#iwtv crack theory

[bandedbulbussnarfblat]

ok, so my latest crack theory that will definitely not be true is that in iwtv jesse reeves is one of daniel's daughters.

ok, so here according the the wiki "Jesse was born to Miriam Reeves, a seventeen-year-old girl who was raped by an older unidentified male. Miriam, seven months pregnant with Jesse, was driving a car when she got into an accident. Miriam was killed in the crash, but Jesse miraculously was aborted from her mother's womb and survived unharmed."

we're going to ignore the underage rape part, because anne rice loved sprinkling rape into her books, and honestly we don't need more of that.

Now, in the books Jesse was born in 1955 and turned in 1985. However, they do say that she's 35 in the book, so she was probably born closer to 1950. But this is information we get from the books.

considering how they've changed around the timelines already, I think we're going to get our qotd as like, a sort of ending. they'll have akasha set up as the big bad, and probably include so stuff with amel and the sacred core and whatever. so i think those events haven't transpired in this universe yet.

i saw a theory floating around that alice died, and daniel blames himself for her death. (as for the name bit, Alice could be one of those people that go by their middle name or something. or they just straight up change her name.)

ok so what if Alice is out driving, 7 months pregnant. (maybe Daniel was supposed to drive her wherever, and he flakes, so she has to drive herself. and there's that blaming himself bit) anyway she crashes her car. she dies in the crash, but jesse is able to be saved.

in the books, maharet (a super old vampire who also conceived a child via rape while she was a human witch, expect the guy didn't really have a choice since Akasha ordered him to do and she was the fucking queen of Egypt. but enough about that. i'm just saying anne rice overused the rape thing) takes jesse and gives her to this rich new york couple maria and matthew godwin, bc jesse is a descendant of her, through the baby she had before being a vampire.

maybe here she sees jesse has a father and decides to let him keep her. (but they would still communicate in secret). So Daniel would probably be a mess, and a single father. he'd probably get remarried as quickly as possible, just to have someone help raise his kids. which would of course probably factor into that later divorce.

and after his book comes out, maybe it makes her question things so she goes and sees him. and she gets really into the idea of vampires and starts researching, and eventually joins the talamasca somehow

is this going to ever be a canon thing? no. (though i can possibly see jesse being the researcher he mentions in episode one)

[squirrellypoo]

The stones Louis is buried under in the vaults of the TdV are the same as in the reading room in Dubai. So either he or Armand deliberately chose them as a reminder of Paris, along with the Magnolia tree.

So here’s my crack theory- the stones in Dubai are also burying someone under there! Not just a dirt nap but a stone nap for Lestat, he’s been there the whole time and listening! That’s why Louis is calmed by putting his feet in the stones, it’s cos he’s closer to Lestat. 😌

[crobones]

eh ehm [taps microphone] Daniel said he liked Claudia, despite her being a killing machine. Even back in the '73, he said Louis should have listened to her and gotten off that bench and left the toxic relationship he was in with Lestat. Daniel then offered to be Louis' Claudia. Even now, Daniel is worried about Louis' self-destructive choices. [mic cuts out] [now yelling] Next episode, it's expected that Daniel is going to leave Dubai. Louis has been fighting with Armand, and in the preview, Louis has scratches and looks a mess. [crawling across the table and knocking over the glasses and candles] It's possible the fighting between Louis and Armand escalates. Daniel may suggest Louis leave with him. Louis may reject this. Again. As he did with Claudia. Daniel will get on that plane. [grabs your shoulders and shakes you] But unlike before, I think Louis is going to get off that bench and follow Daniel.

[laniidae-passerine]

people think the theories are getting too crazy well I don’t think we’re getting crazy enough. we need weirder shit. Armand wasn’t Alice. Louis was Alice. how does that work? it doesn’t. but it’s only Tuesday and I can’t day drink rn so we’re gonna work with this until the weekend

[reloha]

Okay, this may be a little out there. But—

Paul only wanted to give confession to Father Matthias, not the other priest.

Lestat claims to bring death to those deserving. (Okay, but let’s go with it for a minute.)

