#{The Venetian Coven}

[noomyguts]

half way through the vampire armand, and he loves love and god and family and the world, like can't emphasis enough how his love for others is repeated to be the direct connection to his humanity

hope nothing bad happens to rock the foundations of his very being

[carveredlunds]

"He looked like a boy, masquerading as a gentleman": A meta on Amadeo, Venice, The Picture of Dorian Gray, and standing on the cusp of adulthood

TW: Discussions of SA, underage SA, human trafficking, slavery, and NSFW content

From a historical perspective, Armand's life as a teenage enslaved boy in Venice in the early 16th century gives us a chance to discuss the culture of male-male attraction in Venice during this period, specifically the contemporary understanding that older men could be attracted to young boys. This historical grounding can, in turn, offer insight into why Armand is trapped on the cusp of adulthood, how this manifests itself in his physicality, and how his story can be cautiously and sensitively used as a mirror for the real experiences of enslaved people in Venice during this period. I will be referring to him by his birth name (Arun), the name Marius gave him (Amadeo), and the name the Children of Darkness coven gave him (Armand), where appropriate.

In 1496 in Venice, illegal sexual relations between young boys and older men were so prevalent that 'special patrols [went] searching for boys who were patientes (sc. passive partners), monitoring schools for fencing, dance and song, where youths might be found in the evenings, and once again looking for companions of unequal age.'[1] This was roughly 27 years before Arun was purchased from a brothel by the vampire Marius de Romanus. Due to Armand's fractured memories of this period, it isn't clear when he was forcibly trafficked to Italy, but it is likely that he was bought by Marius in around 1523 at the age of 15 (assuming he was born in 1508, given that he says he's 514 in 2022).

As a physically attractive enslaved boy, Amadeo would have been understood as an object of desire ("object" in a literal sense, with no personhood of his own) to the older men around him. In his recent study Forbidden Desire in Early Modern Europe: Male–Male Sexual Relations, 1400–1750, historian Noel Malcolm discusses the contemporary evidence for the attraction of men towards adolescent boys. Malcolm explains that older men desiring teenage boys was a common and accepted part of Venetian culture, provided one did not act on those desires, and that attractive young men were often described similarly to women in surviving sources and contemporary literature.[2]

The important thing to note here is that teenagers were supposed to be desired before they started to show signs of maturity, when they could almost be considered sexless. As Malcolm writes, when 'a young man's looks became properly masculine (with facial hair, developed musculature, etc.), that is, fully differentiated from a feminine appearance, was precisely the time when he ceased to be seen as desirable by the great majority of older men.'[3] Due to poor nutrition, this might have occurred later for teenagers in the 16th century than it does today, but it was usually between the ages of 17 and 23.[4] Given that Amadeo was an enslaved child, and therefore probably not well-fed, he was likely late to develop. Putting aside the fact that in the books Armand is 17 when he's turned, Queen of the Damned offers some evidence for this:

'Did Daniel know that Armand had been a boy when all this had begun for him? Seventeen years old, and in those times that was young, very young. Seventeen-year-old boys in the twentieth century were virtual monsters; they had beards, hair on their chests, and yet they were children. Not then. Yet children worked as if they were men.'[5]

In light of this, it is worth mentioning that Armand has the slightest hint of facial hair. You can see this clearly in close-up shots, for instance these ones in my gifset. Here's one clear example:

With his long hair, his high cheekbones, and his thin frame, Amadeo would have fit perfectly into the feminine, feminised, youthful archetype that Malcolm describes. It would have been socially acceptable for older men to be attracted to him in Venice in the 16th century. According to Malcolm, 'When early modern writers described good-­looking boys, the terms they used were drawn from a standard repertoire that existed primarily to describe female beauty: coral lips, pearly teeth, ivory skin, and so on.'[6]

Obviously, the last point doesn't apply to Amadeo. Instead, he would have been desired because he was exoticized by the Italian network of artists that Marius "donated" him to (that is to say, his Otherness would have been sexualised, as a young boy possibly from Bengal as @depressedraisin suggested here). This exoticization is apparent in how Amadeo is portrayed in The Adoration of the Shepherds — kneeling, enraptured, with a look of subservient wonder on his face. (For an incredible meta which delves more deeply into this aspect of Armand's history, I recommend reading "Armand, colonialism, and the weaponisation of anti-Blackness" by @shesnake.)

If we assume (besides his obviously lightened skin), that The Adoration is a fairly accurate portrayal of Amadeo at 20 years old, then the main difference between him at 20 and him at 27 is his slight facial hair. As discussed previously, the appearance of facial hair was a marker for young boys growing out of their desirability and into adulthood. Turned at 27, Armand is now stuck in this liminal space between boyhood and adulthood, and this is visibly apparent in his facial hair. His youth is mentioned in the show on a few occasions. When Louis first sees Armand in 2.01, he says that he 'looked like a boy, masquerading as a gentleman'. Madeline calls him 'young man' in a patronising tone in 2.06.

Interestingly, Armand's youth is mentioned more often than his race, though in the 18th-century flashback in 2.03, Nicolas asks Lestat, 'do you know this gypsy?' This is the only microaggression we've seen Armand face so far, but it offers a tiny glimpse into the kinds of comments that Armand will have faced for his entire life, both as a human and as a vampire. Obviously, Armand is not Romani, so the racial slur of "gypsy" does not apply to him (not that it applies in any context, but I mean it's literally inaccurate). However, this erasure of origins is common in contemporary historical references to people of colour. As historian Imtiaz Habib writes in Black Lives in the English Archives, 1500-1677: Imprints of the Invisible, Black people were often referenced in early modern sources using 'cryptic citations', referred to interchangeably as '"blackamore", "moor", "barberee", "barbaryen", "Ethiopian", and "Indian".'[7] Regardless of their country of origin, they were lumped together as one people.

In this way, Armand's lost origins could be seen as a representation for the surviving fragmentary evidence for people of colour from across the globe in English archival sources. He himself describes his memories in 2.04 as "fragments". This may be read as a metaphor for the sparse and fragmentary surviving archival evidence for enslaved people's experiences in the early 16th century, especially enslaved children. Where the evidence does survive, it is limited, and enslaved people's stories are usually recounted through the lenses of their white owners or observers, with their own voices lost to history.

There is another aspect of Armand's life which may be mirrored with the life of a real specific enslaved person. In Contested Subjecthood: Runaway Slaves in Early Modern Venice, historian E. Natalie Rothman recounts the story of Omar, an enslaved boy from Zara, living in 17th century Venice, who was given the name Pierantonio by his enslaver.[8] He had a long history of service since childhood, and had been baptised in 1648 when he was 10 years old, and, at the age of 32, was seeking permission to be married. Rothman writes that Omar's story:

'suggests ways in which enslavement as a child could actually facilitate effective forms of social, as well as spatial mobility, while curtailing others. His long years of service as a baptized slave were eventually rewarded by formal manumission [release from slavery], the acquisition of a trade, and insertion into a network of patronage that secured his ability to forge new kinship ties in Venice.'[9]

Likewise, it was Amadeo's long and loyal service to Marius, since childhood, which ultimately allowed him to become a vampire ('facilitate effective forms of social, as well as spatial mobility'). If Amadeo had not been Marius' property for as long as he was, if he had not had "skill", as he puts it, then Marius would not have shared the Dark Gift with him. It might be a slightly clumsy comparison, but vampirism could be seen as what Rothman describes — the reward of a trade and new kinship ties. However, though he had been rewarded, Amadeo was not yet freed from his service to Marius. He was now frozen in that place between boyhood and adulthood, having not quite lost what made him special to Marius, but not being the same boy he was.

