So, Sybelle! A rare one for ppl to ask about and rarely chosen for RP. I remember there was @sybelle-the-appassionata, but it looks like they’re on hiatus. There was also @play-the-appassionata, looks inactive now, but their archive might have smtg for you!
I don’t really have positive or negative feelings towards her, but in light of later canon, she’s become more solid, more believable, and I do hope AR develops her some more. There’s more to Sybelle than being ANOTHER beautiful blonde woman-child, and having a name of Greek derivation; Sybelle means “prophetess, oracle.” Does she foresee things in canon? Not so much, IIRC, but maybe that has yet to happen.
^While I was thinking about your ask these last few days, I saw this Visual Development from Tangled by Claire Keane
In fact I think the comparison is more than reasonable; Sybelle also seemed isolated in a tower, and further isolated herself with her obsession with the piano, specifically, Beethoven’s Appassionata.
We have Sybelle to thank for waking Lestat from his coma, so I set my alarm to one of the stronger sections of the Appassionata,
you really cannot ignore it or shut it out, and it’s NOT the most pleasant thing to wake up to. It works though, it really works. IT COULD WAKE THE DEAD. I had to change it after a few weeks, but try it!
Just try and tell me that Valentina Lisitsa isn’t basically Sybelle, just look at her! She’s just older.
For more on Sybelle, try my#sybelle and #the vampire sybelle tags. There’s a little fanart, cosplay, some meta by other ppl, some mentions of Benji (since he’s kind of part of her package deal!) and spoilers.
Eva Green for which character? I confess I haven’t done a whole lot of consideration for this bc genderswapping is very hard if you’re doing it for serious, but I threw some together for fun *u*
^Louise de Pointe du Lac maybe? She has death-glares down to a science, she has the right kind of delicate but strong features, and a lot of dignity about her.
^Taylor Swift for Lestelle de Lioncourt [bc of this post right here] – I’m sorry @queenofthesavagegarden, Margot Robbie is beautiful and a great second option, but for me, Taylor is also a singer and that’s a big part of the requirement for me! ;A;
^Kristen Stewart as Nicola de Lenfent if she would be willing to play another vampire! A sassy one, this time. In a lesbian ship.
Hit the jump for moar.
^Gillian Anderson as the cruel bully Marquise Valerie de Lioncourt.
^David Bowie as Gabriel de Lioncourt (hey you didn’t say they had to be available ;A;) CAN U IMAGINE if Taylor!Lestat got to turn her dad, Bowie!Gabrielle?? How magical??!
^Sendhil Ramamurthy as Akashad, King of the Damned.
^We have fanart of Mariella de Romanus and Andrea? Hmmm? [Source unknown]
Any one of your issues would be enough to be legitimately sad about but having them all at once is cosmically unfair *frowns* I wish I could swoop in, take you in my arms, and solve all your problems for you. But that would be doing you a disservice, because it would steal the feeling of satisfaction that you’ll get when you overcome these things with your own power.
You know, and please don’t take this the wrong way, bear with me for a moment; this reminds me of those exasperated people you see in crowded public places like shopping centers, sometimes with a number of brats hanging off of them, or some other burdens, or they’ve dropped their enormous coffee-desserts across their shoes, and you see them gaze skyward, cell phones glued to their heads, reporting to whoever will listen: “God is testing me. HE’S TESTING ME.” They say it as if God was becoming a real nuisance, deriving some kind of sick pleasure in throwing obstacles at them. Do they deserve their obstacles? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Life is full of them, and you get them either way. Sometimes I myself am the obstacle when an evildoer meets their end.
Whether you believe in God (or Goddess!), a non-specific spiritual entity, or nothing at all, we’re all tested. It just rarely comes in the form or at the time we would prefer it to, does it?
I could cheerlead for you – in authentic uniform or in the nude – until the break of dawn, and you would absolutely enjoy it as long as it lasted, and the memory of it, believe me. But eventually, the joy wears away and you’re left with the weight of your obstacles once again.
In my experience, you have to tackle each of your obstacles to earn your power back and have the wheels going your way again.
There will be times in your life when it feels like the whole world has turned its back on you. It happens. Better to get accustomed to pulling yourself back on your feet, dusting yourself off, and getting ready for another round. It’s better when we have supportive friends and family, but there were many times in my life when I was all I had. And I succeeded. It can be done.
