#vampire chronicles meta | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

starshine-shimmyshufflesmile · 1 year

Text

The Devil's Minion meta analysis

It was as though Armand feasted upon the feast, drinking in that part of life which he could not share any longer except with his eyes...

...and he watched as the boy drank deeply ...consumed it slowly, his eyes fixed on Armand.

"He was busy with his human boy, who was dining at the desk on silver plates of meats and fish. A decanter of white wine stood next to him, and though he was feverish and weak from last night, his skin was florid and his heat and fragrance were a torment to me. Not apparently to Armand, who sat in the leather chair by the fire opposite me, turned to the human, his arms folded on the leather arm. The boy filled his glass and held it up now in a salute.

"My master," he said, his eyes flashing on me as he smiled; but the toast was to Armand.

"Your slave," Armand whispered with a deep intake of breath that was passionate.

And he watched, as the boy drank deeply. I could see him savoring the wet lips, the mobile flesh of the throat as the wine went down. And now the boy took a morsel of white meat, making that same salute, consumed it slowly, his eyes fixed on Armand.

It was as though Armand feasted upon the feast, drinking in that part of life which he could not share any longer except with his eyes"

Louis telling Daniel what he witnessed of Armand watching Denis in Paris, 1870. IWTV p248-9 Knoff

If Armand could possibly arrange it

he watched from a chair nearby

a dark-eyed Cupid with a tender approving smile. Hot, nerve-searing, this witnessed passion, Daniel working the other body with ever greater abandon, aroused by the dual purpose

...If Armand could possibly arrange it...

Armand watching Daniel watching him with Louis.

and he watched as the boy drank deeply

consumed it slowly, his eyes fixed on Armand.

...consumed it slowly, his eyes fixed on Armand...

Yes, watching is their thing.

And when you're a telepathic vampire, you are also 'watching' from inside the human's mind.

Consider: The mechanics of vamp/mortal lovers presented in a more explicit way in TVA is the most significant insight Armand's relationship with Marius sheds on TDM. A&D can, and do, make love the same way M&A did, with mouths and hands and emotional intimacy and blood for Armand and orgasms for Daniel.

"Daniel loved the feel of the hard gleaming white hands moving over his naked flesh, rather like satin gloves. And the brown eyes that seemed to draw Daniel out of himself; ah, the delicious disorientation, the certainty that he was being carried downwards, out of all things physical, and finally the hands closing on his throat gently, and the teeth breaking through the skin. He closed his eyes, his body heating slowly, only to burn truly when Armand's blood touched his lips." Armand and Daniel, circa 1980. TQOTD p89 Knoff

Yet A&D also pick up thirds for sex when they get cruised.

"Men and women fell in love with Armand, of course, "so innocent, so passionate, so brilliant!" You don't say. In fact, Armand's power to seduce was almost beyond his control. And it was Daniel who must bed these unfortunates, if Armand could possibly arrange it, while he watched from a chair nearby, a dark-eyed Cupid with a tender approving smile. Hot, nerve-searing, this witnessed passion, Daniel working the other body with ever greater abandon, aroused by the dual purpose of every intimate gesture. Yet he lay empty afterwards, staring at Armand, resentful, cold." Armand and Daniel, circa 1980. TQOTD p86 Knoff

Why?

1st rule of VampChron: read between the lines

Daniel loves that Armand is a monster. Armand loves that Daniel is human. These two are deeply romantically and erotically in love with one another as species as well as people

Daniel wants to be a vampire with Armand. Armand wants to experience as much of a human life as possible with Daniel

Becoming a vampiric predator is Daniel's greatest wish. Yet Armand is so vigilant over Daniel's humanity he will not let him see him kill even when he begs

This is the fundamental dynamic of their lives together between 1977 and 1985

The 'flight gap' that Daniel inserts into his story to tease Lestat simultaneously with a 'sex gap' - leaving out the method by which he and Armand journeyed from Pompeii to Rome just as he leaves out what they were doing in that hotel bed he awakens in next morning- is an effective device, to cause the reader to compare Armand to Pandora and the other vamps revealed to be able to fly for the first time in this volume, think about what other vampiric powers Armand is logically using- and intentionally inserted by Rice in that sexual context

Riceian vamps cannot possess humans, that is beyond them, but Akasha speaks in detail to Lestat of using mind gift to enter human minds and psychically know their experience and senses secondhand. Other vampires speak of it in other volumes

Just as he did with Denis, Armand can share, can savor Daniel's sensual experiences in his mind

Or Armand can go into the mind of any third who is in their bed

Any strong vampire could do this. Armand himself is particularly talented with mind gift

Armand is excited vampirically by human physiological responses to sexual pleasure- canonically Riceian vampire bodies don't have libido and they don't have orgasm- but the ecstatic peak from blood, and erotic pleasure they get from their vamp senses of touch, smell, sight, hearing and taste, make orgasm seem trite. Witnessing human sexual pleasure can be temendously eroticly satisfying to a vampire

The context lends itself to the opposite question- why not? They are living a life together in NYC, involved in the real world of 20something culture surrounding them. They are a young, horny, bisexual couple during the 1977-81 zenith of the sexual revolution when swinging became mainstream, and both are getting something out of encounters with thirds

