I know that feel, anon, and so does Louis. He definitely gives good advice (even if that advice is just “Wait! Think about this a little more!”) and even his most loved ones flat out ignore him.
And then Louis has to help them pick up the pieces from the damage that Doing the Thing caused :-
On the plus side, he had become so good at giving advice that by QOTD, I think his arguments to Akasha re: not Doing the Thing were the strongest of the whole group! But he still failed to convince her. She didn’t even address his points. As shown by that scene, unfortunately, you can have the best warnings, the best arguments, your logic can be watertight, and ppl will still want to do what they want to do. The old adage is still true: You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.I mean in Louis’ case, it was You can make a glass of blood for a vampire, but you can’t make him drink! He’s had his own share of resistance to advice, too.
When I think about my failures in warning those I care about re: the consequences of their actions, and then I’m proven right when they’re complaining about their decisions, I try to have peace of mind that I did my best bc I still care about them and their well-being. Hopefully they can at least appreciate that I care enough about them to continue to warn them against harm.
If you love to write, just keep doing it. Keep writing. If you feel skeptical about your ability, keep writing. If you get stuck, take a little break, read, get to know yourself, collaborate with others, then keep writing.
Keep writing.
Eventually you’ll look back at some of the first things you wrote, then to what you can write now, and you’ll be astounded by your growth. Be in awe that you grew, because growing is so rarely easy, then write and grow some more.
the only reason your art looks awful to you is because you had an image in your head and the art you created doesnt match it
other people have no image, so when presented with the art you created, they’re usually pretty impressed, because wow you made that out of nothing!! its so cool!!
so next time you want to judge your own art badly try to remember that you’re comparing it to the perfect picture you had in your head as opposed to recognizing that hey u made a thing out of nothing how cool is that
*hugs* Sorry this casting stuff is stressing you out, Anon. I feel ya, some of the POTP’s suggestions are really so out there I wonder how they read the same books I/we did. Some of their headcanons are also… laughable at best and downright offensive at worst, but I’m not going there.
TL;DR: I don’t think AR and CR are that easily influenced by the suggestions they ask for on FB. They’re probably trying to generate and maintain the hype so that as they make their rounds looking for a producer/showrunner/etc., they can point at the fanbase that wants it! I think they also like the attention and enthusiasm (who wouldn’t??!).
As with her writing, AR will cater a VC adaptation to her own tastes primarily, but thankfully she’s been very public about standing her ground re: making the current adaptation as faithful to canon as possible.
Anon: “I see [Lestat as] much less masculine than a lot of ppl want, I think a part of this is all the part on tumblr makes them all a lot more feminine and beautiful which I really like.”
IMO, this is more feminine: (gonna post a little bit of fanart here and if the original artists want it removed, I’ll remove it, just illustrating a point.)
^X L/L by @claquesous, kind of androgynous to me, but one could say more feminine than masculine, too.
^X L/L by @icestorming. Also what I would consider feminine.
And this is more masculine:
^X Lestat by @jodeeeart, to me, this is more heavily masculine, but there’s still some feminine elements.
Keep in mind that finding someone who looks like fanart is asking a lot; we’ll have to give the actors a chance to prove that they can ACT like the characters, and hopefully their talent will overcome whatever physical limitations some of us are bound to disagree on (I probably have the WHAT DOES LOUIS’ HAIR REALLY LOOK LIKE??!! Debate 1-2x/month, most recently w/ @wicked-felina lol).
Anon: “AR is suggesting these big hairy guys and FB and I just think.. nooo.”
I haven’t seen her suggesting “big hairy guys”… I know she liked Chris Hemsworth at one point or another, and he’s big, not really that hairy to me? But he’s bulked up as Thor right now. He seemed less built up in Ghostbusters, but you make a fair point. My headcanon of Lestat is not a huge mountain of dudebro, so to speak.
You should read @monstersinthecosmos‘s post about the VC series bc it’s got some very good points about more than the casting aspect that are worth keeping in mind. I asked permission to post a few snippets here, my emphasis added in bold:
I think the posts on FB are mostly just to get everyone excited; I’m sure they’re taking the general temperature of everyone into consideration but LIKE THE IDEA THAT MAJOR CASTING DECISIONS ARE GOING TO BE MADE FROM FACEBOOK IS JUST REALLY NAIVE AND STUPID AND IMO NOT EVEN WORTH DISCUSSING BECAUSE IT’S COMPLETELY PREPOSTEROUS.
