#but it's more UNDERSTANDABLE to me after the shit armand was put through

[cypheragent]

can I be honest I think it's kind of crazy how much lestans go on and on about lestat's trauma because I honestly think louis, claudia AND armand all had it worse. sorry.

[nightcolorz]

i read through a few of your recent asks and it got me on an armand defense blender so here we are. & i thought about doing this anonymously but then decided to rawdog it so fuck it. this is probably gonna be ridiculously long but i have Thoughts + i have a feeling if anyone will understand it's you (also i'm too much of a coward to make my own post on this topic)

ANYWAY the way some people in this fandom treat armand is actually like... vile. it goes hand in hand with the whole "reducing louis to a victim and nothing more" thing which you talked about and i want to expand on allllll that because jesus christ some of this shit

people have been talking about how armand is Literally The Worst Ever for two years now and that has really imbibed into to the fandom. i mean i was affected by this as well, i went into the books expecting the Worst from him but it wasn't nearly as bad as i had believed it would be (though tbf i am also biased here, i saw armand in a tiktok edit like a year and a half ago and autistically imprinted on him for a long while before i even watched the show. he can do no wrong ever actually)

but that mindset of "oh you thought LESTAT was bad wait until you meet ARMAND lmfao" (not flaming anyone for that btw, i'm pretty sure even i've jokingly said that at one point) has really poisoned him to the fandom. i fully get book readers being wary of him and overanalyzing everything when it comes to him but it's often the show only fans that are the worst culprits and it's a bit out of hand honestly

after s2e4 i legit saw a person say that they don't believe a word that armand said about his backstory and that he probably made up marius and all the abuse he suffered because he wanted "sympathy" (very pointed quotation marks on that one) from louis and to manipulate him. and it would've been bad enough if those were the words they used but instead they were downright horrible about it. i genuinely had to put down my phone and take a few deep breaths after reading all that. like why would you even assume that? i really hope that's not how that person treats real life victims because holy shit

and like I DON'T GET IT!!!!! people just loooove to apply malicious intent to armand in situations where there is none and i don't get it. this is the series about complex, shitty vampires and yet some people still shove them into boxes like Irredeemable Abuser Who's Just Horrible All The Time (armand, lestat), Perfect Innocent Victim Who Can Do No Wrong (louis, claudia) and Pinnacle Of Neutrality (daniel)

and the person from earlier was a die hard loustat shipper and stanned lestat and whatnot and like i'm sorry but only one of these characters has committed dv atp and it wasn't armand. why is armand the scapegoat here? (it's because he comes in the way of loustat) (also i really don't like flaming individual people for their opinions but i feel like this is vague enough that it gets a pass + this one genuinely made me want to bang my head against a wall)

people are just not equipped to deal with 3 dimensional characters because not only can they not accept that armand is not a cartoon villain that is Unequivocally Evil and some machiavellain mastermind but they also can't accept that louis is a shitty person. you can be a victim and a bad person. you can be a victim and toxic and abusive. like.. the way louis is treating armand is not okay and people shouldn't be afraid to accept that. HE'S A BAD PERSON THEY'RE ALL BAD PEOPLE THAT'S THE WHOLE FUCKING POINTTTT

and if people are bothered by that then this is not the show for them

personally i am glad they made louis actually be undeniably shitty this season it made me like him even more (& i say undeniably but people will still deny it like their life depended on it lmaooo). and i am also glad that they managed to really humanize armand for the sane of us because this portrayal of him and his character and personality is just *chef's kiss*. assad GETS HIM and all his little nuances and autistic swagger

yeah anyway uhhhhh people stop immediately assuming the worst of armand challenge (impossible) & i could keep going for another 7 paragraphs but i fear i've waffled on enough i am really fucking frustrated with parts of this fandom send help

(also like, hate armand if you will but hate him for actual things he has done lmfao stop making him something he's not. if you hate him for what he did to claudia, fair enough you do you i can't stop you but jfc some of these people)

YESSS GO OFF 🙏🙏🔥🔥‼️‼️ U or anyone else r so so incredibly encouraged to put ur steaming hot Armand takes in my ask box that ur too scared to post urself for fear of back lash! my Armand apologist army will eat it up and I will shield u from the masses ❤️❤️ consider urself protected and embraced solider.

but anyways, ur so right omg say that shit. The “if u think lestat is bad wait till u see armand he tortures people and does animal cruelty and frankensteins kid heads onto adult bodies lol all Lestat does is graphic domestic violence Armand is like crazy fr” meme has done irreversible damage to this fandoms comprehension skills it’s wild 😭 like due to two years worth of bracing themselves for mega evil Armand we have people spouting the most disgusting insensitive takes about sexual violence I’ve ever seen said so casually in a fandom 😭. I don’t think I’ve come across the post ur referencing tho *holy shit*, even in a fictional context “this person must be lying about being assaulted” is an insane thing to say with ur full chest, but I digress. I’ve seen takes where ppl r saying Armand was trying to emotionally manipulate Louis by talking about being repeatedly raped as a child and like ?? 😨😨😨. Excuse me😭😭 genuinely what the fuck. That’s the same thing as saying Claudia was trying to manipulate Louis by telling him about when she was repeatedly raped, like that is genuinely a fucked up thing to say😭. I don’t think it’s irrational to be weary of Armand’s actions at all because of course we were all bracing ourself for his betrayal so it’s not unreasonable to suspect he has ulterior motives, but it’s both dumb and also fucked up ngl to assume that literally every thing Armand does or says is two sided, especially when there has been nothing in the show besides fandom speculation to suggest that this is the case with him😭. It’s such a shallow, dumb assumption to go “oh this character is two sided so therefore he is never ever sincere at all”. Especially since Armand isn’t two sided bcus of non complex villainous intent, his motives and his lack of trust or loyalty for people or consistent, reliable behavior is very trauma based. I always like to say, he’s not like a snake, he’s like a reactive former fighting dog. A reactive dog can and will attack you without warning at any moment, but a reactive dog is so often disproportionately violent and unreliable because it’s learned that the world is unreliable and violence is how it can protect itself. Armand isn’t rlly the schemer type, he’s more of the “lifts his head from your lap and bites your face off” type.

I think that if the show was trying to suggest that Armand telling Louis about how he was raped was emotionally manipulative that would have been a fucked up and insensitive thing to write! and the fact that ppl r interpreting it that way without anything there to imply that is 😭 um. Woah?? It’s pretty overtly explained why Armand tells Louis his backstory, I’ve talked about it before but, in that scene prior to the backstory dump Louis is telling Armand that he doesn’t feel like he knows him, and he wants to know who he really is. And in this episode Louis and Armand r having a conflict where Armand perceives their relationship as intimate and important and Louis doesn’t even really see them as “together” because he doesn’t want to open himself up to that kind of vulnerability. So when Louis explains to Armand why he doesn’t feel as close to him as Armand does, Armand decides to be vulnerable with louis and tell him about who he is (and why he is the way he is) since Louis told him that that is what he wants from him. I don’t see how telling ur partner about ur life (which is made up of constant trauma) when he tells u he doesn’t know anything about ur life and would like to know more is in anyway manipulative or deceitful. Usually when I see a take I rlly disagree with I am at least able to discern how someone could come to that conclusion, but honestly I have no idea with this one 😭. Just, dude, come on. Y’all do realize that instantly assuming wrongfulness or deceit from a scene where a character is talking about their history of childhood sexual abuse does not make u look good 😭 right? The lack of self awareness is insane 😭 I understand it probably feels uncomfortable to watch a character u perceive as a straightforward manipulator and abuser talk about being horribly abused himself in a way that’s overtly sympathetic, but I think doubling down on ur previous black and white interpretation is like kind of silly goose behavior!