Daniel tells us "I am the Devil's minion and he gives me my every wish." Armand showers him with satisfaction of human desires: plentiful and varied entertainment and intellectual pursuits, fine food and drink, safety, freedom and adventure, luxurious properties and beautiful possessions, novel and plentiful sex is naturally on this list of good things. Armand confirms "tell me what you want, Daniel, and I'll get it for you"

Daniel feels "passion" for these thirds, loves the "Hot, nerve-searing" sex

Armand loves it too. It's the sexiest virtual reality game ever and playing it was his idea

Armand genuinely being "tender", him genuinely "approving" of Daniel's "passion", this affirmation sends Daniel in "ever greater abandon" the intensity is enormous, more so for "dual purpose": being shared by his telepathic lover

And then the sex is done and Armand's mind is back on his vampiric body and Daniel is left looking at him sitting cool and unaffected across the room, Daniel feels empty and cold, of course he does: it's sub drop, and he's resentful of the unfair imbalance that Armand can play at this but Daniel is totally shut out of vampirism, and more inescapably human than ever in these post-coital moments

Daniel describes their thirds as "these unfortunates" because as a fellow human he knows they can't really consent to being used as Armand's virtual reality avatar. They are taking up a role similar to Denis's silver plates of meats and fish and they can never understand that because they don't believe in telapathic vamps

Thirds are also "unfortunates" because Daniel is just as uncertain as we are- as with so many thing with TDM, grasping Daniel's uncertainty is crucial- if they may end up Armand's dinner once they are out of his sight. No matter how many roomfulls of humans Armand seduces with a twitch of his finger, no matter how "in love" they feel with Armand, Armand loves only Daniel. And you can bet your ass that kicks Daniel's pedal. He's no lamb, our Daniel. That hard vampire kink is a serious kind of darkness

The fact that Daniel is bisexual: feeling "passion" for both the women and the men, not a hetero/homo/ace lamb suffering rape on the regular by Armand-as-depraved-bisexual-nasty-stereotype isn't a matter of 'how the reader would prefer to headcanon Daniel'. It is crucial understanding

Crucial in understanding Armand's development from suffering because he had selfishly manipulated Louis to respecting his lover and giving him self-determination, to learning to love selflessly even at cost to himself. TDM is Armand's redemption story. Any comprehension of his character arc is lost with misreading of Daniel's genuine "passion" for both the women and men

And crucial understanding of Daniel, who is slammed with surprise horror at his bloodlust and murderousness once he is a vampire. He thought he was proving he could be a bit predatory with these thirds, as with joining in Armand's exploitative billionairism, but even as Armand shared the adventure of robbing and looting he would not let Daniel see him massacre narcotic traffickers. Armand let him maintain his romantic delusions that feeding on human death was not horrible, a horrible price to pay for immortality. This understanding is lost with misreading Daniel as humiliated in the encounters with thirds

Daniel describes Armand in this context as a "tender" "Cupid". Passion is not a synonym for rape. Tender is not a synonym for assault. Cupid is not a synonym for rapist. Listen to the text. Take the text at its word

The Devil's Minion does not exist in isolation. It exists within and is illuminated by, and in turn illuminates, other parts of TQOTD story, and other volumes

In a way this paragraph is the key to understanding The Devil's Minion thread of TQOTD, and all the nuance between the lines can only be unlocked with the illumination of *all* the lore in the first three books

Against-text headcanons are wonderful, fun, personally beloved and the indispensable fulcrum for transformative fanwork. No one wants to stamp on anyone's personal straight, transmasculine, strictly gay, asexual, enby, victimised, or other Daniel Molloy. Because VC is a series, a grasp of the actual textual canon of each volume is necessary to other volumes and understanding the characters arcs developed across volumes

And it's a bit disingenuous to accuse the TV show of 'straightwashing' Daniel into bisexuality. A good working definition of bisexuallity is feeling sexual passion for men and for women. Bisexual is and has always been Daniel's textual orientation.

50 notes · View notes

irismit · 9 months

Text

literature allows for a variety of interpretations, there are no wrong answers and all that, HOWEVER:

there is a subset of vampire chronicles fans who think that Armand’s feelings for Louis only exist as an extension of his feelings for Lestat/are ONLY a way for him to get with Lestat (or as a form of consolation price in a “being with Louis is the closest he can get to being with Lestat after having been rejected” way) and to these people i say you are wrong and you don’t get them like i do

now i won’t say that these things aren’t part of it to some degree, but… Louis and Armand spend (depending on which book you read and what day you asked AR the question) around a hundred years together in their first partnership, and then even more time in New York etc… they are one of the longest “successful” (for the dysfunctional coven of the articulate anyway) partnerships in the series… Lestat loves being the center of it all but don’t buy too deeply into his unreliable narration

#the vampire chronicles #amc iwtv #iwtv meta #vc meta #vampire chronicles #vampire chronicles meta

