#marius/armand community

[hekateinhell]

i’m so abnormal about lestat and armand communicating through the mind gift

[pandora-the-millenia]

Day 2 - The parade to the temple of Saturn

Armand in Marius Dream-Outfit…they love to play Master and Slave…

[sunnylunacy]

If "other", please comment who that other character is.

[this-world-of-beautiful-monsters]

oh the irony

[murfeelee]

IWTV INSP CC Dump - Simblreen 2024

This CC file dump includes 40 items and 1 lot (*gasp~!*) for your TS3 vampires with a penchant for being interviewed! I separated the CC into thematic zip files, in case y'all aren't interested in everything.

IWTV INSP Build Mode Dump:

EA Master Suites Fireplace REDONE (basegame)

Gold Chinoiserie Wallpaper Birds (found under Paint IIRC)

Herringbone Pattern 4 & 5 (found under Wood)

IWTV INSP Buy Mode Dump:

AikeaGuinea Sordid Cassette Tapes SEPARATED (Stackable)

Goblet Decor RECOLORABLE

IWTV S3 INSP Clapperboard Decor

TS4 to TS3 Dining Out Candle Table Light

Vinyl Record Decor (Stackable) V2

IWTV INSP Dubai Wall Art:

IWTV INSP Basquiat Painting

IWTV INSP Marius' Temptation of Amadeo Painting

IWTV INSP Rembrandt Painting

IWTV INSP Transformation Painting

IWTV INSP Lestat CAS Miniset:

Lorandia Rings Male Right REDONE (Only 4)

Simsimi Kimono ACC Unisex (SHEER)

TS4 to TS3 Gramsims Feathers as ACC (SMALLER)

TS4 to TS3 Akasha CAS Miniset:

TS4 to TS3 Akasha Crown ACC

TS4 to TS3 Akasha Dress

IWTV INSP Theatre des Vampires Ads:

IWTV INSP Baby Lulu (AMR Dollhouse Blocks) RETEX (Decor & End Table)

IWTV INSP Lestat Portrait

IWTV INSP Marquee Wall Light

IWTV INSP KHD Morris Column RETEXTURED

IWTV INSP Posters 2

IWTV INSP Posters

IWTV INSP Theatre des Vampires Wall Decal

EA Paving Fan Cobblestone GREY Terrain Paint

TS4 to TS3 Neon Letters VAMPIRES:

Neon Letter V, A, M, P, I, R, E, S (only!)

IWTV INSP Claudia CAS Miniset:

Grue SilkySunflower Mashup Hair

Peggyzone Bag ACC REDONE

IWTV INSP Mods Dump:

All Raw Fish Edible Tuning Mod (REQUIRES Nona's Custom Food Script at MTS)

EA Book Overrides for IWTV

EverlastingGarden_Books as a functional Bookshelf RETEX (IWTV INSP)

IWTV INSP Theatre des Vampires Lot:

IWTV INSP TdV Community Lot (No Visitors Allowed) for Sims 3 > Library folder

+ CC MERGED file (for Sims 3 > Mods > Packages folder)

+ Decor People MERGED file (for Sims 3 > Mods > Packages folder)

(Granthe's OMSP & Buhudain's OMSP Resizers NOT included, but still REQUIRED)

Enjoy, and Happy Simblreen!

Download (package files) : Mediafire | SimFileShare

Descriptions & preview pics under the cut:

IWTV INSP Build Mode Dump

I used these in my NOLA 1132 Rue Royale gameplay way back in 2022, and never got around to sharing them, oops.

IIRC the Chinoiserie Wallpapers are non-recolorable, but come in 2 variations of normal & albino peacocks.

I forgot what I changed about the Master Suites SP Fireplace. Probably the RGBY channels. Plus it's basegame compatible now.

And ofc you can see the Herringbone patterns, which I love using on floors. Has 3 RBG channels. Found under Wood.

IWTV INSP Buy Mode Dump & Lestat CAS Miniset

Random CC I've been using:

I separated & retextured AikeaGuinea's Sordid Cassette Tapes, and made them stackable. IDER which category they're in--use LazyDuchess' Search Mod like god intended!

"There's a GOBLET on the table!" No worries, it's only decorative & fully recolorable--the "blood" inside is fake. (In that gif you can obvs see the Gramsims Feathers as ACC--tuxedo not included, sorry. Found under Bracelets, Everyday - Outerwear, fully recolorable. And you can also see Lorandia's Rings Male Right, which I redid to only keep 4 of the 8 original rings.)

