#like armand is older and physically more powerful

[asthedeathoflight]

Maybe opinions have shifted in the fandom but i do think its very interesting that a lot of fanfic ive read assumes that Louis and Armand are living off of Armand's money. Assuming the apartment is in Armand's name, etc, when Armand actually seems to be perpetually broke. He has zero employable skills. When Lestat meets him he's living in squalor and hes only living a reasonably comfortable life when Louis meets him because Lestat has been his (and the covens) absentee sugar daddy for a hundred years. Now its possible that theyre living off of Lestat's fortune after his death but I can't imagine Lestat would have left Louis as inheritor of his estate after returning to Paris. I actually think the show is pretty clear that its LOUIS's money they're living off of. In 2x4 he talks about it: he became an art dealer. He has the eye. As a vampire with infinite patience he can sit on art until it becomes incredibly valuable. And we see them do it in the show! They sell the Francis Bacon paintings! The show really lavishes a LOT of attention on the sale of the paintings, and it makes sense if that's one of Louis and Armand's main occupations. Its Louis' keen business sense that has brought them into wealth (although im not sure why Louis was living in that shitty apartment in 1976). Anyways. I don't know where I'm going with this i just think it's interesting that people assume that Armand's power extends into the financial when he is like. The brokest man alive. Lmao.

[ikpwecanfly]

This post helped me articulate something I'd been feeling for a while, but was especially present after this episode, which is why Armand stands out so oddly among the core five (Louis lestat Claudia Armand and Daniel)

At first I thought it was his age, he is significantly older than the rest and significantly more powerful. But that was not it.

Armand is capable of staying alive just for the sake of not dying. Like an object that would not cease to exist due to the very laws of physics. He is unchangeable.

Louis had his books and his photography. Claudia had her writing and journaling. Lestat had music and theater. Daniel has his journalism.

Armand, for all he tried to pretend otherwise in the fake Rashid fiasco, wasn't an actor, he ran a theater company.

In the same sense he doesn't make art. He doesn't paint. He is a subject to paintings and then he takes control of that by trading in rare paintings.

He barely eats. I get it he doesn't need to as much but, other vampires take much more joy in blood than an hour long jogging session around the block once every two or three weeks.

Oh Armand, what keeps you going? Is it spite? Sheer force of will? Not knowing how to do otherwise?

Do you not need anything to keep you going? Are truly older than time and space, older than the sun? Is that what makes you fascinating?

[nalyra-dreaming]

what do you think sam meant when he said claudia was the most powerful of the 3 of them? something about the way he & jacob answered that question made me feel like they were hinting at something?? maybe he just means her mental resilience, but do you think she may have powers that haven't been revealed yet? physically she seems weaker than most other vamps, but they could do something with her mind gift, it would make her rivalry w/ armand more interesting if they have comparable-ish abilities.

Claudia is definitely a natural at the mind gift, we saw her blocking Louis by instinct alone in s1.

Also, she, as a vampire in a too young body, would have needed to hone her other skills even more than a comparable (older) vampire. She's more vampire than either Louis or Lestat.

So I can easily see her be very proficient with her gifts.

Also, I do think she believed that the cloud gift was something she could learn, and she researched on vampires in general, so I do think she tried to improve her gifts where she could.

I fully expect her and Armand to go head to head, yes.

Futilely, unfortunately.

[herbeloved82]

Home under the falling snow

Daniel looked outside the window and an uncontrollable shiver shook his whole body. Winter had been his favorite season for a very long time, since he could remember he had enjoyed the falling snow that would cover the ugliness of the city, at least until the dirt turned it as gray and impure as everything else.  

In his mind as a child, Daniel had thought that under the immaculate blanket, everything that was wrong could be hidden and forgotten. Then he grew up and saw how cars and the dirt of the streets beneath the white would soon pollute the snow, turning something beautiful and pure, into a mess of waste and decay. 

That had been when he began to realize that nothing beautiful could last in a world that was made to destroy everything that was weak and fragile. 

“Come back to me, my love,” awarm voice said from behind him as a powerful chest pressed against his back. 

Oh how easy it would be to lose himself in Marius’ arms. To allow the older vampire to take away his pain and substitute it with lighter thoughts. Marius always had a healing power about him, his mind the safest and calmest place where Daniel was allowed to recover and rediscover himself again. 

“I’m right here.” Daniel said, hoping against all odds that Marius wouldn’t realize how that wasn’t the real truth. His body was there, obviously, but his mind was far, far away, in streets he hadn’t visited for decades now, in cities he couldn’t even remember.     

“Your mind is not, and I’m afraid I can’t follow where it is wandering now.” 

That was always an obstacle between them. Daniel’s terror of having his mind violated and Marius’ refusal to go sneaking there even when it appeared to be the only way to calm him down. 

“It’s nothing bad, I promise,” Daniel continued. He knew Marius  constantly worried for the people he loved. For Lestat and his fledgling, for Armand, his own beloved cherub, broken and twisted into something he was never meant to be, for the Sacred Parents who were no more, for Pandora and Bianca, even when too much happened between them and their love couldn’t be anymore. Daniel knew that and he was still shocked, every day, that he could be counted among the people Marius held close to his heart. 

“It’s just - winter reminds me of home, but I don’t know where home is anymore.” 

Daniel knew if there was someone who could understand what he meant, it was Marius. Who else had lost so much, time and time again, and still kept standing, a beacon for their kind and everyone who was lost? 

Not for the first time, Daniel wondered who had been there for him when he had needed a moment to rest to lay down the burden he always carried and rest? Sadly he knew the answer even if he didn’t want to think about it. 

“Home is such a strange concept, dear one. When I was young, still human, home was where the Penati laid. When I grew up and became a Senator, home was Rome and where she could reach. When I was taken and became the guardian of the Sacred Parents, home was their shrine. Then home became a person and I think only then I realized home is almost never a physical place.” 

Daniel slightly turned in the embrace, to look at Marius, and he realized his lover had now the saddest expression in his eyes and hated himself for forcing him into misery. He didn’t have to ask to know who Marius’ home was. 

Without thinking, Daniel opened his mouth once again, as his eyes closed, too scared to keep looking at Marius in case the man rejected what he wanted the most. 

“Would you be my home?” 

He felt Marius tensing behind him and for a moment the slow and rhythmic beat of his heart rushed, like Marius was still human, or at least maintained the human’s nature of being surprised.  

“It would be an honor.” Marius answered after a moment of silence. The time he needed to really understand what Daniel just asked and to realize that yes, he wanted to be Daniel’s home, he wanted to provide him with what had been taken from him by life and the choices he made. Perhaps, like that, they could both really begin to heal. 

As the snow kept falling outside and the world was once again hidden under the white quilt, Danuel turned in Marius’ arms and kissed his lover, hard. 

Sharp fangs cut into the perfectly shaped lips, drawing blood they shared. The fire burning in the hearth was the only witness of this moment of tenderness between immortals. 

END      

[sneakystorms]

HOW were the vampires sneaky i am so so glad my dearest mutuals are getting into it..

I'm so glad you asked!!! My feelings abt the show are generally positive but a bit up n down in terms of how invested i am in particular episodes or characters and I've been churning it over in my head for a while to figure out what exactly it is that does or doesn't compel me. I did read the first book a few years ago and watched the 90s movie as well so i have plenty of thoughts about how the series compares to the og story (haven't read the other books in the series tho)

I think making the queerness of so many characters overt and bringing it to the foreground so much does WONDERS for the show in terms of themes being commented on, and same goes for making louis and claudia black. Like the way it reframes vampirism as self empowerment and self acceptance, the impetus for lestat's targeting of louis being that he's a brilliant and deserving man forced to hide himself and cower before his white peers... It just makes everything click and make so much more sense than in the book where louis was just some random shmuck... The way becoming a vampire is a deal where you exchange power and self-acceptance for having to hide from the world, and joining a coven is a deal where you gain the love (well, "love") and support of people like you but you can't ever leave mmmm. The commentary 👌👌👌

Basically jenny nicholson once commented on how vampirism is kind of the ultimate selfishness/ultimate assertion of one's right to stay alive and thrive by whatever means necessary, even by hurting other people, and i just think that metaphor makes a LOT more sense with a queer black character than with a white vaguely homoerotic plantation owner. For louis as he is in the show it's so much more of a nuanced thing to become a vampire and i love it.

