#like how armand wanted her to stay in the cage with him

[ruthscarabae]

this really is going to get me blocked and i don't care. i think they should be siblings. i think the dynamic should be unhealthy. i think things should be so confused and muddled and desperate and torn that marguerite had to run away but also could never stop wanting to go back.

[aaarmand]

fanfiction friday

<3 Left on Re(a)d by dancinbutteryfly (E, ongoing, 43.5K)

+33 689 480 496: I still love you. I never stopped.

Daniel Molloy: I can't imagine a worse occasion to have to ask this, but who is this?

Of all the people on earth that Daniel would ever guess to be on the other side of a text like that? Alice is at the bottom of the list. She walked out on them, leaving a little girl alone with her junkie dad who didn't know how to cope without the love of his life. Why would it be her? That'd be insane.

(But of course, Armand knows he that is insane. He has always been insane with the extremes to which he will go for the ones he loves. Daniel simply cannot recall that detail or so many others about their relationship. At least, not at the moment.)

<3 i know a place we can go by luminoussbeings (M, oneshot, 3k)

“—come out with me,” Daniel’s saying, and Armand blinks. “I know a place—better than this one, I’m telling you. Okay, fine, the drinks are terrible, but if you want to go out dancing—you’ll see. You’ll love it. Guarantee ya.” He smiles winningly, holds out his hand.

No, Armand thinks.

or: Daniel sees Armand with blood on his face from a kill, thinks he's just some poor abused twink, and decides he needs to show him a good time

<3 with every care I have for thee by fypical (M, first in series, 11k)

“Stay for dinner.” It’s not a request he expected; Daniel’s eyebrows raise. It feels like locking himself in an underwater cage with the shark, agreeing to it. Armand stares him down. “You have my word that whatever I tell you, there, is the truth.” || a story of memory, change, book tours, and long-distance situationships, through the not-quite-all-seeing eyes of daniel molloy. (post-s2)

[crazykuroneko]

IWTV S2E5 Musings

Long ass note under the cut, but tl;dr Louis & Old Daniel is my new brotp. Armand can't take it away from me. And Armand has a PhD in gaslighting

• The impersonal statements Daniel pointing out. The implanted phrases Armand supposedly gave to Louis. Somehow my mind recalls the "vampire bond" explanation. The way Louis said it in S1 is like he's reading from a book.

• Current Louis knows Santiago's plotting

• Of course Armand is a lame crypto man 😭

• "His methodology is never violent" Oh, Louis

• "Armand preserves my happiness, even when I don't or can't" 🚨

• Louis still likes his coffin lined with a green silk 😭

• Young Daniel acts like a loser. I'm so sorry, I'm trying to take him seriously but he's funny lol

• "You're lonely. You're thrill seeking" Oh he reads him so bad. Why Louis stay with Armand tho?

• Louis and Young Daniel are just saying exactlyyyyy to one another lol

• Louis was agitated when Young Daniel pointed out the use of past tense on Claudia

• Louis is already in suicidal mind set even before Armand comes

• Interesting. The way Louis is reading his thoughts here. As in literal reading. He can't be in Daniel's mind (e.g. seeing what Daniel is seeing), his ability is limited to what Daniel's thinking. And Daniel is not thinking to himself, he just opens the Talamasca recordings right away. Thus Louis can only feel Hesitation from his mind, bu he doesn't know exactly what for

• "You don't have enough to fear from Paris?" On revealing their nature. I knew Louis had the man in the park an Roget. But why does this sound something bigger happened in Paris with the humans?

• "Is it the gremlin or good nurse tonight?" Well, he decided to be both tonight 💀

• "Throw pillow" "Use Claudia just to circle back to Lestat" So rich of him to shade Louis for his guilt over Claudia when he's the one who killed her.

• "It's all coming back" "Paris.." Louis forgets most of Paris?

