#the difference is that marius wanted armand and had him

[confirmeddead]

I really try not to be delusional about stuff because I hate being disappointed, but the Daniel in Talamasca news? I’m excited. If he’s going quid pro quo with the Talamasca, what could he possibly need?

He has the vampire network, countless resources and money now, right?

It would make sense if he were looking for Armand. Louis wouldn’t help him, of course. He has to do the leg work himself… with a little help from the Talamasca (sound familiar?)

If a vampire wants to disappear, they can. I mean, look at Marius. Armand had no idea he was alive for nearly 500 years!

What can Daniel gain from the Talamasca? History.

They have Armand’s full history as well as eyes and ears in different reaches of the world. Daniel can’t hear Armand, but maybe others could.

Daniel’s post-IWTV book project is the Lestat project but I hope this is his side quest behind the scenes.

[thelioncourts]

+

[mmelolabelle]

Armand is someone who has been has been trained (in brothels, by Marius, and by 500+ years worth of life experience) to adapt himself to what the people around him want. Throughout seasons 1-2, different people get very different versions of Armand, depending on who they are and who’s retelling the story at the time.

It’s the primary way Armand protects himself, whether he’s a teenage sex slave or the oldest, strongest person in the room. It’s how he controls people. Fundamentally, it’s the only way Armand knows to make people love him (an approximation of love at least). Worse, it’s the only way Armand knows how to love — by twisting and contorting himself into whatever form he thinks his current obsession wants or needs him to be. He even does it to his victims for crying out loud.

And then here’s Daniel, who is constantly seeking authenticity and truth. Who’s bullshit detector is never “off”. Who cannot tolerate any kind of masquerade, manipulation or lie – no matter how kind or well intentioned. Not out of any moral or ethical objection, but because Daniel simply cannot leave things well enough alone once something attracts his attention. He has to know. He has to see where it goes and how it ends.

“It’s my job, I’m built this way”

“It’s in your nature, Mr Molloy. Couldn’t get out the door without lobbing one more bomb.”

Daniel knew something was off about “Rashid” from the beginning, so he began to pick the situation in Dubai apart until Armand revealed himself. And then he kept going until he completely destroyed the narrative Armand had spent 77 years constructing.

Daniel deliberately and systematically pulled “Armand, Amadeo, Arun” apart and laid him bare with nothing but but a laptop, some free time, a near-suicidal disregard for his own personal safety and a mouth that just wouldn’t quit.

There’s power in being seen, in being known, ugly parts and all. What would it feel like, to be completely exposed like that for the first time in centuries?

So yeah it makes sense to me that Armand, who puts on all these acts and artifices to draw people in, but which only serve to ensure they’re kept at a distance, would turn his big sad orange eyes on the person who blew them all to smithereens and be all “…I wanna do this forever, actually.”

[lady-phasma]

Martyrdom

The Vampire Armand x gn!reader

Warnings: not that many really, tragically over-dramatic comfort, implied canon trauma if you know a little about Armand’s history (book or series)

Summary: 1k words of 🥺 and comforting our beautiful monster.

a/n: so yeah, I had to work out some stuff between 2.07 and 2.08 because Armand needs some comfort. This is the most melodramatic thing I have ever written. This was going to be fem!reader but then it really wasn’t important to the comfort so it became gn!reader.

Armand didn’t stir as you walked in. His head was bowed, iPad balanced in one hand, tapping at the screen with the other. His dark curls framed his face. You knew he heard you, of course he did, but whatever was happening on his tablet was engrossing. You walked behind the sofa and rested your head on his shoulder. A glance at the screen showed you an online art auction. You smiled as you leaned down to kiss his neck, ear, and cheek. His singular focus wasn’t unusual but when you looked back at his iPad you saw the thumbnail and item description.

The Martyrdom of St. Sebastian - Marius de Romanus

You straightened up and let your hand linger on his shoulder for a moment. He wouldn’t move from that spot until he owned the painting.

When the bidding was closed he found you in the bedroom on your own iPad. You looked up as he walked in. The blank expression he wore was a familiar sight. He didn’t look sad or dejected as others might. Sometimes he simply didn’t emote. But his eyes would betray him. He didn’t make eye contact with you right away. However, he wouldn’t have come to you if he wanted to be alone.

He thought often, spoke less, about broken things, people he had loved. He rarely spoke of those who had broken him. Sometimes you caught a glimpse of him when he felt unobserved and the vacancy in his eyes would be filled with regret and remorse.

“You own a new painting?” You asked with no inflection. You closed the iPad’s cover and set it on the night stand as he sat on his side of the bed. His back was to you, shoulders stiff.

“Yes.”

“When will it arrive?” You didn’t really need to know, but wanted him to know you understood the significance.

“Approximately 4-6 weeks,” his tone was flat. “Possibly sooner.”

“When was the last time you saw it?”

“500 years ago, give or take.”

“‘Give or take?’” He couldn’t see your raised brows.

“492, I believe.” His shoulders slumped slightly.

“What’s the provenance?” You didn’t expect him to answer.

“Venice, Milan, Prague, a few years unaccounted for, then Berlin,” his tone had changed. Rather, there was now tone to his words. The mildest hint of pain colored the city names. It had changed so many hands. It wasn’t rare for a painting to have been sold before the fire. It was the nature of the painting and who you could assume may have commissioned it, that concerned you. Possibly it was for the Church, but more likely for a private patron. Even so, had it been in a church, a museum? Hundreds of eyes moved by the martyrdom of a real boy who they would never think about. Did they even think of the model for Sebastian at all or only of the saint and his ecstasy? If Armand had wanted you to know that a public institution had once held it he would have said. You didn’t press.

You watched him as he slipped off his shoes and turned to sit more comfortably. His long fingers toyed with the crease of his pant leg. He stared off, looking at nothing, for a moment. Then he turned to you. Your heart ached for him. It did from time to time when he would casually mention something from his past, but this was different. You had only seen an expression like this a couple times before. You looked at him, unsmiling, but with a soft gaze, no judgement. For a moment he looked as if he would speak then he closed his mouth, his lips forming a tight line.

Armand wanted to tell you about the nausea he felt, a peculiar feeling, increasingly rare at his age, when the alert had appeared on his phone. He wanted to tell you that he even had an alert for Marius’s name, but he couldn’t. He had never told you everything, there was far too much to tell. But he had told you the broad strokes. He felt he might never tell anyone all of the details, those he could remember, except in the rare moments of weakness when he was jealous of Louis’s and Lestat’s ability to reveal everything.

You sat up straighter and moved toward him. You gently touched his face. He leaned into your hand as you cupped his cheek. His brow furrowed slightly and he closed his eyes. You stroked his cheek with your thumb. You let your hand slide down to his neck. He sighed quietly and when he opened his eyes to look at you, he became every bit the ancient creature trapped in a young man’s body. Every wrong done, every hurt inflicted, every lie told, by him and to him, turbulent beneath his ageless façade. Over 500 years of mistakes, violence, atonement, none of it truly forgotten.

