#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

[adamnablelittledevil]

Trying to talk to somebody about Louis outside of Lestat and making it very clear to the other person and they still keep talking about loustat. And on the very first reply. It wasn't even, like, a while later the conversation accidentally went to loustat. The person didn't even try, really. SMFH.

[faithandfairies]

Positions of Power

So, Interview with the Vampire famously examines the questions

What happens if one decides not to love or choose someone in a position of power who wants to be loved and chosen?

When the person in the position of power can then wield said power to decide the fate of the person that doesn't love or choose them as well as the fate of those that person does love? To hurt, destroy, help or save said person?

And it does this through all of its relationships although it's most obvious through the relationships between Louis and Lestat and Louis and Armand.

And it starts immediately with Louis the pimp. You see, Louis starts out in positions of power in all of his relationships. Or so it seems.

Lestat actually names them all starting with:

1.The stern landlord=the pimp/building and business owner

He is in a position of power as the pimp that governs his girls. We see this starting with ms. Bricktop Williams when she insults the alderman and Louis doesn't actually punish her for it. He also doesn't punish the girl who yells at his brother. He does punish his brother for making him look "weak" on Liberty street, therefore threatening his position of power. One wrong move in how he governs his girls or his brother could lead to him losing this position.

2.The deferential businessman

Louis has made it as a black man. As a successful black businessman he has made himself a place among the white businessmen but his position is precarious. It requires him to defer to them in order to keep that position. And once he stops doing that, once he stops "knowing his place" by having a white same sex life partner in plain view, who is richer than all of the other businessmen combined and then makes power grabs for businesses he shouldn't want ownership of, he eventually loses this precarious position of power he once held.

3. The loyal son

Louis is also in a position of power at home. He's the successful businessman keeping his family's heads above water and bringing them honor by taking care of them as a loyal son should. He controls the money for the family. He takes care of the family financially. He owns their ancestral home because his father left it to him. He even mentions to Daniel I believe that he's not just the eldest son, but the favored son. The caveat to him maintaining this position isn't what his business entails as in having a respectable business, but his loyalty to the family, to his mother. It initially seems like he's allowing for it to look like his mother is in control by having her take credit for financial purchases of his. But later it turns out to be the other way around, his mother was always in control. Because the moment he fails to fulfill his father's dying wish "to properly take care of Paul" and then also follows it up by moving in with Lestat and barely coming home, he loses the position of the loyal son and it is his mother that takes this position from him directly and gives it to Levi. And it no longer matters that the house belongs to him or that he was the one financially providing for his family.

Enter Lestat.

Who is fascinated by this man who has managed to crawl his way up to the top of the food chain in his world in spite of his race and initial financial state making it seemingly impossible.

Lestat is also at the top of the food chain in his world. In his world, he is in THE position of power and there's very little above him. Especially since he's apparently the only vampire in New Orleans at that time.

In relation to Lestat, Louis wields almost no power. Louis' is a black human. And Lestat is a white sadistic, manipulative vampire, a predator, with an endless supply of funds and to Louis largely unknown ancient powers he's been honing for over a century and no qualms about using his toxic traits against Louis. Louis' power lies in the fact that Lestat is in love with him but even that has its limits. The caveat is that Louis has to love him, choose him in turn. And Louis does, initially. When the power imbalance between them isn't known to Louis he chooses Lestat. He loves Lestat. As his friend. As his confidante. As his lover. For a brief moment Louis chooses to live in the fantasy where he and Lestat can choose each other without there being far-reaching repercussions for him within the society he lives in. Where he can be a black, gay human without it having major unwanted consequences for his businesses, his family and his life as a whole. And then he literally wakes up to the realization that he can't go back on that choice. And that he maybe never really had one. Once Lestat lays eyes on him, once Lestat loves him and chooses him it's game over. Lestat's inherently predatory nature means Louis' time is running out because Lestat's self-control is reaching its breaking point. Louis' only choice then becomes whether he wants nine unlimited lives or just one cut very short by Lestat.

When Louis rejects Lestat at his brother's funeral and then condemns him in the church, Lestat shows up believing himself an angered god ready and justified to dole out judgment on humanity. Reacting to Louis' actions by revealing the sinister side to his powers and clearly revealing the power imbalance. He reveals the breadth of his power in all of its terrifying glory and likens it in words to godly power through which fates of life and death can be decided depending on who is deserving of mercy or not. Showing Louis exactly what can become of him and those he loves if he chooses to (further) anger Lestat.

