It’s ok, but I’m sorry to say that I don’t know the Mayfair Witch series very well, I read it a long time ago, and I read the “hybrid” novels where it crossed over into the VC verse…
I don’t know of a blogger who focuses on that series who might be able to answer that for you, but there is the official Ricean Witch book about it:
It was published in ‘96 though, and idk if there is an updated version which addresses the later books.
I would suggest that AR’s writing the witch series had something to do with:
Witches can be considered another “othered” group, like vampires.
…because Witches can be scary and they can be very frickin’ cool; what with the supernatural stuff they can do and the way they carry themselves.
The fact that AR grew up in New Orleans – a place which has varying degrees of strong belief in voo doo and witches;
AR grew up in a religious family; and she also addresses the rejection of witches in TVL and the horror of how innocent lives were lost as a result, so it’s not just about the witches but about how they coexist (or don’t) with society at large.
AR also had the Taltos mixed in there, so like her vampire series, she was probably interested in writing stories that had not been told before.
Anyone is welcome to comment/reblog w/ ideas on this!
We as a fandom are often asked which books are the most important in VC, which ones need to be read before the new one comes out, which books we consider to be canon…
Every reader has to decide that for themselves. It’s great when we can agree on things, but some things are left ambiguous, either by unreliable narrators, discrepancies in the information we’re given, or simply some variation of “these characters are #ooc to me and I REFUSE ALL OF IT >:[ ”
“Reflecting on the total lack of consensus amongst my readers on which is my best book, or which is my worst, really, readers write fascinating and substantive responses to "Memnoch the Devil.” Others dismiss it as a total failure or where the whole series went wrong. Some claim the earlier Chronicles are the best; others praise the later books. A few claim my husband, Stan, was the real author. A great many readers embrace the entire series, with all its twists and turns.” Anne Rice, 11/01/2016 [X]
(I didn’t know ppl claimed Stan had written the earlier books! He certainly might have had a big influence on them, at any rate) ^@claudias-ashes pointed this out to me, and I skimmed the responses, lots of praise in there for AR. It’s good to see her acknowledging that we do not all recognize all of the books as canon, and she seems fine with that, even offering advice to writers who may find themselves in a similar situation. It’s a good stance to have, she’s not forcing anyone to accept any or all of it, so when we have our fandom debates about things, keep in mind that AR’s opinion is probably, like mine, #your headcanon may vary.
The rest of her quote is under the cut (cut for length not spoilers), along with the info that:
Lestat is never gonna die! well good bc he is the gotdamn Sacred Core now
She’s already all revved up to get started on the next VC! for better or worse
Hit the jump…
“…When I ask, “Which is your favorite book?” The responses are all over. Is this good or bad? Frankly, every author wants to be read, and for the readers to care. But why do I spark so much controversy? I’ve never fully understood. I’m passionate, the books are passionate, and I’m profoundly thankful to say the readers are passionate. But have writers ever had so much fresh and authentic feedback before? I don’t think so. You’ve got to keep your head, keep steering the boat, keep re-entering your world and finding your place there as you continue. I don’t want Lestat ever to die, not even when I die. Perish the thought. For me, he can’t die. He’s too irrepressibly alive, and I am too connected to him. I’ve tried to run away from him, but it has never really worked. Now, I don’t want to run away at all. I want to sail right into a third “Prince Lestat” book— right from “Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis,” and continue writing about Lestat as the monarch of a remarkable tribe. Vampire radio star, Benji Mahmoud with his broadcasts of news from the Vampire Court must be a metaphor for the author. What would it be like to slip into psychosis and wake up body and soul in Chateau de Lioncourt? Lovely. But the view from here is just fine.“
Thanks for the compliments on my blargh! *u* I try to answer asks thoughtfully and respectfully and expect the same consideration back from whoever reads my answers ^_____^
As always, #your headcanon may vary, bc we’re talking about fictional vampires, they are not people. Whether you consider them to be people in their own world is up to you. For me, I see them as ex-people. They share a supernatural parasite that gradually eats away at their mortal parts, replacing it with its own immortal substance, perfecting their host bodies to its own design. So they exist beyond the definitions of sex and gender for me.