Your fingers gently caressed the back of his neck as you held his gaze. You couldn’t conceal the expression on your face, the compassion and disconsolation. Slowly you moved your hand to his shoulder and guided him toward you. Armand gave in. He rested his head in your lap, his body folded up alongside your outstretched legs. You leaned back against the pillows and headboard. One hand automatically began stroking his hair, smoothing it back from his face. The other lay against his back, making small circles with your fingers against his shoulder blade.

He felt his shoulders relax first, then the tightness in his chest began to fade. He hadn’t realized tears had started to well in his eyes until he closed them. None came, but he was unsure how long they would stay away this time. He sighed heavily and let himself soften against you. Your steady, consistent movements were a balm to the raging of conflicting emotions inside him. He would think of them another day, perhaps when the painting arrived. Now, in this moment, he could rest.

Note about the painting: The Martyrdom of St. Sebastian, Marco Basaiti (active 1496-1530 in Venice), located in Santa Maria della Salute, Venice

Masterlist

[alleyskywalker]

Endearment? Endearment?? Armand… No ok but this is kinda insane, and it has layers too because… So, obviously it’s wild to call this…kind of disturbing title, that just screams power, an endearment. But we know Armand longs to be loved. Whether he fully admits it to himself of not, but he probably wants to be called by an endearment now and again, an expression of love and devotion that’s tangible and easily accessible, clearly expressed. But who is there to call him by an endearment? He’s got no family (as most vampires), no companion for centuries now, not even any particularly close friend(s). Given the rank difference between him and the coven members, it’s also unlikely that he would be forming those kind of intimate bonds with any of them – like, yea sure, they’re all fucking each other, but that’s surface, and they were probably still calling him Maitre then. And at the same time, the coven is the closest he’s got to family/friends. So if he can just kind of refrain Maitre as an endearment – consciously or not – it fills that hole a little. It’s a title, yes, but also a name signaling not just power dynamics but closeness and devotion, from the only people who are in any way positioned to offer him that (even if in reality they don’t). He just needs this so much, he’ll pretend.

On another layer…the fact that Armand is even capable of reframing this as an endearment at all… Seems to speak to his history and the relationship with Marius. How the last (and only?) time that he felt loved, cared for and safe was with Marius (as fucked up as that relationship was – Armand’s coping mechanisms include romanticizing the abuse). And he would have referred to Marius as Master – Maitre. Also a title, but within the context there it became something of an endearment too, and that conflation would be perpetuated by the fact that that’s what Armand called the last person who offered him at least the illusion of love and care, the closest he ever had to those things at any rate. (Like especially with show!Armand whose own parents sold him into slavery, etc.)

But then also the last layer of the dynamic with Louis and how the whole “call me Armand” thing functions as a weird double-edged sword. Like…in a normal circumstance, someone saying, “you don’t need to use my title just call me by name” would be a sign of closeness, an invitation toward intimacy. And in some ways, it still is here. Louis functions outside of Armand’s norma structures, he’s different. He’s special. But given the context that he’s just called his an endearment and the coven being the closest substitute for a family/friendship group…imagine calling someone by a nickname their family/friends use and they ask you to call them by their full name. That creates distance – we don’t have that kind of relationship yet. And as they’ve only just met, that would make sense… It’s especially interesting in relation to the bench scene, the scene where they commit (recommit in Armand’s case?) to each other, and Armand calls Louis Maitre for the first time. Agh I love them, they’re just so much.

[heliza24]

Armand and Unbreakable Cycles

So (perhaps unsurprisingly at this point) I have a TON of Armand thoughts after yesterday’s episode. Specifically I want to talk about the function of the 1790s section, and how it perfectly illuminates the cycle of maladaptive behavior that Armand is caught up in and the difference between his stated wants and his actual needs. I think the setup we saw in this episode will also be crucial to understanding how Dubai plays out, so I want to talk about that too.

I know a lot of people love the show and TVC because of Lestat, and there’s some frustration that Lestat was presented in a way that was untrue or filtered. But I really think you have to view this episode as a lens into Armand, which we in turn need in order to understand Louis. Everyone has someone similar to Lestat’s role in Armand’s life; an ex or a situationship or a former friend who takes up so much real estate in your brain because of their outsized impact  on you, who probably never thinks of you in return. We give these people a role in the story we craft of how we became who we are. That narrativizing is kind of the only way to understand yourself and survive (especially if you’re going to live forever). So I don’t doubt that there are things that Armand says that are untrue, or exaggerated, or twisted in his favor. But I do think the important part is the emotional impact his encounter with Lestat had on him, and I do think he’s being honest about those emotions.

(That being said I am of course very excited to see these events play out again in season 3 from Lestat’s POV. Don’t fuck it up AMC!!!)

The main thing that the flashback does is set up the cycle that Armand finds himself in over and over again. He consistently finds himself clinging to control in an institution he is starting to lose faith in, and is then shaken out of his complacency by a new love that seems– falsely– to rescue him.

Depending on how they adapt his very early backstory, I think we can probably assume that this pattern started in childhood for him. Marius rescued him from being forced into sex work, and seemed to offer a much better life. But in reality he was just grooming Armand. (Thanks @toriangeli for correcting a piece of my Marius lore here!)

In Paris he continues maintaining a strictly enforced life of misery for the coven long after he stops believing in it himself, and (by his telling at least) he was grateful to Lestat for having the strength to end it when he could not. It’s so clear why Armand falls for Lestat. Lestat’s refusal to live in shame, his love of the arts, his ability to exist amongst humanity (at least when he is on stage). Lestat is of the world, while Armand and the coven hide from it. 

The reason I think it is so important that we got to see this play out in Paris is the way it illuminates the sometimes tricky relationship between Louis and Armand. Once again, Armand is the head of an institution that operates on strict and oppressive rules. Once again, we can feel Armand’s enthusiasm for this system waning (and see it reflected physically in the lack of ticket sales and general shabbiness of the theatre). And once again, Armand is swept off his feet by this new vampire who refuses to join, who loves humanity, and who has a passion for art. Louis is very much of the world. He refuses to be pinned down into coven life. Armand can’t resist taking what looks like the opportunity for escape in Louis’s love. 

What I think is so fascinating about this cycle is that it allows Armand to remain passive. He never has to be the one to make the hard call to walk away from a kind of life that is no longer serving him. He just has to wait for the next gorgeous man to arrive to deliver him.  As he says to Louis, “those with the most power are often the weakest”. His status and power in the coven prevents him from changing his own life. Or at least that’s what he believes. 

