Tag Archives: anne rice

I’m going to be living in the french quarter for a week in march for work – any recs on places i should visit etc?

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Yes! A whole week is plenty of time to wedge in VC location visits around the work-related stuff ;D

FYI in my list, I have things in the French Quarter, the Garden District (you can take the streetcar to get there, or walk, if you have the time/interest, it’s 2.5 miles away), and then outside the city are swamp tours (which I really want to do next time I visit) and the plantation houses (Pointe du Lac!).

These aren’t in any geographical order, just the order I’m thinking of them:

+ Gallier House – A must-visit, this is the flat AR based Rue Royale on. They give tours bc it’s a historical site. It’s not expensive, book in advance. They also have a gift shop and I got a nice necklace there. 

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^My estimation of the room assignments bc reasons. Re: “slave quarters,” that’s unfortunately part of the history of that building 😛 but I think by the time L/L were there, those rooms were used for storage bc there’s little closet space in the living quarters, and the maids they hire don’t live with them.

Note: @gairid considers the flat across the street (1127) to be the true home of L/L bc the balcony is much more verdant, and you know Lestat would have all kinds of flora on their balcony! It’s a private residence, though.

+ Oak Alley Plantation – this was used for Pointe du Lac plantation in the movie. It’s a ways away, like 45 min outside NOLA?  Maybe more, but worth the trip! You can pay for the bus tickets and tour package, get there and wander around, there’s food and historical info, highly recommend. Allegedly, Brad Pitt still visits and he stays in one of the guest houses.

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Note: They also filmed at neighboring Destrehan Plantation, but I haven’t been there, idk if it’s worth going.

+ Madame John’s Legacy –

632 Dumaine St, this is the scene in which a family’s worth of coffins are carried out; Lestat & Claudia had been so gluttonous. This building is sometimes open to the public, the last time I was there they had a cool ceramics exhibition.

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+ Jackson Square – mentioned in canon pretty often, you can’t really go to NOLA and not visit.

+ The Cabildo at Jackson Square – I didn’t go in, I think you can. This is where Lestat watches Claudia kill, that same gate is there, you can go hang out in front of it and pretend to watch your vampire daughter kill a victim.

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+

Court of Two Sisters

–

613 Royal St, I really enjoyed the Sunday brunch, there’s a cute little courtyard with fountains, and live music sometimes. They had this oreo pie that like… dangerous. 

+ Cafe Du Monde – mentioned in canon, they serve like 2 things, beignets and coffee (nothing super fancy), very affordable, and are almost always crowded, but totally worth it. If you go around the back there’s a window where you can see them making the beignets!

+ Arnaud’s – very good restaurant in the French Quarter

+ Port of Call – 838 Esplanade Ave, stardustschild, I see in your profile that you’re not over 21, but for OTHER ppl reading this post, this is a good place for a go-cup drink ~$10, it’s large and 1 is enough to catch a good buzz.

+ NAPOLEON HOUSE – Muffalettas, po’ boys & other Creole staples in a circa-1914 house with a palm-filled courtyard. @gairid recs the SAZERAC (for the 21+ people reading this post, not you, stardustchild) here.

+ French Market – that’s a pretty standard suggestion so I have to include it but I didn’t think it was all that big of a deal. 

+ Trashy Diva clothing boutique – 

537 Royal St, they have a few locations. I got a great little black velvet jacket here!

+ 2301 and

2524

St. Charles Ave, Garden District

– AR’s childhood homes

– (Not a location really) 1233 COLISEUM ST. – where the Coliseum theatre was in the scene when Louis goes to the movies, it burned down ;A; But that neighborhood is kind of fun to walk around and just look at the nice houses on your way to Lafayette Cemetery. 

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+ Commander’s Palace, Garden District

– good restaurant but pricey. I had an elder flower liqueur cocktail that was pretty special there. This restaurant is a favorite of the Mayfair family.

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+ 1239 First Street, Garden District – This historic property was for many years Anne Rice’s primary residence. 

+ Mayfair house

, Garden District

 – 3711 St Charles Ave. Not really as crucial on my own list of locations but still.  @cloudsinvenice had posted: “Anne Rice’s former New Orleans home is back on the market again, as per this Curbed.com article, from which I’ve selected some photos. This is the house that inspired the Mayfair witches’ haunted family home…”

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+ Lafayette Cemetery No. 1, Garden District

– mentioned in canon, free but only open during daylight hours tho!

