#also it's just funny when Lestat references it later

[itsyourcoffinnowmylove]

Aside from that stuff, I don't really care about a majority of the changes they made but they better have a scene of Lestat being dumped in the swamp. If his body isn't disposed of in the swamp I may cry.

[brawlingdiscontent]

Something that I haven’t seen a lot of people commenting on but that I think is so brilliant is Interview with the Vampire’s conflation of vampirism and queerness in the first couple of episodes (related to a long history of art and literature connecting these concepts metaphorically).

In 1.1, we see Louis react to vampirism AS IF it is queerness. When Lestat first wields his vampiric powers Louis is surprisingly unphased, referring to them as “tricks” and persistently asking how he accomplishes them, with Lestat demurring. We can read this exchange as calling on a well-established trope of queerness being metaphorically tied to secrecy (including through being closeted). When Lestat whips out these powers during dinner (pun intended), Louis chides him, “Don’t do that shit here—not with my family,” in a way that feels like he's saying “it’s fine with me but don’t be queer in front of them.” Later, Lestat’s ‘petit coup’ counts as their first sexual encounter. They start making out, but the only climax that we see occur between the two of them is via the blood-drinking. And the way that Louis reacts afterwards, shying away from the intimacy of the act, feels much more accurate to internalized homophobia post-gay sex (which they arguably didn’t technically have), than being bitten on the neck and having one's blood sucked. This conflation carries into Louis’ confession that “the Devil is in New Orleans,” which we can read dually as Louis finally having suspicions about the killing-people part, and as referring to Lestat’s queerness—as seen particularly in the line “I laid down with a man. I laid down with the Devil.” 

We also see this play out in 1.2 in how Louis is shown to be newly a vampire AND newly queer/out as queer. Louis’ mother reads the signs of his vampirism as queerness, noting him “getting his nails done,” and the sunglasses to hide his vampiric eyes as, “some fashion men like him do.” We see this outward projection also with the tractor salesman. Upon first setting foot in the townhouse he says “just to be clear here, gents, we are here to talk about farm equipment” (i.e. 'no gay funny business'), and then, when Louis bites him, yells—’I knew it! I knew you—‘ even though biting someone’s neck to drink their blood is arguably not an ordinary part of queer courtship (someone correct me if I’m wrong here, small sample size).

The final piece of this delicious pie comes when the show explicitly addresses this conflation between vampirism and queerness in the conversation between Louis and Daniel in 1.2: Louis: …Death, rebirth, coming out, homicide… Daniel: …you robbed a daughter of her father… how’s sexuality play in that? Louis: It’s a complicated question, Daniel. 

I ADORE that show crosses over here from what is usually a metaphorical equivalence into the actual. Queerness isn’t just a metaphor for vampirism: they are ontologically indistinguishable! Which lends them both a refreshing kind of substance. It feels like such a fitting tribute to a long history of queer authors/artists who could only hint. And it’s not just speaking to vampirism specifically. The show takes in a whole tradition that configures queerness as monstrous and unnatural, including a homophobic/queerphobic norm/mainstream, and queer folks appropriating this metaphor in insider ways, and screams back, “YES, AND?” in full Romantic/gothic glory!

(It also creates this really interesting tension in the show going forwards in a number of ways, with Louis denying he’s a killer/his vampiric nature, Lestat interpreting Louis' rejection of vampirism as a rejection of him, etc.)

[starrylayle]

differences between amc's iwtv and the original novel

*spoilers obviously*

full disclosure here, I watched the series first and fell in love with it, so I decided to read the book. I'm about half way rn (so up to the part where lestat sets the house on fire and Louis & Claudia escape).

differences i noticed in the novel:

Set in the 1700s

Louis is a white slave owner :///

louis has long hair??? tbh this was the biggest shock

lestat turns louis for no apparant reason. like mans saw louis one night and decided to jump him. fair enough. louis is a pretty boy in any adaptation

Lestat's father is still alive?? and lestat is taking care for him and makes louis do so as well?? dang

i feel like in the show lestat is louis' sugar daddy whereas in the book louis' is lestats which is so funny to me (I’m exaggerating here coz ofc show!louis is a successful business owner I’m just referring to the time lestat helped him buy the club lol)

small point but i was surprised to see how much lestat wanted louis' plantation thing where as in the show lestat could not give less of a shit abt louis' business interests he just does so to make his princess happy :)))

I'm assuming that lestat has just been recently turned so he's nowhere near the experienced vampire that show!lestat is when he meets louis -> I've heard ppl say that it changes the dynamic but i'd say that in the novel louis realises that lestat is just Some Guy almost immediately, whereas in the show louis doesnt realise that till later on.

their romantic dynamic (i know its not explicit in the books but it is) is very different. Show!loustat feels like a meet cute leading to a toxic on/off again relationiship, wheres as book!loustat feels like a marriage of convenience and forced proximity that eventually leads to a slowburn romance. It's different but i enjoy it.

The character of antoinette must be genderbend Antoine,,, I wonder why they changed the gender in the show.

lestat never drops louis out of the sky....which was nice. he does set their house on fire tho but ya know

Anyways that's it for now but i'm absolutely loving it so far!! excited to meet armand and the theatre des vampires. Plan on watching the 1994 movie after i finish!

also i think i'm gonna make a seperate post about claudia and the different iterations because its so fascinating.

[nalyra-dreaming]

Hi! I was wondering do you know why Loumand is so hated ? Was it like that for books readers too? I'm in the middle of the 1st book but i do like their fucked up dynamic on the show and if you ask me, i do think there is love between them.