• "She's calling me" I wonder if Louis is remembering Claudia calling him during her last moments

• No, I don't think Armand expected or waited for Louis to come into the sun like that. But he's definitely MAD because of that

• Armand is on mission to figure out what makes Young Daniel and Lestat interesting to Louis. Because Louis said he's dull

• "An instinct to self-efface" yes, both Daniel and Louis have that

• Armand kept Louis writhing in pain w/o blood for 4 days???

• Not @ Dubai Louis still giving excuses for Armand to Daniel 😭

• Armand calling Lestat. Lestat doesn't know where Louis is. Armand refuses to tell where they are.

• "You try! You were there!" Newfound friends found bickering lol

• "If you want insanity back, if you want to escape this prison of emphaty" Armand really says "Yes, I'm caging you, but you think this is bad? Well, you had it worse with him you wanna go back there??"

• Armand's tone during the coffin scene is very soft, but he's actually making himself clear he's mad MAD. Mad that Louis is trying to goad Lestat back to him again through the interview. Seeing how Louis always fast to reassure Armand with "all I said is trash" about Lestat, this is definitely an old problem to them. It makes me curious what made Louis stay with Armand post-Paris. What happened in Paris exactly? Lestat definitely knows Louis is alive and with Armand, unlike in the books. What has made him stay away? Did Louis pull a Nicki on him in Paris? Edit: wait, what if Armand reaches out to Lestat here is the equivalent of him going to NOLA in TVL and goes "news flash, Louis is actually alive. we were/are together"? Daniel doesn't hear Armand's first sentence to Lestat. and by that time, Louis does know lestat is alive but still numb 🤔 Armand mentions if Louis wants Lestat to chase him again, that's definitely about Lestat coming to Paris after the patricide.

• "All you had to do was ask" he says to the burnt Louis who is in need of his blood. A war flashback to "The silence is cruel. But you're never cruel" but in worse condition.

• Armand, making it clear he is extremely mad at Louis for trying to reach Lestat, that Louis is ungrateful cos he's been treating him better than Lestat, then dangling this channel of communication to Lestat in front of him, making Louis feels bad and coercing him to reassure him again. Armand has a PhD in gaslighting.

• The words from Armand afterwards. Louis certainly knows his answer but well, you can't answer that if you don't want Armand blowing up again.

• Armand only answers Louis back with Maitre once Louis assures him that he will stay with him.

• "I'm a bright young reporter with a point of view" Young Daniel is full of life and optimistic. Stubborn, refusing Armand's words, but they work. Then Louis came, saying it back to him, give him more words to re-find that motivation to live. Give him words to live on.

• Ngl I almost teared up to this scene with Louis and Old Daniel. They're precious as friends.

• To alter and surpress Daniel's memory, Daniel is already under a stage where he's very easy to be influenced and they give more drugs again.

• Old Daniel beeds to stay alive. I want Louis has one (1) friend that call out his and his boyfriend(s)' bullshits 😭

[immortalmolloy]

Daniel laughed and held her close, comforted to know that she would stop at nothing to find him and she was fierce. He trusted her with his life. She would come rescue him. All he had to do was wait for her.

———

Armand always had his ways. He did come for Daniel and took him away. Daniel tried to fight at first. He was no match for his ancient maker. It amused Armand how much his powers were growing. He was proud of his fledgling and fascinated by Daniel.

Daniel eventually got worn down. Armand told him a little bit more about his history. Daniel stayed silent.

Armand watched him now, big brown eyes locked onto him, remaining still as a statue. Daniel felt like he was being studied under a microscope. Armand moved gracefully, his footsteps barely making a sound on the wood floor. He gazed at Daniel with tenderness and a soft sadness.

“My beautiful boy,” Armand said, stroking his face gently. “Don’t you understand why I did this? It was to save you. I couldn’t stand the thought of you perishing somewhere hunting monsters.”

“It wasn’t right,” Daniel insisted. “It should have been my choice and you took it from me. You forced this on me. You’re like everyone else who thinks they knew what was best for me.”

