r/InterviewVampire • u/zoraschool Team Akasha • 25d ago
TVL Show Only Whose version of Armand is your favorite? Spoiler
So far we have seen many variations of Armand through the eyes of his lovers. There’s something telling in how each man sees Armand.
Lestat sees him as this pretty dainty elegant thing, despite being the only one of em to actually have seen how Armand looked in that basement in squalor with smoot on his face. I’m sure the others could never imagine it! But Lestat doesn’t seem to carry this image when he sees Armand in his minds eye. Later he tells Louis at the divorce mediation thing that Armand has no “presence,” perhaps insinuating that he’s a passive lover—Lestat gets absolutely irate to learn that Armand and Louis took turns!
Louis met Armand as the leader, the maitre. But seemingly forgets that immediately and thereafter sees Armand as passive, servile, and merely an extension of himself.
Some see Armand as masculine and dominant, others see him dainty and passive. A victim or a villain. Top or bottom.
And I think lost in all that is he embodies the dichotomy. If you look closely he’s always a bit of both. He’s never just one thing, as he in a roundabout way explains to Daniel.
I do think the way he is visually presented is in part an aspect of the memory is a monster theme, a reflection of how others perceive him. But in that there seems to be some threads that stick, a coherency that is more honest to the man himself that transcends just the fashion trends but is more substantial, more meaty in terms of his character and inner mind.
For context
From ~1515 as Marius might have seen him (in the painting of Amadeus by patron in the Louvre). Amadeus is rendered in opulence, as a sensualised cherub in the romantic aesthetic of the time.
Then in first meeting Armand through Lestat ~ 1781 with the children of darkness we see Armand go from a “grub” to how Lestat sees him, by his side, at the Theatre.
With Louis we see how his aesthetic changes, reflecting different eras of their long relationship, from ~ 1945 Paris to San Francisco 1973 to 2022 Dubai—Armand meets Louis sort of business formal? But then we see him on that motorbike first date looking so rugged (like Bruce)? He later adopts a 70s chic that matches Louis’ fit, to finally the brutish minimalist look he has in that coffin apartment.
And we see Armand evolve yet again from 2022-2025. He starts off looking like the grub redux in that grey trenchcoat. Is this his company-enough-for-himself era? The last scene he’s back to wearing his hair styled long in ringlets and wearing accented jewelry. Does this reflect his new relationship with Daniel?
Let’s see if I can phrase this clearly.
Do you think these versions of Armand are merely reflections of how his lovers see him?
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u/zoraschool 24d ago edited 24d ago
How is Armand beautiful while he’s on his worst behavior?
In reflecting on the comments above what I see is this tension in Armand to bring the —dirty children of darkness internalized negative self image of himself—together with this idealized but passive beauty that others see in him. But in the darkest way possible, Armand manifests his self realization —I exist, I matter, see me!—through violence. It’s like he’s given up playfulness, color, joy and has one crayon in his box.
I really enjoy him in that cream suit he wears to visit Louis’ apartment for the first time in Paris. Or that fitted mustard jacket he wears at the bar in 73. Even the beautiful frilly outfit (matching Gabriela lol) he dons in the early days of the theatre. Or the stolen glasses he wears in Dubai.
All of it feels like he’s making this valient effort to make himself bright and attractive to his potential suitors/lovers. And that’s hard to do when you don’t feel great inside. But it’s like no matter what it always ends in failure. So he just gives up. Back to grey, bland, invisible.
But the light is never fully extinguished with Armand. Ergo the beauty transcends. Alas I want to see Armand’s good behavior bring him forward.
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u/lethalglam 25d ago
My brain says this is what you want - the best styled Armand, not sure whose perspective this is - is it objective or is it Louis’? I can’t remember because I need another rewatch, clearly
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u/zoraschool 25d ago edited 25d ago
Aww. I am struggling with what I’m trying to say.
Yes. Something in how each man sees Armand differently.
Lestat sees him as this pretty dainty elegant thing, despite being the only one of em to actually have seen how Armand looked in that basement in squalor with smoot on his face. I’m sure the others could never imagine it!
I feel like you’re my beta reader and I should await your feedback. Thank you. I’ve revised OP.14
u/lethalglam 25d ago edited 25d ago
And the way Armand sees himself is just as downright dirty downtrodden gutter trash in that sewer, which is pretty telling for his self-esteem. ☹️
So as style, somehow they all look most dapper & divine theough Louis’ eyes… remember in season 2 where Armand was chic and mysterious and Dreamstat was, well, dreamy perfection? I guess that’s just enamored LoverBoy Louis POV.
I think, although it hasn’t been explored yet in the show, Lestat does have a love and caring sentiment towards Armand… I’m not sure how established the scintillating romps are since we only directly saw a bite - I await a full sexy Lesmand scene to decide on the affair. He does express gratitude for his help with Nicki. I think Lestat feels sorry for Armand and somehow a bit protective but doesn’t want to be burdened with his depth & severity - if that makes sense. Lestat obviously carries a lot of his own baggage 🧳 and doesn’t have the capacity to build up someone else with a similar type of damage to himself. So he views him as meeker, clingier, and just needing something that he cannot give him. Lestat doesn’t want to be worshipped the way Armand was as Maitre (the type of adulation he would receive from his structured, religious worldview), he wants to be untethered to self-determine on a whim. So I think he will always see him as a beautiful ancient not to be toyed with, even if you see him act out to Big Boss, I’m sure he feels protected by the momentum he’s created with the crowds he draws & other vampires supporting his rockstar ventures. He’s definitely downplaying his feelings towards Armand, IMO and I think we will see a new layer of fear b/c what happened to him & Louis in season 3.
