#...more Marius parallels? MAYBE

[tinderbox210]

My brother has come from the surface to challenge me for the throne.

Let us settle his claim in the ancient way.

By bloodshed do the gods make known their will!

#DC #aquaman #aquaman and the lost kingdom #arthur curry #orm marius #orm #my gif #the parallels and differences between Arthur and Orm and Atlan and Kordax and their relationship with each other are really great #i also love Orm's little twirls when he's fighting #his moves are a bit more elegant compared to Arthur’s imo #he moves a little bit like a dancer sometimes #or maybe i'm just biased

[gimme-a-man-after-midnight]

my royal roomie (part 2)

Fandom: Aquaman

Pairing: Orm Marius x Reader

part 1:

https://www.tumblr.com/gimme-a-man-after-midnight/693273500438429696/my-royal-roomie-pt-1?source=share

Summary: After a few days of living under your roof, Orm gets to know the little surface dweller he's been stuck with. With time, a stormy night, and a bottle of wine, the prince learns that he has more in common with you than he may think.

Word Count: 4,000+

Warnings: female reader, slow burn, light cursing, mentions of past emotional abuse, divorced parents!reader, dead parent, comic lore inaccuracies, floral inaccuracies??

Author's Note:

hi y'all! here's the full part 2 i've been working on for some time! thanks for the support on the last one and again, so sorry for the late continuation :/ i hope this story is to your liking! happy reading!

After the first one-on-one conversation you had in the living room, Orm didn't come out of the guest bedroom for days. You’d see flashes of platinum blonde out of the corner of your eye, just barely missing him by a few seconds whenever you’d be in the kitchen or outside of his door. You had made many offers through the red painted oak of his room to go grocery shopping together or take him on a tour of the town, but all of your efforts were met with a stern "No thank you." You had lost any hope you had of forming some kind of connection with the Atlantean for a while, cutting your losses by quietly resigning to a parallel existence. What you didn’t expect was the mutual understanding you two would come to on one fateful stormy Friday night, much like the one that brought him to your doorstep.

***

 Heavy traffic from the drive home, a full message inbox on your telephone, and the burnt attempt at roast chicken sitting on your oven rack had you nursing a glass bottle of wine by the living room window. Bad days were normal for anybody, but it didn’t make them easier to deal with on your own - the added stress of the stranger living in your space didn’t help either. You had been living a quiet life ever since you moved back to the sleepy town some years ago, taking up very little space and leaving minimal traces of yourself. Whether it was out of caution or cowardice, you weren’t sure yet. Either way, that silence had brought you comfort at a time where your thoughts were too loud, but now with another person occupying your space the quiet was becoming suffocating. 

Orm wasn’t by any means a bad roommate - he kept to himself, he didn’t make much noise, and he even managed to wash his dishes whenever he knew you weren’t in the kitchen - but he was a man.The last time you had lived with a man, the end of its course felt similar to how you two were living now, and maybe that’s why it was bothering you so much. Tip-toeing around the Atlantean made you feel uneasy in your own home, a situation you were all too familiar with. Typically at this time in the night you would be cooking up some plan to urge the man out of his guest room, but after the day you had, you didn’t have the heart to try. 

Once you took your final gulp of wine, wiping at the sides of your mouth with the back of your hand, you trudged away from the raging display outside of your window. The dishes could be a tomorrow problem, you thought to yourself as you were leaving your kitchen counter behind. You had only made it a few paces out of the living room before your body was overcome with chills, making you draw your blanket tighter around you. The draft through the house was unmistakable, confusing you thoroughly due to you always making sure the doors and windows were shut before bed. As you stepped deeper into the house, you realized the distinct breeze was coming from the direction of the guest bedroom. You had made it a point to allow Orm his space, but your brain was stirring with reasons for what he could possibly be doing in there  - most of them unsavory. 

With a deep breath and a tight fist holding your blanket, you gently rapped at the door. 

“Hey, Orm?”

No response. You knock again.

“I don’t mean to bother, but I’m feeling a bit of a breeze through the house and I can tell it’s coming from here, so I just want to see if everything is alri-”

The door suddenly opened a crack, revealing half of Orm’s face which was already more than you had seen in days. 

“If you don’t mean to bother, then don’t.”

The curt response, although expected, has you taken aback. Already seeing the Atlantean retreat from the spot again, you hold the door in its place in effort to keep his attention.

“Look, I know you wanna be alone, but I can’t help wondering why a cold ass breeze is coming from your room, so I just want to see what’s going on. Please, it’s freezing right now.” You do your best to keep control of your tone, not wanting to let on just how much the cold was getting to you - giving the prince another reason to look down on humans wasn’t on your agenda for the night.

 Almost as if he commanded the storm, the lightning cracked loudly outside as Orm swung his door open, revealing his full disheveled state to you. You jolted in place, practically leaping a step back in defense at the swift move.

“What’s going on is the stench of your burnt dinner was practically singeing my nostrils. I opened a window in hopes that I could find some relief, because clearly you surface dwellers have no trouble polluting not only the ocean, but your precious breathing air as well! I have little care for how cold your fragile body may get, so I suggest you retire to your room at once and leave me be.”  

There was a gap in the yelling match conversation, almost as if the blond was waiting for you to bite back at his harsh words, but the glazed look in your eyes and parted lips made it evident to the Atlantean that your mind was elsewhere. Orm followed your gaze, noticing that it was locked onto the maroon sweater he was adorning, looking at it with equal parts surprise and melancholy. His enhanced hearing picked up on a hitch in your breath and chattering of your teeth, confirming to him that you were clearly shaken.

After the long silence, you mousily spoke.

“I didn’t leave that sweater out for you.” 

 The arbitrary words silenced Orm, his expression turning to one of confusion as he looked down at the knit fabric on his chest.

“...where did you find it?” 

Your voice didn’t change in volume when you made your inquiry, but your tone was somber. The candid emotion made the Atlantean clear his throat awkwardly, unsure of how to handle such vulnerability from his host. You couldn’t even fully appreciate how much messier Orm looked in comparison to when he first arrived - looking like a 90s wet dream with his ungelled hair, clenched jaw, and broad shoulders peeking out of his loose fitting clothes. No, it was the clothes that were holding your attention hostage.

“It was deep in the wooden wardrobe of my room…the garb you set out for me wasn’t suitable for the storm,” Orm says, arms crossed in a defensive manner as he anticipates your response.

A part of you wanted to laugh at his retort, the corner of your lips quirking up for a millisecond before melting back into the numb expression you had prior. 

“Are you going to ask me to change? Because I don’t see why I should relent,” the blond goads, pulling a haughty expression that comes all too naturally.

Orm wasn’t sure himself why he wanted to urge a response from you - why he wanted to learn more about this sweater that was clearly jumbling up your thoughts enough to render you so silent. He tried to chalk it up to plain boredom, tried to reason with himself that all his time in self-isolation was making him yearn for more. Still, even with those excuses lined up to justify his actions, he couldn’t explain why seeing the down-turned expression on your lips felt so unnerving. This woman in front of him now was like a shell in comparison to the buoyant, eccentric character he had been previously introduced to - and for some bizarre reason he didn’t like it. 

Your thought process, on the other hand, was going in a completely different route. The glaringly red knit in your line of sight brought back too many memories that you had made efforts to bury. The cursed sweater in combination with the Atlantean prince’s snark makes your breath quicken and your mind wander to the whisper of a past life that still takes up space in your home. You couldn’t decipher if your shivering was coming from Orm’s open window or from your body trying to eject all of the feelings evoked from seeing that damn sweater.

“I-I…you…you shouldn’t-” you shakily exhale, your eyes surveying around your surroundings to try and focus on literally anything else. You backstep, hoping that physically running away from the situation will do you good, but your eyes lining up with the red-clad chest and the sound of the booming thunder makes you falter. Your hand clutches at your chest, the white knuckled grip on your blanket alerting your roommate.

The prince's body calls to action, making Orm take an instinctive step forward, reaching out as if to try and steady you. 

“What is happening with you? Why are you so high-strung? Do humans go into cardiac arrest so easily?” 

You couldn’t hear his stern questioning, your mind flitting to images of firm fists slammed against tables and nights spent alone, buried deep under your covers in the hopes of being swallowed by the sheets. It was like the space in your lungs was being taken up by a vice grip, and your ability to think - to form a simple thought that didn’t make your heart hurt - was completely ripped away from you. Even after four years, the memories of him still have so much power over you in a way that’s paralyzing.

“I-I just - I need - I need to breathe!”

