Tag Archives: iwantmyiwtv faves

So I was the anon that lost her shit finishing TVL, lol and now I’m on QOTD. I appreciated all Rice’s lofty writing in IWTV/TVL but it got a little tiring sometimes. Now I have a new respect for Rice on how she is able to drastically adapt her writing depending on the characters’ POV (if that makes sense). And going from 40 BC to the 80s. I liked that chapter about baby jenks and the diction, humor and language. Maybe cause it was a hell of a lot easier to read +Do you have a fav book out of VC?

Leave a comment

Hello again, anon that lost her shit finishing TVL! Keep us posted, I love these fresh impressions of VC bc I can never quite get mine back, that first experience of each of the books I’ve already read. And re-read. Although, I do bring smtg different to them on each re-read, as I’ve gotten older and had more of my own experiences and philosophical revisions to compare to our fave dysfunctional vampires’.

*nods* Yes, AR has shown us many voices in her writing,

I think you put it very well. She has given us POVs from the lofty to the much less lofty. The lofty POVs appeal to ppl who enjoy that and the more modern stuff appeals to ppl who enjoy that… @annabellioncourt helped me out on a post about the voice of Louis, his POV seems to draw on older literature, and he loves to read those books, so of course he would absorb that somewhat anachronistic flavor. Louis may be deliberately making his story a little difficult to read, as he is revealing a lot but also keeping some things secret, keeping Daniel at arm’s length. 

image

^Footage of characters from their own POV chapters in one book vying for attention ❤

QOTD was a good collection of this bc she’s jumping characters a lot in that book, which she didn’t do in TVL and IWTV, except to have her main characters sit and listen to others tell their own stories. In those instances, we did get some variation in the POV, but again, it was through the filter of the person who later told/recorded the story for us, the readers (i.e. Lestat telling us about > Marius telling Lestat about > the Elder telling Marius about > the origin of the vampires! Check out @comixqueen‘s VC storyception!)

My fave VC changes over time, but consistently, it’s been TVL. Longer answer here. I did my own VC ranking awhile back, which I skimmed just now and still agree with.

TVL is my fave bc Lestat. LESTAT! He does have flaws, for sure. Flaws that could spiral anyone into depression. But his lust for life overrides everything ❤ 

image
image

^And I think part of why we all love him (those of us that do love him) against our own better judgment is that even when he royally fracks up, he gets back up, dusts himself off, and careens into the next car.

Hello dear, I just has a couple of questions for the authority on Tumblr! What’s your all time favourite VC book, which ones do you think are necessary to read and which ones would you say are the worst? Love your blog!

Leave a comment

Awwww… you sweet thing! ❤

While I’m flattered to be called the VC authority on Tumblr, I’ll accept it in just a tongue-in-cheeky way, bc if that were true, such a title would probably require real “administrative duties,” and other responsibilities that an Authority on smtg would have to perform.

image

My fave VC book is probably TVL, but I wouldn’t be here if not for IWTV, so they sort of go hand-in-hand for me. I hesitate to choose one over the other. IWTV had the elegant language, the dark ambiance, the existential angst that had a big impact on my own spirituality, and it had the beginnings of the Louis/Lestat chemistry.

But TVL edges forward bc it had the origin of their species story (a whole new take on vampire mythology!), it had more acts of love, more comedy and more charm and I fell for Lestat like falling down a flight of stairs ;D Not bc he’s so damn pretty. For his refusal to quit, for how badly he fracks up but feels terrible for, and then keeps trying; for his insistence that there is so much that’s worth living for, that fascination can save him in the face of the meaningless emptiness out there.

-which ones do you think are necessary to read-

(I get this question in different variations every so often, it’s under my #Order of Operations for VC tag, if you want more thoughts on that.)

I really think IWTV, TVL, and QOTD are necessary. Those books contain the core main characters and take the time to establish those characters. Later books will revisit some of the scenes from those books from different character’s POVs.

Some ppl write off TOBT as being too wacky and MtD as being too religious, TVA as being too Armand… and then the rest rapidly fall off the edge of what ppl consider canon at all because they introduce a bunch of new characters and storylines that the fandom has yet to fully embrace as canon (including the books AR herself does not currently accept as canon, the hybrid Mayfair/VC books).

Hit the jump for more, cut for length.

-and which ones would you say are the worst?-

That’s up for debate and I’m sure for every book I mention I didn’t really like that much, there’s going to be a pile of ppl who loved it, as happens with the ones I liked and there’s a pile of ppl who don’t!

Under the cut are VC that I don’t feel added that much to the series other than being somewhat interesting diversions, and you can give them a chance and see what you think!

Vittorio – This is technically not a VC book, and he has a different origin story and is not part of the VC vampire group.

Blackwood Farm – This is mostly a story told to Lestat and he’s not very invested in it, I don’t think many (any?) of the new characters introduced in this book make any more than a mention or brief appearance later on. It is also fairly cracky.

Blood Canticle – The last of the hybrid VC/Mayfair Witches novels, very cracky, AR has said herself that these hybrid novels did not “wear well” over time, and has stated that they are not part of the canon she continued with in PL and beyond.

Who’s your favorite character and why?

Leave a comment

It changes over time, I have a place in my heart for all the main characters from earlier canon (mainly books 1-5). 

My gateway character was Claudia, definitely my fave when I first read IWTV when I was 11. I could relate to her frustration at not being taken seriously as an adult. She was just the perfect mix of sweetness and icy screamy-ness and had Louis wrapped around her little finger (WHICH btw, I saw as a purely platonic relationship).

image

{X}

Of course I loved Louis after her. How could I not? For his dignified manner, his high tolerance for bullshit, his love for books, his ability to hold back, and his ability to break out a can of fiery whoopass when it’s called for. For his frayed sweaters and how he doesn’t really care about fashion but how good he looks when he lets Lestat or Claudia play dress up with him. Because he probably smells like beeswax candles and jasmine.