Thinking about this helped me understand the dynamic of what goes down in the sewers, when Armand threatens Louis’s life. Assad says in the behind the scenes clips that Armand goes into that encounter very set on killing Louis, and I believe him.  So I rewatched it a couple of times trying to understand when, and why, Armand changes his mind. The shift occurs when they start talking about Claudia, and Armand says that her mind will break apart soon because she was made too young. Louis says “you don’t know her,” and Armand responds, “I don’t have to. I’ve seen it before. I’ve seen too much.” That admission– I’ve lived through this cycle multiple times before, it is painful, and I don’t want to do it again– is what shifts Armand from being ready to kill Louis to letting him go. 

There is of course an irony here; mentally ill and child vampires do not necessarily need to go mad. Generally they go mad at least partially because of Armand’s actions. And as we’ve already discussed, Armand going to sleep with Louis instead of killing him is really just a repeat of his actions with Lestat. He isn’t really breaking a cycle at all. But I think in that moment he believes that he is. Maybe he even believes that by being with a man who enacted great violence on Lestat, he can drown out the love and anguish he still feels about Lestat. At the very least, Louis has also loved Lestat and can therefore understand Armand’s narration of his own life in a way that not many other people can. 

Ok, so now we are caught up on the past. Let’s talk about Dubai, and how once again Armand is engaged in the exact same cycle of behavior.

The penthouse is Armand’s new coven. He maintains perfect order by controlling the physical environment and shaping Louis’s moods and memories. But just like before, this way of life is no longer serving Armand (or Louis for that matter). You can see that the spark between them has died, only rekindled as a kind of performance when they are in front of Daniel. When Armand is telling Daniel about Lestat destroying the coven, and Daniel accuses Armand of leading Lestat to the coven intentionally… he might as well be talking about himself. Armand has let Daniel into his fortress, and there is at least a part of him that wants whatever destruction Daniel is about to bring into his life.

Daniel fits Armand’s type completely. Daniel is of course more human than Lestat or Louis could ever be. He knows about telenovelas and Bollywood and all other types of art. He’s whipsmart and inquisitive and is not going to let Armand get away with passively maintaining his old order. He’s of the world in a way that Armand finds irresistible. 

I specifically found it interesting how many of the “Great Laws” Armand would be breaking by being with Daniel. Granted, Armand isn’t in the coven anymore when he meets Daniel. But I imagine old habits are hard to break, and being with Daniel would break almost all of them. Daniel is a mortal Armand has revealed his true nature to and allowed to live, Daniel has written about and exposed vampire secrets, and (if we’re looking at book canon) Daniel begs for the dark gift himself, a thing only the maitre is supposed to be able to approve. 

Assuming that a chunk of Devil’s Minion did happen in the 1970s, something interrupted that love affair, before it could settle back down into a new but still oppressive status quo. Something prompted Armand to actively break his pattern of behavior and erase Daniel’s memories. I think it’s impossible not to think about Nicki’s example here, especially after seeing the 1790s flashback. I’m going to assume that 1970s Daniel was struggling with addiction and mental health issues in a way that may have been reminiscent of Nicki. How intentional was Armand in withdrawing because he saw what vampire involvement- his involvement- did to Nicki? How much was his treatment of Daniel a reparation for past mistakes he made?

These last couple of paragraphs are speculation, really, because we won’t know exactly what Armandaniel looked like until Ep 5. But I think it was crucial that we saw this part of Armand’s story before we see San Francisco, because his actions with Daniel will make more sense if we can compare them with the love affairs of Armand’s past.

Regardless, I do think the disparity between what Armand claims to want (maintaining the status quo) vs what he actually wants (to be liberated by a romantic partner) vs what I think he actually needs (to take action himself, instead of waiting for someone to do it for him) is going to play a role in the way Dubai unfolds. I don’t know that Armand will ever get to the point where he’s actively able to break out of the cycle he’s in, because this is Interview with the Vampire, the show of fucked up gothic romances. Vampire life is a series of bad decisions! It’s a weird arrested development you never quite get out of despite living for forever! So it would make total sense if the ending of Dubai mimics the ending of the Children of Satan and the Paris Coven in an unhealthy way. But regardless, it’s gonna be a fun ride, and I can’t wait to see it.

[nalyra-dreaming]

I've seen the episode!!!

(Some comments and) SPOILERS!!!!

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Louis saying it was a betrayal and that he wants to be punished for it just when he finds happiness again via a hallucination of Lestat is so... ugh. Louis, honey, god. Also him imagining Lestat biting him - as a punishment, but he also wants it so badly, baring his neck, not trying to fight it, offering himself up there, he just wants the connection so badly. 😭 And god, Louis having Lestat call him out on his own denial. Damn. And Louis knowing he invited this Lestat as a distraction.

Also... that was definitely foreshadowing to how Louis will think the trial went.

And of course it would be a bat. Of course.™

Claudia driving them onwards, not giving one shit is just... incredible. Delainey is Claudia.

I was also right that she honed her senses and available gifts, more than Louis has his (which fits)

Daniel calling their plight the hunt for Moby Dick

Claudia is also... beautifully hopeful, and thereby almost desperately (intentionally) naive. She just wants to connect, so badly. To find more of their kind. And closes her eyes to what she sees. *deep sigh*

That "Adam and Even and God" comment was hilarious. Oh man, I cannot wait to see what the show will make of / with QotD and Memnoch etc.

Not only is Louis aware of forgotten memories now, he actively pursues them, and he has apparently read the missing pages before. And knows he has forgotten.

Claudia's diaries are unreliable, too (as predicted). Also, Louis correcting his own tale there, lol. Also: Armand‘s look and suggestion there.

Daniel and his little speech as to how he works… you go Daniel. “Here’s almost all the story“ lol

“Human affairs“

The revenants.... "the blood is bad here" *shivers* - I BET that's already setting up the "turning fails" arc with Amel, right there

God that old vampire connecting with Claudia, and then throwing herself into the fire in despair. God.

Morgan's arc was nicely condensed, the scene fittingly horrific

I live for Claudia speaking all the languages, but I noticed some of the subtitles were wrong

Whoever doubted DM happening... well. Sorry, but I AM seeing it. The looks, the smirks, the bitching.

Also "real Rashid" (lmao) - who, btw, does not wear a mask! What if the encounter with Eudoxia Marius had went differently and this is Rashid?

... someone wanting to buy a tryptich they haven't even put up for sale... *coughs* Marius? *coughs* (I mean, who else would know they have it? Or the Talamasca, maybe)

God that Dubai bedroom screams cage. And Armand controlling even the lights with his little iPad. Someone edit a blender into a screenshot of that scene.

The look Lestat gives Claudia at that last part of Louis' little speech. Devastating.

Also: the "I do I do I do I do I do"... Louis. Sweetie. I mean, I get it, but still.

Armand's comment that the boy from San Francisco is still in Daniel. Now if that is not foreshadowing.

A propos foreshadowing: Louis saying he will not choose the fire while Claudia walks the earth. *help*

"We cannot be the only good ones". Yeah... about that. -.-

Louis being so relieved that what Claudia wrote was not the truth

The. Score.