Let’s get down to brass tacks, as they say:
Your health is not improving? Find out whether it’s in your power to fix it. Is it as simple as getting more sleep? Better hydration? You’d be surprised how effective sleep is in curing crankiness, I remember this from my devoted mortal bandmates, as I nearly drove them mad rehearsing them into sleep deprivation. If it’s something you can’t fix, find a way to get to a professional who can guide you in this regard.
Best friends are excellent heartbreakers. They know your weaknesses and they know where to place the knife and turn it. If this is the end of that friendship, take time to heal and be glad it’s over, you’ll have that part of your life open for a new best friend when and if you’re ready for it. If this is not the end, take time to heal anyway, and try to heal with this person, if possible. But don’t let them hurt you again. Don’t become their punching bag.
The number of times my creative work I worked hard on was torn apart by critics is just… I’ve lost count *ragged sigh* I could never even start the count. It seems like every creative contribution I’ve made to anyone has unleashed harsh criticism. I take the constructive criticism to heart and have to let the rest roll off, otherwise I’d give up altogether. My creative output has always been mainly for myself so at the end of the night, as long as I’m happy with it, it doesn’t really matter what anyone else thinks. Art, music, and writing are all highly subjective. But occasionally, someone will point something out in my work that might be rephrased to better capture what I’m trying to express, and it endears me to that person who dared to suggest the improvement, that they dared test my infamous short fuse. I am trying to take this kind of constructive criticism better, believe it or not.
I wish you the best, know that I’m supporting you from afar.
Omg *flails* what a wonderful message to receive! “Damn perfect”?! Well can’t confirm or deny that but I FRICKIN’ TRY.
I’m deeply moved. Couldn’t just toss in the usual reaction gif, too cheap, had to give you smtg a little more special. More of a story. You’ve heard it before but maybe this angle, this variation on it, will feel as fresh to you as it does to me. I’m rambling a bit and having trouble editing it back so you get a long post sorries LOOK WHAT U DO TO ME all these feels!
“I lifted the long wax wick, dipped it into an old flame, and carried the fire to a fresh candle, watched the little tongue grow orange and bright.
What a miracle, I thought. One tiny flame could make so many other flames; one tiny flame could set afire a whole world. Why, I had, with this simple gesture, actually increased the sum total of light in the universe, had I not?…
Because it was
something I could accomplish, like the little candle flame in the church making another flame and still
retaining its own light – my way of creating, my only way, don’t you see? One moment there were two of us,
and then we were three.” – Lestat, Tale of the Body Thief
Why am I quoting this? Like the vampires, we are a “found family” rather than a natural one, bc we draw ppl into this and turn them into one of us, if the addiction can hold! I see that it’s taken hold of you as it has me ;D
It’s not a fandom for everyone, but for those of us who are in it, well, it feels like we almost had no choice, we are hopelessly addicted ;u; When I get messages like yours I can’t help but feel a little like Lestat, like I’ve helped to add a little more light to the world, bringing in fresh blood (pun very much intended!) who might have a new and intriguing perspective on things to share, maintaining the older blood that’s aged like a fine wine, admiring the talent of our fanartists, fanfic writers, meta-analyzers, etc. and encouraging them to keep making more to feed our insatiable need of it! We make great friends within our ranks. Ppl have even met their life partners through fandom.
I also love that ppl shoot me VC news from FB, Twitter, etc., so that I can transmit it out to you so fast that by the time other publications pick it up, we’ve known about it for days already, and have helped each other deal with its impact if necessary, as proper family members should ;]
My closest friends that I’ve made here have been made bc they are as appreciative of this series and its wonderful, addictive characters as I am. Messages like yours keep this blog running and I can’t thank you enough for that *cries*
Hit the jump for moar…
The image above is not a screencap but a manip of a few frames, which I made in Oct. 2013, just a few months after the birth of this blog. I didn’t think anyone would care much for this blog, I expected it would only ever be a place I could indulge my VC addiction privately in public, like someone playing solitaire out in a park. A place to post a few of my graphics, a little of my sense of humor, and gather what little fanworks I could find for my own pleasure. Ppl saw it, ppl responded, ppl wanted to play Cards Against Humanity with me (to expand on the original metaphor, lol), and the whole thing has grown into a conduit through which I’ve gotten back SO MUCH MORE than was originally expected! It brought the fandom I had been looking for, and for the most part given up on finding, right to me!