He’s also very pretty and his hair feels like silk. 

image

… All that said, Lestat was my real spirit animal in adolescence, and he’s the one that I keep coming back to as my true fave.

Lestat was someone I needed as I confronted the usual bullying in school, the usual seeking my own way into this world and the obstacles that go along with that. He taught me so many things. Most importantly, to have faith in yourself and not be afraid to try new things, meet new ppl. Some ppl will reject you just for being new. Some may reject you because you don’t have good chemistry with them. That’s all fine. You might become very close with some, and fail each other in some way, or just end up growing apart. It happens. 

How could I not love him with this combination (and more!) of character traits: Charismatic, mixing silly with sinister, mysteriously hinting at a rich and traumatic backstory in IWTV (which we definitely got later), and of course, lastly, pretty damn good-looking. 

And he does make mistakes, tons of them! If you really read the books, that’s where he lays out his mistakes and apologizes in the way he’s better able to do than verbally. 

image

{X}

I’ve always loved mean characters, antagonists, monsters… those who were written off as “just mean,” “just evil,” or “just crazy,” these are the ones I want to know more about. Why are they this way? Is this a shield they put up to protect themselves from further hurt?  

My grandmother was like this. I broke through her tough exterior and found a kindred spirit. She’s gone now, and I think my radical empathy for antagonists is kind of a search to find her in other ppl, fictional and real alike.

Hallo my darling dear, out of curiosity what did you end up choosing as your favorite VC book? Or if I feel like being crueler still, would you list them from most to least favorite?

Leave a comment

OuO thanks for this ask! *u*

image

(ﾉ´ヮ´)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧  *~TVL~* is my favorite bc of reasons:

  • it’s undiluted Lestat, 
  • from his POV, 
  • his backstory, 
  • his midstory, 
  • his modus operandi… 
  • it answers alot of the questions and corrects the record somewhat from IWTV (both have unreliable narrators but STILL)
  • …while bringing in a wholly new vampire origin mythology!! 
  • and sets us up for more stories. 

Listing the rest from most to least fave under the cut. 

I’ll try not to spoil but consider yourself WARNED. ＼(^ω^＼)

You know this fluctuates ok? Sometimes I’m in the mood for crackiness, but the top 5 are generally constants. 

SPOILER ALERT MAYBE

  1. TVL – bc of reasons
  2. IWTV – bc it was the gateway drug to all this, and bc of Louis’ voice being so strong, very classical gothic novel. There was alot of existential crisis here, and mixed right in were some of the best insults and humor I’d ever read up until that time. (Louis: “There’s nothing left for you to tell me about life. I haveno need of you and no use for you. It’s you who need me, and if you
    touch but one of the Freniere slaves, I’ll get rid of you. It will be a
    battle between us, and I needn’t point out to you I have more wit to
    fare better in my little finger than you in your entire frame. Do as I
    say.    ‘”     OH SNAP.
  3. ToBT – Truly a “Lestat Don’t Do the Thing” “I Did the Thing” “GDI Lestat” book, in which he gets the chance to be mortal again, and this sums up his opinion of that experience: “I’ve watched two-year-old humans with interest for centuries. They’re miserable. They rush about, fall down, and scream almost constantly. They hate being human! They know already that it’s some sort of dirty trick.” I feel ya.
  4. MtD – Yes okay I love Memnoch the Devil bc of alot of reasons, but mostly for the ideas it presents about why God created man and the world and what the deal was with sending Jesus down to mingle among people, and of course Lestat is asked to be the Prince of Hell, bc why not? It’s got alot going for it, the settings are amazing, the amount of Lestat being overwhelmed by his sensory input is like a rollercoaster ride, it’s some intense stuff. 
  5. QotD – there are alot more characters in here and it’s fun to jump around among the different POVs as the story progresses. The Queen herself has a wildly innovative concept for bringing Peace on Earth and it has a major flaw in that it does not include Bette Midler singing “From a Distance.”
  6. Merrick – Louis returns as a more central character in several books, and it’s not for the faint of heart. It rekindles the L/L intimacy in a whole new way.
  7. TVA – I am not a huge lover of Armand but in this book I feel like I got to know him better, it’s sumptuous, I would like a graphic novel plzkthanx, and it has an edginess as he is telling his story to someone who hasn’t yet earned his full trust and respect. 
  8.  BaG – Marius’ story, follows Armand’s in my list bc I like Armand just 12% more than Marius. Partially bc of what Marius does in the later canon ugh. He lost alot of points for me. I can explain his reasons but I don’t have to LIKE THE OUTCOME all the same. 
  9. PL – Not sure if canon but… there are a few scenes in here that could stand alone and are worth reading the book for, plus I definitely approve of the last few major plot points. I think those were handled very well and would reread them. Yes I can start at 25% from the end of a book and reread from there WHY NOT?
  10. BW – Quinn has grown more tolerable to me over time, and his story is very rural NOLA IIRC, with alot of spiritual stuff happening. 
  11. Pandora – I never really “got” her when I tried to read this when I was 15, probably bc her ship with Marius was so impossible for both of them, and her sadness was too much but I should give this book another try alllllll these number of years later.
  12. BC – one of the crackiest for sure. I can’t remember most of it but it was intended to be the last VC, so it has a bunch of things happening as if it were the last opportunity to have them happen. Also the crossover… um… yeah, no.