The cast have their ups and downs but overall i like them a lot! I loved louis's early era when he was trying to exist as both human and vampire, and i think my favourite moments of his are those paradigm shift scenes of high emotion that change the status quo - his confession and turning, his murder of that business partner, his finding claudia, the "you and me" moment if reconciliation.... AHHH THE YOU AND ME..... I think that's my take in general, that I'm into the really big emotional moments and i check out a bit during the "status quo" periods where characters are just going about their lives building tension towards the next breaking point. Whether happy, like the louis/claudia/lestat family life montage, or melancholy, like louis sulking after his fight with lestat, they sometimes fail to keep my attention fully.

Lestat I'm not as into... armand i quite like although i think i would've liked him to ham it up just a liiiiiittle bit more. claudia is really strong, i think her internal conflict is one of the best conveyed ones. I do think making her a teenager instead of however old she was in the book (was it 6? 7? 8?) is a bit of a cop out in terms of examining the tragedy of her vampirism. Like I fully get why they went with a character who can be believably played by an adult actress but it DOES greatly undercut the tension of the original concept. In the book it's kind of dubious whether she would have ever been able to find real, adult love with someone who didn't mind her appearance of a VERY YOUNG CHILD. It was even left kind of vague what her real mental state was - was it possible for her to truly have "the mind of an adult" without physical development? What does that even mean in this situation? The thought experiment of what it would be like to live for several decades in the body of a child was a very interesting part of Claudia's character to me and personally i would have liked that to be explored a bit more thoroughly. But like i said, I totally get that casting an older actress and adjusting the character's age accordingly let the showrunners do things with her writing that would have been off the table otherwise.

Also a major complaint from me would be that I'm just not that convinced by all the really important, really intense romantic relationships that the show kind of revolves around. Even at the peak happiness point of both relationships, i just never really felt like louis and lestat or Louis and armand liked to spend time with each other, especially to the point of considering each other immortal companions lol... But here's the thing, vampiric loneliness is such a huuuuuge factor in why these people cling to each other and we never really get to SEE what that loneliness is like. It only really clicked for me when lestat talked about it during the trial, and that's so late in the game! We never actually see lestat or louis or armand BE LONELY AND SAD, and i think if i saw that it would make me a lot more understanding of why these companionships form. To be fair though i often fail to understand why ppl in media are in love so i might be a bit biased lmao

[alwynwitch]

I really wished I had separated quotes to illustrate the difference of Lestat narrating events with Gabrielle, Armand and Nicki vs. moments with Marius, but I was so busy devouring the book that I didn't, I just know that I saw them frequently, but can't remember specific examples now lol. But I will re-read again slowly and gather those relevant parts (regarding all characters/relationships/events), because that's an interesting to do on these long hiatuses. But yes, the dynamic was always unhealthy for Lestat even before they met. And Lestat worshipped the guy even if he had no reasons to? And the moment they do meet, he immediately has this sort of admiration, need to make him proud, but also intimidation, submission, fear of disappointing him, begging to stay together etc. But it's portrayed in a very veiled way, because Marius isn't rude, aggressive, forcing him to do anything, but he indirectly activates that side and Lestat just goes back to basically being a child. And the descriptions of their physical contact is so specific too, because Marius is confident, intimidating, not in a brutal way, but because of his strong presence, he often breaks personal space and touches Lestat, even if it's something as small as hand on his shoulder, but it always feels like marking territory, dominance etc. Feels very persuasive, but still like he never loses his power over the people around him, even on moments that should be affectionate. I'm interested to see how they will adapt that, because body language will be a really important factor in how Marius and Lestat behave on scenes. I hope the writers, actors and directors have that vision too.

Yes, exactly!! I will probably also re-read before season 3 airs and will definitely pay attention to this!

It has real potential for the show. This weird dynamic between Lestat and Marius and the creepiness of Those Who Must Be Kept themselves. I feel like many people found this part boring because Marius talked too much lol, but it has potential for really subtle but creepy scenes.

I guess they have plently of time to explore Lestat's trauma regarding his parents. Because Sam Reid is older, Lestat has more time as a human. I guess this time will be spent at home, being abused by his father and a weird relationship with his mother...

They need to make it look convincing that Lestat hears a bit about Armand's past and immediately goes: Wow, this guy Marius sounds great!! Let's write him messages all across Europe and search for him!!

I really hope they will lean into the darker parts of Marius, but still make him nuanced and complex. That would be way more interesting than just a "cartoon villain" or a "wise good guy" (with the way he was introduced in season 2 the latter is already ruled out I guess lol).

[goblins-riddles-or-frocks]

okay final amc interview with the vampire rewatch thoughts:

- I liked the pacing much better. the middle episodes felt like a slog to watch week by week but I think it’s much better suited to bingeing. there were still choices I didn’t love, but the plot was going at a consistent clip the entire time.

- sam reid and jacob anderson were both fantastic! galaxy brained takes on both characters. bailey bass.. her acting is good but I am too southern to be able to take that accent seriously 😭😭 it was painful

- lestat is still given more narrative dignity and power than I would like. he’s introduced having his own wealth and he is the one giving louis money as opposed to being the broke unwanted houseguest who invited himself. he doesn’t use claudia to babytrap louis, louis has to beg him to change her (hated this!). he is given a personal pawn in antoinette, and is allowed to see the murder attempt coming. I feel like sam reid brings the necessary vain, overeager desperation to the role to offset it, but the plot is still like that

- I’m still deeply unsatisfied with all of the choices they made with claudia. I think it’s a huge cop out to have louis save her from a fire that she 100% would not have survived otherwise. I missed the very key book element of it being louis who killed her and lestat who “saved” her by making her into a vampire. I also disliked how cleanly her relationship with lestat becomes one of hate after episode five. there’s zero mixed feelings and they’re both so on the same page about how much they hate each other. I get what they’re trying to do with “they’re too alike therefore they can’t stand each other” but that doesn’t preclude a more complicated dynamic

- I hated that all of claudia’s issues surrounding never growing up seemed to revolve around sex and romance. she’s given the sweet romance/almost romance that ends poorly and marks her slide into being more recklessly murderous and her dissatisfaction with vampirism. meanwhile there’s the OC vampire they invented to assault her… as a monkey’s paw curls situation I guess?? and to cement her vulnerability to other vampires. a lot of her arc feels so defined by men in a way that’s not really about her. it also doesn’t help that in casting an older teenage actress, it’s harder to buy that she would run into issues day to day with living on her own or passing as a young looking adult. idk she just felt particularly Written By A Man to me

- I’m also still unsure how I feel about the more literal domestic violence allegory. with daniel’s cynical quips about stockholm syndrome and abuse. or the way the big fight is framed when it looks like louis might leave lestat for claudia. I don’t mind them becoming violent with each other, it seems like that would be second nature to vampires who are killing every night. their relationship with violence would simply be different than a typical person’s. but then I think the fight’s framing was perhaps too typical to make sense for vampires? idk idk I like abuse narratives and I think interview as a story has always been in part about usurping an abuser so… seeing physical abuse… makes sense but this also felt too on the nose. so I am on the fence

- the pilot and the finale were the strongest episodes by far. I really appreciate this series’ dedication to style and atmosphere. it’s the first piece of contemporary vampire media in a while that feels like it actually wants to be about vampires

- I was shrieking at every single little hint at the larger vc lore, even when I knew full well it was coming. I’m honestly too attached to the first book so any loose show adaptation was destined to be prickly for me but I have zero reservations about the rest of the series. I’m so fucking excited to see it continue and cover more of the books!!! I will PASS OUT when we actually get to the theatre des vampires

- having the armand reveal confirmed makes the entire show so fucking insane???? I was watching this with maka and dolce who had NOT seen this before and it was such a struggle not to dissolve into hysterics every time he was in frame. like what deranged psychosexual nonsense???

