It is not as though this were some big revelation, or that it has never occurred to me before because obviously it has, but more and more often lately I have been finding myself thinking how truly alone we are. I am not saying this to be sad or frightening— quite the opposite, actually. I am saying this because there is power in it.
We are all independent minds in this universe and no matter how unified we feel or pretend to be with others, above all things we are solitary creatures. Even mortals, yes, even though it is not quite as obvious. They require many more interpersonal relationships than immortals do. Then again, they require more distractions to mask what is real. They require more distractions to make them happy, to forget their own mortality.
As an immortal, I embody the individual tenfold. I have had two and half centuries to come into my identity and I will have an eternity more to solidify it. My mind is wholly my own. My body is my own. My voice is my own. My actions. My beliefs. My love. I own it all, even my mistakes of which I have made more than I can list. Some have hated me for this.
But you see, there’s power in all of it. Knowing and accepting myself as a single entity, separate from anything else, it makes me impervious in that I maintain that I am stronger than any other one single, separate unit. It’s the Individual against the World, one of history’s most treasured tropes. Go on, pit me against the hydra. Throw me among the lions. I will emerge victorious.
Look here, I’ve made this about me when it’s supposed to be about you. The point I am trying to make here is that there is no reason for you to play the victim. Ever. You can feel sad. You can feel angry. Jealous, even. But in the end, whatever is making you feel a certain way exists outside of yourself and you can choose to either conquer it or let it ruin you.
Tag Archives: advice
Have you ever thought to seek another companion, other than Louise? Perhaps a female?
— Lestat here. Well, first of all, I must correct you, as you made a rather egregious misspelling of my “Forever Companion” ‘s name. Louis with an “e” is in fact the feminine version of his name. Tsk tsk.
That aside, yes, if you’ve read my books, you would be enriched with the knowledge that I have tried – several times – to make other companions. Always knowing that none could compare to him. I’ve made fleeting connections with others… David Talbot being someone I have plucked from the jaws of mortality to bring with me into the abyss of eternity, but even he and I never had the level of spark that lives between Louis and I whenever we are together. I can even feel it through his written words, even in the abbreviated communication of texting (and sexting when I can get him in the mood for it!) when we are apart.
It seems that Monsieur de Pointe du Lac is in fact, as the slang seems to go here, my “better half”, that we are an “OTP”. It’s not always rainbows and sparkles, as in any relationship, there are fights, there is space needed sometimes… of course, passionate reconciliation is often well worth that! We tear eachother to pieces, and fashion eachother to completion again.
So yes, he and I both have, from time to time, sought other companions. None have ever compared to what we have together.
I am sure that he would respond to your question similarly, albeit more concisely.
Do not conform any longer to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Romans 12:2
Lestat here. I want to answer this question from Zaira Maranelli:
“Lestat… could you explain to me what is love for you? I speak about the deep love that make you suffer and pain, that make you forget about you and your thoughts… Have you really ever felt that?” Love, for me, Zaira, is caring for another so completely that that person is as important to you as yourself, so that you suffer when that person suffers, you know joy when that person knows joy, and you cannot separate your own fate from that person’s fate without considerable angst and misery. That is love. And yes, I have known it —- for my mother, for my beloved Nicholas and for Louis, and for Claudia, and for Armand and for others. Love is rooted in understanding, deep emotional and physical attraction, and in common sympathy. And once you love some one like that, well, you have given a hostage to fate. I find it impossible to live without loving. I find it excruciating to feel that I am utterly unloved. I thrive on loving and on being loved. I cannot contemplate living for any length of time without the hope of love, without hoping to experience love in my daily existence, and without the hope of knowing love in the future. In my worst trials, the memory of having been loved, and of loving has sustained me. Part of the agony of loving can be discovering that you have been cruel to the one you love, that you have cheated that person, that you have rejected the loved one when you did not mean to do it at all, that you have failed the person utterly. I have experienced all this; the fault was in me; not in loving. I have loved imperfectly, but I’m learning to love in new and better ways all the time.