“I love you,” Armand said. “I would do anything for you. I want you more than anything in the world.”

“Is that what you told Louis?” Daniel challenged.

“I see the error of my ways,” Armand admitted. “I lied. My love for him was a cage.”

Armand talked to him about how lonely he was. He talked about never being truly loved in all of his hundreds of years of existence. He talked about his pain and trauma.

“I could be what you crave,” Armand insisted. “I could be a refuge to you from the darkness. I could protect you and love you. I can be the solace you seek, the quiet your soul longs for. I will be an anchor in the storm.”

He leaned in and kissed Daniel’s lips softly. He washed dried blood and dirt from Daniel’s face after he’d fought so hard and hurt himself in the beginning. He ran his fingers lightly through Daniel’s curls.

“I used to be repulsed by the idea of making another,” Armand said. “Until I met you. I knew that you were special. I wanted to save you. Let me love you and take care of you. Let me be your shelter.”

Daniel subconsciously leaned into his touch. It felt so good.

Armand kissed his neck then very gently sank his fangs into his neck. At first Daniel tensed, remembering Armand’s teeth in his neck when he made him immortal, afraid that Armand was going to hurt him. Then he relaxed because it felt so good. He felt like he was floating on a cloud surrounded by Armand’s gentle touch and his gentle voice like honey on his tongue. Armand wasn’t using any mind tricks on him this time. It was just him and Daniel drifting together, just Daniel subconsciously giving in to what he yearned for deep down.

“Let me have you,” Armand begged. He sounded desperate and Daniel couldn’t pretend that he wasn’t obviously aroused. “I need you.”

Daniel wanted to get on his knees and worship him. Armand was so beautiful like a painting. He was perfection. Daniel loved his dark curls and his sharp cheekbones and his surprisingly soft lips. He loved those big brown eyes that gazed at him with so much sadness and hope. Armand didn’t look like a monster, he looked like an Angel.

“I hate you,” Daniel said, though his voice was shaky and lacked any real conviction. He weakly attempted to push Armand away.

“You don’t hate me,” Armand said. “My beautiful boy, I can feel you. I know what you crave. I am here. Come to me.”

And Daniel did. He stopped fighting and wrapped his arms around Armand. He kissed him passionately.

Armand took his hand and led him to the bedroom. “Let me take care of you,” he said.

“You don’t have to,” Daniel told him quietly. “I don’t expect you to. I don’t want to use you. I’m not like that-”

“Shh,” Armand said, looking as if he might cry. He kissed Daniel. “I know. You’re not like anyone. I made you. I know you. Now let me love you.”

Armand undressed Daniel slowly and lovingly, kissing and caressing every inch of him. He worshipped Daniel thoroughly. He took Daniel into his mouth and Daniel tugged on Armand’s curls and moaned for him. A couple moments later and Armand was on top of him, riding him. He moved with the same grace as always and the pleasure on his face was so beautiful. He made the prettiest sounds. Daniel put his hands on Armand’s hips, watching him move on top of him. It felt like a religious experience. It was incredible.

“I love you,” Armand said almost frantically, moving faster. “I love you.”

“Oh! Armand!” Daniel cried out, shuddering as he spilled inside him.

Armand’s pleasure painted Daniel’s chest and stomach. Then Armand leaned down to capture his fledgling’s lips in a fierce kiss. They were still naked, Armand still on top of Daniel kissing him, when Mina found them.

“So, you want to interview vampires, so you?”

[ecofinisher]

Miraculous-Abominable AU

Before I even watched the movie Yi made me think a lot of Kagami, because of the similar ethnicity and the absence of their father’s. Felix was supposed to take Jin’s role, but I felt like it made more sense with Adrien since I wasn’t sure about Felix’s characteristics at that time. (Funny fact: In my mother language Adrien and Jin share the same voice actor  😂 I’ve seen the movie only in German and English and I kinda prefer these dubs, English mostly)

Also this AU drabble takes place in Japan and has a couple of differences to the original movie. 

