trampled under your pretty foot again.

Toni’s recent sb posts🧿💛

what i feel like is at the core of armand's frustration with her (besides not wanting to share louis) and what i feel like he wants to say to her is, 'it's not that difficult to say yes. just fucking say yes.'

but it is tho. of course it's difficult to say yes when you don't want it. but its second nature to him. armand listens to the vampire in his eyeline and says yes, (passive). doesn't even think to go 'do i want this'. why does it matter what he wants.

she is steadfast, she comes into her own, takes her autonomy by the throat, autonomy that armand never had* and he hates her for it. armand prolly can't even spell it. this is probs really obvs (hehe) but i can stop thinking abt it. fucking love armand and claudia parallels!!! save me blah blah blah u get the gist.

*note: armand is incapable of superficial, important day to day autonomy. the overarching narrative brushstrokes he paints. obvs.

for one, he's already got it in his mind that she's not going to live for long. she was never supposed to exist in his eyes, and even though she's more grounded and resolute than virtually any other vampire in the troupe, he still routinely underestimates and infantilizes her.

secondly, i think that to armand, having a child's body is synonymous with commodification. i think claudia's refusal to just grit her teeth and deal with being humiliated on stage irks him. similar to what you said, i can imagine him wanting to say to her: 'This is what is expected of you. Why can't you just do it?' the idea of not doing something because you don't want to rarely crosses his mind, so imagine how he feels about someone in a body he feels should offer them no autonomy.

there is something to be said about the fact one of them never got to grow up physically and the other never got to grow up mentally.

to add to your point about envy, this is not even talking about the fact that after what we've learned of Marius on the show, Armand probably hated growing up. hated every single hair on his face, hated his broadening shoulders, hated that every once in a while his voice would just get a bit deeper and he a little stronger, hated that every time he woke up he was just a little taller. he probably starved himself to inhibit the growth process. this, in my view, means:

jealousy. he's jealous of Claudia. because maybe he would've come and saved me if i was in a body like hers

resentment towards his maker, for turning him 'so late' and for only doing it because he falls sick. he thinks he's only desirable as a child (his notions probably weren't helped by the fact that donations increased over time), at least to Marius. (whether or not this is true, we've yet to find out. in my understanding, he does have full relationships with adults in the books?)

to your last thingy, yes!!! the most consistently wronged, betrayed and let down vampire on the show is Claudia (and madeleine in the end), despite her just being the absolute best vampire and showing no 'weaknesses', i.e., her abuse or pain. her very existence is an abomination to the coven and a disregard of the laws, even though it's literally not her fault. (if you ask me, it's the victim blamey, every vamp for themselves mentality). everyone around her failed her (except madeleine who chose her over life itself.) :((((((((((((