+

St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 – There are tours and I think Nicolas Cage’s very weird pyramid tomb is there, he’s paid for it, and that’s where he plans to be when he’s shuffled off this mortal coil…

+ Bourbon French Parfums –

805 Royal St. bc Louis was all about the jasmine and stuff, they have great sets of perfumes and their own concoctions.

+ DeVille Coffee House & Creperie – 2045 Magazine St, I just really like their crepe suzettes ❤

+ New Orleans Pharmacy Museum – I didn’t get to go here but it was on my list. I think it’s like $5 to go.

+ Marie Leveau’s Grave and Voodoo Shop – has cool stuff, like coffin nails!

+ Boutique du Vampyre – 709 ½ St. Anne Street, IIRC I got a cool poison ring here, they have vampiry wares.

… A few additions!

@nixsrebellionoflies​ added: 
may i add that you can go into port of call if youre not 21 and over? they have great burgers and a very interesting aesthetic. you might have to wait a while tho to get in

^Thanks for that! I haven’t tried their burgers myself, now I have to be sure to put that on my list for my next trip 😉

@jeezycreezysuperstar​ added:
Some of the cemeteries are now only open to the public via tour group, just fyi

^RIGHT I forgot about that, it’s a relatively recent rule, within the last few years I think? Partly bc of the vandalism that was happening, and offerings/graffiti on some of the famous tombs like Marie Laveau’s Tomb. But do take a tour if you have the time/money/interest, bc they are informative and spoopy.

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i-want-my-iwtv:

“Lestat’s name doesn’t mean anything. It is a name that I made up. I search hard and long for names that are unique, and Lestat is, in a way, a mistake. There is an old French name in Louisiana, “Lestan”, and my husband’s name is Stan, and I thought I was using the old French name when I wrote Lestat . It was only later that I realized I had added a “t” for an “n”, and created a name that didn’t exist, so you might call it a Freudian slip. Lestat was definitely like Stan. His self confidence, his blonde hair, his blue eyes, his feline grace — all of that was inspired by my husband, Stan. So maybe it means ‘the Stan’.“

– Anne Rice (Source X)

My sister loves Lestat and won’t quit talking about him (which isn’t a bad thing, I’m never quiet when it comes to Dean Winchester) and I’m considering reading The Vampire Chronicles. (She’s finished the series.) Is there anything I should know going into the series? Thank you! ;)

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I don’t watch Supernatural so I can’t really compare Dean and Lestat, but from the gifs I’ve seen, they both have a kind of flippant and bubbly nature, and they both have a lot of bravado to shield their vulnerability. So you might like Lestat for being like Dean, and if so, I would suggest you start with the Vampire Lestat rather than Interview.

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VC is basically id fic, it could even be considered porn. To my mind, VC is a more elevated version of the bodice-ripper trashy romance novels that you see at supermarkets, with some substantive stuff mixed in. Anne Rice writes the books she wants to read. It’s the AR lollercoaster.

Fanlore has a quote about Id Fic that I think applies to VC, too:

The idea is that Id Fic panders to the Id, or that part of us that likes things that aren’t always moral or ‘correct’ and bypasses a lot of our moral constraints and strictures. So they might just have like a lot of rape in them, or non-con, or ‘dub-con where the character eventually enjoys it.’ They might have things that we *know* are wrong in real life, but really dig in fiction: like captive/captor, or magical healing cock, or really dangerous powerplay, whump that is just extreme, or even just really unsafe kinks (like no signs of safewording ever). Id Fics used to be considered a ‘guilty’ pleasure, but there’s been a lot of work to reclaim them…. The Id is the Loki of our minds, and nothing’s gonna change that. *g* And indulging it in fantasy and fiction is both normal, healthy, and fun. 🙂

^So that would be what I’d want ppl to know going into the series, that if that bothers you, then you might not like it.

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As Tom Cruise put it so eloquently, “The movie is not for everyone.” No value judgement there; the movie and the books are just not everyone’s cup of tea, which is totes fine.  

The fact that you have a tag for the AR lollercoaster makes me so damned happy

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nightislandofficial:

monstersinthecosmos:

I just truly believe this to be the universal experience of all Anne Rice fans, and some of us been up and down the lollercoaster a few times so far, and some of us haven’t had to deal with it yet. AND I PROMSE ALL THE LITTLE SUMMER CHILDREN, IT’S COMING.