This, the power imbalance, continues on throughout their relationship. Louis' power comes from the fact that Lestat loves him which he uses to manipulate him and get what he wants out of the relationship. Lestat continues to manipulate Louis as well and continues to hold the power imbalance over his head by displaying said power in big and small ways to try to keep Louis in line within the relationship. Early on I think Lestat also realizes he can use sex to manipulate Louis. Offering it to Louis to distract from the power imbalance, presenting himself as more vulnerable to Louis, making him and Lestat closer to equals which is honestly what they both crave but can never truly achieve. Lestat also tries offering sex to others once Louis no longer has the energy and later the willingness to have it with Lestat, hoping to get Louis to bend to his will (and indulge) when it comes to his appetites. Hoping to restore their sex life and intimacy through it. Which is the one manipulation that doesn't really work. Which means eventually their relationship doesn't work since it hinges on them having similar appetites, human, the blood, each other.

In the meantime Louis tries to hold on to his positions of power in the human world even more so since he holds almost no power in his and Lestat's vampire world. Then he loses those positions of power.

Enter Claudia.

An eternal child, initially as innocent as they come, and physically the weakest vampire among the three of them.

And suddenly Louis is no longer the one with the least power in his and Lestat's vampire world. In becoming Claudia's parents, suddenly he and Lestat are equals. But also, as far as race, culture, history and humanity goes, Lestat is outnumbered. Suddenly Louis is in a position of power not only as the parent who has the most knowledge about Claudia's background having been human and a black human from New Orleans at that fairly recently himself, but to Claudia he's also the favored parent. Lestat allows it and everything is right with the world. Except that it's not. And over time that becomes abundantly clear again.

As a parent, Lestat initially softens more but eventually becomes even more the predator. He tries to regain some of the power he's lost by cultivating the vampire, the predator, within Claudia and Claudia is the eager and prodigious student. Except she isn't just a predator or a vampire, she is now a teenager with teenage human tendencies, wants and needs. Except she's not human. Incapable of and eventually not allowed to indulge in those human tendencies for fear of the human world she desperately wants to be a part of discovering and destroying Louis' and Lestat's little vampire world.

This is when Claudia becomes aware of power. That she has it, much more than the average human, but can't control it and as an eternal child realizing that it pales in comparison to that of her fathers and she will never be able to wield it in the same way that they do. The power she possesses is practically useless to her. Where Lestat was able to wield his love and vampiric power to get what he wanted from Louis initially and Louis was able to wield his power of both his own love for Lestat and Lestat's love for him to get what he wanted, she cannot do the same. Her vampire powers continue to fail her, her love for her parents and their love for her isn't enough for them to give her what she wants and needs to feel fulfilled and she has no love of her own and seemingly very likely never will.

She exists to fulfill Lestat's and Louis' wants and needs, as their daughter, to even out the power imbalance between them in order to improve their relationship with each other. She is not allowed to have wants or needs of her own. This is eventually enforced by Lestat any time she chooses to forget it. Although initially when he thinks she's done her part he allows her to leave, until the 7 year drought makes him realize that in order for Louis' and his relationship to somewhat continue to work and Louis to not peace out permanently from vampiric life and life with Lestat Claudia needs to keep inhabiting the role she has been. Also her leaving again and traveling to Europe of all places could also expose them all to Lestat's actual coven leader, Armand. Lestat's power does not extend to Europe and he knows very well what Armand does to those who disobey the great laws. Her chasing after what she wants could mean death for all of them and Lestat knows this.

And for Claudia to get what she wants from life she needs either

a love of her own

a different role that gives her useful power of her own and/or

for one of her parents to love her enough for it to make a difference.

Claudia, ambitious as she is, goes for all of the above.

Commence the power struggle.

Claudia decides that she already has a love of her own in Louis, the parent that even in her 7-year absence, chose the memory of her over a very there and present Lestat. So Claudia returns. Commence the power struggle. It becomes a game to Claudia, one she thinks she's already won even before it starts. She just needs to tweak the companionship a bit. Instead of simply being his daughter, she'll be Louis' Grace, his Lestat. She won't sleep with him of course, but she'll be all that he needs by loving him better than Lestat or Grace ever did, by being more devoted to him than either of them ever were. And luckily for her, with Grace recently out of the picture that position has just opened up. And Claudia is certain of having what Lestat doesn't know he has and certainly hasn't felt he has in a long time. Louis' love. Given that, all Claudia needs to do is convince Louis to leave Lestat.

Only it was never a game. And if it was, Lestat was never just a player, but the gamemaker. Something that Claudia never realized until she did and Louis had forgotten until Lestat made him remember. In doing so though, by exhibiting his power in all its terrifying glory again in order to keep everyone in line he crosses lines he drew up himself in order to keep Louis with him and preserve the authenticity of as well as reduce the power imbalance in the relationship as much as possible.

