complained about Louis just reading and not leaving the house and how he was drawing Lestat into his gloom. He felt his sister-daughter was more interested in the theater and the coven than spending time with him. The coven mocked him and his passions and didn't find him that interesting after he stopped being a novelty. He was told that he didn't have much artistic talent. In the 70s his life seems to be repetitive and meaningless.

Louis subconsciously detests the qualities he recognizes in Armand that he recognizes and detests in himself - including being a victim. The interview was interrupted when Daniel criticized Louis for going back to Lestat and for his passivity and suicidal ideation. When he's fighting with Armand that all is on his mind. What he says about Armand's "daddy vampire grooming him into a little bitch" actually brings to my mind such scenes as how he derisively said in the second interview that he had become an unhappy housewife living with Lestat, and how dreamstat called him a "little whore". The shame of having experienced abuse and all the feelings of emasculation and degradation that came with it have never left him. Even in the second interview Louis firmly says to Daniel that he doesn't consider himself abused and that he isn't a victim. I don't think Louis consciously thinks that being abused makes someone a bad or weak person, but on some subconsious level he probably feels like that - at least if it's about himself. Again, in this same episode we see Louis acting like he deserves how Armand treats him after their fight and his suicide attempt

[ariaste]

listen i've had a 100 degree fever for four days and i have not been able to string any thoughts together except for gently rotating Devil's Minion in my brain and the bleary conclusion i have come to is this:

we know armand is a control freak

we know armand has spooky psychic powers of imposing his desired reality on top of other people's lived realities

the interview is happening despite armand supposedly claiming that he thinks it's a bad idea

Armand gives in to participating in the interview awfully quick. including a theatrical reveal of his true self at exactly the right moment for maximum Drama.

therefore, stay with me here, I will argue that armand DOES ACTUALLY want the interview to be happening. Who else is going to be pushing for it? Louis??? If Louis pushed for something Armand didn't want, Armand would simply wipe it from Louis' mind and move on with his day. He has that power, and yet he didn't USE IT in this case. So that means that the little tissue paper objections are mostly for show and to camouflage his true intentions (see also, though: the scene in Paris where Louis comes in and is playing maitre and Armand offers just a teeny resistance of "oooh but i'm looking at Sam's new pages", so it's a documented behavior pattern). There is one exception, but we'll come back to that in a sec.

So then the questions are: Why does he want it to be happening now as opposed to any other time? What is his motivation for having it happen again at all? What changed between 1973 and now that caused this?

(the rest under a cut bc this is gonna get long and i don't wanna clutter people's dashes too much)

my wild fever hallucination theory rn is that armand (my canceled wife who i stand with) is manipulative and psychopathic enough that he may have looked at daniel at some point in the 1970s and said to himself "you know what, the one thing that I would change about him is if he was like 40 years older, because i'm kinda into that, and also maybe he hates me a little bit, because i'm kinda into that as well" and then set Daniel on the back burner to basically finish cooking into the Perfect Daddy Boyfriend.

so why is he doing this whole charade again? Because the first time Daniel had the interview, the end result was "omg omg omg make me a vampire PLEAAASE", right? So Armand's insane little brain is like "ok, so we do it again, and replicate the same results :) and this time i will win and get everything i want, just like always :))))"

Going back to the tissue-paper objections i mentioned above, the one exception that strikes true for me is when Armand tells Louis that he's lost control of the interview. What control? What control, babygirl? what are you trying to control about this interview? what is the goal that isn't being achieved rn? Are you worried that Daniel seems Jaded and Cynical and Unimpressed nowadays? Are you worried that Louis does not seem to be selling the Allure Of Being A Vampire as effectively as he did back then and that Daniel is not going to beg for it like he used to? Armand is so used to being around people who NEVER EVER CHANGE in hundreds of years and so maybe he has forgotten that mortals do change actually. Oh no. Science experiment cannot be replicated. Results are going awry. PANIC.

this would also explain why he keeps explaining himself to Daniel, censoring the diaries, and lying about his involvement in things. could it be that he thinks Daniel won't play along with what he's supposed to be doing (ie: being deeply into him) if he knows upfront that Armand is Fucknuts Crazy?