The Clapperboard comes in 2 non-recolorable variations.

The decor Vinyl Record is fully recolorable and stackable (variations come with and without the Vampire Lestat VL logo).

I made Simsimi's Kimono ACC sheer (& unisex). Found under Necklaces, fit/fat morphs, Everyday - Outerwear, fully recolorable.

The TS4 to TS3 Dining Out Candle Table Light is fully recolorable.

IWTV INSP Dubai Wall Art

Louis' Basquiat painting:

Marius' Temptation of Amadeo Painting:

Armand's (stolen) Rembrandt & Louis' Transformation paintings:

TS4 to TS3 Akasha CAS Miniset

Akasha Crown ACC found under Glasses, Hat Slider compatible, Everyday - Outerwear, fully recolorable. Akasha Dress YAF/AF, full/fat morphs, Everyday - Outerwear, fully recolorable.

IWTV INSP Theatre des Vampires Ads

I retextured the red EA Paving Fan Cobblestone Terrain Paint Grey. Found under Stone/Rock/whatever it's called.

Baby Lulu (AMR Dollhouse Blocks) RETEX (Decor & End Table). (IIRC I had to use OMSP resizers on these.)

"Who's that handsome man on the wall?" The Devil Brat Prince himself! Lestat's Portrait, found under Wall Art.

IWTV INSP KHD Morris Column RETEXTURED, Posters 1 & 2 all have the same variations, mixed with AMC's posters and the IRL posters from Grand Guignol Theatre AMC used as inspo.

Theatre des Vampires Wall Decal, recolorable.

IWTV INSP Marquee Wall Light, recolorable, comes in multiple variations. (IIRC I gave the bulbs the fullbright shader so they always glow, but I may just be sleep deprived, IDER.)

TS4 to TS3 Neon Letters VAMPIRES

Neon Letter V, A, M, P, I, R, E, S (only!)

Fully recolorable, found under Wall Lights. (IIRC I gave these the fullbright shader so they always glow, but I may just be sleep deprived, IDER.)

IWTV INSP Claudia CAS Miniset

The Grue SilkySunflower Mashup Hair is a frankenmesh of Grue's Sunflower hair and Grue's Silk hair. IIRC, uses the same recolor channels. Everyday - Outerwear, Teen - AF, etc etc. I redid the Peggyzone Bag ACC cuz the original wasn't showing up in my game. Recolorable, found under Bracelets, Everyday - Outerwear, blahblah.

IWTV INSP Mods Dump

I made the Edible Raw Fish tuning mod for 3 reasons:

Not ALL raw fish are edible for werewolves (inc. crocodiles)--thanks a lot, EA

I needed my loup-garou/Swamp!Lestat to be able to actually eat the crocodiles on my bayou lot

OF COURSE I needed a way for Saint Louis to gulp down fish instead of killing sims (especially in my IWTV Mersim AU)

Naturally, for raw fish to fill the Vampire Thirst need, my mod REQUIRES Nona's Custom Food Script at MTS.

I made yet another EA book texture default replacement, this time with EA Book Overrides for IWTV. Browse here for the in-game swatches.

There are A LOT of books in TS3, so I tried to match Anne Rice's books (including but not limited to just her vampire books), plus a couple non-Anne Rice vampire books, to TS3′s particular genres:

Academic, Generic: Daniel Molloy's Under the Burning Sky

Academic (Business): The Vampire Armand

Academic (Communications): DM's Hate & Ashbury

Academic (Fine): Blood & Gold

Athletic: Prince Lestat, The Vampire Lestat

Bar, Mixology: True Blood

Biography, Drama, Masterpiece, Non-Fiction: Interview with the Vampire

Butler: Lasher

Charisma, Fantasy: Memnoch the Devil

Cooking: Feast of All Saints

Egypt: The Mummy

English, Fiction: Dracula

Fishing: Blackwood Farm

France: The Vampire Lestat, Interview with the Vampire

Generic, China: Anne Rice's Alphabettery

Handiness: Servant of the Bones

Historical: Queen of the Damned

Horror, Masterpiece: The Vampire Chronicles (Collection)

Humor: The Vampire Lestat

Inventing: The Mummy

Logic: Daniel Molloy's A Shadow on the Skin, Hate and Ashbury, The Internet's Gavel

