hrim:
glamourofthegods asked:(Hi! I saw your VC sketches, and I was wondering if you could do one of Bianca, Marius, and Armand? š Thank you!)
Well here it is, Bianca, Marius and Armand :>Ā
Tag Archives: TVA
So a thought just crossed my mine. Why did Armand choose to also kill Madeleine when Louis clearly turned her into a vampire so Claudia could leave with her and so Louis could be with Armand? Doesn’t really make any sense, doesn’t it? If Armand didn’t kill Madeleine he would have gotten what he wanted which was Louis, right? So what was the point of killing Madeleine?
Poor Madeleine! Did not deserve to die like that ;A; Unfortunately, Iād say she was condemned to die by proxy, being so attached to Claudia.
I donāt think Madeleineās death was totally under Armandās control. He was not really the leader of the TdV (see more quotes on that below the cut); in TVA Armand says:Ā āFor the record, [Claudia] was slain by my Coven of mad demon actors and actresses,ā¦ it became all too clear to too many that she had tried toĀ murder her principal Maker, The Vampire Lestat. It was a crime punishable by death,Ā the murdering of oneās creator or the attempt at itā
^āslain by my Covenā but not that he ordered them to do it. Just that he didnāt stop it from happening.
This is an #unreliable narrator situation again, as there are at least three different accounts of the trial that was held under TdV (see more below the cut)(four if you include the above statement from TVA). In all instances, the important part of the ātrialā was that Claudia was the one who had to be convicted and sentenced to death. Louis and Madeleine were secondary concerns.Ā
There was no explanation for why Madeleine was also condemned to death, I would suggest that Santiago (and/or Armand) wanted to kill Madeleine bc she was mad (the extent of which we donāt really know)Ā and/or they didnāt really know what else to do with her. Santiago probably wanted to do it bc itās thrilling to kill another vampire, as Armand pointed out in book!IWTV: ā`You see,ā he said, `killing other vampires is very exciting; that is why it is forbidden under penalty of death.ā
- Movie!IWTV – Armand is not part of theĀ ātrial,ā we see him close the door against the whole scene, and he waits until later to free Louis from his (upside-down!!!Ā SO MEAN) imprisonment in the walled-in coffin oā doom. So one would guess that Armand at least negotiated w/ Santiago to have Louisā life to be spared in this way.
- Book!IWTV – Armand was not present at theĀ ātrial.ā Santiago seemed to be the one running that show.Ā
Again, one would guess that Armand at least negotiated w/ Santiago beforehand.
- TVL – Armand was present at theĀ ātrialā and seemed to be the one running that show, and Madeleine is not even mentioned.
In movie!IWTV, we see Armand closing the door on the screams of the condemned, and the explanation as to why he didnāt come out to help when Louis called for him? He had told Louis that he wasnāt really the leader of this coven,Ā āBut if there were a leader, I would be that one.āĀ
In book!IWTV, similarly:
ā `Are you the leader of this group?ā [Louis] asked him.
ā `Not in the way you mean leader,ā [Armand] answered. But if there were aĀ leader here, I would be that one.ā
Armand knows that to exert power, you have to defend it:
[Louis says:] ā `Stop them if you will, advise them that we donāt mean any harm.
Why canāt you do this? You say yourself weāre not your enemies, no
matter what weāve doneā¦ ā
ā I could hear him sigh, faintly. [Armand says:] `I have stopped them for the time
being,ā he said. `But I donāt want such power over them as would be
necessary to stop them entirely. Because if I exercise such power, then
I must protect it. I will make enemies. And I would have forever to
deal with my enemies when all I want here as a certain space, a certain
peace. Or not to be here at all. I accept the scepter of sorts theyāve
given me, but not to rule over them, only to keep them at a distance.āĀ
^Armand, IWTV
Do you think Marius was jelous when Armand was hooking up with that english lord? Because I think he was, which is curious because he didn’t have a problem with him fooling around with the half of Venice
Marius is one of our more Problematicā¢
characters in canon, so take every discussion about him and his treatment of Armand/Amadeo with a huge truckload of salt and patience, bc there are some strong opinions out there.