that is where he is wrong tho. Daniel thinks fucknuts crazy is irresistibly hot. Daniel "I want BOTH [to survive AND the book] >:\" Molloy, aka Daniel "YOU BOTH FUCKED LESTAT? :DDD" Molloy aka Daniel "Fascinating Boy" Molloy loves mess. he loves mess. he's an investigative journalist who interviews KGB agents and the most dangerous people in the world because he's an adrenaline junkie who sincerely loves the thrill of hanging out with people who might kill him. He has been chasing that high since 1973 (and I use that phrasing intentionally). Every time Armand tries to control the narrative and woobify himself and act like he's not absolutely insane bc actually he's innocent and blameless, he is shooting himself in the foot re: the pursuit of his endgame goals. And that's extremely funny to me. Bc Daniel's love language is "WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU [enraptured, intrigued, captivated, fascinated]"

and in conclusion, that's why they're the ship of all time, ur honor. defense rests.

(will this make coherent sense once i'm not sick anymore? idk.)

[vintageunknown]

The reason why critical analysis in this fandom is Like That is precisely the problem with most adaptations. An adaptation is an interpretation of the source material, not a 1 to 1 expression. Even the most faithful adaptations still make changes or take liberties but they stand on their own. Film and books are vastly different art forms and require different techniques for coherent storytelling.

Any hint of trying to take the show at what it says is always inhbited by book readers eager to affirm or dismiss everything based on past or present books. It can be quite frustrating extrapolating information based on what is given on the show when people chime in with book spoilers to reach a conclusion the show viewers aren't even allowed to anticipate.

You can't talk about Louis and Armand's developing relationship without someone chiming in about how it doesn't matter because loustat are endgame.

You can't talk about how the Marius in the show is portrayed as an abuser without someone saying he apologizes in Blood and Gold so it's all good.

You can't talk about how Daniel and Armand's relationship so far is strictly adversarial with Armand cleary not happy about Daniel's presence without someone saying they're secretly past lovers based on what is meant to happen in the books.

You can't even talk about Claudia’s many complicated beats without someone saying she called Louis naive or something in book 1,200 so she's an evil manipulator all along. Or that Lestat says something different in TVL so the Louis we see now is a liar.

It's as if no one is simply allowed to like the show without having a PhD in Anne Rice's works first. Very frustrating considering the showrunners have expressed very clearly that for all their adherence to the books, they are taking plenty of liberties. I haven't read the VC apart from some snippets here and there, but plenty of people who did have stated how incoherent the books get later on and how serial retconning ruined them so I'll take their word at face value for now.

Running to the books to invalidate what is on screen ruins the experience for everyone, including book fans. Your books have existed since the 70s and will continue to. Don't you want to open your mind to a different perspective and see something fresh? Obviously not all book fans are like this, but I've seen enough to make this post.

Let the show be what is wants to be please.

[blueiight]

“what can the damned really say to the damned?” is what this episode asks. and well… “nothing.” is what the show answers us with.

we are introduced to louis and claudia as ultimate outcasts to the mortals around them and vampiredom: louis attempts to maintain the illusions of humanity in similar structures once more, casting grace as his lost wife and claudia as his daughter, as claudia seeks to find other vampires. armand, clearly pissed about the interview as is, decides to draw upon 150 years of prior work experience as a playwright toward the end of this episode, which is quite frankly, a bit much considering how daniel’s already scared shitless. and theres a terrible romantic specter in europe following louis thats named lestat. its a lot going on here, and im bound to not cover everything. i do want to cover dreamstat, and me and you(5x) but i will wait for the season to progress to do that^_^

‘He asked me if we could go home. Home? Can there be a more offensive question? Run back to New Orleans. Pry up his bones, why don’t you? Louis de Pointe du Lac, dead weight.’

