#daniel mallory

Hi Anon!

Your question actually goes into a theory I've been starting to have, so I'm going to throw that in at the end of this answer.

So, within the first three books in the series, at least, you can say Armand's larger goal usually is, at its core, finding a companion that'll help him connect to the world.

Armand actually wanted Lestat to be his companion when they encountered each other. Lestat turned Armand down, basically with a "you and I wouldn't work out together," which more or less pissed Armand off. (And it's been antagonistic between them ever since. But don't get it twisted - if Armand could have Lestat in that way, if Lestat was at all interested, Armand would jump at the chance.)

When we meet Armand again in Interview with the Vampire, it's Louis Armand gets eyes on for a companion. Which he ends up getting for a time (a long time). By the time Louis gave his first interview, he and Armand had split up though.

Armand encounters Daniel after that first interview happened and, after a time, Daniel becomes his companion and his connection to the modern world.

Armand is basically the story's main antagonist within the first two books, only starting to not be one by the third. And my guess is the show is going to have him in a similar role here, especially for S2, since it will for sure be covering the latter half of the IWTV book at the very least. Which is when Armand goes hard in his endgame to make Louis his companion.

As in the book, I think Armand has lied to both Lestat and Louis that the other is dead. All to keep Louis with him.

Where Daniel fits into this, I can only guess. But I don't think it's a coincidence that the show has Armand's book-canon endgame companion/lover in the story here. And that Daniel clearly has missing memories about Armand, as was confirmed in that final scene.

In Queen of the Damned, when Armand had Daniel by his side, his full obsession was with Daniel. He even saw Daniel as a gift to him from Louis.

As far as the show goes, I think Armand's goal has been to keep Louis by his side. I don't think he's BS-ing about Louis wanting to kill himself. But I'm also not sure that Daniel is even going to be allowed to publish this book now, at least to the wider world, that would have Vampires coming to try and kill Louis for it. Because there was clearly a set narrative that was supposed to be told to Daniel for that book. But Daniel is way better at his job than he was back in 1973, and he was able to crack through that set narrative.

My feeling is that Daniel is for sure not leaving that tower penthouse apartment. He's as much trapped in that gilded cage as Louis is now.

And this is where my theory/speculation comes in:

Armand, in the book, would keep humans as pets. And I think we're going to see his character doing that in Season 2. Daniel himself was pretty much a pet at the start of his entanglement with Armand in the QotD book, before Armand fell in love with him.

And I think show-Daniel was that very thing at one time too. Back when he was younger. A very beloved pet - "our boy" - but a pet nonetheless.

But, unlike Armand's other human pets in the book, Daniel was never killed by him. And Armand, due to his love for Daniel, eventually turned Daniel when he was dying.

In the show, Daniel was clearly not killed or turned. I think he was let go instead, with altered memories. Because I think Daniel was with Armand and Louis for longer and more than just that failed interview night in 1973.

I think for sure that Louis and Lestat are endgame on the show. But I do not think there is going to be any sort of extended love triangle between Lestat, Louis, and Armand. Louis chose Lestat over his beloved Claudia. If in full possession of himself and knowing Lestat is alive, Louis would choose Lestat over Armand every single time. Which is why Armand even has to manipulate to have Louis with him now.

- Rear Window (1954), directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

#17 / Elijah

“Your lips are so soft. I could kiss them all day,” Seleno whispered to him, and Daniel didn’t understand what he was talking about, because his lips had always been dry and cracked. His few dates had complained about it and told him to use chapstick. He never bothered. But when Seleno had to leave, he touched his lips, and for the first time in a very long time, they were smooth.

Even the three scars on his face felt smoother, and when he braced himself and ran his hands over all the self-harm scars on his arms, they were softened too.

Though he was disturbed by the new change, it was also nice. He hated the scars on his arms, and if somehow they faded away, he’d be glad.

-

After a few months, Daniel compared himself to a picture of himself he’d taken with Seleno while the angel wore a costume mask so he’d actually show up in the image. His scars were almost completely faded, his freckles were getting hard to see, and his eyes looked more blue than green.

He ran his fingers through his hair. It’d started to grow less messy, and the color was definitely a few shades darker, looking more like a reddish brown than a deep orange.

With a sick feeling in his stomach, he took a picture of himself with his phone, and hurried over to his laptop. After uploading the photo, he opened up an editing program and set the new photo on top of the original. He resized it so his face was the same size as the original, and lowered the opacity. After angling it, he stared at them.

His eyes weren’t the same shape, his face was much rounder, like his cheekbones had softened, and his eyebrows were thicker. His hair was definitely straighter and darker, and his shoulders looked more broad.

When he could push aside the horror growing in the pit of his stomach, he measured himself. He was taller, even though he hadn’t grown in years.

Daniel searched for a video of himself talking on his phone. He listened to it, and then recorded himself saying the same thing. When he played the two one after the other, even his voice was noticeably different.

It was like he was turning into a different person, subtly enough that he hadn’t really noticed any of it besides his scars.

Elijah & Daniel from my story Camp Uonder !

Elijah Etherford- Nephie's mom, Seleno's ex-husband, Gabriel's husband, Jude's stepfather