until ur ask I never rlly considered that some fans might be viewing Armand as noncomplexly always in the wrong bcus they are die hard Loustat shippers, but it makes sense! It’s also even more dumb 😭 I love Loustat a lot (mostly in the books cuz the show borderline desecrated them but whateves), but the thing about iwtv and tvc is that literally every character has and will date and be with each other constantly. The defensiveness over ur ship is not necessary 😭 if ur so hyper strict over monogamous shipping that it stresses u out to see ur favs in multiple relationships in the span of a show maybe this isn’t the fandom for u 😭🙏. I think maybe this attitude is coming from a place of “I need Armand to be worse then lestat because if Armand isn’t worse then lestat then loustat will look worse then Loumand and Louis will be wrong to go back to lestat”, and like, babes 😭 Lestat has already violently beat Louis on screen the harm has already been done, if ur still clinging to the hope that lestat will be ultimately the good and right choice for Louis u r fighting a loosing battle. Ship what u wanna ship guys, u can love loustat without trying to justify it as healthy or “healthier” then Loumand . But u do look like a dummy when ur trying to vastly mischaracterize Armand for shipping reasons 😭 like c’mon now. i feel the same way about Louis being portrayed as bad making u like him more!! I’m sure I’ve talked about this, but I kind of hated iwtv s1 and a lot of it was due to how Louis wasn’t at all overtly shitty or unlikable and seemed to be mostly in the right. My favorite thing about Louis in the books is how he portrays himself as a frail gentle human-like saintly vampire who wouldn’t hurt a fly and is better then other the vampires when in reality he is really a horrible, self victimizing unempathetic judgmental asshole who only cares about morality because he wants to boost his ego and feel better about himself. AHHHH it’s so interesting and entertaining to me, I love deceitful, selfish bitch louis sm. And I’m rlly happy with how s2 is leaning into this a little more than s1 is by making Louis such an asshole to Armand!! It feels really appropriate with the former slave owner/former slave parallel translated to the former pimp/former sex slave version in the show, and the way they are fleshing out the relationships in the books and adding more context. Louis is such a great character and I like him sm more in s2 lol, let him be shittyyy!! I beg u!! It’s such a shame that a lot of fans refuse to let their faves suck 🙏

and yessss!!! Armand is being portrayed so perfectly!! Assad is the perfect Armand I am so grateful for him, he is so beautifully nuanced and complex and human. So sad some fans refuse to acknowledge that 😭

on ur last paragraph!! Yesss literally there is so much about Armand to hate so if u hate him hate him for like canon things he has done instead of twisting everything he does into being non complexly evil bcus ur making the show worse for urself if ur viewing it so shallowly 😭. Armand has fucked over Claudia and Nicki and lestat and Louis, and if u hate him for that go right ahead 🙏 I hate Marius for ruining my faves life but guess what 😭 Marius is like a complex varied character and I’d sound like a straight dumb ass if I went on tumblr and tried to claim that literally everything he does is bad intentioned and evil, bcus that’s just not the case. U guys jumping through hoops to claim that Armand is always evil is like if I tried to say that Marius was actually being evil when he tried to save half the world from genocide from Akasha 😭 u know what I’m saying? Fortunately these characters r all incredibly complex and capable of like, nuanced intentions and behavior. If u can’t handle that in ur gay vampire show then I’m sorry ur going to be disappointed. God bless tho

thank u sm for the ask ur literally such an icon and I’m obsessed with u and ur steaming hot takes, everyone stands up and claps

[cbrownjc]

I think fans got that "hates Lestat" thing from the overall way ep5 was handled and then the resulting "yeah Lestat needs to go through a redemption arc after this" opinions from Sam, since in the first book afaik Lestat IS horrible, but he never did something like this to Louis. As for Armand/Louis, I've mainly seen people ship them more for the aesthetic of it, at least when you don't know the full context of Armand and his backstory and then romance with Louis, and you only base it on the current scenes. Since technically, Armand doesn't LOOK worse or just as bad as Lestat from what we've seen, the weirdest thing about him is putting on the role for Rashid for Louis. And for fans that like Louis as the character we have seen so far on the show (but not one that we've seen everything that's fully true about), I can understand people preferring Armand from everything so far in comparison to Lestat. But after the changes with Lestat I'm not sure if they'll technically make Armand any better on the show, especially with what we've seen of him in the present and how his relationship with Louis looks now.

Hey Anon,

I understand some people were hurt by EP5, but people gotta stop thinking it had anything to do with how any of the showrunners personally feel about the characters IMO. It was a choice made to set up a character arc, rightly or wrongly, and that's really it.

The staff writers have made it clear before this that Season 3 is the season Rolin especially wants to get to. Which we now know from his own mouth that will be The Vampire Lestat season if it happens. And they have still made Louis and Lestat (especially Lestat) more overtly romantic, and Lestat way more romantic towards Louis more than the first book ever did, before and after EP5. Even the very way in which Lestat turned Louis is way more sympathetic and romantic than in the book or the 1994 movie.

People can dislike the man for the choices made for EP5, and that's fine. (And he didn't even write that episode.) But that doesn't change some of the more sympathetic choices made wrt Lestat's character as opposed to the books either, IMO.

IDK. As I said after EP5 aired, maybe I feel the way I do because I know even in the later books, when Lestat is supposedly more sympathetic, he still does a lot of heinous shit too. And yet, I still enjoyed reading about his character even after that stuff.

I don't, and never have, looked toward Anne Rice's vampire chronicles characters for ethical, moral, or even just healthy choices. Lestat has character growth over the course of the series, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. But none of the characters in this story are ever morally better than others, Not even Louis (for all he acts like he is.)

All the characters in this are all f-ed up and toxic, just in various different ways and degrees. It just depends on how much f-ed up-ness and toxicity you are willing to take wrt a particular character when it comes down to it, IMO.

Which brings me to Armand. I mean, if people are shipping him and Louis mostly for the aesthetic, as you say, then okay, they can do them, I guess. I just hope they are okay with that aesthetic being the main reason why after the revelation of what Armand's true character is like (at this point in the story). Because if they haven't read the books, then aesthetic really is the only thing they can go by since they have zero idea what Armand's true character is or is really like.

Rashid was a performance. Not Armand's true character.

And I honestly think Armand, and what happens in Paris, will be worse than what happened in the book, if that's possible. (It’s something I’ve been saying even before the Armand reveal.) And not just because of what they had Lestat do that was unsympathetic on the show. But because I don't think the show is trying, in any way, to portray vampires as really being - in any way - moral or ethical creatures. Quite the opposite, really.

And especially when it comes to the vampires who are outside Louis, Lestat, and Claudia's little family bubble.

The show is leaning into the Horror part of this story just as much as it is the Gothic part. And Armand does some heinous shit in this story (and is a much better manipulator, given his spell and mind gifts), which I do not think the show will soften at all. They really have zero reasons to.

