Thoughts and Reflections

This is an updated masterpost containing all links regarding asks I've gotten about Armand and Daniel's relationship (Devil's Minion), as well as metas I've written about the relationship, as it pertains to the AMC+ TV Show, as well as book info about the pair. This post is for quick reference for anyone looking for a specific meta or answer to a question they may have, as well as for myself, as the show goes forward.

You can find the original/old masterposts lists I did for this here and here.

The second masterpost list I did began to contain too many links, and therefore stopped allowing for more updates to be made to it and posted. This new post will, therefore, contain links to all new parts of the masterpost lists going forward.

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Links to other parts of this masterpost:

Part II

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Book Specific References/Questions:

A book-based timeline of the events regarding Daniel and the Devil's Minion story/relationship (created by Lixx) -- here.

No, Anne Rice was not against fanfic because people were writing her characters having gay sex (and isn't rolling in her grave over the gay sex in the show) -- here and here.

Yes, the ship name for Armand/Daniel (as far as book-fandom goes) has always been "Devil's Minion" since at least when the Queen of the Damned book was first published in 1988 -- here.

What we know about Daniel's background from the books (which is not much) -- here.

Overview of Armand's backstory and relationship with Lestat, Louis, and Daniel in the books -- here and here.

Who and what is Armand's endgame (in the books & spec regarding the show during Season 1) -- here and here.

Armand and Daniel's relationship was NOT love at first sight, like it was for Lestat and Louis. Their relationship, in fact, starts out more like a horror movie (but it gave them the chance to see, and fall in love with each other, with no illusions as to who the other one was) -- here, here, here, and here.

David Talbot (aka why the show has likely replaced his character with Louis and Daniel) -- here.

The origin of the "Boss" nickname that many fanfic writers have Daniel call Armand in fanfics -- here.

My thoughts about Daniel not being mentioned in the final Vampire Chronicles book, Blood Communion -- here and here.

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AMC+ Showrunner Rolin Jones talking about The Devil's Minion:

Yes, Rolin Jones did promise Devil's Minion, actually -- here.

What Rolin Jones said at SDCC 2022 about Devil's Minion -- here (YouTube Video).

Rolin Jones speaking at the 2024 ATX TV Festival about Devil's Minion -- here (video).

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AMC+ Universe Specific Reference Links:

Daniel Molloy's LinkedIn page, set up by the AMC+ show -- here.

Daniel Molloy's Practicum Course Website -- here.

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General AMC+ Show Devil's Minion Metas and Specs:

Why I think a large part of the Devil's Minion storyline, particularly the 4-year Chase between Armand and Daniel, as well as their romance after that, all happened in the past, during the book's original 12-year timeline (1973 to 1985); including signs and hints in the show that it did -- here, here, here, here, here, here and here. (And a gifset tags meta here.)

What I think Louis was doing while Armand was chasing younger Daniel for 4 years, as well as very likely the first 3 years (at least) of Armand & Daniel's full romantic relationship after that (in short, IMO Louis was very likely asleep, underground in the earth, healing from his burn wounds) -- here.

Why I think Louis doesn't know -- or remember -- what happened between Armand and Daniel in the past -- here.

Why I don't think it was Armand who erased Daniel's memories of their past relationship -- here and here.

Daniel, Parkinson's Disease, and Dr. Fareed -- here, here, and here.

Daniel's importance to Armand's story (a.k.a. why Daniel won't be killed off ... or at least why he won't stay dead and gone if he does die) -- here, here, and here.

Thoughts on Daniel's sexuality (with commentary about the 1980s AIDS crisis) -- here, here, and here.

About the Armand = Alice theory -- here and here.

What I feel is the most important thing when it comes to adapting The Devil's Minion story/relationship, and why -- here, here, and here.

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Season-specific Metas and Specs are below the cut:

Source.

Clip from Buffy Season 2, Episode 7 -- "Lie to Me."

From the first time I heard this monologue until the end of the series, I came to see it as almost a mission statement of the show. Everything Giles says is, of course, a lie, and this show wasn't going to be that kind of fantasy show where such things would be true either. And, by and large, it wasn't even before this moment and monologue.

"... no one ever dies, and everybody lives happily ever after."

It's a lie, and we know it. But still, there will be times when we wish so much that it weren't.

And yes, my hearing the news today was now one of those times.