Marius knew about Armand (known then as āAmadeoā) and Lord Harlech. He might have been jealous, but didnāt say so in TVA, only that he was worried for Amadeoās safety:
āHeĀ has quite the reputation, your English lord, slamming down his knife on the board inĀ any tavern he chooses. Do you have to consort with common murderers? You have aĀ nonpareil here when it comes to those who take life.ā
@auburnandamberangel, @sheepskeleton,Ā @amadeo-child-of-the-renaissance,Ā @faceofabotticelliangel, @annabellioncourt,Ā @vraik, andĀ @anton-mordrid would all probably have better answers for thisā¦ anyone is invited to reblog/comment and add their thoughts.
The main difference I see is that Marius gave Amadeo the autonomy and independence to make his own choices in this regard, and Amadeo was more rebelling against Marius in his fling w/ Lord Harlech than furthering his sexcapades education. It turned out that LH was bonkers,Ā got all weird and overly possessive and wanted to kidnap Amadeoā¦ it was a bad breakup.
[X, @cloudsinvenice said: Iām thinking Armand when he fights Lord Harlech, personally.]
Thereās some debate about why Marius sent Amadeo around for all those sexual escapades and I always read it as part of Mariusā full-rounded education deal that he wanted Amadeo to have; to have experienced all the good things in life that can be humanly experienced, and to show him that physical intimacy doesnāt have to be the horrible experience it was when Amadeo was kept in the brothels. Not necessarily the best cure for a sexually abused child/teenager but Marius was probably thinking of it asĀ exposure therapy:
Exposure therapy is a technique in behavior therapy used to treat anxiety disorders. It involves the exposure of the patient to the feared object or context without any danger, in order to overcome their anxiety and/or distress. Procedurally it is similar to the fear extinction paradigm in rodent work.Ā
THIS IS THE BEST
my beloved sister made this ā¤
#is this not what happened #i mean basically
The passage you copied under the fanart.. wow. Later books always make me forget how terrifying Armand was in TVL.
Yes, Armand really can be terrifying. Why do you think Lestatās so wary around him? This happens in later canon to remind you, tho:
āI had the heart and held it as Iād seen Pandora hold it. I drank from it. Oh, it had plenty of blood. This was magnificent. I sucked it to pulp and then let it fallā Ā Ā – TVA, Armand healing after going into the sun
Don’t you think that Armand is basically the archetype of the “twink” (aka attractive, boyish-looking, young gay man. The stereotypical twink is 18-22, slender with little or no body hair)? He himself admits it in TVA “Everyone would ravage a guilty cunning child! Everyone would have a laughing boy who knows his way around the block […] but young boys? They’re not like men, are they?” It must suck to be entombed into a twink body for eternity. I’m sure he gets plenty of offers for sex.
I can’t agree with you,Ā bc I’m not sure if you’re being silly,Ā in more of aĀ Tumblrland Hyperboleā¢ way, but I’mĀ feeling like defending him a little.
In general I don’t like to categorize characters as one thing, they’re multi-dimensional, and they evolve and change through canon, despite their physical appearances staying the same.
[textmemeĀ by armandromanus, who deactivated so I canāt link to it] ^This is really perfect for this conversation, bc you can tell by the expression @armandromanus choseĀ in that pic that Armand does know that others often perceive him purely based on his looks, and how very wrong they are to do so.
Itās kind of sad to see such a rich and layered character so often reduced to a sex object. Thereās a lot more to him than that. He struggles with the concept of intimacy bc itās not just about sex.
I donāt think Armand thinks of himself as just some sextoy regardless of how many ppl offer him sex even now; heās actually very selective about those heĀ allows toĀ get close to him physically and emotionally, when he has the independence to choose.
There are a number of times in Armandās life in which he has beenĀ ravaged, totally against his will, just because of how he looks or acts.
Any Armand RPers are invited and welcome to add onto this.
A few thoughts on the quote you selected, hit the jump.
You might also be misreading that quote, it doesnāt seem like heās admitting that he deserves to be treated like a sex object, more that he seems to be calling ppl out on their assumptions about young boys deserving to be treated like sex objects, and not requiring as much respect as an adult. He takes issue with the fact that since someone calls him āa guilty cunning child,ā he deserves to be āravagedā.Ā
āEveryone would have a laughing boy who knows his way around the block [ā¦]ā
^ThisĀ sounds more like heās saying, āPeople want a loverĀ whoās easy to please and/or willĀ happily serve skilled sexā¦ā Basically, a prostitute, for free.