12 notes · View notes

nightcolorz · 9 months

Text

The most underrated moment of all time in interview with the vampire (the book) is when Louis meets Lestat and he’s all seductive, making all these promises about eternal life and escaping his human burdens and transcending suffering, living his ultimate hedonistic fantasy forever, and then once the transformation is complete and Louis and Lestat are living together Louis realizes that Lestat isn’t the angelic other worldly being come to sweep him off his feet that he presented himself as, but is actually just a Guy. Fucking hilarious. Suddenly Lestat is 10 years older than Louis at most, his father is still alive, and he’s responsible for caring for him in his old age. He’s bitter and immature and his dad is dying and handling him is his priority first but he hates it, he’s just got average mortal problems and concerns. And Louis’s like wtf ? I’ve been scammed. So good! Lestat is just a guy actually he’s just like Louis, he doesn’t know anything. Vampirism doesn’t make anything more special rlly and ur family and responsibilities don’t go away once u drink the magic blood. I love that, it’s hilarious as it is so interesting for their dynamic. I annoys me sm that the show made Lestat so much more older then Louis bcus a good chunk of the foundation of their dynamic is just gone. Ugh

#the vampire chronicles #tvc #vampire chronicles #vc #interview with the vampire #iwtv #lestat de lioncourt #louis de pointe du lac #ldpdl #lestat iwtv #loustat #Tvc meta

665 notes · View notes

desertfangs · 1 month

Text

Armand spent so much time trapped in a cult that broke him down and told him he was a monstrous creature who did not deserve love or compassion. And for centuries after, he struggled to connect to those he loved. But then the one (1) guy he ever makes into a vampire, Daniel, is the guy who believes in what a huge capacity vampires have for love. That they have eternity to love and be loved. It's just so beautiful.

#armand #daniel molloy #armand/daniel #armand x daniel #vc meta #devil's minion #the devil's minion #devils minion #vc #vampire chronicles #tvc #the vampire chronicles #just constantly marinating in thoughts about them and all the ways they really are exactly what the other needs so much of the time #i just love them so much

270 notes · View notes

nalyra-dreaming · 3 months

Text

Pre season 2 rant - heavy on sarcasm!

This is the... well by now somewhat meditated on rant I promised a while ago. It has a lot of cussing, so be warned.

It is a… summary comment about some views I‘ve seen around, from “bad writing“ to the “abuse“ and other things. Oh, and it's about the "lying" subject. With receipts!

I‘m getting this out of my system before season 2 hits, and before more of the press leading up to it is released, because cast, crew and writers as well as the show have given us all of it already and, tbh, if I‘m going to see anyone scream “bad writing“ or “Louis being made a liar or the memories revisited/changed is racism“ when the changes will hit I‘m just gonna block you.

Fair warning.

This is long… so under the cut.

This show has made color-conscious choices. Brilliantly so. They also have an astonishing meta level.

And what we saw was not the truth.

That much is clear now. HAS ACTUALLY BEEN CLEAR FROM THE END OF SEASON 1 ON.

Jacob has said at the TCA panel that Louis is trying to regain his true memories.

Here is a reminder of some key statements by cast and crew:

Here are interviews and statements by Assad and Jacob and Sam and Rolin and the writers & producers that what we have seen was not the (whole) truth, that Louis’ tale has been “tinkered” with, influenced.

I'm heroically refraining from adding the gifs of Rolin and his statement again. Which are from the episode insider… and remember when that aired?! Yeah… 😒

But I've seen things recently that make me want to pull my hair out, to be frank. For example this, behind the link:

...Like, not making him a whole flat ass liar is actually the point, guys. And no it does not undermine the story....

As the writers said:

I mean, I get it to an extent. It's becoming clearer and clearer that the show some people made up in their heads is not the one they'll be getting. (We've been trying to tell them, but hey.)

Yeah.... That.

Unfortunately @blackgirlasis has blocked me, (and I have returned the favor now that I noticed), we only discussed something recently, but I think the reason might have been after I posted that video, in which it is literally said that "not everything Louis says is a lie", which, given her statements here might speak for itself, especially this part of that statement:

"It is actually ACTIVELY harmful to perpetuate the idea that the Black characters aren't to be trusted with the narrative and that we need Lestat to come through with the honest accounting."

You know, I would actually agree! Which is also why I always emphasized that we did not get the WHOLE truth. I also kept more than hinting at the fact that Armand is, well Armand.

BUT - and here it gets interesting - why is JACOB's - a BLACK man's - statement discarded? Why do they do not want to hear it that Louis does, in fact, lie? And, just to be clear - I do not NEED Louis to lie, nor be proven a liar, and I think the show will do its damndest to explain via the "tinkering" that Armand did. They will give some of the blame to Armand.

But to flip one's shit over argumentation that the MAIN CHARACTER, a BLACK MAN has already stated... that is what I find interesting.

Like, why do you* (*generally spoken, not her especially) accuse people of racism over this, when HE has already said that Louis does, indeed, lie. Why is he not actually listened to? I don't get that. Why is agency taken away from a living, breathing person to give it to a fictional character? Why is his statement that "not all representation needs to be healthy representation" not kept in mind?

Louis is Louis. Louis being color-consciously handled didn't "change the character an awful lot".

JACOB said that. Here. Interestingly enough in a comment about the racial consideration the show does(!).

Louis is NOT a whole other character despite the changes, and the twists that will happen in season 2 were always set to come, as the friggin' video of BEFORE the show aired is proof of. They talked about all that. They know it didn't all happen as shown. They knew Louis did lie. But NOT about everything.

