toriangeli

[toriangeli]

Some fragments of Memnoch The Devil.

This one is for Armand and his faith.

"We know you believe it's true," said Armand. "Yes, you believe it completely. You bore witness. I believe it's true. All of my long wandering through the valley of death, I've believed it was true!"

"Don't be a common fool," I said bitterly.

But I could see the flame in Armand's face; I could see the ecstasy and the sorrow in his eyes. I could see the entire galvanization of his form with belief, with conversion.

___

"You love him," said Armand in a hushed voice.

"I love him. Yes, I think he's right about everything. But I don't believe in anything!"

"Why didn't you accept?" asked Armand. "Why didn't you give him your soul?"

Oh, how innocent he sounded, how it came from his heart, ancient and childlike, a heart so preternaturally strong that it had taken hundreds of years to render it safe to beat in the company of mortal hearts.

Little Devil, Armand!

"Why didn't you accept!" he implored.

___

"If you let me," said Armand, his fingers slipping up to my collar, "if you let me drink, then I'll know...."

"No, all you'll know is that I believe what I saw, that's all"  I said.

"No," he said, shaking his head. "I'll know the blood of Christ if I taste it."

___

Armand was shattered, broken, on his knees, the blood tears running straight down his cheeks, horrid streaks on the white flesh.

___

"Armand, take hold of yourself. You cannot surrender to this," he said.

His voice was sad.

But Armand was lost.

"Why?" Armand asked. He was just a child now on his knees.

"Why?"

This is how he must have looked centuries ago when Marius had come to free him from his Venetian captors, a boy kept for lust, a boy brought into the palace of the Undead.

"Why can't I believe it? Oh, my God, I do believe it. It is the face of Christ!"

___

We ran together, already blinded by the light, and behind me I heard Armand's voice ring out over the crowd.

"Bear witness, this sinner dies for Him!" The scent of fire came in a fierce explosion! I saw it blaze against the glass walls of the towers as we fled. I heard the screams.

[toriangeli]

@the-vampire-library OH MY GOD YOU'RE RIGHT.

Who else is associated with Armand and therefore might be known as "the other one," but is even more murderous about vampire secrets?

I saw the theory that James was talking about Lestat, but Marius makes *so much more sense* than any of my earlier theories.

From the Talamasca show website

Mind you this goes against what Raglan James said- “you should fear the other one”

He was trying to soften the blow that is Armand to Daniel when the Talamasca probably has Armand as one of the most dangerous in their archive

[toriangeli]

I have three guesses as to what James meant by that:

Daniel should fear Louis as well as Armand. Don't assume Louis is safe just because he's not Armand. I imagine James' words came to mind when Louis flung Armand against the wall (that, or it was triggering Daniel's childhood trauma; the look on his face is intriguing).

Daniel, specifically, has less to fear from Armand than most. James' warning wouldn't apply to anyone else because, you know, it's Armand.

James is being manipulative, trying to influence the outcome of the interview. He's definitely up to something regardless, because he's like...there. So this wouldn't be a shocker.

I really, really hope we get to see Daniel and Armand's files. I, too, imagine Armand is some sort of boogeyman in their estimation, since we know how he feels about letting humans live if they know about vampires. Unless they're staff.

(Protect Rashid at all costs; he is no longer employed.)

From the Talamasca show website

Mind you this goes against what Raglan James said- “you should fear the other one”

He was trying to soften the blow that is Armand to Daniel when the Talamasca probably has Armand as one of the most dangerous in their archive

[toriangeli]

See? Huggable art!

Available here.

[toriangeli]

“You are mine, beautiful boy.”

Available for purchase here on Etsy.

[toriangeli]

POV: you’ve just told a twenty year old whose idea of high tech is the printing press, that he cannot do the driving simulation at the Museo Ferrari Maranello.

Doll by @toriangeli 💖

[toriangeli]

"Tomorrow ... tomorrow night," I think I stammered. That line came back to me from Shakespeare's Macbeth.. . "Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow..."

What is vampire life if not for that eternal pull?

Those who do not survive eternity, can they simply not conceive in the fantasy of tomorrow, only reside in the horror of now?

Oh gosh… I didn’t realise I was so zoomed in 😂💀. Oh well! Lestat must’ve wanted his close-up!

Lestat’s got his ghosts out! They ain’t ever going away! 👻

Lestat by @toriangeli

[toriangeli]

AMAZING addition.

There's some My Cat from Hell episode where the problem with the cat is that it was never properly socialized as a kitten--by other kittens. It didn't know things like how a high squeal means "let go of me with your teeth, the playfighting has gone too far." So the humans couldn't properly "speak cat" to solve the behavioral problems. Jackson's solution was to have the cat hang out with a litter of kittens, essentially being raised alongside them. By the time the kittens are grown, the cat has learned how to properly be a cat.

