i’m surprised so many people seem to be theorizing that Armand is attending some random Alcoholics Anonymous meeting as a way to get to Lestat through Alex, because even though that technically feels more logical than the alternative (Armand just happens to be going to AA for himself and Alex also happens to end up there for totally unrelated reasons) it still falls apart for me the second i think about it for more than five seconds.
for one: Armand is not that smart 💀 or at least, he is not that kind of smart. he is not especially good at long-con scheming. he is much better at lying to himself than he is at lying to other people. as Assad said, bless him, Armand doesn’t have an evil plan. so the idea that Armand is strategically attending an AA meeting with one of Lestat’s band members, who the band literally just dumped, as some elaborate, multi-step way to hook himself onto Lestat feels a little too clever and structured for him. Armand mostly flies by the seat of his fears, compulsions, and impulses.
and two: Armand does not need Alex to get to Lestat 💀 unless he has some incredibly specific, brilliant, evil little plan here, which brings us directly back to point one, Alex is not actually a useful resource. Armand could contact Lestat, he could contact Daniel. he could follow the tour. he could go to the concerts. he could lurk dramatically, stalker shit, etc. he can literally communicate telepathically if he wants to. It’d genuinely take more effort to avoid him 😭
so Alex being the key to this master plan is not clicking for me. maybe Armand wants information about what Lestat and/or Daniel are doing through Alex? maybe he wants to mindfuck Alex into carrying out his influence from the inside? idk, that could be possible. but even then, i feel like there are easier ways for Armand to do that. if Armand wants to use Alex, he does not need to be sitting politely in a folding chair in Ohio to do that. he could literally just grab him off the street lol, he does not need to be doing all that.
that said: regardless, i am sat.
but it does beg the question: why the hell is Armand at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting in Ohio 💀
the closest thing in my vampire chronicles toolbox that feels related or characteristic is the way Armand is often described in the books as presenting like a vagrant, a vagabond, an urchin, an orphaned child, a lost little thing that people instinctively want to pity, etc etc. Lestat especially tends to describe him as having this intense, inescapable vulnerability to him, where mortals look at him and assume he is a young person suffering, someone dirty or displaced or in need of comfort, and feel compelled to help him.
and the thing is, Armand is a fucking multimillionaire. in the books and in the show. he has no logical reason to be dressing in dirty clothes and meandering around like a lost child. he does it on purpose. or, at least, kind of on purpose. which is worse.
i’ve always felt that Armand sometimes deliberately immerses himself in environments where he knows he is going to be perceived as vulnerable, harmless, meek, human, pitiable. not because he has some clean manipulative scheme every time, but because he is lonely and desperate and self-victimizing in this very specific Armand way, and he takes comfort in being treated like someone who needs help. someone who deserves patience, someone who might be offered a cup of coffee and a folding chair and a little bit of basic human dignity without having to explain the five hundred years of insane vampire wreckage behind it.
which is insane, obviously. like an AA meeting in Ohio is not going to fix whatever the fuck is wrong with you atp bro. but that almost makes it feel more plausible to me than the Alex as a secret conduit theory. because Armand seeking out a support group so that can pretend he belongs there in a normal human way, seems very Armand to me.
or he’s scheming and plotting. both are equally possible LOL.
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