Martial Arts, Military: Queen of the Damned

Math, Medical, Robot, Science, SciFi, Future: Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis

Music (generic): Violin

Music (Bass, Piano, Drums): Queen of the Damned

Music (Harp): Cry to Heaven

Mystery: The Witching Hour

Photography, Street Art: Blood & Gold

Poetry: Dead Brides - Vampire Tales

Prenatal: Blackwood Farm

Recipes: AR's Alphabettery (China), Queen of the Damned (Egypt), Feast of All Saints (France)

Riding: The Wolf Gift, Wolves of Midwinter, The Vampire Lestat (Wolfkiller cover)

Romance, Trashy: Sleeping Beauty

Social: Blood Communion

Spellcraft: Merrick, The Witching Hour, Lasher

Sports, Academic (Phys): Tale of the Body Thief

Toddler, Comics, Children: Claudia's Story

Vaudeville: The Vampire Armand

I retextured EverlastingGarden's Books as a functional Bookshelf to match some of the IWTV EA Book Overrides, so it could look like sims were really pulling those books off the shelf to read. Browse the 3 swatches here.

IWTV INSP Theatre des Vampires Lot

IWTV INSP TdV Community Lot (No Visitors Allowed) for LIBRARY folder (64x64 lot IIRC--maaaaybe 50x50?)

+ CC MERGED file (for PACKAGES folder)

+ Decor People MERGED file (for PACKAGES folder)

I've hit Tumblr's photo limit, so for in-game pics of the lot, see my posts here & here.

WARNING: I have all TS3 EPs installed, plus a few SPs, and I use A LOT of EA's Store CC, so I CANNOT guarantee that this lot will look the same in your gameplay as mine, if y'all don't have the same DLC. The list of Store CC that's NOT included is here.

As a rule, Granthe's OMSP and Buhudain's OMSP Resizers are REQUIRED. I didn't include them in the Merged CC file, just in case.

__________________________________________________________

"And that's the end of it. There's nothing else!"

Enjoy, and Happy Simblreen!

Download (package files) : Mediafire | SimFileShare

[divorceblogger]

skimming the vampire armand. the show seems to pull armand’s vampiric eye colour specifically from marius’s perception of them (the violence lives on in his body). this scene takes place soon after marius purchases him from the brothel and just before he rapes him, after going into lengthy detail about armand’s physical attributes that prompted him to develop an attraction to him. ‘the universal tongue’ in question also conveys rapacious intent - marius forcibly establishes a mental connection irrespective of armand’s capacity to participate in meaningful communication; armand is in a foreign land and is incapable of any reciprocation in thought and speech at this point, and marius metaphorically penetrates his mind to lay out the identifiers of his body that he finds appealing before he assaults him.

armand’s body and identity thereafter is modelled after the future marius envisions for him when he purchases him: to develop a companion who’s receptive to his teachings and takes up his philosophies without any resistance. this is also literalised by him renaming amadeo (‘beloved of god’). the show takes this a little further - it asks you to consider the degree of racialised violence flavouring marius’s treatment of armand when he consents to exchanging his body in return for depictions of him that are intentionally modelled to be inaccurate while simultaneously forcing him to participate in scenes that convey exploitation and subservience.

[nalyra-dreaming]

I'm not sure if this is controversial, so feel free to ignore it if it could bring any negativity your way. I love lurking and reading different opinions from both book and show fans, and there's an interesting debate about whether the vampires in The Vampire Chronicles are polyamorous or monogamous. Both sides make good points, but I feel like a lot of people are influenced by their own preferences, and only a few seem impartial.

When it comes to the show, at least for the main four characters, do you think they lean more toward being polyamorous or monogamous?Also, I think some people confuse polyamory with simply having multiple relationships. Of course, the characters will have different relationships with each other and with others over time, but when I say "polyamorous," I mean something like one big throuple or more, happening at the same time.

I think they will lean more monogamous in a real relationship kind of way (feeding flings excluded), which does not preclude multiple relationships, obviously.

These vampires do have a lot of relationships - they shift, some are more consistent than others.

In the books some have "blood spouses", but those also sometimes have a "third" in their union (for example!) or open relationships - Marius later is in a relationship with Pandora and Bianca at the same time, for example.

I don't think the... lines are as hard drawn one might say, than for "us". Like, if you have eternity to figure it out, and also know you will meet the other(s) again at some point?

