Tag Archives: iwantmyiwtv has opinions

I just have one question about The Vampire Chronicles, I’m in my local library and notice they don’t have all the books, and in the little info bars I noticed different main characters (I initially believed it followed Lestat all the way through), do you have to read them in chronological order? Or would that just confused you?)

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They don’t have all the books??! How rude. You might be able to find the others online for free very cheaply, or at second-hand stores like the Salvation Army.

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There ARE different main characters in some of the books, and in some, Lestat is almost entirely left out. He is mentioned only once just to point out that he WILL be completely left out in Vittorio, but that book was not really intended as a Vampire Chronicle. 

But the order of the VC still tracks along Lestat’s journey, even if it veers off for a book or two (as with the Vampire Armand or Blood and Gold) and then picks back up with him. 

When I was asked “Which books do you personally and/or (if you might feel differently) the majority of the fandom regard as canon?” I answered that I had read them in chronological order as they came out, and it makes sense to do it that way since that’s the order in which Anne Rice pursued her interest in developing different characters/storylines/worldbuilding/etc. and establishing her own rules re: vampire origins, powers, and limitations.

Short answer is: without access to the full canon, you can’t just breeze through it like I did, and I don’t know which ones you are missing, but…. I recommend you read them in order as best you can. In later canon, other characters will refer to scenes already played out in earlier canon, contributing their own perspective, which may be confusing and will spoil those scenes for you. It will be up to you to decide which character’s account of things to believe. They’re all wildly unreliable narrators with their own selfish reasons for explaining things the way they do ;D

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^Regardless of the “truth,” do I grin like I’m seeing old friends every time I see a lineup of VC on a bookshelf, no matter what their condition? You bet your a$$ I do.

Hit the jump for moar on this.

Some ppl who HAVE access refuse to read Prince Lestat, or a bunch of the other books, and won’t even give them a chance, so your lack of access might also reflect the fact that the books are not all equally popular. Your library might have purposely not included what it considers the less-popular installments.

Most of the fandom, in my experience, have had different gateway drugs to the series. I love collecting stories of how people first got into it (#I love these kind of stories tag). They first saw movie!IWTV or movie!QOTD and then read the corresponding book, or a friend gave them a random one from the series, or someone donated the whole series to them, etc. From there, some people read in order, some people skipped around. 

THAT SAID, if you want to make VC fanworks (including fic, meta discussion, fanart, etc.) or do VC RP, it seems to help if you’ve read at least IWTV, TVL, and TVA (TVA might spoil previous events in canon but it’s really THE authority on Armand)(and read some fanfic!).

I think those VC contain the crux of the fan fave characters (Lestat, Louis, ((Nicki)), Gabrielle, Armand, Daniel, Marius) and scenes that have had alot of impact in developing the main characters. Your fanworks/RP will be richer if you know the background of the characters, because you’ll be able to refer to the events, or quotes, or take them as a jumping-off point in your work.

However, in the later books, you get new info, new characters, and new perspectives on previous events (example: Claudia’s diary entry in QOTD is heartwrenching).

@annabellioncourt​ had added this good commentary on that post and I agree with her 110% (except that I don’t love Vittorio but still): 

I personally recommend that people read the first three books (IWTV, TVL, QOTD) and if they really enjoy it to try reading the rest of them.

But my caveat for that is that if they don’t care for Body Thief or Memnoch then still give Pandora and Vittorio a chance, then Armand, and if they enjoyed Armand and Pandora, to try Blood and Gold.

Its complicated, but so is the series, for such a seemingly straightforward concept of “vampires decide to write tell-all memoirs of their behind the scenes lives.”

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^[X] #Lestatuesque #no but this is seriously smtg Lestat would say verbatim  #dialogue #dude as tall as me I DONT LIKE HIM DONT LIKE THAT GUY #or I want to bang him #either/or

Armie Hammer for Lestat de Lioncourt

@queenofthesavagegarden reminded me that I had considered him ages ago and now I want to bring him up again bc I think he’s got gr9 potential. I screencapped the above gifset bc I didn’t want to tack all these gifs below onto someone else’s post, but I included the source, so you can reblog that gifset from there 😉

Consider the following also [from this quality gif hunt right here]

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^So he got the body. 

