Tag Archives: let the right one in

I need some atmospheric vampire romances really badly! Canon or AU as long as neither character turns into passive, thoughtless pawn devoid of personality. Can you recommend some fic please? Thank you!

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Hello! I’m sorry I’ve held your ask for 2 days, I was thinking about this and trying to come up with a good answer, but you’re probably better off with an answer from @gothiccharmschool, @annabellioncourt, @fyeahgothicromance, @forthegothicheroine, @sanguinivora… if anyone wants to answer @radiatorfromspace about this, please do!

Re: canon or AU, I’m not sure if you’re looking for fanfic or published fic. As far as published fic, tbh I don’t really read other vampire series than VC 😛 I used to read Christopher Pike and Poppy Z. Brite but I barely remember them now. I never actually read Dracula (the h0Rr0r! I am a terrible vampire fan) but from what I understand, it would have the atmosphere you want but may have characters that turn into passive, thoughtless pawns devoid of personality. I think that may be why I’ve struggled to get myself to read it, that’s not my thing, either.

As far as fanfic I mostly read VC fanfic, and I can’t say that any of the fics I’ve read do that to our characters… in canon we do have some vampires who go into a kind of sleep/vegetative states for periods of time (called “going to ground,” and sometimes involves them actually burying themselves and staying underground for years), and one might say that fledgling!Nicolas was a passive, thoughtless pawn devoid of personality when he was first turned, but he snapped out of it when given the right stimulation. So I think sometimes that state is temporary if it’s incorporated into fic.

I also struggle to pick out authors of fanfic bc I can’t think of one that has both the atmosphere and the vampire romance… I feel like most of my fave authors spend SOME time on atmosphere but more time on the characters’ interaction, dialogue, the plot, etc. Our series is pretty heavy with purple prose so we tend to use it sparingly in fanfic.

IF YOU REALLY WANT THAT ATMOSPHERE YOU’LL HAVE TO GO OUR SOURCE. I’d suggest that you read Interview with the Vampire or The Vampire Lestat and JOoooooOOoooooOIN US! ❤ [Me: attempts to steal a very talented fic writer from their fandom into ours]

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^It’s a movie but worth mentioning bc I think you’d like it: Only Lovers Left Alive is, in my opinion, an example of an atmospheric vampire romance without shoving the romance down your throat; it’s subtle, but it’s there. Also:

  • Although the characters are pretty sedate most of the time, neither character in the central ship turns into a passive, thoughtless pawn devoid of personality. 
  • I think this would appeal to you bc there’s a lot of tenderness, with a good dose of silliness, too. 
  • It’s got a good mix of spooky + pretty aesthetic, being set in crumbling Detroit, it shows the beauty of things that might look run-down and of little value at first glance. 
  • BONUS: It stars Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddleston as the main ship and they are A++++ 
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^Similarly, there are two adaptations of novel Let the Right One In. I didn’t read the novel, but have heard great things about it, although it is darker and scarier in nature than the adaptations. The first of the 2 adaptaions has the same title as the novel and I think it’s the better of the two. The second one, the American version, is called Let Me In. 

While it’s not a romance between ADULTS, it’s got atmospheric vampire action and I would say that it might fall under a YA kind of romance feeling. I’ve read some of your fic and I really think you’d like this bc it has a lot to say about giving/receiving care, being vulnerable, and those first feelings we get about “I love my friend so much and I am afraid of scaring them off by letting them know, I want to be closer to them but not at the cost of hurting them.”

I hope that helps, again, anyone is welcome to comment/reblog with reccs for @radiatorfromspace!

Do you know of any vampire clichès? (I know that you may not have read that much vampire fiction, but I need to know all the clichès to avoid, it’s for a book.)

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Oh man, that is a lot to ask, and you’re correct in that I have not consumed a wide range of vampire media, especially in terms of historical/geographical/etc. 

@thebibliosphere, @annabellioncourt, @gothiccharmschool, @forthegothicheroine, @fyeahgothicromance might have a post with this or similar info.

TL;DR: I don’t think you need to worry about avoiding

clichés, tho. I think you should take Anne Rice’s advice and “write the book you want to read.” It worked well enough for her!

What exactly is a cliché? Wiki says: 

“A cliché or cliche is an expression, idea, or element of an artistic work which has become overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, even to the point of being trite or irritating, especially when at some earlier time it was considered meaningful or novel.”

Vampire fiction is so varied and has so many different rules compared to its first inception that I think it’s pretty free of ideas/elements that have “become overused to the point of losing their original meaning or effect, even to the point of being trite or irritating.”

