Meanwhile Daniel

Meanwhile Daniel

This is my old blog. I'll edit here to keep the promise.

Coming back to this post to edit it (if my phone doesn't break apart or I don't forget the password to my account)

Old man:

• Not fucked ✅

• Fucked

Trans Lestat trans Lestat just like his father

Daniel's phone is ringing.

The shift of sweat slick skin.

"Armand, I need to - " A low, muffled moan.

"Need what, beloved?"

A whimper. "Th-the phone!"

The headboard slams into the wall behind it. A keening, breathless gasp.

"What did you say?"

"Fuck it, don't stop, don't fuckin' stop, I need you - "

A soft chuckle. "As you wish."

The ringing cuts off, drowned out by the moans and the rattle of the bedframe.

5 missed calls from: Alice Molloy.

IN CHE SENSO IN CHE SENSO IN CHE SENSO IN CHE SENS-

Honestly, the only one to gain any legitimate benefit from planting those photos would be Daniel, so he could have them distracted long enough to look through the files he had. Notably, he only starts snooping through them alone when he can be sure they’re distracted. Rashid doing it via Raglan's orders. From a writing standpoint this would be really good set up for the later pay off of Rashid doing the same action again so that the truth can be revealed, again.

I also think, it’s possible, Raglan was the buyer of the three furies (he's an avid art collector), which was the first time Daniel had a distraction. I think they were both working together on giving ample distractions, so Daniel could use his Talamasca resources without being caught. This was a way to get Daniel what he wanted (his book and to live), and also get Raglan what he wanted (some paintings, information for his job, and someone who now owes him a favor). This read to me gives a larger plot relevance to Daniel, Raglan, and Rashid, instead of them just being mostly passive actors in the story. This also provides greater validity to some of Daniel's own characterization as someone good at getting angles, and who believes 'honesty is not a tactic'. It also tells us how easy it is to have vampires distracted, thus better legitimizing the plausibility of certain events in the interview. It would also explain why it's Raglan and not some other talamasca member, as he's definitely more the type to get up to sewing discord and such to achieve his greedy ends. That's actually, all his character in the books really is.

I feel this gives the photos far better plot relevance and also simultaneously reveals something about every single one of the characters involved. How do Louis and Armand respond to being on the receiving end of having these photos planted by neither of them? What sort of assumptions and actions do they take for it? These sorts of things are answered, alongside Daniel getting his answers, and this revealing something about him. That getting the truth is more important to him than how he gets it. And that getting his 'score' is more important than even the truth.