With that final exclamation, you scurried away from the Atlantean, quickly making it back to your room before slamming the door shut behind you. Orm was left stunned outside of his door, his eyes trained in the direction of your room down the hall. 

What the hell just happened?

***

Arthur was done - so done.

The newly crowned Atlantean king had so much on his plate already, what with his upcoming engagement underway and him having an entire kingdom to look after. While he did appreciate his little brother feeling comfortable enough to call him at such an ungodly hour, the words the blond uttered made him want to pull his hair out. 

“I think I broke her - your human.”

“Bro, what?”

It was too fucking early for this. 

“Don’t call me - agh, nevermind - something’s wrong with your human and I’m not sure how to approach the situation. Is this really an environment you believe me to find enrichment from? My host is clearly on the brink of some sort of breakdown and I-”

“Wow, I never took you for someone that was so easily shaken, brother.”

Arthur’s poorly timed quip makes Orm stare back at the projection call with a blank face.

“First off, she’s not my human, she’s her own person. Second, what did you even do? She’s not one to just collapse on her own - although she is a serial overthinker and could definitely talk herself to an early grave...”

Orm, frustrated with his half-brother’s lack of support, rolls his eyes over the call.

“Okay, okay, but seriously. Something must’ve set her off or triggered her to react in a way. You sure you didn’t do anything?” 

“All I did was answer the door when she knocked. When she saw me at the entrance, she saw the sweater I was wearing and was overcome with emotion. That’s hardly my fault.”

Orm can see Arthur’s brows furrow in thought at the information, almost as if he’s assessing whether he’s been given the whole story or not.

“Well…where’d you get the sweater?”

“I hardly think that matters-”

“Just answer the question, bro-”

An exasperated grunt leaves Orm as he grips at the sheets beneath him in an attempt to contain himself. A part of him regretted bringing up the matter at all, communication with his half-brother being much too awkward to bear. 

“I got it from the wooden wardrobe inside of my chambers! It was much more practical to wear than the flimsy garb-”

“Shit,” Arthur cuts him off, the hologram shifting as the man rubs at his eyes. “The wooden wardrobe with vines on the sides?”

It was Orm’s turn to be taken aback, unsure of how he knew the detail from off the top of his head.

“Yes, that’s the one.”

A muffled sigh comes from Arthur’s end, the image changing again as the king shuffles out of bed quietly to not disturb a sleeping Mera.

“Listen, dude. It’s not my place to speak on her business like this, but all I can say is that the wardrobe - that room - holds a lot of memories that are painful for her. I know you didn’t mean to bring them up, but that wardrobe is off limits. Just try and apologize for now, but don’t pry.”

“But why should I-”

“Orm, seriously! I get it, you don’t like being there - that you’ve spent every day in your room ever since I dropped you off, but she’s been trying. She’s been doing everything she can to get you out of your shell and you’re not giving back anything. There has to be some give here, and that can start with you saying sorry.” 

Orm was surprised by the fact that Arthur knew of his daily whereabouts already, undoubtedly asking you for updates on him. However, what surprised him the most was that even though you have seemingly complained to his half brother, you never once suggested kicking him out - never demanded he leave your house and have Atlantis deal with him. You truly were a peculiar little thing. 

“...fine. But don’t expect me to continue such niceties with her.”

A belly laugh could be heard from over the call, surely out of amusement for the prince's unwavering coldness.

“Good. Now hang up, you disrupted my beauty sleep.”

With a scoff, Orm presses on the green gem of his wristlet and heads off to the direction of your room.

***

When Orm knocks on your door, he expects a big fuss - bouts of yelling, arguing, or cursing that’ll leave his highly sensitive ears ringing. What he doesn’t expect is everyone of his knocks being met with silence - deafening silence now that the storm has subsided. 

“Hello?”

The prince feels weirdly small waiting by your door for your answer, having no clue what he’ll be met with on the other side of him. (It also gives him some insight on how you must feel every time you knock on his door to chat, although he’d never admit to having similarities with you,)

“Are you ignoring me?” 

More silence. 

“Oh, enough of this childishness.”

With a deep breath in, Orm turns the knob of your door and lets himself into your room. He’s met with colorful tapestries embellishing the walls, big rugs covering the hardwood floor, and twinkling lights surrounding the bed frame. The scene that you set for yourself in your room makes Orm think about his home - the way that the colorful bioluminescence would sparkle throughout his kingdom. 

When the initial first impression of your room wears off, he notices there is no one in the bed. No squirming presence under the sheets or anyone sitting on top of the bed to give him a stern talking to. Where did you go?

The blond takes a tentative step inside, stepping over the fuzzy carpets to keep from disturbing their arrangement. When he walks past the bed frame and closer to the window, he sees a lump of a human wearing a large blanket over their shoulders and some type of bulky headgear that covers your ears and emits sound. You were completely enthralled by the scene outside of the window that you hardly notice Orm stepping up next to you. 

A sudden hand on your shoulder has you jolting upward with a yelp, your hand instinctively slapping away at the intruder before you turn to look at where they came from.

“Jesus fucking christ!”

Orm gets into his own defensive position as you scramble to press your back against the wall, looking at you as if you were a trembling animal.

“My god, woman!”

“What are you doing in here you scared me half to-”

“I knocked but there was no answer so I-”

“Oh, so you decided to just welcome yourself in?”

Orm purses his lips in frustration, not thrilled at being met with the uproar he had originally expected. You sigh to yourself in disbelief, willing yourself to be quiet since there would be no productive conversation if you two kept yelling at each other.

“Next time just take the hint that I’m busy if I don’t answer, okay? You can’t just barge in here when you want, it’s not cool…”

The Atlantean has some sense to feel a shred of shame when you speak, although your words are hardly convincing when your eyes don’t turn in his direction for even a second. You look so timid standing there in your corner with the blanket consuming you completely - not at all like the spitfire that called him an “asshole” and warned him not to “test her.” (He secretly felt some relief in your loud exchange mere moments ago, because it meant that version of you was still there.) 

“I…I apologize for intruding.” 

Your head whips up to finally meet the man’s piercing blues, your mouth left slightly agape at an actual apology leaving the arrogant Atlantean’s lips.

“Uh…it’s okay...although, try not to do it again.”

Another moment of awkward silence passes.

“So…why’d you come in here?”

You ask this question as you take a seat back on the floor, resuming your position of staring out of the window only this time without your headphones. You pat the spot next to you on the floor, urging Orm to sit next to you. With a small eye roll, the blond begrudgingly joins you on your multi-colored carpet, opting to rest his arms against his knees as means to shield himself from you.

“I came here to apologize, not just for barging in, but for what happened earlier. I shouldn’t have gone through the wardrobe without your permission even if I needed different clothes. I should’ve asked you instead of rifling through your belongings on my own accord.”  

His apology, although rehearsed, seems genuine enough for your shoulders to relax. Your eyes follow the droplets of rain slowly trickling down the glass of your window, racking your brain for the right thing to say. 

“It’s okay. You didn’t do anything wrong, I just…I haven’t revisited the memories that room brings in a long time. You putting on that sweater unearthed them today, and it got me bad. See, I was having a shit day already what with keeping up with the shop, and then an accident causing traffic on the way home, and the wine that I usually like being out of stock-” 

Your rambling gets cut off by a soft chuckle coming from the man next to you, a sound that seems so uncharacteristically happy for his usual demeanor. The corners of your mouth perk up in disbelief, the expression making Orm quickly look away from you. 

“Huh. So that’s what your laugh sounds like. It’s nice…”

Orm didn’t understand why he reacted in such a way, you weren’t saying anything particularly funny…

…It’s just the way your eyes became so animated as you spoke more, your hands gesturing stronger as you explained further - it was amusing to him. So different from the usual company he keeps, always firmly placed brows and crossed arms from the high council members he consulted. Even the Atlantean women, although much more pleasant company, were more regal in comparison to his surface dweller host.  However, what you did have in common with those women was your tenacity. Even with his cold attitude towards you, your kindness was unwavering - a few times a day, without fail, you’d knock on his door with the promise of food and semi-entertaining company. He’s starting to regret only agreeing to the food.

God, he must be going stir crazy.

“What is it about the sweater that made you react in such a way?”

This was when you noticed that Orm was no longer wearing the offending material, choosing to wear the simping cotton T shirt you had given him. It may have been nothing - a simple delusion on your part - but the weight on your chest felt lighter at the idea that the Atlantean took it off to bring you comfort. 

