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Claudia/Madeline
| Pairing | |
|---|---|
| Pairing: | Claudia/Madeleine Éparvier |
| Alternative name(s): | Claudeleine |
| Gender category: | F/F |
| Fandom: | Interview with the Vampire (TV) |
| Canonical?: | Yes |
| Prevalence: | Common |
| Archives: | Claudia/Madeleine (Vampire Chronicles) on Ao3 |
| Other: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
This article or section has been marked for the attention of Fanlore Gardeners. |
Claudia/Madeleine is a canon ship from the Interview With the Vampire show involving the vampire Claudia and Madeleine Éparvier, a French dressmaker.
Canon
Their first meeting happens when Claudia enters Madeleine's shop after spotting a silk dress in the window. Claudia asks Madeleine if she could take the dress in to fit her body, but Madeleine assumes she is a child and tells her not to pretend to be something she's not. Claudia pays for the dress and gloves and doesn't leave without service.
Nearly two years after, Madeleine runs into Claudia while scrubbing a painted on swastika off her window. Claudia explains that she is working at the Théâtre des Vampires and Madeleine attends her next performance. Claudia offers her a ride home, where they grow closer.
Madeleine is attacked by her neighbors who attempt to have their way with her until Claudia arrives and kills them. Madeleine finds out about Claudia's vampirism, a discovery which she takes in fairly well and wishes to become a vampire as well if it means she can be Claudia's companion. After Armand refuses to turn Madeleine, she is turned by Louis. After her transition, Madeleine and Claudia leave the city, but return to say goodbye to Louis and Armand and are taken back to the theater by the coven, where they will stand trial in accordance with vampire law.
As a fledgling Madeleine is given a choice to joint the coven. Instead she chooses Claudia and is sentenced alongside her to death. Madeleine and Claudia burn alive together, in each other's arms.
Fandom
Although versions of the characters are present in both the Anne Rice book and the 1994 film, a romantic version of the ship gained popularity with the release of the TV series.[1] Ship Sunday on February 23rd was for Claudeleine.[1]
Common Tropes and Headcanons
Fans of the ship often imagine a future where Claudia and Madeleine survived the trial[1], which is explored both in fanfiction and fanart.
Example Fanfiction
- adaptational strategies by everytuesday
- the familiar landscapes of memory by A_comet_burning_up
- Memory by startthetape98
Example Fanart
- claudeleine thru the eras by loopnoid
- It’s the 70s, Claudia and Madeleine are at the lesbian bar… I think they’re looking at you. by fuzziiwuzzii
- Claudeline in different decades! by bimtimtom
Critique & Defense
Critique
Some fans expressed feeling weirded out by the relationship, because of Claudia's body being physically 14.[2] With thatshygirl06 commenting on reddit[3]:
I'm just now starting episode 6 and I'm kinda weirded out by these two. There was tension between them before she even knew claudia was a vampire and she's meant to be 14. Is Madeleine a pedo then?? It just makes me uncomfortable because she's clearly attracted to her.
Others had issues with what the implications of Madeleine's past, as someone who slept with a Nazi soldier during the occupation, had for her relationship with Claudia as a black woman. User fayevalcntine wrote[4]:
... Claudia in season 1 referred to Lestat as a slaver and likened him to a Nazi when he made his little tailoring joke in episode 7: “Well-dressed tyrants. Where have I heard that before?”. The show is so often very overt in its racial commentary and what the Black characters say. So I find it a bit weird that Claudia, who spent the later half of season 1 pointing out Lestat’s racist positioning in their household, would now simply disregard the fact that the woman she intends to live with (and hopes to become romantically entangled with) fucked a man whose position in the war was aiming for upholding a literal genocide and white supremacist ideals, and doesn’t even seem to care much about the implications of that. ...
Defense
In regards to the perceived "age gap" between Claudia and Madeleine, user thewingedwolf on tumblr wrote[5]:
... #my answer is who cares #my deeper answer is madeleine knows claudia over the span of several years & seems to think she’s met & befriended a 16ish year old & by the#time things start getting more overtly romantic madeleine thinks she’s like a grown adult. this is very clearly stated in the show. ...
User chicalepidopterareblogs said this about the critique of Madeleine and Claudia's relationship[6]:
People on twitter having a mental breakdown over Madeleine sleeping with a Nazi soldier and Claudia falling in love with her anyways. Congratulations that's how you're supposed to feel watching this show and reading these books, conflicted for feeling empathy for a monster, whether they are human or not. This is why we've been telling you that there's no place for "fuck x character" or "kill x character with a hammer" in the Vampire Chronicles
Another user, barbiedolling, discussed Claudia's morality (overall and in reference to her relationship with Madeleine)[7]:
it's hard to take some meta on here seriously. people just really want to believe claudia is as concerned about human matters as louis is. like this is the messy people show. you can't expect all the characters to be morally conscious
#claudia did not give two fucks about madeleine sleeping with a nazi ...
Example Fanworks
Fanfiction
- snack break by sexybread_png
- there will be blood, but you will be loved by sapphicbecca
- a space to watch things grow by hereticas (thekingofcosmos)
- made to be spoiled by deadcryptid
- Dreamless Slumber, Dreamless Living by mossterious
Fanart
- THEY’RE SO CUTE IM SICK HAPPY PRIDE CLAUDELEINE!!!🏳️🌈 by fuzziiwuzzii
- immortal companions] by curehaus
- Coven. by itstweeds
- parisian gothic by narcophilia
- One pinch of February love, one pinch of spring anticipation. by pankadoll
- power couple of the century by fishfingersandscarves
- Maybe I’m what she needs to survive by seancefemme
- claudia as madeleine saw her. by lykoiii
- feel like shit just want to see Claudeleine happy and in love by mmmngoc
- my silver lining 🦢 by elyssiiiann
- yayyy by phuumsblog
- into the garden by chrysanthemumskies
Fanvids
Meta
- Meta about Claudia's relationships (Charlie & Madeleine) by ldrloversblog
- Claudeleine's Parallels to the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice by sapphicides
Other
Archives & Links
- Claudia/Madeleine (Vampire Chronicles) works on Ao3
- #claudeleine, #claudia x madeleine tags on Tumblr
References
- ^ Jump up to: a b c Ship Sunday Cladia/Madeline on Tumblr by fanlore-wiki, posted February 23, 2025 (Accessed April 26, 2025)
- ^ On Claudia and Madeleine’s relationship on Reddit by crocodiledundick, posted June 4, 2024 (Accessed April 26, 2025)
- ^ Reddit Comment by thatshygirl06, posted June 25, 2024 (Accessed April 26, 2025)
- ^ Tumblr Post by fayevalcntine, posted June 19, 2024 (Accessed April 26, 2025)
- ^ Tumblr Post by thewingedwolf, posted October 7, 2024 (Accessed April 26, 2025)
- ^ Tumblr Post by chicalepidopterareblogs, posted June 19, 2024 (Accessed April 26, 2025)
- ^ Tumblr Post by barbiedolling, posted October 28, 2024 (Accessed April 26, 2025)