Characters:

Yi = Kagami Tsurugi

Everest, the yeti = Longg, a dragon cub

Jin = Adrien Agreste

Peng, Jin’s cousin = Hope, my OC’ sister of Adrien

Dr. Zara = Mrs. Mendeleiev

Mr. Burnish = Armand D’Argencourt

Sorry, the images are supposed to be next to each other. Just skip them, if they’re annoying.

A mysterious red creature escapes a scientific labor and under Dr. Mendeleiev’s lead they left to look for the creature around Nagasaki and lose it. In the meanwhile, the creature got hurt and brought itself in safety in the garden of a family hiding in a small barrack.

Next morning Kagami Tsurugi left her house very soon without warning her mother and grandfather, who were getting worried about her absence every day since the death of Mr. Tsurugi, the biological father of Kagami. During the days Kagami spends her time doing dirty jobs for people, that can’t do it or don’t enjoy doing it for the exchange of money. On the late evening, Kagami arrives and passes by the neighbor girl Hope, which asked Kagami for a match of soccer, which Kagami declined making Hope sad and complain, she can’t even play with Adrien Agreste together, which is her older brother, who since Kagami’s father’s death changed and was now one of the cool boys.

Kagami later encounters in the barrack the sleeping creature, which got scared of her and hid inside a hole of a stone-made oven. Kagami discovers, that the creature was hurt and as she heard on the streets a type of unit looking for a “monster” Kagami closed the door of the barrack and turned the lights off, so they wouldn’t be spot.

On the other day Kagami came back with a first aid box and a book so she could take care of the creature’s injury and he shows her a book of Japan and the creature points out on a image of the Mount Rausu, which made the creature sad and Kagami realized that this was the home of the creature.

On the meanwhile, the leader of an organization for rare animal species Armand D’Argencourt was angry and threatened Dr. Mendeleiev to find the dragon cub, which was the mystical creature they were looking for back in Nagasaki.

Back in Yi’s house Yi’s grandfather complained, that he was freezing inside the house and Kagami saw, that the heater had been stolen and she  left quickly through the window of her room, for the grandfather to not notice. On that time Hope Agreste came to visit the Tsurugi’s to ask for Kagami’s help and the grandfather asked, if she could get Adrien to get the heater back from the thief confusing Hope, but she still got his brother, soon both find Kagami inside the barrack trying to get the heater off the dragon’s hands and Adrien tries to protect Kagami by using a long, wooden spoon but is pushed away by the dragon, that mistakes Adrien for a bad guy, but Kagami assures the two siblings are just friends.

The team that is being led by Dr. Mendeleiev invade the garden of the Tsurugi’s and in panic the dragon escapes while towing Kagami with him and all follow the creature while Adrien along with his sister took the other direction to find Kagami. The four managed to encounter themselves in a train station and help the creature into a cargo train, Kagami seeing that the dragon was in panic by going alone she decided to jump behind the animal to accompany him, soon Hope joined followed by a frustrated Adrien and they go along with Kagami.

On the next day Adrien calls his father lying to him, that they were visiting a university in Tokyo together with Kagami and Hope, then the dragon which they named Longg escapes from the train hiding in a bush, because it had to pee, followed by Kagami and Hope, which didn’t want to leave the creature alone. Annoyed Adrien followed them and searches on his smartphone for train schedules and warned them, that they need to be at 4am at the next train station to head back home, but Kagami disagreed, cause she needs to bring the dragon home.

In the night near Yotsuya they stop by the Suga shrine which Adrien recognized from an Anime and Kagami suggested them to eventually overnight them, before crossing the woods together. Adrien, which got scared by howlings coming from the woods agreed and lied down on the ground watching his sister laugh with the dragon as she teaches him how to play rock, paper, scissor making the gang realize, that the dragon must be a cub.