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^Did I mention his body? Just making sure that’s noted #^_______^#

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^He seems to ALREADY HAS FANGS no but really those are very nice teeth

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^Look at that sweetness awww. He actually has tons of great smiles and puppy faces I just chose this one to keep the post concise.

So anyway you have my support on this, for what that’s worth.

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HIT THE J U M P for moar…

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^He does have to be a bit of a dudebro (in the least gross sense of that word) and these actually are puppy eyes, too ❤

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^Not afraid to be certifiably goofy (+ being goofy in a preppy outfit)

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^Sarcastic/goofy, possibly smile+deathglare combo, a unique expression!

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^#NO REGERTS #psssst yes regerts #I HAVE MADE A HUGE TINY MISTAKE

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^When Marius tries to lay down the law.

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^He’s all dirty here and STILL PRETTY. Look at that eye, it’s like an ice chip.

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^”That sounds fake but okay, Armand.”

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^When things are going well at home!

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^When things are NOT going well at home!

Gallery

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Emil Andersson for Lestat de Lioncourt [X][X]

OK so I looked up this model bc of @yoonona‘s aesthetic post, and wow. Especially the first pic. With the right lighting, yep, angelic! I’m not 100% selling him for this, but just throwing the idea out there.

Emil is physically stunning and probably closer to more ppl’s headcanon for Lestat than some recent casting suggestions have offered us. Modeling does require some level of acting, and he definitely has talent, I especially love his seriousness in the bottom right pic in an outfit that… while he sells it very well… would probably look laughable on most of us mere mortals! 

Acting though, we need to see him in motion with more than the variations of pouty expression above. Lestat has a huge sense of humor with a lot of ways of expressing it. I found ONE pic of Emil smiling, and idk, I need more: [X]

Found just one gif of him in motion, below the cut bc it gets really repetitive!

I normally don’t support casting models for VC characters bc there’s more to our characters than being JUST beautiful, even though they are described as angelic and devastatingly attractive. Part of what drew me to them was that they feel grounded in reality somehow, and their beauty comes more from their personalities, that’s part of why they were chosen to vampire by their makers.

In some cases, though, they really are that beautiful, and Lestat was chosen both for his physical characteristics AND his personality. 

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annabellioncourt:

vampchronfic:

mylittleinferno:

firelight-fading:

mylittleinferno:

Does anyone else feel that the quality of the Vampire Chronicles books goes downhill the further you read into the series? 

I mean, I love Anne Rice and her novels but sometimes I get the feeling she put out a book because of contractual obligations. Some of the VC books are just.. meh. 

(If you don’t mind my input) I feel like the quality kind of slopes downward, comes up again just a little bit and then goes down even further. I actually enjoyed The Vampire Armand (despite the weird shit that went on), but as for the 2 books that preceded it, I really didn’t care for them at all. I haven’t read on-ward since because I’ve heard things regarding the other half of the series so, I can’t attest to that half.

I don’t mind 🙂

I’ve heard that some of the books are better but after I read TOBT it really killed my enjoyment of the series and I’ve only recently gotten back into it.

You’re not wrong—there are a lot of people who have the same general opinion (YMMV on which book began the downward spiral). #i-want-my-iwtv — you need to weigh in on this one!

I have argued to doctorate holders that IWTV is a true work of literary genius. TVL is my favorite for its unrepentant hedonism and introspection–I think Lestat is more self aware than Louis is, and more aware of how others think than Louis is, and I love his narration (despite the fact that I am literally Louis). 

Queen of the Damned is well on par with TVL in its quality–and its a high quality straddling the line between good popular fiction and high brow literature……Armand, Blood and Gold, Pandora, Vittorio: they’re right below it in literary quality for me. The rest seem to be just good popular fiction, not great, but good. 

I love them all to bits, and will defend Anne and her work, and continue to read whatever she writes, but….you are right, there really is a change in her writing.