It's funny because when I started following the fandom everyone was saying how vampires are poly and how we'll have to adapt to this fact now that i'm finally adapting my view, i keep reading ''Louis and Armand don't love each other'' etc.. people call us delusional... sometimes i feel like the only accepted poly is Lestat? I love all their dynamics,give me anything, i'm just here to see characters doing unhinged things that's what attracted me to the show,but sometimes i feel like people just want conventional stories despite what they are saying.

... well.

Okay, so, I'm not too hot on them either. I'll try to explain (and please do read until the end^^) Because while there's certainly love between them (and I have always maintained that!!) - there's also the "problem" that Armand initially becomes interested in Louis... because he is Lestat's. He engages Louis after Lestat has told him about Louis, tries to keep them (Louis and Claudia) save.

Armand... manipulates Louis, and canonically influences him to turn Madeleine, spell-binds him, lies to him, puts a "veil" onto him.

The show, very early on, hinted at the darker aspects of Loumand with the posters, and their reference to the movie "Gaslight".

Armand... Armand has baggage. And luckily(!) he falls for Louis. From his side it's definitely not a lie that he loves Louis. Louis... Louis is certainly infatuated. I do think he loves Armand. But... not like that. Both show and books make that quite clear, and their later canon time together is a very sedated safe time at Trinity Gate.

Armand later tells in his own book that in Paris:

"I must have Louis, that was my injunction. I knew no other."

He must have Louis.

Armand... is someone who does things as he sees fit, even if others disagree. Hunting the young vampires down, for example, even in modern times, wherever he is. Lestat is later very loathe to do that, but Armand keeps wherever he is "clean". The ever multiplying vampire population is for example why Louis goes to Armand at Trinity Gate for the first place - to be safe. But that just as a note.

So... I think it's... complicated. :)

It should go without saying(!) that you can enjoy them as you wish^^.

I think... I think a lot of people are very unprepared to watch a show like this (with characters like these), because we rarely get to see something like this! Like, all these relationships are toxic!! All of them are flawed. There is no good or bad vampire. They're all manipulative, toxic serial killers. They all abuse, and are abused. Yes, even Louis. :))

Fandoms... sometimes tend to be very polemic. This fandom has had the added complexity of the racial recasts, a setup as a tale and a show that has put its fingers into wounds... and then not only split the first season in half, but was also delayed by strikes. Some things... festered.

BUT. That should not stop you from enjoying what you enjoy?! I can only recommend curating your dash^^, and enjoy them.

It's a wild dynamic after all, and while I personally did not think they would go so dark for them I do see the appeal of diving into this dynamic :)

So - look for those who enjoy them as well, and... forget the rest?^^

[hekateinhell]

I'm always thinking about the ways other characters describe Armand vs how he describes himself. They all seem to agree on the basics (angelic, ethereal, radiant, Boticelli angel, most beautiful boy alive/among the undead, etc.), but what can I say I love nitpicking 😌My findings are as follows:

Marius: the only one who describes Armand as actually having slavic features, I believe he uses the phrase "sharp" to describe his high cheekbones ("sharp yet delicate" or something along those lines). By the time I read B&G I had already read all of the previous books in the series (up until that point) so this is what stood out to me the most and I rarely see people mentioning it! And it might be one of my favorite descriptions of Armand ever, you can actually feel just how astonishing his beauty is. Had Marius so thoroughly shook.

Lestat: Angel boy, angel mouth, cherub, so beautiful it's stupid, this is SURELY what love/desire must feel like, "I just beat the shit out of him and I should probably kill him but GOD HE'S SO FUCKING PRETTY I CAN'T". PRINCESS AT THE BALL. NOT ONE BUT TWO PRINCESSES. Also calls him a "sad(?) waif" which is fucking hilarious when you consider Armand is later like "I'm not a fucking waif" but Lestat definitely called him one in TVL AND YOU KNOW WHAT. I BELIVE HIM!!!! I do 😌

Louis: Simple yet undeniable beauty, seductive asf, got him horny and in bad parent mode in record time yet ever the gentleman, he only used the most sophisticated adjectives to describe him. I would have LOVED to have gotten more stuff from Louis POV post-IWTV, specially because Anne did a bit of a retcon when it came to Armand's looks (iirc Louis described his hair as being straight??? Though his hair was always auburn). I wanna know what Louis thinks of Armand as we all know and love him pls 🤧

Daniel: hottest bitch alive, can't even think straight because of how horny I am all the time. Even when I'm tryna talk shit about him I CAN'T because he's so fucking hot, dammit (paraphrasing but "he looked normal... if you call looking this fucking hot normal 🥵"). Props for mentioning how cute/dorky/human his laugh is and how pretty he looks when his hair falls on his face AND how effortlessly stunning he looks with long OR short hair. Daniel never recovered from this, obviously.

In summary: he's a teeny tiny pretty baybay 🥲🤏 but will also awaken kinks you didn't even know you had 🥵🥵🥵 15/10 would hit again except Lestat yk

Armand, in TVA: HOLD😠THE FUCK😠 UP😠. I'M NO WAIF. I'M STRONG AND ATHLETIC AND MARIUS' LANKY ASS LOOKED FUNNY AS HELL WHEN HE CARRIED ME UP AND DOWN THE STAIRS AT THE PALAZZO. YOU HEAR THAT LESTAT 😡 I'M NO. FUCKING. WAIF. But also wow I'm hot 🥵 even as I laid dying jfc no wonder why everyone in Venice hit it 🥲🤏

Would love to hear your thots 💭 as usual xoxo DA ❤️

DA, my love! ♥️

I was stewing on this for an entire (hectic) day because I think about it a lot — almost all of Anne's vampires appear to fall within the conventional range of attractive but she really went overboard with Armand and the sheer amount of prose dedicated to his ethereal, captivating, otherworldly appearance.