Finally, this liminal state is manifested not only in his slight facial hair, his long hair, and his youthful features, but it is also realised in The Adoration. I made a gifset overlaying a quote from The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde with scenes of Armand looking at his portrait, which is relevant in this discussion. Armand is almost Dorian Gray in reverse. He might have lived for five centuries, but he a part of his soul is still trapped in that portrait, in a position of unwilling subservience. The fate Dorian Gray laments has happened to Armand. He has grown older, and taken on the countless sins of his vampiric life, but his picture has remained the same — frozen in servitude, representing that young boy who was adored for his beauty.

Bibliography

1. Noel Malcolm, Forbidden Desire in Early Modern Europe: Male–Male Sexual Relations, 1400–1750 (University of Oxford, 2024) p. 44. 2. Ibid., pp. 179-81. 3. Ibid., p. 180. 4. Ibid., pp. 46-7. 5. Anne Rice, Queen of the Damned (Warner Books, 1996) p. 102. 6. Malcolm, Forbidden Desire, p. 179. 7. Imtiaz Habib, Black Lives in the English Archives, 1500-1677: Imprints of the Invisible (Taylor & Francis Group, 2007) p. 2. 8. E. Natalie Rothman, Contested Subjecthood: Runaway Slaves in Early Modern Venice, Quaderni storici, NUOVA SERIE, Vol. 47, No. 140 (2), Riscatto, scambio, fuga (AGOSTO 2012), pp. 425-6. 9. Ibid., pp. 426-7.

[cartoonscientist]

Hot posts on r/Miskatonic right now:

Weird amount of criminal charges against MiskU students compared to other colleges?

arkham grindr is literally like twelve elderly swingers in venetian masks jsyk

TERRIBLE experience at the psych ward after a traumatic lab accident?? Should I sue???

did anyone hear the explosion today at like 3 pm

Innsmouth Spring Break Staycation Worth It? Thoughts?

Abandoned meat.

I’m interested in the process of becoming a licensed recipient for anatomical donations. Read within for context.

Joining a Coven

I think I found AI photos on the school website?

[nightcolorz]

maybe there’s a detail in the show that specifies this that I missed, and if so my mistake, but why do so many show fans think that Marius lived in Rome when he owned Armand? 😭 i keep seeing it in amc iwtv fanfic I read and it’s always so disorienting, lol. I understand why that mistake is being made (if I’m right and it is a mistake), bcus Marius is literally named Marius de Romanus and him being Roman is a big part of his character, so Marius = lives in Rome is an easy assumption to make. But still lmao 😭 ig this is off putting to me since I read the vampire Armand religiously, but it’s a big thing that armand was sold to a brothel in Venice and Marius (who was a renaissance painter in Venice) brought him to live with him in his Venetian palazzo. Marius is from Ancient Rome and he moved to renaissance Venice lol. Armand did live in Rome for a short time when he was kidnapped by the coven and brought there (before he was appointed the leader of the Parisian coven), but he spent most of his human life in Venice. Venice is a big part of Armand’s backstory and identity lol, (to the point where he literally has “Venetian pride” and is indignant about how Venice is better then Florence), and I’d be disappointed if they changed that. (Also there’s a scene where Armand as a drunk teenager falls into the Venice canals and his friend has to pull him out so he doesn’t drown in shit water, I’d be very disappointed if they removed that.) But yeah psa for my new Armand fans!! (Who r writing amazing fic btw), Armand and Marius lived in Venice 🙏‼️

[nalyra-dreaming]

Is there any sort of supporting vampire index? I read the first five books back in high school and have been slowly making my way through the entire series (currently mid merrick) this year. But recently it feels like every other day someone brings up an important character from the later books that already appeared, or was implied in the show.

Nonny, you're in luck :)

Anne herself provides us with one in "Prince Lestat" and in "Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis" :) Obviously the short descriptions refer to the book versions. I would take note of Sevraine (who is Gabrielle's implied girlfriend later on!), Seth and especially Fareed, and definitely Rhoshamandes and Amel here. Gregory, too. And Viktor (whose summary does not contain the reveal btw) and Rose. These at the very least :) - let me know if you want to know more details!

I'll paste the character list from PLatRoA here! SPOILERS though - so under the cut!

Characters and Places in the Vampire Chronicles

Akasha—Queen of ancient Egypt six thousand years ago, and the first vampire ever created, through a merger with the spirit Amel. The story is told in The Vampire Lestat and in The Queen of the Damned.

Allesandra—A Merovingian princess, daughter of King Dagobert I, brought into the Blood in the seventh century by Rhoshamandes. First introduced in The Vampire Lestat as a mad nameless vampire living with the Children of Satan under Les Innocents Cemetery in Paris. She also appears in The Vampire Armand in the Renaissance where she is named, and later in Prince Lestat and Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis.

Amel—A spirit who created the first vampire six thousand years ago by merging with the body of the Egyptian Queen Akasha. The story is told in The Vampire Lestat and in The Queen of the Damned. Prince Lestat and Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis continue the story of Amel.

Antoine—A French musician exiled from Paris to Louisiana and brought into the Blood by Lestat around the middle of the nineteenth century. Referred to as “the musician” in Interview with the Vampire. Later appears in Prince Lestat and Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis. A talented violinist and pianist and composer.

Arion—A black vampire of ancient times introduced in Blackwood Farm. At least two thousand years old, perhaps older. Possibly from India.

Arjun—A prince of the Chola dynasty in India, brought into the Blood by Pandora around 1300. Appears in Blood and Gold and also in Pandora.

Armand—One of the pillars of the Vampire Chronicles. Armand is a Russian from Kiev, sold into slavery as a boy, and made a vampire in Renaissance Venice by the Vampire Marius. He is introduced in Interview with the Vampire, and appears in numerous novels in the Vampire Chronicles, telling his own story in The Vampire Armand. The founder of the coven at Trinity Gate in New York. Armand maintains a house in Paris in Saint-Germain-des- Prés, which functions as the Paris Court for Prince Lestat.

Avicus—An Egyptian vampire who first appears in Marius’s memoir, Blood and Gold. Appears again in Prince Lestat.

Benedict—A Christian monk of the seventh century in France, brought into the Blood by Rhoshamandes. Benedict is the vampire from whom the alchemist Magnus stole the Blood, a theft described in The Vampire Lestat. Appears in Prince Lestat and Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis as Rhoshamandes’s companion and lover.

Benji Mahmoud—A twelve-year-old Palestinian Bedouin boy, brought into the Blood by Marius in 1997. Benji originates the vampire radio station heard round the world in Prince Lestat. Resides at Trinity Gate in New York and sometimes at the Court of Prince Lestat in France. First appears in The Vampire Armand when he is living in New York with his companion, Sybelle.

Bianca Solderini—Venetian courtesan brought into the Blood by Marius in Blood and Gold around 1498.

Château de Lioncourt—Lestat’s ancestral castle in the Massif Central in France, splendidly restored and the home of the new dazzling and glamorous Court of the Vampires with its orchestra, theater, and frequent formal balls. The adjacent village, including an inn and a church and several shops, has also been restored to house mortal workers and visitors to the Château.

Children of Satan—A network of medieval vampire covens, populated by vampires who sincerely believed they were children of the Devil, doomed to roam the world in rags, accursed, feeding on the blood of innocent humans to do the Devil’s will. Their most famous covens were in Rome and in Paris. The coven kidnapped many of the fledglings of Rhoshamandes until he finally left France to get away from them. And the Children of Satan in Rome spelled catastrophe for Marius and his great Venetian household in the Renaissance. Armand told of his experiences with the Children of Satan in The Vampire Armand.

Chrysanthe—A merchant’s widow from the Christian city of Hira, brought into the Blood by Nebamun, newly risen and named Gregory in the fourth century. Wife of Gregory. Introduced, along with Gregory, in Prince Lestat.