*Officially weighing in*

Lots of good points above, I absolutely agree that IWTV is a true work of literary genius. Agreed on everything annabellioncourt wrote. For me, none of the later books remotely approaches the richness and intensity of IWTV, TVL, or QOTD, but yes, I’d say TVA was very good, and shouldn’t be lumped into the lesser VC simply bc of its post-MtD publishing date. 

I would agree w/ firelight-fading that it’s not a sharp downward slide in quality, but more that “the quality kind of slopes downward, comes up again just a little bit and then goes down even further.” Blood Canticle would have ended this series, and for what it’s worth, I would say that Prince Lestat begins to get things back on a better track plot-wise and emotion-wise than it nearly ended on.

My short answer:  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.

However, in general, I would say that the VC began as a work of catharsis for her (we probably all know the Claudia = Michele Rice connection by now); she had real questions that needed answering, she had a powerful hunger to flex her storytelling muscles, steeped in all that older literature, she could still relate to us mere mortals, and she had her poet husband’s emotional and creative support. Don’t underestimate Stan’s contribution 😉

So I’d say that’s why the first few books (1-3 or 1-5 or whatever, depending on your cutoff point) are so strong, and why we mourn the loss of that passionate searching. Because as she got more successful, as she exorcised her demons, she might have lost touch with the emotions and questions she began the journey with. I’m happy she’s happy! I would probably still be a mess, if I had lost a child and a husband, both who still had a lot of life ahead of them ;A; 

But I’m glad she seems to be in a good place, and that she’s still writing, even though she is probably financially secure enough not to need to touch WordPerfect ever again!

Hit the jump for more. 

It’s easy to denounce a pile of books. It’s easy to just slam them down or make a gif of them on fire yes I did that before I finished reading it and it’s kind of a bonding experience to all agree to like or dislike a thing together. I get that. Hey, I actively dislike movie!QOTD. I immediately feel a little kinship w/ others who agree w/ me on that, and I am aware that’s mean to those who feel nostalgia for that movie, so I try to keep it to a minimum publicly. 

Why do people dislike the later VC books? Because they’re wild? (They are!), They are historically inaccurate? (Probably!) The characters seem “off” or present unreliable narration as to past events told by other characters…? (They are and they do!) 

^All of which are varying degrees of criminal acts that call for Fictional Character Protective Services™ but I advocate for the proverbial devil because that’s one of my things that I do so here we go:   

Wild stories:

  • Well, AR attempted to appease her POTP fanbase in some regard, merging the Mayfair Witch series into VC, and she acknowledged that it hasn’t “worn well.”
  • She’s trying to appease the POTP who have begged her to give Lestat a biological child (check that off the list), and get married with a ~ceremony~ (allegedly happening in the next installment, Blood Paradise) bc how can he be at all remotely happy w/out making an honest man out of Louis FFS like c’mon.
  • She’s always tried to push the envelope and TOBT was WILD for its time in this series, how incredible that she’s managed to make that seem so tame in comparison to later canon!
  • Not to mention the Dora scene in MtD. 

They are historically inaccurate:

  • Probably! But I’m not a history buff, so for me, to say the characters are wearing something that wasn’t invented until, idk, 50 yrs later, doesn’t bother me. 
  • I can understand why it might irritate the hell out of someone else, though. 

The characters seem “off” or present unreliable narration as to past events told by other characters… 

  • But that happens in real life, too! X might have one version of a story and Y, who also experienced it, might have a much different version. I enjoy seeing the perspectives, and consider for myself who’s version I believe. 
  • Louis and Lestat argue over whether Lestat was about to eat a baby at the end of IWTV “in a scene which we both know did not take place!”

In the last analysis, AR can still blow me away with a scene, or just a line of dialogue, even in the far less popular books in the series. She can still make me put the book down and stare off into space for a breather. 

BUT, as I mentioned above,

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 deigned to be present, if only for a moment.

IWTV thoughts

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murdereratthematinee:

Ok but Claudia called Armand Louis’ “companion” and it’s p obvious that Armand wants to fuck Louis and then she asks for Madeline as a “companion” and this is probably a gross thought cause Madeline is like “I want a daughter who can’t die” and Claudia is (in appearance) a child but could she be a lesbian?