Marius really said: 'abandoned angel' while Lestat went, 'Cinderella at the ball'. And you're correct, Lestat does call Armand a waif in TVL in one of my favorite passages:

"Grotesque he seemed, among all the candles and the swimming colors of the flat, this filthy waif of the netherworld, and yet his beauty held sway. He hadn't needed the shadows of Notre Dame or the torchlight of the crypt to flatter him."

I do generally default to waif meaning skinny and unhealthy, but I looked it up and it also means 'a homeless, neglected or abandoned person, especially a child'; which ties into how Lestat thought of Armand as an orphan:

[...] this quiet and forceful one, the one who would survive, no matter how the orphan in him wept.

That's my all-time favorite Armand description btw. 🥹

Since we're talking TVL, I'll refer back to what you said about IWTV, which was published almost an entire decade earlier! Armand was in his 20s in the original IWTV short story, and therefore his appearance isn't described as having all the exceedingly youthful qualities that are later endowed to him in TVL and onwards. Here's a few examples from Louis in IWTV:

"I had a strong sense of him [Armand] then, the separate being that he was, the calm and collected creature with the straight auburn hair and the large, sometimes melancholy eyes [...]."

"I looked at Armand, at his large brown eyes in that taut, timeless face [...].

"[...] Armand was beautiful and simple, and no intimacy with him would ever have been repellent."

So I think the descriptions we're given does a paint a more mature physical image than TVL-era Armand. TVL is also the first time we're given Armand's mortal age as being 17 years old. If you've read CoSB, which Anne wrote in between IWTV and TVL, some of my friends and I have this theory that she based Armand's later physical characteristics off of the character Alexi (a young sex slave). 🫣

Marius's first impression of Armand:

And there I saw beauty, beauty which has always been my downfall, beauty as in Pandora, as in Avicus, as in Zenobia, as in Bianca, beauty in a new and celestial form. Heaven had cast down upon this stone floor an abandoned angel, of auburn curls and perfectly formed limbs, of fair and mysterious face.

I reached down to take him by the arms and I lifted him, and I looked into his halfopened eyes. His soft reddish hair was loose and tangled. His flesh was pale and the bones of his face only faintly sharpened by his Slavic blood.

In universe I attribute this distinction to Armand's Slavic features to the fact that he was a malnourished little thing when Marius saved him from the brothel. It makes sense that the bone structure in his face would be more defined versus after Armand's been living well in Venice for a couple years, becoming in his own words, 'a plump and juicy young man'. Lestat describes Armand's cheeks as going 'apple-perfect' when he smiles in MtD, meaning that they're full and rounded, Armand still has that fat in his face.

I agree with you — I would have loved to see more of Armand from Louis's POV post-IWTV, once Anne had fully settled on what his character would be like! But here's a line from Louis to Armand in TVA that tells us this much:

"And like a dream, you've come back. We all had inklings of it, wild whispers that you'd been seen in New York, as handsome and vigorous as you ever were. But I had to lay eyes on you to believe it."

'Handsome and vigorous' is how post-IWTV and pre-PL (Trinity Gate era) Louis describes Armand!

TVA is definitely not everyone's favorite VC novel, but it is mine, because it's the only one where we get to see inside Armand's head. And it's an excellent example of how differently we see ourselves, even superficially, compared to how others see us.

There's also a concept that I see play out a lot irl that basically dictates that oftentimes our brains tend to freeze people as they were when we first met them and this can be a difficult perception to break. A notion that perhaps can be applied here, for example: Marius first saw Armand as this angelic, broken child and Lestat first saw him as this being that's simultaneously horrifying and beautiful and begging him for his guidance. In contrast, Louis and Daniel meet Armand in a position of power and possibility that doesn't waver until further down the line. Armand is a different person to each one of them (just like how none of us are exactly the same nor seen exactly the same by anyone in our lives).

What is interesting too is the parallel between Lestat and Daniel using words like grotesque, awful, loathsome (in addition to the beautiful, captivating, angel, etc) in TVL and QotD re: Armand. And yet Armand is someone whom they both love and find themselves attracted to (for Lestat it's been an ongoing thing for 200 years and he can't figure out what to do about it - let us never forget 'good to embrace, good to love').

One of the key differences to me here is that Daniel romanticized vampirism and Lestat romanticized humanity and they're at opposite sides of the spectrum at these respective points in time. Lestat was a newborn vampire who was turned against his will and then almost immediately stumbled upon a cult of Satan worshippers advertising the worst that vampirism has to offer. Yes, Daniel did have to run for dear life for a good while there but in comparison he saw a much better side of Armand than Lestat ever did in Paris, no contest.

A final thing that stands out when I think about all this is how alluring all of them find Armand, and yet he spends so much of his life either alone, pinning, or losing whatever connection he might have had to those he loves. And this can be said for Marius and Lestat as well but it's just the juxtaposition of Anne making Armand this insanely bewitching, seductive creature to virtually all he encounters, but things rarely play out in his favor in that regard, and then when they do, they don't last.

(Until PL trilogy, you know what - thank fuck for those three books, it was rough being an Armand girlie back in the day and never knowing what happened to him after the events of B&G and Merrick, just absolutely horrendous).

