basic human emotion // red over red over red

"That's when you can decide if you want [the position of coven leader] back, or if you want something else."

"I want you more than anything in the world."

"You sure about that, Arun?"

"Yes, Maître."

Armand's response is way less unhinged considering they were also talking about whether Armand still wants to be coven leader. "Armand" was the name forced on him by the cult that tortured him and made him become a coven leader that he did not want to be. It is a slave name, as much as "Amadeo" is, a brand intended to assimilate him, to further remove him from his ethnic origins the way many enslaved people were.

So of course Louis, a black Creole man whose character arc was about struggling against the roles forced upon him by racial inequality, and whose whole deal in Paris was being free ("if you want me, I'm out here"), wouldn't use that slave name, a name that is specifically tied to Armand's role in the coven, in a moment where he's trying to give Armand the real choice to step away from the coven and the sub/dom dynamic if he wants and choose his own role for once in his life. So Armand's "yes maître" is responding to two questions at the same time: I don't want to be coven leader anymore, I want you to take the lead instead

It's true that Armand doesn't know if Arun was his real name, but at least there's the benefit of the doubt that maybe it was, because at least it's close to his cultural roots and there's a chance it wasn't forced on him in the brothel in comparison to Amadeo and Armand which are distinctly European and we know 100% that he was renamed by Marius and Santino. None of these names are perfect given the circumstances, but Arun is the best choice imo

to highlight the difference between Louis trying to connect with his culture, with black/creole people in the US, finding black music he likes, fashion etc etc

VS Armand feeling very disconnected from every aspect of his own, does he have anything in common with other south asian people, with muslims? does he want to remember speaking his native tongue? would it help him connect with others from his country/religion or would it make him feel more isolated? what music does he even want to listen to? do old rhymes remind him of anything? does the prayel call mean anything to him? is he closer to french or italian culture?....

and have a sinners reference with Lestat saying some shit like music connects all races! assimilation is good! I see no colour! but... you know.