They also knew that some of the scenes did not happen (at least as shown). And now... "it’s clear that Louis is somebody hugely angry with a man he loved deeply and now presents them as a monster…" Also Jacob Anderson.

Presents. Them. As. A. Monster.

Bailey Bass said in the SDCC interview, that it is not clear who is the "villain here" in various scenes, interestingly enough, because the dynamic keeps changing. Which of course was after they shot a myriad of scenes that would not make it into the final s1 cut. Again: why is she not listened to? Why do you take her agency away to give it to a fictional character?

And I'm not even starting on the others. Sam. Rolin. The writers.

Also, re the abuse and scenes being revisited. Again, screenshot as example:

There is nothing simple about this show. Especially that scene.

BUT the show knows what it‘s doing! I'm not going to rehash all that here now, here are links on that.

AND THE WRITERS SAYING IT WILL BE REVISITED... is from December 21, 2022.

DECEMBER 22.

A revisit and a change of that scene will not be bad writing. (Or tasteless.) They already DID so in the last episode of season 1, continuing that will simply fall into line with what we have already been given. That's not bad writing. That's just the show, and there's people who just did not want to examine that.

Because it will be echoed, and it will serve a purpose.

I know the show did the meta level of patriarchal domestic abuse, but for fuck‘s sake, the story itself is about vampires struggling, and Louis is struggling.

The show has a meta level of abuse, and patriarchy, and recognizing is valid and the meta discussions are too.

But Louis is not chained to his coffin guys, he could have left, and a fight which shows off power discrepancies within the show story line is not automatically domestic abuse.

*slow clap*

No-one wants this to happen for the sake of "redeeming" Lestat. Because he does not need that redemption. They're all murderers and monsters.

They kill. For a living. LITERALLY.

THEY ARE VAMPIRES It's not about vampires trying to find their humanity.

It's about vampires trying to find a way to live with themselves, because they are, indeed, monsters.

Doubting the narrative which was TORN APART WITHIN THE SHOW is not the same as bad writing or racism FFS, nor is actually looking at what we're given - and knowing the fucking, 50 year old books. And recognizing the hints and parallels.

I have also seen the take that Lestat isolated Louis... and like, did we watch the same show? You know, even with the vampirism (which, of course™, could not free Louis as promised)...

Months of flirting openly in NOLA, public wooing. DECADES LIVING IN NOLA. Operas. Restaurants. Family dinners. (And Louis stopping Lestat there, AS a mortal...) Cleaning the cribs, years of "human entanglement" because Louis wanted it.... Banjo barbecues, political influence, wakes... Everybody knew.

(Like, I could pull up gifs here.)

"Isolation". Right. It has nothing, at all, to do with the Rite of Passage, or Louis' depression.

Of course not.

I mean, Jacob says that Louis is very depressed during the time leading up to the fight, and his and Sam's discussion here is interesting as well, but hey, I mean, why listen to the actual black actor, right.

As a last thing.

Yeah. Tell me you know nothing about the books without telling me you know nothing about the books.

And, as a note, context is important if you pull up other scenes from the VC.

Welcome to the fucking Vampire Chronicles.

Anyone expecting big bad patriarchal abuser Lestat is not going to have a good time.

And honestly, to those: don't let the door hit you on the way out.

Good riddance - and BON VOYAGE

167 notes · View notes

bonesandpoemsandflowers · 6 months

Text

There's just something about how Lestat starts off his vampirism so morally uncomplicated, so easy to root for, comically good natured. what a good boy! what an upstanding young man! he's only killing cutthroats and murderers! he's dressing Like That so that highwaymen try to kill him first! he's sending money home to ma!! and the family! IMMEDIATELY! he doesn't even like his family and they don't love him! he pays off his old boss's debts! he pays his boyfriend's nicer rent! buys him violin lessons! does all this at a distance because he doesn't want it to be emotionally awful for them. he's constantly contemplating the nature of goodness and what that might mean!

and then he has one (1) kinda shitty day night and he's killing and eating a mother and child on the sacred grounds of Notre Dame. not because he has to. he does not. not because he isn't in control of his actions. he is. not for the sadistic pleasure of it--there is none--and not to be evil for the sake of evil. a poor woman checks on him, sees his bloody clothes and tries to drag him to safety and get him medical care, because she thinks he's hurt and she wants to help, and Lestat kills her. not out of evil or malice or sadism, but because he chooses to, because he's fully swapped out good vs. evil for aesthetic judgements, because the nature of vampirism itself changes him so fundamentally.

and that's horror. even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night, to steal from another monster genre. there is a fundamental loss there, a change against his will that's nothing to do with superpowers, a change so wide and deep that even as he is aware of it, he isn't really alarmed. he just reasons his way through it. and the audience cheers for him, of course. but nothing he does is justified. and that's the horror of it, too, that a monster could be so likable and yet so fundamentally alien.