[lou-iz-stat]

4 more weeks or 1 month left until the new season starts and I feel like we are currently in the calm before the storm and I am definitely nervous. 😬

This is my rewatch for episode 4 of season 1 and I absolutely adore this episode as shit pretty much hits the fan after this relatively sweet episode. I have a feeling that we won’t have an episode as happy as this one in season 2 so it’s best to enjoy it as much as possible. 😭

Also spoilers for everything!

IWTV S1 E4: The Ruthless Pursuit of Blood With All a Child’s Demanding

This episode starts out with Daniel talking on his phone to I assume his agent for the book he is going to write about this messy vamps. I wonder if this will be important later?

And of course the sleep paralysis demon that is Armand/ Rashid is just standing there.

Some of the lines he says to Daniel are so archaic it’s crazy people didn’t think he was Armand.

But he has the important job of bringing Daniel to Claudia’s old diaries.

Daniel makes a remark about the tree and Armand says something about an architect which I wonder if that will also be someone from the book that we did not know yet.

And he tells Daniel where to start with the dairies but of course he doesn’t listen and starts reading one towards the end. 😂

Now we are finally starting Claudia’s pov

“You were ready to abandon our home. Now you want a third” Lestat was so hurt by Louis leaving :(

In this version it’s Louis that wants Lestat to turn Claudia instead of Lestat just out right baby trapping him. But that doesn’t mean that Lestat turned Claudia without selfish intentions. He knows if he does this for Louis that he will no longer want to abandon him.

God that look on Lestat’s face when he thinks he’s getting a family. ☺️

Also! No secrets my ass!!!

“A funny way of being nice to each other.” They’re gay dear.

When I first watched the pleated skirt line it took me out! They are everything!!! 🤣

Claudia is Lestat’s daughter alright. Claudia said ACAB and that is why she is an icon.

This episode is comedic genius!

I LOVE when Lestat sneaks in Louis’s coffin. It’s so sweet and since it’s from Claudia’s pov we can more objectively see the good parts of their relationship. I’m sure if Louis was telling this part of the story that he might have not mentioned their coffin-sharing almost every night.

I also really adore the scene with Louis and Claudia in the boat. In the book Claudia doesn’t actually know why or how she was made but in the show Louis tells her the truth that it was because of him that she was hurt so bad in the fire. I like that he just tells her outright for how she was made. I also really love that when Claudia asks Louis how love works between two men and Louis makes that adorable face. It gives me butterflies!

After that scene, Daniel takes a break and walks in on Rashid/ Armand praying and he notes that he spoke a language that is from the Crimea which is a call back to the book since Armand’s character is originally from that area in Europe. So I think that they will still incorporate that part of Armand’s background in the show too.

This makes Daniel sorta suspicious of Rashid also because of him referring to Dubai as a ‘child’ Also Daniel’s notes on ‘Rashid’ is so funny.

We go back to the unholy family and they are just having a grand old time just being hella cute~

I wonder if the marquis Lestat mentions at Claudia’s birthday is his dad or his oldest brother? It sucks either way because they got guillotined during the revolution.

Loustat dancing is so sweet~

Movie theatre scene 🥰

Oh shit Mama Du Lac is dead

They look so good in their formation as the leave the wake.

Lestat bringing Claudia to the lovers lane for some dinner isn’t… the best but he is trying to bond with her and he does treat her so sweetly in the scene.

This does awaken something inside her like her sudden need to grow up.

And in her need to grow up she finally meets Charlie as her first love.

In classic vampire fashion Claudia accidentally kills Charlie

And though I hate to admit it Lestat is right when tells his fledglings to stay out of human goings on. He should have just been more sensitive about it when she brought Charlie’s body home.

Louis finally shows back up in the interview! I wonder what was doing other than ‘resting’

Louis so sad about Claudia. 😢

This episode ends so sad and miserable… Poor Claudia 😔

Okay with that ends my s1 episode 4 rewatch.

I am definitely not looking forward to episode 5…. It’s a tough watch but I’ll try to do it next time.

Thanks for reading this! We have only a month left and between this show and another show that is coming out around the same time I am losing my mind but I would have it no other way.

[acapacityforenduring]

loustat, armand/daniel <3 and armand/louis and armand/lestat while we're at it

thank you for not stopping at the first two. these guys might not be on penny dreadful levels of polycule insanity, but they are nearly there. im going to give you a novel bc well where else am i gonna do this? im gonna reference book (including later ones i havent read) stuff so if ur avoiding that for some reason uhhhh consider not doing that bc spoilers are fun

loustat: when i read the book, i did not have time for this ship. i hated both of the characters and the writing was so bad that i just did not want to hear it. however…well, we all saw what happened in real time this fall. i was always interested in some of the broad strokes of the book, and the show filled them in in a way that really clicked for me. i love how they are endgame like if they were my friends id make sure they stayed on separate continents but i LOVE to see them bother each other as a viewer. why must they keep trying even though they have irreconcilable differences? theyre soulmates thats why. it’s an interesting ship bc of the unreliable narration. i love the shows version with them having a courtship and a real relationship near the beginning. gay enough indeed!! the way lestat loves is so interesting to me so of course im interested in the love of his life. yes it’s sometimes the wrong kind of love expression but at its heart it’s sharing a coffin and anything for louis (which isnt an ideal like lestat maybe think about urself but. cant go on lestat trauma tangent!!)

armand/daniel: love this one as well but for its normalcy. and yes it’s normalcy amidst completely batshit antics, but still!! like it’s a ship of boyfriends not husbands you know? and yet i take it way too seriously. i think it really gives armand a chance at something good. yes he repeats some patterns from when he was a human in a relationship with a vampire but i think there are crucial differences. i love all the pet names too. oh i should comment on them in the show. idk tall armand and notblond daniel does remove some of the layers but of course itd be fun to see him fuck that old man and i hope they got up to some fun stuff in the past!