- like louis describing being so desperately in love with lestat in excruciating detail while his current bf is literally always in the room?? the extent armand goes to to keep up the charade that he’s just an unassuming human ☺️ no reason to be suspicious at all ☺️☺️ it’s even funnier having the second season trailer out, knowing that he’s devised like an entire costume and sense of style for this rashid character purely to fuck with daniel 😭

[dumdeeedum]

What difference between book and show is the hardest for you to deal with? For me it's how much Louis has changed (I can handle the diverse aspect of the backstory and I love Jacob!) but I feel like a lot of his personality is different.

Mostly it's the issues that arose from making it so Louis knows about vampire powers. One of the good things about Louis was how "human" he was and I didn't see them as having any GOOD reason why Louis and Claudia should know about and be able to do what other vampires could do. And it all felt in service of making Louis the victim of physical abuse instead of the verbal/psychological abuse he experiences in the book which doesn't work for me. ESPECIALLY if there's an aspect of an unreliable narrator at play. I didn't need Lestat brutalizing Louis with his vampire powers for the sake of the reveal that Lestat could do these things, those things WERE for Lestat to reveal and why Lestat's books were so much more egregious to the vampire world than Louis'. I also don't like Louis in his relationship with Armand because he's completely disempowered in that as well and not only does that not work for me because of who Louis is but also and especially because of who ARMAND is. They're also SO boring together which is the gravest sin for me when it comes to entertainment. But I still think Louis could have worked if not for the bigger issues around him. I don't like what they did to Armand and Daniel and I don't find any of it interesting. I think Anne Rice was able to do more for them in ONE chapter than this show has been able to do the entire series and it legitimately would have been more interesting to have Armand drive Daniel mad and to drive him to destroy his body with alcohol before he's eventually turned into a vampire by Armand who can't let him go than this shit. If you're still gonna go the abuse route lean into the interesting abuse! I know how fucked up that sounds but that's the series! Not only do I not find it interesting but I don't understand the point of it because they've changed Armand COMPLETELY for what feels like the sake of something short-lived instead of understanding that Armand is an enduring character. Granted, we've still got a few episodes to go but right now it feels like Armand is obsessed with Louis and has turned into an abusive villain to keep him when the truth is WAY more interesting: Armand has always been obsessed with LESTAT and they're ALL villains! I don't know how much of "The Vampire Lestat" and onward they'll give us but I'm genuinely worried about these changes to the characters because they took REALLY interesting concepts that could have been expanded upon and just let them fall flat on their face. I've also harped on this a lot but this young people mess coming from all these 35+ year olds is weird to me. Armand SHOULD have been young and young looking, it IS important to his character that he never physically and mentally matured and has a shitload of trauma on top of that. Louis should have been more mature than Lestat who is called "The Brat Prince" for a reason. Lestat becomes a vampire because he runs away to Paris with his boyfriend. That, again, is NOT men pushing 40 mess! They also COMPLETELY took the wind out of the sails of Claudia being a child by making her too old as a character and hiring people who can pass for adults to play her and I can see them totally floundering on that now because they've also failed to expand on her and actually dumbed her down. I love the changes in the time period and had so much hope for it but they're going about it in SUCH a bizarre way where it feels like they want to have their cake of Lestat being a pre-revolution French Lord and eat it too. I don't see why Lestat is so much older as a vampire when part of his character IS that Lestat is really only 10 rl years older than Louis in the books. He's sent away from Marius because of it! When Lestat is like 150 years old it's, again, less interesting to me and dumber! And what was the POINT of it??

tl;dr I had hope for this series and now it's just boring drivel. They should have gone the miniseries/1 series for "Interview" route and built up to Akasha.

[llycaons]

I wouldn’t say Armand is feeble n frail I think Louis was projecting his own attributes to both lestat and Armand. In both relationships louis has let them have full control and they are two powerhouses that shape his life basically. They’re both super interesting people but they get enamored with Louis bc they project onto him. But they’re toxic for him and he flails about helplessly until he either implodes or gets rid of them

oh interesting! answering this by section

I wouldn’t say Armand is feeble n frail

I don't think armand is feeble either, but I rather meant that if louis WAS complaining about one of his lovers, that description sounds closer to armand than lestat just because of their different physicalities. that's what was going through my mind, but I don't think that's what was going on in canon anyway. armand's theory that louis was trying to draw lestat back in by insulting him is certainly interesting bc it didn't really sound like anyone to me

I think Louis was projecting his own attributes to both lestat and Armand.

that's a theory I haven't heard before either! and I don't know if I agree? while I'm sure there's an element of insecurity to these relationships, when he was shouting at armand later about how boring and stuffy he was, I don't think that came from a place of self-loathing or insecurity. I think he really was unhappy with armand for those specific flaws. tho you could argue his passivity in relationships comes from a place of self-loathing, I think it probably just has to do more with his history of abuse. he def struggled with self-loathing and identity issues in his human life, but we haven't seen much explicit evidence for it since so I haven't been thinking on it recently...

In both relationships louis has let them have full control and they are two powerhouses that shape his life basically.

yeah kind of...I don't agree with this entirely. they are two powerhouses, and they do shape his life, and he could be more assertive, but they're also extremely toxic, powerful, and manipulative characters and it's not easy to simply Impose your own Will on those characters in relationships

it was an unequal dynamic from the outset with lestat having all this experience and power as a centuries-old vampire AND as a white man in the 1930s who literally followed louis around at an extremely vulnerable time in his life and broke into the church he was trying to avoid him at and killing the priest like lestat took power because he wanted to and because he could and bc he wanted louis. and they especially didn't have an equal dynamic towards the end bc lestat was such a forceful presence who violently imposed control on louis and claudia. as an older vampire who physically abused him and emotionally manipulated him...sure louis isn't as resistant to lestat as claudia would have liked but it's not really fair to say he just 'allowed' lestat to take over when lestat beat him half to death and then dropped him from like a mile up using a power he wasn't even aware lestat had.

at a certain point in the flashback, louis considered suicide instead of going back to lestat. intimate partner violence and abuse isn't easy to walk away from no matter how obvious it may look like from the outside. and louis may not have been able to strike the final blow but he DID slit lestat's throat and leave him to die, which was huge! walking away was huge! especially since as a black gay vampire who is/was in an abusive relationship, he'd be walking into a lifetime of perhaps guaranteed isolation. and abusers are very good at making themselves seem like the only chance you have at connection or safety anyway. like, lestat never told either of them about the paris coven bc he wanted control and for them to stay with him forever. I don't think it's fair to frame him as just 'letting them have control' like louis doesn't see himself as a victim but I still think the phrase victim-blaming applies

as for armand there's still things we don't know. it's complicated for sure...louis pulling out 'maitre' implies he may have a trump card of power over armand he simply doesn't use, but it's worth wondering why he doesn't and what it might cost him, or if he feels like it's something he shouldn't. why it took a week of excruciating pain, armand's psychological torment of both himself and daniel and physical torture of daniel to do that. like, is it something he's been dissuaded from using? something he forgot he could use in his pain? something he felt like it would be stooping to use? idk! I still don't want to blame him for it! louis isn't flawless or perfect in this scenario, but in ep5 specifically he was physically indisposed and essentially at armand's mercy. and armand controls his memories. you can't really blame someone for not fighting back and taking control of a relationship if they literally can't remember significant acts of manipulation or cruelty.