That changes a lot of things. I think especially towards the end of the books, where the vampire community is smaller and a lot more closely knit it ... blurs the lines somewhat, in a way. And love... only gets more, if you let it. You can love more than one person, but no love is equal, and it does not equal being "in love" either.

I think for the show they will keep to more or less monogamous settings in the end - but that doesn't mean they will not hint, nor that there won't be multiple relationships.

Next season alone there will be Lestat & Nicolas, Lestat & Gabrielle, Lestat & Armand, (maybe Marius & Armand and Marius & Lestat), and Louis and Lestat. And Armand and Daniel.

And there will be even more later on.

If you have eternity a lot of paths cross and recross, and desire and love are things these vampires are always hungry for.

[platoapproved]

riptides

by: @platoapproved & @marbleflan ship: louis/armand rating: e ch: 8 of 13 | "Seattle, 2000"

“It’s all his. All of it. This house, this sanctuary. They finally brought us over on a boat for a tour this morning. It’s his.” Something is wrong about the way Armand is speaking. A shift in his accent, his tone? No…something else. But Louis can’t make his brain work well enough to put his finger on it. Whatever it is, Louis knows that, like the long silence, it doesn’t bode well. He should have insisted on coming to Greece with Armand. They could have found a way to make it work. Now they’re on opposite sides of the world, both falling apart. “How can you be sure, baby?” Armand laughs. He keeps laughing and laughing, hysteria creeping into the sound. “You think I can’t tell the second I walk into a room if it’s his? You think he didn’t instruct me exactly how he likes his things arranged? Which furnishings please him and which don’t? The proper way for his possessions to be stored or displayed? Which colors he prefers? Which scents he uses? The way he likes his bed to be dressed?” He feels a faint pressure in his mind—nudge of something trying to get in. Louis knows that vampires can communicate telepathically across huge distances, but he and Armand have never done it before. Louis makes a crack in the barrier around his thoughts: a gap just large enough to let in whatever Armand is trying to send. The images flood in, a torrent of them tumbling one over the other. Urns, statues, mummies, carvings, tapestries, fossils, all arranged neatly on pedestals and in niches. A spectacle of ownership. Look at my parade of precious treasures stolen from exotic lands. More images. A huge bed, red velvet hangings. A taxidermy tiger with glass eyes, its dead mouth manipulated into an ostentatious snarl. Murals covering every wall in vivid colors: a jungle filled with flowers and bright coiling snakes, a lovingly-rendered naked boy with a pitcher perched on his head; a sandy desert with a caravan of camels and merchants in turbans; a harem bath scene that Louis only gets a glimpse of before he cuts the connection, too nauseous to look any longer. “Of course. Shouldn’t have asked. But Armand, what–?” He doesn’t get a chance to finish the sentence. “The murals are by him. That is his style—how he paints. The poses he favors. The way he does the shadows. I recognize it.” Louis doesn’t need to know Marius’s specific style of brushstroke to guess he is responsible for all that trash. He doesn’t say that, though, because it has just occurred to him what is wrong with Armand’s words. He’s speaking in the present tense.

-

READ IT HERE

[nightcolorz]

You know what I need? For Marius to show up at the night island for an extended visit and two time Pulitzer winner reporter Fledgling who doesn't give a fuck about hierarchy or the supposed Authority of older vampires to tell him that this is his place and no, just because Armand is his maker it doesn't make it Armand's, it was a gift thank you very much, Armand has no authority here Daniel does and Daniel doesn't want him there so goodbye

What I would give to see Daniel unleash his inner boomer and tell Marius to get off his property

And Marius, being Marius would try to order his Amadeo to reel in his creation and haven't you taught this one anything? Only for Daniel to reply that there's no one in his island with that name and if Marius insists on staying under his roof he is going to have to learn to call Armand by his actual name, the name Armand chose to keep

Marius would insist about Daniel respecting his elders and Daniel hitting him with, well, by that Logic™ we should all listen to Akasha and she called you a useless disappointment good for nothing so...