Lestat says if priests disappear it’s not a big deal because people will say “Fine. Most likely kid fiddlers.”

[thebisexualwreckoning]

Armand's backstory and how I, your local bengali vampire fucker and armand's 24/7 defence lawyer, am going to make him bengali and muslim while still keeping it showcannon accurate

(Note: this is not meant to be taken seriously and is very much just written because I was bored and had time on my hands and if i have gotten anything wrong please correct me)

One thing that always annoyed me about IWTV showcannon is the fact that armand pre-marius days were either left majorly unexplored or made absolutely no sense to the time period. Which, I find pretty surprising considering the care and sensitivity Louis' new backstory was handled with by the same creators and show writers.

We know 3 things about Armand and who he is as a character in regards to his ethnicity:

His birth is Arun

He is Muslim

And that he was taken from Delhi somewhere around the early 15th century

For the purposes of this essay, we are going to assume all of this is true and not something Armand made up to get sympathy from both Louis and the audience.

Armand's birth name being Arun, while incredibly lazy, does make his identity as a bengali man much easier to confirm. My own full blooded formerly bangladeshi grandfather has the name Arun and Arun continues to be an incredibly popular bengali name for boys to this day. The problem arises when it comes to his religion.

The thing about the name Arun is that it's an incredibly *Hindu* first name, given that it is quite literally one of the names for the Hindu god of the sun (Source: I'm Hindu and confirmed with my mom who is sitting beside me scrolling on facebook). While muslim people can have the name Arun, given that Bengal was still an independent kingdom around the time which Armand would have been born in, his parents being hindu would have been likely.

However, around a similar time, the Mughals were setting up shop in, you guessed it, delhi and the surrounding region. Now, my proposal is as such: During the same time period, many parents sold their children to zamindars (land owners) for money or food or land. Young Arun's parents did the same thing. Now, this zamindar either sells armand to someone else immediately after who takes him delhi or takes young arun to delhi himself where he either sets up shop with him or once again sells arun to someone else.

Seperated from his parents and newly immigrated indenture (because yes, mughal era punjab and bengal were different kingdoms and as such this would count as immigration) to a kingdom which had just gone through a major political upheaval and had a new ruler forcibly converting people to islam, arun, who has no ties to hinduism given that a. he is a child and b. his hindu parents very much just sold him into slavery, converts to islam as well as a safety tactic.

Thus child arun grows into teen arun and he has never known anything of his life before delhi but those first few years that he spent in bengal and has definitely had no contact with hinduism and has been a devout muslim for the vast majority of his life. Here is where things get a bit iffy. There are two ways how the rest of this can now go.

Route no. 1, armand's indenture is sold to the portuguese, the portuguese take him to europe, marius buys him, everything proceeds as it must.

Route no. 2, the overly complicated, book and show canon accurate version which requires some significant suspension of disbelief and handwaving to accomplish but i like it so i'm still writing down this crack theory. Also we're doing this in dot points now because i'm getting tired:

We know armand speaks crimean because daniel mentions it after he catches fake rashid praying

crimea was part of the ottoman empire during this time period.

the ottoman empire had relatively friendly relations with the mughals because they were afraid of babur.

crimean ottoman merchants buy armand's indenture

armand ends up in crimea

crimea and kievan rus, book armand's original homeland's complex relation means armand ends up in kievan rus.

Things proceed as they did in the books for how armand goes from kievan rus to under marius's hold

and that's all i have, this has been your local crack theorist on tonight's armand show. see you next time.

[ninjacat1515]

Since the iwtv series vamps consider themselves apex predators, I wonder if there's a percentage of humans who have escaped them. Because predators like wolves and big cats sometimes fail in their hunts so maybe it would apply to them as well. And ones like Armand and Lestat consider vamps god level status so that arrogance could work against them.

During the Interview Daniel casually mentions something like this and Armand immediately tries to shut it down.

"A vampire does not fail in their hunts, Mr. Molloy."

"I mean, in theory it COULD happen." He's now watching a viral security footage video of Armand missing a target and crashing right through a store window. He emerges acting as if nothing happened and the intended victim is nowhere to be found.

"Something amuses you?"