Louis pacifying Armand there with the little touches at the end. LOL (the whole setup makes me wonder if ARMAND has also forgotten some things btw). Also that little thank you kiss

The Groan. Once more seemingly when Armand is displeased, so it could be a metaphysical manifestation after all, especially since Louis seems to comment on it. (It could also be a red herring, we'll see.)

Daniel‘s “we‘ll get to you“ to Armand (lol)

Louis‘ guilty look to Lestat when he tries to pep talk Claudia 😭

EDIT: there were two very short flahback scenes with a comment to memory, which is setting up the big one later, no doubt about it, ugh

I legit teared up so often.

I have missed them all so much.

It's all I wanted, and more. Cannot wait to scream about it with everyone.

Also, last but not least: can I just say how glad I am our writers are playwrights.

[chaotic-multi-fandom]

WHERE DOES IT START? ARUN, AMADEO, ARMAND

- My personal reflections on Armand's names in Interview with the Vampire (show version)

“Who am I Louis?” Armand asks while staring at a painting of a boy that only he would ever be able to recognize as himself. He stares at what is supposed to be his essence captured forever on a canvas, and yet the kneeling boy is a stranger to him. When he asks Louis this, he is earnest. Armand does not know who he is, and this lack of identity crushes and torments him. Armand seems to constantly define himself by his attachment to other people or things, such as a “servant”, as “the job (he) did not want” or as someone’s “companion” because he has never known anything else, he is never just “Armand;” he does not know who that is.

This is further reflected in his names, and the fact that despite having several none belong to him. First there’s Arun. This is supposedly the name he was born with, but even he is not sure of this due to his memory being clouded as a consequence all the horrors he suffered as a child. This name is not his, it is a name so linked to the abuse he endured that it has become the name of said abuse rather than the name of a person. His use of third person when talking about himself as “Arun” signals both a coping mechanism to distance himself from those experiences as well as the disconnect he feels from the identity attached to the name.

Then, there’s Amadeo. A name given to him by Marius, not only linking him directly with his maker and master but with God and worship, the name meaning “lover of god”. This name is also not his, but rather a projection of what Marius saw or expected in Armand. This is what we see in the painting, an ideal: a submissive, worshipful, whitewashed Armand degraded to kneel at the same level as the dog behind him, “basking in (his) worshipful mercy.” Regardless of how Armand did embody this role of worship and servitude during his time with Marius, that painting is not him, it is the fantasized construct that is Amadeo, who doesn’t really exist. When you think about it, Amadeo being a projection of those around him is not entirely different to “dreamstat” being a projection of Louis. This is of course largely my own interpretation and not fact, but I think anyone can agree that who is being portrayed in that painting is Armand only in name. It is simply another example of his body being used for a purpose, an artistic one in this case, his true essence and even features entirely forgotten and replaced by Amadeo’s. So, that name and the identity attached to it wasn’t entirely Armand’s either. Much like “Arun” being tied to his parents abandon and the brothel, Amadeo is trapped in the painting: just another property to be “sold” or “donated;” what Armand has always been treated as.

Finally, there is the name we call him by now: Armand. A name given to him by the Roman coven before sending him to the Paris coven, a collective that he is now supposed to lead and put before himself as an individual. It is a French name, a place he had no connection to before-hand and that only further distances him from who he might have once been, forcing him to adapt and assimilate into the new role he has been chained to. The name is a role in itself, as it means “soldier.” Furthermore, he is not a simple leader to this coven, he is the somewhat paternal and religious figure through which the coven; his “children,” serve Satan and through him, God. He is part of a “murky trinity” as Lestat calls it, a twisted parody of the holy trinity. So, “Armand” is once again much more than a name; it is another projection the lost and abandoned coven latches onto. Of course, they mostly refer to him as “maitre,” the implications of which I’ve already discussed in a different post. In this case, the dual titles “Armand” and “Maitre” are parallel to “Amadeo,” they both link Armand to the concepts of owner and God, except the roles change from being the owned worshiper to the worshiped owner. It remains someone else’s image, someone else’s name, one that prevents Armand from exploring who he is without it.

Armand does not have a name; how can he know who he is?

Even now he seeks the answer in Louis where he will not find it. There are, however, moments in which this seemed to be challenged. For example, shortly after meeting, Armand asks Louis to address him as such instead of “maitre” as his coven does. It is a moment in which he takes agency over what he wants to be called, a privilege he has never had before. Later, Louis calls him Arun as a way to indicate that he can see the person that lies behind the roles he plays, and that he can be himself around Louis. Yet these moments are still tainted. The name Armand does not reflect who he is, and in the conversation with Louis, Armand falls into his old patterns by addressing Louis as “maitre.” Plus, Louis too will go on to misuse this, but that’s a whole other topic. These instances, though revealing a more loving and honest side to Louis’ and Armand’s relationship in which they allow themselves to be open, they can not give Armand a sense of self. No one but himself can, and yet he doesn’t know how that is. It is a tragic never-ending paradox as immortal as he.

[kuethemoon]

iwtv fanfic friday: lesbianism onto the guys

@oldbutchdaniel I'm joining the fun. it's yuri time

two-headed mother by tisiphones // e, 8.6k

"Poor darling," Armand says, and the condescension in his voice is so awful and so offensive and Lestat wants to curl up in it and never, ever leave. "It's okay to let yourself be taken care of for just one night. You can't help what you need." It's Lestat's last night in Paris. Armand makes it a memorable one.

actually world changing. mommy issues galore it's sooo fun and this fic is part of several that got me into armandstat

super graphic ultra modern girl by armanddelioncourt // e, 0.9k

“I want to watch how you insert your tampon.” “Wha—No, you weirdo,” she glanced around the mercifully-deserted aisle. “You can’t just ask me that in the store!”

yummmmmy period blood fic!!! i love period blood fics sooo much and they're so cute

More than Neither by apoptoses // e, 6.2k

Annoying, how hot it is to see Armand kneeling on the dirty bathroom floor like this. Without her heels to compensate for their height difference she looks small, delicate. Her face is on the level with Daniel’s hips and Daniel knows what’s about to happen. Armand has probably been planning for this since they stepped into the store, she realizes. There’s no way she’d catch Daniel bleeding for the first time and let that go. (Daniel gets her period. Armand helps. Written for the Queens of the Damned prompt butch/femme.)

another period blood fic pls bartender! if I tip you can add them being freaky in a public toilet? thank you very much I'll take the lot pls!! the way daniel and armand handle being women and lesbians is so well written. dyke stamp of approval. if you're starting to notice a trend don't tell me

she loves me, she loves me not by IguessIllchangeitlater // e, 2.3k

“Sure,” she panted and raised her head, tried to find Armand’s eyes, but kept focusing on her fanged smile instead. “I will wear that fucking skirt.” Push out, push in, push out, push in, Daniela was going to come just from that, she was going to die. “I can’t-ah, I can’t wear my underwear with that, I would look silly.” Push in, push out. “Yes,” Armand agreed. She rested her head on the mattress, next to Daniela’s knee and busied herself with mouthing the blood that was still there. The blood that she drew earlier. “So, what’s the plan, boss?” Daniela managed to raise herself on her elbows. Armand’s beguiled eyes looked like that of a cat in the light of the night. “For the underwear situation?” “You will wear none, of course.”