Armand would probably never stand up for himself when it comes to Marius but this version of Daniel would soooo do it for him, even if he doesn't remember falling in love with Armand, his bullshit detector would go off the second Marius says something about always wanting a student to challenge him

I need Daniel to take advantage of the fact that he can communicate mentally with Marius and Armand can't, and tell Marius that sure, Armand is over there loudly apologising for his behaviour but don't be fooled by it, Armand is going to reward this very behaviour with his blood and praise the second Marius is out, Marius thinks he knows Armand but he refuses to see how much Armand has changed, he is blinded by the version he knew once and can't see what's right in front of him, which is an Armand who doesn't need Marius, an Armand who feels uneasy around Marius, an Armand who doesn't want Marius here either

The only thing more satisfying that Daniel digging at Marius self worth would be Armand killing Marius 😉

AHHH LOVE THIS!! I love the concept of Daniel using his telepathy advantage to start shit taking Marius into his brain that is iconic asf. Boomer Daniel get off my property-ing Marius is a necessity

[deromanuscoven]

The de Romanus coven has started a blog devoted exclusively to the Marius/Armand ship

And a Community, which is aimed at everyone who loves ship, but it is by invitation, so please contact us if you are interested in being a part of it. Thank you!

[monstersinthecosmos]

Vamptember Day 22 - Music Video

{sisters of mercy - this corrosion}

// I have to shout out to @hekateinhell for birthing the concept of casting the Armand actor in Lestat's music videos LMAOOOO I borrowed it here! THANKS BABE! //

“Oh my god… Mars…”

Headlights of a passing car glow against Daniel’s skin as Marius looks across the bistro table to him. They catch his eyes just the right way.

“Yes?”

“There’s a Vevo page for Lestat now.”

Marius presses his lips together, unsure how to respond. He offers a tight smile.

“That’s nice,” he says. He twists his coffee mug against its saucer, unsure if Daniel will elaborate. Daniel’s thumbs tap against the screen of his new smart phone.

“This is fucking wild, oh my god,” he says. 

Marius leans back in his chair, breathing the humid air. Odd mix of car exhaust and coffee and confections. Human smell and sea air beneath it like a base coat. Not unpleasant, but still new to him. 

Daniel looks from his phone to Marius, then back. He finally flips it around, to show Marius the shining bright screen.

It’s… certainly Lestat there, beneath the glass. Daniel gestures with the phone, as if he wants Marius to take it, but Marius just stares at him.

The corner of his mouth twitches, like he’s about to laugh. He leans his elbow on the table and cups his jaw in his hand.

“Marius do you know what Vevo is?”

“You’ve certainly spoken a number of words out loud.”

He rolls his eyes, and the crooked smile pinches a dimple into his left cheek.

“It’s on YouTube. You know YouTube.”

Marius doesn’t dignify him with an answer, but that’s true. He has seen YouTube.

“It’s music videos and stuff.”

“Music videos.”

“Lestat’s music videos.”

Marius frowns, and looks at the screen again. 

Oh.

Oh.

He leans back in his seat—recoils, if he’s being truthful—and pulls his hands in close, away from the tiny screen. Trying not to show alarm, hoping it can pass off as disinterest, but Daniel is starting to know him a little too well. 

Perhaps we should have seen this coming. Marius knows that. He’s enjoyed this new age of digital communication, for the most part. It had been charming when Daniel had showed him a video about Classical Latin, and asked how accurate it was, and he’d enjoyed curling against Daniel on the couch to watch daylight tours of their neighborhood on their laptop. It makes sense, in this century, that the humans would begin to digitize everything. The part of Marius that considers himself a scholar is actually excited by it.

But that image beneath the glass, and the way Lestat’s body starts to move as Daniel taps the play button.

It only takes the first two notes for Marius’s hair to stand on end, and his hand flies forward to turn the volume down. 

“Let’s not be obnoxious in public,” he mumbles, as an excuse, even seated outside where there’s so much street noise. Daniel’s brow creases as he watches Marius’s face, his thoughts veiled, but it’s obvious the way he’s studying.

Odd how time can move like this. He almost expects Daniel to react the same—it wasn’t so long ago that Daniel couldn’t make sense of time at all—but he still just seems so alert, so curious. Not the way Marius feels disoriented, unsure how many decades have gone by, as if all of this were yesterday, as if Akasha were still—

Lestat struts back and forth across the screen, the lights strobing against him. The high contrast makes his skin seem like a visual effect—surely no one imagined he was truly this pale. He walks through the video set with a microphone stand, chest gleaming beneath an open leather jacket, his eyes hidden beneath large sunglasses.

It should be funny.