"Come on man, eventually at some point-"

"It. Has. Never. Happened."

Louis is cracking up in the background having just watched it and hits replay.

[nalyra-dreaming]

"Romeo?" reminds me of "No Peleas, no Melisande"

In both Louis through dreamstat expressing his doubt that he and Armand could ever be some grandiose iconic love story.

Which heartbreakingly ties with revelation that Armand did not see lestat. He felt him but he didn't knew details and didn't knew for sure how Louis viewed and still views their relationship. This episode solidified my theory that "love of my life" wasn't even delusion, but more put upon mask. OR it is what Louis believes in but I think it started after some...tinkering in San Francisco

Assad acting is insanely good, I understood why Rolin said he felt for Armand while filming. That moment of realization, that hurt and shock he experiences and tries to mask immediately because Daniel is there. Assad's interviews are very insightful and interesting and I got from them that Armand truly viewed this relationship better than they actually were, even though deep down I think he knew.

I have a theory that he was aware that things were not good to say the least at first but something happened in San Francisco. Something that made Armand believe things will be better. (Some memories were changed perhaps) And so they lived after this their stable life under sword of Damocles, because once memories returned? Peace is gone. Raglan mentioned other people trying to interview Louis (or at least that's how I interpretated this) and it ended poorly for them. Armand definitely took care of them.

So Louis definitely knows that something isn't right. We established it in ep1 s2. He also 90% knows that Armand is responsible at least partially for this. Or at least can restore memories. He knows interview will help him. He knows Armand doesn't want interview. He knows Armand kills(?) people who interview him. He knows that Armand spared Daniel (we don't know if anything else happened but we don't have to. It's enough already). He knows that there's something about Daniel that makes Armand intrigued and he can't kill him. He probably feels guilty about Daniel's memories as well. He invites Daniel so they both can remember.

Okay, so the "love of my life"... was more or less debunked already after the last episode of s1, in interviews. It was a play on "The Graduate", here is a great discussion on that (also this is from November 22, for context^^):

This isn't their great love story. It's being sold as such, for reasons.

And yes, Assad is insanely good, and he understands his character so well! Ultimately Armand wants love... and to be loved. (The problem is the way he goes about it...)

Armand canonically believes that "Louis would get over it". Not kidding. "It" being Claudia's and Lestat's (supposed) deaths. There is a whole speech in IWTV about that. And that was a misconception in the book, and it will be one in the show.

And yes, I have also theorized that Louis invited Daniel specifically because he is the one tool to crack Armand... and to remember. Because he knows things do not add up. And now Daniel knows, too. And Daniel... Daniel is the one mortal Armand won't just kill.

For... reasons which have a lot to do with San Francisco :)

[bandedbulbussnarfblat]

Y'all I had a thought. And it's a little crazy, but I'm going to throw it out there.

So this guy (played by Justin Kirk)

some people (me included) are already theorizing that this is Marius.

This post got a bit long, so I'm slapping it under a cut. Crazy theories below:

In the books Marius does a lot of things that are not cool concerning Armand. Like he is not a great sire to Armand. (I'm not even counting the romantic relationship here. Like, just in general he failed as a sire.)

(One thing he does that is super fucked up, is to make Armand's human 'children' (that's what he calls them, even though one of them is a grown ass woman) into vampires. They were Sybelle and Benji, they were human and Armand wanted them to stay that way. Also Benji was only 13 at the time, which is fucked up, as Marius explicitly tells Lestat not to make kids vampires. Then does it himself to Benji. And like, Marius didn't force it on them. He offered and they accepted. But the thing is, he never should have offered without Armand's permission. And I know some people are like, it's fine bc they consented. But seeing Benji was literally fucking 13 yrs old that consent doesn't mean much. Marius permanently trapped that boy as a young teenager forever. (seeing as how much it sucks for 14 yr old forever Claudia on the show, it probably does suck for him) And Armand wasn't happy about it. But Marius did it for Armand. Like, I believe he was honestly trying to make Armand happy.)

I know that was a long bit to read, but I'm just trying to establish that doing something he thinks would help Armand, without Armand's input, is in character for Marius.

