ooc. Well, headcanons may vary of course, but the way I read the character and the relationship he had with Armand… Yes, Santino loved him. And I will even say that he loved him very deeply. The love was likely not a very considerate kind but it was real.
I hinge this a) on Santino actively assuring Marius that he did love Armand (in TVA) and b) Santino’s exhibiting very fatherly and sympathetic behavior towards Armand.
Santino is depicted as a very honest and very caring character. His honesty is attested by Marius (B&G) and Santino himself claims to hate evil and to suffer from the way he has to live in the cult. Further: He actually cries when he visits Armand in his cell because the torture was so cruel and he couldn’t stand it (TVA). He is evidently very taken with Armand and compliments him even when there is nothing to gain from it. (also TVA) Because of all of this I say he loved him like a son, or else a protégé.
What he feels for him nowadays is more difficult, I think.
OOC: I totally hear what you’re saying but Santino’s fucked up cruelty in the past done unto Marius, Palazzo Boys and Armand were so horrific, I just have a hard time picturing how you describe him. How can I improve my perspective of Santino?
ooc. I genuinely can’t help you there. If you don’t want to view him in a sympathetic light then nothing I say will change that. Mind you, I started out hating him, too. It took me a while to warm up to him. (cut for length)
This is really good !! I’m always a slut for nuanced understandings of complex characters 😍
^YES! I really enjoyed this response from @desanctii.
Perspective and context can allow us to view a character in a sympathetic light, but if you don’t want to do so, that’s fine, too. Both approaches are equal, we all have our own interpretations of canon.
I’m not sure if you’re referring to Antonio!Armand specifically but u probably are, and I know, I know… he is the fandom’s punching bag, I KNOW.
But consider perusing my #defending Antonio tag, where you will find my theories as to why they cast smne who isn’t remotely trying to be physically similar to the character described in the book (except for his wardrobe maybe?). His acting was still very true to the character so give him some credit for that. Very seductive of Louis. But yeah, Denis (played by
Louis Xavier Lewis-Smith) looks more like Armand should have looked:
The biggest reason for Antonio!Armand being that I think AR merged Santino and Armand for that movie bc of reasons. So treat him like Santino and that should lessen the pain *hugs*
If they’re causing a pointless mind-fuck, I think it’s unintentional. They leak these pics and talk about the project now and then bc we’re all so frickin’ thirsty for it! I doubt they’re aiming to provoke any negativity towards an enormous and complex project that’s in its fetal stages.
[I’m not sure if you saw my thoughts on this very issue recently, if so, sorry to repeat myself, but this is what I wrote before re: the title, and I added a little extra]
First though, it’s possible that Josh Boone & Co. don’t want people to confuse this project with the musical!TVL. And IWTV is the more recognizable title to sell it on. They intend to make a trilogy and spinoff series, and in order to do that, they need to at least include some of the first book.
Just bc the cover of the script had “Interview with the Vampire” as the title for this project, that doesn’t mean he’s redoing that movie exactly.
I think we’ll be getting the Interview with the Vampire Lestat, this time around. What a twist!
Boone has to incorporate at least some of Louis’ story, and then get the ending of it back on canon track, bc movie!IWTV ended w/ Lestat and Daniel driving off into the sunrise*. Lestat was basically giving Daniel the choice to join him.
Keep an eye on my #VC News tag, that’s where I keep updates on this.
*If that ship (Lestat/Daniel) were to sail, then alot of canon after that would have to be reworked.
Also, as a side note, I’ve been seeing a lot of ppl commenting on these posts about the original movie!IWTV casting for Armand, hopeful that he’ll be more accurate to canon in this new installment.
I initially felt the same way about movie!IWTV’s Banderas!Armand, that he was so very wrong. But then I considered it further and came up w/ a lot of reasons (#Defending Antonio) to justify that casting, the biggest one being that I think AR merged Santino and Armand for that movie, for a number of reasons, to make the film more palatable to mainstream audiences in the 90’s. Keep in mind that this was a time when even discussing the AIDS crisis was a very controversial topic, and portraying “taboo” things like homosexuality had to be done carefully. Topics like that still require special handling, but they’re at least more prevalent in the media 20 yrs later.
Back to Banderas!Armand (or rather, Banderas!Santino) Another major reason might have been that if they had a teenage redhead seduce Louis, it could make Louis come across as a pedophile. Another taboo topic and even less acceptable to portray in the 90’s. In the book, Louis is seduced into leaving his beloved, who looked like a child, for another underage-looking character, despite his actual age being over 90 yrs old, and these two “love-interests” actual ages being around 65 and 400 yrs old, respectively. Claudia is his daughter in a way, and more than that, in a way… one instance was sort of passable but a second relationship like that in one film (the 100 yr sail of the Louis/Armand ship) might just be too much for mainstream audiences outside the fandom.
Hopefully, in the new movie, Boone & Co. can find a way to keep Armand canon-accurate, and not need to merge him w/ another character for mainstream audience acceptance.
So really, in movie!IWTV, it’s Santino you’re seeing there, with Armand’s name and job title ;]
This gifset is really gr9 but tumblr won’t let me align them like this so YOU GET A STILL ;A;
I had a few earlier posts where I suggest him for Nicolas or Louis, but Santino actually is a much better choice. Peter Steele could have been an amazing coven master.