and I don't agree louis lets armand decide everything. louis goes to bars and fucks in the 70s and in the current day he does allow armand to control where the records are kept and all but there's no evidence that armand controls what/when louis eats (in s1there was speculation he did, but no evidence) and when we see them behind the scenes and from louis's pov it appears than armand is an equal and reasonable partner. I do agree louis allowing armand to control a certain amount of his life in the current day IS super interesting and def plays into the d/s dynamic but there's consensual loss of control and there's nonconsensual loss of control and if there's any underhanded manipulation or power grabs, it's not louis 'letting him', it's armand doing it on the sly and it's not something we can attribute to louis being passive, it's to armand taking advantage of his powers and louis's position and trust

They’re both super interesting people but they get enamored with Louis bc they project onto him.

huh. that's also a new one. idk if lestat projects onto louis so much as he sees louis as an exciting object (specifically OBJECT) of affection. then again he got interested in louis bc he pulled a knife on his brother so maybe he saw that undercurrent of violence and went oh mon deiu 👀! as for armand...yeah maybe he sees a sensitive and wounded soul in there and thinks of himself. but louis is also a very handsome and brilliant man in his own right so projection may be part of it but ppl have been into him for decades (I mean, look at antoinette! look at daniel!) so that's only part of it I think

But they’re toxic for him and he flails about helplessly until he either implodes or gets rid of them

well can't argue with that one. it feels bad calling him helpless, esp in that fight when he was just as cruel to armand as armand was to him, but yeah he'd never torture lestat or armand the way they tortured him so in that sense I suppose. with lestat he had claudia to help and with armand he has daniel...guess we'll see how it goes!

thanks for the ask! really interesting and deeply flawed characters for sure. I feel like I hardly have a grasp on the show but this was definitely some food for thought. and if I misread any of your intent or meaning I do apologize - there's just so much nuance in this show and I wanted to talk about as much of it as I could! mutuals as always feel free to add on

[murfpersonalblog]

EXACTLY! He had the Cloud Gift in the movie too, for no reason.

But it's never mentioned that Santiago can fly in the book. His first meeting with Louis goes a bit differently--they end up physically fighting, and Santiago beats the everloving HELL out of Louis.

He's WAY stronger than Louis, but AR gives zero explanation for how this mere CHILD in the Blood got so strong so quick.

book!IWTV and the Alphabettery seem to be implying that Santiago was tryna find ways for vamps to use magic (herbs, etc)--cheat-coding his way to power? He's a little sneak, tryna use any cheap underhanded tactics to win. Vamps are powerful mimics; and Santiago's one of the best copy-cats.

I wouldn't be surprised if Santiago followed Armand around like a little teacher's pet, mimicking him, tryna figure out how to do all the things Armand could. I'll be even more convinced when we finally see who's the vamp with the Fire Gift tailing Louis in the sewers.

Cuz I'm thinking that's Santiago, which is NUTS, if he can do that too!

[EDIT] The preview for Ep3 DOES show Armand behind Louis though, so this might be a false alarm.

But it doesn't explain WTF Santiago's up to in the same sewer--unless Armand & Santiago finna scrap over Louis, like in the book?

So I think the show is just following the movie in giving Santiago the Cloud Gift, to highlight his parallel with Lou: a vampire waaaay older than Santiago, but who's disgustingly weak in the Blood as he tries to deny his true nature & not hone his skills. Which he'll need when Santiago finally makes his move & underestimates Louis. 🔥

I always headcanoned Santiago to be very young because of the bleached hair (which became a thing in the 1920-30s)

So who the hell was his maker if he's able to fly 20 years in blood?

from tv insider interview with B.Daniels

[nalyra-dreaming]

hi! It's been driving me crazy and I thought I'd ask an expert like you. I was curious to know what is Louis's,Armand's,Lestat's and Mauris's dark gifts? I thought maybe each vampire had a different one. Or maybe they get all the same ones as they get older. But it's been bugging me like crazy.

Hey nonny!

(thx for the compliment^^, but I think there’s lots of "experts“ here :) - but I hope I do make sense.)

Ok, a… not so much tough as a bit difficult to explain one! (Sorry it took a bit longer.) There’s also some meta woven into this, because the gifts do not really develop in a linear way.

BOOK SPOILERS AHEAD for those who want to skip this one.

So let’s break it down a bit.

Marius is a roughly 2000 year old vampire, sired by the God of the Grove. His sire exchanged blood with him several times to ensure his strength. He is also the keeper of Those Who Must Be Kept (or was) and has drunk from Akasha several times.

Armand is Marius’ fledgling, Marius hadn’t made fledglings for a while before his Amadeo, so he got quite powerful blood.

Lestat was made by a 300 year old vampire who had never made another one before. He was deemed too strong for a fledgling (ironically by Armand‘s coven). And he then went and drank from both Marius and Akasha, resulting in a severe power-up.

Louis is Lestat’s fledgling, the third one made (in the books in a relatively short time). Of those three, he is the weakest, at least at first (though he should be physically stronger than Claudia).

Now, for the details :)

Generally, all the vampires have the same capacity for their gifts. The dark gift itself (the vampiric life) comes with side effects: the mind gift, the spell gift, the cloud gift, the fire gift. There’s also an intensified version of the last one, the killing gift, which only a handful vampires hold/held. And of course "true“ immortality, no starvation or beheading etc killing you off anymore. @nijah-archive wrote a nice summary of them here.

Marius At the time of the show (book canon or Dubai do not make that much of a difference for him imho)… Marius has severe skills in mind gift, fire gift (discovered more or less by accident) and in cloud gift. He is closing in on being truly immortal. He obviously knows how to use the spell gift (he has lots of human servants and influences the habitants of an island etc) but does not use them to the extent that Armand does (for example). He is stronger than others his age because of his exposure to Akasha‘s blood.

Armand has severe powers focused on mind gift and spell gift. He is 500 years old in (book) IWTV - and spent most of that time in a cult, telling him he is a child of Satan. Others have noted it, and I do think it is likely, that he spent a lot of his time disassociating, and therefore developing these particular skills further. He can call those who wish to die, and he can trap others in illusions. He is also a master manipulator. When he encounters Lestat he immediately falls for him, and tries to win him over with a combination of threat, spell gift and mind gift, literally hurting Lestat’s lover Nicki, and trying to bind him in illusions, while force-feeding on him. (That didn’t go over well). The show gives us Armand with the cloud gift, and the ability to withstand the sun. Personally I take these simple facts (and Fareed being there, and the sheer fact that there is a MARIUS painting in the apartment) as certain hints, which would mean that Armand himself also got a certain power upgrade fairly recently. EDIT: A helpful anon pointed out that he had it after/since Memnoch, so this should be noted here. It does fit with the timeframe imho. The time itself is not "enough“ for this kind of power upgrade, supposedly it takes a few thousand years to withstand the sun. He can likely not use the killing gift, though it is highly likely that he got the access to the fire gift, too. He might also not be truly immortal yet, sun-resistance or not.