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She’s a divisive and controversial writer for sure, on a lot of layered meta levels that aren’t just like mainstream casual normies thinking the books are scandalous or something. Tumblr is obviously a place where injustices aren’t ignored and it takes about five minutes of browsing to start finding the deeper readings of her work, the bad topics and sketchy opinions, etc etc. It’s so easy to just enjoy her work on the surface and it’s just such a fucking mess when you look closer. 

AND I MEAN THAT’S THE THING? I know people get suuuuuuper salty about Anne Rice and it’s always kind of crushing when people learn about the fandom history but like YALL I WAS THERE, I’M OVER IT LOL. I had the salty Anne Rice phase already and it took me like 4 years to bring myself to read Blood Canticle cause I was like So Done With Her Shit at that point. 

Are these books good and interesting enough to keep me this occupied on their own? Probably not. But they were really special to me growing up and I found cool fandom people and made genuinely awesome friends here so it’s become a weird hobby to have. I’M STUCK HERE NOW. 

I get the AR hate, I really do. I really, really do. I get the whole “omg I waited for the new book and it was about bird aliens” devastation. I REALLY DO. But we all go through this if you stick around for too long. I went through it already, it’s out of my system. I’m done being pissy about it. (tbh I went through this when I read Merrick the first time and I was like wtf I thought this was gonna be an epic crossover with Rowan getting into some shit and instead we’re reading about David fucking some chick in a cave what IS THIS. And that was like 15 years ago LMAO.)

Some people interact with media by criticizing and dissecting and that’s super awesome, other people want to be brainless and just dick around and make memes. I have a stressful life and I deal with heavy shit pretty often so I’m not here to like sling negativity in any form, that’s just not how I like to use my energy and free time. It doesn’t make it less valuable, it’s just not my thing. I put the time in with salty AR years, I’m done, I’m just here to laugh now. AND LAUGH I DO. 

AND LIKE IF THERE’S ONE THING I CAN SAY? A PIECE OF ADVICE TO THE NEWBS WHO HAVEN’T GONE THROUGH IT? Stop having expectations. Read enough AR to see that she’s fucking whacky af. Read Taltos. Read the werewolf book. When the new VC comes out, go in expecting that writer. Don’t go in expecting QOTD 2. If shredding books is fun for you, by all means! Knock yourself out! There will be plenty to shred! But if you’re here for fun just go in for fun. It’s lulzy as fuck if you don’t take it too seriously. 

did i write this post in my sleep!

#PREACH (Um I think I co-wrote this w/ nightislandofficial and monstersinthecosmos in my sleep, too)

did you see that there’s a pre sale of a new VC book on amazon (Blood Communion)?

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gothiccharmschool:

i-want-my-iwtv:

I DID NOT KNOW THANK U FOR INFORMING ME (HAPPY CAPS OR TERRIFIED CAPS?? IDK BOTH)

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^LOOK AT THIS EXTREMELY RED COVER. LET IT BURN YOUR EYES OUT WITH ITS GLORY (can I just mention that the blurred pixelation around the letters makes it look like it’s a meme but it is very much NOT).

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OH GAWDS WE HAVE A RELEASE DATE AND A SUMMARY FEAST YOUR EYES MORTALS:

“The Vampire Chronicles continue with a riveting, rich saga–part adventure, part fairy-tale–of Prince Lestat and the story of the Blood Communion as he tells the tale of his coming to rule the vampire world and the eternal struggle to find belonging, a place in the universe for the undead, and how, against his will, he must battle the menacing, seemingly unstoppable force determined to thwart his vision and destroy the entire vampire netherworld.

   

In this spellbinding novel, Lestat, rebel outlaw, addresses the tribe of vampires, directly, intimately, passionately, and tells the riveting story of the formation of the Blood Communion and how he became Prince of the vampire world, the true ruler of this vast force, and how his vision for all the Children of the Universe to thrive as one, came to be.

    The tale spills from Lestat’s heart, as he speaks first of his new existence as reigning monarch–and then of his fierce battle of wits and words with the mysterious Rhoshamandes, proud Child of the Millennia, reviled outcast for his senseless slaughter of the legendary ancient vampire Maharet, forever wise and loving and twin to Mekare the Keeper of the Sacred Core; Rhoshamandes, a force who refuses to live in harmony at the Court of Prince Lestat and threatens all that Lestat has dreamt of.

    As the tale unfolds, Lestat takes us from the towers and battlements of his ancestral castle in the snow-covered mountains of France to the verdant wilds of lush Louisiana with its lingering fragrances of magnolias and night jasmine; from the far reaches of the Pacific’s untouched islands to the 18th-century city of St. Petersburg and the court of the Empress Catherine …”

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I think we may be spared the birb aliems tho so there’s that!!!