#the vampire lestat #the vampire chronicles #lestat de lioncourt #horror #meta #anne rice #text post #renfield (the movie) could NEVER #most authors today wouldn't dare. would NEVER. they'd make you wade knee deep for the therapy speak justifications #about why what the character did was actually totally okay and morally correct

240 notes · View notes

lgbtiwtv · 11 months

Text

armand the worshipper armand the follower armand the child the monster the abused the distant the holy the hungry so so hungry eternally hungry for love and understanding and safety armand who wished away eternity with his soulmate because he loved him too much who lost him to that very same eternity who even after 500 years is misunderstood and alone and taken advantage of by people who promised they’d take care of him who has followers and devotees never lovers who’s forced to be the strong one the powerful one the one in control because that’s what he knows and that’s what others know of him and if he lets anyone in they might kill him but being alone might kill him too

#jumping off a cliff over him :)#I can’t take it!!!!!!!!! to me he’s everything. I can’t even be articulate in these tags because I went insane writing this post #the vampire armand #interview with the vampire #the vampire chronicles #iwtv #iwtv meta #m watches iwtv

423 notes · View notes

nothing-but-paisley · 8 months

Text

Thinking about Armand's relationship with food and sustenance.

Much of his trauma relates to hunger--watching monks slowly starve in the monastery knowing that would be his fate one day, then being starved by his captors as a human AND as a vampire. Finally he inflicts this suffering on weaker vampires.

The first thing Marius does is feed him. Marius later becomes a literal source of nourishment by feeding Armand his blood, which he compares to honey. Armand often describes the lavish, abundant food at the palazzo. It's easy to see how he would grow to associate food and love.

That's especially interesting in light of his treatment of Daniel. When they first meet, he pulls his go-to coven master move (lock up+starve). A major turning point in the relationship happens when Armand orders everything on the menu for Daniel at the Copley. An abundance of food reflects emotion. It's how Armand expresses care.

On the night of the first blood exchange, Armand declares his love by feeding and feeding from Daniel. (Feeding is also an act of ownership: "you are mine, beautiful boy.")

#the vampire chronicles #armand x daniel #devil's minion #armandaniel #vc #vc meta #the vampire armand #armand x marius #Don't even get me started on Riccardo #I WILL start sobbing in this Chili's #I didn't get into Denis but there's some interesting fucked up food stuff going on there too

328 notes · View notes

monstersinthecosmos · 14 days

Note

kacy i wanna know how much of a perv you think daniel is LOL so much fic centers on armand dragging him through an experience *armand* wants. so like what's the ratio of daniel being a freak in his nature (and knowing this about himself) vs armand nurturing this trait into him?

My friend, I’m so glad you asked.

THE THING IS IVE GIVEN THIS A LOT OF THOUGHT and in some ways it’s like, what all of my Devil’s Minion fics are about LOL. And yet! I don’t have a simple answer to this question, the way real questions of nature vs nurture are complicated in the real world in real people!

But let me sketch out a framework of the way I’ve questioned this, and everyone might come to different conclusions and that’s the fun of fandom, because there can exist several thousand versions of Daniel based on the same text! AND I KNOW YOU KNOW THIS STUFF, I HOPE IT DOESN’T COME OFF AS MANSPLAINING LMAO but I’m excited to talk about this topic.

Here’s what we know unequivocally from the text:

Daniel is 20 years old in IWTV.

That’s it, that’s the whole list.

And here’s some fanon that people often try to extrapolate from the text:

💦 That he met Louis at a gay bar. UNCONFIRMED, but I think it’s likely? In the short story the bar is named the Pink Baby, I think that might be a gay bar or a dick reference idk lol.

💦 Whether or not the Pink Baby was a gay bar, he and Louis essentially cruised each other and left the bar together! Daniel has the excuse that he’s hunting for interviews for his job, Louis has the excuse that he’s an apex predator who preys on people, but ? Take this wherever you need to. (Also blah blah Ricean biting=sex symbolisms.)

💦 Was Daniel bisexual outside of the assumption that most of the VC characters are bisexual/omnisexual? The only clue we get is that when he and Armand practice voyeurism, he hooks up with men and women. There’s a lot of interesting information packed into the voyeurism paragraph, like this line: Yet he lay empty afterwards, staring at Armand, resentful, cold. and I’ve seen the “resentful, cold” comment dissected many times in fandom. Is it the general resentment of their whole relationship? Is it because he wants to fuck Armand and not randos? Is it because he only wants the Blood? Does he not consent to being used like a zoo animal? Is he gay and doesn’t want to fuck women? Is he straight (minus the orientation-defying vampire attraction) and doesn’t want to fuck men? I’ve seen all kinds of takes on this LOL. But still, no real definitive answer about his orientation in the text.

💦 What did the “roaming the bars of the world” comment mean? Sometimes I read Anne Rice’s language as being kinda lofty and exaggerated but was he ACTUALLY traveling the WHOLE WORLD or is he hyping up that he trolled bars in the Bay Area? Is he FROM the Bay Area or was it a stop in his travels? He worked for a radio station (not in the book, but mentioned in the short story + The Vampire Companion and The Alphabettery) so did he live here, even if he traveled a lot? Was he wealthy before vampires if he was traveling this much, if you think he was a traveler?

AND AFTER ALL THAT, here’s some extra questions where Daniel is FREE REAL ESTATE that every fan has the freedom to make the fuck up:

💦 How much sexual experience did he have at 20? Do we assume that by default as an Anne Rice character he probably had ample teenage sexual experiences, and if he did, is there a quality over quantity aspect to consider? Is the sex we have as teenagers like, all that to write home about LMAO. Do we really understand kinks yet, or do we need to grow up and gain some perspective first?