Lines such as:

No eating black people or if yes, no letting Louis know about this

Physically hurting Louis and his family members is off limits

No limiting Louis in his human hobbies

No forcing Louis to have sex even if sex is desired

Because the one thing Louis can still do is choose to walk away regardless if Lestat then decides to kill him for it. Either way it will mean Louis is lost to him which is the one thing Lestat doesn't want.

Commence the reset.

In Lestat acting out and treating Louis like a rag doll for trying to protect and potentially choose Claudia, the power imbalance between him and Lestat once again becomes glaringly obvious and in such a way that there's no going back to the way things were. There's no sense in pretending. The illusion of Louis having a choice has shattered. The inherent "Choose me and love me or die." that was barely concealed subtext when Louis became a vampire is now undisputed text. And has turned into "Hesitate to choose me and die." seeing as Lestat didn't even wait for Louis to choose this time.

Lestat almost kills Louis and there's really no coming back from it. Lestat then tries to regain the power and Louis initially by trying to create the illusion of completely giving away the power to Louis. But it doesn't work. Acting powerless doesn't actually make him so as evidenced by past events. The only thing that might constitute a reset is Lestat dying at their hands.

For Claudia it's a continuance of her original plan but instead of just leaving Lestat behind she now decides to completely take him off the board.

Once again it's a power struggle. But I think what changes here is that Lestat no longer really wants the power. He makes half-hearted swipes for the power but his heart just isn't in it. He just wants Louis and whatever will make Louis want him again in return. And Lestat's starting to realize all the power in the world is not going to get him Louis back. Technically Louis has all the power but Louis doesn't really want it either. Louis hands the power over to Claudia. And Lestat grudgingly allows it even though it also irritates and low-key terrifies him. He trusts Louis. He does not trust the mini version of his own sadistic self he raised in his image that is Claudia to wield any kind of power over him.

But the one thing he does trust is that he can outsmart Claudia. Until she wins a game. And then Lestat doesn't know what to think. For the first time Claudia holds the power but only because both her parents are allowing it. And not because it has anything to do with her. No. But because they're trying to find their way back to each other and all their power play has done for them so far is destroy them and alienate them from each other.

With the power in Claudia's hands, without their power struggle between them, Louis becomes numb and retreats into himself and Lestat becomes increasingly antsy and paranoid. Claudia realizes that her parents are like a bottle the top is about to pop off and if that happens there will be another power grab from one of her parents, most likely Lestat. So she tells Louis to pretty much go back to the start. To rekindle the love. With Louis' focus on restoring the love he and Lestat initially had between each other at the very beginning and Louis' heart blown open to Lestat and showing and sharing that love in all the ways between them I think for the first time since their initial courtship Louis and Lestat settle into peace.

And Claudia becomes the odd one out. And even with all the power it is at that point in time useless to her. Both her parents are lost to her, too focused on each other, belonging to each other once again, with her once again stuck in the role of the daughter simply bearing witness to their love for each other, with no love or lover of her own. Even though having fulfilled her role in their lives by removing the power play completely between them by advising Louis to simply allow himself to love Lestat without reservations and pushing him to take her advice. And Lestat following Louis' lead. With Lestat having what he actually wants, which is all of Louis, he becomes less of a threat, which is the goal. And with Louis having all of Lestat, Louis I think realizes this is what he always wanted. For Lestat to not be a threat to them sure, but not because he was dead or incapacitated but because he was completely in love with Louis with no room for anything else.

And so when it's time to eliminate the power source, Louis takes back the power from Claudia forcefully and chooses a reset instead. A reboot.

[laniidae-passerine]

I simply do not trust anyone who hates one of the main four vampires. not “I prefer these two over these two” but hitting you with “actually the others secretly hate him and don’t want to make out with him and wish he’d go away” sorry but no. they’re a package deal. “they can’t do polyamory” man they can’t do monogamy! not expecting them to negotiate or have reasonable boundaries but listen they are all drinking each other’s blood. they are all fucking in all possible variations at some point. cherish them all or don’t even bother.

