#armand/marius/daniel

[desertfangs]

VC Fic Rec Friday (....the return)

It's been an eternity since I've done this, but I want to bring it back because there's so much great fic in this fandom.

This one will be a bit of a mishmash because it's been so long, and but here are just a few of the great fics I've read over the past... *checks watch* many months! I have a long list so this is just the tip of the iceberg. I'll be back with more recs next week.

🪦 The world (it flows through me) - by @cinnamonclove A beautiful character study of Armand after Les Innocents burns.

💚 Bury Me in Green - by @rebel-revenant Armand/Lestat talk about losing Louis and preform a little ritual.

🧜‍♀️ Of Saltwater, Shipwrecks and Blood - by @this-writer-needs-coffee One of my favorite mermay AUs, Armand/Daniel/Marius goodness and little siren Armand is adorable

🚗 Shifting Gears by - @inexplicablepeas Fun sexy Armand/Daniel chase years goodness, where Daniel teaches Armand how to drive

🌴 Inexplicable by @aunteat More Armand/Daniel chase years deliciousness

🛥️ Like Real People Do by @mothmage Night Island Era Armand/Daniel with delicious mortal Daniel angst

Happy Friday and happy reading!

[cloudabserk]

what am i to you? am i your companion?

inspired by this awesome artwork, which in turn is based on this vocabulary question:

[ihateornithologists]

queen of the damned.....

and bonus armand:

he's so cringe he WOULD love doctor who i swear

[platoapproved]

armand & louis playing out echoes of his relationship with marius

[erebus0dora]

let's just say that's one of the things i would like to see one day, but so far i just had to get it out of my head

(i caught a cold, i can't do complex stuff)

[suddenly-frankenstein]

uhmhmhmmm just occasional thoughts about Daniel's interaction with Marius

[thevtuberlestat]

the vampire armand / the vampire lestat / the queen of the damned

[fishfingersandscarves]

like father like son

[chasiufan]

I'd love to see your version of Daniel (book or show, with or without Marius or Armand or both!) Your style is amazing!

awww thank u!! here’s show daniel interacting with marius(: meeting the father in law

[funtheysaid]

iwtv ships be like 🧶🕸️🌪️

[cloudabserk]

fuzzy socks (in case vampires feet get chilly…)

[loumandaniel]

imagine you loved someone so much that you built them their own luxury hotel mall on an island and filled it with interesting people and material goods to keep him occupied from his vices (just like marius taught you, right?) but, instead of feeling love and safety, he felt like a pet and kept running away. this made you afraid his love was fickle and fleeting, so you took away his memories of you and built a better, less comforting house of safety for your other lover. however, your other lover felt imprisoned, so he brought the former lover back to rescue him, since he was the only person who had ever escaped from you before - why can't they understand this is the only way you know how to love?

[friskenipper]

Step into my office. Today we are talking about Marius creeping on Benji, treating him like Amadeo 2.0, leaving clothing and jewellery at the Trinity Gate doorstep for him. Taking him on solo outings to classical art galleries while Armand paces at home, anxious and conflicted, until they return. Benji pawns all the gifts to buy Roblox giftcards and Fruity Pebbles vape juice. He says "OK Groomer" everytime Marius opens his stupid mouth. When they get to Botticelli's Annunciation, he yawns and rolls his eyes. Pulls up a picture of Andres Serrano's Piss Christ on his ASUS ROG 9 Pro gaming phone and says "now that's art." Marius' dick shrivels up like the Wicked Witch of the East's feet and falls off. I lay down my chainsaw because I can see Benji Mahmoud has this all under control. The world is healing.

[armandofnowhere]

Men and women fell in love with Armand, of course, “so innocent, so passionate, so brilliant!” You don’t say. In fact, Armand’s power to seduce was almost beyond his control.

ARMAND + paramours throughout the ages

[lukelemon-art]

Day 16 - FAMILY👨‍👨‍👧‍👦

Say "Blood bag squeeeeeeeeeeeze!" (and forgive me if butchered Benji and Sybelle)

[thevtuberlestat]

i've seen a lot of conversation about the ways that armand tries to recreate the marius-amadeo dynamic with daniel. and like he absolutely does do that, but i also think it's a useful exercise to identify the places where his treatment of daniel is very different from the way that marius treated him and the role this plays in their character arcs.