^See, this is why I don’t go on AR’s or the OVCFB pages* that often bc it would take too much time for me to attempt to keep up with all the posts and comments, and tbh yeah, I think @monstersinthecosmos is right!
(*ppl submit links/screencaps of posts that seem to be newsworthy to me, which I really appreciate bc if it’s really something TRULY newsworthyand not just hype, I do share it here.)
BASICALLY the thing everyone needs to keep in mind is that for this to get greenlighted there has to be a viable expectation of profit.
^YES, they’re trying to generate hype and excitement in the fandom bc that’s a good thing to do when you want producers, etc., to get on board w/ your project (”Look, our audience is SCREAMING for this TV series, we have the audience READY!”) and also I think CR and AR like the attention (who wouldn’t??!).
… this has to please and appeal to like MAINSTREAM REGULAR MORTALS who haven’t read these books. It can’t only be fanservice.
^EXACTLY.
I’m kinda cautiously optimistic about all of this. I’m obviously super paranoid that it’s gonna suck and I would hate for it to be on some shit network, and I would also hate if they had to change it SO much that the core themes of the story are unrecognizable, but I’m also personally open to changes if it’s gonna make for a compelling show.
Cultural and personal tastes in beauty being one of them.
“ Yup!
The perception and definition that everyone has of beauty is a big factor. Like, recently AR posted a photo of Stephen Amell and said he would be a perfect Lestat, and that’s almost how he looks in her mind. Many people commented he was too masculine & that Lestat was more androgynous, and, to my surprise, she said she sees Stephen as androgynous, because of the symmetry of his face and how he is overall too pretty.
I personally would have never consider Stephen as androgynous, & he looks nowhere near as I imagine Lestat, but I don’t even find him attractive at all
¯_(ツ)_/¯
Another example. She said many times in the past that Matt Bomer looks exactly like how she sees Louis, while for me, the one who looks the closer as how I imagine Louis is Miles McMillan.
^Bomer
^McMillan
There is quite a big difference between them, but my “ideal” of beauty for men is more femenine/pretty/androgynous. So, it does depend a lot on what is beautiful for each person. Also, even if the actor looks nothing like the character,once he is playing the character, everything can change. That’s what happened with Tom Cruise 😛
Sometimes writing is like having an enormous lake in your head, and you want to get it out of your head and into a proper place for a lake so other people can come and go swimming and ride jet skis and stuff, except all you have to move the lake is a teaspoon. So you’re just sitting there frantically flinging water out of the lake with your teaspoon and telling people, “Guys, this lake is going to be so cool when it’s done,” but it will never be done. There is so much lake.
I didn’t really expect this to be relatable, but if you wanna reblog, go wild.
(2/2) And now that I think about it I might try some A/L art. I drew Armand once and it actually turned out pretty good. I always appreciate what you say. You offer extremely helpful advice (:
You’re so very welcome! (Anon refers to this post) <333
It’s great that you recognize that you are a very good writer when
you’ve got good ideas and when you try. Yes, burnout is a very real thing that can happen when doing smtg for a class for so long… both with writing and arting. Lemme tell ya, if you can push past the start-up inertia, it gets easier. There will be ebbs and flows of your writing/arting/etc. muses, that’s totes normal and fine.
(^Don’t listen to this guy, that’s a false dichotomy, Do the thing.)
I’m also an artist who’s wayyyy out of practice with drawing. I really need to take a figure drawing class and have that experience of a teacher guiding me and the inspiration of being with classmates. I don’t think I’d be at risk of burnout as much since those classes only meet 1-2x/week, thankfully.
BUT ANYWAYYYY. Here’s an old chibi Lestat I did in MS Paint, drawn with a mouse, and I purposely did it that way bc I didn’t want to take it too seriously. I could blame it on MS Paint that it has crappy lines and basic colors, and I could blame it on the mouse that the lines aren’t as smooth as they could be w/ a tablet. Despite those limitations, I think it turned out well and I really like it for what it is. It felt good just to do it.
^His expression was pretty much my own expression as I was drawing it. LOOK HE EVEN HAS VIOLET-BLUE EYES.