The next day the quartett followed a railway track from Adrien’s smartphone and passed by a buddhist temple and admired it, soon the group lead by Dr. Mendeleiev appeared and the group tried to escape, but got trapped on the top of the temple. Longg grabs Kagami and Hope, then took off in the air floating up surprising Adrien along with the gang and the dragon flew away leaving Adrien back with the group, which ran the temple down and Adrien cried loud, that he would not give up until he would be reunited together with them. (They’re near Kyoto)

Adrien is convinced that the group is only an organization to take care of endangered species and explains them, where they’re going and is promised to be brought safe home if they aline. At the night Adrien is allowed to overnight at Mr. D’Argencourt’s caravan and as he couldn’t sleep well he went out and heard Dr. Mendeleiev talk with another team member, that she’s willing to kill the dragon and the kids for the sake of their earnings. Adrien in shock escapes from the camp finding his own way back to Kagami and Co.

Many days later Kagami is in danger along with Hope and Longg as the team appeared again trying to catch the cub and to their luck a messy-looking Adrien appears in a motorboat and he helps the trio escape and disappear in the middle of the woods and before they were about to crash against the end of the lake, Longg uses his hands to make magic and cause their boat to fly.

Unfortunately they crashed against a tree, falling with the boat on the ground, Kagami lost her photo album and they found it in their boat. All pages crumbled and Kagami ran away crying, making the Agreste’s sad, including the dragon Longg. Adrien followed Kagami and tries to comfort her and listens to Kagami complain how she kept behaving by distancing herself from her family to avoid to grieve. Although her relationship with Adrien was broken due to the death of her father, they reconcile and Adrien admits also he has been a douche the past months around her and his younger sister and promises to change to the better. When Kagami came to show the others, she felt better Longg hold his hands up to show Kagami her book has been restored with his magic, making the girl happy.

The next day they encountered a road, that head to the metropole Tokyo and Kagami checked the picture album of her father to see the Toyko tower and realized the locations from the book she has seen them all along with the dragon and the siblings, then Longg points at the sign with the name of the capital and Kagami realizes, that Longg did guuide them to those specific locations with intention, making Kagami glad and hug the cub. The group visit the tower and admire the metropole over the night making Kagami get emotional and tear up for the first time after the death of her father and is comforted by the trio.

At night the quartet spent the whole day traveling on a train to Shari district and were only a few miles away from their destination. Unluckily they encountered on an industrial zone Dr. Mendeleiev, Mr. D’Argencourt and their team and surrounds the kids and aim them with their tranquilizing guns. Longg seeing the teens frightened growls loudly and stays in front of them to avoid them to be hit. Mr. D’Argencourt who had ordered the group to aim at the quartet notices Longg’s behavior around the teens and realizes, he’s just trying to protect them and orders them to stop. Mrs. Mendeleiv orders the commander of the group to aim at Mr. D’Argencourt instead and he puts the man to sleep and Mrs. Mendeleiev uses the situation to trick her own team out, while she along with the commander tried to tranquilize the dragon cub with success. Kagami gets angry and tries to fight Dr. Mendeleiev and she tries to aim the girl with her tranquilizer gun, but instead, she aims at Hope, shrieking Adrien which caught his little sister and tried to wake her up. Kagami, which witnessed it was pushed away and watched Dr. Mendeleiev run at the dragon to help the team pull the sleeping cub into a cage. Kagami watched in sadness the mean guys carry the monster into the cage and Kagami remembers the book of her father and has an idea, then grabbed the book, which contained the magic of the creature and she tried to use it and by accident releases a bolt aiming the car, causing it to stop as the engine failed.  Longg, who slowly woke from the dart, realized he was stuck and broke the cage he was in and ran away from the group to get back to Kagami and the others. Kagami shouted loud to warn Longg as in another car Dr. Mendeleiev took the lead and guided the car against the dragon cub. To their misery, Longg ran against a water silo spitting fire against it burning its legs and it fell down crashing the vehicle of Dr. Mendeleiev down.

