Absolutely everything had been typical up to the point of Louis arriving at the predetermined rendezvous point, but well bred nerves danced about his shoulders anyway in the familiar icy electricity that had kept him alive and relatively unharmed during every paid tryst he’d attempted. These were the same nerves that saved ancestors walking down muddy colonial streets on a dark night. The same that shivered in the woods when the fire was in sight but the warmth too far away. Well bred nerves.
But now they had been short circuited, as the client who greeted him at the suite looked like nothing to fear at all. Not at first. Doors opened on beguilingly large eyes, a small face he had to tilt his chin down to look at, and someone who looked decided unlike any client he’d had before. At once he leaned back and doubled checked the number but-
“You’re in the right place, come in.”
Louis didn’t lean forward and instead turned his head away, looking down the hall and then side ways at the young man in the door before glancing past him and into the suite for any sign of a set up.
“Louis, come in.”
The man at the door grabbed him by the wrist and when their gazes met those big brown eyes went wide, like he’d only just caught sight of him. Usually Louis would wrench his hand away if grabbed like that before any ground rules had been stated, but those nerves of his were still dazed and he failed to do anything except stand and stare.
“There we are, come in it won’t take long.” The young man pulled him through the door into the hotel suite and nothing was out of place except for the duvet and a game system thrown atop the mussed sheets. A pizza box was open and picked over, MarioKart’s title screen trilled from the television, outside the window he could see the part of the Venetian across the street, glittering in the night as Las Vegas hotels were wont to do. Louis was stunned still and began quickly wondering just what all he was going to get busted for in this very obvious sting.
The young man let him go and then stood back, gesturing at himself. He was dressed nicely, black suit, as if he really were going out and needing a companion for the evening as his messages had stated. However, his tie was undone and he gestured at this. “Tie this for me, would you?”
Louis obligaged and the entire time he was looking between his shaking fingers and the unfettered stare of the young, very young, man who was watching him work with perfect concentration. When tied up properly he tucked the tie into his vest and then buttoned the second button on his three button suit. He turned and looked into the mirror in the suite’s foyer.
“Excellent, thank you.” He fished into his pants pocket and dropped a wad of 20’s into Louis’ hand without looking back from the mirror. “You’re dismissed.” Louis wasn’t sure what to make of anything and his brow knit in the middle with a severe case of the elevens.
The man, ‘Armand’ if Louis went off the names he signed his messages with, pursed his lips and looked at his call boy’s reflection in the mirror.
“Unless you still want to join me, and I’m not going to be offended if you do or don’t. I’m bringing along a stronger magnet this time,” he began with incoherent order and further confusing Louis. “Which should make collecting coins in the Bellagio fountain that much easier. An assistant to help me collect samples without drawing attention will be useful. You can distract as I extract.”
What would someone with wads of twenty dollar bills want with a couple of coins flicked into a fountain? Much less in a three piece suit and a tie he couldn’t even tie himself.
As Louis would discover with Armand on their many, many trips out, there was a lot of hypocrisy. Namely, that he paid for the attention of a man who found him charming enough to be around for free.
Thanks for the praise on the recent Louis posts (links under the cut)! #we appreciate and love Louis in this house ❤
I think ppl forget that Louis is just as passionate and vengeful as Lestat, it’s just that he isn’t as vocal or showy about it. He’s more intimate and intense.
yeah he’s pretty but how can one forget him murdering a theatre full of ppl or that unlike most of our vampire friends hes the one that kills indiscriminately.
IKR? It took planning to kill a theatre full of older vampires who had honed their vampiry gifts. Louis does get pushed around, but he learns from it, and he comes back with a strategy. Lestat’s more of an impulse fighter.