It was funny, Marius remembers. He remembers it playing on MTV, he remembers the way he laughed. All of it had seemed a little silly, and it was too absurd to even get mad at him. 

He reaches to take the phone from Daniel, glancing at the patrons around them. Reminding himself, quickly, that it’s the 21st century, they’re in Brazil, he’s with Daniel. Armand’s fledgling Daniel. 

The video cuts to Lestat fighting all the filthy zealots from Armand’s coven.  It had been too funny for it to hurt, back then, and even now it lessens the blow. Something so childish, imagining the two of them. Imaging Lestat shuffling through head shots, holding auditions, telling the actor exactly what he wanted.

Not an exact match, really, but the hair is styled correctly. It’s a beautiful young man. In the video, Lestat holds him by the jaw, leaning in close, singing the words almost directly into the young man’s mouth.

Marius had played this video in the Shrine for them. He can still hear it, even with he phone muted. He feels each beat, remembers the lyrics as Lestat’s lips shape each word.

The street noise is too loud all of a sudden.

He glances up the avenue, towards the dark hills on the horizon. He wonders how quickly he could be away from all of it. In the forest somewhere. 

The phone drops onto the table a little too hard, but he’s too frazzled to apologize. He runs his hands along the tops of his thighs to smooth out wrinkles that aren’t there, and counts backwards to see if it will rinse the phantom sound of Lestat’s music from his mind.

“Jeez, sorry,” Daniel says, but he’s still got that grin on his face. Amused. Marius thinks the phrase Little Shit feels appropriate, and he doesn’t hide the thought well enough. The recognition flashes on Daniel’s face as he shoves his phone into his pocket. Laughter wobbles through his voice as he squeezes Marius’s knee beneath the table in apology. “Too soon?”

[adamnablelittledevil]

Only Blood Communion and Interview With the Vampire to go now. I'll make more elaborated posts about my thoughts once I'm done with everything, but here are some of my opinions:

TVA is absolutely my favorite (I've said it before and will say it again: the most purifying cry I had in my life, it destroyed and restored me in the best possible way), TVL, TQOTD and Prince Lestat are also on my top 4, though I don't know where to place the latter on my personal ranking. The others are sort of tied and the order changes according to specific aspects. Like, Blood and Gold covers a lot of eras and places of the world, has multiple interesting characters, so it's fun in the sense there's a lot of stuff to see, even if I'm not a Marius's fan and he isn't the best narrator imo. On the other hand, something like Merrick is more packed, just her, Louis and David (and some Lestat), but I just love her as a character and the whole story of her family. I can't really choose.

Memnoch would be the last because it was the one I struggled with (tho I loved Armand on it), I thought the concept was great and I could've loved it with a more active, intense and eventful execution. Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis is second-to-last because most of the plot was dumb to me, the part that made sense was solved in an unconvincing way, I had to do a lot of suspending disbelief even for a supernatural/sci-fi story... But it was nice to have so many characters I love reunited, even if some didn't have lines, it's nice to know they're around and I enjoy the vampires having sort of a healthy little community.

Favorite character is definitely Armand, then Lestat, then Pandora, Maharet, Mekare, Flavius, Merrick, Bianca, Gabrielle, Mona, Benji, Avicus and Petronia (they didn't appear much and did awful brutal stuff, yes, but having an intersex/gender-fluid character was great and they had so much baggage I could empathize with them). Most after Armand and Lestat are tied. I don't know if I'd call Benedict a fave, but I'm somewhat attached to him (and I KNOW about those spoilers). I LOVE Vittorio and Ursula too and I hope they can appear in some shape or form on the show. I don't looooove Antoine, but he's alright to me. He just seems to be a poor/broke dude who wants to live, have friends and dedicate his existence to his hyperfixations and I can relate because same lol. I get him.

Favorite pairings (either as an OTP or brotp): Lesmand (👑👑👑), Pandora and Flavius (👑👑), Maharet and Mekare (👑, they just don't get more crowns because they don't appear as much as I wanted 😔), Armand and Benji and Sybelle (as duos and a trio), Armand and Riccardo, Armand and Bianca (pretty much Armand and everyone that isn't Marius lol), Lestat and Mona (their childish siblings-coded beef entertains me), Maharet and Jesse and Vittorio and Ursula (👑👑). I wish I had seen more of some characters/dynamics, tho.