butch daniel wearing a skirt because armand said so was an idea that bounced around in my head for a whole week so you know how excited I was to read this. hell yeah they're so bad to each other

sweet things for the sea by ulatraviolet_glow // e, 2.6k

Danielle Molloy, a runaway posing as a young man on a trading ship dreams of a better life, but when her dreams find her falling overboard and into the arms of the woman of her dreams, how disturbed will Dani be when she realises that the woman is not human at all, but a creature of the sea?

siren armand do you know how much you mean to meeeeee I lay awake at night thinking of you sinfully. siren armand...

one of your girls by sleepdeprivedsurgeon // m, 4.7k

“I was thinking maybe I’d go with my girlfriend,” Daniel says. Armand sucks in a breath, a familiar blend of excitement and fever rearing its head inside him. This isn’t new— nothing is, after nearly five centuries— but it’s certainly been a while. Louis doesn’t care what he looks like, what he is, just as long as he stays below him. On his knees in the endless confessional. Marius would dress him up sometimes: Helen of Troy, Cassandra, Mary Magdalene. When the painting was finished he’d push his skirts up and take him there in the studio.

technically not yuri but beautiful feminization + crossdressing armand and I had to put it here. special treat!

[wizardpink]

Hi! Random question, but do you think the show will have Daniel call Armand "boss" now that the Maître thing happened? I know it's very prevalent in the books, but it might have different and/or interesting Implications™ in the show.

This question reminded me of one of my favorite episodes of the It's Always Sunny podcast. Stay with me here because we are going on a journey.

If there's any journalist in the world, living right now, who doesn't have a boss, it's Daniel Molloy.

There was a post recently that said something about how the point in the story where the timeline shifts the most dramatically from the books to the show is in the early 80s, when Armand DOESN'T turn Daniel into a vampire. I think that is a major part of why the Devil's Minion storyline in the show scared and angered so many fans in the finale. It's so different from the story we fell in love with! But we were so focused on Armand being different (possibly turning Daniel out of spite) that we forgot that Daniel is the one who is really different, in a really genius and wonderful departure from the books.

In the books we know human Daniel primarily as a man in his early 20s through his early 30s, but who he is in his early 30s is extremely heavily influenced by all the things that happened to him in that previous decade. Meeting Louis, meeting Armand, being pursued by Armand, and finally becoming Armand's lover.

But show Daniel had a great big reset button pressed on his life either at the end of the interview or at the end of his and Armand's romance, and he got to experience a life that book Daniel never did, and as a result it shaped him into a man that I think book Daniel always would have become, until he got derailed. And it's fascinating how BOTH paths make perfect sense even though they start at the same pivotal point!

Book Daniel meets vampires and then immediately is sucked into their world permanently. It becomes his realm as well. And in that realm are hierarchies and power dynamics that he has to exist within. He becomes subservient in ways to Armand, to Marius, etc etc. I could go on but you know what I mean.

Show Daniel however! Show Daniel meets vampires and gets pushed OUT of their world back into the world of humanity. And yes, in that realm are hierarchies and power dynamics that he has to exist within. But they're upheld by human beings! People who are no better than Daniel himself, and certainly no more frightening than the shit he's already been through whether he can remember it or not. Show Daniel pursues any story, any lead he wants no matter how dangerous or powerful the subject matter may be. He writes what he wants when he wants, and it works because he's fucking good at it. And it doesn't always work out for him! He says he's been fired and rehired, he's been nearly killed when an interview subject gets skittish or tired of his bullshit. But the point is, he went out and he made his own damn rules. He's brash and opinionated and has zero filter. He'll say whatever he wants to anyone, demand answers and truth from anyone. And no one is gonna tell him he can't. They're gonna have to drag him out of here or kill him to shut him up.

Armand and Daniel's maker/fledgling, devil/minion dynamic is going to be SO DIFFERENT from the books and yet JUST as juicy because the important things -- the love, the longing, the passion, the understanding, the recognition -- that is all still there. But I don't see 69 year old Daniel Molloy falling over himself to worship and cowtow to Armand. My DREAM is we see BOTH dynamics just to juxtapose the two, and the strife it creates as two people who once loved each other try to get back to that place now that they aren't those people anymore.

So tl;dr, yes and no. If he says it, it's going to be like, one time and so dripping with sarcasm Armand will be fighting his fangs again. If we get an earnest pet name it'll be very private I feel (as opposed to Armand who would call Daniel his beloved in line at the post office).

Also on a personal note, "boss" is so deeply unsexy. Goons and henchmen call the Joker boss, I don't want that haha. Oh and also I have like zero recollection of him calling Armand "boss" in the books, that's a detail that my brain mulched up and ate years ago I guess. So I was the wrong person to ask this. Thanks for reading though! 😂

[armandposting]

I'm gonna ramble for a while about this actually so here's a cut lol

actually this is why I struggle with fics where (usually daniel) just like. explains to armand that Venice was bad, usually rudely, and that Works somehow. I get the urge. but I think it's misunderstanding the role of this period of armands life to act like this is how to address his trauma from it. he thinks of Venice as one of the best periods of his life because it was. not only were all his material needs taken care of, which was not true in his original home, when he was enslaved, pr with the children of darkness, but he's also able to be himself in ways he wasn't in any of those other settings. he certainly was his own person at home at kiev but he also had a lot of religious and familial pressures pushing him different ways. and while enslaved and with the cult he had basically no autonomy at all. in Venice he's being abused but he also has enough space to be coming into himself in a lot of ways. marius doesn't inflict unwavering obedience. there are consequences for acting out, but amadeo can and does anyway. (I'm NOT claiming this means marius was better at parenting him than his actual parents lmao. in the books his parents love him and I have no doubt that he would have been able to act out and figure himself out at home too as he got older. but he never got to find that out and his memories of that time are fucked anyway, so that possibility is not really going to factor very strongly in his self image.) and the cult is what completely kills armand's ability to think and act independently for hundreds of years.

so my point is, acting like he can't see that what happened to him in Venice is bad is like... missing the point, from armand's point of view. even if he was to recognize what marius was doing as abuse, that's not going to negate all of the other good parts about that time. and it's not going to negate that, even though he only existed for a few years, amadeo is the most developed in his personhood that armand is ever allowed to be until post-paris when he's finally independent again. thinking about andrei/arun, amadeo, and armand as splintered bits of personality, which I generally do, amadeo's influence is ESSENTIAL to that mix. andrei/arun exists in a fog, almost impossible to access, and even if he didnt, he was never more than a child. armand is tortured, indoctrinated, traumatized, and eventually, free of the structures that did all that, doesn't really know who he is. amadeo knew who he was and what he wanted. amadeo, while a teenager, was just starting manhood and saw himself as a fully developed man. he had friends and family and loved ones and a relative amount of freedom and safety. he was comfortable fighting for what he wanted and fighting back when he was upset. armand NEEDS some part of him who feels that way in order to get back to that place as an independent person. so of course he's never going to view Venice as unequivocally bad. because it wasn't! from his own perspective, it's not like he's viewing that time through THAT unrealistic a lens. it's really just that the rest of his life has either been That Bad or he doesn't remember it.