That summary has no mention of SPACE BIRBS. Please, let there be NO SPACE BIRBS.

Also, eeeee, new Vampire Chronicles book! Excuse me, I must go run and preorder it right now. 

^^^SECONDED. plz no birb aliems, plz… I would even accept more of the corporeal ghost shenanigans we got in PLROA *eyeroll*

~~~~~Mine’s preordered~~~~~ 

aaaaand now we have almost 8 months to speculate and whine about this ;A; ;u;

If anyone hears of booksignings LET US KNOW.

So I know that Anne Rice didn’t think tom would make a good Lestat but then ended up loving his performance. But did she ever make a public comment about QOTD? I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone mention anything like that

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Yep, Anne reversed her opinion on Tom’s performance, but she did not care for QOTD. 

Someone out there might have more time-relevant sources to link to (reblog/comment if you do!), I found this vid on YT from 2009, looks like Anne released it herself, so she can speak to this in her own words.

“Well, I didn’t care for the movie of “the Queen of the Damned” at all. I begged the studio not to make that movie. I told them that the readers really didn’t want that movie, what they wanted was a was a movie based on “The Vampire Lestat,” the second book in the series, and the studio went on and made the movie, and the movie was not really based on my work. They used the names of the characters, but they replaced original material with material that they had written for them by a scriptwriter. And the movie was a great disappointment to most of my readers. 

“I still get letters to this day asking me why I let it happen and, of course, I couldn’t control it there was nothing I could do. They had the right as a studio to make that movie in and there was nothing I could do to prevent it.”

^So that’s Anne’s opinion. 

You didn’t ask but it’s relevant to note that the fandom (as a whole and as individuals) went through some or all of these stages w/ that movie

over time:

  • When it was announced, the old guard were excited about it (did you know that in 2000 Wes Bentley was being considered for the role of Lestat??), I know bc I photoshopped him blonde and blue-eyed w/ my limited skill-set at the time and No I don’t have that to show you but I DID IT,
  • The fandom was invited to be (unpaid) extras in the concert scene!!, and were thrilled to do it,
  • Then it came out, and there was disappointment that so much had been changed from canon (BRUNET!LESTAT and WTF MARIUS??? IS LESTAT’S MAKER??? WHAT?! IS??! THIS JESSE/LESTAT SHIP????% DO NOT WANT being primary grievances), the one change we mostly all approved of was Aaliyah’s performance being awesome and her being POC in a series that has few POC (although at the time I don’t recall that second part being as applauded as it is now),
  • There were waves of bashing the movie, even though we mostly all agreed that Aaliyah was great,
  • It’s still bashed today (I do it, too, but I try not to be TOO harsh),
  • ^A combo of the above or other reasons, etc.

…AND YET, it also is loved/enjoyed by many in that:

  • There are ppl in the fandom who were brought in by that movie, 
  • Or enjoyed the soundtrack, 
  • Or find it nostalgic, 
  • Or find it so-awful-its-great (like the Room), 
  • ^A combo of the above or other reasons, etc.

Anon, I assume that if you’re asking if Anne ever reversed her opinion on movie!QOTD, you may be looking for her approval on liking it.

Given the above, one can’t really place a value judgment on it bc so many of us have different feelings about it! As I’ve often said, you don’t need the author’s permission to like a thing (movie/book/tv series/other media), you do not need ANYONE’S permission or approval to Like a Thing! So go forth and Like movie!QOTD as much as you want!! 

As a positivity exercise, what do y’all like about movie!QOTD? (ﾉ´ヮ´)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

❤

Lestat’s paradox is that he knows he’s evil, but he can fool people into believing he’s not. And he’s very aware of that. And even when he tries to show people how bad he is they generally love it.

Anne Rice about Lestat. (via jardinsalvaje)

hey can u please post the post where anne talks about armands voice and accent, i cant find it :(

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@claudia-lilvampire shared this link, which is from Crónicas Vampíricas de Anne Rice, and it’s in Spanish. Google translate offers this translation:

i-want-my-iwtv:

I don’t think I have that, you’ll have to dig around on her Facebook 😛 

^Does anyone know of this post? Let me know. 

In the meantime, there was some discussion about his accent on this post and tbh I probably trust fandom more than Anne on this.

Armand has no accent. You can speak any language to perfection. His English, for example, is soft, fresh, and perfect. Maybe his articulation is a little old, and formal. He has a perfect ear.