[faerywhimsy]

Shit, this re-read of TVL has quickly turned into The Armand Show, because of course it is. But can we please sit and talk a bit about both 'slave' and riches when it comes to Armand? (The more I look at it, the more I'm glad we have a PoC actor cast into the TV series. I've seen consensual M/s stuff discussed by PoC and it always forms a really powerful discussion).

I'm not even going to look at the times it's implied by Armand's calling Marius 'Master'. This post does a really good job of pulling in a LOT more Master/slave language than this one is going to.

Sidebar: And, I mean, yes, Lestat is a self proclaimed "slave of my own obsessions and fascination" but it's also explicitly different because he is the seventh son of a wealthy land owner and was never in any danger of literal slavery.

So.

"You've been the slave of everything that ever claimed you." "I was the leader of my coven!" "No. You were the slave of Marius and then of the Children of Darkness. You fell under the spell of one and then the other. What you suffer now is the absence of a spell. I think I shudder that you caused me so to understand it for a little while, to know it as if I were a different being than I am."

Sure, yes, I agree with @uncivilcivilservice that something in both Armand and Lestat's souls do seem to recognise the other on first meeting. But there are huge differences in their psyche and, honestly, just lived experience. This, and wealth, are just two of them.

Lestat identifies here that the kind of slave, or the thing he means by the word 'slave' when applied to him is a different thing to how he applies it to Armand. Lestat is a slave to his own ego; Armand is a slave to others. The endless people pleaser. The only person Lestat consistently seeks to please is himself.

He's not wrong, though, is the thing.

When I see Armand using the word in TVA, I wonder if it's more of a reclaiming thing for him.

"Amadeo, you play the devil." "Don't you want me to, Master? Didn't you like it? You took my blood and it made you my slave!" Marius laughed. "So that's the twist you put on it, isn't it?"

I've touched on the moment Lestat is basically all, 'go buy yourself something nice, just leave me alone' but I just find myself... needing to go... a little deeper here. The specific passage in question:

"You can take this tower for your lair," I said. "Use it as long as you wish. Magnus found it safe enough." After a moment, he nodded with a grave politeness, but he didn't say anything. "Let Lestat give you the gold needed to make you a gentleman," Gabrielle said.

A kind reading of the text might indicate this moment is Lestat offering something to Armand from the goodness of his heart. A slightly less charitable reading would probably point out that, with riches such as Lestat has grown up with, he likely doesn't appreciate the value in what he offers here to someone Armand.

It's only money and land. I can see Gabrielle's aware of it though; she's the one who's cognisant that wealth alone can turn one into a gentleman.

The last obvious reading is, of course, Lestat is here using his gold to buy Nicolas' wellbeing.

"If you will not go to them," I said slowly, "then do not hurt them. Do not hurt Nicolas." And when I spoke these words, Armand's face changed very subtly. It was almost a smile that crept over his features. And his eyes shifted slowly to me. And I saw the scorn in them. I looked away but the look had affected me as much as a blow. "I don't want him to be harmed," I said in a tense whisper.

Probably, there's an argument for a combination of all three.

Suffice to say: this moment's incredibly fraught. Not just from Lestat's motivations, but from Armand's acceptance. Armand's swift cycle through expressions in the above passage—especially from a character so renowned for his blank expressions—is incredibly telling.

I could go into another longer diatribe here, but honestly this post is long already. So I've condensed what I see in this moment of fraught contrasts between Lestat and Armand to the following 3 points:

The one who has been a slave finally being given money for his freedom, instead of being bought as he was by Marius vs. the strings that are clearly evident and expected in Armand's behaviour should he accept Lestat's money,

Money as an established exchange for sex; something Armand is no stranger to vs. BOTH Lestat declaring he wants nothing further to do with Armand and that the physical act of sex is not something TVC vampires are capable of, then finally

Bribery, which is more or less the simplest of these points, but kinda has its claws woven into both previous points in different ways.

Yup, these two boys are not even playing from the same book when they meet each other at this point in their stories.

[desertfangs]

“honestly if DA hadn’t sent me an anon about one of them I was ready to pull it and call it a loss”

DON’T YOU DARE 🤧 but also imma cry that fic is so special and sexy and bittersweet and I can’t recommend it enough! You go in expecting smutty goodness (which you WILL find) and end up openly sobbing five paragraphs in. Seriously if you’re a bookverse Armand/Daniel fan and haven’t read this one, what have you even been doing with your life!? Mandatory Devil’s Minion reading imho 📖

This current trend of passively consuming media is slowly killing fandoms and fandom content creators. I’ll never not do my part but it’s so disheartening to see so many incredible fics with such depth and understanding of individual characters and dynamics with like… less than 10 comments on ao3. That shit kills the spirit fr xoxo DA ❤️

PS Daniel sitting out the entirety of BC2 because he was too busy playing The Last of Us is laying me tf out and I’ll be thinking about it often 💭

DA!! Thank you so much!! You are honestly a treasure and a gift to this fandom and I know we all appreciate your messages so much! 💖💖

None of us thinks we're owed ANYTHING but like... I came up in fandom in the 90s and 2000s, where people were sharing stuff in newsgroups and on forums and then livejournal. It was a community and everyone interacted with each other and shared their thoughts and commented on fics! Fics launched whole discussions and more fics about similar topics. Now it feels like fandom is so isolated, and people put creators in some separate box where they will consume what they create but not dare interact. And it's weird! We're all just part of fandom, flailing around and trying to have to fun.

Now there's this social media like button culture where people (not just in fandom) will leave a like and move on and that's fine except it doesn't feel as personal and creates this lonely atomosphere. It's so passive, as you said, and as someone who's spending a lot of their free time and brain power crafting fics because I'm excited about the characters or an idea and I want to share, putting it out there and getting nothing back is so demoralizing.

And then of course there's the insecurity. Most writers have it in spades so when we post something and the response is... lackluster... the first thought is often "Well, apparently this one sucks." It creates all kinds of doubt! And then if you're me, sometimes you feel stupid for posting at all and wonder if you should take it down. (I talk myself out of this and then more comments come in and I feel better - although lately comments are hard to come by after the first couple of days a fic is live!)

But I digress. It's just this whole thing and it's weird because no one owes anyone comments or compliments, but creating into a void is depressing and unsatisfying and it's going to lead to people not bothering to share what they make. And that's a bummer, because fandom is all about sharing and conversing and having fun as a group. Otherwise I can just tell my headcanons to my cats, who are always happy to listen.

But you always do your part!! I love your messages and they always make me feel like I've succeeded. So thank you so much again for your kind words! I really am proud of that fic and I hope people will start to realize that a quick comment is worth so much to fic writers. It doesn't need to be elaborate!

And LOL yes, I love the idea of Daniel being so busy battling digital zombies that he's just.. not involved in the last book. Armand calls from time to time and Daniel talks him off a ledge and then fights his way through another zombie-infested building. 😂😂😂 This is my current theory and I'm sticking to it.