What I'm think here is that there is a possibility he was the one to erase Daniel's memories. Obviously, he would think he was doing it for Armand's own good. Maybe Armand couldn't let go, and Daniel couldn't resist coming back to him. So to give them a clean break, he erases Daniel's memories.

It would fit with his character from the books abilities. He was very strong in the mind gift. And he helped Armand retrieve his lost memories after he got total amnesia and forgot his entire life before he was 15. (Well, 15 was when Marius found him. The passage of time isn't exactly clear on how long it took from Armand being captured and transported and made to do the sort of things children shouldn't have to do.)

And then he doesn't tell Armand. Because if Armand knew, he'd just try to find a way to bring Daniel's memories back. So from Armand's POV, Daniel just left and never came back. At some point, it would become obvious he had his memories tampered with. Bc of course Louis and Armand kept tabs on him. Which could explain Armand's hostility towards Daniel, especially in that one scene where he's all like 'i wouldn't let you near my neck'.

It's just a crack theory. And probably not at all what is going to happen. Bc it would make more sense for it to be Armand who did it, and also it would give us that drama and angst.

But it could be fun to write about in fic, especially if you want to also dive into the complicated relationship Marius and Armand have.

[gertruderobinsonscat]

IWTV Crack!Theory Ahead:

*Lestat* is the one who wiped Daniel's memories of his relationship with Armand, as part of their insane, centuries-long homoerotic beef. "Oh, so you refuse to tell Louis I love him? Wouldn't it be a shame if the love of *your* life forgets everything about you. :) :) "

Armand, of course, retaliates by doubling down on his relationship with Louis, cheerfully broadcasting parts of the Dubai interview to Lestat, "Hear that? He called *me* the love of his life. Oh, and also he thinks we fucked in the past. :) :)"

[crazykuroneko]

Rewind the Tape – IWTV S102

I'm catching up with @iwtvfanevents now with Episode 2. Repeating my FYI from before: this is my first time rewatching the show (excluding indirect watch through YouTube reactions), and it's purpose for me to refresh my mind and noticing things. So, I won't dwell on certain theories, but I'll take notes about it for myself.

Feel free to reply if you want to discuss. *crack knuckles* Let's go!

• Marius' painting. A clue that Rashid is Armand. But now, IF Justin Kirk is really Marius, it's also a clue that Marius also lives in that apartment building 💡Does that mean there's a real possibility of "Akasha is the groan" theory to be true? Or "sleeping Lestat is the groan"? Because no way these good writers features the groan without meaning even though the groan is indeed a phenomenon that happens to tall buildings. Saving this for later.

• "Is it only work or you (are his fuckboy basically)?" Your prejudice (and lowkey envy, maybe) is showing, Daniel

• "I apologize for my outburst earlier" You're just crying Louis. It's okay. Fuck this discipline life you're doing 😭

• Idc I headcanon Armand bought Louis that top because it looks so great for Ied Fitr. Like, I already have the visual in my head.

• The music turns out to be a diagetic music as well is so witty and memorable. Love that

• The farm. Hmmm. Saving that for later

• "Two vampires walked into the church". The error in this statement is interesting. Does he feel like it's inevitable the moment he walked into that church?

• Blood of the deceased will suck you into death. Okay, noted.

• That priest is still alive???? What?

• The spark shot is beautiful. Iirc, Alan said that's kinda tricky to achieve.

• I don't know, I just love this shot:

• "Are you hungry, Louis?" "Huh-huh" PLEASE HE IS SO CUTE AND PALM-SIZED

• That paw of a hand directing Louis' head. Icu

• Lestat still could talk to Louis telepathically here. Because he hasn't had his first meal?

• "Just to be clear, we're here to talk about tractors" 🏳️‍🌈🤔❓I mean, what this poor soul is assuming to begin with 😭

• Lestat's instruction being an innuendo for oral sex is so 😭. I love these writers

• "You're going to find that difficult". That's "after-the-fact scene" number 2. Yeah, I will call it that. It means that scene doesn't necessarily happen as a fact in the past because it's impossible for Louis to know (he's being super focused on his family, no way he heard that). But it's formed based on an information Louis learnt after the fact, which over the years eventually attached to the memory of that day. Memory does evolve that way; no intervention or intent needed for that to happen. The after the fact information this time is that it's indeed hard, and Lestat must have warned him (see: post almost killing nephew scene), so over the years it evolved to "oh Lestat must find it ridiculous I tried to go back to my family that first day". I LOVE that the writers are doing this. It means they're treating memory in the show as real memory; it's not static, it evolves over the years, formed based on a lot of influences etc etc.