armand/louis: i could almost stand the parts of the book with armand. idk it just seemed so much more tolerable. you cant even say oh i was young and just liked a relationship that seemed less complicated on the surface bc of what i was shipping back then. so yeah i do like it as a ship and i think it’s hilarious that they build this wonderful life together in the later book canon and then lestats like hey louis want to live a life that youll hate with me? and louis goes immediately. thats comedy baby. but it’s nice that they both have this place (their relationship) where they can kinda chill and recoop.

armand/lestat: i love mess!! bc i like armand, i do think it’s too bad lestat rejected him. it totally makes sense for who lestat is, and maybe armand wasnt reaching for him for sustainable reasons, but i think itd be fun if they got together in a different situation, sometime in the era of the books or after. just for fun! theyre in each others lives anyway.

ive also seen daniel/louis and daniel/lestat which are both funny and both ruby approved. i love how these vampires are always falling into each others beds, so i support every configuration possible (except for characters i hate they should die :) ). theyre like the kissing family on snl to me

[monstersinthecosmos]

ahh thanks for taking the time to amswer so thoroughly! i want to take a moment here to point out that lestat does mention throughout the chronicles (totbt, for instance) that he's offered louis his more powerful blood several times, but louis choses to stay as weak as he is to have the agency to end his existence when he wants to. i don't... think you're being entirely to lestat, but then again you don't rly like him/like armand more and i ofc totally respect that lmao. thanks again!!

Okay I really do 100% admit that this is very like TEAM LESTAT vs TEAM ARMAND Hot Topic tshirt time 🤡

(thank u @armavnd for this beautiful artwork)

so like yeah I don’t have a super charitable read on Lestat, and I know a lot of people don’t have charitable reads for Armand. I respect and love you it’s all good! (Unless someone is mean to Armand in which I do not respect you and you are not my friend, he is my son/boyfriend/meowmeow.) 

I want to address the thing about Lestat’s blood though!

If I recall, this comment was in reference to their second try, AKA after the events of QOTD. I think that adds a lot of context for all the growth Lestat has done in that time, plus after his Akasha bender he’s like mega powered so he’s offering Louis the Akasha blood. Louis at this point has met a bunch of the ancients and I think that really solidifies his decision to be a vampire purist and grow his powers on his own. (This is like so fuckin Catholic of him btw lmfao louis baby)

But it’s funny because like, it kinda tells us a lot about the IWTV Loustat era if you know they weren’t sharing blood.

Like I don’t take the blood=sex thing extremely literally in the text because I think it’s kinda tacky and removes a lot of the emotional nuance of the characters, but basically I always come back to the realization that Louis and Lestat basically had a sexless marriage.

Don’t get me wrong bc I’m asexual and I don’t think they need to have sex/share blood to have genuine intimacy between them or to be in a relationship, but it’s something to think about in this conversation lol. Especially the comment of Lestat ~offering~ like he’s an obnoxious horny husband with a frigid spouse. Yikes bro.

I was thinking more too after writing an ENORMOUS essay the other day; if I could make it a bit more concise I’d also sum it up as:

Lestat intentionally manipulated Louis for years.

Armand did a single really bad thing that he has time to atone for.

I, a mere human loser, can empathize with Armand, and he didn’t have my daughter/girlfriend murdered so maybe I’m not close enough LMAO but I see the good in him, and I think VC canon & lore relies on the reader’s suspension of disbelief to understand that the vampires experience emotions and time differently than we do, have different capacities for forgiveness and love and relationships. I imagine that Louis understand Armand and can finds way to empathize with him and forgive him.

And this is the same as why I think Loustat in later canon makes sense as well, because Louis continues to forgive him and see the good in him.

Also just, as an Armand stan, I think people are missing the mark when they read him as just this cruel sadist with no feelings. So for all the evidence we can stack against whether or not Armand was manipulating Louis, I don’t particularly buy those reads because it’s out of character for the way I read him. I personally don’t see Armand as a person who would do that, it doesn't make sense to me. He fucks up and misbehaves because he isn’t socialized LOL but I don’t see him as a cruel or sadistic character. The good news is that all of the vampires are poly and do whatever they want so Louis does not have to choose. :D

Anyway please I’m begging Hot Topic to bring back the TEAM WHATEVER tshirts for the show I will buy all of them.

[slashingdisneypasta]

Inkubus x Vampire!Fem!Reader || Oneshot

Title: Always There

Notes:

I think outta all Englund's characters on this blog, I like writing for Inkubus the most. Which is criminal seeing as I write for him the least. I need to change that haha.

Plot: You meet up with a very old friend of yours and you spend some time catching up. And he's so clearly in love with you, its unbelievable and torturous to him that no matter what he does, you don't notice.

Warnings: A very unreliable narrator (In terms of particular other peoples clear feelings for her), BLOOD, DRINKING BLOOD, DRAINING SOMEONE OF BLOOD (But in a sort of polite way? Hah), MENTIONS OF AN ABUSIVE EX PARTNER, vampires and incubus'.

The smell of iron and petrichor fills your nostrils, disgusting and refreshing and also, just... relieving... in equal measure filling you up as you kneel by the victim - the man you'd chosen, - for tonight; A needle and tube attached to a blood bag between your fingers and digging into the poor mans neck.