MAYBE I could tolerate Marius and even love Magnus (he seems to have a sad and interesting story) if all I'd seen of them had been the content of the last trilogy, but given the previous books, I'm not sure I can enjoy Anne's decisions. I have a lot of mixed feelings about Magnus apologizing and Marius's behavior not even being seen as something to apologize for in the first place, but that's for another post.

Some of the books I would've been able to read and love with or without the show, some I only read to get information, but I'm mostly glad I'm equipped with so much of the lore now. That's not to say there aren't problematic things even for the genre that I need to compartmentalize and ignore (to some extent and not completely) for my enjoyment, because there is a lot of that, but it hasn't been a waste of time. And I'm glad I know what can happen in the future, make silly little fancasts and have events to look forward to seeing on the series. Obviously, opinions can change with the next books, when I re-read the novels or even with conversations and discussions... And that makes me excited as well.

[pandora-the-millenia]

Day 1 - Strene (Gift) - Daniel makes himself a Gift for Marius and Armand

[savagewildnerness]

What an idiot - I meant to post this to my blog, not in the community!

One thing I love about TVL book club is how afterwards your mind continues to think about things in a new way, sparked by the fascinating conversation. Now, I am aware I can overthink myself into madness. But that said...

I was thinking about Marius-Lestat-Armand...

And about how Marius immediately (well... not quite immediately, but... comparatively so) comes to Lestat's rescue, soon after he goes into The Earth, whereas he abandons Armand for centuries... It is a thing I always found hard to forgive Marius for.

But thinking on it makes me wonder whether some of leaving Armand to his own devices might not be in love for him? (If we can call the twisted thing Marius is to Armand truly love??)

Anyway, first of all, Marius clearly does see some of his self in Lestat. Secondly, had Marius not rescued Lestat at this point, Lestat may actually have died (???) he was such a young vampire to go into The Earth, that would he have ever been able to rise again without some being saving him?

But at the same time... Marius literally pulls Lestat from The Earth. He can read Lestat's thoughts, so he very well knows the level of grief and despair and aloneness and existential crisis and loss that led Lestat to Go Into The Earth. But what does Marius do? Yes, he takes him home and gives him knowledge, as curious Lestat has been requesting... but also, he shows him Those Who Must Be Kept with no warning to Lestat about what he is about to be confronted by; with zero prior explanation... and when Lestat is indeed horrified and desperate to escape, Marius forces him to stay and to greet Those Who Must Be Kept more fully and more personally/intimately and reverently; almost as if knowing he once stirred Akasha, he may hope his mini-me (as he perceives Lestat) might do similarly?

Maybe Marius is desperate by this point? None of us can truly imagine existing for 1800 years, let alone caring for the sentient but unresponsive beings that are Those Who Must Be Kept for all of that time, and the challenge/burden of that. And maybe Marius is so accustomed to them that he cannot himself comprehend the full horror of them. Maybe in seeing himself in Lestat e forgets that Lestat at this time has still only existed for 30 mortal years - not as long as Marius had when he was first made a vampire?

But anyway - Armand. What would it have done to Armand's mind to see Those Who Must Be Kept. Armand has a very different mind to Lestat and Maruis (and I do not believe Lestat and Marius are as alike as Marius would like to believe, or would like Lestat to believe either, but that aside...). I was thinking how to Know Those Who Must Be Kept might have driven Armand to a scenario like in Memnoch The Devil, potentially. And so, perhaps in part, keeping Armand away from that *was* a protection. Not all minds can bear the vast *unknowing* that is what Those Who Must Be Kept are. Lestat is always questioning until he reaches the level of existential crisis and even he can barely cope.

I'm not sure exactly what I'm asking/saying here. It's as simple as that really I guess - in staying away from Armand, is Marius in part actually trying to protect him? In bringing Lestat to see Those Who Must Be Kept, is Marius in part actually not doing Lestat a kindness, but rather doing damage - either as he simply sees himself too much in Lestat or as he doesn't personally know Lestat yet, so he can be curious about him without worrying about him as he must one he already loves?

I have MANY confused thoughts on Marius. Including how he likes to portray himself as a lover of humans as Lestat does... yet even as a mortal he doesn't actually talk about any love in his life, or anyone loving him or being close emotionally to anyone. Rather he gets joy from intellectually observing humans and collecting interesting people who he keeps at arm's length... That couldn't be less Lestat. And Lestat loves that Marius is A Immortal Man... yet, actually this is way less human than vampires Lestat has been around - it's a way less human position than Armand or Nicki, really - no? Where he currently resides, the way he is connected to the humans there is that they think Marius A God. That's not in any way existing amid society in how Lestat desires.