Because you’re right, our fandom was dead, but only on the surface, driven into hiding by a creator who didn’t understand what fandom was and that it was a normal way to engage with canon. That sharing fanworks builds a community. There were plenty of us out there but few of us could find each other. We protected what little we had and shared it like contraband. She was within her rights and I don’t blame her for her actions, but as a result, I think we’re a much more appreciative group for what we have now than other fandoms who’ve had it easy from the beginning. I hope we are, anyway.
A lot of my sensitivity and care comes from a place of gratitude, and although I am a secular individual, I do try to preach the gospel of gratitude and civility back out to this family we’ve created.
I had ONE Real Life VC friend when I fell into this fandom, and she had to endure the fire-hydrant blast of my VC addiction, at close range, for about 20 years! She’s still my best friend, but let me tell you, she is grateful beyond words that you have all stepped in to take more of the brunt of my addiction now. She’s the one who nudged me to start a tumblr blog in the first place, which I resisted, mind you, so you should all be thanking her, too ;D
♛*stretches out on the divan* I happen to be a professional cheerleader, and I might be of service in this regard… fully equipped w/ pom-poms and several official uniforms, which were given to me, not purchased *smirks*
I assume you didn’t deserve a terrible day? I’ve deserved many a terrible night, but many were undeserved, too. You’ll have to tell me what befell you in order for ~Yours Truly~ to prescribe the proper method of cheering up, as there is a nearly limitless spectrum of options *grins widely* Some involve a uniform, and some, well… do not.
Ricean vampires, unfortunately, are condemned to enjoy the Deathsleep which renders them unconscious for the daylight hours. The plus side being: no snoring can wake them! Not that they can snore, since they don’t breathe. But still.
Louis, IWTV: “Numbness came over my limbs, and then the paralysis of oblivion.“
Louis, IWTV: “You see, I wasn’t sure then why I awoke each evening when I did, whether it was automatic when the deathlike sleep left me, and why it happened sometimes earlier than at other times.”
In movie!IWTV, yes, Claudia is awake right at dawn and seems fully conscious, as she tiptoes carefully around the sunlight.
^It was too perfect a moment not to include in a movie about lonely ppl, that singular act of a daughter climbing into bed w/ her mommy!Louis (bc we all know he’s the mom) rather than sleep alone! ❤ And purely platonic at that point in the movie.
There is a fic out there that suggests that Ricean vampires do awaken during the day when they are under extreme emotional duress, and it’s a very disorienting state to be in, they can’t function very rationally, as nocturnal animals also act erratically in daylight.
Hit the jump for a bit moar, and spoilers.
(Similarly, Louis seems to be painfully awake as Claudia and Madeleine burn in the sunlight ;A;)
When movie!Louis takes revenge on the Theatre des Vampires, it’s right before dawn, and he is perfectly able to function right up until he leaves the safety of the theatre, and it’s the sunlight more than the fact that it’s daytime that saps him of any functionality. But that was part of the plan, revenge, then suicide.
Ricean vampires can, however, fight in that unconscious state: Lestat says Gabrielle defended herself in her sleep: “And those mortals who did find us during the daylight hours, unless they exposed us to the sun at once, were doomed. For example, outside Palermo she had slept in a cellar far below an abandoned house, and when she had awakened, her eyes and face were burning as if they had been scalded, and she had in her right hand a mortal, quite dead, who had apparently attempted to disturb her rest.”
Amount of sleep needed seems to be related to the age and/or power of the vampire, and Louis, being weaker, needs more beauty sleep than the older and stronger ones.
Even in a place like Alaska in which nighttime extends during the winter months, Ricean vampires are still susceptible and want to fall into a reasonable Deathsleep rhythm.
In QOTD, Akasha purposely chases the night around the world, preventing Lestat from falling into the Deathsleep. Whether it was bc she had too much to do in too little time, or she was purposely using sleep deprivation as another means of controlling him (or both), we don’t know, but Lestat reflects on it:
“We’d been following the night around the world, perhaps, or rather moving at random in it, as Akasha maybe didn’t need at all to sleep.
