It's Different For Vampires

It is so clear that Daniel and Armand are PAINFULLY yearning for each other rn and there are so, SO many layers to it:

turning your first fledgling in 500 years of life and keeping yourself completely OUT of said fledgling's life out of fear for your influence on him, yet still wishing so desperately to be there for him and to be different than every other maker you've seen and not knowing how

entering vampirism being completely isolated from your community because of a book you wrote basically exposing it to the human world, all while the person who is supposed to be your mentor has COMPLETELY skipped town, and wishing that one person would come back and teach you about your existence and your powers

"Loneliness is the worst pain a vampire can experience" while Armand is the MOST lonely vamp in the whole show and wants nothing more than to be loved and not abandoned and the ONE person who still wanted him gave a speech telling him to fuck off and get out of his life

"Loneliness is the worst pain a vampire can experience" while Daniel doesn't mean a single WORD of his fuck off speech and all he wants is his maker back but he is so lost and rejected and hurt after being abandoned that it's all he can say to Armand

their bond being so UNIQUELY strong that other people literally disappear when they are close, and having to experience that without the comfort the other's presence WOULD bring. They're just alone.

your eyes being the same color as your maker's as a permanent reminder that you are his and both parties being in immense pain over that because they are not TOGETHER THEY ARE NEVER TOGETHER FOR YEARS THEY HAVE BEEN APART AND ALL THEY WANT IS TO BE WITH EACH OTHER

While the other vamps tend to end up VERY bloody after hunting or when in conflict with each other, Armand is always eerily clean. After he hunts in Dubai there's not a speck of it on him and he doesn't look at all dishevelled, showing not only how powerful he is but also (I think) that he makes a concerted effort to be clean. He doesn't physically fight with many other characters, but for example in 1970 he's NEVER bloody, even when interacting with injured Daniel or Louis.

(This, in addition to Armand's staunch refusal pre-Daniel to make a fledgling, really sets him apart as a vampire and I think it makes him all the more interesting. Due to his age, layered acts and personalities, and certainly his truama, there's always a distance between him and other characters. These little visual exceptions cement that gap.)

There is ONE exception to this pattern, and that's in the s2 finale when Louis fights him:

Even here, it's not much blood, but there's significance to the fact that this is the first time Armand is really being seen as he is. All his deception has been laid out in plain view, his lover for the past 77 years now lost, and there's no point anymore in him keeping up appearances. I think the blood represents this raw, honest state, as it's the most vulnerable we ever see him.

*SPOILERS for TVL Episode 3!!!

Lestat and Claudia's parallels really do get more and more sickening because what do you mean we got a scene of Louis reading Claudia's diary entry describing her assault and her feelings in those moments at the same time as a scene of Lestat being HAUNTED by the phantom of his maker and abuser along with a MONTAGE of said turning and assault and we know now exactly how much of himself he must have seen in her...

Heard someone the other day pointing out that his line "The vampires out there are vicious" was a genuine warning, evidenced by the actions of Armand, Bruce, and the Paris coven, but his history with Magnus makes that make even MORE sense I'm ILL

BEFORE ANYONE SAYS IT I TOO THINK THE INCEST IS WEIRD... my use of this quote as a blog title and a point of reflection does NAWT mean I enjoy a mother/son relationship. However, I DID have some thoughts on how this quote relates to my own interest in vampires as a queer person AND how their stories are intertwined with anyone "othered" by society.

In the history of vampires as a popular media trope, they have represented the anxieties, prejudices, and aches of the societies creating them. Effeminate, seductive vampires channelled ideas on the "monstrousness" of homosexuality. Teenage biker vampires represented anxieties about the "youth of today" and their rebellious behavior. Toxic relationships through a vampiric lens carry an intensity and a bond rarely ever seen in human relationships and can be all the more damaging. Etc, etc, etc, but my main point is that we create vampires in the image of ourselves with a darker tint, AND that they have entrenched themselves in popular culture so well because we love to see their stories in that way.

As a byproduct of these characters being inherently outside the norm, perhaps framed as monstrous because of it but also, in more recent pieces of media, humanized as a result, I think they can be extremely relatable and even comforting to others outside the norm of our actual society. I saw a post the other day likening Armand's experience (a vampire turned young, whose small and rather femininely beautiful appearance will literally NEVER change now, no matter what he does and despite the bad associations he may feel from that) to that of a trans man. HOO BOY, as a trans man myself who shares anxieties at an inability to physically change, that hit hard. If vampires are meant to represent societal fears, than that aspect of vampirism seems to have struck right at a more personal fear. That being said, the common theme of vampirism being a mode of escaping oppression and finally gaining the agency and power society has denied you for so long is an incredibly appealing one- for example, Gabriella's turning in IWTV as a woman in aristocratic 16th century France, or more prevalently Louis' turning as a gay, black man in 1900's New Orleans, or even Bella's turning in Twilight as a teenage girl. The idea of turning yourself into something "monstrous" when you have already been cast out, dismissed, or labelled as a monster by those around you and finally having the power to defend yourself and live the way you want to... HOLY cow that is impactful. Not to mention, immortality in a way allows these characters to transcend the societal norms of their times because they have lived and are going to live through countless other eras- "What is a mediocre star to a 500 year-old vampire?" What is the prejudice of a mere decade to someone who will live forever?

Queerness is a topic woven into nearly every piece of vampire media ever made (except Twilight I HAVE THOUGHTS ON THAT FRANCHISE...); gay relationships are featured prevalently in IWTV, obviously, and early works like Carmilla and The Vampyre had their monsters defy typical gender and sexuality norms as a way of emphasizing their horror. Beyond MLM and WLW representation, though, there are often undertones of alternative types of attraction and relationships, non-monogamy, non-traditional modes of affection and intimacy, ETC ETC ETC, because, as I said, vampires break societal norms. These motifs are the ones I am really drawn to as someone who is polyamorous and on the aromantic and asexual spectrums- for example, the idea of the bond between maker and fledgling carrying extreme weight even though it's not necessarily romantic. The act of sharing blood as an activity MORE intimate and pleasurable than sex. The various ways vampires "endure" over the centuries, with their romantic and sexual interactions being a completely different ballgame from human ones for so many reasons. Just like I mentioned earlier how immortality can free one from care for societal norms, having your entire biology and lifestyle be different from that of a human's can free you from having to think or act like humans expect. Again, to many who are restricted and frowned upon by societal norms, that can be (and IS, for me) a very moving idea.

"It's different for vampires" sums up everything I said above in such a concise line that I actually gasped a little when Sam Reid delivered it (despite the context). As much as they look human, they are not human, and why should they have to pretend that they are? For those who are different to what society expects and accepts, why should we have to live by rules that don't consider or suit us? (The Vampire Lestat has been a really interesting watch for me so far because he leans HEAVILY into this rejection of norms made by those who don't understand you, in a way Louis never quite did. He's really growing on me as a narrator.)

This was a LONG ramble, but I'm starting to understand why I love vampire stories so much and find comfort in these characters, especially (currently) those from IWTV, and I thought sharing those thoughts would be a great way to start this blog. If anyone has responses/other thoughts/silly comments, by all means share!