[the-least-innocent-angel]

Ok so @the-apostates-martyr gave me this epic idea and I set out to write another mini fic for it but somehow it turned a little angsty and I don’t even know anymore so here’s this thing I made

Daniel was the child of a century Armand knew nearly nothing about. Because of this Armand relied on Daniel to be a sort of human encyclopedia and came to him with a myriad of bizarre questions about random subjects. Even though Daniel didn’t always have the answers to these questions he tried his best to help Armand find the answer through research, though this mostly consisted of them watching movies together under the guise of ‘learning new things’.

Even when Daniel did have the answers to some of Armands questions Armand didn’t always understand them, half the concepts were more foreign to him than the concept of flying would be to a fish. This led to many rants and rambles as Daniel tried to be the best teacher possible despite the bratty and impatient behavior of his pupil.

Thankfully however these lessons, no matter how many dissolved into fights and screaming matches usually ended with Armand finally understanding the answer to whatever question had started the whole ordeal. Daniel silently prided himself on his teaching abilities as well as his ability to deal with Armands tendency to act like a bratty teenager rather than a wise, centuries old creature.

However there was one modern concept that Daniel couldn’t get Armand to understand no matter how hard he tried and how much they fought. For some reason Armand could not wrap his head around modern slang, he still used slang from several centuries past despite how many odd looks it earned him.

After months of trying to get Armand to just flip people off instead of literally shouting ”I bite my thumb at thee” Daniel gave up, he was pretty sure Armand was just doing it to annoy him at this point. Which to be fair Daniel had most definitely earned after their last screaming match about the topic ended up with Daniel screaming he was a useless brat among other much harsher things to which Armand responded with his own harsh words, blood tears and avoiding Daniel three nights in a row.

When he returned his use of ancient slang seemed to increase tenfold especially when the two were out in public together. This, of course, earned them each weird looks and way more attention than Daniel was comfortable with getting in public. Seeing Daniel blush and squirm under the judgemental gaze only made Armand snicker and smirk at his human lover before continuing to use the same slang.

Within a week Daniel had a long list of excuses to give when Armand would pull this little stunt, he would chuckle nervously and say something like

“My little brothers on the spectrum”

“He’s a Shakespearean actor, he takes his roles very seriously”

“He’s French”

The French one seemed to particularly annoy Armand and therefore became Daniels favorite go to excuse. In retaliation whenever Daniel would use this one Armand would refuse to speak in anything other than French for the rest of the night effectively cutting off any hope of actual conversation since Daniels ability to speak the language was limited to ‘Bonjour’.

Tonight was one of the many nights Daniel had managed to earn himself, what he had dubbed, ‘The French Treatment’.

“Come on boss” Daniel whined, almost begging as he knew sunrise was close and Armand was still only speaking French even as they sat cuddled close on a small hotel room couch. “I said I’m sorry, I won’t say you’re French just stop using such old slang it’s weird”

“continue de mendier mon Cher(keep begging my dear)” Armand responded with a smirk as he looked up from his comfortable spot resting under Daniels arm. “peut-être que j'écouterai(maybe I’ll listen)”

“You know I can't speak French for shit” Daniel said rolling his eyes and somewhat glaring at the smirking little vampire “are you really wasting what’s left of the night over this?”

“nous aurons beaucoup plus de nuits je promets(we’ll have many nights to come, I promise)” Armand replied, losing the smirk and instead looking at him with a more endearing smile, he enjoyed being able to more openly express love with the safe knowledge that Daniel was entirely clueless to what he was truly saying. “pour l'instant asseyez-vous et restez avec moi, ne partez pas(for now just sit and stay with me, don’t leave)”

“You can be so annoying when you do shit like this” Daniel complained clearly growing more upset, it had been hours of no communication and he couldn’t take it. He started to move out of the comfortable embrace they shared and Armands' smile dropped.

Armand knew he was annoying Daniel, he knew it was wrong to tease and pick on his lover like this yet he couldn’t seem to help from acting this way. the idea of Daniel leaving him over it, of Daniel deciding that he couldn’t put up with Armand anymore and disappearing, not speaking even when Armand found him again terrified Armand more than he was willing to admit.

“Mon Cher(my dear)” Armand muttered, holding onto Daniel's hand, using his superior strength to keep Daniel from moving far away.

“Come on Armand, I’m tired” Daniel groaned rolling his eyes, trying to tug his hand away despite knowing it was useless “Just let me leave, you’re not speaking to me anyway what’s the point of me staying”

Armand still didn’t let go, he just stared at Daniel as the human continued to tug on his hand held in Armands iron tight grip. Armand genuinely didn’t know what to do, he wanted to keep up the French, wanted to continue to tease his lover for making up such a foolish lie about him being French, his stubborn nature wouldn’t let him drop it. But he knew if he kept this up Daniel would leave, maybe he wouldn’t come back tomorrow night, a little voice in his head told him he didn’t deserve Daniel that he pushed him away because he doesn’t deserve any of the good things that happen to him and he knows it.

“Boss?” Daniel asked timidly, Armand was tightening the grip on his hand and his face remained emotionless. It was scaring him a bit, but the feeling of concern for Armand overwhelmed the fear as he noticed blood tears beading up in the corners of Armands eyes.

“ne me quitte pas(don’t leave me)” Armand whispered, finally speaking and releasing Daniel's hand.

Daniel wasn’t even angry at the continued use of French, he was just incredibly worried. He’d only seen Armand cry out of rage, never pure sadness. Unsure of what to do he just slowly and cautiously wrapped his arms around Armand who hesitantly hugged him back.

They stayed that way for a long time without speaking until the threat of the coming Sun forced a yawn from Armand breaking the silence.

“Guess I should get going huh” Daniel said softly as he let Armand go. Armand however didn’t move his arms from around Daniel and held him closer.

“Please, don’t go” Armand whispered, finally speaking English, though Daniel didn’t feel triumphant, only guilty and worried. “Not today, please stay”

“You want me to stay the day?” Daniel asked anxiously. Armand wanted him to stay by his side through the day, meaning he’d be sleeping in a coffin. He felt Armand nod his head against the side of his shoulder.

“Just today” Armand assured, he knew it was an odd request, he knew Daniel wouldn’t like the coffin but he just needed to be sure Daniel would still be with him when he woke up, he needed to know he wouldn’t leave.

“Alright boss” Daniel agreed with slight reluctance.

To Daniels surprise the coffin was spacious, lined with velvet and more comfortable than any bed he’d ever slept in. With the lid closed it was admittedly scary but as he felt Armand wrap his arms around him and cuddle close to him all his fear vanished. He cuddled closer to Armand and was quickly asleep.

The next night neither of them spoke of what happened, neither mentioned the coffin or the blood tears or the fight. Armand simply gave up his past slang, though he still whispered loving words in French to Daniel while they cuddled up watching time bandits for the hundredth time

[awfully-sadistic]

The Hellowoon Diaries ft. Armand || #5

Oct. 28th 11:25AM

D.A.D.,

Something very weird has been happening.

When I wrote last time, it was Friday evening and everybody had plans to watch movies in Dot’s home and we’d be spending the weekend with her. A sleepover, I believed they called it. That night went well; I experienced a lot of things, namely popcorn, and I fell asleep during the last movie we would have been watching but other than that, nothing seemed out of place.

I woke up on Saturday, very early in the morning, that it wasn’t even daybreak yet. Unconsciously, I had retreated back into my bound item because I had to stick my head out of the clock as soon as I was aware of where I was. It was very dark out, still, and everything was quiet. I noticed only one thing that was off.