Armand D’Argencourt watched his group trying to fix the engine of their car and he walks up at the dragon holding his hand out to apologize him and that such an interesting, mythical creature should better remain a secret and the dragon accepts it. Armand offers the teens a ride back home and they accept, but before they had to bring the dragon cub back home.

Soon on the mount Rausu, they were in the middle of the fog and encounter the parents of the cub along with a few other mythical creatures and Longg shares a last goodbye with Kagami and the two Agreste’s.

Back home Kagami was now in a better terms with her family and invite her friends Adrien and Hope for dinner and Adrien hands Kagami out a note, which was from Armand D’Argencourt telling them to be prepared for their next adventure.

[researchfinalproject]

The Birdcage (1996)

The birdcage adapted from the original French movie, La Cage aux Folles (1978), stars Robin Williams as Armand and Nathan Lane as Albert, a couple who own a gay nightclub in Miami. The film focuses on Val, their son’s (biological son of William’s character) engagement and the meeting of the two families. However, Val has a request: that his father acts straight, Albert is out of the picture, and his estranged mother is invited to put on the front of being a “normal” family. However, things get complicated when Nathan Lane’s character decides to dress in drag and pretend to be his mother, leading to confusion and mix-ups when his actual mother shows up. The humor and light-heartedness of this film is undermined by the sometimes problematic portrayals of gayness in some of the characters and the tone of the film towards these characters. 

In this scene, it is revealed that Albert has been pretending to be Val’s mother the whole time, much to the surprise of Barbara’s parents and the surprise of Val’s biological mother, Katherine, who has just arrived ready to play her part. 

My Approach:

“Let me explain,” Armand says, softly touching Albert’s hand. 

“Yes, please do explain to all of us” the senator says, his tone and facial expression looking like he is barely containing himself from bursting out. “I don’t want to embarrass this lovely lady,” he says, pointing to Albert, “but exactly how many mother’s does Val have?”

Everyone is silent, and both Armand and Albert are staring at each other with shock and horror written all over their faces. Val finally steps forward, placing a hand on Albert’s shoulder. “Just one, and I’ve been truly awful to him, and my father.” All looks down at the ground, unable to make eye contact with any of the astounded faces around him. He turns to his parents: “I should never have asked you to hide who you guys are,” Val continues,. 

The senator splutters “What the hell is going on here?”

“Dad!” Barbara reprimands him.

“Don’t you talk to me like that, young lady” her father warns, pointing at her where she stands next to Armand. “Who exactly are you people?” He nearly shouts. 

“Please,” Val says, finally looking up and gazing pleadingly at the senator. “I need to say this.” Senator Kevin Keeley seems too shocked to make a response. Val angles his body back towards his parents. “I was so wrong to have asked you guys to change yourselves, for this, for me. I should never have been ashamed of you because both of you have been and still are amazing parents.” Val is slightly shaky, and his eyes are tearing up. “Albert, I am so sorry I made you feel like I hated you. I was selfish and rude and - and I understand if I’ve lost your respect...” Val breaks off, too choked up to continue speaking. 

Albert is crying now, fiddling with his unruly wig in his hands. He is too emotional to speak, and turns to Armand instead, who is managing to stay pulled together somewhat more successfully. “Val,” Armand says, his tone is stern but his eyes are gentle as he looks at his son. “You have made us feel ashamed all because of your own shame. But I agreed to it because I love you, and so does Albert.” Albert nods furiously and dabs at his eyes with a handkerchief. “We will always love you because you are our son, but we will never tolerate this sort of treatment from you again, do you understand.” 

Val nods. “I’m so sorry.” 

