It's always Marius here, Marius there and never Amadeo raped Bianca
Armand is the one who uses this word
Armand is the one who in present times recognises what he'd done
Armand knows very well what the act and the word meant and he uses it in the right moment, knowing what he has done
Armand is over 400 years old, he is not a clueless child, he is aware of what he is talking about
He was raped, he tells about it, he talks about his trauma regarding this and he explains very well who helped him overcome it: not a man, not a human, but a vampire
Amadeo was a human man when he forces himself on Bianca, who surrounded at his mercy. Even though the narrator, Armand, seems to make us understand she doesn't seem to care at the end, he still uses rape as a term because he knows he wouldn't stop anyway if she didn't enjoy it
No, it's not Marius' fault if Amadeo rapes Bianca. It's very likely not even his past trauma at fault. Rape was normalised. Nowhere there was something or someone saying: taking someone (most of all women) with force is bad.
If Marius and Amadeo would't have been in a relationship is very likely that Amadeo would have done something like that anyway, but I don't like to talk about "what ifs" with stories. Characters are not indipendent and what they do and live is useful to the narrative.
Then there is the rape Armand commits as a vampire, he takes Lestat's blood without consent and, at the beginning of TVA he has the same thought towards David, but he has chaged:
And at the moment I put aside what he did to poor Daniel, something that conveniently is spread like a happy fairytale than a real and well written horror, made of violence, pain and addiction
I know that right now I'm in this situation
But I wanted to say it, maybe because sometimes I need to remember this, because I didn't during my re-reading and it hasn't been cool. I was like: Armand wtf??? (With humor)
Has Armand stopped to be my favorite character? Not at all, I'm an adult with a functioning brain.
But it amazes me how people can't stomach something written with a clear positive intent with all the important tools the narrative gives them, but forget or not even blink when something is written with another clear intent, which is bad and really uncomfortable and much more close to reality with two humans involed. Not that I want that the only discussion brought about Armand is this, it would be boring and annoying.
You choose what makes you uncomfortable in fiction but this is only about YOU, not ME. Going around spitting big words like a know it all makes you appear stupid and illiterate. You think that Marius/Armand is bad? Ok, but don't get angry with people who read them like they should be read and not get angry at the narrative as well, because why are you consuming this and inventing stuff to console yourself?
(Don’t answer, it's rethorical)
Let's remember The Vampire Armand is the sixth book. A normal reader should arrive at this book after they read the others before. By the sixith book you know what the author is writing about and you learnt about her universe.
You read about Louis and Claudia, about Lestat and Gabrielle, you have received explanations on how love works for vampires, about how they are not humans (duh?) and don't partecipate in human social structures.
If you think the author is at fault and if you need to twist the narrative to make youself more comfortable, why are you reading TVC and taking part on fandom discussions and throwing a tantrum, stomping your foot like an hysterical child if someone just sticks to what the story is meant to be???
(Again, rethorical, but maybe not to you, but don't answer)
Here some of us wants to talk about a a character we like and there is always someone coming and saying: do you know he is...
GOD it's exhausting and I know you feel so powerful because you know that using some specific terms ends any possible kind of discussion because we are always just like me now:
There are so little discussions in this fandom that aren't about made up abuses and traumas. Where are the vampires????
interview with the VAMPIRE
Is it clear? V.A.M.P.I.R.E not human. V A M P I R E: those silly former humans, awake by night and sleeping like the dead (AH DEAD) during daylight, sucking blood, immortal, with zero clue about how it was being a human, with zero sexual attraction and sexual organs functioning, queer, etc...etc...
Ok, end of the rant. If you just have to do the thing I've just described above, please, don't. Try to understand that you are going to sound stupid.
amandla
baratheonpilled
origamiaround
izzy806
