fuck if i know

armand in season two reacted impulsively and in shame when he stuck by louis’ side after the trial. louis assumed armand saved him and armand was too afraid and insecure to correct him. armand tripped into the perfect excuse and ran with it for 70 years out of desperation. he gaslit louis for decades in a relationship they were both clearly miserable in because he’s the fucking poster child of the sunk cost fallacy. armand doesn’t let go of anything until he’s FORCED to

santiago was the major schemer in putting the play together and armand’s cowardice and insecurity compelled him to participate and direct it. armand was VERY much responsible for his actions there- he played a major role in orchestrating the lynching of louis and claudia, but he wasn’t the sole scheming manipulator of that plot. he didn’t trust louis enough to abandon the coven for him, made his choice when santiago organized a mutiny, and those actions were fueled by his insecurity and desperation

armand is dangerous when he’s afraid. armand will do anything to latch onto others and feel loved when he thinks he’s backed into a corner. he’s a monster who is desperate for love. not a machiavellian schemer. not a mastermind. vengeance and petty cruelty have never been the driving factors of armand’s worst behavior; his misguided understanding of love is always at the core of the worst things he does

in 2x05 he asks louis if louis is miserable inside the prison of empathy armand has built for him

that line understands armand SO well. armand thinks he’s acting out of love. armand thinks he’s constructed a safe harbor for him and louis. armand thinks if he loves louis in the right way, if he can manipulate louis into loving him back, that things simply have to work out, because if they don’t, armand will be alone and unmoored. armand has NO CLUE who he is without tying himself to someone else

armand genuinely thinks that he’s acting in louis’ best interest for all of season two. he’s decided that this is their happy ending and he is DESPERATE to maintain it. armand goes down with the ship because he will not fucking accept that it’s sinking. he tries to scoop water out of the hull with his bare hands no matter how hopeless the situation is, because when he’s in a corner, he blinds himself to reality

i was so incredibly impressed and moved by season two’s depiction of armand. by assad zaman’s clear love for armand and deep understanding of everything that makes armand tick. armand is a monster. he’s a pathetic, clinging monster who at his core is so insecure and so blinded by desperation that he convinces himself he has no other option than to cling on to whoever he thinks will keep him by their side

louis spends all of his time in paris insisting that the devolving status quo is maintainable, that there’s a balance to find between himself and the coven, that armand can just tell them to fuck off and everything will be okay. louis doesnt budge a fucking inch for armand in paris. and that makes sense for louis’ character! it’s an overcorrection driven by his experiences with lestat; he was burned so badly in new orleans that he puts his fucking foot down and decides that he’s never giving someone that type of in again. he will not be hurt like that again. he’s in control of the relationship this time, he’s the dominant partner, and he gives armand the ultimatum of choosing between him or the coven because joining the coven would NEVER be an option for louis

they were doomed from the start. fresh off of his travels with claudia and the assassination of lestat, louis never would’ve given armand any ground. he completely ignores and disregards armand’s insistence that what they have isn’t maintainable and that something needs to change; louis places all of the onus for that change on armand. and when armand is caught between his coven of centuries and a man he wants to love who has never budged an inch for him, he picks the coven. he goes with the safer option. because armand would never take the risk of abandoning miserable stability for a potentially happier scenario that requires him to leave his comfort zone

maitre in the bedroom, maitre when it’s convenient. armand needs control. armand pretends at submission and enjoys playing the role occasionally, but armand is a control FREAK. he couldn’t control louis. he couldn’t predict louis would actually stay with him or keep armand by his side because louis spent their entire relationship withholding. so armand picks the coven, and then, when he can’t pick the coven anymore, he takes the in and stays with louis