YES so do it! Draw the A/L fanart, and please share with us, if you feel comfortable doing so. We have an insatiable thirst for more fanart, but especially pairings like that that which don’t get as much attention.
I always appreciate what you say. You offer extremely helpful advice (:
That really means alot to me and I am so glad to help, your message really made me smile (ppl are going to think I sent this to myself! So you better come back here, off-anon, w/ your writing/fanart/ideas!) *hugs*
I feel ya! We need more Lestat/Armand fanfic and fanart! #FANFIC REQUEST #FANART REQUEST. With and without lots of sex(ual tension) and all amounts of angst and fluff <333 and yes, @monstersinthecosmos is one of my fave fanfic writers, too.
BTW, I have one short Lestat/Armand fic on AO3… *scoots this link in…* since you’re thirsty for A/L…
A Brief Reprieve–After the events of Prince Lestat, Lestat reflects on certain aspects of his new spirit animal, snuggled up lovingly with Armand by a fire in winter. Slightly AU in that they are snuggled up together lovingly by a fire in winter!
[^Here’s a fanart of A/L for you, source unknown, even reverse-image searched. Tell me the source if you know it!]
Anon, hey, if you’re in creative writing class, then you’re learning, you’re starting out *u* You could be a writer of 10/10 A/L ff yourself someday. The laziness you feel might be more of a fear of failure; I recognize that’s what laziness is for me when I have a mountain of fanworks I intend to do and I’d just rather… y’know… rewatch an episode of the Walking Dead.
ANYWAY Lestat and Armand have referred to eachother in canon as being brothers of a sort, so I tag them #murder brothers, if you want more Lestat/Armand action in my blargh.
Writing can suck at any time: whether you’re just starting out or even when you’re a published author, but there can also be good stuff nestled in among the suck, and like I was often told about drawing, you have to get a ton of bad drawings out before you can get to the good ones. With writing, it’s plot bunnies you want, and good turns of phrase, good dialogue… Then you have to nurture your plot bunnies, and encourage them to multiply by spending time and effort feeding them or talking about them with others. It’s also like exercise, at least for me. It’s a habit/muscle that needs training and attention. It’s been enormously helpful for me to have @wicked-felina as a collaborator, bc we do push eachother to be productive ❤ Your class is probably doing that!
I personally feel like everyone can write, whether you write superficial or deep topics or anything in between, it’s all wanted in fandom. We just had a post going around about VC characters playing Dungeons & Dragons(an anon asked @monstersinthecosmos about that and others jumped in, so yes, that’s pretty superficial, but it’s still something the fandom wants to speculate about! Who knows, a fanfic about that could lead to the exploration of deeper issues.
Second, JUST WANNA PARROT THE ORIGINAL POST A LITTLE but I also want to say like. Dude! Just write some stuff. 😀 😀 This is a teeny little sleepy fandom and it is so thirsty for more content, just do it! You can do it! We all want you to write fic!!!!!!
I hadn’t written fanfiction in like, 10-11 years until just recently when I started exploring VC fandom cause I was like LOL WHERE! IS! ALL! THE! AR! MAND! SMUT!!!! and like, for me when it comes to writing (and this goes for my original writing, too) I think it’s really helpful to think of it in terms of writing what you want to read.
Fanfiction is awesome to flex your writing muscles a bit and get some practice in, and it’s helpful because it invites attention and feedback. It’s also easy to apply flash fiction or drabbles to fanfic because we don’t need exposition and backstory. Like, yeah! WE GET IT, WE KNOW! Quit dicking around and just jump into the story, we already want it! This is so valuable when it comes to just getting WRITING done and you really don’t even need a plot. You can elaborate on the teeniest mental images, headcanons, goofy or angsty situations, and that’s all it has to be! No one expects it to win a Pulitzer, it’s okay if it isn’t perfect!
In fact!!!!!!!!!! It shouldn’t be perfect! And you are not going to get better if you do not start somewhere!
I still get really nervous when I post fics and I doubt my abilities BASICALLY CONSTANTLY ALL THE TIME LOL but good and bad feedback are imperative to honing your craft and learning your strengths and finding things to fix. PLUS LIKE, it can really help to motivate you if you get some people on your side who like what you’re doing! Like I am consistently sappy and overwhelmed by the response to my fics and it’s what keeps me writing. 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
Anyway idk man, here’s an ungraceful dismount to my post lmfao but, listen!
