Yeah, I almost fell for that article at first. @sanguinivora made a post about it. I would reblog it, but I don’t 100% agree with it, still, it has some very good points. Definitely worth reading and considering.
(Ageism… I don’t know about AR’s age being a factor in any of this, we can only speculate. I’m not commenting on that.)
I’m with you re: I hope the VC TV series is as true to canon as possible, that it gives us some positive representation of LGBTQIA+ relationships/characters or encourages critical thinking and discussion of the (for lack of a better word) problematic aspects.
…I don’t know about your grandma, maybe she would be an awesome scriptwriter! One of my grandmas was very open minded and she might have done well at this.
Like, I’m not even making a joke here, this lady here in the stock image is so thrilled, sittin’ there at her laptop, and it warms my heart a little! What is she gonna write?
(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!
♛Darling, I would jump at the chance to be mortal with Louis for even one day. When I first met him, I wanted so badly to at least draw out the time I could spend with him as a mortal, but that simply wasn’t possible.
There are many things we sacrifice when we become what we are and I’d be content to just lay out in the sunshine with him in some grassy and flowery field in the middle of nowhere with a picnic basket and a few chilled bottles of French white wine (I love soda, but it makes me burp, and that could put a real damper on the mood), plucking dandelions to make a chain… eventually he’d complain that it’s too bright and that he’s getting a sunburn. We’d find some shade under a tree and drink in the softer dappled light with our whole bodies. And then… who knows what we might be inspired to do together? *winks*
“Sunrise/sunset: Too obvious? Oh well. It’s the truth. I’d witness it, and feel that unique pleasure of sunlight climbing up my bare skin, that warmth spreading, not as a warning, but a loving embrace. That same feeling in reverse, as it slipped away at the end of the day.”
He fails to consider sunburn, but I’d slather him well with sunscreen. Oh yes. Slather him very well.
“Swim in the ocean, somewhere tropical, perhaps, and feel the tickle of the fish around my body. Maybe take one of those aqueous cameras to capture the composition of the scenery myself, as a memento. I don’t imagine wearing any cumbersome swimwear in this scenario. Maybe just diving equipment (Lestat and I are excellent divers).”
Sure. I’m with him on this. Creatures in the Octopus’s Savage Garden! Sea anemones, forests of coral… I’d also want to go looking for those smaller sharks that don’t have much interest nibbling on humans but are beautiful and dangerous to look at. Or dolphins! Dolphins speckled with webs of sunlight…
“Food and drink: it could be a gastronomic adventure. I was never what you call a “foodie” now, but I have some dishes that I would love to experience again. Crêpe Suzette, for breakfast. Fruits, apple juice, coffee. Black coffee, café au lait, jasmine green tea. Beignets from the Cafe du Monde. Gumbo (with alligator). Crawfish étouffée.”
I’m with Louis on all of this. Sounds delish. And then watch him have a stomach ache from too much indulgence! I’ll hold his hair back when he’s tossing his cookies, as they say. Poor Louis.
“Other drink: I wouldn’t want to become so drenched in liquor that it would limit my experience, so I would opt for a few classic mixed drinks, rather than my previous mortal fare of anything in large quantities. A few glasses of St. Germain 75. Or Mezcal. Perhaps something I never got to try as a mortal, Aszú Tokay. I’ve been told it’s very syrupy, but it may go well with vanilla ice cream.”
I’d carefully drench him in liquor in the evening, he is a lovable drunk.
“- Dancing – Go listen to a string quartet or trio in a garden. – Ride through my old plantation on horseback.”
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.
THIS IS AN AMAZING IDEA and I sat on this in my inbox for a long time because I don’t know that much about D&D and I wish I had more to add to this situation. But like, YEAH like D&D Night at Trinity Gate, third Wednesday every month, sounds perfect. Everyone can come over. I’m more partial to the idea that it’s Armand & Friends and that Lestat comes over and crashes the party and acts like a douche but yeah man I think this DEFINITELY HAPPENS.
Oh man. A small selection because apparently my brain took this and ran with it a bit
“No, Lestat, being a bard does NOT mean you sing all your dialogue”
Daniel as DM because he’s the only one who’s even remotely unbiased
“I am going to smite you SO hard, you won’t even know what smote you. Say bonjour to my TWO-HANDED BROADAXE, you little goblin shit!” *rolls a critical miss*
“Oh, that’s great. Just great. I can’t believe you just said that. We have ONE healer in this party, so do you think just once you could keep your big mouth shut and try NOT to get us all killed?”
“Well maybe if St Francis over here *jabs thumb in Louis’ direction* had picked some USEFUL skills instead of “talking to animals” this wouldn’t have happened”
“Pardon? My charisma stats alone have saved this mission like three times THIS EVENING”
//meanwhile Armand is a min/maxing munchkin who number crunches all his stats and barely misses breaking the game
//Nicolas rolls bard and insists Lestat reroll priest/cleric “if he wants to be so ‘good’”
//totally. Spends points and money with extreme deliberation and keeps absolute track of his gear and any and all bonuses so he never forgets to make use of them at opportune moments
//y e p. Meanwhile Lestat playing chaotic neutral or some shit just so he can fuck with Armand with impunity
//I have no idea how to play D&D but you know I am ALL about COVEN GAME NIGHT!!!!!
^idk if this is a real Mick Jagger quote but I bet Lestat would say smtg similar.
I don’t know much about Mick Jagger as a person other than some familiarity w/ his music and stuff*, but I definitely think Lestat would have a similar stage thing going on, the rockstar behavior, the fashion would be compatible (Lestat will forever mourn the fact that he missed out on the fashion of the 60′s and 70′s), Lestat would be impressed at the length of Mick’s… career (what did you think I was gonna write?!), and I do think Lestat would dig the logo, except, y’know, he’d add the fangs:
*idk if there’s anything problematic with Mick, please don’t jump on me about that, bc I don’t know, I’m only speaking to his stage persona.
I-want-my-IWTV 