• Love the burning special effects. That's a great way to show it off.

• I can't believe they had their first time with Louis smelling like milk and burnt 😂😭

• Daniel is SO desperate to put some distance and not sympathize with Louis. Though he kinda fails by the end of the episode thanks to Alice

• The fact they gave Lestat's preaching lines from the book to Louis (the having hand in divine plan bits) really tells you that Louis is posturing here. Idk I feel like he's trying to gauge how far Daniel could tolerate. And Daniel is indeed afraid, judging from his face and how he becomes more bitey.

• After-the-fact scene number 3, with Lestat staring as Louis' sex worker's breast. The after-the-fact information is obviously Lestat staring at Antoinette in the next episode which led to his affair. Of course, Louis would questioning when Lestat started to be unfaithful, when his eyes started straying; a very common question for people who are cheated. Is it really from the beginning? (Fenwick's arm hasn't healed yet since Paul's funeral; Google tells me it can take six weeks)

• "It's not cheating if it's with a woman" oh hey best cameo of the year lol

• Lestat's face when he explained about no telepathy is like he just had a war flashback

• I need more Florence vs Lestat cat fight seriously

• "Haven't heard a knock on my door. It's a half-mile both ways" SPEAK IT LOUDER LOUIS. Like, I understand you're grieving and blaming your son, but no call whatsoever from everyone for 3 months after your son just suddenly moved out?? Insanity. (But also not surprising seeing my own big family responding to silent treatment 💀) The homophobia jumps out as well. Paul is Louis' real tie to the family.

• Jacob's expressions during the racist lawyer scene muah

• "If you hide from me this long again, I'll hunt you down..." again, his family knows where he lives 🤷‍♀️

• Grace pointing out the "extra" cash and the fact he lives nicely in the Quarter now 👀👀

• "What can i do to make it up to you?" This whole scene shows Lestat's method in deescalating a situation. He obviously doesn't understand the point of the problem is yet he doesn't try to understand. Louis is giving him a silent treatment (which means he's my bestie, cos silent treatment is my flaw as well lol), but idk instead of showing a good intention by asking Louis to explain to him or something, he asks for a shortcut instead. He needs Louis to verbalize the solution for them. We're fast forwarding, but iirc this is similar approach he has with Antoinette as well. Here, Louis is still willing to verbalize the solution.

• The way Louis' neck moves when Lestat says "How can i stop you?" oh he loves being pampered

• Louis doesn't put "sir" after Tom's name when signing the purchase 😎✊

• The body double throws me out I'm so sorry 😭

• 1912-1917

• This whole thing with Benny feels like a thriller movie. Kudos for the director

• Of course he came to his family bringing money for Grace. It seems it's past bed time. Florence is in her bedroom.

• "It's still Lestat" There's passive aggressiveness into it idk. Like, she expects them to have broken up already

• The last victim in 2000. noting that down.

• Louis really wants Daniel to highlight he's different from the other girls. I mean, the other vampires.

• Daniel's face over the slurping 😭

• He put Benny on the floor so he wouldn't roll down from the sofa 🥺

• "If you love your family, spare them the pain" I believe Lestat is being genuine here. He basically goes I've been there done that, and look at me now it ended so badly.

• "I'm your family, Louis" 😭

• Then he basically makes a perfect summary of Louis aww

• "Maybe there's deaf, blind porter and kill when we get to the hotel." Louis, you're not so different from the other girls (vampires) 😭

• That long ass overture just for two tickets to the opera. Lestat, please.