“It - uh,” you stuttered, “it belonged to my ex-boyfriend. All of the stuff in that wardrobe did, actually. We painted the vines on the side of it together…” 

Orm’s arms flexed tighter around his knees at your words. He didn’t know how to respond, feeling significantly awkward due to adorning your ex lover’s clothing, so he decided to just shut up and let you continue.

“When I was 14 my parents got divorced. My mom wanted so badly to make it work, but my dad didn’t like his life here in Amnesty Bay - a part of me felt like he also didn’t like his life with us in general. I mean, he never had a problem making his grievances known, so…” 

Now, this was something the blond was familiar with - uncomfortable family dynamics. The realities of his parents’ marriage were never shielded from him growing up - he often witnessed the brutality of his father whenever his mother, Atlanna, would make her opposing opinions known. He often felt conflicted about which side to take - the one of least resistance that prioritized the well-being of his people or the one that looked out for the well-being of everyone, Atlanteans and surface dwellers alike. Hearing you now, speak your piece on your own upbringing, comforted him in a way he didn’t expect.

“The divorce was messy. Lots of nights spent being pulled in every direction, but with no real place to find peace. After everything settled, my dad ended up moving to New York while my mom remained here. They agreed that for the school year I’d stay with my mom, so she’d have some help at the flower shop, but I’d visit him on major holidays…”

The blanket around you suddenly feels too thin, a chill running over you as you recount your tale. You take a sneaky glance over your shoulder to check if the blond was still listening, and you were surprised (and delighted) to find that his steadfast gaze was at the side of your face. 

“...At some point during my years at university, my mom stopped asking me to visit - demanded that I only live with my dad when I was out of school. You can imagine Arthur had his qualms about that…”

You chuckled to yourself at the memory of a young Arthur blowing up your home phone upon hearing the news. 

“It would only be for the same visiting time as before, so there wasn’t much fuss on my dad’s end, but my relationship with him had become so different after the divorce that it wasn’t ideal. It…It hurt to hear my mom reject me like that.” 

Orm’s mind flashes back to the rain soaked figure of his mother, presenting herself to be siding with his half-brother after his defeat. The sting of her counteraction still lingers in his chest.

“When I had started dating my ex during my third year, I found out the reason my mom was keeping me from home - she got sick…cancer. All of the overworking to pay the bills, lack of support, and the hereditary traits…she got really sick. I guess she didn’t want me to see her in so much pain…” 

Orm watches as you turn away to stubbornly wipe at your face, a sniffle coming from your direction. He hadn’t expected you to willingly speak on your background when he asked about the sweater, but a part of him felt guilty for being the cause of your current distress.

“When she died, I moved back here to look after the house and take over the shop…but my ex had moved in with me. Darren.” 

More tears fell from your cheeks at the same speed as the rain running down your window.

“Darren offered to help me with the business, help me get on my feet. A part of me knew that he was going to hate the life we were starting together based on talks we had about the future, but I ignored it all when my grief became the only thing I felt for a long time. He always wanted more - more than our little town, more than the flower shop…so when an opportunity presented itself to have a life on his own, he took it. Just like my dad did…” 

 Orm’s heart drops at the end of your retelling, knowing the feeling of rejection and abandonment all too well. His father would be rolling in his grave if he knew what feelings this little surface dweller was stirring in him. The gap between the Atlanteans and the humans was closing in his mind, and Orm wasn’t sure if he cared to stop it. All he wanted at this moment was to stop you from crying. 

“I’m sorry for putting on the sweater…and for being an ungracious guest these past few days. I’ve been a real dick.” 

You can’t help but guffaw at his choice of words, using your fist to mask the unsightly sound as a cough. 

“That’s not a very princely thing to say…” 

Orm’s head tilts back as he snickers, feeling slightly proud of himself for inciting a better mood in you.

Ah, that laugh again, you think as you admire how ethereal the man looks in his relaxed state. 

“Perhaps my brother is to blame for my much more…colorful vernacular.” 

“Perhaps,” you hum in agreement, “or you’re just not as much of a dick as I previously thought…sorry for coming on so strong that first day.” 

Orm’s blue eyes shine at you with something unfamiliar - different to the cold, distant stare you were first met with. You find yourself wishing to always be at the receiving end of his kind eyes. 

Orm clears his throat before uttering, “No need to be…I was the one that misjudged you before ever seeing you.” 

A silence falls over you two, a comforting one built between new comrades. Your (e/c) gaze meets his as the storm calms outside of your window, signaling the start of a new chapter for you and your royal roommate. 

#orm marius x reader #orm marius x you #orm marius #orm x reader #aquaman imagine #orm marius imagine #orm marius fanfiction #aquaman fanfiction #arthur curry #dceu

[monstersinthecosmos]

I use TVA/B&G to backwards engineer The Devil's Minion a lot, not only as a rare and detailed insight into how human/vampire relationships tend to go in this series, but also just how many things they had in common, all the parallels, all the ways you can ask if Armand was working through his Maker Issues, and of course the final excuse that their hand is forced because the human is dying. But I think often about how much Marius struggled with it, and although he caved in the end, he changed his mind sometimes, he knew he was a monster, and it's always going to be the struggle of whether you love someone enough to let them go or if you love them too much to let them go, do you curse them with darkness or do you keep them so that you aren't alone in your own darkness, etc.

But I've wondered a lot how that journey went for Armand, how often he maybe changed his mind, if he felt tempted but then reminded himself he's a monster and shouldn't, and I'm absolutely haunted by their final separation before the concert. Lestat's book comes out, Daniel is wandering, Armand can't find him (or is avoiding him?) and there's just so much here, and how much of their relationship was violated by reading Lestat's book independently before speaking to each other, how much Daniel would've learned without Armand's consent or before he was ready, and how much Armand's abandonment issues would've been ripped the fuck open by reading about Marius and what he had to say.

"Whatever will happen will happen, but choose your companions with care. Choose them because you like to look at them and you like the sound of their voices, and they have profound secrets in them that you wish to know. In other words, choose them because you love them. Otherwise you will not be able to bear their company for very long." "I understand, " I said. "Make them in love. " "Exactly, make them in love. And make certain they have had some lifetime before you make them; and never never make one as young as Armand. That is the worst crime I have ever committed against my own kind, the taking of the young boy child Armand. " "But you didn't know the Children of Darkness would come when they did, and separate him from you. " "No. But still, I should have waited. It was loneliness that drove me to it. And Armand's helplessness, that his mortal life was so completely in my hands. Remember, beware of that power, and the power you have over those who are dying. Loneliness in us, and that sense of power, can be as strong as the thirst for blood. If there were not an Enkil there might be no Akasha, and if there were not an Akasha, then there would be no Enkil. "

It's just wow like.

Sincere advice that he never got to receive? In the same sentence as hearing he's a mistake? Does he read this and think he should make Daniel out of love, and at the same time feel all the more monstrous, and want to resist?

The choice is taken from him anyway, and he's forced, just as his own turning was forced. And as @nightislandnoveltymug pointed out recently, he treats it like a funeral.

#this was supposed to be a quickie paragrpah like HEY REMEMBER WHEN ARMAND READ TVL AND IT SAID TO TURN PEOPLE OUT OF LOVE LOL #but i got carried away #i had a long ass talk yesterday about armand's abandonment issues and whether or not he feels like a failure #and im really like suffering a lot lol #also to memeify the lestat/armand rivalry there's a happier version where lestat editorialized marius a little just to be a dick #TO HELP ME SLEEP AT NIGHT LOL #marius de romanus #armand #daniel molloy #devil's minion #tvl quotes #armand/daniel #marius/armand #vampire chronicles

[saintarmand]

since i expect a part of armand and marius's relationship in the show to still be "you know i'm not a child anymore master" "but you'll always be my child amadeo", i think louis saying that he'll always be linked to claudia because she is his child, is going to hit armand like a truck. and of course even though the parallel between armand and claudia is not as literal as it is in the books, i think in this way he still understands how claudia feels about the eternal infantilization. and of course he understands that it will apply to her whoever she's with and wherever she goes in a much more literal sense than how it affects him (not only with marius but ofc the way asian men are often viewed as much younger than they actually are as well). he definitely still has reasons to relate to her in the show and he will still respond to it not with compassion but with "maybe it's better for her to die than live like that". he could have loved her like louis does, and offered her a mutual understanding and empathy of a kind that louis never can. but sometimes it's easier to destroy the mirror than look your reflection in the eye. especially if the mirror is standing directly between you and the one whose love and companionship you'd destroy anything and anyone for.

i don't think he necessarily even knows any of this on a conscious level, but he definitely feels it in his bones. in a very human way, unconscious emotion drives him to very inhumane acts, the full consequences of which he has trouble understanding until it's too late to turn back... and of course the things he does for love always end up eating away at that love, so he has to try and try again! and if he ever threatens to learn from his mistakes and stop eating his own tail, marius will show up and just chop it off! and call that an act of love! fucking kill me! or better yet kill marius! has an armand post ever not ended this way!

