the damned (damned_mod) wrote in damned_coven, @ 2008-03-04 23:41:00 |
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The Vampire Daniel
Born into Darkness: 1985
Place of Birth: San Fransisco, California
Place of Making: Chicago, Illinois
Paramours: Armand
Fledglings: None
Maker: Armad
Screen Name: Available
Journal Link: Available
Optional PBs: Shane West, Ryan Reynolds
The reporter from a San Francisco radio station who records Louis's confession about being a vampire and publishes it under the pseudonym Anne Rice, as Interview with the Vampire. Tall and slender, with violet eyes and a beautiful face, Daniel is about twenty (or twenty-two) years old when he meets Louis, for he is thirty-two at the time of Lestat's rock concert. (There is some discrepancy in the text concerning Daniel's age. He may have been thirty or thirty-two.)
As Louis tells his tale, Daniel listens nervously, then chides Louis for not seeing what a wonderful gift it is to be a vampire. Louis bites him and leaves him in the room unconscious, but when Daniel wakes he listens to his tapes for clues about Lestat's location, then heads to New Orleans. Louis's bite has left him with obsessive dreams of immortality.
Daniel finds Lestat's house and plays the recordings of Louis's voice until he sees Armand, who imprisons him, then lets him go so that he, Armand, can learn about the late twentieth century through him. Although Daniel wants to be made a vampire, he runs from Armand, but Armand always finds him. Eventually they become companions, talking philosophy together and attending parties. After four years they meet at the Villa of the Mysteries in Pompeii where Armand bites Daniel, then offers him his vampire blood, thus marking Daniel as his lover. Armand gives Daniel a small vial of his blood to wear as protection from other vampires, who would sense from it Armands power and not harm Daniel.
Yet Daniel continues to hunger for immortality. Armand's persistent refusal is a source of conflict, and finally Daniel leaves. In Chicago, he succumbs to drunkeness and becomes a mortal recipient of the dream of the twins. He sends out a message telepathically to Armand to come for him. He has read the newly published Vampire Lestat and wants to go to Lestat's concert. Armand appears, takes him on a plane bound for San Francisco, and realises that Daniel is wasting away and will soon die. He cannot bear to lose him, so he makes him a vampire, Daniel is his only child.
The ten-year relationship between Armand and Daniel is the epitome of the fluctuations of dominance and submission. Each struggles for both surrender and control. Armand likes to be dominated and wants a teacher, although he is in fact a powerful vampire who can torment and even kill Daniel at will. When Daniel feels strong, he walks away from the relationship, but inevitably he disintegrates and surrenders to Armand, who is always ready to come and get him. They play a game, for each has something the other wants. Daniel describes himself as a mortal slave, the "devil's minion," but Armand is as much a slave to him. When it becomes clear that Daniel is dying. Armand cannot face existence without him and, against his better judgement, gives in to Daniel's demand and makes him a vampire.
Rice was delighted with the erotic anguish she had created between them. "That part of Queen of the Damned is transparently sadomasochistic in theme. Armand dominates Daniel entirely; tormenting him, choosing his clothes, showering him with wealth. The culminating scene in the Villa of the Mysteries expresses this, for when Armand finally yields and makes Daniel a vampire, he gives up his masterful position. He gives in to what Daniel wants. The S&M relationship shifts. It is while in the state of surrender that Armand performs the Dark Trick.
"The future of this rearranged relationship is unknown. In urging Daniel to his first kill, Armand is once again controlling, dominating, being harsh with him. All this can be explored in future books. It seems that Armand somehow always dominates, even when yielding."
-- Bio courtesy of Katherine Ramsland