Cimetière des Innocents—An ancient cemetery in the city of Paris until it was destroyed near the end of the eighteenth century. Underneath this cemetery lived the Coven of the Children of Satan, presided over by Armand, which is described by Lestat in The Vampire Lestat. Referred to in the novels as “Les Innocents.”

Claudia—An orphan of five or six years old, brought into the Blood around 1794 by Lestat and Louis in New Orleans. Long dead. Her story is told in Interview with the Vampire. Later appears as a spirit in Merrick, though the appearance is suspect.

Cyril—An ancient Egyptian vampire, maker of Eudoxia in Blood and Gold, and named for the first time in Prince Lestat. Age unknown.

Daniel Molloy—The nameless “boy” interviewer in Interview with the Vampire. Brought into the Blood by Armand in The Queen of the Damned. Also appears in Blood and Gold living with Marius. Also in Prince Lestat.

David Talbot—Introduced as an elderly member of the Talamasca, an order of psychic detectives, in The Queen of the Damned. Becomes an important character in The Tale of the Body Thief, and also solicits Pandora’s story from her in Pandora. A pillar of the Vampire Chronicles.

Davis—A black dancer from Harlem, a member of the Fang Gang, brought into the Blood by Killer sometime in 1985. Introduced in The Queen of the Damned. Further described in Prince Lestat.

Eleni—A survivor of the Children of Satan who helps found the Théâtre des Vampires in Paris in the eighteenth century; corresponds with the Vampire Lestat after he leaves Paris to travel the world. A fledgling of Rhoshamandes made a vampire in the early Middle Ages.

Enkil—Ancient King of Egypt, husband of the great Queen Akasha, the second vampire to be brought into existence. His story is told in The Vampire Lestat and The Queen of the Damned.

Everard de Landen—A fledgling of Rhoshamandes from the early Middle Ages who first appears in Blood and Gold and is named in Prince Lestat.

Fareed—Anglo Indian by birth, a physician and researcher, brought into the Blood by Seth to be a healer and researcher of the vampires. A major character introduced in Prince Lestat.

Flannery Gilman—An American female medical doctor, biological mother of Viktor, and brought into the blood by Fareed and Seth. Part of their medical and research team working with the Undead.

Flavius—A Greek vampire, a slave purchased by Pandora in the city of Antioch and brought into the Blood by Pandora in the early centuries of the Common Era.

Gabrielle—Lestat’s mother, a noblewoman of breeding and education, brought into the Blood by her own son in 1780 in Paris. A wanderer who dresses in male attire. A familiar figure in the background throughout the Vampire Chronicles.

Gregory Duff Collingsworth—Known as Nebamun in ancient times, a lover of Queen Akasha and made a blood drinker by her to lead her Queens Blood troops against the First Brood. Known today as Gregory, owner of a powerful pharmaceutical empire in the modern world. Husband of Chrysanthe.

Gremt Stryker Knollys—A powerful and mysterious spirit who has created for himself over time a physical body that is a replica of a human body. Connected with the founding of the secret Order of the Talamasca. Introduced in Prince Lestat.

Hesketh—A Germanic cunning woman, brought into the Blood by Teskhamen in the first century. Now a ghost who has managed to produce a physical body for herself. Also connected with the origins of the secret Order of the Talamasca. Introduced in Prince Lestat.

Jesse Reeves—An American woman of the twentieth century, a blood descendant of the ancient Maharet and brought into the Blood by Maharet

herself in 1985 in The Queen of the Damned. Jesse was also a mortal member of the Talamasca and worked with David Talbot in the Order.

Khayman—An ancient Egyptian vampire, made by Queen Akasha, and rebelling against her with the First Brood. His story is told in The Queen of the Damned.

Killer—An American male vampire, founder of the Fang Gang in The Queen of the Damned. Of unknown history or origin.

Lestat de Lioncourt—The hero of the Vampire Chronicles, made a vampire by Magnus near the end of the eighteenth century, the maker of a number of vampires, including Gabrielle, his mother; Nicolas de Lenfent, his friend and lover; Louis, the narrator of Interview with the Vampire; and Claudia, the child vampire. Presently known as Prince Lestat by one and all.

Louis de Pointe du Lac—The vampire who started the Vampire Chronicles by telling his story to Daniel Molloy in Interview with the Vampire, an account of his own origins, which differs in some ways from Lestat’s own account in The Vampire Lestat. A French colonial plantation owner made a vampire by Lestat in 1791. Appears most prominently in the first Chronicle, and in Merrick, and in Prince Lestat and Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis.

Magnus—An elderly medieval alchemist who stole the Blood from a young vampire, Benedict, in France. The vampire who kidnapped and brought Lestat into the Blood in 1780. Now a ghost, sometimes appearing solid, and at other times as an illusion.

Maharet—One of the oldest vampires in the world, twin to Mekare. The twins are known for their red hair and their power as mortal witches. Made at the dawn of Vampire History, they are rebels leading the First Brood against Queen Akasha and her Queens Blood vampires. Maharet is beloved for her wisdom and for following all of her mortal descendants through the ages all over the world, whom she called the Great Family. Maharet tells her story—the story of the twins—in Queen of the Damned. She also figures in Blood and Gold and in Prince Lestat.

Marius—A pillar of the Vampire Chronicles. A Roman patrician who is kidnapped by the Druids and brought into the Blood by Teskhamen in the first century. Marius appears in The Vampire Lestat and numerous other books, including his own memoir, Blood and Gold. A vampire known for reason and gravitas. Much loved and admired by Lestat and others.

Mekare—Maharet’s twin sister, the powerful red-haired witch who communed with the invisible and potentially destructive spirit Amel, who later went into the body of Queen Akasha, creating the first vampire. The story of Mekare and Maharet is first told by Maharet in The Queen of the Damned. Mekare figures in Blood and Gold and in Prince Lestat.

Memnoch—A powerful spirit claiming to be the Judeo-Christian Satan. He tells his story to Lestat in Memnoch the Devil.

New Orleans—Figures prominently in the Vampire Chronicles as the home of Louis, Lestat, and Claudia for many years during the nineteenth century, at

which time they resided in a townhouse in the Rue Royale in the French Quarter. This house still exists and is in the possession of Lestat today, as it has always been. It was in New Orleans that Lestat encountered Louis and Claudia and made them vampires.

Notker the Wise—A monk and a musician and a composer brought into the Blood by Benedict around A.D. 880, maker of many boy-soprano vampires and other vampire musicians yet unnamed. Living in the Alps. Introduced in Prince Lestat.

Raymond Gallant—A faithful mortal scholar of the Talamasca, a friend to the Vampire Marius, presumed dead in the sixteenth century. Appears again in Prince Lestat.

Rhoshamandes—A male from ancient Crete, brought into the Blood at the same time as the female Sevraine, about five thousand years ago. A powerful and reclusive vampire obsessed with operatic music and performances, and the lover of Benedict. Lives in his castle on the island of Saint Rayne in the Outer Hebrides, traveling the world from time to time to see different operas in the great opera houses.

Rose—An American girl, rescued as a small child by Lestat from an earthquake in the Mediterranean around 1995. His ward. Lover and later spouse of Viktor. Introduced in Prince Lestat.

Saint Alcarius, Monastery of—The secret residence of Gremt, Teskhamen, and other supernatural elders of the Talamasca in France, near the Belgian border.

Saint Rayne— The island on which Rhoshamandes lives. Santino—An Italian vampire made during the time of the Black Death.

Longtime Roman coven master of the Children of Satan. Presumed dead.

Seth—The biological son of Queen Akasha, brought into the Blood by her after a youth of roaming the ancient world in search of knowledge in the healing arts. He is introduced in Prince Lestat and is the maker of Fareed and Flannery Gilman.