#i am UNWELL #i cant tell if the conclusion came so naturally cause it's that obvious or because im accidentally plagiarizing someone #or maybe just cause everyone in this story is ouroboros.jpg #vampterview #interview with the vampire #s #iwtv #armand

[cliozaur]

That’s what it means to speak out! In this really long chapter, both Marius and Jean Valjean spoke more than in the whole book! (Ok, Marius did have his moments a couple of times, but Valjean has never spoken SO much.)

What is interesting, Valjean speaks very matter-of-factly: he doesn’t waffle but immediately says that he is an ex-convict. And Marius’ reaction to these words is so revealing! And sadly, it is very similar to Cosette’s reaction to the gang of convicts they met a year or so ago. This means that Valjean’s fears were not unfounded. But Marius and we all want to know: why not to keep this information for himself? People in their society do not want to look beyond such labels, even Marius becomes blind to the essence of who Valjean really is as soon as he hears that he is an ex-convict. So why does Valjean have to be so exhibitionistic?

Valjean’s reasoning is very complex. To start with, he tells his life story in a rather unflattering key, forgetting to mention all the important circumstances. “What am I to Cosette? A passer-by. Ten years ago, I did not know that she was in existence.” He never mentions that he saved her from abuse, misery, and maybe even death. And, of course, he never says about his role in Marius’ own rescue from the barricade. Then there is Valjean’s honesty and conscience. And it’s an amazing paradox that the man who is the best expert in lying and playing roles to survive and save Cosette, is unable to keep away just one truth when it comes to matters of honour, morality, and Cosette’s safety. This brings to mind parallels with Javert: he was pathologically unable to lie even about small things his whole life but eventually managed to tell lies in a decisive moment (let’s think it was decisive enough); whereas Valjean could easily lie about most things, but had to be pathologically honest in the decisive moment.

It might sound strange, but I like this chapter for the opportunity to hear Jean Valjean finally speaking for himself at length. It’s not the author, the omnipresent and omniscient Hugo, but Valjean finally expressing himself—his feelings, fears, moral code, etc. This is killing me: “To be a false signature in flesh and blood, to be a living false key, to enter the house of honest people by picking their lock, never more to look straightforward, to forever eye askance, to be infamous within the I, no! no! no! no! no! It is better to suffer, to bleed, to weep, to tear one’s skin from the flesh with one’s nails, to pass nights writhing in anguish, to devour oneself body and soul.”

But, of course, I hate most of this chapter. Especially the part involving Cosette. What has happened to her? Why is she acting like this? And Marius is absolutely terrible to her – and it’s just after one night of married life! He repeats: “We are talking business,” like a parrot. “We are talking figures. That will bore you.” She can manage figures! She was managing the whole household for several years. Cosette is joking when she says: “My husband beats me,” but it is still quite disturbing.

I absolutely hate this dialogue: “do you think… that I ought not to see Cosette any more?” - “I think that would be better.” – “I shall never see her more.” This is the beginning of Valjean’s slow suicide. Despite Hugo several times emphasizing that suicide is against Valjean’s belief, there are several hints that we are dealing with an inventive form of suicide. Reference to the seventh circle of hell—reserved for those who take their own life—in the title of this chapter is one of them.

#les mis letters #lm 5.7.1 #les miserables #jean valjean #marius pontmercy #javert #cosette

[therealvinelle]

What's your opinion on the fandom's obsession with Smeyers mormonism? I'd just recently discovered your metas(and they're so interesting btw they brilliantly expand upon the almost kinda psychological horror esque feel of the characters and story). But then I go into your replies and tags expecting everyone to marvel at your genius exploration of what's eluded to in the canon text or just the likelihood or natural outcomes of certain scenarios and decisions that have/may have not happened in the context of the overall story. Instead it's most of the time just a bunch of people going, "Aha. Confirmed it! That's so because Meyers a Mormon" or "See, that insert literally anything happened because of the Mormom themes, characterizations and ...idolization??? of insert literally any character/aspect of the lore. "

It would be a lie to say it isn't irritating even speaking as an atheist because it literally stifles any actual exploration of nuance within the books. Any theory, character analysis, or legitimate in/out of universe explanation in regard to canon can be boiled down to such an archaic supposition. And it's not just your blog. I see it everywhere here on tumblr when discussing anything twilight. Even people indifferent to twilight and twilight antis alike are of such strong conviction that they erase any character's belief or motivation or really anything Meyer has said in regards to that matter

Seeing as I'm running a doylism purist blog I obviously agree with you. The author's religious belief are a non-issue to me when I read Meyer's works, or anyone else's for that matter.

I say that, but there are exceptions - there's something strikingly Calvinist permeating the world of Harry Potter in that people are born good or bad and the juxtaposition between Tom Riddle and Harry Potter seems to boil down to Tom being a bad person who will make bad choices while Harry is a good person who will make good choices, and this extends to the rest of the cast and the Hogwarts houses as well. However, these are children's books with Good Guys and Bad Guys and I won't pretend to understand what's happening in JKR's brain, and so you won't see me saying that Harry Potter is Calvinist: merely that there are parallels that can be drawn.

Similarly, taking a step outside the YA genre I find that Victor Hugo's own political and religious personal journeys are reflected in Jean Valjean and Marius Pontmercy, but while it adds to the reading experience it doesn't make me see the characters any differently. They stand on their own.

I bring up these examples for a reason - sometimes, no matter how Doylist you want to be, you read a book and you can tell that, "oh this is an allegory for apartheid", or "I can tell the author is writing about personal experiences with trauma" or the plain old "you know, this feels like the author was projecting a lot" (frequently found on Ao3).

Twilight, for me, is not one such work. My thoughts on Mormonism and Twilight are summed up here, but one point I feel I should make is that although Twilight never read as Mormon to me, I also straight up know very little about Mormonism, so who knows, maybe I would be picking things up if I was more into it. As it is, however, the analyses of Mormonism in Meyer I've seen have been consistently reductive and superficial, where things like "Carlisle is a young blond leader -> Joseph Smith, the Cullens are a perfect family -> they're mormons, nobody in this YA series drinks alcohol -> they're mormons" are presented as compelling evidence, so I've yet to be convinced of it.

To actually answer your question though, I would just block "Mormonism", "LDS", and "Joseph Smith" on tumblr saviour and smile blissfully at my Mormon free dash. In fact I would do that anyway, regardless of what the Twilight fandom is posting.

#twilight #twilight renaissance #twilight fandom #twilight religion #stephenie meyer #harry potter #harry potter religion #harry potter meta

[lifewillalwaysbe-lavieenrose]

GUYS!! I saw Les Mis! In Munich!!!

Let's recap!

The Cast:

Daniel Gutmann as Javert. He was incredible. Definitely my personal highlight. Everytime he sang his voice just ROARED. And he was menacing holy shit. Aggggggh I'm normal about him

Barbara Obermeier as Eponine. When I first heard her sing in Act 1, I knew she was gonna kill it in Act 2. And she did.

Merlin Farcel aka Enjolras. His voice was so perfect I LOVED all the high notes, BUT:

The beard. Sorry, but in my world Enjolras doesn't have a beard. Plus, it makes him look like Peter Maffay

Madame Thenardier was PERFECT (I don't remember who played her that night😭) She was so funny and the audience really loved her.

The Music:

At first, I felt a bit underwhelmed by the orchestra. To be fair, I listened to the 10th anniversary recording SO much, that I really got used to that grand orchestra sound.

There was an electric guitar and at one point an electric bass when Javert sang, which I really loved.

During Master of the House/ Beggars at the Feast you could really see the orchestra bopping their heads and having fun and that made me very happy

I really loved the brass section, they really stood out (That French Hurn during On My Own????!)

The Costumes:

I don't know why, but the Les Amis were wearing these caps all the time. I have never seen a production with them in it. Is this a historically accurate thing?? I didn't really like them, they looked very plastic/shiny and fell out of place

I cannot find a picture but in the beginning of Act 1 Valjean wore a pink vest and then a purple coat which both looked very cheap and which I both didn't like (maybe it was because of the light? The colors felt very unnatural)

Eponine's outfit. At first I thought it didn't look shabby enough. But it looks so badass I'll let it pass

Why don't you let Enjolras wear his red vest??