Write! Do it! Share it with us we are thirsty.
AND OH, P.S. RE: SMUT. Just uh. You know. Don’t make it smutty until you’re ready LOL! Lots of incredible stories aren’t smutty, and there are lots of people out there who don’t want to read smut anyway! It took me forever to get comfortable writing smut and I still don’t even know if I’m doing it right LMAO. So take your time and don’t feel like your story needs smut, because it probably doesn’t!
I feel ya! We need more Lestat/Armand fanfic and fanart! #FANFIC REQUEST #FANART REQUEST. With and without lots of sex(ual tension) and all amounts of angst and fluff <333 and yes, @monstersinthecosmos is one of my fave fanfic writers, too.
BTW, I have one short Lestat/Armand fic on AO3… *scoots this link in…* since you’re thirsty for A/L…
A Brief Reprieve–After the events of Prince Lestat, Lestat reflects on certain aspects of his new spirit animal, snuggled up lovingly with Armand by a fire in winter. Slightly AU in that they are snuggled up together lovingly by a fire in winter!
[^Here’s a fanart of A/L for you, source unknown, even reverse-image searched. Tell me the source if you know it!]
Anon, hey, if you’re in creative writing class, then you’re learning, you’re starting out *u* You could be a writer of 10/10 A/L ff yourself someday. The laziness you feel might be more of a fear of failure; I recognize that’s what laziness is for me when I have a mountain of fanworks I intend to do and I’d just rather… y’know… rewatch an episode of the Walking Dead.
ANYWAY Lestat and Armand have referred to eachother in canon as being brothers of a sort, so I tag them #murder brothers, if you want more Lestat/Armand action in my blargh.
Writing can suck at any time: whether you’re just starting out or even when you’re a published author, but there can also be good stuff nestled in among the suck, and like I was often told about drawing, you have to get a ton of bad drawings out before you can get to the good ones. With writing, it’s plot bunnies you want, and good turns of phrase, good dialogue… Then you have to nurture your plot bunnies, and encourage them to multiply by spending time and effort feeding them or talking about them with others. It’s also like exercise, at least for me. It’s a habit/muscle that needs training and attention. It’s been enormously helpful for me to have @wicked-felina as a collaborator, bc we do push eachother to be productive ❤ Your class is probably doing that!
I personally feel like everyone can write, whether you write superficial or deep topics or anything in between, it’s all wanted in fandom. We just had a post going around about VC characters playing Dungeons & Dragons(an anon asked @monstersinthecosmos about that and others jumped in, so yes, that’s pretty superficial, but it’s still something the fandom wants to speculate about! Who knows, a fanfic about that could lead to the exploration of deeper issues.
More on writing under the cut, cut for length.
For me, writing is about 1 or more of these basic setups, sometimes combined and interwoven:
^Now there are alot more things going on than that in that book, lots of interwoven issues that are and are not affected by this main plot.
With writing, at least for me, I like to ask What would Louis/Lestat/etc. think about X situation, place, etc.? Even something as superficial as dessert. Would Armand be jealous that he didn’t get to try some of the really fancy desserts that we have these days like water cake? Would he buy them and prod at them anyway? Would he read food reviews just to try to experience this stuff or not care at all? And so much the better if it DOES lead to something at least a little deeper like Yes, that’s why he made mortal!Daniel try everything on a menu and describe it in detail, he was living vicariously through Daniel. Writing can let you explore superficial and deeper topics.
As far as the smut, I feel you on that, I haven’t written much in that category either. I’ve read some amazing smut so my bar for that is set very high (and I have alot of pet peeves about the writing of it), but someday I’ll conquer that, too. The thing with smut is, is there a point? Is it PWP (”porn w/o plot” or “plot, what plot?”)? Or is it the consensual culmination of a slow burn of like 10k words? Is it a power struggle (Like with that kind of sexual scene between Lestat and Armand in TVL when Armand bites Lestat w/o asking first)? Is it the story of someone’s first time and the awkwardness that might surround that? So smut can be considered a topic like any other, and can be explored like any other.
Anon, don’t be so hard on yourself, start slow, dip your toe in, look at fic you love and try to figure out what makes it so good for you! Don’t be afraid to fail.
I-want-my-IWTV 