And yet, Marius is SO old, could he be another way?

I also wonder, with the themes in Rolin's adaption of IWTV, the ways they could like Marius being born at literally the start of Western Civilisation with the fact that had Events at that time gone differently, Civilisation as we know it would literally have been ENTIRELY different than it is now. It would be so interesting, I feel if they could. Though I cannot quite think how they could do it.

HMM... I started on Is Marius actually trying to protect Armand by staying away from him and ended on Let's think about how The Entire Centre of Modern Civilisation would be utterly different if things had been different in Marius' mortal days....

And it isn't even 8am yet on a Monday morning... hahahahahaha!

Well... NOW it is 7am on Wednesday and you can tell HOW TIRED I AM AT THIS POINT IN THE YEAR in that it took me 48 hours to even notice I posted this in the wrong place.

When can I go into The Earth and simply sleep. Rest. ????? *shame bell*

[this-world-of-beautiful-monsters]

it is funny how Anne Rice constantly refers back to TVL via the text of TVA because she seems to have like. forgotten that she described Armand's recollection of his and Marius's first TVL meeting like this

as opposed to how she had him to describe it in TVA, like this

like I guess plot-wise it's not that big a difference because Armand ends up loving and trusting Marius regardless, but it feels pretty jarring to flip back from Andrei/Amadeo trusting Marius as a divine figure on sight to the older version of the story where he freaks out and begs not to be sold, begs to stay in the brothel, only to be more or less drained into submission.

like the most cynical version of what happened here is what I've seen described as Anne's push to make Marius a more palatable character, at least by her standards of palatable (kind of funny considering amc's full-steam-ahead push in the opposite direction twenty years later). there's also the significantly increased Christian element, which makes sense since Memnoch the Devil also deals a lot with her journey back to that faith and how she works it out in her writing. in-universe I guess you could just use the catch-all of "unreliable narrator," even theorize that TVL is less accurate because it's being conveyed by Lestat--but then again, all of TVA is being conveyed by David via transcription, so. the TVL version has the advantage of being more stream-of-consciousness, something that Armand's communicating in a mess of telepathic images instead of deliberately chosen words. Marius's return could be a factor here; Armand thought he was dead in TVL and has figured out he's alive by TVA, so his memories shift to a more positive light in response, perhaps out of fear (although he does talk shit about Marius plenty in this book) or his desire to reconnect, to present their relationship as fated and holy from the beginning. and he's committed enough to this reality that he doesn't even acknowledge the alternate version, if only to criticize it like he does with other parts of TVL elsewhere.

ntm that even if this is just because Anne forgot/retconned here, it's still an inadvertent foreshadow to the way show!Armand seems to have been deliberately written with difficulties in consistently remembering his backstory (the being sold/run down thing, as I've mentioned before). it'll be interesting (in a fucked up way) to see whether that instability extends to his memories of Marius and their relationship, especially in regards to the inevitable revelation that Marius is still alive.

[ghostpaynes]

Hey I love Loumand (not as much as other things but I do) but I think it's fucking weird we just seem to fall people wrong when they say Louis calling Armand Arun was weird.

Like the way it's framed is that Armand told Louis his trauma in a moment of trust and Louis went and used it against him.

There was no consent there.

Like I don't think Armand had that big of a problem with it but also if he did he probably just internalized it. He has been conditioned in certain ways that he just doesn't know how to communicate properly about it and just goes along with it.

It just feels like a lack of consent.

And yeah okay Armand probably started it but at the same time his thing did not directly involved using something from a time Louis was going threw trauma. Like as Arun he was abused and sa'd and that can't bring up good memories.

And this is not to hate on Louis and definitely not loumand because to me the issue is that to a degree they both loved each other but lacked the communication to speak in healthy ways.

Idk though if y'all wanna have a polite discussion feel free too

Edit to add guys yes I am aware Arun is his original name not the name that Marius gave him. I more in mind had the memories of what he went threw before meeting Marius which was also a very traumatic time

And listening to the comments changed what I saw anyways I'm just keeping this up for conversation and so maybe others can see and have their minds changed as well because y'all were polite and appreciated