What is Marius wearing? Goofy boy

Big Mad Hatter vibes from Thenardier. I loved his and the Patron Minettes outifits, they looked very edgy

This is perfect. Perfect. I only wished he had undone his hair for Javert's Suicide (he did, but only for the last 10 seconds)

The Stage:

The stage had a turning middle and stairs that could be moved around, similar like in Hamilton.

They did a cool transition with young Cosette walking up the stairs and old Cosette walking down

Also, they had some cool staging with buildings moving around for Stars. But I feel like there was almost a bit too much happening in the background for this song.

I don't know why they didn't have the Barricades turn and show Enjolras hang upside down. It's such a cool/tragic moment!

During the Barricade scenes, the stage sometimes felt a bit empty. I mean, there were always like 15 people standing around. Maybe the Barricades were to small/not high enough

Empty chairs at empty tables. Where were the empty chairs and empty tables??

In Everyday/A Heart Full of Love Reprise single leaves started falling down on the stage (Like Valjean entering the Fall/Winter of his life) I loved that.

Also, the parallel of Marius learning to walk again using a cane, and Valjean loosing his ability to walk using a cane. I never noticed this before!

There are SO many cool things about the staging I could talk about here. But I want to mention some other topics as well:

The "Spirit" of the Show:

There wasn't a single French flag to be seen. Some red ones, but no French flags.

In the trailer, the director said he wanted to create a more universal setting, speaking to everyone in the audience

I think that's a great sentiment but like. Everyone has French names. There were titles above the stage telling us the year and locations (Places in France) of the events. The title of the show is French.

So I think adding the flags (aka a bit more French nationalism?) would have seemed a lot more convincing for the cause of the students and the whole spirit of the show

But maybe this also has to do with the show being in German? I don't know and I'd really like to discuss it. Maybe someone here made a similar experience seeing it in another language

And last, but MOST importantly:

What about Valvert and Enjoltaire?

In the Confrontation, Javert and Valjean got really close to each other. And I mean fighting each other and then stopping just to sing directly into each other's faces.

Instead of running infront of the court in Who Am I, Valjean just goes to Javert and rips his shirt open? Okay, go off I guess

In Drink with Me, we have a platonic forehead touch between Enjolras and Grantaire. Sadly, that's all I noticed between them 😔

Also, the fact that Grantaire is supposed to be ugly/shabby/a drinker/a sceptic got totally lost, which really takes away from his character.

Conclusion:

All the actors were good, some of them were FANTASTIC. I'd watch it again just for the guy playing Javert, if I could. God, he was SO GOOD

The music was all it should be, maybe a bit too reserved (but again, this might be because I am so used to the 10th anniversary concert)

I really loved some costumes and I also really disliked some

The staging was great, some choices confused me (flags, barricades etc.)

Would I watch it again?

Absolutely!

To be clear, some of the things here might sound more negative than I actually mean. It's just that I have watched SO many different productions online, that I fixated on all the great performances and how I think they should be done. Of course everyone has different opinions here.

Okay thanks for reading if you made it here. Have a great day!

#les mis #les misérables #les mis munich #münchen #valvert #enjoltaire

[actualbird]

// spoilers for marius' sweet chapter event storyline

hey so i just finished playing thru the phase 2 story and

holy moly, that was good and made me so emotional jhvJKVKSHFVJSDF. once again, i cannot emphasize enough just how much i adore grief narratives and themes, and all the parallels to cyrus brown (also lol at how they changed his name from chris brown jHVSKJFVJSD) to marius' own experience with giann

but the whole brother parallel is obvious and clearly tackled within the story. what i wanna talk abt instead is how a very specific portion of this story made me realize smthing that marius has done over and over again across so many of his stories.

and thus

mini character analysis (or maybe character observation?): marius and emotional distancing

wc: 1.1k obligatory disclaimer that these are just my own thoughts and interpretations. contains spoilers of marius' sweet chapter event, his personal story 4, and several of his cards

anyhoo, the part of the sweet chapter event that piqued my interest and made my brain.

in the last part of the story, when talking about how timmy's experience with cyrus reminded him of his own life, marius opened up on his his father and giann were busy when he was younger and that made him feel like nobody cared (before giann noticed and played a more active role guiding and encouraging marius). but when marius is telling his story, mc notes that:

the wording here nagged at me, because it felt so familiar. and i realized that mc notes something similar in marius' personal story 4, after marius opens up after nearly dying as a child because he was locked in a basement freezer, which, sidenote, im never getting over how fucked up that is!! marius are yOU OKAY???

mc was also hella concerned as i was, and notes the manner in which marius tells her about this:

theres two more examples i want to bring up.

in SSR Sweet Wonders (marius' dreams of childhood card), marius opens up about how, due to the psychological impact of him blaming himself for his mother's death, he got really sick for a while as a child. mc once again notes on how he tells this story:

and last example, SSR All Through The Night (marius' xmas partyland card). i dont have a screenshot for that because what i wanna add from there is speckled across the entire story:

mc learns about a picture book marius had drawn when he was a child, one that told the story that parelleled his own journey to learning about why his mother died.

whats my point here? that on many moments where marius recalls and explains very heavy things on his past, theres two things that stuck out to me.

first, the calm, collected demeanor. and second, the concept of him telling a story, one that belongs to someone else, one that he has detached himself from.

this peaks my interest for two reasons.

the "I'm Totally Over It" vibes

marius minimizes the concern that mc could possibly feel by masking any negative emotion he could possibly show.

this is hugely in line with how he is as whole, because he likes to present himself as carefree, light, easy-going, teasing and playful and nothing gets to him. tho by virtue of playing thru mc's perspective, we know this isnt true because marius' story themes are also chock full of the facades and personas he needs to don to survive as a public figure. marius had to learn how to be a good actor, and he succeeds, and this is again is super aligned with how he masks negative emotion with the mask of "i am unaffected by these objectively messed up experiences i had! This Doesn't Bother Me. I'm Totally Over It."

i found this interesting in contrast to luke. who also masks his negative feelings, but leans toward less of "This Doesn't Bother Me" and more of "no need to worry about that because it's Not Important." it's emotional minimization that could possibly leave room for "yeah, this maybe does bother me, but me being bothered is nothing of value."

but marius circumvents that process at the beginning by simply acting that he isnt even bothered in the first place.

now, this is something that maybe artem and vyn do too, but my knowledge of stories for them isnt as encyclopedic as my knowledge on luke ajhvfasjkhfvajsh so i wouldnt be able to accurately get a read on how they do on this sphere.

idk it's just cool to me to see the subtle variations in how the boys deflect and omit their vulnerabilities!

but back to the concept of "I'm Totally Over It", one way marius achieves this calm collectedness is through the next recurring commonality

the "story" involving the character who is separate from the storyteller

marius speaks of past experiences like hes a detached narrator telling another person's story. he even does this in an near-literal way with his picture book in SSR All Through The Night.

[EDIT TO ADD ONE MORE EXAMPLE of near-literal storytelling and distancing that was later pointed out by milkyway!anon: marius also does this in his very first character pv introduction, ever since the beginning

how he frames all this in his pv is pretty clearly in a playful storybook/bedtime story kinda way, both in the visual execution and writing. i always adored his character pv for being so different and cute and playful, but now in light of how The Rest Of What We Know and what i mentioned in the rest of this analysis, it's now way more interesting and...sad

i use this screenshot in particular detaching himself blatantly. while this part of the pv does this in regards to how the public sees him as a symbol instead of a being (and thus distancing who he is from like, his inherent Being A Person), marius also does it to himself by virtue of telling the story and walking away from it, albeit cutely, as he is a cat

heres the story. hes the narrator, and the character within the story is him but not him as well.]

in doing this, he once again seemingly relieves himself of any "bother" or negative emotions that he could experience, because all stuff that happened? it's not him. it's a character in a story, one that is not him and specifically separate from him because he is the one telling the story.

i fear im not making sense now (tho tbh when am i ever making sense jHVJSHDVFJ) but let me try and explain it through this post (which no longer exists on ops blog so i have to link my rb of it huhu) that shows a collection of quotes that hit the nail on the head, regarding this concept.

when you tell a story, as the storyteller, you are ultimately the one in control. part of being in control means that, if you know how to tell your story, you can ultimately lay all the details down while also leaving it, disconnecting from it, and distancing from it.

distance, imo, is the most fitting word to me, for how marius goes about his heavier experiences.

he distances from the emotions he felt and could possibly still be feeling, he distances from the fact that it was him who went through it, and he distances from mc's worry that could happen as a response.

of course, since mc is the best and an angel, she always takes the time to reassure marius that shes here for him and that hes not alone, that shes with him every step of the way (both him as the "character" he is Not in his stories and the person he Is in the present)

still, it's really fascinating on a characterization level that distancing and detaching is marius' go-to method. hes already somebody that has so many layers of facades and "different" selves, and here he is once more creating another self:

one that didnt go through all of what he went through.