ābut young boys? Theyāre not like men, are they?ā
^This sounds more like he means, āyoung boys donāt need to be treated with the same respect you would treat an adult.ā
-exploring the darkness, 1/?-
Did that scene ever happen? Was that another one of Armandās lies? It doesnāt matter. I wanted to explore the classical motive of David with Goliathās head, here inevitably twisted, losing its victorious aspect, leaving only the figure of a young boy, holding a severed head.Ā
I hope to God that this story was just something that Armand made up; somehow trying to intimidate the others, displaying the cruelty he could be capable of. This whole section though had me enthralled, the middle section of TVA was some of Riceās best writing in my opinion, and the image of thisāthe Botticelli cherub, dressed in dusty and outdated but once opulent 18th century clothing, beneath the Paris streets, the stench of rot, old graves, and the filth of the city permeating through the earth, in a dark room lit by greasy tapers of tallow candles, hacking apart the body of this thing, this abomination as he sees her,Ā this obstacle to his newest fascination, that of Louis, and he will demolish her, just as the hands were removed from the violinist in a mad attempt to reach Lestat again, this devil with an angelās face capable of Luciferās crueltyāits a world of obscenity for its beauty, sublime in its composition of a clash of ideals, and shows like two unlikely titans of evil within the series as the most innocent in the face.
As always, perfectly captured by the wonderful @sheepskeleton
āI tried to grant her fondest wish, that she should have the body of a woman,
a fit shape for the tragic dimension of her soul.
ā¦Enough. I wonāt relive it.
I will not.
I never loved her. I didnāt know how.ā
– The Vampire Armand
reblogged your post and added:
I donāt recall any specific fic where Marius was controlling or abusive though once TVA came out people began to think of him in less of a positive light partly because of Ā Armandās specific reveals about him and also because he went against his own advice regarding making a vampire of a child (Armand was 17 which was perhaps why he admonished Lestat against such an action, but then how to explain Benji? Benji was made strong, to be sure, because, well, Mariusābut he was still very young and Sybele was more than a little addled, so turning her was risky. It was around that time where people began writing more fic examining his darker side.
^Yes definitely, agreed with all of the above.
Re: Benji and Sybelle, yeah, that was truly… there has to be a better word for GIANT HYPOCRITE.
Itās not explicitly stated in canon (from my quick skim of TVA), so I donāt know if this is just my headcanon, but in general, having humanĀ āpetsā (or whatever you want to call humans that are aware their loved one is a vampire and still continue to live or hang out w/ them regardless) is a huge liability for a vampire.Ā
TVA spoiler ahead altho its already been spoiled to some extent? but whatever Iām still tryna be respectful:
Marius might have turned them so that they wouldnāt be vulnerable to attacks, in addition to the reasons he gave Armand for turning them.
i’m reading the vampire armand and oh my god i just read what armand did to claudia and i’m shocked and horrified and oh my god please help me process this
This should help a bit:
[The most important thing, according toĀ @vampiredevelopment]
Shocked and horrified would be the appropriate reactions to that scene IF we believe him about that. VC is all about unreliable narrators. Armand is telling his story to David here, trying to intimidate him. Did Armand really do it? We donāt know. If he did, could Louis really forgive him? EVER?Ā
ā¦ or, was Armand really trying to help her, as he claimed?Ā āI tried to grant her fondest wish, that she should have the body of a woman, a fit shape for the tragic dimension of her soul.ā -The Vampire Armand.Ā
Who knows?! #Your headcanon may vary.
In related info, I have only ever seen one fanart of this sceneā¦ beware, once seen cannot be unseen, but I love it bc it truly captures the moment:
[VC Surgery byĀ bsse2004]
Vampire Chronicles facecast (2/?)
Miles McMillan as Louis de Pointe du Lac
āLouis de Pointe du Lacā¦ slender, slightly less tall than Lestat, his maker, black of hair, gaunt and white of skin, with amazingly long and delicate fingers, and feet that donāt make a sound. Louis, whose green eyes are soulful, the very mirror of patient misery, soft-voiced, very human, weak, having lived only two hundred years, unable to read minds or levitate, or to spellbind others except inadvertently, which can be hilarious, an immortal with whom mortals fall in loveā
I-want-my-IWTV 