♛It’s no inconvenience, Louis and I have both experienced our share of bad parenting, and done some of it ourselves, so we’re glad to reach out and help when we can.
We read your message many times and can’t quite unravel what the issue is, but the fact that you have a mother who you feel is fabulous (and I assume you mean in her personality, more than just the contents of her closet *winks), and some friends for support, that’s a good start.
Some people really shouldn’t be parents, others are wonderful at it… it took Louis and I plenty of trial and error to figure it out ourselves. It sounds like your parents may not be working together on it themselves.
As badly as my father treated me, I took him in when the roles were reversed. He needed care, and only then, with his defenses down, were we able to have some of the communication I never got to have with him as a child. Perhaps he didn’t like children, didn’t see them as people, but as animals that needed taming. Louis’ mother seemed perpetually disappointed in Louis, no matter how hard he tried to please her. Perhaps she was disappointed with her lot in life and scapegoated her misery onto him.
It may be that your father doesn’t deserve to be part of your life. It may be that you still have something to resolve with him, like I did with my father. Follow your instincts, and seek advice from your mother. She knew him before you were born, she may have the guidance you seek.
It’s a sad truth that your father will be dead, and there will come a time when you won’t have the chance to try to communicate with him ever again. If it’s too painful to be alone with him, have it be in a setting with others involved, or at least nearby.
Hmmm, he’s not my headcanon of Armand, but maybe for Riccardo? Or an unnamed de Romanus lost boy? @lostsoulofvenice RPs as Riccardo. @perladivenezia (Bianca RPer), @riccardo-de-romanus (another Riccardo) what do you think?
Yeah, she did live a little longer in the book ;A;
EDIT: Madeleine vampired for 1 week only! (Thanks @queenofthesavagegarden)It was long enough that she went back to destroy her old doll shop, no longer needing the replicas of her lost daughter bc she had Claudia! And she also spent time making Claudia-sized furnishings so that Claudia could feel, at least in her own home, that she was the “right size.” ;A;
Different kind of anguish in the movie, being that it’s the SAME NIGHT Madeleine was turned, if she had just listened to Louis, she wouldn’t be dying that morning. In the book, having had that time with Claudia, it’s awful that they had to die so soon because that time was still so brief.
I haven’t studied the MBTI personality theory well enough to do this, so I can’t say 😛
[^X] I’ll open this up to everyone else to answer, tho!
Also, I think it could be interesting if ppl take the Personality Test in a character of their choice and let me know the results, and see if multiple ppl get the same result for specific characters. Do the thing!
(But I also feel like applying human psychology may not be so easy to do to vampires… they are people first and vampires second, but we know that the way they experience and process emotions changes post-turning. It seems like their emotions are especially volatile as fledglings for some amount of time.)
There is PLENTY wrong with TOBT. Plenty. So much so that there are many fandom ppl who don’t consider it canon.
I’ve seen attitudes about this book change over time. In ‘94, when that book was 2 yrs old, I remember ppl telling me they felt the series had ended with QOTD, bc TOBT was written off as simply being “the body-swap episode” (many films and TV series have tried their hand at that concept, and it’s usually a wacky ride). When Memnoch the Devil came out in ‘95, ppl didn’t like that one either, too offensive for its ideas about religion, and/or too preposterous of a plot; TOBT + MTD seemed to confirm that VC had jumped the shark, and a lot of ppl decided that the series ended at QOTD.
TOBT has wackiness in it, I mean, the difficulty of peeing (with a dick) is described in such vivid detail, there’s just too much comedy in it for me to discard it all outright.
(Oh! And perfect cinnamon roll Mojo the doge is in this book <3)
(Trying not to spoil it too much here but it’s pretty obvious what happens, but POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD)
If TOBT was really just “the body-swap episode,” it could be written off as “wacky,” we could talk about the silliness of the details of the body swap, all that. We could even talk about how frustrating it was that Lestat went into a deal with a self-proclaimed THIEF and assumed that this dude would, you know, HONOR THE TERMS OF THEIR DEAL to the letter, but such were the poor state of the trust issues of our lovable but hamburger-brained moron de Lioncourt at that point in canon. He was also extra vulnerable to being taken advantage of bc he was feeling unworthy of life at all and pulled an Icarus ;A;
^So this was the cover for the edition that I read, it’s the first edition that was published. And the cover actually is relevant to this story, bc the statue you see here getting enveloped in a gray mist (it was a dull silver in real life) is The Rape of the Sabine Women by Giambologna in Loggia dei Lanzi. I’m not going to go into a deep comparison of this to TOBT, essays can be and probably have been written on it.
I think a lot of those ppl in 1994 who wrote TOBT off as “wacky” had not actually read it bc this book takes the body horror to a place that most body-swap episodes/films wouldn’t dare to go. There are major consent issues, sexual and otherwise. There’s rape. I think AR was exploring sin and consent, she unflinchingly went there. Some ppl in the fandom refuse to accept it as canon bc they did read it and are repulsed by how far it went with these explorations.