#tears of themis #tot spoilers #marius von hagen #tot marius #lu jinghe

[sadeyedlady-writes]

Welcome,

This is my pinned post.

(Last updated 29th March, 2024.)

First thing to know is that I very much welcome any and everyone to come talk to me about the books I'm insane about. Anon is on, DMs are open, I don't know how social interactions are supposed to go so there's no awkwardness here. Just come scream at me about characters or themes or whatever you want. There's no need to stand on ceremony. Also, I don't check my dash super regularly, so if you want me to see a post, please tag me in it or dm it to me! I won't think it's weird, in fact I'll be delighted, I promise!

If l ever unfollow you, please, please don’t take it personally. You are absolutely welcome to still interact with me, message me, etc. I never want to hurt anyone’s feelings, I just really try to curate my dash because otherwise it’s overwhelming and I don’t go on there at all.

I post fics on ao3 as sad_eyed_lady.

Here's the current list of fandoms I've written for, but for the most current list just go to ao3 itself:

The Idiot - Fyodor Dostoyevsky (7) Les Misérables - Victor Hugo (5) Le Fantôme de l'Opéra | Phantom of the Opera & Related Fandoms (4) Brat'ya Karamazovy | Brothers Karamazov - Fyodor Dostoyevsky (3) Prestuplenie i nakazanie | Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1)

I very much welcome comments, or if you're shy to comment publicly you're more than welcome to message me here; a few people have done that and it's made my entire life. Almost the entire purpose of fanfic for me is the sharing and community of it all.

I am not much of an artist, but occasionally I attempt to do an art when the fannish fervour strikes me. Appropriately enough, these attempts can be found under the tag #my attempts to do an art.

And finally, since tumblr's search function has become so abysmal that I can no longer find my own meticulously-tagged posts, I'm going to try to catalogue some of my messy analyses so that I can find them again. This will be an on-going wrangling effort on my part.

Dostoevsky, Fyodor, The Brothers Karamazov

Musings on class/position in society as relates to the interaction between Katerina Ivanvona and Grushenka in 1.3.10, and how this lens might shift our view.

Grushenka and active love

Healing the rift in The Brothers Karamazov and Crime and Punishment

Dostoevsky, Fyodor, Crime and Punishment

Some half-formed thoughts regarding parallels between Raskolnikov and Marius Pontmercy and why I'm so much harder on Marius despite, you know, the axe murders.

It was Sonya's window, maybe?

Why 2002 BBC C&P was wrong especially in the way they handled Lizaveta's murder

On Avdotya Romanovna shooting but not killing

Healing the rift in The Brothers Karamazov and Crime and Punishment

Dostoevsky, Fyodor, The Idiot

On Nastasya Filippovna engineering her role as the doomed victim in a gothic narrative

Nastasya giving Rogozhin the details of the murder

Rogozhin wasn't an unstoppable killer who would have killed her no matter what

Comparing and Contrasting Semyon Parfyonovich (Rogozhin's father) and Totsky

On Myshkin imitating Christ

Rogozhin's childhood

Ramblings on Rogozhin's brother, Semyon Semyonovich

Cycles in the Rogozhin family

Hugo, Victor, Les Misérables

Subcategory: Éponine Realities of the class dynamics between Marius and Éponine in the Brick as opposed to the musical Not an edgy girl who wants to be edgy Not a morally grey character Future trajectory/P-M involvement

Some half-formed thoughts regarding parallels between Raskolnikov and Marius Pontmercy and why I'm so much harder on Marius despite, you know, the axe murders.

A Thénardier turning the tables on Marius's dream

Misc Posts

Master list of all of my The Idiot fics in order

#pinned post #sadie nonsense

[fructidors]

i found a very old edition of les mis on the internet that has alternate titles for the volumes-- maybe these were common at some point but i've never seen them before and i thought they were really interesting! so, from least to most delightful:

it calls part v "jean valjean; or the reformed convict" which is just like an accurate description of valjean

it calls part ii "cosette; or the detective's pursuit" which is slightly misleading as that part focuses more on valjean and cosette than javert, but it is (to the best of my memory i haven't read that volume in forever) the volume that javert features in the most

it calls part iv "saint-denis; or gavroche, the street boy of paris", which, first of all, who omits an awesome title like "the idyll in the rue plumet and the epic in the rue saint-denis" for that, secondly, gavroche is nowhere near the focus of that volume? part iii actually has an entire book about him and in part iv he's there, but lots of way more important things happen (sorry gavroche but it's true)

it calls part iii "marius; or the child of the revolution" which is FASCINATING. presumably, it's referring to marius being born during the napoleonic wars and shortly after the revolution (which has all kinds of parallels to victor hugo's own life and similar birth date). but it also could allude to marius being new to revolutionary ideals and therefore, a "child of the revolution" (which also mirrors hugo's life at the time of writing les mis). ALSO all the amis are young and new not to revolutionary ideals but to the very act of revolution, and they're essentially trying to be French Revolution Jr™️, making them, in their own way, children of the revolution.

it calls part i "fantine; or the felon and the fallen" which is just incredible. alliteration never fails folks.

#les mis #les miserables #victor hugo #les amis #les amis de l'abc

[breadvidence]

To the end of Les Mis '25 part III. Thoughts!

First, forgot to mention on part II: Valjean is robbed of two entire symbolic deaths (the Orion & the coffin heist), as per the usual. Do we have any film versions that keep the latter? I understand why it's cut, particularly for those versions that keep the tone somber throughout, but on the other hand: I want it.

I'm so fucking confused about Sandra Milovanoff playing adult Cosette? I'm even more fucking confused by the fact that Milovanoff forgot how to act. Where she was sharp as Fantine, she's vacant as Cosette. Huge miss in an otherwise solid film.

'25 takes the impoverishment and squalor of the Thénardiers in Paris and runs with it. M. Thénardier is undoubtedly a villain, but he's a pitiable one, bent-backed and raggedly-dressed; there's the faintest hint of comedy played up over his scamming, a little menace in how he treats his daughters, but the air is of the pathetic. He's changed enough I actually believe that Valjean wouldn't recognize him from their interactions eight years prior at the inn. There's physical comedy in Mme Thénardier's appearance (it's awful, derived directly from the novel, and haunts most adaptations--Hooper 2012 and BBC 2018 dodge this), but not much. Azelma and Éponine look like hell. I'm for it.

The film is still overall disinterested in politics, though when the Amis are introduced we are told that "A ces nouveaux contacts, Marius sentait s'élargir son esprit. Il comprenait que la VERITE ne réside pas uniquement dans le passé, qu'il y a de la FLAMME dans le présent et de la LUMIERE dans l'avenir." I can't recall a parallel to this in the novel nor found anything in a brief search; seems it's an overly optimistic interpretation of his character development in the Brick. Maybe the scriptwriter felt Combeferre's "to be free" had a different impact than how I read it. In any case, the film doesn't want us to think that Marius has remained a complete Napoleon simp. This might also be what's establishing his future involvement at the barricade, though I won't know 'til I watch part IV whether there's better development in this quarter.

Enjolras has a speech (no intertitles to indicate the content), after which we cut to a copy of Déclaration des droits de l'Homme et du citoyen--dated 1792, with Robespierre's name featured in large font. I get the vibe, but feel like I'm missing something. I suspect a grasp on the French political scene in 1925 would help parse what's going on here.

Paul Guidé as Enjolras looks like an aging rock band frontman. Maybe someone with finer tuned senses for Amis could pick out who's who in the crowd around him--I think we cut to Grantaire drinking with ladies at an adjacent table?--but none are explicitly named or get to occupy camera center.

Congrats to '25 for dodging the incest bullet. The dynamic between Valjean and Cosette continues to be quite sweet and mutually attentive (we're probably benefiting from the fact that the filmmakers don't have the space to include flirtatious dialogue a la '35 and '52). Milovanoff comes back to life for brief flashes when interacting with Gabrio, particularly in the scene where Cosette fawns over Valjean's injury from the Gorbeau ambush (she then knocks back out to "reflect" on Marius, or--I assume that's what her face is trying to communicate is happening).

