#hope i scratched your daniel itch just a bit babe

[hekateinhell]

Could you talk about Daniel? Like please :( Whatever you want (headcanons, what you like and don't like, him as a character, the impression he gave you first time reading it, opinions in general, if he works well as a character, whatever you like. Give me some crumbs people. Just, like, discuss anything. I'm unwell, I am obssesed, I love his masochist ass. I need something, *anything*. Devil's Minion, or whatever you would like to talk about! (If you do want, that is). Thanks in advance :(

Oh, what an ask! I'll do my best for you. <3

I feel like I talk about Daniel a lot actually, if you haven't already peeked my Daniel Molloy and Armand/Daniel tags! Still working on perfecting my tagging system though, bear with me.

When it comes to Daniel, it's interesting because AR didn't give us much on him, so it can feel very fanon/headcanon territory sometimes as opposed to cold hard facts. But she gave us enough.

Likes/Dislikes

I honestly don't think I dislike anything about him! Maybe if he'd gotten more screen-time I'd have had a chance to come up with something.

I think my favorite Daniel quotes sum up (at least partially) why I enjoy him so much. He's inquisitive, daring, sharp as hell. And still so painfully innocent. It hurts. He was just a kid!

First Impressions

Can't lie, baby me wasn't too impressed with Daniel right off the bat. I started the series out of order with TVA (which explains a lot about me tbh I think), and being introduced to Daniel as a character via Armand's traumatized, depressive, disassociating perspective isn't great.

Then I read B&G because I had to know what happened with Marius and Armand (fucked myself over there), but hey Daniel's also here! And it's not... great. But then, I went back to the library, got the first three books, and binged them through in order and met Daniel the way Anne had intended us to.

I was way too young (12-13?) to appreciate themes that weren't spelled out for me, i.e. the S&M and D/s dynamics. I just thought "Oh, this is dark and sad and also hilarious... shame he goes crazy and we never see him again, I guess." Older teenage me had her come-to-Jesus moment with Devil's Minion now that I knew what I was looking at... and I just- still to this day- I can't believe Anne did that in 28 pages. Just doesn't make sense. Objectively, I think it's the best 28 pages she ever wrote. It competes with a few other VC passages for my all-time favorite, but I wholeheartedly think it is the overall best.

The older I get and the more I experience life, the more I understand Devil's Minion, and VC in general. It's such a brutal and exquisitely beautiful story. And Daniel is such a fucking great character. AR was so incredibly skilled at intertwining the human experience into her work even in the most ridiculous of scenarios (i.e. rockstar vampires), and it absolutely shines through with Daniel Molloy and Devil's Minion.

Re: headcanons, I have several already but feel free to let me know if there's any particular ones you'd like to see!