Sevraine—A remarkably beautiful Nordic female vampire, made by Nebamun (Gregory) against Akasha’s rules. Sevraine maintains her own underground court in the Cappadocian Mountains. A friend to female vampires. Introduced in Prince Lestat.

Sybelle—A young American pianist, beloved friend of Benji Mahmoud, and Armand, brought into the Blood by Marius in 1997. Introduced in The Vampire Armand.

The Talamasca—An ancient order of psychic detectives or researchers, dating back to the Dark Ages—an organization of mortal scholars who observe and record paranormal phenomena. Their origins are shrouded in mystery until they are revealed in Prince Lestat. They have Motherhouses in Amsterdam and outside of London, and retreat houses in many places, including Oak Haven in Louisiana. First introduced in The Queen of the Damned and

figuring in many Chronicles since. Vampires Jesse Reeves and David Talbot were mortal members of the Talamasca.

Teskhamen—Ancient Egyptian vampire, the maker of Marius as told by Marius in The Vampire Lestat. Presumed dead until modern times. Connected with the origins of the Talamasca. First named in Prince Lestat.

Théâtre des Vampires—A boulevard theater of the macabre, created by the refugees from the Children of Satan, funded by Lestat, and managed for decades by Armand, who had once been the coven master of the Children of Satan.

Thorne—A red-haired Viking vampire, made centuries ago in Europe by Maharet. Introduced in Blood and Gold.

Trinity Gate—A coven dwelling made up of three identical townhouses just off Fifth Avenue on the Upper East Side of New York. Armand is the founder of Trinity Gate. And it functions now as the American Court of Prince Lestat.

Viktor—An American boy, biological son of Dr. Flannery Gilman. His story is revealed in Prince Lestat. Lover and later spouse of Rose, Lestat’s ward.

[avelera]

What religion do we think IWTV show Armand is, at this point?

Because with almost any other character, especially a centuries old vampire, I would add "if any", but that really really doesn't apply to Armand. Religion is absolutely core to his character throughout the books in ways that it is for very few characters even within the Vampire Chronicles.

Below the cut is a rundown of Armand's faith in the books, questions that arose as a result of him pretending to be Rashid in the show, and my fundamental question which is: where does that leave us with regards to Armand's faith as it stands today?

Book Background:

For those not familiar, Armand's religion in the books is, presumably, Russian Orthodox when he was a child or its equivalent in Kievan Rus in the 1400s and he was quite devout.

Presumably, when he was sold as a slave to the Venetians and became immersed in the Venetian art scene as part being an artist in Marius's studio (forgive my somewhat patchy memory of TVA, this is based more on TVL which I'm currently re-reading) he would have been surrounded by and partaken in Roman Catholicism.

When he is kidnapped and indoctrinated by the Children of Darkness, a Satanic cult that believes vampires are a punishment sent by God (in a Roman Catholic tradition) and eventually becomes the leader of the Paris Coven, Armand is still heavily steeped in a Catholic, arguably almost Catholic monastic existence.

Even when the Paris Coven transitions into the Theatre des Vampires, Armand maintains a great many of the rules from the Children of Darkness and the Theatre is very much a spiritual successor, reinvented specifically for the Age of Reason because they were hemorrhaging followers and believers in the 1700s.

(Because the Children of Darkness was a fundamentally Medieval cult, founded in response to the Black Death, and the ways of thinking were changing to make that level and flavor of religious devotion old fashioned and no longer as compelling to modern people of the time, but I digress.)

For all that Armand no longer presents as particularly religious by the time of the Devil's Minion, and even to have left that part of his life behind, the events of Memnoch the Devil show that Armand's religious faith was merely dormant, and when given a sliver of proof that God and the Devil, Heaven and Hell exist, his faith returns in a fiery (heh) explosion. Specifically, his reaction is to evidence of the historicity of Jesus Christ via being confronted with the Veil of Veronica. It's a heavily Christian moment, though one that would be meaningful to Catholic and Orthodox believers.

Ok, so there's the book background. So what about the show?

When Armand was presented as Rashid in Season 1, I was quite willing and indeed excited at the notion of Armand reinvented as a member of the Islamic faith.

While it would require some alteration from the book canon as described above, it wouldn't necessarily be all that different than updating Louis from an 1800s plantation owner to a 1900s brothel owner and business man. Basically, I had faith the writers could pull it off and indeed make it beautiful.

Based on the S1 finale, I had assumed that Rashid was a character created wholly by Armand and, in the manner of all masks, therefore included a piece of his true self including his Muslim faith when he prayed.

But now in S2 we have Real Rashid. And we have Armand's theatrical background to show he's familiar with acting and putting on a character, in this case, the character of a real person he knows. So I'm beginning to think, much like Daniel when he shot those questions about Islam at Armand, that Armand was only praying in order to better 'inhabit' the character of Rashid, based on Real Rashid, who presumably is a Muslim.

That leaves us with a question: was Armand praying out of personal faith, or to better perform as "Rashid"?

Then there's the fact that in this season, we learn what alterations have been made to Armand's background. He is no longer Andrei of Kievan Rus, he is Arun of Delhi.

Thing is, Muslims make up a little over 10% of the population of Delhi today (according to a cursory Google search) so it's still entirely feasible that Armand was born into a Muslim household, rather than say a Hindu one, and practiced that faith as devoutly as Andrei practiced Russian Orthodoxy.

But then we get into the thornier issue, because Andrei/Amadeo/Armand going from Orthodox to Catholic is still a conversion, it's perhaps a less fundamental one. Especially since as a peasant in the 1400s, the differences in dogma between Catholics and Orthodox beliefs would be less relevant to Andrei than they would be to, say, a priest. (Not to say these differences aren't important. Just saying that many laymen at least in the Catholic faith at this time only had a fuzzy idea of what the dogma even was.)

But making Arun, who might have been Muslim, convert to a faith that believes in Jesus Christ as the Messiah rather than Muhammad as the Prophet is a much bigger, more fundamental betrayal and a potentially forceful conversion. Do you see what I mean?

So basically, I'm wondering where we're at in terms of potential later story beats that revolve around Armand's faith being specifically some flavor of Christianity (ex. in Memnoch) and potential prologue story beats of his time as a painter in Venice with Marius which would likewise have been fairly steeped in the Christian faith which this version of Armand was almost certainly not born into (at least, it would be very unlikely, Christians making up less than 1% of Delhi today, I confess I don't know the historical percentages).

So, where do we stand on Armand's faith by the present day? Did he convert wholeheartedly (or perhaps reluctantly, or perhaps neither since he didn't remember his childhood he simply adopted the faith of those around him, who knows?) to Christianity under Marius and the Children of Darkness and therefore consider those faiths as fundamental to him as his book counterpart, since they'd represent 99% of his life, or was his Muslim prayer as Rashid in any way a homage to his childhood faith, if he even recalls it?

[thoseyoulove]

Reacting to The Vampire Lestat - Part VI (with maybe big spoilers and quotes?)

Part 1

First chapter without Armand since his first introduction. I'm in my grieving era, leave me alone.

"And as we said our farewells, I believed that Nicolas and the little coven had every chance for survival and that Armand and I were friends." Why does this sound like a 'five minutes before disaster' situation? (If you say "that's because it is", I'm blocking you... shhhh)

It's like Anne didn't even bother to be subtle about it lmao.

"Nowhere did I meet a vampire who was in any way a magnetic creature, a being of great wisdom or special accomplishment, an unusual being in whom the Dark Gift had worked any perceivable alchemy that was of interest to me. Armand was a dark god compared to these beings. And so was Gabrielle and so was I." Armand mention! I'm gonna collect these like Pokemon while I wait for princess to come back (let's hope nothing bad happens when he returns :) <3 /hj).