• The whole "there was present a kind of worship on my part" 🤌 *insert that gif of pen on fire while writing*

• You can see the exact moment when it dawns on Lestat he has fucked up with bringing Louis to a racist opera house. God, what a loser (affectionately). It's never come into his mind how bad it would ruin Louis' mood. Like, he understands racism is bad as a concept, but he doesn't understand how it affects one's self. He thinks that would be a minor convenience to Louis that Louis could just brush off.

• Lestat 🤝 Me, accidentally become manipulative when we're in a pinch. (re: the loneliness speech)

• Louis is so down bad, unfortunately ❤️

• "And this woman sang for us, it seemed, articulating the difficult love we often had troubles exptessing ourselves" So beautiful.

• Misophonia girlies (gn) unite! I will always enjoy Lestat killing Ernesto I'm so sorry lol. Saw a reaction from someone who does classical music and they're ouching as well. So, GO FOR IT SON KILL HIM

• Lestat slowly killing Ernesto while Louis watching his memories to feel the "charge" of connecting to humanity. Oh, they are made for each other.

• The story with Alice, that she felt not good enough for him so she always died his eyebrow brown, but Daniel actually liked it when she didn't do it. Aww Daniel is trying to cheer him up.

• About the question for this week, does Louis really need to maintain the thread and why? Idk, i feel like Louis feels he needs to do it. Maybe to maintain some resemblance of humanity inside him, afraid it will go away over time. But to me, it doesn't really work.

Summary: Okay, if the first episode is about establishing Louis' internal conflicts, about the seduction/hunt and turning, this episode is about what Louis lost and not lost to vampirism. We also see the seed of Loustat's conflicts and how ineffective their method to solve them. And it's about vampirism, it's also the episode where we get the vampire lore the most. Of course over the months after season 1 aired I have kept several theories up about where the Dubai timeline is set based on the books. And the teasers of season 2 have debunked some of them. But this rewatch gives me another theory which I will keep to myself. All I can say though, instead on certain period of time of book canon, I think they're taking elements from different era of the books for Dubai. Can't wait to see the answer in S2 ❤️

[smokiedokie]

My brother called me to watch the next three episodes of IWTV with him and omgggg the JOY I feel at being able to experience this show again for the first time through him and hear his theories on where this is all leading… I’m so thrilled. He’s never watched the movie or read the books so he’s going into this totally blind. Some interesting ideas he has so far:

A) he’s so much more insightful than I was/am watching it. He’s picking up on SO MANY things that I didn’t pick up on until I rewatched (he’s even pointed out stuff I’ve never noticed— my favorite so far was in episode two where Daniel is served rabbit while Louis feasts upon the fox, symbolizing their predator/prey relationship — HOW THE FUCK DID I MISS THAT; AND HE GOT IT IMMEDIATELY. He also pointed out that in episode three at the poker game he calls all the white men by their names, no more “sirs” attached— AGAIN, HOW DID I MISS THAT??)

B) He thinks season one is going to end with Claudia’s death; he doesn’t know why or how but he thinks she’s going to die at the end of season one as the big cliffhanger and then season two will end with Louis killing Lestat (he’s thinking ahead to other seasons and how things will play out later!! His MIND!!) Which is so interesting bc as we know, it happens the other way around, but I love how close he’s getting without even realizing!!

C) He thinks Louis killed Lestat in the early 70’s and that’s what prompted him to seek out Daniel in the first place, as a way to justify his actions to someone and tell himself he was right. That’s why the modern Interview is more nuanced, Louis has more separation from the murder to understand where Lestat was coming from.

D) he thinks Louis WANTED to turn Daniel in the 70s and Daniel was against it (I brought up what we hear in the first episode where Daniel asks Louis for the Dark Gift and Louis rages at him, but my brother thinks that’s misconstrued somehow) and he’s reaching out again to set the record straight about his true feelings about Lestat and also breach that subject again

E) He REALLY likes the relationship between Louis and Daniel, he’s picked up on the importance of their relationship and expects it to develop well before I did. When I first watched the show I was a big fan of the movie, so I just assumed Daniel served only as the crux for Louis to tell his story to; I didn’t think the modern era stuff was all that important until we were well into the season because I assumed Daniel’s role in the show would be the same as it was in the movie: the audience sub-in. But my brother picked up on the nuance between the two immediately and honed in on it. He thinks they’re both of on a high-horse off and is waiting to see who will crack first.