💦 As an Anne Rice character, by default, do we assume he & everything else is sexually charged LOL, are the interviews and cruising and taking people home a code for bringing partners home? What percentage of his interviews were also hookups?

💦 When we talk about nature vs nurture for kinkiness, how micro and macro is this? As a fellow Off the Cuffs fan I know you understand the “radioactive spider bite into kink” concept, and some kinks are so specific to our experiences. But BEING KINKY in itself IS nature, isn’t it? I’ve read some sex & kink theory that kink is (psychologically) more like an innate orientation. IE: in the way you can be straight or gay, some people are also by default turned on by being smacked or by whatever paraphilia. Whatever that thing is, the way it takes shape, is the nurture half. But like, many people can have the same experience and 99% of them don’t develop a paraphilia right? So I think that capability exists in kinky folks at all times, especially when so many of the radioactive spider bites are things that people discover in childhood. ANYWAY I RANTED but I say that to say; DANIEL MOLLOY IS A MONSTERFUCKER, IWTV IS THE PROOF THAT HE IS A MONSTERFUCKER. IT WAS THERE THE WHOLE TIME.

So I bring up all those questions to encourage everyone to make up their own story with this, but I’ll tell you where I personally landed and how I approach it in my fics!!!

The Daniel in MY OWN fics is 20, single child, estranged from his parents, dropped out of college because he didn’t have ADHD support and was struggling, bisexual and promiscuous! I wonder if he went through that like college freshman thing where he got out of his parents house for the first time and partied a little too hard because he COULD! I like to read “bars of the world” as an exaggeration, I like to think he was a normal guy NOT globe hopping, sticking to the Bay Area, maybe he was out there for college, and guess what! There’s a thriving gay liberation culture there, so he finds some safe spaces to experiment with that!

However, I think the text leaves space to think he didn’t have a lot of close friends, or wasn’t close with his family, due to the way that he simply ✨fucks off ✨ after IWTV. NOW, that’s just me! Because there’s potential here for a TRAGEDY of people looking for him or grieving him! But idk I just like thinking that he was already on the outs and the interview pushed him over the edge.

So I ask like, does the 20 year old have a ton of kink experience? Is he good at sex? WHAT DOES RESENTFUL, COLD MEAN? Was he celibate during the chase years? Are the voyeurism sessions the first time he’s had sex since his old life? Even if he had random hookups during the chase years, was this qualitatively good sex? Can you truly get into good BDSM on a hookup or do you need a trusted partner? (This is subjective, idk, but!)

Also, how much kink is theoretical and private (to masturbate to) vs stuff you actually try? Especially if we believe that kink is nature, someone isn’t less kinky if they’re celibate, the way someone isn’t less gay if they’re celibate, or even a virgin. As Daniel becomes more and more obsessed with vampires, and with Armand, does it take over how he jerks off? Does he think about getting bitten? HE LIKES SNUGGLING WITH DEAD THINGS.

So like, there IS an element of Daniel being the unwilling witness of Armand’s rapidly shifting hyperfixations, and it’s natural that fandom pervs would extend that to sex acts and kinks. I LOVE IT, yes! It makes sense.

But when you say like, which one of them is in charge, I wonder if it’s relevant if we assume Daniel enjoys it. (Does he? Would he? Resentful, cold?)

Here’s some points that come to mind when I imagine it as purely Armand’s doing:

💦 People sometimes misunderstand BDSM dynamics when it comes to power and control, because BDSM is a consensual fantasy between two adults. The sub is just as in control, because they allow it. In that sense: Do we believe Armand respects Daniel’s consent? Would he force Daniel to participate if he wasn’t enjoying himself?

🩸 (How much can we compare this to Venice and how Armand was prepared for vampirism? I’m putting this in parentheses bc I’m putting a pin in this one, I CANNOT ADD A SUB-ESSAY INTO THIS POST ABOUT COMPARING VENICE TO DEVILS MINION but thinking of this too. Returning to the under-negotiated kink in Venice and how much is diegetic to the text, how does experiencing a spectrum of sexuality benefit someone’s last years alive ((sub-parentheses: does Armand flip-flop on turning Daniel as much as Marius did with Armand, does Armand subliminally know he’ll turn Daniel one day, does he go through these experiences as a precursor to turning Daniel eventually?)) are these experiences more for Armand to process the way he was groomed for asexual immortality vs being purely selfless and for Daniel’s benefit?)

💦 Armand uses Daniel as his usher into the modern age, and is it fair to assume he could sense Daniel’s kinkiness and knew that this was the person for him?

💦 How dubious is Daniel’s consent here? How addicted to Armand’s Blood is he by the time they start fucking around? Is he already within the throes of Ricean Omnisexuality where he’s down for whatever? Does the Blood influence this as well? Is there a secret subliminal violence creeping into your body when you’ve been drinking it again and again? What about less violent kinks, like your feederism fic? Does the Blood encourage all types of excess and consumption???

But if DANIEL is the driving force here, I still must consider:

💦 He meets Armand and his life essentially ends when he’s 20 years old. Was he really self-aware of his kinks? Did he know himself very well sexually yet?