[nightcolorz]

Prompt: for whatever reason (cursed object, vengeful witch, wrong wish to a djin, whatever) Armand is human and his memories are only until the point where he got the mortal wound

He doesn't remember ever being a vampire, now he is in a strange place where strange magical things are everywhere (the elevator, the TV, cars, the blender...) and he doesn't know how he got here, doesn't recognise the strange old looking man nor does he understand his language but it is clear to him that he is like the Master

He is confused and scared but the man who is like the Master seems kind and he looks at him with love on his lilac eyes, he is very confused when the man doesn't respond to his advances and fears he'll be put out in the streets to fend for himself in this strange land so he tries extra hard to seduce the stranger

THIS IS SUCH A GOOD CONCEPT I NEED THIS FIC!!!

I loooveee fic concepts like this. Human Armand (Amadeo) is also like, so much of a different character than *The Vampire Armand*. Armand is incredibly resigned and self victimizing and weak willed, and Amadeo is a bad bitch who takes no shit. This little shit mocks the millennia yr old vampire to his face while he actively is beating the shit out of him + could rlly kill him, throws an ax through said millennia yr old vampires door cuz he’s been a dick to him, tells the performers at the party that Marius is killing people at to play funeral music as he dances around them, is a super athletic actually and a very skilled swordsman who won in a fencing battle against his violent ex to save his brothers (Assad zamans impressive pecks r character accurate believe it or not), responds to sexual harassment and rape threats by laughing in their faces, etc etc I could go on. My point is, I think it would be such a fun and interesting ride for Daniel to meet Amadeo, an armand who was still incredibly traumatized but hadn’t yet had his strength and agency cult indoctrinated out of him.

what’s interesting too is that Amadeo has experience with being thrust into a strange technologically advanced world full of perceived magic and devils work, that’s how he thought of Venice when he was sold there, and I think he would be able to adapt to it unusually well considering his situation. I could see an Amadeo equivalent of Armand’s technology explorations and blender experiments happening 100%. And he would 1000%% attach himself to Daniel and get weird and panicky over it. The idea of him trying to seduce Daniel to get himself security and failing bcus Daniel doesnt want to have sex with someone in such a vulnerable position and neither of them r either to communicate their perspective is heartbreaking 😭 but so character accurate. I imagine Amadeo would be confused by Daniel is refusing his offer of sex but still taking care of him and offering him shelter. He’s probably anxious as hell waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Sooooo much potential here!!! Anon I rlly hope u write this cuz omg!!

[cbrownjc]

Hello!

Re the latest interview with Eric and Assad, to the question "What does Daniel make of someone like Raglan James and the Talamasca? After Louis and Armand, does anything surprise him?" Eric answered with "... I fell in love with the guy as soon as he sat down next to me in the sushi bar. He was pretty cool"

I'm not mother tongued in English, so I wanted to ask: Is Eric talking about Daniel or himself (loving to work with the actor)?

Because if he's talking about Daniel either they're going to change their relationship (probably more manipulation from Raglan) or maybe hint something else?

Like if Raglan is really Marius, would they hint at that? I know that Daniel went with Marius for some time because he went mad, but did they have a romantic relationship in the books?

Thank you for clarifying have a nice day

Hi!

So yeah, Eric is very much talking about Daniel's thought process here. And it's because of that I'm leaning more toward Justin Kirk's character not being Raglan James and actually being Marius. And any hints the show is doing that the whole Body Theif plot will happen with Daniel is just a red herring.

Because honestly, from what I've observed many book readers, including me, immediately thought Daniel would get David's Body Thief plot when it was shown that Daniel has been aged up so much. However, more and more I've begun to think that if Daniel does ever get switched into another body, it won't be done via Raglan James or that whole storyline, but in a different way (and for a different reason) completely.

Now, as to if Daniel and Marius become a couple, yes, they do. Now granted, I'm only on Chapter 15 of the Prince Lestat book right now but from what I've read of them together in that book they are very much a couple. Marius flat-out calls Daniel his companion in it.

And I also know that by the time they've split up and Daniel and Armand are back together, Marius has this moment of reflection in the book Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis where he laments having lost Daniel to Armand:

I don't know if there is any mention of Marius and Daniel's relationship in the final book, Blood Communion. So far, from what I've observed, there isn't. So I think by that point what companionship there had been between them was over by then.

So yeah, from what it looks like and what I know, Daniel and Marius do become companions -- maybe while Daniel is still healing from going mad (though them being one didn't feel like it to me when I read Blood and Gold), but they are for sure one after Daniel has recovered.

And so I think the show is very much setting up for that, if what Eric is saying about Daniel's reaction to Raglan James is what I think it is, which is actually a hint that Kirk is actually playing Marius, and Daniel's relationship with Marius. Frankly, I could already see the parallels that are being set up vis a vis Marius' relationship with Armand and Armand's relationship with Daniel. So the show already setting up for Daniel's time with Marius and what transpired during that wouldn't be a surprise to me either.

[monstersinthecosmos]

Vamptember Day 2 - Sick

{prag 83 - the devil's heart}

The blood is bad.

Tastes different, and Daniel is nauseous when he pulls away. Not like how he can still feel anxious, the way he can still worry himself sick. Nothing digests in his body anymore, not like it’s supposed to. He’d almost forgotten how it felt, and for a moment he’s back in his old life, pressing his forehead to the cool side of the toilet, eyes watering as he pukes his guts out. 

Marius is at his side in an instant, with a reassuring hand in the small of his back, silently asking if he’s all right.

“The blood was bad,” Daniel says. He wipes his hands on his thighs and looks around the club for the exits. The heat of all the grubby human life around them makes him want to gag, and he wants to leave.

Marius studies him for a moment, then his eyes drift towards the man Daniel had tasted. He’s so graceful as he follows suit—Daniel barely sees it happen, even looking for it—and Marius dabs politely at the corner of his mouth.

“There’s nothing wrong with the blood,” he says gently. 

The music throbs inside Daniel’s head, and he knows he’s sweating. The back of his throat clenches.

Marius shrugs. His face is so serene. Nothing wrong with the blood, but he doesn’t say it to be petty. Daniel feels defensive, anyway, wants to shout at him. I’m not crazy, he wants to argue. Fuck you, Marius. 

Maybe the music is too loud. Maybe it’s the nausea. But he just nods. Rubs his eyes. Marius gestures towards the back of the club and takes Daniel’s lead.