I needed it, that was obvious. But I was too curious not to want to be awake. And frankly too miserable.”
Akasha tells him, a little bit later, that he requires sleep for his upgrades: “But you must sleep now. You are young still and fragile. My blood’s working on you, changing you, perfecting you.”
Vampires in other media, like Only Lovers Left Alive for example, CAN stay awake during the daylight hours if they feel like it, and they do sleep in beds. Are they trying to imitate mortals? Maybe!
Thanks for the compliments! YES THIS THING IS GLORIOUS ♥u♥
So I’m not sure exactly what you’re getting at, re: an ‘audience book’ vs ‘author’s book’ but it I do know that AR has always advised to “write the book you would want to read.” She just put up two quotes recently that I think are relevant here:
Unfortunately, I think we generally prefer those books coming from negative places for her, and I think it’s because she spun gold from the misery, she fought her demons through those stories and the product was captivating, clawing into the reader and giving us some secondhand catharsis.
Stories that came from a more positive place for her seemed not to produce that kind of engagement for the reader, but it’s important to remember that some ppl may prefer those.
Either way, she’s given us an incredible gift. The stronger works resonate with us to the soul like only our favorite music and art can, the weaker works are humorous and we can lovingly refer to them as “the vampire crackicles,” but even they still have good moments in which AR has tapped into the old veins (pun intended!) to give us that gold we’ve come to expect from her.
I stand by my previous short answer on this subject: I think AR can still capture that old quality we all fell in love with, albeit in slivers. Which is why I can’t disregard any of the books entirely. It’s still hard for me to accept Prince Lestat as canon, I might never, but there are moments and lines of dialogue in it that are SO VERY GOOD. Moments where I’ve had to pause and smile, because it was as if the old Lestat, from IWTV or TVL, actually graced us with his presence, if only for a moment.
Hard not to notice that I’ve been putting out more Lestat casting ideas than any other, hm? They’re alternatives for a particularly divisive option that I’d honestly rather the Powers That Be not choose. If it were MY choice, I wouldn’t want to contaminate the entire project w/ such negative baggage on our Lestat (if you don’t know what I’m referring to, sorry, but I refuse to answer publicly any further on it, you can try to find it in my #vc casting tag, tho).
But yes, always important to consider Nicolas! Half the duo? Well, yes, in a way, bc I do agree Nicolas gave Lestat his first long-term loving relationship, despite its flaws. It shaped him in a very powerful way, for better and worse. Mostly better ❤ I do think it’s some of Nicolas’ brand of sass that Lestat displays towards his loved ones in IWTV ;] But since Nicolas does not occur in later canon as a living character, I don’t consider him “half the duo” currently.
AND YES we don’t have nearly enough characters with brown eyes, dark brown eyes, that you can lose yourself in. Tender and sometimes scary depths. MORE LOVE FOR BROWN EYES.
Ben Barnes, okay, so I looked at some pics and gifs bc I haven’t seen his movies, and he’s won me over! I think there was an RPer using him as a face claim here, and I don’t remember their url, but those are usually still images so I didn’t really see it until now. He would probably make a fine Nicolas and he has my vote!
Fun facts on his IMDB page under the cut but for now ONTO SOME GIFS.
^“I don’t believe it, ” Nicolas said bitterly. “He wouldn’t be ashamed
of us.” There was a suppressed rage in his voice, an ugly grief. “And
why did he leave the way he did? I heard him calling me! The window
was smashed to pieces! I tell you I was half awake, and I heard his
voice… Lestat would spit in the face of anyone who would
be ashamed of us!” ;A;
^Nicolas being forced to dress up to deliver the red velvet cloak but HE’S NOT GONNA SHAVE U CAN’T MAKE HIM. I actually prefer him with this scruff.
^Willing to kiss dudes is a major plus. Not that I personally need it for any kind of nefarious reasons! maybe a little bit, but I do think it’s relevant that Nicolas and Lestat are very gay for each other, and it would be nice to have that loving relationship on screen to contrast how bitter the loss of it is for both of them ;A; Also his hair is perfect here.
Hit the jump for moar. Cut for length and moar opinions.