Dodger was already up and had been sitting very still that I thought he had fallen asleep sitting up. But I could see his eyes in the hazy dark as he had turned to face me. Dot was a heavy sleeper, she did not feel any disturbance despite what we were feeling that caused us to awaken.

It is unusual to explain the sensation. It felt like dread. Worry. Anxiety. An impending sense of doom. I will not lie, I was a little frightened. The feeling was not overwhelming and it is hard to explain why it was so uncomfortable. It was not like a nagging feeling in the back of your mind. It sat like an unwelcomed guest in your home after you had committed the mistake of letting it in. I think letting it in was waking up and realizing it was there; it happened so fast and it was so intruding, you had no choice but to let it in as soon as you opened your eyes. It seems a little unfair, doesn’t it?

Now you are left with a feeling you did not know how to deal with and had no way of getting rid of it.

Then, the feeling was gone. But not with a snap of the fingers. If I had to contribute it to a feeling, I suppose it felt like a sheet being pulled away from your body, slowly, starting from the feet and being pulled off your head then lower and lower until finally, it was gone.

Even as a ghost, I felt the sensation as if I were a real person. I have no previous experience to compare it to, but that felt the most natural thing to say.

I found it so odd that a sensation or feeling was so strong that Dot did not wake from her slumber and experience it with me and Dodger. But I am also very happy that she did not, it wasn’t reassuring and I would never want her to feel uncomfortable. We can only give her our accounts and she has to experience it second-hand but I would had rather give her that than let her experience the real thing.

We could not go back to sleep after that. Dodger and I remained awake, quiet at first, but then we had to start talking about what we had experienced. It seemed only natural to do. What was it? Why did we feel it? Did Dot experience the same thing in her sleep? She was an empath, so she must have, right? We had many questions and we talked quietly, Dot not being stirred by our curiosities nor worries and the both of us glad about it. I would have felt awful if we awoke her to something like this.

We eventually told her around breakfast time, when Dodger woke Dot up after what seemed like a feast he created. I think he was trying to distract himself and needed something to do with his hands. He made pancakes, waffles, sausages, eggs, bacon, toast, and hash browns. We do not eat that much and Dot had told him the same as soon as she saw it.

Dodger just gave her a smile but he didn’t divulge just yet. I think he was giving Dot some time to wake up and be comfortable. That was nice of him. But then again, he treats Dot better than anyone else I know.

After her coffee, it did not take long for Dot to understand that something had been wrong or, off. We weren’t trying to act weird but she is a lot more observing than people know. She says she attributes it to “knowing her babies” and we are her babies. I think it’s silly she calls me a baby, I am so much bigger than a baby. But it makes me feel warm and I never correct her. But if anyone should be a baby, it should surely be Dot—she is smaller than me.

I could see that Dodger had a debate whether to admit to Dot that something strange had happened this morning. The both of us could tell that something had shifted but we were unsure what that might have been. We had no proof but Dot did not need convincing. She could see it on our faces, in our attitudes. In Dodger’s restlessness. She had said I was quieter than usual.

Then, we told her.

We spoke about the sensation of waking up to dread. We told her that we felt a certainty of doom even in our separate experiences. Then, how it lingered like an unwelcome house guest. Dodger had tried to explain that he could not logically or rationally come up with a reason to dismiss it, that it wasn’t something that wanted to be dismissed. Then he said how it made him feel like it could have been a warning. Or a threat. It was puzzling that the both of us could experience the same type of feeling at the same time yet Dot could be left sleeping like the dead.

She seemed a little bothered she slept through it and told Dodger to wake her next time but Dodger declined, feeling as much as I had that it was a good thing she slept through it.

“Why would I put you through that?” he had asked her. I could see that Dot wanted to argue, to give Dodger a reason, but maybe she was touched that he wanted to protect her from it.

Dodger told her it wasn’t long, anyway. He finished with how it left us behind and placed an awareness of a shift in its wake. It seemed longer being told out but the whole thing couldn’t have lasted more than three minutes.

Dot said she didn’t feel anything in her sleep and she didn’t have any particularly weird dreams that could have contributed to the feeling. She wasn’t aware of a shift except in our attitudes and it had worried her. But she also didn’t dismiss it; if we felt it, she had said, then something must have happened and she believed us. We seemed serious if not a little grave this morning.

Dot had the bright idea of phoning in the strange phenomena and that was when we noticed that it might have had an effect on our world, bigger than we could have ever thought.

Our Saturday was spent at the Sanctum, trying to get into touch with Nick Fury or anyone else from Earth-616.

It was like they never existed.

The portal that Doctor Strange had made in the Occult Room was just a closet yet both of our Cursed items he had sealed were still sitting on our shelves. We know we didn’t imagine the entirety of his existence along with Earth-616.

We spent the rest of the day, intermittently calling the number Mr. Fury left us. It was hard to concentrate on anything else but Dot had insisted that we take breaks. She was worried about us and didn’t want us to overtax ourselves with worry. I felt that was a good idea because there was nothing we could do, otherwise.

It was then decided that we’d be staying at the Sanctum until we were able to get into touch just in case anyone needed us, from both worlds.

We ran errands to grab some extra food, drink, and stocked up on goods that made it look like we were preparing for the end of the world. That was what Dot said, at least. Dodger said it was good to be prepared but Dot said it made us look pretty crazy.

“We won’t be crazy when it turns out that something is happening.”

We still didn’t have a name for this, we just kept calling it the “something” yet we knew what it meant.

We also went home to pick up my clock and extra bedding. With the many rooms we have, it was easy to remake one into a living quarter with chairs, books, a television, and someplace Dot and Dodger could rest their heads if they got too tired.

Dodger tried calling Evi but she never picked up. That was to be expected though as it was our day off. However, Dot and Dodger thought it was strange. It was explained to me that Evi had said she’d be reachable at any time, regardless of days off. Dot said that was a red flag, and I think that means something troubling. I hope nothing bad had happened to her.

I don’t know how we managed to sleep that night with that strangeness looming over our heads but we did.

On Sunday, Dot and Dodger called a couple of their contacts at The Agency to confirm that something had… shifted. It was also able to confirm that whatever had happened seemed to throw the entire world into chaos. Things such as Supernaturals and Cursed Items that have been hidden have suddenly been unearthed. Trading in the waters have been halted as the sea was too tumultuous to endure travel. The Agency was much more willing to admit the existence of Cursed Items, now, but with no way of knowing how to handle them, left them untouched. This left a lot of areas where Cursed Items resided in turmoil, almost like a lawless land, Dot had said.

When all was said and done, Dot had explained that The Agency had their hands full and that it was a good thing they broke away from The Agency before “shit hit the fan” otherwise “we’d be caught up in that chaos, too, and I don’t think I could handle that.” Since our business isn’t as big, she said we have the freedom to get to the bottom of what may be going on. I hope she’s right.

When Dodger asked where they could even start, Dot… did not have a clue. That was fair. We didn’t either.

It is now Monday as I tell you this. Dodger said it was a good idea to keep a record of what’s going on so we can recall events. I volunteered by stating I’d be relaying the sequence of events in my diary. I’m glad it’s a good idea because otherwise I feel useless. I don’t have the knowledge that Dodger does about the world or the resources Dot does that she can get information from friends or co-workers. I feel like they do everything and I end up being a third wheel. I’m grateful to be here and I love being with them, but I want to feel useful sometimes, too.