“Come here.” Armand opens his arms and both Albert and Val fold into them. Barbara smiles and clasps her hands in happiness. The senator looks at them, utterly confused, his mouth agape. 

~~~

By changing this scene to include an apology from Val, the story can begin to take shape in a different way. Val’s requests of his parents to go back into the closet and change who they are is offensive and homophobic in many ways. Of course, he should never have asked them to do this in the first place, but even by having him apologize at the end for his actions shows the audience the true damage he has done, even if most of it is played for laughs. Without this scene, it makes it seem as if Val’s requests are if not okay, still easily forgivable and unnecessary of another mention. By adding this conversation between Val and his parents, the film can convey the message of just how harmful it is to ask someone to change who they are in order to put on a front of being a “typical family” when in reality, Val’s family as it is seems to be a much better example of family values than Barbara’s. 

[ultrapoppet]

Why is iwtv discourse like this? This was a comparison of Louis's relationship with Armand and Letsta and how those two differ. The contrast in set design and placement of the books is obviously a choice.

We don't have to take the script or books as gospel. It's interesting to read what the writers wrote at different stages but ultimately there is one version of the show and the books and we can all interpret them however we want. No need to be rude.

You call Lestat's giving Louis his books to read mockingly gracious and manipulative and his annoyance that Louis chooses to read books and philosophize on morality instead of spending time with him and murder people together a microaggression. Like it has anything to do with race at all? That's your interpretation of their relationship and good for you but you're acting like it's objective truth. We see them discuss books at various points in the relationship. It goes from intellectual discussion to snarky remarks. From both of them. Louis makes fun of Lestat for not being an intellectual like him. Which is funny because we know he used to be illiterate and Louis doesn't because Louis doesn't know anything about Lestat's history. We see Armand and Louis discuss things too. And interestingly Louis is not actually interested in hearing his or others intellectual thoughts.

Same thing with Lestat mocking Claudia. Very bad parenting and he was very cruel to her in general. But again it's not a microaggression because he thinks she's dumb or cruelty just for cruelty's sake, it's obviously for a purpose, which she herself spells out for the audience, to prevent her and them from leaving. And because he doesn't want her to know about old vampires for reasons we've yet to hear. His warning about vampires in Europe was still genuine, as we see.

Everyone agrees Lestat was terrible to Louis and Claudia. But in their good moments, we at least see Letsta try to understand what Louis wants and give it to him. From what we see, Louis didn't even ask him about his family or maker or his life as a human. He threatened to leave when things started getting bad, then dragged a half-dead Claudia home to quench his guilt and put a bandaid on his shitty marriage. He stayed when she left and stewed in his misery. He chose to stay in his self-made cage instead of leaving or communicating to at least try and make his relationship better. Lestat was in control of their relationship partially because Louis was so passive in it. He stayed, he took him back and finally murdered him. Lestat deserved it but Louis's actions are not exactly a recipe for a successful marriage.

Same with Armand. Yes Louis was lied to. But he still chose to stay with a man who was complicit in murdering his daughter. He didn't even love Armand like he loved Lestat. Same as Lestat, he didn't know him that well either. And yet he chose to stay in another shitty relationship for 77 years.

Louis is a grown ass man. Things didn't just happen to him. Same as Lestat and Armand, he had choices and he made the wrong ones. The entire point of his interview is for him to make sense of everything that happened to him, while also figuring out where he went wrong. He comes to terms with vampirism, thanks Lestat for giving him the dark gift, admits he didn't use it well and wasn't a great partner either. Because unlike his fans, he recognizes that he has to take accountability for his choices to make his life better.

For all of his shortcomings, Lestat loved Louis as he was.

Even at their worst, as the books took Louis away from Lestat--the same way books had taken his mother--Lestat never took the books from Louis.

And in an effort for forgiveness, Lestat looked to gift Louis a precious tome from his favorite bookstore.