Hi! 👋🏾

Okay, sorry for just getting to this so late. I got distracted by some other things today. 😊

Okay, so, the thing that I think Claudia might have written in her diaries about Armand -- that he took out -- might just match up to the warning that Claudia, in the book, gave to Louis about Armand, but that Louis paid no heed to:

And, in fact, Delainey just said something similar about Claudia and Armand in the recent Reddit AMA that she and other members, including Assad, did:

DELAINEY: I think this season is new and fun... Wait and see that! But last season I don't think Armand took the time to get to –we spoke about this yesterday– know her. There's a world where they might have gotten along. But, she was in the way, so he did what he had to do. Um, I hate him for it.

The tragedy regarding Claudia's death is that, while she was doomed the minute she and Louis set foot in Paris -- because the coven was never going to let them leave the city alive -- Claudia ultimately died because Armand felt that she was in the way. Armand saw her as being in the way of his being with Louis.

Armand wanted Claudia dead and gone. In the book, Claudia knew that and tried to warn Louis about it, but Louis didn't believe her.

We sort of got a version of that after Armand threatened Claudia, grabbing her around the neck and threatening her, and Claudia telling Louis about it, and Louis not believing her.

However, given how long Louis and Claudia were in Paris in the show vs the books (years in the show vs only a few weeks in the books), I suspect that might not have been the only time Armand might have done something similar to her. Maybe even closer to what he did in the books, telepathically trying to urge her to kill herself.

And if he was threatening her in any other way, like this, that we just didn't see (maybe because she didn't tell Louis after he dismissed her concern the first time)? Well, I have no doubt that Claudia might have written such things down in her diary.

Needless to say, I've always been a little suspicious about how that scene in the cafe before Louis, Claudia, and Madeleine were taken actually went down, because Claudia thanking Armand for not treating her like a child? Yeah, I don't buy that, given how he ordered her to wear that Baby Lulu costume 24/7 at one point. 😑

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So, one of the reasons Armand might have taken the pages that spoke about him out, and again, this is just my own speculation, but I suspect that might have had something to do with the fact that, in the show, Daniel never heard the whole story of what happened in Paris back in 1973 during the first interview.

Watching Season 1, I always found that particular thing very interesting. Because in the books, Daniel very much heard the whole tale of what happened in Paris and Armand's role in Claudia's death, having orchestrated it -- and Louis having known that fact the whole time he and Armand were companions.

So when Daniel eventually met and fell in love with Armand, he knew from Louis' account what Armand had done in this regard.

However, if Armand and Daniel's relationship happened in the past on the show (and I 100% think it did)? Then, in the show, Daniel will have fallen in love without knowing a single thing about Armand's past when he does so, outside of whatever Armand tells him.

Because in 1973, things went sideways -- with Louis almost killing Daniel -- before Louis' telling ever got to Paris and Armand. Plus, Daniel has his memories blocked regarding the six nights he spent being held by Armand after that, and, at the moment, I don't think those memories ever came back to Daniel until decades later in Dubai, as we saw in EP 2x05.

So, in the universe of the show, it is very likely that Daniel fell in love with Armand in the past without any prior knowledge whatsoever about some of the things Armand had done as a vampire before they met. His only knowledge would be from whatever Armand told him.

And, when it comes to Claudia and her fate? I do not think Armand told Daniel anything about it.

Which I think might play a role in their modern-day relationship, and in the fact that the show gave Daniel two daughters.

Because there is no guarantee that Armand would love Daniel's daughters just because he loves Daniel. Armand loved Louis (and Lestat), and that did not guarantee Claudia's safety in the slightest. Armand, in fact, very much wanted her gone.

And, in the end, he got his wish.

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However, I also think there is another, simpler reason why Armand took the pages out as well, and that is Armand knowing how sharp Daniel's mind is. Remember, Armand himself said it -- he thinks Daniel has a sharper mind than any human that walks.

So Armand might have also thought, rightly IMO, that Daniel, just by reading whatever passages Claudia wrote in her diary about Armand, might have had Daniel putting the pieces together regarding Armand's role in her death in a way he was clearly trying to prevent.

In fact, Daniel may have put it all together even more quickly than he eventually ended up doing via the trial-play script and thinking to contact the Talamasca to see if they had a copy of it that contained Armand's margin notes, after he noticed Armand doing this:

One tiny move was all it took for Daniel's mind to start putting things together.

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