Lestat, as stated before, was turned with significant power (too). Off the bat he focuses on the physical skills though (although it might be reasoned that he just didn’t know better). When Gabrielle is turned, it is immediately apparent that she can hear the other vampires better. Lestat strains to improve his skill (and he does). He can call humans and animals to himself (mind/spell gift). He is also mentally strong enough to break out of Armand’s spell gift by sheer will. Later he regularly scans and listens in on others, and is exceptionally able to lock down his own mind completely (that has been noted several times in the books), and "rebuffs“ others mentally meaning he has significant access to the spell gift and mind gift, but/and uses it differently. The power upgrade through Marius and Akasha (IN The Vampire Lestat) did not immediately bring out the other skills for him (in the books he is simply too young), however it meant that he would survive Claudia’s attempted murder, and what happened after. Marius also showed him the telekinesis part of the mind gift. In the books, the events of Queen of the Damned leave Lestat truly immortal, and equipped with fire gift, full mind gift, and ability to withstand the sun (he tries that one out later, and then uses it for tanning ^^). Over the course of the books he drinks from other older vampires several times, as well as from… supposedly God. His strength is beyond scale, however it IS noted that he is no match in sheer physical strength for the truly ancient ones (several thousand years old). In the show… well Lestat is 130 years older (than in the books). He would have had more experience with the vampiric gifts in general, which explains (imho) why he can access the power upgrade ones. It is noted that Nicki happened over 100 years ago, which leaves a significant gap. We know he did indeed encounter Marius through the Those Who Must Be Kept mention. If Lestat went and slept (as in the books, just longer) then his blood would have distilled somewhat before Marius woke him. (Which would make Louis somewhat stronger than in the books, too (imho).) Show Lestat has the cloud gift and a very powerful mind gift/spell gift already, though it does seem as if it takes a significant amount of power still (bleeding ears and he seems weak after). Probably indicating fairly recent acquisition, which would fit with the show/book timeline and an encounter of Marius/Those Who Must be Kept just prior to coming to the US. His little trick to stop the time is actually "just“ a rather clever combination of mind gift (telekinesis) and spell gift. (As it is something that obviously can come in very handy it doesn’t really surprise me he would have developed it, bc. he is often very practical/matter-of-fact with his gifts.)

Now Louis. Supposedly Louis is one of the weakest vampires. The most human-like. And in the books he keeps the possibility of suicide-by-the-sun as a kind of trump card till Merrick, refusing several offers for ancient blood. In the show Louis says he could hear Claudia calling for help, and he does call out to her, mentally. However she is able to lock him out, instinctively, which indicates that his mind gift is not overly developed. And he apparently does not hear or notice any other vampires close by either (contrary to Lestat who can hear them on long distance). Louis also gets a severe power upgrade after/at the end of Merrick. Show/Dubai Louis quite apparently has drunk from powerful sources, Armand obviously, and maybe others. (He always had an affinity for setting things on fire, so when he demonstrated the fire gift there were lots of "uh ohs“ by book readers :))) However he obviously is not strong enough to withstand the sun and the cloud gift is also very unlikely (though not impossible as of now). As I said before it actually sets the show in a very specific time slot book-wise if we can take the shown skills as literal hints.

So in summary:

The gifts and the powers of them depend a bit on their respective usage and affinity. And the personal approach. And circumstance :)

Obviously the access (time or powerful/old blood) has to be a given, i.e. Lestat in the books only tries out the cloud gift after knowing he has it.

It’s practice IF and WHEN you can.

And, it depends where you put the focus. Lestat also knows the killing gift because Akasha taught him in order for him to serve her. But it’s a skill based on the mind gift and fire gift.

Louis barely has any gifts for a long time because Lestat tries to keep him as human as possible, for a lot of reasons. It will be interesting to see if the show addresses that. Him developing (or adopting) the fire gift with the power through blood is not surprising, unfortunately (coughs).

If we (hopefully) get our seasons we will likely get more displays of these skills, too.

I, personally, like the way they approach them very, very much. And they also fit for me with the adapted timelines. Hope this made sense to you! Please don't hesitate to ask if you have further questions!

[licncourt]

Absolutely no rush on answering, I was just curious to know what your perspective on Armand/Daniel is? I’ve seen some people argue against it due to their physical ages while others have argued in favor of Armand being around for centuries. I apologize if this has been asked before!

God, that's a hard question!! Armand in general is a tricky subject when it comes to romance and sex because the age ambiguity. But I would say that I'm alright with Armand and Daniel. I like their relationship in the books a lot and at the end of the day I think the important thing is the balance of power.

Armand is emotionally immature and his body is 17, but he wields a great deal of power over Daniel in a lot of ways (physically, financially, experience-wise, etc). Daniel is older physically and more emotionally mature, but their whole dynamic in QotD hinges on his submissive position in the relationship. The only strength he has is a better understanding of the modern world and he's using that to render a service to Armand, initially under duress.

That doesn't change the uncomfortable reality of Armand's physical and emotional age, but the truth is that vampires are fucked up by nature. The healthiest relationships in the series are insane by human standards. So yeah, it's not ideal, but neither is dating your homicidal stalker.

At the end of the day, I think they have a lot to potentially offer each other and could, in time and with a lot of healing, cultivate a happy relationship. In VC, what more can you really ask for?

[luninosity]

Going through some older paperbacks, found my 1989 copy of Queen’s Gambit Declined by Melinda M. Snodgrass, decided to reread.

It inarguably reads like a slightly older fantasy - there’s that certain Epic Fantasy Style of the 1980s, definitely not contemporary - and I don’t know if I’d say it’s good exactly (entertaining, yes! OH GOD YES) but I would highly suggest you all find a copy, just because:

I had forgotten 1) how absolutely bonkers crazy this book and the entire plot is (like...what even. WHAT EVEN. Have you ever wanted a historical fantasy (or “anti-fantasy,” as the intro calls it) in which a young William of Orange (yes, the historical one) has magical powers and fights Cardinal Mazarin to save the world while flirting with basically everyone? also there’s sex-activated magic? and like...horse shapeshifter magic?? and a Sexy Northern Swordsman? and guest appearances from the King of France, the Duke of Buckingham, and Baruch Spinoza, to name only a few? all set to a backdrop of mysticism drawn straight from Robert Graves’ The White Goddess, which also provides all the chapter opening quotes? have you ever wanted all that? WELL HERE IT IS, PLUS MORE.)

and

2) how incredibly thirstily bisexual this book is. Like...every. single. main character. is the epitome of Disaster Bi. On pretty much every page. I’ll try to take a couple of pictures of some of the best moments, but just know that this book includes:

-a meet-cute in which Haakon (the previously mentioned Sexy Northern Swordsman) tries to cheat William (the Prince) at cards, William catches him in the act, and then they are so mutually impressed by each other that they save each other from a shipwreck while doing Cute Banter over who owes who more

-ONLY ONE BED AT THE INN. WHEN THEY’VE JUST ESCAPED THE SHIPWRECK. (bonus points for, in the words of the novel: “the prince was not having a restful night.”) (extra bonus points for: the innkeeper doesn’t know who they are, but clearly, CLEARLY assumes the pretty young man and the swordsman are here to hook up.)

-everyone constantly, repeatedly, notices a) how pretty William’s eyes are, and b) how attractive his personal pages/attendants are, especially “sweet Hans”

-”You’re not a prince, you’re a brat.” (paired with, “You are an uncouth northern barbarian!”) (also: “I’ve never taken orders well.”) (and also: “...perhaps it is of benefit to me that I’ve fallen in with a man of your experience.”)

-the whole chair thing! (paraphrasing: ”They didn‘t get you a nice chair befitting your prince’s rank at the fancy banquet table. That’s an insult.” “Don’t worry about it--” “I’m getting you a chair.” *Haakon walks off, comes back with the actual king’s chair* “You deserve this one.”)

-”You interrupted me for THAT?!” “You didn’t have to listen!”

-Father Armand: “so...William...was raised in a very...male household...and His Highness...enjoys a good deal of private time in the company of handsome soldiers...”

-to emphasize the bi, not just gay: William’s totally having sex with Sagitta (the woman who’s his magical tutor), but he’s SUPER-CONFLICTED about it, and so is she, because she’s not supposed to fall for him, and also she has Secret Motivations as far as serving the cause of magic (bonus points: he was a virgin before that) (extra bonus points: the moment when she’s all, “Haakon doesn’t need to be here for this one thing we’re doing, he can’t do magic!” and William straight-up says, “I think this has more to do with jealousy than sound magical advice.”)