You hate doing this, knowing this guy will be weak and sick feeling for the next day - maybe two depending on how much you take from him, - without understanding why. But, its for sure better then the alternative- which is just digging in right here and now with your teeth. That's messy, and the marks you leave behind aren't easy to explain away as 'animal attacks' anymore.

You need the blood, but you aren't a savage, jeez. You always catch any new vampire movies or shows together with your daughter and watch those actors with blood all over their chins, and think... How old are these vamps supposed to be?? 300 hundred years old!?

And they don't know how to eat without getting it all over their face?

Pfft! Rolling your eyes, you gently shake your head at the memories of bloody Edward Cullen and Lestat and Damon Salvetore swimming around in your head as watch the man's breathing. To be fair, you love them all - Twilight, Interview with a Vampire, The Vampire Diaries, Nosferatu, Vampires Vs the Bronx, etc, - but that's just because its more fiction then truth- and that's coming from an honest to goodness bloodsucker.

Finally deciding you've taken enough without truly hurting the man, you put pressure on his neck and pull out the needle, carefully wipe away any mess with a cotton ball from your bag and put a band aid on him.

"Now," You talk firmly, softly, as you look into his eyes - which are dull, almost sleeping. A nice touch to the docile state you put your victims, in so they can at least not feel any pain or fear while you're collecting your feed, - , hands on his shoulders. "You're not going to remember this, or me. You're going to get a taxi home," You tuck some money in his shirt pocket, a thank you for his service; Its the least you could do. "Then get into bed and have a wonderful sleep with lots of lovely dreams. Thank you so much."

After you watch the man get up, still in a bit of daze but shaking it off - and not even noticing your presence, crouched down by where he's standing, - and leave the alleyway, you carefully pack away the blood bag and the tube and needle (In a separate plastic bag, for you to clean and sanitise when you get home) in your satchel and finally get back up, wrapping the strap over your head and resting it on your shoulder.

Brushing a hand through your hair, you turn to leave the alleyway and go home- when a familiar voice speaks up from the very back of the alley- and immediately your hopes rise.

"You look even more beautiful every time I see you."

You smile, peering into the darkness. "Oh, that's very sweet... but you and I both know I look like trash. I haven't eaten for a week!" When he just chuckles back, you tilt your head and waive him over. "Come out here so I can see you!; When did you get into town?"

Gracefully - more so then even you can manage, being a goddamn vampire, - Inkubus slips out of the darkness and you're happy to see he looks well. Its been forever since you say him last - 40 years? 70? - and you always have it in the back of your head for some reason that next time you see your friend, it'll be the last time. So its always lovely when he turns up and looks just as healthy as he always does.

"Oh I just got here; Thought I would come see you immediately. Otherwise you might nag at me." This time you chuckle, rolling your eyes. His eyes flicker to your satchel. "Collecting our dinner our we?"

"Yep! Smells like A Negative, my favourite. When was the last time you ate?"

"Ohh, a couple weeks ago. I'm due for my next fill soon, though... any suggestions?"

"No," Scrunch up your nose, you put a lot of emphasis on your response; See, you don't subscribe to the notion that monsters like the two of you have to act all blasé and cocky about the terrible things they must do. Apart from these night time trips to find breathers to bleed, you live a... mostly... normal life! So no- you definitely don't know anyone he can make his next victim.

And Inkubus knows this, which is why he laughs and you roll your eyes again at him, fixing the satchel on your shoulder. "So- " Again his eyes flicker to your bag, this time with meaning. A cheeky grin flits across his lips. "Want to get a drink?"

Smiling, you turn on your heel, you loop your arm through his and lead the way. "So have you been?"

___TIME SKIP___

4 hours later and the two of you are still stewing at a 24-Hour-Diner you frequent - seeing as you don't really sleep that much, - and are onto your 9th drinks at this point. You two may not see each other too often since the 1400's and went your separate ways in the world, but you never go longer then a hundred years - preferably 80 maximum, - without seeing each other and when you do- you have a lot to say. Filling each other in on what you've missed in each others lives is always a... disorientating experience, at times, but you must do it. You couldn't survive in a world where you didn't know what was happening in your best friends life. That would just be too lonely.

See, Inkubus is the only one you know - still, to this day, - who knew you when you were human, aside from the man referred to very nearly exclusively as 'Dick for brains' - being your daughters father, - and while having human friends who can make you feel normal again, is wonderful... so is feeling normal, in what you actually are currently. And that's not human. That's thousands and thousands of years old and a mystery to scientists. And, seeing as he's a literal demon... that's a very easy service for him to provide.

A waitress walks by to pick up you empty glasses and looks oddly at your personal tumbler. You clearly weren't meant to notice, but you do of course, and unassumingly shrug. "Bloody Mary... don't tell." You give her a conspiratorial wink, and she chuckles, walking off.

When you look back to Inkubus, he looks ready to make a joke so you give him a timid shrug. "Well, there is vodka and Tobasco sauce in it!... " He smirks, but lets it go- seeing as your words were funny enough.

"And how is Bethany? Has she seen her father lately...?" Your eyebrows arch, hearing Inkubus ask about him; Dick for Brains, Beth's father and the bane of your long, long existence. Obviously, seeing as the bastard impregnated you with his literal spawn of hell causing you to die during childbirth at age 26 so he could then turn you into a vampire, made you raise your daughter alone- and then returned 20 years later just to turn Beth into a vampire as well and claim that you can all be a 'proper family now'... you aren't a huge fan of the guy. And talking about him you don't do often, as it causes a horrible clenching feeling in your stomach and heart. Luckily, Inkubus is one of the few people who is allowed to make you feel that way. Him, and Beth.