F) He suspects NOTHING of Rashid, just thinks he’s a weird servant guy

[monstersinthecosmos]

May I ask you at what point it's clear Anne wrote/decided that Armand was physically a teenager? He doesn't seem to be written specifically as one during IWTV (especially) or even QOTD -- possibly why he's portrayed as a grown man in the early comic books and in the 1994 film?

Okay hahah full disclosure I’m writing this at work instead of working and I don’t have books with me to pull quotes so use your imagination or if anyone wants to jump in with some quotes please feel free!

So in IWTV he’s just described as a young man, and Louis doesn’t go crazy telling us too much about what he looks like. I have a few thoughts about this, and about how it influenced the movie and other incarnations of Armand:

Louis has spent most of his vampire life with a grown woman who looks like a 5 year old, so BIG FUCKIN DEAL LOL, wow ur 17? Get in line.

The movie specifically made him older & more spooky old world looking for the visual contrast, also to sidestep Louis’s rebound love interests both being children/young.

I don’t think we should get too nitpicky about the comic books like let’s, just. Lmao. Let’s leave that one.

By the time he shows up in TVL is when he goes from being described as “young man” to “young boy”.

I lied I do have this one quote:

This was a boy, as I had said, and he had a head of long curly hair, and he walked very straight and very simply through the silvery light and into the church. He hesitated for a moment. And by the tilt of the head, it seemed he was looking up. And then he came on through the nave and towards us, his feet making not the faintest sound on the stones. He moved into the glow of the candles on the side altar. His clothes were black velvet, once beautiful, and now eaten away by time, and crusted with dirt. But his face was shining white, and perfect, the countenance of a god it seemed, a Cupid out of Caravaggio, seductive yet ethereal, with auburn hair and dark brown eyes.

So there’s like, 12 years or whatever that she took between books and that gives her a lot of time to let her mental image and idea of the character to evolve, but also just her writing style is so different. I remember Anne saying that she also had Stella from The Tales of Hoffmann in mind when she wrote Armand, so he evolved from “ageless & androgynous” to “gleaming manikin of a young boy” !

For a visual reference, this is Moira Shearer as Stella, which Anne said was Armand in her mind:

And this is the painting Lestat mentioned:

But I think we are all aware of the tonal shift phenomenon between IWTV & TVL where IWTV is this like, heavy melancholy Gothic tome and then Lestat just shows up and fucking wrecks the place.  I don’t recall ever hearing her talk about this aspect of Armand and I don’t know if she had it in her mind the whole time, even if Louis didn’t take the time to describe it in detail the way Lestat does. I’d love to know how much of this was in her mind the whole time and if anyone has clues please let us know!!!!!!!

TLDR to answer your question, it’s ambiguous in IWTV and obvious in TVL.

HOWEVER.

I have this crack theory lmfao. !!!!!!!!!! About how Prince Alexi in The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty is also an auburn haired teenager, and how it was written in between the two VC books.

I mean like. Anne can say anyone has auburn hair but it’s just such a staple for Armand 2 ICONIC so how are you NOT gonna wonder about it when she’s writing BDSM porn? Idk.

There’s really no evidence for this except me with my Charlie Day board but sometimes I wonder if that break between books influenced her idea of him at all, and what impact it had on her prose for when she returned to Lestat, and I always wonder if they’re connected at all. IT JUST SEEMS SUSPICIOUS TO ME.

Like I mean. I think, there’s lots of teenagers in her books, so maybe this isn’t really much of a coincidence. But. I must wonder!

[travellingwiththedead]

Crack iwtv theory because apparently i can't stop theorising xD :

Present day Dubai scenes are timeline wise in the Merrick book.

- Louis is suicidal and dictating his final goodbye.

- The pages missing from Claudia's diary would definitely be some he wouldn't mind burning.

- And the most crack part: Rashid's a genderbent Merrick because they can't have their gay lead fall in fake "magic made them do it" love with a female witch.