^Did I mention he looks great in period costume? He DOES. Also his hair is perfect here. Maybe a bit short.
^He has tons of excellent smiles and I just had to settle on one, this is good stuff ❤
^
“Oh, not goodness again,” he said. “You and your malady of
mortality, and your malady of goodness. “He had been looking at the
fire and he turned to me with a deliberately scornful expression.
“We’re a pack of actors and entertainers who can’t even be buried in
consecrated ground. We’re outcasts." Nicki you mean bastard >:[
^He even looks good flushed like this.
Fun facts on his IMDB page:
“He can also sing, play drums and piano,” which means we could train him to play violin! Obviously has some musical inclination, can probably read sheet music.
“Was in the short lived boy band Hyrise; his band performed their song, "Leading Me On” in 2004 for Eurovision Song Contest.” – Okay ex-boy band, to me, reads, Has sense of fun and theatrical performance over and above regular character acting. Which would be gr9 bc I would love to see a little more Theatre des Vampires action than we got in movie!IWTV, especially the moment it was born!
“His father is a psychiatrist and his mother is a therapist.” – They are probably great resources for him as an actor. And as the son of such, he probably knows all too well what it’s like to be over-analyzed and rebel against it!
Supports Make-a-Wish Foundation.- ok well my heart. THIS is the kind of baggage I like on an actor, HAPPY baggage!
Was one of the four finalists for the role of “Edward Cullen” in Twilight (2008). – SO WE KNOW HE WAS WILLING TO PLAY A VAMPIRE BEFORE
This seems like a Nicolas quote, it’s Ben Barnes from his IMDB page: “I don’t wear underpants in bed. They are really uncomfortable. I don’t wear anything in bed. I like girls to wear the same as me. His ‘n’ hers matching invisible outfits. But I think I am a gentleman in bed.”
As a side note, It shouldn’t be surprising to me that so many newer ppl to the fandom seem to gravitate towards Nicolas, but it does surprise me. Why is he of interest now? Lestat does reach back and mention him at times, but I just don’t remember there being so much interest in him 10 yrs ago.
It seems like in general, it’s more of a current fandom thing to pick up and care for these characters the author has handled less than the main characters, almost as if the readers have more blank space to fill in for them. So that makes sense.
I also think Nicolas reflects this generation of young adults better than any other VC character, with his disillusionment, his struggles with religion, and his anguish at how much talent he has and how little chance of success there is available to him in life in general, and defining what is success? What is contentment? He also may have some undiagnosed mental illness, which is another thing that’s much more out in the open these days than it was even 10 years ago.
The only character I can think of that could come close to all of ^that would be Armand, but he is a much more able to center himself and much more in control of his outward display of emotions than Nicolas. Armand was a coven master, a director, accustomed to being in a position of power, and Nicolas is more truly a performer, and artist, an open heart with little self-defense other than his rapier wit and scathing sass.
There is some fanon headcanon that his Mind Gift is too strong for him to really control, and that was another thing that drove him more deeply mad after he was turned.
Obsession fuels it, I can usually remember the scene I want when I have a good joke or text post to go with it. Then it’s a matter of slapping the images and text together.
I have *~a particular skill set~* w/ enough photo and video editing training that I can pull frames from my DVD copy of IWTV but it’s gotten a lot easier over time for just about anyone with even the most basic knowledge of apps to do some of what I can do here and sometimes I have to resort to more basic programs when I don’t have access to my higher-powered stuff at home.
There are tutorials on Youtube for grabbing images and making gifs in various ways. That’s how I learned to make gifs. I would include links here but there are too many to choose from! And it depends on what software you have and how much photo and video editing you already know.
I use Adobe Premiere to capture frames, and Photoshop to manipulate them and add text. I pay for both legally. I recommend that so that you can have a clear conscience and also you can call Adobe for support!
You can also do it with MSWord, MSPaint, and there is free screencap software out there (I think the Snipping Tool is already installed and free w/ the Windows operating system), just get a copy of the movie so you can pause it and pull your screencaps!
^Yes I spend my free time and design skills making graphics re: a movie (that was made 20+ years ago) for a series started 40+ years ago I HAVE NO SHAME AND NO REGERTS ;u;
I-want-my-IWTV 