[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

[sheisraging]

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

[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

[hellalugosi]

just kinda thinking...

is the sentimentalist in the room with us right now? ...maybe they are

and the natural world? perhaps we might also say that of a daytime sky

he's suggested something blue and gold in-show as well

now where have I seen that color combination before

oh

blue skies and everything, huh

hm, and what was being discussed elsewhere one minute and thirty seconds before that decor suggestion?

ok

(sources and rambling under the cut)

1. Season 1, Episode 4

2, 4, 8. Season 2, Episode 6

3. Prince Lestat - Anne Rice

5. Peeled Lemon with Slices - David Hockney

6. Golden Age Wallpaper - Ai Weiwei

7. Set photo of Daniel's apartment

So anyway, everyone's probably already seen the Book!Loumand Trinity Gate ceiling (#3 included here) getting connected to Daniel's place but it might be interesting to also round up some data points from within the show itself that may further support "Armand influenced that apartment/that is the former Loumand NYC home/that is perhaps even a former DM NYC home" theories.

It's intriguing that the tapes' delivery is brought up so late in Season 2, perhaps trying refresh this thread in the audience's minds. This isn't the first time the vampires' access to Daniel's life has been questioned and the short timing between the lines in #8 and #4 is striking with #4's potential implications. And if we're really examining these plates of corn, we might also note the wallpaper's design features a theme of surveillance and control, which is certainly a choice for one's living room in general, all the more so with Armand's known behavior, and more than a little interesting in the context of potential decades of stalking.

Is any of this a smoking gun for anything in particular? No! But it sure does seem like something sus is afoot.

And it's interesting for a possible sentimentalist to suggest the colors of a possible past home as the interview neared its end. What might he have hoped to recapture?

[lady-phasma]

I felt compelled to cite my sources for Armand and Lestat being an item off and on over the years. I’ve been in this fandom too long to get involved in ship wars or to really have an OTP for these crazy-ass vampires. I happen to love Armand and Lestat from the books and think that Assad and Sam make it work so well on screen. I hope we get loads more of them for season 3.

Anne wrote all of her characters as deeply flawed, we can all agree on that, but the nearly fanfiction level of “let’s see what happens when two of my most flawed characters get together” writing she did in TVA is brilliant. Book spoilers below.

Here's a link to a post I made about Lestat's perspective of Armand from TVL. (I have included one quote from TVL below because it's too precious to exclude.)

Lestat spends almost a full page describing how he sees Armand at a ball at the Palais Royal:

Yet never had Nicolas, mortal or immortal, been so alluring. Never had Gabrielle held me so in thrall. Dear God, this is love. This is desire. And all my past amours have been but the shadow of this. - The Vampire Lestat, p. 275

They literally feel the same about each other: instant attraction, love, desire, and so on. And it is powerful.

So powerful that hundreds of years later (in one of my favorite passages from any of her books) Armand is the only person allowed to approach an unconscious Lestat. Not only approach him, but allowed to lay down next to him and cuddle, caress, and console Lestat, to cry onto him.

I looked down on Lestat, who was unchanged, his hair fallen as before, a little over his left eye. His right arm was out, and his fingers curling upwards, and there came from him not the slightest movement, not even a breath from his lungs or a sigh from his pores. I knelt down beside him again. I reached out, and without flinching or hesitating, I brushed his hair back from his face. I could feel the shock in the room. I heard the sighs, the gasps from the others. But Lestat himself didn't stir. Slowly, I brushed his hair more tenderly, and I saw to my own mute shock one of my tears fall right onto his face. It was red yet watery and transparent and it appeared to vanish as it moved down the curve of his cheekbone and into the natural hollow below. I slipped down closer, turning on my side, facing him, my hand still on his hair. I stretched my legs out behind me, and alongside of him, and I lay there, letting my face rest right on his outstretched arm. Again there came the shocked gasps and sighs, and I tried to keep my heart absolutely pure of pride and pure of anything but love. It was not differentiated or defined, this love, but only love, the love I could feel perhaps for one I killed or one I succored, or one whom I passed in the street, or for one whom I knew and valued as much as him. - The Vampire Armand, pp. 368-369 (emphasis is mine)

But the contrasting absolute annoyance Armand has for Lestat is hilarious! He loves him but can barely stand him sometimes (that isn't unusual for Lestat's admirers).

Lestat, not a bad friend to have, and one for whom I would lay down my immortal life, one for whose love and companionship I have ofttimes begged, one whom I find maddening and fascinating and intolerably annoying, one without whom I cannot exist. The Vampire Armand, p. 276

But it's the way he describes things that happen to him that maddens me, the way that he connects one incident to another as though all these random and grisly occurrences were in fact links in some significant chain. They are not. They are capers. And he knows it. But he must make a gutter theatrical out of stubbing his toe. The James Bond of the Vampires, the Sam Spade of his own pages. - The Vampire Armand, p. 288 (emphasis mine)

Though Armand's head on Lestat's arm might be the most beautiful image of the two of them from any of the books, this line gives me chills every time:

"Lestat, my Lestat - for he was never theirs, was he? - my Lestat was crazed and railing as the result of his awful saga […]" - The Vampire Armand, p. 320 (emphasis mine)

Yes, your Lestat.