-that time all THREE of them share a bed! ...at first just like...super-casually, like, sure, we’re all just going to flop into a cuddle-pile in William’s giant bed and talk strategy...and then Haakon gets up to go, because he’s perfectly aware that William and Sagitta have a weird sex-magic thing going on, and William says, “No, stay, I feel safer with you here,” and Haakon, with no hesitation, dives right back into bed and, to quote, “drew the prince into his arms”

-”I worked hard for this rain. Don’t be ungrateful.”

-the approximately five hundred times William does something reckless and magical and gets hurt and/or captured, and Haakon’s thought process goes something like, “dammit not AGAIN, why am I still taking care of you, OH HELL I CAN’T EVER ABANDON YOU, I SHALL RESCUE YOU AND CARRY YOU TO SAFETY”

-they RESCUE A BABY. William wants to be a father someday.

-William, to Haakon: ”Sagitta’s finding a bedroom for us. Meet us there.”

-at various points they ALL do the “Go, save yourself, leave me!” and “I’m not leaving you!” moment

-”Do you also, perhaps, like me just a little for my own sake?” (William’s answer to this is, “Oh, Haakon, can you doubt it? I love thee well.” to which Haakon says, “Just wanted to hear it.”)

-(I should point out that it doesn’t quite get to a happy polyamory ending because there’s a specific thing that happens to Sagitta that’s...let’s see, trying to avoid spoilers...a kind of punishment for some of her choices...but it’s fairly ambiguous, and William still has magic, so like...there’s totally room to come up with a new head-canon that brings her back to William and Haakon, who ARE both very much alive and together at the end and still doing Cute Banter)

-(some possibly problematic bits: William and Sagitta sleeping together could come across as a bit uncomfortable because she’s the one teaching him, er, magic that includes sex magic and he’s a virgin when they start, but they’re roughly the same age (as far as one can guess her age, since she’s magical, but she’s physically a young woman) and he does totally consent, like, he’s definitely up for it! and he’s twenty years old, so he can consent as far as being of age and all, but just fyi about weird power dynamics; also, some general period-typical Church-related homophobia - like, even someone raising the possibility that William likes handsome soldiers makes some Church Fathers etc shiver - and also that one super-weird moment when it feels a lot like...William deliberately sort of...flirts with his uncle??? to get his uncle to send a letter on their behalf? like, the text literally mentions his fluttering eyelashes over soft eyes and a gaze of admiration, and then his uncle Charles caresses William’s cheek, and says, “Flatterer, you look like your mother, and I loved her, you know,” and then agrees to send the letter? and then the plot moves on, but that’s...yep, that’s a thing that happens in this book.)

[sangcreole]

Perhaps the answer was predictable, but there is comfort in the immediacy of Daniel's answer. It's simple and straightforward and Louis doesn't know why it makes his heart ache just a little bit, but there's a sudden unspeakable happiness that washes over him at the simple fact of knowing that Armand has someone who loves him so fiercely, who misses him so deeply. Perhaps Daniel was his gift to Armand, after all.

And it's all too real, suddenly, when Daniel turns on his side to stare at him and articulates the exact phenomena of what it feels like to know Armand.

"Yes," he breathes. "Yes, that is precisely it."

There is more he wants to say, more he wants to know about Daniel's observations across these different planes of Armand. How do you reconcile these older versions of your love? Does the old Armand ever shine through? Do you think he misses the past versions of yourself as well?

It's not so different, really, from the struggles of any blood drinker; and yet there is something so uniquely haunting about the way Armand moves through time that has perplexed Louis, made it feel at times as if he was in love with a ghost. But it feels like an epiphany, this little world beneath the covers of Daniel's bed, where they are both a little less alone.

Daniel curls his fingers against the sheets, and suddenly Louis is so keenly aware of his physical presence; the drum of his heart, the expansion of his chest with each breath, the dying embers of warmth from his latest kill. And then he says the most curious thing. You're constant, he says, and there's a sudden tightness in his chest, a sudden urge to weep, prickling right behind his eyes.

"You really think that?"

He turns toward Daniel fully now, brow pinched in deep thought. He doesn't feel constant at all, truth be told. There are nights, of course, where he feels at ease with his place in the hierarchy, and at peace with the world around him. But there are nights where he still feels at odds with himself, still overwhelmed by the potent blood in his veins and all the power that he'd never wanted.

"I feel so very different. But I..."

A pause, and he takes a moment to look at Daniel— truly look at Daniel, for the first time all evening (perhaps the first time in weeks, months, years). He is handsome, of course, and better groomed than Louis remembers his mortal form. But there is something in his eyes, something kind and curious that makes Louis want to give up his heart, and it's still there behind the striking shades of violet.

"I wish, sometimes, that I could go back to the night I first met you."

"Always," Daniel says, not skipping a beat, no pause to consider whether that's too honest, too vulnerable.

Maybe it's that the sun is just about to slip over the horizon. Or maybe it's just him. He's always the brash type. He and Lestat both share the habit of speaking before they think of the consequences.

"I mean not just right now while he's gone but-" Daniel pauses. Shifts onto his side, hand tucked beneath his pillow so that he look at Louis as he speaks; search his reactions for some hint as to whether he finds what he's about to say true. "He's got these different personalities depending on who he's with, what era he's in. What house. The Armand I knew who chased me through Paris, and that I lived with in Miami, and that I know now, they're all different somehow."

Daniel wonders sometimes if vampires all go through a period of seriousness, when the age they're in fails to capture their imagination. Whether it's just that court has brought out the quieter, more stern side of Armand or if the youthful exuberance he saw in him in 1982 is a relic of the past now.

Or if it's his fault, somehow. That he's intruded on Armand and Louis' home of Trinity Gate with his visits, overstayed his welcome and changed the vibe. If coming back from his period of fixation has Armand worried about him, or if Louis even wants him around. If he's less 'lover to my lover' and more 'kid brother who managed to worm his way into my club'.

It plagues him sometimes. And he knows Armand's blood has given him power, that the little sips off Marius has amplified it, turned it up to 11. Daniel is always he could poke into Louis' mind and find the answers he's seeking but it feels wrong. Knows it would be wrong. The trust Louis has with anyone seems so fragile.

Daniel curls his fingers in the sheets. Blinks slow, like a child fighting sleep.

"He's not like you, I guess is what I'm trying to say. You're constant. Almost exactly like I remember you from that bar in San Francisco. But only almost."

[violeteyedvampiremolloy]

Character Sheet.

BASICS.

full name. Daniel Molloy

nickname.   devils minion, beautiful boy, the one who started it all(less polite). Danny,

gender.  Cis male

height. 6'/6ft1"

age. 32years at death. 67 years altogether.

zodiac. Pisces/Virgo (I can never decide guys...)

spoken languages. American English. Sarcasm counts right XD

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS.

hair color. Ash blonde

eye color. Violet

skin tone. Pale, but more pink than most older vampires after a good feed.

body type. Slim, lighter than he should be but his last year's were harsh-he was dying after all. But toned.

accent. Playing with the idea of him being from Wisconsin. Definitely Irish heritage on his paternal side. As with the star sign I can't decide his origins. Only that he wandered around.

dominant hand.   Right

posture.   His postures better now unless he's nervous.

scars.  He had one from Louis' rough bite, and from bar fights muggings. But Armand carefully healed most of them with his blood over the years.

tattoos. None. Not a huge fan of needles.

birthmarks.  nope

most noticeable feature(s). Hair with a mind of his own, and ofcourse the violet eyes.