I hope this helps.

I’m stating that Evi did not show up for work and we still have not heard from Mr. Fury or Doctor Strange. The portal is still gone and we have been hearing reports from Dot’s contacts at The Agency that say all around the world hasn’t been left untouched by whatever happened. It’s on a global scale and The Agency has been using up its manpower to try to settle their cases.

We have been staying in the Sanctum rather than our homes because it feels easier to be here.

Somehow, safer.

I am glad that I have Dot and Dodger by my side. I have no idea how I would have been handling this on my own.

12:15PM

Still no sign of Evi. We’ve tried calling her home phone and cell to try to get into touch but her phones do not connect.

1:15PM

We’re having lunch now. Dodger made us warm things; a savory tomato soup and some grilled cheese sandwiches. It seems he had made more than we can eat again.

Dot and Dodger are restless. I want to try to get them to relax but I do not know how. Perhaps we could watch a movie, something funny and light. To forget momentarily that strange things are happening all around the world.

4:25PM

At this point, we’ve given up trying to get in touch with Evi. Dot says she hopes she’s okay. Dodger remained quiet this entire time. I wonder if he feels bad about Evi. But it looks like he’s more contemplative than remorseful. I wonder what he’s thinking about and why he doesn’t share his thoughts more often.

Now that we’ve acknowledged that something strange has been going on or whatever had happened had made the Supernatural aspects of things stronger, I’ve noticed a lot more… activity in the Sanctum. I do not think Dot was too far off in suspecting things, either.

She has said so many times before that she doesn’t think we’re fully alone in the Sanctum. But it wasn’t like the Poltergeist we had dealt with when Dot and Dodger first took over the office building.

She thinks we may have a friend who is too shy to make an appearance.

Like me, I had thought.

6:00PM

We’ve just watched a news report. Dot had said this was very important because the government was now going to address what was going on. Apparently, the president has made a speech and everything.

At the end of it, we were disappointed because it was things we already knew…

Dot and Dodger were saying that they were keeping information from the people, perhaps not trying to throw everyone into mass hysteria. But it might have been too late for that.

However, the thing we were surprised about was not the news.

Our… friend had finally made an appearance that scared the “bejesus out of” Dot. Dodger looked a little surprised, too. He had no inkling that something had been with us.

At the end of the news report, we were talking about how we hadn’t learned anything new other than the world seemed like it was going to end. That Dodger might have been right going “bunker” on us—Dot explained that is something crazy folks do when they think the world is going to come crashing on our heads. They stock up lots of supplies to last for years and years, to survive.

I was in the middle of saying I had hoped it wouldn’t come to this when I was interrupted.

A new voice joined in saying, “I should have been cremated.”

Our new friend was just as see-through as I am when I’m not in my corporeal state. He says his name is Ryton Thorne. I was a little awed by him; unlike me, he seems to remember who he is…

7:00PM

We spent the hour learning about our new friend; where he came from, how he died, and why he was haunting the office.

Mr. Ryton Thorne was a thirty-three-year-old Estate Agent. In his ghost (or corporeal form), he has short brown hair that was cut quite neatly, brown eyes that almost look reddish, and a nice smile. He seems relatively harmless, pretty normal. He’s also taller than me and Dodger, I suppose that’s the only thing unusual about him.

I didn’t know what a real estate agent was but he explained he had sold houses and property. He doesn’t quite remember how he died but he believed he was murdered. Dodger stated that ghosts who were murdered often don’t remember how they died. It takes something triggering to bring back that horrific event.

He didn’t seem to be too bothered by it. In fact, he said he believed that was the best thing that has happened to him. I couldn’t see how being murdered was good… but he seems uplifting about a lot of things. He said he didn’t need to work himself to death anymore since he was already dead and it was better having all this free time instead of committing himself to a job that didn’t appreciate him. He earned a couple of chuckles out of Dot. I wonder if I didn’t understand the joke, hmmm…

He doesn’t know why he’s bound to the office but he thinks his bound item is a stapler on one of the desks. He laughs about it saying that it was better than his briefcase, that was the last thing he wanted to be bound to. I suppose that is also better than a huge grandfather clock; it would be easier if I were bound to something smaller that Dot could keep in her pocket.

8:30PM

Not much of a change this evening. We hear a lot more racket outside nowadays but Dot said it’s just other people, “losing their damn minds” about things. We hear windows being smashed and car alarms. Dodger thinks humans are rioting. Supernatural beings are perhaps being targeted now more than ever.

It truly is the end times, isn’t it?

10:00PM

I think we’re afraid to get some sleep. The rioting... if that was what it was… had died down and everything is quiet. We’ve been watching some movies and binging funny television shows to help calm ourselves.

Ryton absolutely loves the one with the crazy boss and they work in the paper business. I think it’s pretty neat we have a new friend. He’s been really nice to all of us and seems like he’s just glad to be heard, finally.

It turns out that he wasn’t shy. He just didn’t have the energy to manifest. When the something that happened, happened, it allowed him to appear. Having Ryton around has allowed us to forget that there’s something strange going on, that things around the world has just taken a dive for the worst. He has lots of funny stories from his time alive to tell us and asks us questions about how the world has changed. I think everyone has been grateful for the distraction.

So, we have been spending a lot of time just talking about ourselves; Dot was content to share what happened with the Agency so Ryton could understand what we were and what we do and Dodger was content to listen and let Dot lead.

Ryton surprised us by saying that he wants to join our team if things get back to normal.

It was weird that he said that. For some reason, and I think the others would agree with me, I was feeling like nothing would get back to normal. Things were going to be dangerous and strange and that was when I realized that feeling of dread had never left me at all. It had just disguised itself, hidden itself, so it wouldn’t be recognized.

I’m glad Ryton is here.

I think the others are, too.

11:59 PM

We just got a signal.

It seems Nick Fury, Doctor Strange, and Earth-616 has returned.

[moviegroovies]

just realized i never wrote that interview with the vampire post i promised y’all, so here we go

first of all! i love it. just want to get that out there. like, 10/10 stars, would watch again, have watched again, almost twice, kind of planned to watch for a sort of fourth time tonight, might not. idk. it’s great!! it’s great both as a movie (i watched the movie first like a blasphemer) and as an adaptation of the book. actually, it’s a GREAT movie adaptation of that book, probably one of the best jobs i’ve ever seen of adapting a book into a screenplay and then getting it on film. as i said, i read the book after i watched the movie, and pretty much everything was adapted directly, even significant amounts of dialogue, to the point that it felt sort of like a novelization, if novelizations were perfect.

this is what i WISH novelizations were, actually. like, using it as an example isn’t fair because it was written before the movie, but as the kind of loser who has read novelizations (i payed. like 40 dollars for a ghostbusters one. and then like 2 bucks for a Different ghostbusters one which i haven’t read yet but don’t have high hopes for), this was what i always want them to be like. same plot, lots of the same dialogue (i HATE novelizations that try to make it their own by changing the dialogue slightly. i was reading that ghostbusters one and i don’t even think i had watched ghostbusters recently but i know the lines well enough that it threw me the fuck off when the author changed them. like if someone came into your house and moved all your furniture slightly to the left? that was what it felt like), but a few things that didn’t happen in the movie, too. deeper characterization, the kind of worldbuilding/character building you can’t really do in a limited time frame on screen. getting into the charater’s thoughts. using nuance. novelizations could totally be this! or at least i wish they were! basically what i’m saying is stay tuned for my unlicensed nuclear accelerator novelization of ghostbusters going up on this blog coming soon. 