"In the main it is Our Oldest Friend [Armand, obviously] who is relied upon to restrain him. And that he does with the most caustic threats." What I'm getting is that book!Armand and show!Lestat went to the school of Latin American mothers. Btw, the "Armand, obviously" made me laugh because it was so informal, it's like I was getting notes from Lestat himself and not reading an official book? Not to mention it was so unnecessary because it's clear that's Armand lol. But thank you, Lestat, for clarifying that I guess.

"I cannot say that we do not love him. For your sake we would care for him even if we did not. But we do love him. And Our Oldest Friend, in particular, bears him great affection." The show and even fandom gave me a totally different idea about Armand and Nicki? I didn't imagine Armand would ever care about Nicki in the slightest.

"As for Our Oldest Friend, I wonder if you would know him now. He has built a great manse at the foot of your tower, and there he lives among books and pictures very like a scholarly gentleman with little care for the real world. Each night, however, he arrives at the door of the theater in his black carriage. And he watches from his own curtained box." There you go my little neurodivergent princess with low social battery. We are the same.

I can't believe Eleni pulled a "Lestat, come back home, the children miss you!" lmao.

"And when I wasn't out roaming, I was traveling the realm of the books that had belonged to Gabrielle so exclusively all through those dreary mortal years at home." I'm so happy he can read and drown himself in books now. <3 Not being able to do it before left such a big impact in his life and it's great that he loves books as much as he thought he would. I think music, theater and literature are his biggest interests. I don't know if he has a favorite, but those are definitely his passions.

There's such a contrast between Lestat and Gabrielle because he was the one that got to go out there, hunt, kill wolves and have 'adventures', while she was at home reading. But he'd rather read those books and even as chaotic and adventurous as Lestat is, he's more disciplined and laid-back than her? And once Gabrielle is a vampire she's like "I'M DONE WITH BOOKS I'M GOING TO THE WILD I'M GONNA CLIMB MOUNTAINS AND SLEEP ON THE GROUND AND JUMP FROM HILLS AND LIVE AMONG ANIMALS AND EXPLORE THE WORLD" lmao. But I guess I'm with Lestat there, I'm way more inclined to arts than nature and adventure.

"Before we even got to Italy, I knew enough Latin to be studying the classics, and I made a library in the old Venetian palazzo I haunted, often reading the whole night long." Yeah you go baby learn how to read by accident and expand that knowledge to new languages now <3

"The truth was, I didn't want to forget them. I never stopped writing to Roger for news of my family. I wrote to him more often than I wrote to Eleni at the theater. I'd sent for portraits of my nieces and nephews. I sent presents back to France from every place in which I stopped." No matter what Lestat says, he is still a child that cares about his relatives even after everything, that deep down wanted a simple happy family life, that wants to keep his humanity, still has a conscience and cares about God. Many of his conflicts stem from that tbh. Just some Catholic village boy really.

"I do not know why I go on. I do not search for truth. I do not believe in it. I hope for no ancient secrets from you, whatever they may be. But I believe in something. Maybe simply in the beauty of the world through which I wander or in the will to live itself. This gift was given to me too early. It was given for no good reason. And already at the age of thirty mortal years, I have some understanding as to why so many of our kind have wasted it, given it up. Yet I continue. And I search for you." Not him mayhaps getting borderline suicidal that soon...

FFS, FORGET MARIUS! He cannot help you, stop putting your hopes on him, you don't know the guy! Babygirl, what you need is THERAPY!

I don't want to read the name Marius anymore btw. Maybe that will change when he shows up, but like this? No, thank you very much, but NOPE!

"For all my complaints about loneliness, I was used to it all. And there were new cities as there were new victims, new languages, and new music to hear. No matter what my pain, I fixed my mind on a new destination." Sometimes being right is not fun at all.

"It seemed no matter where I was that Armand and Nicki were both with me." I can partially relate.

I'm confused, did Nicki's hands grow back like Gabrielle's hair?

"'Oh, I'm monster enough to understand it,' I said. 'Do you remember what you told me years ago, before we ever left home? You said it the very day that he came up the mountain with the merchants to give me the red cloak. You said that his father was so angry with him for his violin playing that he was threatening to break his hands. Do you think we find our destiny somehow, no matter what happens? I mean, do you think that even as immortals we follow some path that was already marked for us when we were alive?'" One of my favorite pieces of the writing. Just deep and gorgeous. Also, Lestat still a Catholic boy after all this time with this reasoning.

However, I was expecting his death to be WAY MORE DRAMATIC and not this "told in a letter" thing? I was imagining the whole plot to be devastating, actually... And it wasn't? Maybe because Nicki was so mad since the beginning and didn't get enough book time, but I could never grow to care about him that much... I hope the show does a better job with it.

"Maybe people had to be dead six thousand years for her to love them." Ouch.

Second time that I think I'm having a completely different take compared to many people or even the whole fandom lmao. Noice.

Part 2

"'I can't and you know it,' I said. 'I can't do it any more than you can stay with me.' All the way back to Cairo, I thought on it, what had come to me in those painful moments. What I had known but not said as we stood before the Colossi of Memnon in the sand. She was already lost to me! She had been for years. I had known it when I came down the stairs from the room in which I grieved for Nicki and I had seen her waiting for me. It had all been said in one form or another in the crypt beneath the tower years ago. She could not give me what I wanted of her. There was nothing I could do to make her what she would not be. And the truly terrible part was this: she really didn't want anything of me! She was asking me to come because she felt the obligation to do so. Pity, sadness-maybe those were also reasons. But what she really wanted was to be free." This is sad, but I also think this is very human, relatable, realistic, well-written and a great conflict to explore on the show.

I do think Gabrielle genuinely wanted to stay with him, that wasn't pity or obligation, but they just want different things. She loves him, but they love different kinds of life and that's the problem.

The plot twist that is not that much of a plot twist because it's predictable (but still good) with Lestat's family...

If somebody was meant to be spared couldn't they just make one of his brothers decent and keep him and the children alive?

Btw, we don't even know much about his family. I know he had parents, three bothers that lived into adulthood and nieces and nephews. But the book only acknowledged Gabrielle, his father and Augustin. Maybe one of the brothers wasn't really that bad and was forced to do that stuff. Idk.

Anyways, it doesn't matter now...

His dream omg???

Kind of weird, kind of messed-up, kind of sad.

The fact that he's still going back to his father, omg...

I feel bad for him. I also feel bad for him because that probably won't solve anything and just hurt him more. I don't see his father changing.

Lestat and Gabrielle's goodbye was so well-written. One of the best moments of the book.

If I'm to give my full opinion on the incest, it would have to be on a separate post just about that. But in short, at first I thought it had some logic that worked in a book like this, but it wasn't necessary and the show could go fine without it... Now I believe it might be necessary to explore Lestat and even Gabrielle as individuals.

Like, the relationship isn't cute, sexy or fun like some people make it seem. At least not for me. But I do think it is a sign of their inner struggles and that it might be a necessary discomfort for us to fully understand them?

I don't know. I don't have a conclusion yet. Still thinking about it. But I trust Rolin to adapt the book properly and not just be controversial for the sake of it and trivializing this look some fans do.

I do hope that the times Lestat and Gabrielle hug it will be JUST HUGS. Those moments were so great and the kisses left me like... WHY RUIN IT LIKE THAT? I can and would rather live without it, tbh.

Okay, so Marius is here.

Marius is a blonde? Wasn't expecting that. I don't know who to fancast as him.

Not really found of blondes except for a feeeeeeew exceptions. Anyway, I'll wait for the revelation to come to me, I guess.