I do not believe the vampires are canonically capable of penetrative sex but do I love fanart/fanfic/RP where they have penetrative sex? YES, YES I DO, MORE PLZ. Have I commissioned such fanart of it for myself? Y E S. Will I commission more of it or write my own in the future? YOU’RE GOTDAMN RIGHT I WILL. I love the creativity of the fanon interpretations and I will support these ideas forever.
According to Lestat vampires don’t feel sex drive,
I don’t recall anywhere in canon where Lestat says that vampires do not feel a sex drive. He has described himself as a sensualist, and we know he falls in love easily. I think that they do feel a sex drive, just not in the genitally-penetrative sex way (not the most eloquent phrasing there but I can’t think of another way to put it; “PIV/penis-in-vagina” just doesn’t apply to most of our gay ships).
Turning vampires seems to be their ultimate “sexual” act that they can perform, bc it is equivalent to pregnancy (a fledgling is being “born to darkness”), and it is always described primarily as the sharing of the Blood between maker and fledgling. I headcanon that Lestat loves the act of performing this, and that’s partly why he has had SO MANY FLEDGLINGS. So I believe that they still do feel sexual lust, it’s channeled through the experience of taking/sharing blood, and other sensually physical things.
In fanon there is a wide spectrum of whether they can have genitally-penetrative sex, some even speculate that their um… output… would be very bloody. There is fanart/fanfics/RP/etc. in which they can have that kind of sex, and ones in which they cannot.
in The Tale of the Body Thief one of the things he wants to expierence when he has a human body is sex because he says this is something he can’t do with his vampire body.
^This is up to every reader’s interpretation, and yes, in my opinion, Ricean vampires in canon cannot have penetrative sex. My main evidence for them as being unable to have genitally-penetrative sex comes from [hit the jump for spoilers].
AR has written alot of other novels with genitally-penetrative sex being an important factor, so I doubt it was an oversight in denying it to her vampires. If you want to go by her as the authority on her novels, and many ppl do, she posted definitively about it when asked about Daniel and Marius in PL:
AR does not go into much further detail than that, even in canon, other than the fact that the sharing of blood is more intimate for them than than simple mortal penetrative sex. Part of why she chose this may be to avoid the issue of pregnancy the way mortals do it; a baby cannot grow in undead flesh, y’know?
TL;DR: Personally, I headcanon them as unable to have genitally-penetrative sex. There are human couples who are unable (or do not want) to experience genitally-penetrative sex, and they can still be sexually intimate with each other in other ways. So it’s partly in how you define sex and intimacy.
But in his book Armand mentions that he had sex with Marius several times.
Armand was mortal for some of that book, and Marius did sexual things with him, but not genitally-penetrative sex. After Armand is turned, Marius and Armand have an intimate moment with a mortal woman together, but again, it is not genitally-penetrative sex for them.
My main evidence for them as being unable to have genitally-penetrative sex comes from:
Louis’s description of sex in IWTV:
Claudia asks Louis about sex in IWTV, and he replies that it “‘…was something hurried…And… it was seldom savored… something acute that was quickly lost. I think that it was the pale shadow of killing.’”
^He’s talking about it as occurring in the past, I think he means when he was mortal. Here he says it’s not equivalent to the act of taking blood from a victim, sex is a lesser experience for him.
Lestat’s description of his non-functioning Priapus in QOTD:
“I studied my reflection … and the organ, the organ we don’t need, poised as if ready for what it would never again know how to do or want to do, marble, a Priapus at a gate” – Lestat, Queen of the Damned
^This quote has been interpreted over and over again as meaning many things, one of which being that the vampires have a permanent boner, which I disagree with. I highly doubt Louis, someone with a lot of dignity, would be fine with walking around for eternity with a permanent boner. I blame this misunderstanding on the translators who translated “poised” to “erect” in various other languages.
