o no why did i decide to watch interview with the vampire while my emotions are still reeling from doctor who?

"just like lestat they'd rather let jealousy choke them than work hard to rehabilitate their abusive fave"

I think comments like this may be why people are prompted to writing summaries about how Armand is not a nice guy. I can only speak for myself, but it's not because I think Loumand shippers are stupid or naive, Armand is actually my favorite character. It is the implication that Lestat is an evil abuser and Armand is somehow not is what may be promoting people to want to explain that Armand is not some lovely dovey doting husband. I get that there are some that know and understand book Armand well and still ship Loumand and that is A-okay. Just like some ship Loustat even though he is atrocious in season 1. It's just the implication that one is better than the other which tends to happen with some show only fans (but I do acknowledge it happens on both sides) because they have seen Lestat do all this horrible stuff, but have only seen Armand as the docile Rashid so far. I'm sorry, but both Loustat and Armand are crap husbands in IWTV. Yet they both love Louis and he loves both of them. If you prefer Loustat, go for it. If you prefer Loumand, that's great too. But where it is out of line is attacking the actors over their character's actions. This is happening to Sam Reid more than any other character (in the context of the ship war, not talking about casting or anything else). It is because some people don't like Lestat (and that is okay) but some are attaching this dislike to Sam. And I think the concern that this may occur with Assad is valid if the series chooses to go the route of the book because of poor Sam's level of harassment. You see it all over twitter and even in smaller levels on Reddit. I think that is where people are getting frustrated with some of the toxic Loumand shippers and feel the need to warn or explain to them. I don't believe these "warnings" are intended for people like you who just have a preference, not a irrational hate for an actor playing a fictional character. I don't even want to call the ones being toxic Loumand shippers, I think the correct term may be closer to Lestat haters. There are some very respectable Loumand shippers and some toxic Loustat shippers out there too. Much love. No disrespect. I enjoy your blog but just had to comment on this.

Hi there, I am combining these two because they are kind of about the same thing, I hope you don't mind.

To your point about anon's comment, I agree, which is why in my response I pointed out that ALL these characters are monsters, and not just Lestat or Armand. And both ship are toxic.

(I also don't agree with the notion that Lestat needs to atone or have a redemption arc because he doesn't in the book, he just explains his reasons for doing what he did in a few paragraphs and basically calls Louis a liar and it's up to the reader to decide who's telling the truth, but that's a discussion for another time.)

People can always argue about which is worse, physical abuse or emotional manipulation, but the bottom line is, BOTH Lestat and Armand do fucked up things in the name of loving Louis and Louis does some awful things to them in return. Fans should be free to ship either or both without being harassed or mocked for it.

As for the people who cross the line and attack Sam or the writers, I hope I've made my stance on that clear enough— anyone who spreads Lestat hate or god forbid Sam Reid hate gets either called out or blocked if it becomes clear that they are unreasonable or trolling.

But targeting Loumand shippers specifically is not fair because those two are not one and the same. So like anon 1 said, maybe we should label those people Lestat haters and leave Loumand shippers alone.

wait, that makes me very curious as to your tastes. what do you look for in darker ships vs. what don't you enjoy?

Sure, I'm always happy to talk about what I'm into, thanks for asking. cutting this because it's just me navel gazing.

I think the biggest factor for me is how straightforward the power dynamic is vs whether it's subverted or weirdly convoluted. I find powerful evildoer/woob boring as hell 9 times out of 10. It's why I didn't properly ship Hannigram until season 3 when I realized that Hannibal was actually the pathetic woob of the relationship. And it's why Loustat doesn't really do anything for me, especially in the show - I really enjoy both characters, but Lestat's abusive patriarch to Louis' downtrodden depressed housewife is just not compelling to me.

The only times I can really get into straightforward evildoer/victim type dynamics is if I just want someone to torture my fave lol, and in those cases it's not about being emotionally invested in the ship, it's just about being kind of a sadist.

And like, one of the reasons I love griffguts is because Griffith is the colder, more aloof, more socially powerful one, and he's the one who ruins his own life over Guts and ends up in a torture chamber. I love the emotional vulnerability that's at odds with how he presents himself. And it's why I'm into Guts being toppy/dominant rather than Griffith, it's just more fun for me when the sexual dynamic is a reversal of the rest of the power dynamic. I want the king to get fucked by his loyal subject, rather than the king fucking his loyal subject, basically.

I'm also into like, bossy/confident/commanding sub bottoms, awkward dom tops, sub tops and dom bottoms, super powerful characters who turn into total subs in bed, etc. Yk, anything that isn't the traditional confident suave active dommy top/awkward naive passive subby bottom dynamic lol.

hi so random question but do you know any good vc fics? i love yours so so much i read them all in a day. and like daniel/armand is 1000000% my fave thing to come out of vc. do you have any other good ones to recommend? i love your writing so much. thank you for making it. xo

HELLO FRIEND! Thank you! OMG!

Anyway so. To be completely honest with you, I DON’T have a ton of fic rec’s, because I’m pretty new to VC fic myself. And when I decided to poke around and see if there was any steamy Armand/Daniel to read, I found like… ALMOST NOTHING so my response was “Whelp! GUESS I BETTER WRITE IT MYSELF GDI” so my approach to fic is that I write the fics that I want to read LMAO. 

That said I do have a FEW rec’s I can make!

Body Language by @nightislandofficial​ 

Blood Play by @yureiyume​ 

At Last by @underhyll​ 

When I’m 64 by dorothy_notgale and Tromperie

Play. Rewind. Play. by ImhereImQuire

^these are my favs!!

It’s weird to me that Daniel/Armand borders on being a rarepair even though they’re canon and have a fucking cult following, but they really get the back burner to all the Louis/Lestat out there LOL. So there’s more out there, but not a ton. AO3 does let you filter BY SHIP!!! so definitely poke through there. I haven’t made time to get through all of it/am savoring it and trying to make it last LMAO. So the ones I mentioned are a few off my head that I really really like, AND I’M ALSO OPENING THIS POST UP TO THE VC HIVEMIND IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO REBAGEL WITH MORE SUGGESTIONS CAUSE IDK MAN!!!

There’s also a few of, FROM WHAT I UNDERSTAND, AMAZING VC FIC WRITERS OUT THERE? But since I’m still relatively new to participating in fandom, even though I’m an ancient VC fan, I think it might be a little disingenuous to be like OH I HEAR THIS WRITER IS GREAT BUT I CAN’T REALLY SAY FOR MYSELF CAUSE I DIDN’T READ THEIR STUFF YET!!!! (Speaking specifically about Gairid and Torch! I can’t wait to read their work!!! Whoops I just Did the Thing I said I wasn’t gonna do fuckit whoops.) I also really love dorothy_notgale and Tromperie (linked above too!) but I haven’t read their longer pieces yet. 

So anyway TLDR……………. TLDR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111!!!

But honestly like I’m a VC fic n00b myself so I don’t have an amazing answer for you. I’m still getting to know it, too!!! :D 

SO IF ANYONE ELSE WANTS TO MAKE REC’S ON BEHALF OF THIS ANON, I WOULD APPRECIATE IT TOO CAUSE I WANT THEM AS WELL. :D :D TELL ME!! Please don’t even hesitate to self-promote your own work because I WANT TO READ IT.