[trigger warning for everything discussion of armand's backstory involves involves, including sexual violence, physical abuse, and CSA]

marius-amadeo starts with a rescue, starts with amadeo being totally overwhelmed by pleasure and beauty. there are hints of darkness/evil underneath it--notably amadeo notices marius' sharp teeth, amadeo feels unsettled by marius' art and possible blasphemy, amadeo knows there is something inhuman about the act of drinking his blood. but for the most part he has no information about what is happening to him AND no control in it AND the experience is pleasant. the shopping trip, the gifts, the art, being taken care of, even the sexual elements* of the dynamic are immediately gratifying despite him having no context or control.

on the other hand, i think it's important that daniel goes in with ALL the context, the knowledge that he is seeking a monster (though, to be fair, not the one that he finds), and specific understanding that armand is, like, maaybe a touch problematic due to all the murder and stuff. and i think it's equally important that the relationship immediately fucking sucks for daniel -- armand locks him in a cellar for days and then torments and pursues him across several continents. they are decently far into their relationship before armand starts to play nice with daniel -- the gifts and trips and money are absent at first, then present as kinda incidental to keep the game of cat and mouse going, then become a genuine element of their dynamic. that's also when the elements of armand "taking care" of daniel are introduced--armand pulling daniel into the shower (hey, bath scene, where have we seen this), armand cooking for daniel, armand holding daniel when he's sick/withdrawing/etc.

so the arc there is inverted. marius at first appears as a well of generosity and care and then slowly reveals a monstrous side, which armand appears as a monster and slowly eases into generosity and care.

control is also pretty different between the two dynamics. both armand and marius are deeply controlling -- marius literally owns amadeo and tells him precisely how to use his time, expects him to think/act in very specific ways, pushes him into sexual situations he's not comfortable with. armand tells daniel that his nights belong to armand, wakes him up and drags him wherever his whims take them, bosses him around, literally makes him wear his name around his neck, pushes him into sexual situations he's not comfortable with. there are different vibes to this control - marius' status as head of household is societally sanctioned and his interest in amadeo's education often makes him come off as much more paternal, while armand's tendency to have daniel organize his plane trips and arrange business expenses makes him come off more as a boss, but enforcement is also really different.

marius enforces his will mostly through acts of physical abuse and expects strict compliance. the physical abuse spills messily into their bdsm dynamic (i would say there are several points in TVA where the lines between "i am punishing you for real because i'm mad for real" and "this is sexy punishment" are SUPER blurry, but i digress). marius grows angry with amadeo and hurts him until amadeo changes his behavior.

the pattern of control between armand and daniel is different from this in pretty substantial ways. armand doesn't tend to punish daniel's behavior with expectations of compliance -- he seems to badger daniel into doing what he wants through persistence, annoyance, and just sorta pushing him into it. see-- armand waking him up in the middle of the night, armand bugging him until he calls paris, armand physically pulling him around to do whatever it is he wants to do. when daniel puts his foot down and leaves, armand... doesn't tend to do anything about it. there's no system of punishment, there's no system of enforcing his will beyond wearing daniel down.

which i think brings me to my last thought. the movement between the two relationships differs in really interesting ways. marius leaves amadeo in venice, again and again, to visit the ones who must be kept. his tendency to skip town is the biggest point of conflict between them, and amadeo's reactions to this strongly shape the narrative. marius goes, amadeo stays.

meanwhile, with armand and daniel, it is daniel who leaves, again and again, before ultimately choosing to go back to armand, growing sick of it, and running away again. armand tries to spoil him, the attention grows suffocating, and daniel runs again. this feels notable. armand tries very desperately to seize full control of his relationship and still, five hundred years later, he's the one being left behind, the one waiting. *obviously, amadeo is being sexually abused; it is still sexual assault even if it is physically pleasurable in that moment -- i think the scene makes it clear that amadeo is pushed to do something he wouldn't have chosen to do on his own.