Yet Armand always kept them out of reach for fear that something else might capture Louis.

[stormlit]

❝ but you do, ❞ comes the reply, weary and resigned. armand may not love being leader, but he loves the power, at least, the control. and amalia has spent a long time feeling like a dirty little secret, the reason maître is breaking his own rules, the reason the coven hates her. that, and that she has no desire to join them. why would she? if their leader doesn't seem to fully believe in what they stand for, why should she? ❝ i will be killed if i stay here, it's inevitable. and still your power will be shaky. will you wish you had listened to me then? will you wish you had put me first? ❞ she sighs, exasperated, and adds desperately, ❝ i do not wish to die. ❞

there are a lot of things amalia does not want; fighting with an armand who stubbornly refuses to consider her concerns might have factual basis is one of them. but here they are. perhaps they have been living in the glow for too long. perhaps it's time to talk about things more seriously.

❝ why isn't it? it should be. ❞ what else is it, then, but a prison? the cell door might be unlocked, but armand is keeping himself in the tiny cage all the same. all he has to do is push it open. perhaps it's amalia's own bias pushing her to say this...but she doesn't think she's seen armand truly happy, among the coven. she wants him to be. and...she wants him to be alright with her leaving france. ❝ i know you're happy when you're with me. but i can't be everything. you deserve to do something with your life that you actually believe in. why are you following rules that make you miserable? ❞

amalia has spent decades being in control of her emotions, she has worked very hard to maintain a calm exterior. when she is angry, she lets it simmer inside her, nurses it into a grudge, plans her revenge accordingly. she doesn't snap, she doesn't get so upset that she wants to cry, she doesn't feel the hurt as though armand has dug his fingers into her chest to remove her heart. but how often does she love? how often does something matter to her this much?

❝ oh, and what would you know of trust? ❞ it's an unfair jab, amalia knows, but her tongue has become pointed, her words venom. ❝ clearly you do not trust me! ❞ how can he think she doesn't trust him, after everything? there are few people amalia trusts, in her life; she can count them on one hand. and even fewer that she loves. ❝ i want you to come with me! ❞ she whirls around; armand is closer than she was anticipating, and she nearly crashes into him. ❝ i don't want to leave you, you stupid man. ❞ softer, softer. her fingers curl into the fabric of his shirt, holding on. ❝ come with me. ❞

to acknowledge the threat is to acknowledge that his control is weakening. it acknowledges that he could not only lose control of the theatre, but he'd lose a companion in the process. to say she's in real danger is to say that it's gotten out of hand. armand presses his lips together tightly, jaw tighter to imagine that a coup could happen. would he be strong enough to punish all of them if that were the case? the theatre had far more freedom than his prior coven and at one time, he'd have said that lowered his risk, but that wasn't necessarily so.

❝ i do not take your concerns so flippantly, ❞ he argues, but he can't prove it beyond that. her life isn't meaningless to him. but caring about her life doesn't tear down the fear, as much as he would rather it did.

had the rules ever made him happy? had it ever been the point? it had never been a question of happiness or love. he had been happier with the theatre, after a time, than he'd been with the children of satan, with a more relaxed and sometimes custom take on the laws. but did he love them? he hadn't always believed in them — hell, he'd fought them as hard as he could, practically laughed in the face of them, but they became safety somewhere along the line.

he doesn't believe in them, hasn't believed in them in a long time. before lestat, before amalia. but he never could forsake them on his own.

❝ you have seen my happiness! you have seen it more in the nights shared on your rooftop or walking the boulevards than you'll ever see in the laws written centuries before i was born! ❞ but it isn't about happiness. ❝ but leading them isn't about joy. ❞

after all that's been said, he can't be shocked at her anger, nor the way her calm facade breaks into pieces in front of him. yet, he's still surprised to hear it from her, taken aback not only by her words, but by the way it seemed to hit his chest first, as if she'd physically shoved him. ❝ this doesn't feel like trust, amalia! ❞ he takes a step towards her, following. she says she loves him and while he believes it, it doesn't change the fear growing in the pit of his stomach. ❝ but that love doesn't keep you here, not when you seem more than ready to leave! ❞