And yes, Louis kills indiscriminately, which is scarier bc there’s nothing you can do to avoid it other than to not cross his path. At least you know you’re safe form Marius or Lestat as long as you’re not a certifiable Evildoer™
;D
In case anyone else missed them and you want to indulge in some Louis praise/discussion:
Hey anon! I’m sorry that this took so long, but I’m very passionate about my boy Daniel
Favorite thing about them: Daniel is the most real out of the entire cast of characters in the series, to me. He is the one with the most real thoughts, the most real concerns, the most real emotions, and the most real motivations. It makes him the most down-to-earth being out of the entire coven, yes, even with his flaws. The other vampires have motivations to either suppress internal conflicts (David, Gabrielle, Louis), or to live up to expectations of who they think they should be (Armand, Marius, LESTAT especially). Daniel, at his core, is honest, for better or for worse, and that makes him very compelling in a literary series where both of the central narrators have their authenticity questioned by fans.
Least favorite thing about them: More like, my least favorite thing Anne did to him which was to complete push the easily most interesting character and the most narratively USEFUL character to the side. Daniel, not Louis or Lestat, is the audience’s window to the vampire world. He’s the one that is eased into his transition and our experience of that transition is open for our comprehension needs (which also is the reason why his “insanity” later makes NO sense). David cannot be argued the same as he is not as invested in the vampire world as Daniel was, and his transition was sudden and “unwanted.” It is also because of Daniel’s honesty that we can trust his vision into this world the most. And none of this was utilized.
“there is a very black and white viewpoint on him, especially when it comes to his mental illness, his addictive habits, and his queerness. i don’t think daniel leans feminine or masculine in his queer expression. i don’t think the fans have to 100% sympathize with daniel’s substance addiction, and refuse to condemn it or look at it objectively, in order to have compassion for him as a character and for his struggles that lead to said addiction. i don’t think daniel needs to be painted so tragically–he has a degree of ownership in his decisions and recognizes and even loves the weight of them, but these decisions should be considered open-mindedly by us as well. daniel is not evil, but daniel loves the dark, and we should not forget this.“
Hey! Thanks for coming back! I was glad to see the commentary that post and the other recent Louis posts (links under the cut) got, too. #We appreciate and love our lovely-yet-deadly angel Louis in this house ❤
As a character he’s so interesting; he has insecurities, but used his “assets” to his advantage. He isn’t afraid to be tactful and curb stomp anyone and that’s just another reason why I love him omg
^AGREED, well-put, anon! He’s flawed, but also inspiring and motivational.
(Did you mean “tactical” rather than “tactful” ? He’s both ^______^ )
In case anyone else missed them and you want to indulge in some Louis praise/discussion:
Yes, I love his big cozy sweater + unkempt look aesthetic, too. Louis is a professional couch potato ;D
I love how soulful and wise and beautiful and plain human Louis is.
Yes definitely! He takes immense pleasure in simple things. Still uses oil lamps because the flame is so much friendlier than an electric lamp 😉
It’s stupid, but if I got to meet him I think we’d get along. I’d love to bring him old books of poetry and candles, surprise him with a fountain pen and parchment, and spend warm New Orleans nights at the Rue Royale flat with him. I just really really love Louis so much ugh jeez
What you suggested is absolutely NOT STUPID, I do think you’d get along well with him, it sounds like a perfect evening with a close friend ❤ More power to you, anon!
//Bruh, I love all the Louis positive content on this blog lately! Also to anon- if you ever wanna talk to Louis, shoot me an ask 🙂
A wild Louis appears! Thanks for offering, @sangcreole ❤
Anon, some RPers like this one are open to interaction as the characters you love, you can be on anon or not, go play with them ^_____^
(Other Louis muses are invited to reblog/comment and add themselves to this post, btw)
Yes, I love his big cozy sweater + unkempt look aesthetic, too. Louis is a professional couch potato ;D
I love how soulful and wise and beautiful and plain human Louis is.
Yes definitely! He takes immense pleasure in simple things. Still uses oil lamps because the flame is so much friendlier than an electric lamp 😉
It’s stupid, but if I got to meet him I think we’d get along. I’d love to bring him old books of poetry and candles, surprise him with a fountain pen and parchment, and spend warm New Orleans nights at the Rue Royale flat with him. I just really really love Louis so much ugh jeez
What you suggested is absolutely NOT STUPID, I do think you’d get along well with him, it sounds like a perfect evening with a close friend ❤ More power to you, anon!