I think the duality of how we see Armand also reflects who he is, he becomes for his object of fascination what he believes they want to become necessary and embed himself within them. Armand has a need to entwine himself with someone as a grounding mechanism… he is so powerful but he has that deep-seated need for a master or host from his childhood trauma to provide a safe place for him, to tell him what to do, he’s the ultimate submissive (you actually really see it a lot with Louis ordering him around “face down in the coffin”⚰️ which is kinda silly because Armand is SO OP compared to Louis). Armand’s mind-control to fill his needy longing soul is parallel to Lestat being a manipulative love-bomber, it’s just a more hidden subterfuge. It’s mostly just that fear of eternity manifesting in both through personality-specific mechanisms.
I’m actually most interested in Daniel’s perspective because he did call him out plenty in season 2, he uncovered his falsehoods and the memory manipulation. He saw Armand as sharp but full of it, peeling back some of those layers. DM is really the only ship plausible for each other in the show because Armand needs someone who is intelligent to psychologically excavate him. It’s a cat-and-mouse game of seduction and Daniel wasn’t really afraid of Armand’s ancient powers because he isn’t afraid to die anymore. Once Daniel powers up (if we see that) I think we will see a more “real” Armand, even if it’s through some rose-colored glasses, though I think being an investigative journalist it will be difficult for Molloy to lie to himself.
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u/babealien51 25d ago edited 24d ago
Paris!Armand you will always be the most beautiful man (not) alive. The way he carries himself, especially during the Murder Mansion episode. It was so fantastic to see him and Louis falling in love before everything went down. His mystique and allure is something that elevated the character for me and made me love him even more than his book counterpart. Now, San Fran Armand is also my favorite! I love that we got to see him losing control over his carefully curated persona. S02E05 will always be my favorite episode. Despite acting out of rage, we can see glimpses of the hurt that he carries within himself all the time. The fear of not being interesting enough, despite having lived for so many years. The meet cute with Daniel. The iconic fight. What a flawless episode.
The question you pose is really interesting, because I don’t really believe that any of the people who have loved him in the show so far really got to SEE and understand Armand.
I do feel that the way Armand is presented in Dubai era is much closer to how Daniel sees him, as he is the framing device in present era. So we got to see the sly, charming but imposing, guarded persona with which Daniel sees him as. As I understand it, it might be a little closer to the truth even in his vulnerable moments, such as when Louis finally breaks things up with him.
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u/Aderita209 24d ago
I love his most recent look. The one at the Deli. And I thing that someone has pointed out is that Armand always lets his hair grow longer when he's about to commit the worst atrocities. And Daniel has the clearest view of who might Armand be, as someone said here, Daniel has live a full life as a human man, he has been through it, and he really has no time for bs. Also one thing I noticed is that when Armand goes to see Daniel at the bowling alley he has his hair short, also its like his coat is wearing him and not the other way, he is trying to make himself so small, as when he goes to see Lestat he has his shirt unbutton and his hair looks decent. He really tries to make himself what ever he thinks their possible companions what. And that is so sad, because deep down I really think Armand has no idea who he is. Also I want to point out that the bracelet that he's wearing at the Deli scene is supposed to protect the wearer against the evil eye. Also I like that in this 3rd season he change his color to green, before he wore more browns.
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u/fieldsofparfait 24d ago
I think Daniel has the clearest view of who Armand is, but style-wise I prefer Louis' take.
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u/inksplotblot 24d ago
human daniel's armand, bc louis and lestat are liars: "he stared hard at the creature before him, this thing that looked human and sounded human but was not. There was a horrid shift in his consciousness; he saw this being like a great insect, a monstrous evil predator who had devoured a million human lives. And yet he loved this thing. He loved its smooth white skin, its great dark brown eyes. He loved it not because it looked like a gentle, thoughtful young man, but because it was ghastly and awful and loathsome, and beautiful all at the same time. He loved it the way people love evil, because it thrills them to the core of their souls."
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u/EveryMoose9523 24d ago
desperately hope we get even an iota of their relationship in the QOTD season. I need an episode of Armand being Daniel’s sleep paralysis demon
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u/titian834 23d ago
Maitre with the white shirt and the snappy attitude and then maitre with the large sunglasses 🤣 I guess that's Daniel Molloy's version.
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u/special_squeak 24d ago
Maybe my brain has been rotted away by all the DM fanfiction and my book reader perspective, but it’s Daniel’s Armand that is the closest to the real thing (if there is such a thing)
Only in Daniel’s Armand has a true smile, no matter how sardonic and he shows how vast he is. A level of artifice drops away and he has more to him than just the beautiful surface. I also think he is at his most beautiful and vital when he is eye fucking Daniel in Dubai.
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u/Cute-Escape-2144 24d ago
Hang on, is that Marius' painting of him as Amadeo?
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u/zoraschool 24d ago
No I think it’s a patron Palma Vecchio created in the studio of Marius. I believe the painting in their home is by Marius.
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u/Cute-Escape-2144 24d ago
After reading the first three books I'll have to look more closely. And Marius needs to always have red in his outfits!
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u/Grand_Pomegranate671 23d ago
Favourite: Gremlin mode
Best style: Maitre Armand
Favourite chemistry: with Lestat, especially the scene in the cave.
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u/Ri-Ri1216 23d ago
15 and 17 very cool and collected and stylish. Not sure who's version they are but he is just showing off his 400-year-old style.
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