ADULT LIFE.

occupation. Writer. Professional busy body nosey parker. Dabbled in journalism. Unofficial chronicler of the coven of articulate and beyond

current residence. Trinity Gate / Rio for holidays

close friends.  Bianca, Jesse, Marius

relationship status. Verse dependant - Armand. Polyamorous relationship with (my) Armand and Rian. Not sure Who else would like a bite of Molloy ? Any takers

financial status. Very wealthy after book deal. Deeds to the Night Island

driver’s license. Yes.

criminal record. No.

vices. Formerly alcohol abuse/ latterly having foot in his mouth disease. Sass an snark tm

SEX & ROMANCE.

sexual orientation. Homosexual - dabbled with bisexuality during college and the chase. He loves women just not in a romantic sense.

romantic orientation. Homosexual.

preferred emotional role. submissive  |  dominant | switch   depends who it regards.

preferred sexual role. submissive |  dominant  |  switch

libido. Always pretty high, after Armands blood even more so. He came more out of his shell that's for sure

mental illnesses. Alcoholic as a mortal, hedonistic, with not great with impulse control even pre-vampires. Obsessive to a degree with fact hunting. Went mad a few years after being turned, could be a combination of trauma and ptsd.

turn on’s. Being tactile, paying attention, laughing at his jokes, banter

turn off’s. Laughing at him. Being disingenuous.

love language. Attentiveness, romantic, tactile. Plays with his loved ones hair. Big hugger and hand holder.

MISCELLANEOUS.

character’s theme song. Better the devil you know- follow you by Bring me the horizon

hobbies to pass time. Writing. Collecting 80s clothing, trinkets.

left or right-brained.  A bit of both.

fears. Losing touch with reality again. Being abandoned. Letting down his loved ones (Armand specifically).

vulnerabilities.  He can fly, but he's still young so not yet as strong as he could be despite initial powerful infusion and nursing then by Marius.

Tagged by: @thevampiremariusderomanus - thanks 💜

Tagging: @the-immortal-armand @pandoratheancient @perladivenezia @caravaggiovagabond @horridevil @whitehowler - Anyone who fancies doing it

[the-marius-de-romanus]

Alphebettery- Marius Entry

Marius de Romanus was born in 30BC, the illegitimate son of a Roman nobleman and a Celtic slave-woman, in the city of Massilia (modern-day Marseille, France), in the Roman Empire along the Mediterranean Sea between Spain and Italy. As he matures into manhood, Marius becomes a scholar and a traveler throughout the Roman Empire. In his mid-twenties, he meets his future fledgling Pandora (then named Lydia), and he desires to marry her, although his proposal is ultimately rejected by her father because she is too young. Almost two decades later, Marius is kidnapped by Mael and other Druids, who take him to the ancient vampire Teskhamen, whom they refer to as the God of the Grove. Badly burned and weakened by the Great Burning of 4 CE, Teskhamen turns Marius into a vampire through a very long process of blood exchanges, with the expectation that Marius will travel to Egypt to discover the fate of Akasha and Enkil, the first to be made.

Marius escapes the Druids and flees through the woodlands of the Celts. He travels to Egypt, where he finds the Elder who cares for Akasha and Enkil, now called Those Who Must Be Kept, since their great age has transformed them into unresponsive statues. The Elder lies when, in response to Marius’s questions, states he does not know the cause of the Great Burning, but Akasha speaks to Marius telepathically and informs him the Elder set them in the sun and that he is planning to sink them to the bottom of the ocean. Akasha then kills the Elder, and Marius takes her and Enkil out of Egypt to Antioch, where he reencounters his mortal beloved, Lydia, whose family was murdered, and as a result she is living in exile under the name Pandora.

Also in Antioch appears the ancient vampire Akbar, who, like Marius’s maker, Teskhamen, is badly burned. Seeking to drink from the Mother and the Father, Akbar learns that Marius is their caretaker and that he loves the mortal Pandora. Akbar drains Pandora to the point of death and threatens to kill her if Marius does not let him drink Akasha’s blood. Marius acquiesces and saves Pandora by turning her into a vampire, but when Marius brings Akbar to Akasha, the Queen destroys Akbar. Marius and Pandora remain together for the net two hundred years, caring for Those Who Must Be Kept.

When Pandora begins living with her maker, she brings her one-legged Athenian slave, Flavius, to serve them. Marius grows to deeply love Flavius. When Flavius becomes deathly ill, Pandora thinks they should turn him into a vampire. Marius refuses, but Pandora does so anyway. Marius is greatly angered and exiles Flavius from his house and from the Roman Empire itself. Her disobedience plants a seed of bitterness between Marius and Pandora. He has a great desire to teach her, but she refuses to learn from him. When he can no longer live with that or their arguing, he takes Akasha and Enkil from Pandora and will not see his fledgling beloved for many centuries.

Marius returns to Rome, where he encounters the ancient vampire Avicus, who is—like Teskhamen—a God of the Grove, but in ancient England. Marius is greatly amazed to also encounter Avicus’s fledgling Mael, the former Druid who held Marius captive for Teskhamen and was sent to Avicus to take Marius’s place as the new God of the Grove, Teskhamen’s successor. Despite the fact that Marius begrudges Mael for forcing him to become a vampire, Marius and Avicus become friends. As the three of them begin living together in a small coven, Avicus and Mael soon learn Marius’s secret, that he is the caretaker of Those Who Must Be Kept, and they willingly help him fulfill his duties.

At the fall of Rome, Marius, Avicus, and Mael move to Constantinople, where they continue their duties for the Mother and the Father. They discover another coven dwells in the city, led by Eudoxia, the fledgling of the ancient Egyptian vampire, Cyril, who is the fledgling of Marius’s predecessor, the Elder. Referring to herself as “the Vampire Empress,” Eudoxia demands to see Akasha and Enkil, but Marius refuses. With her coven of Rashid, Asphar, and Zenobia, Eudoxia attacks Marius, at which point Marius discovers that, because he has been drinking Akasha’s powerful blood, he is stronger than Eudoxia, even though she is much older. He also discovers that he has the Fire Gift when he burns Rashid to ashes. Eudoxia returns later, showing greater humility and imploring Marius to let her see Akasha. Marius reluctantly agrees, but when she stands before the Queen, she is so enraptured that she offers herself as a sacrifice. Akasha arises and drinks from Eudoxia to the point of death. Although Marius saves her, Eudoxia is greatly embittered. In a plot against Marius and Those Who Must Be Kept, Eudoxia kills a nobleman and leaves the body exposed in such a way that the mortal citizens of Constantinople blame Marius for the death. The mortals ransack Marius’s house and nearly destroy the shrine. Enraged by this, Marius goes to Eudoxia’s house, destroys her coven, sparing only Zenobia, and then drags Eudoxia before Akasha, who immolates Eudoxia to ashes.

Marius leaves Avicus and Mael and takes Akasha and Enkil back to Italy. He creates a secluded shrine for Akasha and Enkil in the Italian Alps, unreachable by any mortal at that time, where the vampires can rest safely while he makes a home in Venice.

He becomes a painter and a patron of the arts. He invites many young boys to live in his house to learn the artistic crafts.

Marius soon encounters the mortal courtesan Bianca Solderini. While feeling a deep attraction to her physical beauty, he marvels how her mortal mental ability prevents him from reading her thoughts. His attraction to her sours when he learns that she is a murderer. But when he uncovers that a merciless relative is extorting her to assassinate his enemies, Marius’s attraction is rekindled and he resolves to give her his powerful aid.

Marius also encounters the mortal Raymond Gallant, a member of the Talamasca Order, who provides him with news about Pandora and how the vampire from India is manipulating her, yet their whereabouts are still a mystery. Raymond promises to keep Marius informed if the Talamasca discovers any new information.

During that time, the vampire Santino, leader of the Children of Satan, introduces himself to Marius. He reads Marius’s mind, learns of Akasha and Enkil, and requests a meeting with Those Who Must Be Kept. Marius denies him, finding his Satan-worshipping coven abhorrent. When Santino insists, Marius threatens to destroy him; Santino withdraws but watches from a distance the keeper of Those Who Must Be Kept.