Idk what you’re intending to do with these screencaps, here ya go, use them tactfully! And link me when you make your thing 😉
These screencaps are almost funny enough w/o any dialogue at all! Reminds me of a meme I did FOUR YEARS AGO (omg I have been on here awhile??) so I’ll rebagel it for you, Anon.
^I had to flip Dan horizontal so he’d have better eye contact w/ Louis, but if this looks ‘off’ to you, that’s probly why. Anon, you might prefer to do the google and grab a pic of River Phoenix looking disgusted from My Own Private Idaho or whatev bc he was originally going to be Daniel.
[It’s a great reminder of canon characterization as too often fanon has casted him as a beautiful, frail flower destined and carried by Lestat’s will.] *nods* Yep.
I think we can blame movie!IWTV for some of that fanon, bc he’s shown at his weakest in that movie, when he was struggling emotionally about vampiring, and the film also emphasized his appeal to other characters (like the scenes where Santiago is stroking his hair while deciding his punishment, and when Lestat literally sweeps him off his feet with the first bite), and the film took a number of important BAMF-moments/lines from him (like the one I mentioned in that post). Consequently, there are fans who base their headcanon of him mainly on the movie interpretation, even after they’ve read the book(s), since it left such a strong impression for them.
[I love that he knows he’s beautiful and he lowkey manipulates the fuck out of people and that he isn’t a delicate pretty face, like you said, he can still cut a bitch! He’s equally if not alot more dangerous than the rest.]
^YEP. In his speech to Madeleine about her wanting to be a vampire, he acknowledges “Do you find us beautiful? Magical?” He knows how he appears to mortals and other vampires. He’s calling her out on her request as being flimsy and uneducated, that she is completely out of her depth and has no idea what she’s really asking for, it’s not just a makeover!
We use the word “manipulative” on tumblr as having a negative connotation, and I wouldn’t say that Louis manipulates for nefarious purposes. I think he’s tactical. He wants to keep the peace in this scene:
“I wish you would play the music,’ I said softly, unobtrusively, but as persuasively as possible. Sometimes this worked with Lestat. If I said something just right he found himself doing what I’d said. And now he did just that: with a little snarl, as if to say, `You fool,’ he began playing the music.” (IWTV)
I don’t think Louis finds himself particularly attractive, I think when he calls himself handsome in IWTV, it’s his acknowledgement that others find him attractive; it still baffles him that they do. He absolutely recognizes it as a tactical advantage, he just doesn’t explicitly preen about it like Lestat does. No need 😉
Hit the jump for a little more re: the “frail flower” trope, under a cut for respect to the anon bc I this anon isn’t fond of it.
As you mentioned, you may not be fond of it, and that is absolutely fine! It’s not for everyone. I know I can’t read those trashy romance novels at the supermarket. They’re unappealing to me. But I get that they have an audience, bc they’re still there, still selling!
With Louis, other than all those loving descriptions of him from other characters, I think it’s worth noting that there are truly very few canon moments wherein he’s a *~a beautiful, frail flower destined and carried by Lestat’s (or whoever else’s) will,~* yes, it’s that damsel-in-distress, bodice-ripper kind of trope. Is it as effective if he’s always pursued and never caught? I think some readers, like myself, need a bite of carrot now and then. It’s a subjective thing. We should be glad AR hasn’t turned him into the smut vehicle so many other characters became *sigh*
It’s a fantasy to be carried off by some angelic stranger, it’s been around since ppl have told stories. We can identify with Louis, or we can identify with Lestat, both sides of the fantasy is appealing in its own way. In shipping them, you get to have both. So I understand the appeal, but again, it’s not necessarily for everyone. Not everyone likes shipping, period, and that’s absolutely fine, too!
I-want-my-IWTV 