You sigh, taking a slow sip of your drink through the matching metal straw and metal tumbler set Beth got your last mothers day (So as to hide the fact that its blood inside), you wonder what to say... "Beth's great, as always... she's fallen in love with a human, though. That can only end brilliantly." Shaking your head, you look to Inkubus to see his reaction and catch him rolling his eyes, smirking. Yep. "Um, and... yes. There has been contact with Dick for Brains... He recently, like... 20 years ago? turned up at her place in Egypt, and wouldn't leave till I had to fly down there and shoo him away." You grit your teeth. There is so much wrong with that man- you do honestly with you had never met him sometimes. That's horrible, you know, as if you hadn't met him you wouldn't have had Beth and she's the light of your life, but... at times like that instance? When he troubles her?

Its hard to not wish his existence away.

"Do you want me to speak with him?... Again... ?" Your gaze returns to Inkubus again, feeling at ease the moment your minds back in the diner with him and not in your head with Dick for Brains; Eyes softening. The idea is tempting, unbelievably tempting... And it would keep your friend around awhile longer. "That always seems to win you a couple hundred years of reprieve."

Taking a deep, needless breath - an anxious habit, - you set down your tumbler and shake your head. "No, that's okay... thank you for the offer, though. He seems to be giving up, slowly, finally. But damn, its taken him long enough to get the hint, huh?"

"Far too long." Inkubus' voice is bitter and dark, talking about your ex- and his eyes are reading much different. You know if you let him, he would kill Derek... but you cant do that. If anyone's going to kill him, it would be you or Beth, and neither of you are there yet. Inkubus takes a deep breath, relaxing again like a chameleon changing its colours. "Anyway, love; Onto prettier business. How did that thing go, that you had with that Djinn half a century ago. You seemed quite optimistic about that one."

A fluttering of laughter immediately comes out of you and Inkubus' truly cheers up at the sight of it, and you just look at him and shake your head; An awkward toothless smile on your lips. Ha! No.

His brows arch, laughter in his eyes. "Didn't end well?"

"That ended up being the shortest affair I've ever had and that's saying something." Brushing hair back from your face, you chew on your bottom lip. "You'd think after nearly 10 centuries, I'd learn... Oh- wait- make that 10 and nearly a half, centuries... Boy, am I clueless."

"Clueless about what, love?" You're just breathing in to respond, when a cheeky look crosses Inkubus' familiar face. "I mean, you are quiet clueless- about plenty of things. But specifically, this time."

You scrunch up your nose at him in response, grinning, before once again chewing on your bottom lip. "... I'm just not the woman that gets proposed to." You shrug, as if its no big deal; Even though your heart bleeds saying it out loud for the first time, to someone that matters and not just your ex-therapist, Julie. Setting your drink on the table in front of you, you idlily twist it. "Obsessed over and stalked, yes." You grin, a tinge of sadness to it. "Fucked, yes. Dated even, yes. But married?... Ha, no... "

His eyebrows climb up his forehead even more, before he softly smiles and pats your hand. "I asked you to marry me, all those years ago, sweetheart. Remember?" He reminds you gently, and you cant help giving a soft smile back at your well-meaning friend.

"Oh, yes of course I do. That was very sweet, but... I mean for love, you know? Not because I'm pregnant and alone."

Inkubus sighs, slightly frustrated, and leans back in his seat. "Mhmmm... " Rubbing a finger under his nose, he quickly clears his throat. Then he reaches his hand further up your arm to lay it on your forearm, running his thumb comfortingly across your skin. "Love, I'm sure that you'll find someone. Perhaps multiple someone's. Or, maybe, you don't need to find anyone new."

A little smile twitches at your lips as you pick up his hands and hold it on the table in both of yours. "... Maybe." For a split millisecond, your friend smiles. Sighing wistfully, you shrug. "Maybe I can learn to be happy alone. I mean, I like my life. I like my daughter, I like my job, I like my patterns... Maybe I don't need a man." Immediately his smile disappears and he rolls his eyes.

"You definitely don't need a man." He sighs, frowning. "But one can be good for a few things, no?"

"Hey." You set him with a stern look. "I thought we were making me feel better, about not having one?"

"Oh, you're right. I rescind my comment."

"You better." A cheeky grin crosses your face.

He looks back at it, the cheeky grin of yours, and the smile returns to his face.

~

The sun is warming up when you're on your way home, Inkubus beside you with his arms folded carefully behind his his back and your hands stuffed in your leather jacket pockets; One arm linked affectionately through his. You're an odd sight, you're sure, to any early morning commuters. You, and your barely-out-of-college looking self walking so close - and so domestically. A fact that is lost on you but not on the smug demon walking beside you, - to a man that currently looks to be in his 60's-70's age-wise.

Not that either of you care.

"Well, this is my place! Whatdaya think?" You ask, letting him go in order to unlock the door or the townhouse apartment and push open the door. He walks on in past you, looking around and you watch a soft smile grace his handsome features. "You like it?"

"Much better then the hole in the wall you thought was a good idea to show me in Transylvania- took everything in me not to sweep you away somewhere safer... with fewer mould spores... " He turns to look at you over his shoulder, a mischievous smirk on his mouth as you scrunch up your nose at him, before smiling.

"Well then, Mr Judgmental... I guess you don't want to know, that I chose this wallpaper cuz of you."

That definitely catches his attention, more then anything else you've said. He turns around in a full 360, assessing the wallpaper before looking curiously at you. "You... you chose this wallpaper because of... me? How so?"