If anybody wants to share their fancast, I'm willing to listen. Maybe it will help me picture him too lol.

Last chapter, here we go.

[camellia-thea]

one thing the show didn't really touch on is why armand is so against claudia in the books. this is definitely linked to casting and backstory changes, especially related to age, but i think it's really important and still rings through in the show.

armand in the books was turned at seventeen. his ambivalence to claudia's death, his dislike of her, are both completely intertwined with his perception of himself. in the books claudia was turned at five years old. he saw his inability to age, his permanent youth in her, and saw his sire within louis. a benevolent savior turned captor, lover, father. he resents her because she was turned too young, like he was turned too young, but displaces the blame onto lestat and claudia, rather than louis.

louis, who dragged a dying claudia to lestat for her to be turned. compared to amadeo, dying of sickness (or poison) and being turned so a father does not lose a child, a lover does not lose his beloved.

i think it makes his jump to maître with louis even more complicated, especially when you consider that armand was bought by marius from a brothel, and was frequently "donated" to marius' venetian contemporaries, and louis' status as a former pimp.

this comparison between marius and louis becomes more complex when you look at claudia's desire to leave and how armand was taken away from marius by the roman coven. i think armand in some sense overlays his own traumatic separation onto claudia and louis. this could make bruce's presence a comparison to the children of darkness(/satan) and the torture armand received at the hands of the roman coven. if you leave, you get hurt. i think he resents claudia wanting to leave louis, wanting to join the coven, wanting, wanting, wanting. armand is so stuck in himself and his history, his need to have purpose that the idea that claudia wants to and is trying to create herself a space away from louis is practically unthinkable.

"without the burden of her" weighs a lot heavier, i think, when you also consider that marius lived through the fire, immediately made a new fledgling, and did not follow armand. and it's unclear of how much armand knows about marius post-fire in the show, but armand has been left behind so many times, by marius, by the roman coven, by lestat.

i think he is caught up in both his idea that a maker and fledgling will, no matter what, hate and ruin one another, and his longing for someone to step into that role for him again. but he also so desperately wants control over his situation in a way that claudia mirrors. both lacking agency for reasons outside their control, with dependence on external figures who are a significant part of their lack of agency. he hates her, i think, because she has the courage to do what he does not.

another thing to note about armand is his certainty that claudia will cast herself into the fire. his conversation with madeleine was as much a conversation about himself as it was about claudia. armand has spent almost the entirety of his vampire life at the very least passively suicidal. he cannot commit the act himself because he desperately wants to live and connect with the world, but if something were to harm him, it is unclear whether he would try to stop it. madeleine's certainty that she would be enough to stop claudia from feeling the same way was, i think, extremely confronting to armand, as his desperate attempts to attach himself to people have all been attempts to live again. except; they've all left him in the end.

it's easier for her to die, in the end. to assure himself that louis will want him forever without the barrier, to assure himself that he can live where she doesn't, to prove to himself that he is right about everything, than it is to consider that her circumstances -- the want to leave and love and live -- could've been his.

[ca-suffit]

god you're annoying af still droning on about this when it was explained to you the trial happens exactly the same in the book! where all characters are white!! who do you explain book trial than?? you are making zero sense and talking trash… the trial was always about the coven being sadistic and wanting to get rid of Claudia and Louis.. and Armand wanting to get rid of Claudia and keeping Louis to himself.. it's really not that complicated.

also about Armand and that painting.. it wasn't about whitewashing and he wasn't taking selfie with a a "prop". it's not a prop, and it wasn't painted for the show with "whitewashing" in mind.

Adoration of the Shepherds With a Donor by Palma Vecchio is real world existing painting in the Louvre that has been around for 500 yrs and production just "borrowed it" for the show, because it was the closest painting they could find that fits the Venetian Renaissance era of the storyline, and also features a young boy that could resemble Armand. if they painted original painting it would resemble him even more but they wanted to go with real artwork like they did with many other painting in the show. Stop trying to create fake drama for your attention where there is none!!

[pluresque]

riccardo i think is a pretty uncomplicated guy emotionally and is really committed to "it's in the past"-ing a lot of what he went through and i don't necessarily think he'd have beef with, like, members of the children of satan or any other covens necessarily. but i do think he's got beef with santino and allesandra for the part they played as leaders in the murders of the children from marius's estate. more than that though i think he's furious with marius for never telling any of them that this threat was out there and gunning for him specifically and for — in riccardo's view — deliberately provoking them by "saving" all of the boys and being openly "a magician" in venetian society, and for not dealing with the roman coven when he (in riccardo's view) could have done so. i think more than he blames santino and allesandra for the deaths of the kids — which is still a lot — he blames marius for turning them all into collateral damage.

[hekateinhell]

The Coven of the Articulate is a large scale sex work company run by the mysterious Queen and her King. They cater to a multitude of world's depending on what floor or building you go into. Want to go to ancient Rome and find what's in Pandora's box? What about spending an evening in the Venetian renaissance with beauties out of a Botticelli painting? Or perhaps pre-revolutionary Paris with a runaway aristocrat? There's someone and something for every taste from shy and chaste, awaiting debauchery to people ready to break bones along with breaking your back. The employees live in residence and half the fun is had outside of operational open hours between them. You could request more than one and see it some of their fun for yourself, but it's going to cost you.

... I'm going to need the 100k on my desk by the end of the month. Also going to repost over on the kink meme account because this prompt deserves a fair chance. 🙏🏼

[rainbowcarousels]

☕️ + Daniel's reaction to reading TVA

I don't think Daniel read TVA until a few years before PL. I tend to think that it took a long time for Daniel to come to get enough confidence in himself again to make decisions that were expressly against what Marius advised. I think Marius reading it didn't go well and doesn't think Daniel should risk it, possibly to the point where he doesn't keep a copy in the house so Daniel has to get one himself.

As such, I think he read it after having spoken to Armand a few times over the years. Probably not for long, your fic definitely gets it down how I think their conversations went, but enough that he felt like he was prepared.

He wasn't. What could possibly have prepared him for the raw emotion of it?

For the amount of times Armand was clearly struggling and David, instead of helping, catalogued him like the Talamascan he is? Then published it for the world to see? For the way Armand spoke of how he finally had the perfect companions, how Marius had spoken of how it would work this time because he could have their minds when Daniel never would again and of how he and Daniel had been nothing more than a footnote, as if their relationship hadn't really mattered at all? That Armand had felt abandoned by him and chalked it up to self-fulfilling prophecy, not Daniel trying sort out his own shit?

Not to mention everything else. Armand has, for better or worse, been many people and Daniel has loved all of them because he's seen glimmers of all of them. He's seen that mouthy little painter who struggles with something within himself that he doesn't understand, he's seen the venetian princeling, the vulnerable victim of kidnappings and indoctrination, the coven master, the theatre kid, the modern technology nerd. It's all his Armand, laid bare in the pages step by step and god, I think it takes everything not to just go and try and scoop him up and tell him that he loves him - even if he's not mortal anymore and apparently that doesn't count.

I think there was a lot of pacing, a lot of smoking ('I'm stubbing them out when I'm done, don't worry, I'm not Louis!') and more weeping than he's done in a long time. It skinned him raw and I think he just kept doing it over and over again. Was this what Armand felt when he heard Interview? Is that why he listened over and over?

Honourable mentions go to understanding the parallels between how Marius had shown his love and how Armand had tried to with him, recognising that Marius had a profound effect on Armand's taste and sexuality (and probably told Marius that he was much kinkier than he'd realised, potentially without context and randomly) and that Armand is forever just trying to be a whole person after his pieces have been ripped apart so many times. To knowing that god and religion in general has been a hair trigger for him but now understanding why, wanting to kick past-him's ass for being so flippant about it.