louis and claudia’s tension in this particular episode revolve around the killing — or the betrayal that prevented the killing — of lestat. et tu, louis? stowaways on ships, trains, and wagons and a totally alien environment where even the blood is hostile to them, is it any wonder louis dreams of lestat? is it any wonder, having access to louis’s mind, in pursuit of some understanding of vampires beyond the facismile of the nuclear structure, that claudia continues to feel betrayed? i always think to myself, if claudia had qualities that made the average fan more sympathetic to her, would they understand how she was betrayed by louis specifically that night? would they be able to sympathize with claudia’s incredible perserverance despite, and because of, everything thats happened to her? and how that betrayal is the underlying tragedy and romance alike of the narrative that made 1940 mardi gras’s aftermath so haunting that louis in dubai did not remember it or was made not to until the other night?

following that in the flashbacks is when dreamstat first appears, clearly an extension of louis’s own mind at this own point, and he asks louis:

Four years of grim wayfaring, and still no sight of the benevolent vampire. So how does denial manifest itself tonight? … Was she worth it?

its so telling that lestat is the image louis calls upon to embody his most bitter feelings toward claudia in this sequence. dreamstat deserves his own breakdown, especially in relation to louis& claudia’s conversation when she first finds the revenant, as well as the wider events in dubai…

speaking of revenants, morgan in the show is a proto-daniel of sorts an abandoned journalist whos interest in photography exposes the illusion of grace the wife and claudia the impossible daughter, and tries to understand louis through the perspective of the mortal hes been given — did he go AWOL, or is he a black bolshevik? louis when questioned absconds, and closes up what little of himself he’s sold to morgan. its a smart way to include him in the narrative, as morgan is witness to emilia’s beheading after she was attacked by said revenant… and louis turns his head, truly embodying the detachment of the vampire in this moment. human affairs, their problem. this is a really good example of whats meant by ‘human affairs’ in the show, by the way. this episode features claudia & louis facing racism from military to children, and thats not framed as a ‘human affair’, but as one of many haunting aspects of their immortal existences.

claudia, in the pursuit for vampires, continues the metaphor of adoption in how she tries to find some sort of companionship and her current understanding of romania as this ancestral home to the vampire. whats also noticeable here is how claudia trying to make sense of centuries of legends is a striking parallel to how louis in the present day attempts to make sense of whats ‘true’ and ‘untrue’ from her diaries. claudia’s private accounts in the present that she never intended to be so deeply analyzed as anything other than her internal narrative in the moments she wrote them has become, to louis, a similar sort of legend thats necessary to decode for his own sense of self.

She writes here, ‘I do not dream.’ I can confirm that. At least, that’s what she said to me once when I was talking about one of my dreams which were erratic and often in those years. Of course, she might’ve just said that to shut me up, but yet… she writes it here so… let’s believe it. She continues. ‘We traveled light in our ancestral home. We slept in the earth, took circuitous routes around the mad army goose-stepping its way toward mother Russia…’

I woke that night to the sound of chaos erupting nearby. Claudia was, uh.. . she was dreaming. Her head twitching like you would. […] No, I can feel her. I can feel her next to me. She’s having a nightmare. What’s worse than a nightmare? If your soul’s projecting out its fears, at least it’s up and running. But the absence of anything? The void, the nothing, pieces… coming back. Hours, nights, objects surfacing in water… It was just something she’d wrote. But it wasn’t true. She could dream.

dubai louis’s recollection of claudia and the existential dread of eternally being damned, the terror of lacking a soul, a rather catholic fear but still having a sequence of memories that cycle back into an immortal brain, replay in this inversed sleep cycle, can be malleable, forgotten, poke a hole in louis’s attempt to utilize claudia’s diaries as but an extension of his own narrative, and offers a glimpse at what is truly at stake in this second interview.

[platoapproved]

Okay so I'm looking back on season 2 and having some Thoughts about Dreamstat.

In 2x01 Louis says "he came by invitation," which is be backed up by how he consciously dismisses Dreamstat in 2x04. But in my opinion, it all gets way messier when - in 2x07, deeply shaken by talking about the trial - Louis hallucinates Lestat in the Dubai penthouse. It's SUCH a jarring moment; Louis' unreliability is at the forefront of the audience's mind since he has just admitted his version of Claudia's turning from 1x04 was inaccurate. Then the audience is shown that Louis is omitting things, particularly continued hallucinations. (We also see him have further non-Lestat hallucinations in 2x08 when he is plotting his revenge).