Unfortunately Marius and Cosette's courtship timeline is condensed--if I'm not mistaken? As they walk together at night in the garden there are intercuts with shots of the fountain and trees, and I'm uncertain whether these are meant to be understood as timeskips. I think not. Cosette comes across as unsettled where I think the intent is overwhelmed, and she lacks the boldness and charm of her characterization in the book. Can't say I'm enthusiastic over any of it. Why, Milovanoff?

Suzanne Nivette as Éponine is fabulous during the defense of the Rue Plumet. She's self-destructive, she's a little mad. The altercation becomes physical and loses me for a minute, but it's solid overall. I wish Marius had done a single thing to justify her investment in him, but he's treated her throughout as if she's something distasteful (which--I in fact entirely buy this version of Marius looking at her with condescension and disgust, but I think it's supposed to break into some flavor of kindness when he and Éponine first speak in his room; François Rozet flubs the delivery--he's a little vacant--and Nivette's performance is wasted; to be fair, Nivette is utterly fucking feral during that scene, and maybe threw him).

Did Toulout lose weight between parts II and III?? His face looks less blocky. Maybe they changed his makeup as part of the aging effect? Anyway, he's fun, solid Gorbeau ambush, you can tell they really wanted to add the hat line but couldn't fit it. Pause for Javert squad, Javert absent:

#les mis #Les Misérables 1925

[monstersinthecosmos]

My Armand Pain™ thought of the week has been circling around his fear of making fledglings and his general skepticism towards it and how most of the time I tend to relate it to his cult experience but this week I’m also giving credit to how bad Marius fucked him up haha. 🤗

Like idk if this outs me either as a weak reader or as a FAKE ARMAND FAN but I think, because of the way he talks about it that to me it registers as quantity over quality; ie saying it NEVER works or that it’s happened again and again makes me feel like he’s referring to his centuries as a cult leader and the experience he would’ve had navigating everyone’s relationships and interpersonal drama and generally being vampire HR and having to approve/deny requests to bring people in. Saying that it always fails/never works implies to me that it’s something that he’s seen many many times. And like, obviously it’s about Marius as well, but, I’m just thinking a lot about the Marius angle this week.

Because I think a lot about like, the parallels between Venice & the Devil’s Minion, like the way Marius treated Armand and the way Armand treated Daniel. I think also as a bonus that getting Marius’s POV in B&G adds a lot of depth to their relationship and I sort of extrapolate a lot out of it, for both relationships.

But thinking about Armand not wanting to turn Daniel, there’s the usual “You don’t want it, it’s actually a curse” stuff but the “Our relationship will never be the same if I do this.”

He’s seen it how many times in the cult--the barrier comes between them and it’s never the same. It’s another irony about immortality and the price you pay to live forever, or the price you pay to keep someone forever.

But I’m thinking a lot about how his relationship with Marius influenced it, too. And in both directions! Like, to Armand, Marius was this like majestic creature, a magician!, otherworldly and maybe saintly! Maybe demonic! Who knows, he’s a mystery! And he can’t read Marius’s thoughts anyway, so when he turns he doesn’t lose that. What he does lose, maybe, is the mystery of it. Marius changes from an ethereal mystery to Some Guy. And Armand is never his peer; he is not brought over and ever treated like an equal. Marius’s power over him shifts from simply being a preternatural creature to that fact that he’s old and strong, and he makes the choice to wield that over Armand and position himself as the master.

I don’t think Armand had an interest in treating Daniel that way, even if he entertained turning him. In fact, I think Armand yearns for an equal.

BUT THEN I wonder this all the time, I wonder if Armand actually believed Marius was dead, or how often he changed is mind about it, or how often he forced himself not to acknowledge it. Because Marius being alive means Marius didn’t save him, and when he starts meeting more vampires and seeing how they lose the magic & connection when they get turned, I wonder if he thinks Marius got bored with him. Especially with the narrative that he only turned Armand because he was mortally injured; I could see that festering to “he didn’t actually want to turn me.” (Put a pin in this for the family cycle that he does the same to Daniel 😦)

So it’s like devastating to read this towards his relationship with Daniel. And in both directions again. Worrying that he’ll be sick of Daniel, and worrying that Daniel won’t think he’s special anymore. The grief in turning Daniel isn’t just about him losing his life & mortality, it’s also that they lose their relationship as they know it. In some ways it’s like a breakup.

Armand is a person who’s lost his love ones and been rejected over and over lol. I can’t imagine that it hasn’t sculpted his sense of self worth. So even if he took the approach “I do not wield my power over Daniel, I will treat him as an equal, I will not be bored with him” I don’t think he can shake the idea that Daniel won't stay in love with him because the love is conditional.

There’s sort of an absent father cycle trope here, too, in that Armand didn’t have a good maker (for a long time) and doesn’t know how to be a good maker, and in the end it’s too frightening for him to even try. Their failure might be a self-fulfilling prophecy.

In the end like, I think this is very much part of VC lore that this happens to a lot of couples, but there are cases where they overcome it, too. I think even Marius & Pandora are a case of a couple that overcame it, even though the barrier became a logistical problem when they got lost.

But there’s this space I like to think about, post-canon, modern world, wondering how much they can learn and teach each other and heal and overcome it. There’s something about the series being OVER now that makes my imagination run wild about where else they would’ve gone, or how they might have evolved.

So maybe it’s not too late for them!!!!!!!!!!!!!

#i'm sad about armand again good morning! #armand #vampire chronicles #daniel molloy #ar #marius de romanus #armand/daniel #marius/armand #deep ass thoughts about vampires #trauma hole theory #anne rice

[hekateinhell]

I’m high and in my TVA feelings, so naturally I made an incomplete, incoherent wish list for what we should’ve gotten but didn’t:

Daniel

Can’t skip over the obvious. Armand literally and figuratively destroys this man’s life and he only gets couple paragraphs? I get the subtext, the wound’s still fresh, etc etc, but like…

Was there a time where Armand realized Daniel was starting to lose it/lose what little of it he had left? If he so, did he feel responsible? Did he panic that he might have another Nicolas on his hands, only this one belonged to him?

Who left who? Did Daniel nope out of there one last time? Did Armand just abandon him to his own devices to go stalk Lestat? Was it another angsty (it was), sort-of-mutual, sort-of-not disintegration/separation like with Armand and Louis? Was Armand the one chewing grass this time?

I could devote an essay to Daniel Questions, so I won’t right now. But know I have them.

Speaking of…

Louis

What was that reunion like? You know they’d never planned on seeing each other again, then Armand shows up with Mr. Daniel “You Are a Gift to Me From Louis” Molloy.

Did Louis get a thank you, at least? Was he absolutely mortified when he saw Daniel? Louis is someone who knows good and well what Armand is capable of, and in fact, had witnessed first-hand what became of one of Armand’s other human pets.

Which brings me to…

Denis

???

I don’t believe for a second Armand only had two human pets over the past 500 hundred years (maybe 200 years, since it was a CoD rule that vampires weren’t allowed to reveal themselves to humans, so it would’ve been after the dissolution of the Les Innocents cult — but back to CoD in a minute).

How many more pets were there? What was the criteria? We know Denis was quite young, but Daniel was an adult. Was Daniel the exception to the rule because he had known Louis? Did Armand ever have any rules here to begin with?

We got to see a human/vampire dynamic at play in the Venice years, but would’ve been a fascinating parallel to read in Armand’s own words a detailed account what it was like being on the flip side of that, with any of his pets!

Was he intentionally trying to emulate Marius (as he remembered him) with Daniel? Denis, maybe, to an extent? I doubt Armand formed any sort of deeper, beyond-the-blood attachments to Denis and the others—which is what set Daniel apart when the time came (and once again, I would’ve loved for Armand to tell us what exactly it was about Daniel that did it for him).

Last, but most certainly not least…

Children of Darkness, Theatre des Vampires

TVA gave us a basic intro to the tortures practices of the Roman coven, and we already met the later Parisian coven in TVL, but I wonder—what was their day to day like?

Just how intricate were the CoD social hierarchies?

How developed was their system for dealing with “unwell vampires”? Armand clearly already had a very refined, methodical approach by the time Lestat dropped Nicki in his lap. Eleni seems to be in the know when she’s corresponding with Lestat in TVL, it’s obviously part of their coven culture. So where/with whom did this originate? How expansive was it?

Theatre des Vampires! What was the development of that like? What did Armand think about making it in the Parisian newspapers, after spending so long in complete obscurity? We know he didn’t care too much for this coven either (evidently), but why?

I don’t believe for a second he Frankenstein-monstered Claudia (he’s a smart guy, he’d been around 400 years by then—I have to imagine he played around with heads before and knew it wouldn’t work). I do believe he had a lab though! Especially given how obsessed he was with taking things apart and experimenting in QotD.