💦 While exploring kinks can be mutually beneficial by sating Armand’s need for WEIRD HUMAN STUFF, maybe it IS something Daniel wants. It’s something he’s missing out on, because he checked out of regular human life when he was 20. Like, everyone’s different, so, I’m not saying that people can’t be sexually articulate at 20, but I know I fucking wasn’t! And I personally never fucked anyone that age who was good at it LMAO. So like how old would Daniel have been before he experimented enough to really know what he liked, and how much of him getting to know his sexuality involved Armand during the next decade?

💦 And this ties into Armand being his sugar daddy! That’s canon! Armand is his sugar daddy! If Daniel, at 28 years old, starts lamenting “I wish I’d gotten the chance to try watersports when I still had a normal life :( “ wouldn’t Armand have arranged that for him?

🩸 (Again let’s talk about Venice and what did Armand learn there about being the vampire lover, how much does he process and repeat on Daniel, and for whose benefit?)

💦 If Daniel is an innately kinky person, and realizes as he’s approaching 30 that he never really got to explore it properly, wouldn’t Armand usher him through that experience? Even if Armand didn’t plan to turn him, I wonder if he saw the window of Daniel’s mortal experience closing, maybe he worried that this is the type of thing people need to be wild about while they’re still so young. And outside of stigmatizing Daniel's age, it's also about how he was becoming less and less healthy, dying of alcoholism at 32, so there was a small window here for them to have sex adventures.

So basically, I’m saying that the nature half feels very much like Daniel being a monsterfucker, the nurture half is the actual experiences he got to have. And I don’t think he’d be in this situation in the first place if he wasn’t a bit of a monsterfucker, and wasn't a innately into danger and pain. Like, we don’t get a TON of examples but Gretchen and Babette didn’t try to fuck vampires! We know that vampires give humans the heebie jeebies! What kind of sick fuck is into that?!?!?!?

I don’t really have one single answer here. When it comes to the large library of kinks I think either of them can be blamed, and I also think it 100% makes sense to use Armand as a vehicle to write fic about them as if they’re another collection of human oddities for him to explore. But even using Armand’s weird bullshit to process that doesn’t mean it’s not mutually beneficial, and I think it gets into a fuzzier area that’s up to the writer when it comes to their take on the relationship, how dubious the consent is, how much do they actually like each other and get along? Can it be mutually beneficial in the end even if one person is driving? (see: the conversation about the second whipping scene in TVA and how it works out in the end.) Is it something they have fun agreeing to and negotiating in advance?

I can totally see how someone might write this as a fun thing that they talk about beforehand as easily as it could be Armand forcing mystery adventure on Daniel and suddenly he’s tied up in some shitty apartment in Hells Kitchen with some man pissing on him, and did he ever even reveal this kink to Armand or did Armand pull it out of his head?

The ship dynamic is so fucked up and coercive and resentful and toxic, even though there is real love here, so there’s this whole spectrum to use when you build your fanworks and headcanons!!!!!!! AND LIKE

IF IT’S COERCIVE AND FUCKED UP, DOES IT DRIVE THEM FURTHER APART OR BRING THEM CLOSER TOGETHER? IS DANIEL RESENTFUL AND COLD AND DOES THIS CAUSE FIGHTS? IS THIS A WAY FOR THEM TO PROCESS SOME OF THEIR COLDNESS AND RESENTMENT BECAUSE THEY AREN’T GOOD COMMUNICATORS? DO THEY DO BETTER AFTER THESE SESSIONS AND FEEL CLOSER BECAUSE THEY BROKE THROUGH SOMETHING NEITHER OF THEM KNEW HOW TO SAY?

Gosh idk.

Anyway I apologized in the beginning for mansplaining but I also want to apologize for this non answer LMFAO. I hope it doesn’t feel like a cop-out to not have a real answer, it’s just that I think there is such a rich context with a MENAGERIE of possibility !!!!!!!

#kink meta #deep ass thoughts about vampires #devil's minion #armand #daniel molloy #armand/daniel #vampire chronicles #am i writing meta on saturday night while im babysitting yes i am

54 notes · View notes

starshine-shimmyshufflesmile · 1 year

Text

Daniel Molloy and Aids terror

The simple fact that there were almost *three years of grinding fear* for all American men sexually active with men between the discovery that Aids is caused by a sexually transmitted virus in the summer of 1982 and the spring of 1985 when the first test for Hiv was finally available, coupled with the 8 year average time it takes to show symptoms of Aids, was horrifically traumatic for those at risk.

Horrific fear more than enough to explain Daniel, his book canon and AMC.

The text is perfectly clear that Daniel was not ill. The only thing making Daniel sick in TQOTD is effects of severe chronic alcoholism. What Daniel was, was terrified. That terror drives his behavior in the last three years of his story.

Imagine the trauma of finding out the pill you took at a party last month is likely to cause you an horrific, drawn out ugly, viciously stigmatized death five years from now. There is NO cure, NO treatment, and NO way to know if you are one of the unlucky marked for death. Meanwhile, your friends start dieing of it all around you, more every month. This goes on for years.

Daniel lived a horror movie.

Every. Single. Gay and Bi. Man. and Hemophilliac. Born. Before. 1965 in. America. Lived. a Horror. Movie.