Another fan question for Lestat answered:
Lestat here. I want to answer this question from Zaira Maranelli:
“Lestat… could you explain to me what is love for you? I speak about the deep love that make you suffer and pain, that make you forget about you and your thoughts… Have you really ever felt that?” Love, for me, Zaira, is caring for another so completely that that person is as important to you as yourself, so that you suffer when that person suffers, you know joy when that person knows joy, and you cannot separate your own fate from that person’s fate without considerable angst and misery. That is love. And yes, I have known it — for my mother, for my beloved Nicholas and for Louis, and for Claudia, and for Armand and for others. Love is rooted in understanding, deep emotional and physical attraction, and in common sympathy. And once you love some one like that, well, you have given a hostage to fate. I find it impossible to live without loving. I find it excruciating to feel that I am utterly unloved. I thrive on loving and on being loved. I cannot contemplate living for any length of time without the hope of love, without hoping to experience love in my daily existence, and without the hope of knowing love in the future. In my worst trials, the memory of having been loved, and of loving has sustained me. Part of the agony of loving can be discovering that you have been cruel to the one you love, that you have cheated that person, that you have rejected the loved one when you did not mean to do it at all, that you have failed the person utterly. I have experienced all this; the fault was in me; not in loving. I have loved imperfectly, but I’m learning to love in new and better ways all the time.
Another QUESTION FOR LESTAT answered:
Lestat here: Jasmine Donovan has asked: “Lestat, what do you believe has helped you to adapt to the changes in the world over the years and has helped you to survive through all the trials and tribulations you have faced? — Jasmine, it is my optimism and rebellious spirit. I simply refuse to be defeated. No matter what happens to me, I fight back and I fight for myself and fight to turn the experience into something meaningful. This is not a virtue. This is an inherent disposition. I can’t help it. Having been made a vampire against my will, I refused to be bad at being bad, if being bad was my destiny. And ultimately I refused to accept other people’s definitions of being bad, or being damned or being cursed, and sought some path for myself which enabled me to be proud of what and whom I am. I make a lot of mistakes, a lot of blunders. But I never give up. I never despair for long. I can’t. I’m always spinning straw into gold. And this is why I survive, more than anything. I am in my unfolding stories what the world calls a comic character, rather than a tragic character, because I am never permanently undone by anything, never finished or ruined, never permanently destroyed, no matter how great are my own flaws. I always come back. Always. Thanks, Jasmine for the question. I hope I’ll see more good questions tonight on this page at 10 p.m.
Lestat here. Last night, through this FB page, I received this question from Davetta L. Wilson. “If you could have one companion for all eternity, who would you choose? Well, Davetta, I will never face such a choice, obviously, but if I did have to choose, the companion would be Louis. My longest most enduring friendship and love affair in this world was with Louis. And though his limitations can be maddening, they can also be as inspiring to me as his virtues. Of course it might seem that Marius would be a wiser choice. After all, Marius is 2000 years old, and entered eternity with the mind of a brilliant Roman philosopher. But the best choices we make are not always the wise choices. Sometimes they are intensely emotional choices. And I’ve always had a deep Romantic respect for emotion. My love for Louis transcends wisdom. And I may need the pain as much as the consolation that an eternal relationship with Louis would involve. Thank you, Davetta, for your question. Lestat signing off.
-Anne Rice’s facebook.
YOU GUYS
Not like we didn’t know it all along, but it was a really nice thing to read first thing this morning!
^Ditto ♥u♥
I want a VC movie where it’s just a two hour footage of Louis looking done with everything
A sequel which is just two hours of footage of Lestat looking super done with Louis
(My hand slipped, it’s not the 4 hrs you asked for but it’s something!)
1) Louis de Pointe du Lac: So done with everyone’s shit since 1791
2) Lestat de Lioncourt: So done with Louis’s shit since 1791
~~~~ And yet… it somehow works out. ~~~~
“Maybe a relationship is just two idiots who don’t know a damn thing except the fact that they’re willing to figure it out together.”
I-want-my-IWTV 