There’s more, but I don’t remember it right now. I’m in a mood.

#hekate rambles #I can headcanon answers to all of this but I’ll never really know #truly devastating #I also have more Louis questions but they don’t come up until around the Trinity Gate era SO #the vampire chronicles #vc #armand #tva

[cliozaur]

“What was to become of Marius?” He’ll be fine in the Latin quarter! Maybe even better off than under his grandfather’s roof. We are all looking forward to this new chapter in his life! But before that…

M. Gillenromand learned about Marius’ defection, but not from Théodule. It’s curious that Théodule was most astonished by the fact that the grave was that of an officer: “Death appeared to him with large epaulets, and he almost made the military salute to him,” and this, more than anything else, compelled him to keep silent about what he had witnessed. This respectful attitude towards a senior officer draws parallels between Théodule and M. Gillenormand, both displaying a reverence for hierarchy and, in a way, with Javert, who respects authority.

Actually, Marius finds himself caught in a quandary due to his deep respect for the authority of his older family members: “What was he to do? His father had just been trampled under foot and stamped upon in his presence, but by whom? By his grandfather. How was he to avenge the one without outraging the other? It was impossible for him to insult his grandfather and it was equally impossible for him to leave his father unavenged.” And then, In his frustration, he does something utterly silly and senseless, but this helps him to release his anger, “Down with the Bourbons, and that great hog of a Louis XVIII.!”, he shouts.  

Ha! It turns out that M. Gillenormand knew nothing about his son-in-law; his animosity was purely rooted in politics: “I do not know what your father was! I do not wish to know! I know nothing about that, and I do not know him! But what I do know is, that there never was anything but scoundrels among those men! They were all rascals, assassins, red-caps, thieves! I say all! I say all! I know not one! I say all! Do you hear me, Marius!” That’s a full-blown hysterical fit or breakdown. The decision to send Marius away was, in effect, also politically motivated. However, it may have been slightly influenced by envy towards Marius' affection for his deceased father. "I am your father," his grandfather proclaims, sincerely believing in this claim, and as we will come to understand from the chapters in the last book, it holds great significance for him.

Marius lost his father’s note and holds his grandfather responsible, but unfortunately, he has memorized its contents.

I am glad that for now we are done with this peculiar family, so that we can observe how Marius develops in a completely different environment!

#les mis letters #lm 3.3.8 #les miserables #marius pontmercy #gillenormand

[samsspambox]

Parallel theory? I'm listening, go on ahead and ramble :D

hECK YEAH IM GONNA RAMBLE!!!!!

Okay so I noticed this pattern where we as a fandom tend to group the bois into groups of two in different combinations. It seemed really interesting to me and I started to pay attention to the combinations and why people did them. Then I started to pick up on a pattern that later became the Parallel Theory! So without further ado:

Parallel Theory: All Good Things Come in Pairs 

(~800 words)

When you look closely, you find two main patterns in terms of characterizations and/or facts. 

If one thing applies to one protagonist, it applies to all (ex: they’re all into doing a type of sport, they’re into charity work…) 

If one thing applies to one protagonist, it applies to one other (in varying degrees) while being false for the remaining two boys 

The Parallel Theory (bc they’re like parallel lines, two different lines that never meet opposite of each other) is the second bullet point that, in my opinion, keeps getting proved time and time again. It applies to both their characters and, interestingly enough, sometimes their clothing. I’ll give three examples that each increase in specificity. 

EXAMPLE 1: Watches (Permutation 2) 

In each of the standard outfits, both Artem and Vyn wear watches. Inversely, Luke and Marius don’t. This is something that can change because it’s aesthetic, and it has. Marius wears a watch in his Suit Outfit and Luke wears one in his RRG outfit. But in terms of when we were first introduced, there is one pair that regularly wears watches, and one that does not. 

EXAMPLE 2: Harrowing Past (Permutation 3)

Now let’s get a little more specific. Thinking about the past of the NXX, we have two members that we… really don’t know much about. Luke and Vyn’s past are shrouded in mysteries. Luke spent 8 years away from Stellis and aside from the little tidbits he lets himself share, we know nothing. And even then sometimes you have to weasel it out of him because he’s just that much of a closed book about it. Similarly, we don’t know much about Vyn’s past in Svart until he tells us. I haven’t really looked at his 3rd birthday card, so I don’t know how much he reveals, but he’s also a closed book regarding his past. Artem and Marius aren’t so much. We know much more specific events about Marius’ life because he’s been in the public eye for longer and is happy to share. Artem (and his mom LMAO) are also happy to share their past and are a lot more open about it. 

(There’s also a sub-point to this that’s pretty shitty but,,,I mean I’m right. Artem and Vyn both have their full set of biological parents while Luke and Marius don’t,,, I’m sorry) 

EXAMPLE 3: Reluctant Heir to the Throne (Permutation 1)  

Segwaying a bit on Vyn’s past, from what we do know is that he’s the son of a duke. It’s not a spoiler anymore since his 2nd birthday card’s whole plot is about this. Anyway, that stands to reason that he is next in line for that particular title should his father pass away (or abdicate… idk maybe he wants to find love again). But we know that Vyn doesn’t want that life, we know that Vyn hates the hypocrisy and stuff back in Svart. Marius’s throne isn’t much of an actual throne, but the position of CEO. We know that the only reason he even is CEO is because Giann is missing. He’s implied he doesn't want the position and is ready to bounce the second that Giann is back. Artem and Luke don’t have that, they had to work for what they had now and very much wanted their positions.

There’s obviously more things (such as Luke and Vyn wearing 3 layers in their sprites, Marius and Artem’s secret identities, Artem and Vyn being guest lectures at Stellis U) but I just wanted to highlight that this theory applies to all combinations of protagonists. It's also the type of thing that when you look at it, it’s hard to ignore. 

It also makes theorizing/headcanon-ing super duper helpful. So, back to last night’s thought and following the parallel theory: if Marius has piercings, there’s a non-zero percent chance that one of the NXX members also has piercings. Artem, in 6.2, recounts that he’s worn earrings to costume parties before but made no remark about if they were clip-ons or not. There’s still a chance they are, but there’s a non-zero chance that they’re not. It could be that he’s let them close but it still counts because he, at one point, had the piercings. 

Obviously, the theory doesn’t apply in certain instances but 8 times out of 10 there's a chance that it does if you look close enough. 

And yeah! That's the Parallel Theory!

also nonnie that's so pure and cute, we love experimenting in this household. actually, it reminds me of this guy on tiktok who rolls dice and has a numbered list of ingredients that he then takes and makes into a sandwich. it's called roll for sandwich and its so interesting!!! i think you'd enjoy it nonnie!

Thank you for asking Galena and nonnie ily! (platonically ofc)

#tears of themis #tears of themis theory #sam theorizes #sam rambles #galena asks #nonnie asks #anon asks #sam answers #marius von hagen #artem wing #luke pearce #vyn richter #lu jinghe #zuo ran #xia yan #mo yi #can you tell i've thought about this for way too long LMAOO #long post #theory time

[blueiight]

Marius is a pedophile who purchased and groomed Armand at age 14/15. He fell in love with Pandora when she was 13 or so idk. Lestat is in canon no more a pedophile than Louis or Armand is, in fact Louis is more so one considering what he said about Claudia in Merrick (essentially saying his love for Claudia and Merrick are of the same nature). Lestat made Claudia yes but she was always intended as a daughter and not a fucktoy. Like i'm sorry but this anon is insane. If they're looking to stir up hate toward Lestat maybe don't start with why do people not vibe with a character who is explicitly always drawn to kids as sexual partners first and foremost

Even in the interview book and in a section of qotd louis + claudia’s arrangement in europe was likened to that of a marriage.. by both parties lol. claudia saying if u can love someone like me u can also love armand.. louis saying we were like man+ wife. lestat making claudia is a taboo like marius making armand bc they were both children. lestat also raped a mortal woman in tobt. it was a parallel was my point. it was a mistake of me to even answer a single anon abt that i was letting it cook cuz i was busy this week n had time today but i shouldnt have even answered any of it. i dont want anons scrapping in my ask box cuz theyre too scared to post their opinion on fiction on their own blogs n ppl taking me out of context saying i endorse xyz or abcd + sending my responses to groupchats to mock. im really fucking tired of this fanbase this is one of the most annoying fanbases ive been in in no small part bc of how yall move. the show has invigorated my interest + im excited to see how it goes but i dont want to be nobody proxy blog loool.

#yn. #yn answers