Doubting the trauma of the Aids crisis on a bi man of Daniel's age is directly comparable to doubting Covid had any effect on anyone's life. Half of LGBTQ+ Americans over 50 have some level of Aids PTSD. Sensitivity to that fact is basic decency.

34 notes · View notes

irismit · 9 months

Text

once again thinking about my boy armand and how he escaped the fate of being buried alive in the monastery of the caves, went through horrors that are arguably worse, became a vampire and then ended up with what is basically a different kind of ascetic religious “convent” of sorts with the children of satan, who later also burry Louis alive and he can not TAKE it

#my poor little meow meow #the vampire armand #the vampire chronicles #vampire chronicles meta #vampire chronicles #iwtv #vc meta

7 notes · View notes

nightcolorz · 7 months

Text

nsfw..

Daniel Molloy is the monster in the closet to me. He’s the ideal son from the middle class suburban white family who seemed guaranteed to make his dad proud, ends up corrupted by literal blood lust, the desire for eternal dick up his ass so desperate that he would kill and die for it. Danny Molloy son of Daniel Molloy jr son of Daniel Molloy sr turned twinkish journalist going around shady bars asking seductive young people for their “stories” ogling the ghost of a man with the sharp cheekbones and the hungry eyes because something in him wants to burn out just to see how bright the fire would be, to feel that warmth. Danny who used to go to church on Sundays in his button up and tie and ride bikes in the evenings with his pals before family dinner now breathless and moaning while the devil himself skinks his teeth into his neck like a beast, wanting more, wanting it to go on forever. I bet his mom teased with the other new mothers about how one day her son would be a heart breaker amongst their then infant daughters, now he’s turned on at the thought of drinking another man’s blood. Now he begs every night to be with his violent predatory bug lover for eternity no matter the small price of killing every night forever, never to see God’s light again. I am so proud of him 💕

#This is my head canon about Daniel being a family disappointment keep scrolling #the vampire chronicles #tvc #vampire chronicles #vc #armand #iwtv #interview with the vampire #Daniel molloy #devils minion #queen of the damned #qotd #armand x daniel #daniel x armand #Tvc meta #Iwtv meta #louis de pointe du lac

195 notes · View notes

desertfangs · 4 months

Text

When are we going to talk about the fact that Armand bought Daniel an honest to goodness cloak because with his "twentieth century height" he could carry it off?? What the hell kind of events and parties were they going to where Daniel could wear a freaking cloak and not look completely out of place?

#Daniel Molloy #Armand #Devil's Minion #armand/daniel #daniel/armand #vc meta #vc #vampire chronicles #queen of the damned

167 notes · View notes

leslutdepointedulac · 2 months

Text

Okay. I think enough time has passed. I'm ready to confront this.

I finished re-reading IWTV a few days ago now, and this paragraph fucked me up then, and continues to fuck me up now 🙃

Armand obviously knew what was going to happen. He knew that the theatre vampires were going to be coming for Claudia that very same night. He essentially warns Louis about what's to come.

"Louis, come with me tonight," he whispered suddenly, with an urgent inflection.

Armand is desperate to get Louis to go with him there and then, so that he doesn't get caught up in the theatre vampire's 'business', so to speak. It's got nothing to do with Louis, he doesn't need to be punished, as far as Armand's concerned.

When Louis rejects this, and says he can't go with him tonight, there's not really anything Armand can do, but to just accept that that's how it's going to be. He doesn't want Louis getting caught up in the situation, but he can't say anything more, unless he gives himself and his involvement away.

I watched him turn away and look at the dark night sky. He appeared to sigh, but I didn't hear it.

For only a moment I hesitated, mocked by the pounding of my heart.

It's as if, deep, deep down, Louis knows there's something wrong. He knows something's coming, and that whatever it is, it can't be any good. And I think he knows Armand has something to do with it.

But Louis' blinded by his love for Armand, and Armand's love for him. He's blinded by the possibilities Armand could give him, and any further knowledge he may have to share.

Louis doesn't want to face the truth. He's had one not so great experience in love before, and he's not willing to let that happen again, even if that just means being in denial about it. He so desperately wants to believe Armand has his best interests at heart, and that there's no possible chance that he could ever have any malicious intentions, let alone follow through with them.

He's clinging onto hope.

But ultimately, that delusional hope ends with Claudia dead, when Louis should've just listened to her warnings.

Of course, Louis isn't entirely responsible. Armand already had Louis, he didn't need to worry about Claudia anymore. Louis literally even says so himself. He tells Armand he already has him. And I know that's not the only reason for Claudia's death, there's so much more to it than that, but it was apart of it.

I think either way, Claudia was probably going to end up dead, but more could've been done to prevent it. But the blatently obvious warning signs were ignored, along with Armand's desperate need to have Louis.

#i talked about this on the gc when i was reading it #but i need to let it out here too #i was too sad about it at the time (i still am lbr)#but like i said i'm ready to traumatise myself with it again now 🙃#i love louis/armand but goddamn #does this section fuck me up #louis de pointe du lac #armand #claudia #loumand #interview with the vampire #iwtv #vampire chronicles #tvc #vc meta #my vampire chronicles

68 notes · View notes