[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*

[hekateinhell]

Welcome, Armand lovers! I’m so excited it's finally time to share my little project with you! 🖤

From November 1 - December 5, I'll be hosting Good to Embrace, Good to Love, a fandom event celebrating Armand's relationships with his four greatest loves—Marius, Lestat, Louis, and Daniel—from the book series The Vampire Chronicles.

Each week will be dedicated to one of these ships, with a bonus week of prompts that can be used for some of the many others Armand has loved in his long immortal life i.e., Bianca, Nicolas, etc.

There will be two prompts per day: a quote from the books that represents an aesthetic of the ship + a word/sentence prompt. Do one, do both, combine them—it doesn't matter as long as you have fun!

AUs and genderswaps are more than welcome!

𝕲𝖚𝖎𝖉𝖊𝖑𝖎𝖓𝖊𝖘

Submissions can include fic, art, meta, headcanons, graphics, playlists, crafts, whatever!

Submissions must focus on a romantic and/or sensual element of the ship. It is ship fest, after all!

Ship combinations (threesomes or more) are also welcome—you decide which week you want to post! For example: an Armand/Lestat/Louis fic can be posted either during Week 2 (Lestat) or Week 3 (Louis).

Bonus week prompts can be used for whatever Armand ship your heart desires! And if you want to use them for Marius, Lestat, Louis, or Daniel, go for it!

Tag your submissions #ArmandShipFest and I’ll do my best to reblog! 🖤

AO3 collection here!

𝕻𝖗𝖔𝖒𝖕𝖙𝖘 𝖇𝖊𝖑𝖔𝖜 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖈𝖚𝖙!

Day 1: “A blending of sadness and simple grace” / Love Affair with Damnation

Day 2: “You took my blood and it made you my slave” / Greedy Creature

Day 3: “I would have given all the world to see him white again, my marble god, my graven Father in our private bed.” / Paternal

Day 4: “My frankly carnal embraces” / Fateful Moment

Day 5: “I want to be a fool for you.” / Bruise

Day 6: “Be my challenger, be my questioner, be my bold and ungrateful pupil.” / Rebirth

Day 7: FREE DAY

Day 1: “Cinderella revealed at the ball” / Succubus

Day 2: “You break my heart, you little fool. You always did.” / Heartbreaker

Day 3: “Stinging insults and worshipful analyses” / Yearning

Day 4: “You look good to me, you damnable little devil” / Fatal Attraction

Day 5: “I wanted to polish him with kisses, clean him up, make him even more radiant than he was.” / Dress Up

Day 6: “I hate you as much as I have ever loved you.” / Enemies to Lovers or Lovers to Enemies

Day 7: FREE DAY

Day 1: “The only promise of good in evil of which I could conceive.” / Enchanted

Day 2: “You would yield to me now” / The Alluring Embodiment of Misery

Day 3: “I want you more than anything in the world.” / Evanescent Flush

Day 4: “A stranger to himself and to me.” / Withering Rose

Day 5: “To seek for grace once more” / Pillars of the Household

Day 6: “Elegant phantoms in our lace and velvet” / Flame

Day 7: FREE DAY

Day 1: “I like kissing. And snuggling with dead things” / Cold To The Touch

Day 2: “Let me be a lover in the Savage Garden with you” / Exquisite Monsters

Day 3: “The freedom, the power, and the luxury” / Million Dollar Man

Day 4: Dark-Eyed Cupid / Erotic Anguish

Day 5: “Say the word my love, I'll do it. We'll be in hell together after all.” / Unholy Consequences

Day 6: “There was never any innocence for us, there was never any springtime.” / Hunting In The Rain

Day 7: FREE DAY

Day 1: “These violent delights have violent ends”* / Cage

Day 2: “You look like an angel and hold forth like a tavern knave” / The Devil's Road

Day 3: “Not made by human hands” / Lotus

Day 4: “Yet he seems the naughty boy who mocks all things” / Careless Words

Day 5: “In the very depths of Hell, do demons not love one another?” / Home

Day 6: “Vile precocious child” / Drunk

Day 7: FREE DAY

*This is the only quote not directly lifted from the books, it’s taken from Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet.

**a huge thank you to the lovely @apoptoses for the graphics, and to the Morzoi Girlies (gn) for assisting me with the prompts and always hyping me up! Love you lots. 🖤

[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.