With all that in mind, I'm inclined to think that he's way less in control of Dreamstat than he insists he is. Louis says otherwise, but this is the Unreliable Narrator Show™.

So. Why I was thinking about this in the first place...

I see lots of people bringing up Dreamstat's reactions to things, mostly in a context of being angry with Louis. And I get it! Dreamstat is mocking and cruel. But I also think it's wrong to blame Louis fully for those things? At least, to blame him in the way people seem to do.

These are not things he is choosing to think, or that he is saying aloud. They exist only within his own head. Dreamstat is all his Louis's worst instinctive reactions and snap judgments, vocalized internally (we just see and hear them as the audience).

His paranoia while being romantically pursued, an understandable response given how things went down with Lestat:

His self-loathing (always comes back to the self-loathing with Louis :c):

His frustration while having an argument with his companion situationship:

These are Louis' thoughts, yes. But they're gut responses, all emotion, without filter or reasoning.

And I just can't wrap my head around thinking less of Louis for having these responses. It's a very honest and unflinching depiction of someone whose response to trauma (both from his relationship with Lestat but also, like, his entire human life) is kneejerk resentment and pettiness that he very VERY rarely vocalizes.

Even as Dreamstat is mocking Armand's romantic overtures, Louis is continuing to have discussions with him, to ask him what he needs to be happier in their relationship. Armand wants him to come around more, he shows up to the disastrous dinner where he fights with Santiago. Armand wants to bring flowers and apologize, Louis hears him out. He is CHOOSING, in spite of the cruel automatic responses of his thoughts, to treat Armand with as much fairness and gentleness as he can.

As a side note, I really read Dreamstat's laugh in the museum scene much differently than others on here. A lot of people seem to see it as Louis mocking Armand's history of sexual abuse. But Dreamstat only scowls through all that (which is, again, not great but it is understandable, given how Lestat deployed his Magnus story to win Louis back after exploding in anger, and the whole setup for Armand talking about his past is him explaining why he is not like Lestat). Dreamstat's only real reaction comes when Armand has moved on from that part of his speech, to discussing the vampiric cycle of violence.

The line he reacts to is Armand saying "Magnus who begat Lestat, Lestat who begat Louis, on and on, and on and on." And Dreamstat... doesn't laugh? I see people describing it as a laugh. He yells 'HAH!' in the angriest, bitterest, disbelieving voice. To me this is not Louis being unimpressed or mocking Armand's trauma, it's him adamantly refusing to be included in the narrative as a part of vampire culture / as a victim. We know Louis does not like people labeling him as a victim or abused. We know he wants to opt out of all Claudia's searching for vampire culture and vampire history. To me this moment is not at all about Armand, it's about Armand implying that Louis is connected with the covens, with a larger narrative of vampirism, including a narrative about makers exploiting and harming their fledglings.

No, Louis isn't perfect, and his handling of Armand is not perfect. But I think people are way too harsh on him for this scene and just in general. He is not his worst thoughts. His actions are much, much, much, much more important. He chooses Armand. I think he chooses to be as careful with Armand as he knows how to be, given the tools at his disposal. Yes, there's a horrible gremlin (ha, see what I did there?) in the bottom of his brain that tosses up vile mean judgy nonsense, but Louis then elects to ignore all that and be as kind as possible.

[eclecticelectriceccentric]

IWTV vampires rated by Frenchness:

Lestat de Lioncourt. He is aggressively French, even when not in France. Speaks French to his lover constantly

Madeleine Éparvier. French, lives and dies in France. Loses to Lestat because she's just like, incidentally French.

Louis de Pointe du Lac. From NOLA, speaks some French, views Paris as the Mother of NOLA. Continues to have an attachment to NOLA.

Armand. Lives in Paris for 200 years, speaks French, but loses to Louis because he isn't like, especially attached to France or Frenchness, just the Coven, which happens to be French.

Claudia. From NOLA, lives in Paris, but the locations are very much incidental.

Daniel Molloy. Not at all French, hates Paris.

Didn't include any other vampires because I don't know enough about their Frenchness to judge.