#loumandstat

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i've said this before s3 even - armand is not the obstacle between loustat. lestat gave louis to armand. which is a ridiculous thing for him to say but is in character.

he willingly kept armand's lies under wraps. lestat says in s3 that it's to punish louis and armand which i think is true (people wanna all of a sudden say he's lying about that because it doesn't fit the lestat is always kind and a victim complex). but lestat is not a villain or one-dimensional. i think he did want to punish them both but also knew that louis would resent him for not saving claudia and their whole relationship will rinse and repeat like it did in nola. he doesn't wanna lose louis for good so he gave louis to armand (as an act of love) so he knows where louis would be and knows eventually, the truth will come out.

and he knows armand desperately needs someone to serve because that's what armand thinks he's only good for (like the whole interview ja gave about armand almost worshipping someone he loves as a religion).

lestat has never actually hated armand and s3 has shown you multiple times. they have a complicated relationship. it's highly toxic and dysfunctional but they will never actually kill each other because there is a complicated kind of respect, disdain, resentment, and love all in there. armand and lestat know each other deeply which is why they behave this way. they are each other's reminders of their worst and most repressed selves.

there is no loustat vs loumand, no lestat vs armand and no louis vs armand or louis vs lestat or even dm vs loustat. the three of them are complicated and will always orbit around each other no matter how awful they are with each other.

and with daniel -

Louis and Armand unable to get out from under the ghost of their pasts with Lestat; even when he's not there, he gets between them.