You shrug, still leaning back against the open front door- sunlight filtering through the doorway. "The colour is very you. Its got 'Inkubus' vibes. You know," Raising your brows at him, you smirk. "Eccentric, full of itself." At that cheeky remark, he says 'Ha ha', sarcastically. "And, I guess, I missed you. Sooo... yeah... wallpaper."

"Hm... " Looking really far too pleased about this, looking a lot more engrossed by the home then before- but mostly the wallpaper. "This place is looking better, suddenly... "

"Like I said- Full of itself." You roll your eyes, laughing. Then you push off the door, push it closed with your foot and then go to pass by Inkubus to hit the livingroom. "Oh! The book! The one we were talking about at the diner- I'll find it for you! Come on- "

"Y/N." A hand curls gently around your arm, at the perfect moment so that you don't get yanked back with the force of your travelling and instead you just coat to a careful halt at Inkubus' side.

Blinking up at him curiously, wondering what he needed you for so suddenly, you tilt your head to the side. "Yes?"

For a good moment, he just looks at you whilst you become worried. What is happening? Every second that passes by, more and more ridiculous ideas cross your mind.

Finally, the man tilts his head slightly in sincerity.

"Sweetheart, are you ever going to see how ridiculously in love with you I am?"

And... for all of the disastrous and ridiculous possibilities that came to mind when he was saying nothing, you had a response. To this, you just stand their dumbly, your shoulders dropping and just looking at him in total shock. "... wel- uh- um... a few more hundred years?" You feel like a ton of bricks has just been dropped on top of you. "Maybe?" You squeak. You actually squeak.

And of course, you squeaked. You'd be surprised if you had managed to keep your composure after a confession like that. Here's this beautiful man, who against all foreseeable odds understands you, and cares about your kid, and whom you love... and somehow he's telling you that he loves you? That, for some reason, he wants you?

Is there something wrong with him?

There must be. Something terribly, horrible, irreversibly offensive that you aren't already aware of.

But you rack your brain and theirs nothing. Nothing, at all, that you can figure that would make you turn away from him right now.

He smiles a little bit at your awkward reaction, and lets go of your wrist in favour of tucking some hair back behind your ear. "Do you quite mind if I kiss you now?"

Your breath hitches, it actually hitches, like a tiny shy anime girl who's giant crush just got down on his knees in front of her for whatever reason, and you have to fight to pull yourself together; Rolling your shoulders back, hands on your hips. Totally, and translucently fake confident. "Um- you know? I don't?"

God, you are a centuries old vampire; Your vernacular should be yards better then this.

And then kisses you.

Oh god- And then he kisses you.

Because you're suddenly struck hard in the face with a million words and phrases, from current to boomer-speak to old fashioned to forgotten, to describe it but mostly you're just wondering why in the world you hadn't been doing this the whole damn time. Your hands find the sides of his coat in order to steady yourself, and pull him closer as you carefully tilt your head into the kiss. It comes so naturally, the kissing does. Between you and him. Its like, despite the bounds of your relationship never having reached this level before, you know exactly how to kiss each other. There's no awkwardness or searching. You just fit.

When finally, you slowly end the kiss, you fail to open your eyes for a good moment, before cracking them open slightly, half lidded and flickering up to his eyes.

And you take a deep, unnecessary breath and step away, torturously out of Inkubus' personal space. "... holy shit." You have so many questions... None of which touch on how exactly you're feeling because you get that much, at least.

But you cant help but wonder why- and for how long this has been brewing and how long exactly that you missed it- and how the hell this is going to work-

He follows you, thank god, a roguish yet soft look on his face. "Maybe we should take this to the livingroom, love. I promise, I can explain everything to you."

[hekateinhell]

When you say Anne was not Daniel’s biggest fan, did she ever talk about him in interviews or on her FB page? I would be interested to read her thoughts, it's so weird how it almost seems like she didn't even realize how well she wrote the Daniel/Armand relationship in QOTD since she dropped it immediately after that book even though it's arguably the best, most compelling part of it.

Not really, I think his name appears once or twice if you run a search on her Facebook. Whenever Anne spoke about her main characters in interviews that meant Louis, Lestat, Armand, and Marius. Later on including David and Pandora from time to time.

I mean, in my "objective" opinion, Devil's Minion is easily one of the best things Anne ever wrote and Daniel's characterization is a huge part of that (it is told from his point-of-view, after all). Daniel post-QotD really just exists (in the little bit he does) to further Armand and Marius's arcs and then he's gone again by Blood Communion. I think Anne straight up forgot he existed, honestly.

And it's funny because we do talk about Daniel literally being "Anne Rice, the author of The Vampire Chronicles" in-universe. I don't know that Anne ever saw that in any meaningful way though! With Louis, her OG self-insert, she did lament that she could never get back to writing him the way she once did.

I have pointed it out a few times, but I read the Devil's Minion chapter as being a perfect portrayal of addiction. From the start to the functional phase to the downward spiral, as well as the many highs and lows in between. And when I say "addiction" in reference to Daniel, I'm using Armand and his blood as a metaphor for a real-world substance. Daniel having a narcotics addiction is pure fanon (that most of us, myself included, exploit for fic purposes) and is not referenced anywhere in the text (just like him wearing glasses--thank you, Christian Slater!). Anne did struggle with alcoholism for well over a decade, and QotD was written not too many years after Anne and her husband decided to stop drinking for the sake of their infant son. Louis more famously ties into this also.

My feeling is that the foundational characters Anne dropped were the ones that would have had anything to do with some of the most traumatic parts of her life that she didn't wish to revisit. It makes sense, it just sucks for those of us that love them.