In a weird way, it reminds Daniel of Armand. Fucking dweeb. That way they can both just… fucking stare and share all their stupid mundane commentary. 

Fucking vampires. 

With Armand it used to send him into fits. It was such an easy opening to pick a fight.

Cold air blasts his face as he pushes through the back exit, into the service alley. He glances at Marius, right behind him, ears ringing as the door slams shut. The quiet is an instant balm, only hearing the thud of the bass through the brick walls. There’s traffic up ahead, and their footsteps crunch on the salt and ice, and his head feel clearer.

Part of him imagines more of Marius’s level-headed observations. I’m not picking a fight, Daniel. I’m only trying to help. You will be fine, there was nothing wrong with the blood.

If Marius is listening in to his thoughts, he doesn’t react. Daniel breathes the cold winter air and tries to mask them.

~~~

But the blood still tastes bad.

The next night, and the night after.

Daniel goes out alone, tries again. The sickness hits him before he even takes a taste, the way a pre-ritual used to do to him when he was alive. And he feels stupid, for a moment, as he sits down at the far end of the bar and leans his forehead into his hands. Silly that he’s been feeling so much better, that Marius trusts him enough to go out alone, and he’s here wishing for another confirmation that nothing is wrong. 

Feels stupid, like he needs his dad or something.

He’s sweating again, and his mouth is watering. He wonders what the bartender would do if he vomited blood all over their tip jar. 

Like, maybe it is stupid, like he needs his dad. But it is what it is. He needs his dad, huh?

“Hey, are you home?” he asks into his flip phone, a few minutes later, out on the sidewalk. He looks up the street, towards the mountain. Their house is up there, in the dark. He can see it some nights, but it’s too cloudy tonight. 

“Yes,” Marius says. “Is everything all right?”

Daniel debates running home. All the way up, like an animal. It feels good sometimes, but he thinks he doesn’t feel well enough right now. He wonders if he could get a taxi. Steal a car. Can’t remember how he got here, actually, and he panics for a moment. Slipping back into his old ways. 

Fuck.

“I’m fine, I just…” he glances up and down the street, for cameras, for witnesses, before pressing the palm of his hand to a car window. And how honest does he want to be? He tucks the hard plastic phone between his ear and his shoulder as he pushes the window down, forcing it open.  “I wanted to see you, I guess.”

Was that weird to say? He tries not to agonize over it, distracts himself by unlocking the car, letting himself inside. He’s seen Marius start these fucking things with his mind, but Daniel isn’t quite there yet. 

Marius’s voice is quiet as Daniel tears out the panel for the steering column, tossing it to the passenger seat as all the guts and wires dangle out. 

“Are you feeling all right?” he’s asking. 

“No,” he mumbles, as he peels the wires with his hard fingernails. “I mean. Yeah. I don’t know.  I’m fine. I’ll be home in a few.”

He clicks the phone closed. Gets the wires to spark, feels the car rumble to life. 

Armand used to comment on everything, just say shit, and Daniel always felt like he was being a smug little shit trying to pick a fight. 

But Marius just seems… 

Constant.

~~~

“Do you think vampires can get a flu?” he asks, later on, back home. He’s sprawled across Marius’s king sized bed like a starfish, while Marius plunks awkwardly at his heavy laptop from the chaise by the window. He raises an eyebrow, and Daniel continues before a lecture can find its way out. “I mean, like. Evolutionarily. It would make sense, right? How long would vampires have to be around for something to evolve to affect us? Wouldn’t nature want to thin us out?”

Marius’s head tilts. He shuts his laptop and folds his hands on the lid. 

“You think you’re patient zero for this flu?”

“Don’t be a dick.”

Marius chuckles. He sets his laptop aside and rises, his movements fluid, too smooth as he approaches the bed and kneels at the corner. Crawls on hands and knees towards the center, to reach for Daniel’s forehead.

“What do we do for a vampire flu?” he asks, and he says the word vampire so sarcastically. The back of his hand presses gently to Daniel’s forehead, and his eyes glimmer in amusement. “You don’t have a fever.”

Daniel tries not to laugh. Presses his mouth into a line and tries to look past Marius, towards the window, the ceiling. Tries to focus. Nauseated again, and he’s not sure if the presence of this creature in his bed is making it better or worse.

Or, to be fair. He’s in the creature’s bed, isn’t he? Typical, Molloy.

“You’re old as fuck, you don’t have any ideas?”

“Oh, but you young ones are so much more hip to those things, aren’t you?”

Daniel rolls his eyes. Marius drops his hand, and settles beside him, lying side to side so their shoulders touch. 

“I’m serious, though.” Daniel says, after a silence. “I don’t… feel good. I think something is wrong. The blood tastes bad.”

“Well, it’s not impossible,” Marius says. “Sometimes I think that things won’t change, but wouldn’t it be difficult to endure if there were no surprises left?”

“Yeah… I guess so.”

“You know…” he starts. He rubs at his face as he pauses, as if lost for words. The simple show of hesitance is as human as the smile lines that show in his face from time to time. “I don’t think this is so unusual.”

He turns to check on Daniel, just a glance, before looking back up at the ceiling. “A lot of blood drinkers don’t adjust well. I suppose you’ve learned that by now. Many don’t survive their first century.”

“Yeah. I heard.”

“I wonder sometimes. If the Blood just didn’t sit well with those ones. If they’re not suited for it. And who knows how they feel, before they give up. You might know better than I do.”

“Do you think I’m suited for it?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Marius says. He shrugs. Keeps staring at the ceiling. Daniel sends out the faintest touch of mind gift, wondering if he can read for unspoken context, but Marius is closed tight. “I don’t think that’s for me to say, Daniel. Perhaps it’s not so rigid. You sound a bit like your maker when you ask like that.”

Hah. 

Daniel rubs his eyes. Clenches his jaw to keep his teeth from chattering.

“I’m not saying you’re doomed,” Marius continues. “And I believe you, that you don’t feel well.”

“You think it’s in my head?”

“It could be. But we keep quite a bit in our heads, don’t we? I’m sure that doesn’t make it less real.”

Marius rolls onto his side, so they face each other. Daniel used to hate making eye contact with him. Gave him the fucking creeps. It’s easier now, though. His tiny smile is so simple and kind.

“Do you want to make it past your first century, Daniel?”

“I mean. Yeah, I think. I guess.”

“Drink from me,” he suggests. “We’ll get you there.”

Hunger squeezes in around him. He hadn’t drank tonight, in the end, he realizes. Yet the hunger hurts everywhere in his body, like his veins are running dry, not the way he used to get a stomach ache. It paints over the nausea, somehow, once he thinks of it, too urgent to notice that he doesn’t feel well.

His arm curls loosely over Marius’s waist as he comes in closer. Presses his lips to the thick artery in his throat, feeling the pulse for a moment before he bites down.