Gregory has this great speech that basically amounts to humanity being the foundation for vampirism. Armand never learned how to be a human, so he didn't have the proper foundations for building bonds with other vampires. He got to have his rehabilitation when he was in his first relationship with a human. After that, he knew how to be a wolf among wolves instead of a lone wolf on the fringes.

armand's story is one about a lamb becoming a wolf yet half the "fans" of his character are like no he should stay a lamb forever. i want that lamb to continue having its throat slit forever and actually it's disingenuous to say he could Ever be strong enough to become a wolf. and his haters are like i don't care that he was ever a lamb he is lying about having ever being a lamb he is the biggest baddest wolf to ever exist and everyone else is his lamb. and i just wanna talk about the lamb who became a wolf.

[toriangeli]

armand's story is one about a lamb becoming a wolf yet half the "fans" of his character are like no he should stay a lamb forever. i want that lamb to continue having its throat slit forever and actually it's disingenuous to say he could Ever be strong enough to become a wolf. and his haters are like i don't care that he was ever a lamb he is lying about having ever being a lamb he is the biggest baddest wolf to ever exist and everyone else is his lamb. and i just wanna talk about the lamb who became a wolf.

[toriangeli]

Devil's Minion

“Daniel stared hard at the creature before him, this thing that looked human and sounded human but was not. There was a horrid shift in his consciousness; he saw this being like a great insect, a monstrous evil predator who had devoured a million human lives. And yet he loved this thing. He loved its smooth white brown skin, its great dark brown eyes. He loved it not because it looked like a gentle, thoughtful young man, but because it was ghastly and awful and loathsome, and beautiful all at the same time. He loved it the way people love evil, because it thrills them to the core of their souls.”

Hehehehehe, how funny when @toriangeli Armand is so adrorable.  But obviously, he’s a monster too!  OK!?  OK.

I’ve done this one before, of course… but can you ever improvise too much for Devil’s Minion?  NO.  We can never over-minion our devils!

LOL @ me having to reposition Armand half way through!

[toriangeli]

Still some blocking to do, a lot of tiny buttons to fasten, and a wig to stitch on properly, but here is the current state of DM Book!Armand

[toriangeli]

if the Anne rice vampires had a pair of Groucho Marx glasses that would be entertainment for them for several years. a lot of them are from like 1750s rural france, their standards are not high

[toriangeli]

It’s been a long day, bonnet sleepy time and dreams of tigelle and gelato for Amadeo (and me). 😴

Doll by @toriangeli. 💖

[toriangeli]

“No real thoughts from Nicki, only the formless shimmer of his mind. Was he dreaming? Was he mad?”

This one is for Lestat and Armand having a gigantic philosophical debate on the nature of vampire existence and the responsibilities of a devil in the Enlightenment era… while Nicolas, for whom this has been a nightmare of his since childhood… is in a cage atop a literal pyre - the only human here.  He’s been tortured physically, emotionally and psychologically to the degree that a person who is usually full of uncompromising thoughts, raging at the world… has now been reduced to a “formless shimmer”…

I mean…

Yeah, Lestat… it’s great that you’re forming a plan… but maybe wind it up a bit and get everyone out of here?

Armand has been torturing Nicolas with glitter again. These pesky vampires. You can’t leave them alone for two seconds!

Allow me to set the scene:

Me, at home: “Hmmm… I wonder if I have A CAGE for Nicolas…?”

Of COURSE I do!!!!

Wonderful Armand, Nicki and Lestat by @toriangeli

[toriangeli]

hey lil mama

[toriangeli]

“And I knew my vision of the garden of savage beauty had been a true vision. There was meaning in the world, yes, and laws, and inevitability, but they had only to do with the aesthetic. And in this Savage Garden, these innocent ones belonged in the vampire's arms. A thousand other things can be said about the world, but only aesthetic principles can be verified, and these things alone remain the same.”

Oh Lestat 😭… I hate it! 😭🌊

PS the bell balancing was desperation, after Nicolas prophetically knocked Lestat over as he fell approximately… well… maybe only 5 times… let’s not exaggerate… but STILL!!!

My G string is flat 😭😭😭😭😭😭.

Lestat and Nicolas by @toriangeli

Wedding night Loustat are still available!

[toriangeli]

Having experienced a lot of it in my 20s, I think some of the worst, pettiest, most straight up this-is-just-bullying-you're-passing-off-as-praxis incidences of Queer Infighting endemic to young people can be best understood as attempts to exercise power by people with very little power.

Like you're 22, you're queer, you've just become a Marxist, the scope of World Suck is overwhelming and you have $30 in your bank account. What can you do to feel like you have any power? Well, you can try to get your frenemy cancelled for cosplaying a character from a problematic show. You can write a public callout post over someone's obviously friendly use of a slur you don't think they technically have the right to reclaim. Doing this stuff can make you feel like you have power and your actions have an impact. Unfortunately the impact in question is a negative impact on other marginalized people. But that often takes some maturity and self-reflection to notice.