“damnitarmand embodies all of the facets of Armand with elegant talent. Their writing is beautiful. Their sense of humor and deep understanding of his motivations makes Armand come alive. Their posts are always great to see!”
//So very true. ❤
OOC: I must chime in to add to this. DamnitArmand is one of those gifted writers that I feel blessed for having crossed paths with. Every opportunity I’m given to write with them pushes me to bring my best, and their talent makes their every post a treat to enjoy. They deserve all the love. Many love. Much hug.
“Shout out to cloudsinvenice! Her insights on the characters and books are always a treat to read, and have pointed me things that I would’ve never thought on my own & that have made the entire VC canon more enjoyable. She’s also the kindest, most welcoming and understanding person ever to grace the world of fandom, who just naturally seems to go the extra mile to make everybody feel welcomed. She deserves a big mental hug for being so great in all matters.”
ikr?? Thank u! Just look at his face! that little twinkle of expectant hope in his eye! ;A;
So many thoughts on this one TEENSY ACTING MOMENT… feels like so much is conveyed in like 4 seconds. Mostly it’s someone who loves too much but can’t be open with the object of his affection, he’s holding back these secrets that even if he were allowed to tell him (which he is not bc Marius threatened such intense retribution) would probably end up driving Louis away, if not crazy.
The “Don’t Fucking Cry” sentiment is smtg I got from Tony Stark, though. liquorandptsdvarietyshow is the one who enlightened me on the striking comparison that can be made of Lestat and Tony, and even Tony/Steve and Lestat/Louis. Not going to go into a lot of detail here on that. Maybe another time.
I definitely think Lestat would understand the whole “Stark men are made of Iron, and don’t show weakness, GRRRR” thing. He doesn’t particularly identify it as a de Lioncourt men trait, but he is a consummate actor, and he has built a beautiful shell to protect himself from the onslaught of shit happening some of which he brings on himself, of course, in the pursuit of doing good.
Deep down they both want to be loved and give love in return, and they struggle to make and maintain those connections while still wearing a suit, whether it’s made of iron or emotional barriers ;A;
“i-want-my-iwtv is a fantastic blog. The blog runner is a passionate fan whose loves for the series shines through in all of their memes, humor posts, and discussion posts, and they do an awesome Lestat RP to boot!”
Sure, I may not like all of it, but honestly I love all of Anne rices work and could not , with conviction, tell someone not to read it.
So all of you peeps who are afraid to read it or put off because of the fandoms feelings in the book, just ignore all that and work to craft an opinion of your own on the book by bravely reading it yourself.
~T~h~i~s~/
TL;DR WARNING.
Before I launch into this, the title itself felt like a joke: "Oh gdi Lestat you are so obsessed with your stupid nickname, you hamburger-brained moron" but really he did not coin that phrase, and in fact he resisted it for most of the book. So let’s not blame Lestat for that bit. In fact, it is meant to follow Queen of the Damned in a very big plot point kinda way, and so the title makes perfect sense once you know that plot point.
I finally finished it after picking it up, setting it down, and repeating that procedure a number of times. There were sections that made me lose total interest for weeks. Then I’d grumble and trudge through. I knew some spoilers (bc I had asked for them!), just plot points, but I wanted to experience it as it deserved to be experienced. Even the parts that made me invent a wholly new WTF facial expression. But I laughed more than cried of second-hand embarrassment at those scenes.
I finally closed that book with the feeling that I opened it with: cautious optimism, and glad for having given it the chance. It’s revived our fandom for sure. I might even reread it soon. Is any of it really canon? Maybe. Not sure. I think some good RP and fanfic will revise some of it, fill in the missing parts, and glue it all together.
Oh, you want more? Well I’ll give you more…
Let me just say that there are several canon/fanon-worthy scenes in this book, that are not to be missed. There’s a lot of good character work with several of the characters (not ALL of them, but hey, it’s something).
There’s an intensity to the last 25% that’s worth the anguish of the parts that lost my interest. You have to slog through to get to that, though. It makes it more worthwhile, a creeping sort of anxiety in the story until that last 25% sweet spot.
There’s also a lot of good exploration of the PTSD in Lestat himself. There are times when it really feels like the Lestat from TVL or even IWTV! His brutality is still there. His gentleness is different now, worn sort of thin by too many people abusing it (*cough cough* Mona! Though she was in the right in several instances back in Blackwood Farm), but still there.
There’s a great, short, powerplay with David. There’s some great mother & son bonding (lol) with Gabrielle. Louis has a sort of change of heart. Armand is so chill you might think he’s being sarcastic. New characters are brought in (this includes old ones that we thought were long gone and are now brought back and dusted off), and lined up, they’ll surely be more developed and have roles in the next installment.
The entire vampire tribe has turned a new corner at the end.
I-want-my-IWTV 