I interpret that quote as meaning that his Priapus is just “waiting.”
and Pandora’s description of Marius’ non-functioning (but very hard) dick in her book. Pandora wants Marius to sex her up on their ‘wedding night’ and he can’t do it, but they try, awkwardly:
He covered me and kissed my cheek. “Drink from me,” he said, “drink until the pain goes away. It’s only the body dying, drink Pandora, you are immortal.“ “Fill me, take me,” I said. I reached down between his legs. “It doesn’t matter now.” But it was hard, this organ I sought, the organ forever lost to the god Osiris. I guided it, hard and cold as it was, into my body. Then I drank and drank, and when I felt his teeth again on my neck, when he began to draw from me the new mixture that filled my veins, it was sweet suckling, and I knew him and loved him and knew all his secrets in one flash which meant nothing. He was right. The lower organs meant nothing. He fed on me. I fed on him. This was our marriage. –Pandora
I think AR is telling us that in order to be immortal, a great sacrifice must be made. Not just outliving your loved ones, food and drink, sunlight, and your appearance being altered. For many people, sex is as necessary to life as eating and breathing. To give that up for eternity is a huge sacrifice, but, you do get super powers an immortality. Fair trade?
Yep it was on FB. @kittyslover (one of my ARFB Deputies!) sent me the link to AR’s post from 9/24/16 [X], here’s confirmation that Armand is there:
And bc of the lengths I go to for you ppl, I read all the relevant comments and screencapped these for you (I cropped out icons so the text could be a little larger).
She also had to describe vampire shipping again. *sigh* I JUST TALKED ABOUT THIS FFS #your headcanon may vary.
Characters in PLROA:
– Old characters:
– Louis for sure:
–
New characters:
Hit the jump for more. Cut for length.
– in Great Peril:
– Amel is back:
– Viktor:
– Cyril:
NOT in PLROA:
She also answered these which didn’t fit above:
AND that this incorporated the older Atlantis novel she had been working on:
Umm… so Anne Rice released a video (the day before her birthday) on her facebook that said she’s already working on a new Lestat book to follow Atlantis. (T_T) Bless.
^I can’t embed the vid, so here’s a screencap, anyway I watched it and took notes so you don’t have to the LENGTHS I go to for you and here are my notes:
Many new characters in PLROA
Louis – not a major player but a very important player.
Marius – plays a significant role
Fareed – plays a significant role
Viktor – is there
Rose – is there
Has some thoughts on the changes in the writing industry
“The name of the game is to keep writing and keep dreaming…”
Probs not ever returning to Cry to Heaven, but she loved it, “How the wounded can fight, how we can redeem ourselves through art and sexuality.”
Into the next VC story EVEN MOAR DANGERS AND CHALLENGES that come out of the Atlantis story.
Mayfairs – not going back right now, but there’s active interest in Hollywood, for a quality TV series. Promising talks going on.
AR does alot of planning w/ her writing, but “you have to be willing to throw it all away in the process.”
She quotes Sandy Gustin: “God triumphs on the ruins of our plans. And I think novelists have to be ready to triumph on the ruins of their plans.”
I know what you mean, Louis would probably agree w/ you for similar (or the same!) reasons why he wants Lestat to stop writing any more books or authorizing his ghostwriter to do so.
[I just don’t want movies to cheapen it or represent the books in a bad light…]
^So I think Josh Boone is going to handle the material very respectfully, looking at the way he tagged up the Stand for that adaptation, he clearly is treating that book like it’s the Bible for that project *u* We’ll see how the Stand fandom (what do they call themselves? now I’m curious) reacts when that adaptation comes out, as my Dad says, “The proof is in the pudding.”
Anon definitely has some valid concerns, but I wouldn’t worry too much for the reasons given above from Burnadette and myself. Also, on your concern with Boone representing the books in a bad light or cheapening it, evidence has been shown on his twitter that he has been taking careful account of the series and been communicating with Anne pretty well, enough for the both of them to show love and gratitude to each other. Take this recent conversation for example:
And there are other mentions all over the place with Boone mentioning his love of the series. I think we’re in good hands 🙂
Reblogging for @firelight-fading/@phoenifia‘s comments. We don’t have a wide sample size to state it beyond doubt but we’ve seen that when AR is involved (movie!IWTV, Claudia’s Story), the VC adaptation tends to be hella better than when she’s not.
Thank goodness they didn’t put 75 candles on that cake! and I assume w/ the chocolate icing that it isn’t red velvet cake but that’s ok not everyone demands RED VELVET EVERYTHING
Whatever your feelings are for our Mater Gloriosa, she gave birth to our fave characters and I, for one, will be forever grateful ❤
I-want-my-IWTV 