anyway, a thing i liked about it as an adaptation of the book was that it was always true to what anne wrote (and i think she did at least part of the script, although i heard the director did heavy edits on it), but there were some lines that weren’t in the book that improved the scenes imo! like the little exchange in the theater of vampires where louis is commenting on the vampires pretending to be humans pretending to be vampires, and claudia responds “how avant garde.” it serves both to clear up what’s going on (since we don’t have the benefit of louis’ narration at this point in the movie) and to humanize them a little. most of the added dialogue did that, and that’s something i really like--especially that line as louis watches new orleans burn and thinks that lestat deserves his revenge. Loved that. and him getting to see the sunrise again through film? oof!!!! honestly i liked the ending of the movie more than i did the book, which makes me feel blasphemous. it seems like louis is just doing... better in the movie. i don’t want to give too many spoilers or anything, but in the book he ends up completely detached, and never gets that gay power moment of telling armand he’s not going to give up his pain and then leaving him, so What’s The Point. on a more positive note, another thing i liked was the “you used to eat rats?” exchange. that was a much needed cute family moment.

oh! and they put some stuff from the vampire lestat into this movie, too, which, again, i liked, or at least, i like now that i know that’s what was happening. lestat being able to read minds and louis not being able to. lestat only wanting to drink the blood of evil doers. a lot of the added stuff helped make lestat more sympathetic, which was a definite necessity. actually, tom cruise acted the hell out of that role, which was surprising. not really that he could act (i’ve seen things i liked him in) but that he could be lestat, a flamboyant vampire prettyboy. wasn’t tom cruise the one who punched someone for implying he was gay? idk. 

actually, i was really surprised how gay this movie was for a movie starring tom cruise and brad fucking pitt. like, tell me before i watched it that those two were the stars and i would have been expecting (i was kind of expecting) the most no-homo rendition of the movie possible. and yeah, they toned it down a little from the book... but not that much. louis’ narration is a lot less overtly homo than lestat’s anyway, and brad pitt really fucking Nailed being louis. 

(which i find hilarious, because while tom cruise apparently got really into the vampire chronicles while they were filming this and had all these opinions in like movie promoting interviews about how lestat was actually a good dude, and loved louis (smthn along those lines i skimmed the shit about this), which really came through in his characterization of lestat, brad read like, one chapter of the book and lost interest. i loved the book, myself, but what a fucking icon.) 

that almost-kiss with armand at the end? also iconic. 

really, the only sexual stuff they actually tuned down was the louis/claudia shit, which i’m all fucking for. like, claudia is a grown woman, but it’s still so awk in the book whenever she’s coming onto louis, especially considering how often he reaffirms that she’s his daughter. even worse when he comments on her sensuality, or when she kisses him.... ick. plus, kirsten WASN’T a grown woman, so that would have been really nasty if they kept it.

oh and christian slater!!! i didn’t know he was in this until i started watching it, and i was very excited to see him. that’s my heathers love talking. i was talking to my dad after i saw it and apparently river phoenix was supposed to play daniel before he died, and my dad thought he would have been a lot better for the role i guess, but personally i think slater really picked up the part. he also didn’t shy away from being a little homoerotic, especially toward the end. he got the part right. plus, heathers. 

and i can’t gush about the actors without talking about kirsten dunst. she was 11 when she was in this (apparently her parents wouldn’t let her actually watch the movie when it came out, which, ha), but she absolutely conquered the part of the 60 year old woman in a child’s body. there were times when i actually forgot that she was just an eleven year old, because she was that good. the scene with the body in her bed isn’t in the book (not quite, although something else happens with claudia and leaving bodies around), and it’s one of the best in the movie imo. you can see lestat doting on her but not understanding her, you can tell why she would resent him, you can see her resentment and before she even snaps at him you can see that she’s an adult woman stuck inside a child (like that villain from batman the animated series--did anyone else think of that?), pissed off that she wants to be treated like the grown person she is but continues to be given dolls. also, there was some peak murder family moments in that scene, with louis standing there lowkey horrified. we never got the exchange with claudia telling louis that she’s going to kill lestat and him telling her Do Not Do This Thing, unfortunately, which was something i liked more from the book, but his concern and confusion in this scene kind of speak to that. you can especially tell that he still hasn’t realized that she’s grown--he’s seeing her the same way lestat is. aww.

so, i read the book and watched the movie in pretty quick succession, and i’m writing this a day after finishing the book and a few hours after my kind-of rewatch and about a week after the last time i saw it all the way through. my memory of both being pretty strong rn, there are only a very few things that i can think of which changed from book to movie outside of things necessary to take it to the screen and keep the movie from being like twelve hours. claudia is necessarily aged up from 5 to 11--it’s just practical, a 5 year old would not nearly have had the range that kirsten did for this. armand is changed from looking like a 17 year old redhead to antonio banderas (is it bad that i’m so uncultured that before this i only knew him as the dad from spy kids?), age 34, in a Really Bad black wig. (in general i’m all for banderas in the role, and he definitely acted it well, but what the FUCK was that costuming. why does his hair look like that. i digress but they did him dirty, especially considering how much Better everyone else looks as a vampire.) the subplot with lestat’s blind father living with him and louis at first is cut, which is kind of a shame imo. i really liked how on edge lestat was when begging louis to kill him (not as bad in context), how it kind of breaks the mask lestat tries to wear and shows that he’s confused and vulnerable and he really just doesn’t know much about being a vampire--that “and why should i know!” outbreak they put in did a good job of being the movie’s counterpart to that scene, however. the ending is changed a bit, altho i’ll leave the spoilers of how exactly up to your imagination. some things should stay sacred, right?

one thing i’m REALLY glad they added was louis freeing the slaves on his plantation.  i think it was a nasty choice on behalf of anne rice to write her sympathetic, thoughtful protagonist as a slave owner in the first place, especially one who by his own admission didn’t see slaves as people for a long time, and it’s unfortunate to me that it had to be adapted in that way (although i don’t think ignoring that aspect entirely would have been a better movie solution), but the slaves were at least made free men before louis moved to new orleans. in the book, louis still burns the house, but he doesn’t free the people enslaved there, and he never reflects on that. fucked up if true, i guess. i blame mostly anne for that whole thing.

ooo, that scene with lestat killing the two prostitutes was good. it’s pretty much adapted word for word from the book, but the book doesn’t have the visual of tom cruise leaping over the coffin to sit on it while she’s in it, and that was one of the sexiest scenes i can remember. so.

just remembered at the last moment that i liked the “i’m going to give you the choice i never had” thing, both because it gives a little hint of lestat background (and makes him more sympathetic/adds to the whole breaking the mask thing that i like) and because they did a Very fucking good callback with it at the end.

there’s probably more about that movie that i have Opinions on, but when i remember them i’ll just have to make another post, ig. i will say tho? that last scene they added is so FUCKING good. cue up sympathy for the devil on my way out, will you?

