silly billy

I see many people trying to justify the erasure of Assad Zaman from the season's promotion by saying "he's not a main character," and I strongly disagree. I understand the series has already gone down the path of "reimagining the books" — they've changed the timeline, appearances, and backstories of the characters — but I will be unbelievably angry if they dare to change the DAMN PLOT OF THE BOOK.

If you read the books, you would never get the impression that the vampire Armand is a secondary character. He never was, not even from the very first book.

The vampire Armand appears in almost every single book, and almost everywhere he is the primary driver of the plot, a central character. The vampire Louis is the one who is absent from many books!

If we talk specifically about book "The Vampire Lestat", there is literally an entire chapter dedicated SOLELY to the vampire Armand. If Armand had never met Lestat, Lestat would never have met Marius, never would have awakened Akasha, and there would have been no apocalypse!

Armand is the engine of the plot. You cannot ignore that. You cannot write him off as a secondary character. In The Vampire Lestat, the secondary character is Louis! He gets literally two lines in that book.

Also, let's not ignore the relationship between Lestat and Armand. It was extremely toxic, but do not forget HOW IMPORTANT Armand was to Lestat — so much so that Akasha did not kill him. She literally told Lestat, "I will not kill only those who are DEAR to you." For that reason, she did not kill Armand, nor Daniel, who was dear to Armand. So does that not prove the colossal importance of this character?

If we follow the subsequent books, Armand literally settles all the vampires in his house, and they constantly hang out there. All gatherings and councils take place there, in ARMAND'S HOUSE. Armand even takes in Antoine (Lestat's vampire fledgling).

So yes, in my opinion — and I stand by it — Armand is one of the main characters of this universe. And what is happening right now with the season three promotion genuinely makes me extremely worried about changes to his storyline. The erasure of Assad Zaman is complete madness and blatant racism.

Wish I could find the og post but giving a million roses to that person who said: “In high school, you told a girl you'd only do her if she had a paper bag over her head. She agreed and you did it even as she cried.” is what Daniel’s done to Louis with the book. A million roses! Because the book is such a huge violation.

In early Season 1, Louis claims his intentions are for the book to act as a warning against vampires. But as more of his tale gets told and the more twisted memories get unraveled, the interview obviously stops being about “public safety” and is mainly about Louis desperate to understand what’s happened to him and his family. Daniel’s an investigative journalist. The interview was always, truthfully, about Louis hoping someone would reopen the cold case of his trauma and expose the missing pieces.

And so in S2, things are much more emotionally sensitive, much more intense. Louis cries and thanks Daniel the clearer things get, no matter how ugly or painful. By now it is obvious this interview and “book” is more intimate and personal than initially believed. And Daniel KNOWS THIS! “I want 20 minutes, for me. I'd like to know, for me, what happened between us.” The interview’s become something personal even for him!!

It is so obvious none of this is for an audience anymore. So it really shouldn’t be that big of a shock when Louis burns the laptop and rescinds his consent for it all to be made into a spectacle. The truths revealed have changed Louis’ life and his view on life. The recordings no longer have any place being marketed and sold to strangers worldwide. This stopped being for the public a LONG time ago (if it honestly ever was.)

So for it all to be published anyway is a huge violation to everything they went through and talked about. If I understand correctly, the Talamasca holds more of the blame for publicizing the book than Daniel does, and no the Talamasca as an organization doesn’t owe Louis anything.

But despite being more of a passive player in its publication, Daniel agreed and is happily reaping the benefits from being its face! The horrors Louis and his loved ones have suffered from were chopped up and mutilated into lies and fanfiction. Things Louis never said, things he and Armand never did, just piles and piles of bullshit splattered on top of this crime scene and advertised as a sideshow attraction.

And Daniel is giddy from it!!! High off the limelight this has awarded him. In the teaser he asks if Louis liked it but doesn’t actually give a fuck as he laughs. Daniel only wants to know if Louis’ read it for the ego boost of having his own “characters” read his success.

Daniel and Louis once had an intimate understanding of the sensitivity of what’s been shared (re: the handshake in the finale), but Daniel’s made it clear he sees all of their trauma as nothing but profit and entertainment. Or maybe even worse, that he understands the seriousness and the impact and just doesn’t care. Daniel’s gone from an investigative journalist to a true crime youtuber layering a spooky soundtrack over a goddamn lynching! All authenticity turned sensational!