All those years he’d begged Armand for the Blood and he’d never thought he’d feel like this again, not once they were equals. He thought he’d never feel that danger again. 

Marius pets the back of Daniel’s head as the blood gushes into his mouth. And if all the hardness wasn’t enough, or the eerie way he moves, the uncanny vibe of something ancient, the taste of the blood brings the reverence home. He can’t explain it—maybe none of them can—but as he swallows, his body can sense the age.

That’s how you level up. Not enough that you’re a soft little human courting death—Daniel’s in the club now. Just had to go for someone older. 

He bunches Marius’s sweater in his fist and pulls himself closer.

“Amadeo used to get sick sometimes,” Marius says. Maybe he just thinks it, Daniel isn’t sure. But he sees the images, flowing from the wound. “My Blood would make him feel better. He was so… funny.”

Daniel sees it. He pulls in tighter, tangling their legs together as he chases it.

Armand, in the master’s bed. Shiny pale, sweaty strings of hair sticking to the side of his face as he rubs his cheek into the pillows. He shivers, but keeps kicking the blanket away, keeps saying the fire is too big. 

“Take me outside,” he says. “Master, please. Thank god you’ve come. Please, I left it in the forest. It’s too hot in here, Master.”

Marius sits at the edge of the bed, touches Armand’s forehead. Armand moans at the cold, and moves like he’s drunk as he clambers into Marius’s lap. Presses his face to the icy dead throat.

“Take me to the caves,” he whines, too out of it to notice he’s using his mother tongue. 

[nalyra-dreaming]

whether or not that loustat hug is the contested NOLA reunion, do you think it could happen in the present day instead? obviously in the iwtv book it’s a fleeting visit from louis. but in the show i just can’t imagine them going separate ways again after a reunion as it’s all heightened so much more. plus, i believe it’s been said that we have a modern day NOLA shot in the trailer. after watching s1 i just assumed that lestat would eventually pop up in the present day, but that was before reading the books!! how do you think us seeing him in the present day will go down? do you have any thoughts on where he even is? i’m feeling so clueless but curious about how they’ll introduce him and pave the way for his story to be told. sorry that this is so long🫶🏼

The hug can theoretically happen in Dubai time, but then... you know, back then, when Claudia's diaries showed up for the first time, I said that I sure hope their potential will not be wasted.

Because... Claudia's diary was a twist. A BIG twist, even for book readers. It shifted perceptions of characters yet again. "Merrick" was a blow to the stomach, especially knowing Anne had originally planned to let Louis die. (Btw, the first "Merrick" post I tagged as such was a reblog of @cbrownjc, in October 22, go figure :P)

The show has taken elements from Merrick, elements which would indeed be wasted if they do not go a certain route towards the end of season 2. Because they have been building up to it, and if they should not go there then they won't be able to return later on and then this twist will be wasted.

I just... cannot see them waste that twist, tbh, given its importance for all the arcs.

Which brings us back to NOLA (or not) and Lestat, and where he is, because if we are in Merrick territory... then Lestat is either asleep/in coma, or roaming. Because I agree! I don't see them separating again (not fully) after finding each other again. It wouldn't serve the show imho, the back and forth, and why would Lestat tell his story?

So I do not see the hug happen in NOLA. And if it is, then I bet that will be the contested meeting.

Now, I personally think Lestat is close by. I think he might be connected to "The Groan". I think it will literally all come crashing down when Dubai comes to a head.

I think Lestat might be in the "chapel" with "Those Who Must Be Kept", maybe. A chapel which serves both, and which explains the "I serve a god", too.

I think the moment when the books come down Lestat will wake up.

If they are mean, they'll go out with a cliffhanger of epic proportions^^ (aka Louis seemingly dead), but I can also see them go through with the resolution first... and then sit back, literally, proverbially, and Daniel going something like: "So you are the vampire Lestat." in that tone of his, while side-eyeing all vampires there :) I can hear it.^^

That said, there was once a comment about Lestat maybe telling his story through a different device, so maybe... maybe Daniel finds some old tapes :) Or maybe he even interviewed Lestat before! We don't know yet. He did seem to react to "Come to me".

Personally I want Louis there to listen to the story though. Because ultimately Lestat tells his story for Louis.

So. To come back to the hug and Dubai... Maybe what we saw was the end of the season.

Because... if they are not that mean (to us)... then maybe Louis does attempt suicide, Lestat wakes, he, Armand and Marius save Louis... and Louis wakes to see Lestat - dusty, hair tangled, and clad in a velvet jacket.

"Lestat had by this time brushed off the cumbersome covering of dust he wore, and taken from his own closet a new coat of dark- brown velvet, and fresh linen, so that he wore his usual thick and faintly discolored old lace. He had shaken out his hair and combed it, and put on new boots."

Dark brown velvet jacket, and shaken out and combed hair.

I mean, we can hope, right? :)

[cordyceph]

mm lestat post time

ever think about how ALL of lestat's relationships remind him no one truly loves him as a person? that he's good for his body only?

his father beats him. no love there, nor with his brothers. his mother never saved him from his father or brothers, and at the Literal First Possibility ditched her title and slept with him. nicki loved him until he was disabled (for all vampires are horrors, they are also textbook disabled. cant function properly in the human world, can only masquerade as human- they are inhuman, survive off parasiting others. for this moment, nicki is only thinking of how he lost his lover to the darkness that took them both- he hates lestat at the end. hates what lestat turned in to, against lestat's will. hates that lestat wont give up)

armand doesnt really love him, either, not then in paris before lestat flees to america. armand likes powerful, demanding blondes (thx marius). armand wants the pale mockery of his maker to adore and cherish- no, to BE cherished by (mixing book and show, when louis is his maitre. when lestat ruins the children of darkness, he tries to give the coven to lestat, to Be Lestat's, ignoring that that's not what lestat wants)

even with louis and claudia, their love was conditional. in the book, claudia choses to kill him because she wants to leave and he wont go with her, but louis will. in the show, its different, because show lestat abuses her. and still, before the townhouse (which we know we/daniel were given false versions of), claudia and louis did not love lestat. louis did not let him into their family, claudia did not want him Ever.

every relationship lestat has ever had has been burdened by the fact that no one has ever truly loved or forgiven lestat for anything. not for little mistakes or grandiose bad decisions. no one has sat with him and treated him with gentle hands or words. claudia, louis, nicki, gabrielle, they all had HIM when theu turned. relied on him, and his teachings. he had nothing. claudia relied on them as both a fledgling and a daughter, but he didnt ever have a parent to rely on

armand is the closest to truly understanding what lestat went through, given the brothel and marius and his two or so hundred years of living in mud. but even then, he doesnt have the empathy for lestat; only chasing after the images of his abusers in his relationships. he would have turned lestat into lestat's father, into magnus, before he would have understood that lestat did not want to be evil.

love lestat. girl with every personality disorder. how do u manage it girly youre so close to being suicidal yet you never really breach the line into depression cause youre too busy being manic