I Am Pretty Sure It Was Obvious But I Am Just Stupid - Tumblr Posts

I might be stupid for figuring it out just now but hear me out:

“No one has painted me in fourth hundred years”. With the general context it would make sense Armand would mention it, give Louis a part of his history perhaps in an attempt to detach from it, that is. The painting had been concrete evidence of who he was and Louis couldn’t easily discard it. Yet again Armand is being of service by giving Louis the answer to his question: “Who are you?” However, the line first line I mentioned coming right after “Who am I, Louis…. I do not know anymore” has just become more interesting to me, mainly because it reveals a crucial part of Armand’s character. Despite the fairly obvious fact that Armand is communicating here, that he hasn’t been around his maker and the human/innocent version of himself for centuries in order to be painted again, the statement is also a matter of perception. No one had painted him in so long, no one had shown him their versions of himself in so long that he could no longer be what others wanted him to because he simply didn’t know what that was. All Armand has done in his life is serve someone or a purpose that someone has presented to him so he never actually figured out who he was. He just wanted to be the object of admiration for others, he just wanted to be loved so badly that he would do anything, be anyone. They gave him the role of a ruthless coven leader, he became one. Louis wanted a cunning and gentle companion as not to think of Lestat and his chaos, he played the part. He embodied the roles until he could no longer survive outside of them, almost like a defence mechanism. He couldn’t possibly drop the facade, if his life depended on it, because he couldn’t stay with himself when he was just a stranger. He didn’t like the unknown, he couldn’t handle the lack of familiarity, of control.