[ramrodd]

Why do liberals oppose Trumps tax cuts for corporations?

On the positive side, Trump is right about Putin.

COMMENTARY:

Currently, the Treasury is printing money as fast as it can to accommodate the deficit spending Trump’s business model requires to keep his personal business afloat.

Trump’s entire business model is based on getting as many balls in the air as possible and keep them up with cash flow. When the cash flow slows down or dries up, the balls begin to fall out of the tree like Christmas Tree ornaments.

That’s what happened to Manafort and it represents a demarcation between the economic policy of Obama and Trump: the cash flows that kept his balls in the air dried up under Obama for some reason and it may have been the sanctions, but it is also because whatever deficit spending Obama did, it was being sucked up by the TARP repairs that he and Bush collaborated I think even before the election and all that juicy cash Manafort counted on to buy expensive jackets stopped flowing.

If these cash flows dried up because of the promiscuous employment of sanctions against Russia, then they, the sanctions, were an act of war totally unwarranted by justified in support of the Ukrainian Independence movement. I don’t know what happened between Putin and Obama that bent Obama’s nose so out of joint, but he should have manned up right then and write off whatever it was to a “welcome to the NFL” moment. Instead, he let his dick dictate the Russian narrative that produced these sanctions.

He and Clinton spent the better part of 6 years doing to Russia as a proxy for Putin what Obama did to Trump at the Foreign Correspondence Dinner.

Putin had every right, under the rules of warfare to launch the cyber-attack against our election, but he didn’t. He knows who did and he could have stopped it, but he had a larger purpose and that was for someone like me to explain my version of events based on process theology. Process theology is the essential social technology of the US Constitution and Marxism. The US Constitution employs the economics of sweetness and light. Marxism employs the economics of darkness and dust. The only real difference between the US Constituion and Marxism, as can been traced historically, is the difference between the Free Enterprise economics of the Democratic Socialism of the US Constitution in contrast to the Free Market economics of Marxism and Tory Socialism.

I use the same process theology as Frank “Be All You Can Be” Burns. He and I are the best in the world at what we do and he’s dead. I have been consulting to the Russians since Carter was President and as a direct result of the Nixon-Breznev Detente, that made the IPO I was involved in possible, that and Nixon’s design for airline deregulation. I was using process theology to put the project together in collaboration with my partner/boss, Dale P. Lewis, who installed the first turn-key IBM data center in Saratov, outside of Moscow. The people who were doing deals with the Soviets were people like Donald Kendall of Pepsico and Armand Hammer. People who did business like Trump and Manafort were Greeks and Hong Kong pirates. Assholes like Trump were just beginning to show up in Europe, but none of them ever could do a deal like what Dale did because they all lie, cheat and steal like Trump. Especially Harvard-trained executives, with their Kavenau calculus.

I couldn’t put the project together. Dale didn’t need me to do that, but he needed me to do the stuff he couldn’t or I could do better, which wasn’t much except in finance and I understood it well enough to know we needed someone like Jim Kimsey to take it public, Dale had a similar idea about finance as Manafort, but he wasn’t a thief, he just didn’t understand that profits are future costs and not pocket change for clubbing. This is unfair to him, but expedient in the moment, but I left the program because he wanted to run the project the way Trump build the Taj Mahal and he didn’t understand that our finances had to be squeaky-clean.

That project was Plan B for me. Plan A was to make the Army a career and retire as the commanding general of Ft. Monroe with my college sweetheart, but I was freaked out by a senior office in Vietnam who was basically a forever Trumper and left the service. I had no Plan B, so I aligned my burning desire to marry my college sweetheart and live anywhere her heart desired and the necessity to become filthy rich to fulfill that vision and went to work for a bank in order to learn how money works. I had already been thinking about the Soviet economy since before JFK authorized the Green Berets, but looking at it from the perspective of Elizabeth Warren’s community banking model she and I both grew with, in 1972, there was no there, there. And they, the Soviet people, needed a there, there, if they were going to benefit from their victory over Fascism.

And that’s when the contrast between the Democratic Socialism of 1971 American constitutional capitalism and Marxist Socialism became as start as the difference in the quality of life between North Korea and South Korea.

And, so, after I left the IPO, I kept in touch with AviaEport here in DC, trying to keep the project alive. America needed a replacement for a DC-3 class aircraft to fully implement Nixon’s design for airline deregulation and we could do it fast and cheap and hang America labor and technology all over the design like a Christmas Tree. I almost stopped after Reagan was shot because all those crypto-Nazi assholes like Roger Stone and Pat Buchana are always eager to put you on a black list and remove you as competition, which they did, but I began to provide commentary like this regarding events inside the Beltway while exploring other US-Soviet Aerospace opportunities, most of which were being obstructed by the same people who obstructed Obama from 2011 to 2017. The crypto-Nazi activists of the GOP Deep State that coalesced around Donald T. Regan until Nancy found out what he was doing and fired ass.

And, so, I am a very know quantity in the institutional memory of the former Soviet executives around Putin, including Putin. Putin is doing stuff and I’ve been telling him what it looks like from here. I did the same for Gorbachev especially after I warned him that whatever understandings he and Reagan had made in good faith in Reykjavic, privately, had been tabled by Regan and all bets were off, In retrospect, Regan’s betrayal was probably made possible by Reagan’s undiagnosed Alzheimer’s, but the fact of the matter is that Regan was running his own agenda out of the Oval Office.

And, so, Putin has seen what I mean and I explain what it looks like he is doing, but the essential thing for never Trumpers to understand is that (1) Putin is not the problem; (2) Manafort was up to his eyeballs in what continues to be the problem and the reason why, as an Eisenhower Republican, I place Trump’s Tax Reform in the same catagory with the Tory Socialism of Reaganomics, the GOP Deep State and the Harvard Business model as an artifact of the hard core crypto-Naziz gathered around Trump and an illustration of the axiom: everything these people touch turns to shit.

So, Manafort went to work in Trump’s campaign to get the spigots turned back on for the cash flows that had dried up on him and he went out of his way to put Mike Pence on the ticket because Mike Pence is connected with the Evangelical phone bank laundry services associated with Citizens United, hedge funds and (R) PACs and, when it comes to cash flows and Dark Money, Mike makes sure it all gets started again with the combination of deficit spending and tax subsidies for high volume through-put of all that deficit spending more or less directly to the Koch brothers, Jeff Bezos and virtually every member of The Giving Pledge.

Trump’s entire tax reform program is designed to transfer wealth from the 90% of the population making $50,000/year or less to the upper 1% of the population making $50,000/year or more, plus as much of the public treasury that should be going into infrastructure as an essential element of National Security, in the Eisenhower 1956 Presidential Platform sense of the word and all that they can liquidate, privatize or otherwise rip off in the name of tax reform.

In 1988, Bob Dole’s Tax Reform vacated several strata of the economy and caused the Junk Bond markets and the S&Ls to blow up and create the largest transfer of wealth from the middle class to a narrow sector of the population. Trump’s Tax Reforms are based on Dole’s legislative design. I don’t have any idea what damage has been done to the economy, but the shit is about to hit the fan,

And the whole purpose is to create the cash flow Trump and Manafort need to keep all their balls in the air. On the positive side, Trump is right about Putin.