I know she pines after an adult body but could it be more than that? Could she want a woman to sleep with?

This is a fascinating idea and I have thought about it myself quite a bit. 

Possibly a very unpopular opinion but: I don’t think they were sexual w/ each other in the mortal sense, but there was more to them than a mother-daughter relationship.

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[X From Claudia’s Story]

I don’t think Claudia’s pursuit of Madeleine was purely for a platonic mother-daughter relationship. That may have been part of it, and it was how she sold it to Louis because he couldn’t perceive Claudia as more than his daughter or as an adult trapped in a little body who would be capable of being involved in a romantic way with anyone, and she needed him to actually do the work for her since she was unable to perform the Dark Gift herself (and I do think she tried before asking him).  

While it may not have been a relationship in a more conventionally romantic sense (I don’t believe they had anything sexual, in the mortal sense, going on), I do think Claudia/Madeleine was a ship of sorts, more of an emotional relationship. Claudia was the one in control, she was comparatively older and stronger in personality. 

Who’s your favorite character and why?

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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).

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{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. 

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… 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. 

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{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.

For vc casting, how about John Noble as Magnus?

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I actually did think of this connection when I saw him as Denethor in LOTR. 

For starters: his whole hair and makeup was perfect in LOTR, and the acting, too!

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He even sets himself on fire like Magnus!

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BUT I imagine Magnus as being scarily skinny, more spindly. He almost seems like a spider:

“…Rather
he leaned to rest, it seemed, upon the thick stone frame of the window,
one knee bent a little towards it, the other long spindly leg sprawled
out to the other side…

his thin, gangly limbs found animation ail at once.” – TVL

Look at John Noble outside of his LOTR makeup tho:

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^This looks like the ID card pic for Raglan James to me ;D 

A man who, yes, has some solid weight on him because he enjoys fancy food, and not extra physical exertion, he’s older but still got a lot of life in him yet, and a kind of scheming default expression.

Do Louis and lestat have a romantic relationship throughout the whole series? Or is it over after IWTV/TVL? I haven’t read that far and I’m curious, because they’re my favorite couple

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Yes, they do, but it’s mostly between-the-lines ;A;

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[I’ll warm your cold blood by DrKav]

You’d think, for one of the fandom’s main ships, there would be more of it explicitly canon. There just isn’t, sadly. But Lestat pines for Louis QUITE ALOT. In the immortal words of @hyperbeeb, “Now matter how hard you ship Louis and Lestat you will never ship Louis and Lestat as hard as Lestat does.” [X]

Part of why it’s such a tough ship is that AR just does not let us have much in terms of fluff of them! It mostly happens off-screen. Which is where fanfic steps in to satisfy that need ;]

was Tom Cruise wearing a wig when he played Lestat or was this his real hair dyed blond?

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I answered this more fully in this post right here, but just concisely:

Yes, Tom Cruise was wearing a wig. Thinking about it now, I think it was a partial wig and blended with his own hair somewhat.

Admittedly it wasn’t the “glorious mane of pampered yellow hair” as described in book!IWTV, but I think his performance really made up for any of his physical shortcomings (pun intended, lol), like not being blond enough. 

New thoughts, too:

In fact, he was a brighter blonde as we can see in some stills from what appear to be cut scenes, and they modified his hair and makeup, so that may be a reason why those scenes had to be cut. This one looks oversaturated but you can still tell that his hair is very different from the movie, and his eyebrows are bigger and brighter. Pastier white skin, too.

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^I think this would have been the scene Lestat makes Louis watch him take a victim to make sure Louis reeeeeeally wants to vampire. Or it’s the scene Lestat bashes open Louis’s wife’s coffin to show him the decaying corpses of his wife and child to remind him what death actually looks like and it’s hella not fun.

Compare the above to the hair and makeup he had in the movie before the murder attempts:

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What’s kind of tragic and beautiful here is you can almost see him thinking about Doing the Thing:

Am I really going to do this again? Try to bring someone over and hope that they’ll stay with me? I can’t let Louis have too much time to consider it, he’s really trying to kill himself and he’s going to do it. Soon.