Mostly I think it was the beginning of a burning desire to see him, to hold him, to apologise, to ask if he loves him and try to be brave in the face of it. To make him know that he wasn't abandoned from lack of love but because he was just in a fucked up place and he'd been wanting to come home every night before Marius eventually took him under his wing and made sure he didn't perish. But he also knows he has a life with Louis and the kids and he doesn't know how or if he's welcome to any part of him anymore. Not for sure, not until PL and when he finds he does have a place, he goes home.

[mediocre-eternity]

When was the last time you visited Kyiv/Ukraine? Is it recognisable to you at all to where you grew up?

So many of you are asking me questions tonight! I suppose I do carry the torch of being the most interesting of my coven. What a chance to crack open the mind of The Vampire Armand. Who would miss such an opportunity?

And this certainly is an interesting question, but there’s a flaw. There’s a misunderstanding to how I exist now and how I existed as a human boy. To say that, I do not remember Kyiv. So, how Kyiv exists today, I have no comparison to. I do remember the cold, the snow, the Orthodoxy, as I told David about in my published book, but my existence as a human boy starts in Venice.

I recently wrote about my experiences with memory loss and how, at times, I seem to enter a phase where my memory is severely taxed and it’s much more difficult for me to stay out of my head (for example, when I have to communicate with mortals). The horrors of my childhood caused the single most catastrophic memory loss I have ever experienced. The sheer stress of what my mind and body endured erased almost entirely the memory of my origin. Even the Russian I speak currently is not the type of Slavic I spoke as a child. The first language I remember, again, was Venetian Italian. I think and naturally speak in Italian. It is what I consider my native tongue.

Oh, don’t take my corrections as annoyance. But, Andrei died somewhere on a caravan train amongst the pile of other commodified people. I cannot access him, and sometimes, it’s just as difficult to access Amadeo. But the much fonder memories keep Amadeo alive. Sometimes I think on how I’m extremely privileged, even, to have seen my parents after I was turned. It was like, the closing of a loop. Or something. And I suppose I do have my maker to thank for that. Though even now, that memory leaves me with a strange, grotesque emotion in my chest.

[perladivenezia]

Beneath the Beacon of Mysteries

She spent the rest of the night roaming the ruins of the castle. Her anger sat simmered at the pit of her stomach but the heat didn't reach her hands which felt colder than ever. She was livid but also scared and heartbroken. Her eyes stung with tears that didn't dare to fall.

The truth was she should have seen this coming. Marius' bitter outburst and his cruel resolution to cast her away should have come as no surprise. She knew before she opened her mouth that it was a mistake to reveal those things to him. He wasn't ready, the pain and guilt were too close, too terrible. Marius couldn't allow himself to admit the truth of her words lest he crumble under its weight. This was the only possible explanation of why he refused to see and accept what was so plain and simple.

A couple of hours before dawn she found the crypts under the dilapidated church. There in the cold darkness surrounded by the stench of dust, death and ashes she finally allowed herself to cry for his friend. His Amadeo. He who had suffered a fate perhaps worse than death, he who had been subjected to horrors she dared not to imagine. He who nevertheless survived still. His Amadeo, subjugated by a vile lie, by a perverse illusion orchestrated by fools and lunatics. The blind leading the blind into enduring a wretched existence deprived of joys or comforts or love.

She woke up the next night with unequivocal assurance of what she was to do. She never took the decision consciously, rather it was as if the decision had been taken long ago, as if there was no other possible path for her to follow. And mantled in that serene conviction she began her journey south.

It would have been faster, perhaps easier, even going directly to Paris —although the Talamascan who had written to Marius had advised him against it— but she knew she must go to Rome first.

She travelled light and swiftly through the Alps passages, carrying her few belongings with her. She had nothing to fear from any mortal and was grateful for the occasional bandits that seeing her travelling alone would meet their deaths at her hands. She slept during the day in crypts, ruins and mausoleums, listening to the quiet night in search of the next village or honing her mind-reading skills to find the nearest abandoned castle that could serve her as a resting place.

Throughout her journey, she was alert for the presence of other blood drinkers, especially as she left behind the mountains and began to travel across the Duchies of Milan and Modena. She avoided larger cities, she didn't go to Venice or Florence, but even as she crossed the Republic of Siena and approached the Papal States, she never encountered any other coven nor did she come across any satan worshippers.

She stopped at Tivoli, just a few hours from Rome. There she rented rooms for herself where to rest and bathe and where to store her belongings. She discarded the stolen clothes from her victims that she had been using and dressed herself in her lavish Venetian gowns and jewels and she acquired a new cloak as her old one was too battered by the long journey.

She remained in Tivoli for two nights. The pause before the leap, the last restless sleep before the battle. On the third night, she went to Rome by carriage.

From the shadows formed under crooked trees and looming branches, her mind conjured black robes and ghastly soiled hands stalking her carriage from the sides of the road, perhaps ready to ambush or to call forth a horde such that pouncing on it all at once would swallow it whole. But she didn't feel frightened, she didn't feel hesitant, perhaps she didn't know how to be properly afraid.

She closed the curtains of her carriage once they came into the city. The marvellous streets and palazzos and monuments could wait. In the darkness, she listened to the night once more. The carriage swayed leisurely leaving behind the cobbled streets and following dirt paths where it barely fit. She didn't know where to find these creatures, but she knew it was crucial she found them before they found her. And she knew they must hunt.

Finally, she heard what she had been waiting for. A cry tore the night, a horrifying scream. And something undulating in the air. A pulse, a resonance, a sensation she had never encountered before. The frail presence of another blood drinker.

She left the carriage. The coachman yelled at her back about the danger as her feet hurried blindly towards that unknown presence. Deep into the heart of the maze through turns and paths the carriage could've never accessed, she found the creature. His victim lay at his feet flaunting a gruesome death wound from which crimson blood poured into the mud. Tattered clothes, soil all over his hands, his face, his hair. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't move. She saw the flames erupt in the palazzo. She could feel the heat from the fire and the jarring contrast of those soiled hands ice-cold and paperwhite as those of ghosts. The screams from the boys filled her ears.

Meanwhile, the creature of her nightmares stared at her in shock, the white of his eyes huge and glowing in the dim moonlight. It crouched and glared at her as if it meant to attack. She saw the flock of black cloaks swirled over the marble floors. The creature hissed and then disappeared.

She still couldn't move. She felt cold all over as if the blood in her veins had turned to frost.

She had to leave. She thought frantically. Perhaps if she moved quickly she could still escape. She had to find her way back to her carriage and leave the city immediately. What was she thinking coming here alone? facing these creatures alone? These creatures had overpowered Marius. These creatures had taken Amadeo… Amadeo. Amadeo who still lived among them in Paris. Sleeping in the cold dirt and wearing filthy rags. Amadeo who communed with such horrors alone.

She returned to her carriage and instructed the coachman to drive ahead. Finding another one took time but it was easier now that she knew what she was looking for and could identify their presence with certainty. There was no scream in the darkness this time. She found this one resting idly against a wall. Just like the other one it was surprised by her presence and just as the other one tried to flee immediately.

"Wait!" she managed, inforcing her word with the mind gift, more out of instinct than consciously. The other woman stopped in her tracks. Other than shock there was fear in her eyes now too. Bianca removed the hood of her taffeta cloak "I need to speak to your coven master" she said, as calmly and clearly as she could "Would you tell Santino, I request an audience with him?"

The woman spitted curses at her and then ran away. Before returning to her carriage she found a couple of victims for herself, or rather her victims found her. Simple thieves, attracted to the woman in rich clothes who walked alone on the dangerous streets, like flies to the flame.