Personally, I always advocate reading the book, and stopping if you need to, or engaging with it however works best for you. I think there are good things in that book and I think Lestat changes through the course of the story. Improvement is not always an easy trajectory. Just like in real life,
improving oneself can be a struggle, and there are often setbacks, sometimes devastating. One could say he ends up worse than he begins this story, one could say he ends up better than he begins. Just because you read/write problematic things, does not mean you condone them.
Oprah walked out of a screening of IWTV when it was first in theatres. [X] Tom Cruise told her afterwards that he wasn’t surprised. “The movie is not for everyone.” Similarly with fiction. This book is not for everyone.
[^X The pic I chose of the statue is not from the same angle as the pic used on the cover, but you get the idea.]
♛It’s probably for the best that he doesn’t know how much he captivates us all, how even his prone and unconscious form strangles my heart.
He also detests being praised for his physical appearance unless he put his own effort into it; after all, he didn’t give himself those piercing green eyes or the tender crease that appears between his brows when he’s worried about me. His beauty lies not just in his features, really, but the way he aches for the beauty of the world around him, his openness, his dignified demeanor even when I’m testing every last bit of his resolve. And I don’t think he considers any of that to be effort on his own part, it’s just the way he is.
Yep, she gave us their birthdates (Louis – October 4; Lestat – November 7) outside of canon. Neither date is mentioned explicitly in canon, and so some ppl do not accept that information as canon.
(There is also some fanon that Armand’s bday is November 11, which AR never mentioned at all.)
I don’t recall the vampires ever celebrating their birthdays explicitly in canon, but I headcanon that some of them do. Some of them prefer to celebrate the date they were turned, some celebrate both (exception: I headcanon that Lestat doesn’t celebrate the date he was turned) and some celebrate neither (Khayman, maybe).
EDIT: Claudia mentions in her diary entry in QOTD that Sep. 21 is the night her dads honor every year as her birthday, and she doesn’t know why. It’s probably the night she was turned, bc Lestat tells her “‘It was the day you were born to us.’ ” It’s Michele Rice’s birthday, Anne Rice’s daughter.
[X] BTW, I was looking for a reference as to Lestat and Louis’ birthdays for an Ask and found this. Someone used one of my memeythings for Becket’s birthday in 2015. The POTP are aware of me… *shudders*
And no, AR was not among the 21 who Liked that pic.
[X] Anon, looking at her question, I really don’t think this shows a lack of care for her characters, it shows AR looking for intriguing ways to tell these stories and seeking feedback on her ideas.
Lestat did compare Nicki and Louis, and there are similarities and differences, I think AR was just curious about it as an idea… I’m sure this has been done in live theatre at some point, casting one actor for 2 (or more) roles in a given production. She did say she’d want a talented, versatile actor who could create each role distinctively.
But yeah, I personally would prefer they were separate actors rather than introduce the idea that Louis was merely Nicolas in disguise or something weird like that.*
Hey, at least she’s listening to the fandom! We have to give her credit for that. Not every idea is going to be a great one, and we’re fortunate that even when we shoot her down, she keeps brainstorming, unfazed by the negative reactions she might get *u* I think that shows enormous character on her part, especially considering how she USED to react to negative reactions or even moderately critical reviews of her work.
*
… I would, however, accept a Claudia who was played by the same actress who plays Lestat’s little sister (presumably a sister, the mysterious unnamed 8th de Lioncourt!) bc that could have super adorable and haunting potential!
Um, autocorrect maybe??? But I get you, it always makes me think of Saint Nicholas aka old skool Santa Klaus… and then I have to put in annoyed 90′s Trent Reznor for Nicolas bc I LOVE HIM of reasons…
BUT…. I think I figured it out! In the translations of her books into other languages, maybe they spelled his name like that for some reason? And she got so many questions from ppl who wrote it that way TO HER that she assumed it actually WAS that way? BC she hasn’t really mentioned him in canon since 1985? IDK *throws up hands*
Regardless… even though he didn’t choose his name, Nicki has no patience for his name being misspelled.
♛Pardon the delay in reply, anonyme. I received this on Valentine’s Day but I was very busy with… romantic activities. Not to brag about it, I’ve spent many Valentine’s nights alone, and I’m… taken aback and more touched now for the nights I’m fortunate enough to spend with a loved one, whether it’s Valentine’s or any night of the week. There’s nothing all that inherently magical about holidays, only that we make them special by honoring them together.
There are times when yes, the loneliness overtakes me. I do feel emptiness at times. Sometimes solitude is needed, just to get to know myself once again, so that I can return to my loved ones. I can’t advise you about your own loneliness because I feel that it has healing properties. And there are times when I need to be quarantined, when it’s better for everyone if we’re not together.
But I don’t let loneliness destroy me. I don’t let it take over. I can’t. I’m not built that way.
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. [X, from Fan Questions for Lestat]
I-want-my-IWTV 