Do with this what you will lol

[cbrownjc]

Armand question: who’s Armand’s endgame? (Daniel or…?) Does he even have one?

Hi Anon!

Your question actually goes into a theory I've been starting to have, so I'm going to throw that in at the end of this answer.

So, within the first three books in the series, at least, you can say Armand's larger goal usually is, at its core, finding a companion that'll help him connect to the world.

Armand actually wanted Lestat to be his companion when they encountered each other. Lestat turned Armand down, basically with a "you and I wouldn't work out together," which more or less pissed Armand off. (And it's been antagonistic between them ever since. But don't get it twisted - if Armand could have Lestat in that way, if Lestat was at all interested, Armand would jump at the chance.)

When we meet Armand again in Interview with the Vampire, it's Louis Armand gets eyes on for a companion. Which he ends up getting for a time (a long time). By the time Louis gave his first interview, he and Armand had split up though.

Armand encounters Daniel after that first interview happened and, after a time, Daniel becomes his companion and his connection to the modern world.

Armand is basically the story's main antagonist within the first two books, only starting to not be one by the third. And my guess is the show is going to have him in a similar role here, especially for S2, since it will for sure be covering the latter half of the IWTV book at the very least. Which is when Armand goes hard in his endgame to make Louis his companion.

As in the book, I think Armand has lied to both Lestat and Louis that the other is dead. All to keep Louis with him.

Where Daniel fits into this, I can only guess. But I don't think it's a coincidence that the show has Armand's book-canon endgame companion/lover in the story here. And that Daniel clearly has missing memories about Armand, as was confirmed in that final scene.

In Queen of the Damned, when Armand had Daniel by his side, his full obsession was with Daniel. He even saw Daniel as a gift to him from Louis.

As far as the show goes, I think Armand's goal has been to keep Louis by his side. I don't think he's BS-ing about Louis wanting to kill himself. But I'm also not sure that Daniel is even going to be allowed to publish this book now, at least to the wider world, that would have Vampires coming to try and kill Louis for it. Because there was clearly a set narrative that was supposed to be told to Daniel for that book. But Daniel is way better at his job than he was back in 1973, and he was able to crack through that set narrative.

My feeling is that Daniel is for sure not leaving that tower penthouse apartment. He's as much trapped in that gilded cage as Louis is now.

And this is where my theory/speculation comes in:

Armand, in the book, would keep humans as pets. And I think we're going to see his character doing that in Season 2. Daniel himself was pretty much a pet at the start of his entanglement with Armand in the QotD book, before Armand fell in love with him.

And I think show-Daniel was that very thing at one time too. Back when he was younger. A very beloved pet - "our boy" - but a pet nonetheless.

But, unlike Armand's other human pets in the book, Daniel was never killed by him. And Armand, due to his love for Daniel, eventually turned Daniel when he was dying.

In the show, Daniel was clearly not killed or turned. I think he was let go instead, with altered memories. Because I think Daniel was with Armand and Louis for longer and more than just that failed interview night in 1973.

I think for sure that Louis and Lestat are endgame on the show. But I do not think there is going to be any sort of extended love triangle between Lestat, Louis, and Armand. Louis chose Lestat over his beloved Claudia. If in full possession of himself and knowing Lestat is alive, Louis would choose Lestat over Armand every single time. Which is why Armand even has to manipulate to have Louis with him now.

So, I'm pretty sure, at the moment, that Daniel is Armand's true endgame. Even though I don't think Daniel nor Armand know that themselves yet. (Daniel because his memories have been altered, Armand because he's still locked in with Louis.) But that is the course I think they, and the show, are headed.

[squirrellypoo]

Looooool and user @nightmancomet is on the same wavelength with their meme!

🫡 Great minds dream up the same crack theories!

The stones Louis is buried under in the vaults of the TdV are the same as in the reading room in Dubai. So either he or Armand deliberately chose them as a reminder of Paris, along with the Magnolia tree.

So here’s my crack theory- the stones in Dubai are also burying someone under there! Not just a dirt nap but a stone nap for Lestat, he’s been there the whole time and listening! That’s why Louis is calmed by putting his feet in the stones, it’s cos he’s closer to Lestat. 😌