Her anxious coachman who waited for her in a state of increasing worry, whispered a blessing in Latin when he saw her appear unharmed. He asked her to let him take her to some other place more appropriate for her, where the fabric of her beautiful dresses wouldn't sweep dirt and mud. She agreed. She wanted to be taken back to the light.

Inside the carriage she noticed her hands were trembling ever so slightly. Still, she travelled with the curtains open now.

[nalyra-dreaming]

Alright one more, and I’m done for the day 😅 and shout out to @reloha for reminding me of them in her post about primitive vampires. Not sure if this is what she was referring to, I’m sorry if it isn’t 😆 But do you remember the mindless vampires Louis and Claudia encounter in Eastern Europe in the book IWTV? When you read them, did you yell out ZOMBIES VAMPIRES as I did?? The combination was so perfect; I hate how briefly AR talked about them. I think she probably wrote them in only to let Louis sees that this could be him if he keeps depriving himself of blood, and makes Louis thinks of Lestat, but! I wanted more details when I read it. I don’t remember much anymore. Do you remember anything else about them? I’m hesitant to go back and reread it because IWTV is such a sad book. I just can’t…

Hey dear!

I went and reread that part of this, and it is indeed very interesting to see the difference in how Louis and Claudia are treated by the villagers, as intelligent beings, and they even try to protect them, while being in terror of those... beings.

And Louis very jaded realization when he is fighting that ... revenant:

I was battling a mindless, animated corpse. But no more.

I think you may be right, that she put them in to show Louis and Claudia the other side of the coin, but she also put them in imho to connect to the myths and stories of the old world there, and Dracula. Louis and Claudia echo some of Jonathan Harker's journey there, complete with getting a crucifix thrust upon them. I remember thinking that very clever, because it connects them while also make it immediately clear that her vampires, or, at least the vampires that do not fall to superstition, are not mindless beasts. They're monsters, yes, but not beasts, which I always thought was an interesting distinction.

Interestingly enough Lestat talks about them in TVL, too, while traveling with Gabrielle:

Infinitely more interesting were the occasional rogues we glimpsed in the middle of society, lone and secretive vampires pretending to be mortal just as skillfully as we could pretend. But we never got close to these creatures. They ran from us as they must have from the old covens. And seeing nothing more than fear in their eyes, I wasn't tempted to give chase. Yet it was strangely reassuring to know that I hadn't been the first aristocratic fiend to move through the ballrooms of the world in search of my victims-the deadly gentleman who would soon surface in stories and poetry and penny dreadful novels as the very epitome of our tribe. There were others appearing all the time. But we were to encounter stranger creatures of darkness as we moved on. In Greece we found demons who did not know how they had been made, and sometimes even mad creatures without reason or language who attacked us as if we were mortal, and ran screaming from the prayers we said to drive them away. The vampires in Istanbul actually dwelt in houses, safe behind high wall and gates, their graves in their gardens, and dressed as all humans do in that part of the world, in flowing robes, to hunt the nighttime streets. Yet even they were quite horrified to see me living amongst the French and the Venetians, riding in carriages, joining the gatherings at the European embassies and homes. They menaced us, shouting incantations at us, and then ran in panic when we turned on them, only to come back and devil us again. The revenants who haunted the Mameluke tombs in Cairo were beastly wraiths, held to the old laws by hollow-eyed masters who lived in the ruins of a Coptic monastery, their rituals full of Eastern magic and the evocation of many demons and evil spirits whom they called by strange names.

Going by Lestat's recount these revenants as he calls them are not even rare... given IWTV was the first book it's not surprising that it was expanded later, but within canon context it raises the question whether Louis and Claudia maybe only expected these kind of vampires there, you know?

I found it very clever of the show to hint at the blood being connected to a vampire's mental health very early on, when the criminal biscuit event happens. Lestat says:

Eat before your reason or his heart fails us.

Lestat has seen the revenants of Les Innocents, and later even becomes something similar:

And what Louis could not describe in his story is what happened to me after, how for years I hunted on the edge of the human herd, a hideous and crippled monster, who could strike down only the very young or infirm. In constant danger from my victims, I became the very antithesis of the romantic demon, bringing terror rather than rapture, resembling nothing so much as the old revenants of les Innocents in their filth and rags. The wounds I'd suffered affected my very spirit, my capacity to reason.

Now, Lestat doesn't lose all his reason. He has "enough" reason to go to earth eventually, to heal.

But it is indeed interesting that her vampires are actually in constant danger of degenerating if not... "taking care of themselves" properly, and in the context of the show... it must have been hell to watch Louis weaken himself to the point where he almost couldn't hold a book.

Because Lestat knows what starvation does to vampires.

But yes, after this - Louis does, too.

(In the later books there are some references to still roaming vampires, but though those may be rogue they are probably not revenants, since the burnings errr.... cleaned those up. And only the strong ones survived. It also sheds an interesting light imho on Armand's habit of cleaning up wherever he's at. He didn't just kill revenants, but all the vampires he could find, true, but it makes you wonder if he maybe couldn't stand the reminder of those... "revenants of les Innocents in their filth and rags". And as the coven master...)

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 10.7 (before 1950)

3761 BC – The epoch reference date (start) of the modern Hebrew calendar. 1403 – Venetian–Genoese wars: The Genoese fleet under a French admiral is defeated by a Venetian fleet at the Battle of Modon. 1477 – Uppsala University is inaugurated after receiving its corporate rights from Pope Sixtus IV in February the same year. 1513 – War of the League of Cambrai: Spain defeats Venice. 1571 – The Battle of Lepanto is fought, and the Ottoman Navy suffers its first defeat. 1691 – The charter for the Province of Massachusetts Bay is issued. 1763 – King George III issues the Royal Proclamation of 1763, closing Indigenous lands in North America north and west of the Alleghenies to white settlements. 1777 – American Revolutionary War: The Americans defeat British forces under general John Burgoyne in the Second Battle of Saratoga, also known as the Battle of Bemis Heights, compelling Burgoyne's eventual surrender. 1780 – American Revolutionary War: American militia defeat royalist irregulars led by British major Patrick Ferguson at the Battle of Kings Mountain in South Carolina, often regarded as the turning point in the war's Southern theater. 1800 – French corsair Robert Surcouf, commander of the 18-gun ship La Confiance, captures the British 38-gun Kent. 1826 – The Granite Railway begins operations as the first chartered railway in the U.S. 1828 – Morea expedition: The city of Patras, Greece, is liberated by the French expeditionary force. 1840 – Willem II becomes King of the Netherlands. 1864 – American Civil War: A US Navy ship captures a Confederate raider in a Brazilian seaport. 1868 – Cornell University holds opening day ceremonies; initial student enrollment is 412, the highest at any American university to that date. 1870 – Franco-Prussian War: Léon Gambetta escapes the siege of Paris in a hot-air balloon. 1879 – Germany and Austria-Hungary sign the "Twofold Covenant" and create the Dual Alliance. 1912 – The Helsinki Stock Exchange sees its first transaction. 1913 – Ford Motor Company introduces the first moving vehicle assembly line. 1916 – Georgia Tech defeats Cumberland University 222–0 in the most lopsided college football game in American history. 1919 – KLM, the flag carrier of the Netherlands, is founded. It is the oldest airline still operating under its original name. 1924 – Andreas Michalakopoulos becomes prime minister of Greece for a short period of time. 1929 – Photius II becomes Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. 1933 – Air France is inaugurated, after being formed by a merger of five French airlines. 1940 – World War II: The McCollum memo proposes bringing the United States into the war in Europe by provoking the Japanese to attack the United States. 1944 – World War II: During an uprising at Birkenau concentration camp, Jewish prisoners burn down Crematorium IV. 1949 – The communist German Democratic Republic (East Germany) is formed.