Marius eventually finds a mortal child from Russia, Andrei, who will later become the Vampire Armand. Andrei was abducted by Tartars and is now locked in the dungeon of a brothel. Marius buys the young Andrei, renames him Amadeo, and brings him to live in his palazzo. Marius and Amadeo develop a deep relationship. Amadeo doesn’t learn that Marius is a vampire until the night Marius saves Bianca from her extorting relative and his malicious family. Amadeo begs Marius to turn him into a vampire, but Marius refuses. In an attempt to incite Marius’s jealousy, Amadeo begins a brief affair with the Englishman Lord Harlech. When Amadeo ends the relationship, Lord Harlech storms into Marius’s palazzo in a jealous rage, armed with a poison blade, and duels with Amadeo. Amadeo slays him, but Lord Harlech mortally wounds the boy. Bianca nurses Amadeo until Marius arrives. When Bianca leaves, Marius turns him into a vampire.

Marius and Amadeo live happily together as maker and fledgling, both developing deep feelings for Bianca, until Santino and his Satanic coven invade Marius’s home, kill most of the boys, set Marius on fire, and kidnap Amadeo. Severely wounded, Marius mentally summons Bianca and receives her permission to turn her into a vampire. She takes him to Akasha and Enkil’s shrine in the Alps, where Marius drinks Akasha’s blood.

While his health is restored, Bianca, like Pandora before her, helps Marius care for Those Who Must Be Kept. When his wounds more fully heal and he can walk about among mortals, he goes to Raymond Gallant, who is now an old man and who informs Marius that the Talamasca have learned that the mysterious Indian vampire is still controlling Pandora and that they are likely living near Dresden.

Marius takes Bianca, Akasha, and Enkil to Dresden, where he finally reunites with Pandora and discovers that her companion and fledgling, Arjun, is not keeping her against her will after all. Marius begs Pandora to return to him, vowing that he will leave Bianca if she will leave Arjun, but Pandora rejects him and leaves. Bianca overhears Marius and leaves him also.

Nearly fifty years later, when Marius is packing up his belongings to take Akasha and Enkil to another region, he uncovers a note left by Pandora on the night they separated, asking him to find her in Moscow and help her leave Arjun. Marius immediately goes to Moscow, but by then she has already left. He can find no trace of either her or her fledgling lover.

Marius brings Those Who Must Be Kept to an island in the Aegean Sea, somewhere between Greece and Turkey. He remains there for years, caring for the people living on the island, until one night he begins hearing the voice of a young vampire searching for him, calling to him— the vampire Lestat. Hearing Lestat’s persistence, Marius leaves his island and finds that Lestat has buried himself underground after his fledgling Nicolas committed suicide and his fledgling mother, Gabrielle, abandoned him. Marius exhumes Lestat, revives him with his own ancient vampire blood, and then takes him back to his island sanctuary. After Lestat awakens, Marius shares some of his history with him, tells him about Those Who Must Be Kept, and swears him to absolute secrecy. When Marius briefly leaves, Lestat goes to the shrine and plays the violin for Akasha. Moved by his bravado, Akasha awakens, drinks his blood, and lets him drink hers also. Full of jealousy and anger, Enkil awakens and attempts to destroy Lestat. Fortunately, Marius saves him, but warns Lestat to leave to let Enkil’s anger diminish. Before Lestat can return, Marius takes Akasha and Enkil to a new hidden location in the frozen lands of northern Canada.

He fills their shrine with every new technology, partly to show them human development but also partly in the hope that they will awaken for him. By the time of the late twentieth century, Akasha and Enkil watch on television how Lestat has returned with new rock music in a successful band that is revealing secrets of vampires and challenging Those Who Must Be Kept to arise. Impressed once again, Akasha rises from her throne for a final time. She kills Enkil and buries Marius deep beneath several tons of ice. He projects out mental warnings to the other vampires that the Queen has arisen, but she is already flying throughout the world, immolating most of her vampire children. When he is finally freed from the ice by Pandora and Santino, he rendezvouses with many other vampires, including his fledglings Pandora and Armand, at the compound in the Sonoma Mountains belonging to Akasha’s mortal enemy, the ancient vampire Maharet. After Maharet informs Marius and the others of her version of the story of the Queen of the Damned and the Legend of the Twins, Akasha appears and offers them a choice of joining her cause for global domination as her servants, or perishing. Marius stands with Maharet and refuses to serve. So do all the others, including Lestat. They all fight against Akasha, but she is indomitable. In the end, Maharet’s twin, Mekare, suddenly appears, beheads Akasha, consumes her brain and heart, and takes into herself the spirit of Amel, to become the new Queen of the Damned.

Now that Marius is no longer the caretaker of Those Who Must Be Kept, he keeps closer contact with other vampires, especially Armand’s fledgling Daniel Molloy, who sinks into madness and bitterness towards Armand. Marius welcomes Daniel into his home, takes care of him, and helps restore his sanity; and in doing so, Marius finds a wonderful companion who also helps him make contact with the modern world.

Marius mourns when, after Lestat returns from his journey with Memnoch the Devil, Armand appears to commit suicide, but Marius’s mourning turns to joy when Armand reappears a few months later, having been saved with the help of two mortals, Sybelle and Benji. Marius decides to do Armand a favor and turn Sybelle and Benji into vampires to give Armand excellent immortal companions and also to protect them from mortals seeking to destroy Armand or any vampire. In the beginning, this greatly angers Armand, but Marius and Daniel both convince him that if Armand had turned them into vampires, they would have been weaker than him, the telepathic connection between them would have been lost, and they would have ended up hating him, the way Daniel had; but when Marius’s powerful blood in them, Benji and Sybelle are Armand’s equals.

Following this, when Marius is alone one night, he hears another vampire whom he has never encountered using the Mind Gift to send out a telepathic invitation to any vampire for friendship. Marius responds and meets Thorne, an eighth-century Viking made vampire by Maharet.

Marius and Thorne tell each other their histories. Marius is surprised to learn how Maharet abandoned Thorne for Mael, and Thorne is enraged at how Santino’s injustice towards Marius has gone unpunished. Marius advises Thorne against Thorne against seeking revenge against Maharet for rejecting him, but sensing that Thorne will not be dissuaded, Marius sends Maharet a telepathic warning. Marius and Thorne go to sleep that morning in Marius’s home but awaken the next night at Maharet’s Java compound. Much to their mutual surprise, Santino, is also there as Maharet’s guest. Out of a sense of honor and duty, Marius begs Maharet for vengeance for the wrongs that Santino did against him and Armand, but Maharet does not allow it. Knowing that Marius will not act without Maharet’s permission, Thorne does Marius a favor and exacts an old Viking custom of wergild—or exacting a “man’s price,” often taking a life for a life—and blasts Santino with his powerful Mind Gift until Santino is a bloody pulp. Thorne then uses the Fire Gift to burn Santino’s remains to a charred scorch on the ground. Everyone is equally surprised at Thorne’s behavior, especially Marius, who, although he would never be so bold as to disobey Maharet, smiles and nods at Thorne, showing his inexpressible gratitude.

Marius relocates to the Chateau de Lioncourt, where Lestat becomes the Prince of the vampire race. The Court of the Prince forms, and Marius is one of the most prominent figures. Arjun challenges Marius’s authority by attacking him, but he easily destroys Arjun. Prompted by this event, Marius creates new laws for vampires in the new millennium and helps guide the formation of this new Court, inspiring Prince Lestat to dub him the “Prime Minister” of all vampires.

Marius is the noble heart of the vampire clans. His sense of honor and duty guides him through every age. He is the caretaker of Those Who Must Be Kept and the sharer of vampire secrets with Lestat, who reveals those secrets in the twentieth-century, causing Akasha to rise for the last time and incite the Great Burning of 1985.

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