Polyamory Could Have Saved Them

Thinking about how, whether he is conscious of it or not, Armand has already partially broken the cycle of abuse he was subjected to, simply by not turning Daniel when he was young.

The precise nature of Armand's very existence is a permanent reminder of what he was forced to live through, regardless of if he even has the ability to process the trauma in the first place. If he so much as catches his reflection out of the corner of his eye, he is reminded of the coveting and commodification of his youth and how the most innocent time of his life was weaponised against him. He is frozen there. His face looks so innocent because it creates a satisfying contrast with his actions narratively, but its also because he was. He was innocent. And that was stolen from him by selfish, greedy people who pretended their actions were out of love.

By letting Daniel go (assuming Devil's Minion era happened in the seventies), Armand protected him from this. Daniel experienced his entire youth and what it was like to age out of it without the fear of no longer having value like Armand did, and then came adulthood. He has lived to an age that Arun never could have dreamt of, that Amadeo was forced to realise, at one point, he would never experience, not in the human sense at least. He'll never have lines on his face like Daniel does. His worry lines and smile lines will never deepen. He won't develop crow's feet from squinting in the sun, which turned its back on him long ago anyway. His hair will never grey. Marius made certain of that.

But Daniel got to have all of that. His beloved got to live his life, fuck it up over and over and make a million mistakes. He had the freedom and the agency to do it. Armand will not see it, but he gave Daniel exactly what was taken from him so long ago. He is not just evil. He does not destroy everything. He gave Daniel the real gift, and now they get to move onto the next stage of Daniel's life together (after a couple seasons of slow burn I would imagine).

Just as he sees the tragedy of his past on his own face, he sees the potential he has to be different on Daniel's. He has immortalised true beauty in Daniel. The beauty of having lived a long life.

kids used to bully her in school for being too pretty, they chased her around yelling “pretty face, pretty face”

i finished this pretty princess and added colour, it’s super different from my usual style but i’m very proud of it:)

Some things I think about a lot:

Bill saying if Arthur’s hair grows any longer he'll have to put a dress on him

Bill being tied up in that way when Arthur saves him from bounty hunters

Lenny getting praised by Bill

Karen saying Arthur is more kissable without the beard

One of the girls (I THINK IT'S SADIE) suggesting Arthur wear pig tails when his hair is long

Micah making himself crack up calling Arthur Santa Claus

Javier sitting there while Bill gushes about how scary he was that one time

All of Hosea and Dutch's camp interactions

Abigail telling Molly that she understands ("Unfortunately, I do")

John rejecting Jack wanting to play, and in chp 6 actively playing with him

Pearson's interaction with Mary-Beth

Tilly and Mary-Beth's friendship

Trelawny

When Dutch and Grimshaw dance

Karen "I'll scratch your eyes out before my coffee" Jones and Charles just accepting that

Uncle

literally wake up some nights in a cold sweat thinking about this

Disco cowboys 🐎

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saw a post (i don't know who op is sorry!!) about how armand calls daniel a black hole while being the most black hole-coded character in existence and i can’t stop thinking about it because YES. everyone latches onto the innuendo of “not much more to you than a hole” (and sure, it’s iconic i love some devils minion), but armand being a literal black hole metaphor across the vampire chronicles is so intense and weirdly consistent that it stops being subtle and starts feeling like a cosmic joke

lestat in tvl straight up talks about armand pulling him into his orbit. like, not metaphorically—he literally describes being caught in armand’s gravitational pull, like he’s circling something ancient and destructive and beautiful and terrifying. he feels like armand wants to consume him, strip him down to nothing. that's not just magnetic energy. that's black hole behavior

then in iwtv, louis tells armand (in the most devastating breakup scene ever) that being with him drained all the life out of him. that he was interesting because he was different, but armand pulled him in and now he’s empty too. literally tells him he made him just like him. that’s the event horizon! you cross the threshold and there’s no going back!

qotd really hammers it home—daniel talks about how armand has this bizarre magnetic pull that draws people in. it’s not even intentional. he just exists and people fall into him. and by being with him, daniel starts getting drained too. again. same cycle. same gravity well. armand doesn’t even mean to destroy people—he just does, because that’s what he is

and the creepiest part is how often older men project their obsession onto him. “i don’t know what it is about you, armand, you’re just so... captivating.” like okay. maybe take a moment and examine your own weird fixation before blaming the literal 17-year-old-looking vampire. but no. it’s always framed like armand has some unnatural power when really they’re just falling into their own desire and blaming the gravity on him

oh and let’s talk about how he hunts. armand doesn’t chase. he doesn’t go looking. he just hangs out in public being beautiful and unreadable and lets people come to him. and they always do. they throw themselves at him. it’s terrifying when you realize he doesn’t need to do anything except exist and wait for people to offer themselves up

so yeah. the line is a banger. it’s brutal. it’s layered. but it’s also projection in real time. armand isn’t talking about a black hole—he is the black hole. he pulls people in, drains them dry, and leaves them hollow. the vampire chronicles don’t even try to be subtle about it. and i love that for him. horrifying little cosmic void of a man

listen I will rag on AMC all the live long day but i will also thank them for giving us horny eric bogosian and The Most Beautiful Man in the World assad zaman and they're gonna kiss and AMC made that happen so

"I've never made one" -> The one.

prnt.

So zaum is releasing: a disco elysium remake for phones with a completely different art direction, that everyone already makes fun of

What zaum cancelled: a solid spin-off elysium game with new mechanics and an interesting premise, something with the same vibe that made people love disco in the first place

What. Wh. Who makes these dumbass business decisions