One cliché is the “I vaaant to suck your blooood!” line that a vampire might say to a victim, originating in vampire movies from decades ago, but it’s more of a comical thing now. It can also be modified slightly to increase the comedy:

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[^X piece of a comic by @heckifiknowcomics]

I will say that some of my fave vampire media takes existing clichés and/or rules/conventions about vampires, and interprets it in a different way or ignores it completely.

I think it’s more important to consider existing conventions/rules, and how your vampires will operate within them, if at all. I have some stuff mixed into my #vampire physiology tag, but not a complete list.

A few conventions/rules are already widely varied in different vampire media:

  • Vampires can’t walk around in sunlight –

    In most vampire media, vampires exposing themselves to sunlight will get them severely burned or killed immediately.

    In Byzantium, I think they can walk around in sunlight with no problems at all.

    In Twilight, the vampires are physically able to do so, but they’re dazzling in the sunlight, so they stand out as non-human when they do (and that’s bad bc revealing themselves as non-human could risk harm from mortals). 

  • Vampires require blood to survive, but they are immortal, so “survive” is more like, “a healthy vampire is one that is feeding on a regular basis, but it’s not a requirement.” – I can’t think of an example of vampires that die from not drinking blood regularly… but I think the What We Do in the Shadows and Only Lovers Left Alive vampires will rapidly weaken if they don’t feed often.
  • Vampires don’t have reflections in mirrors – the Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992), What We Do in the Shadows, and

    Only Lovers Left Alive

    vampires

    don’t have reflections, but the Interview with the Vampire ones definitely do.

  • Vampires have to be invited into their victim’s home – Only seen this being an issue in the two adaptations of Let the Right One In.
  • Vampires are harmed by crosses/crucifixes – Saw this as an issue in the What We Do in the Shadows vampires, that it frightens Deacon that he might be in close proximity to a cross, but it’s unclear what would happen if he touched it. In Fright Night, a vampire touching a cross ignites it in flames but it doesn’t seem to stop him from continuing to attack.
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[^X by @horroredits]

So what I’m saying is that you can explore different conventions/rules of vampires and then pick and choose which you’ll incorporate into your vampires, or invent whole new rules! 

Hello! I hear there is actually a tv series in the making for ‘let the right one in’. The first people have been cast! I just read your thoughts on the swedish movie. Spoiler alert for Elis gender (it doesn’t influence the plot at all tho). Eli was born a boy and her full name is Elias. Eli got castrated while she was turned into a vampire by a vampire. She does say ‘I’m not a girl’ in the book and both movies. But it isn’t clear what she wants to be called or seen as.

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Thanks for the info! Wow, we are going to be spoiled w/ all these TV adaptations… all the glorious bingeing…

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The whole gender thing for Eli is ambiguous in the films, and, from what ppl who have read the books have told me, also ambiguous in the book. 

From what I’ve heard about the book, the character is referred to with female pronouns until the ritual castration is revealed, and then the character is referred to with male pronouns. It is up to every reader’s interpretation to determine gender of the character at any point. If the author wanted us to have a definitive answer, I feel like that answer would have been made less open to interpretation.

  • amadeo-child-of-the-renaissance said: //Adding it here: Eli himself doesn’t mind being addressed with female pronouns. Please keep that in mind. Best regards- a genderfluid person. 
  • skeletalroses said: I ~have~ read the book (and seen the Swedish film), and Eli did not seem to me to identify as a cis boy. I could certainly see agender or something as an alternative to the transgirl interpretation, but I’d be pretty skeptical of calling Eli a cis boy. 
  • Re: Eli saying “I’m not a girl,” in the films, annabellioncourt said: yeah the book (original and translation to english) and the american film call her “her/she” and its 90% clear she means “not human” in this film. 

Hopefully, the TV series will clarify this debate, if it is important to the creators/director to do so. Even without an answer to this, the story is still very compelling and I’m excited to see more of these characters!

If Eli from let the right one in was some how come in to the vampire chronicles universe how would s(he) acted and how would the other vampires think of her(him). I thought I should let a expert of the vampire chronicles series decide on this. Plus I do love vampire crosssovers and let the right one is my favorite bookmovie.

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I’m so flattered you consider me a VC expert, but I’m not a Let Me In/Let the Right One In expert, I’ve only seen the two movie adaptations, and from what I can tell, the vampire rules in it are different than the VC vampires rules.

I do have a post about my thoughts on Eli and that story here.

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Among other great things, this vampire story also brought back the idea of having to be invited in, and without that permission, the vampire in question would start having physical reactions! Like a severe allergic reaction! We got the blood tears that not many vampire movies want (or are able) to tackle.

I think Lestat and Armand both would find Eli intriguing and would want to compare all the physiological differences in their vampirism, test those rules, and generally try to get Eli to push at the limits, and maybe learn something new. Whether they would embrace her and add her into the coven, that I don’t know. #Fanfic request! #Fanart request!

Eli seemed to need/prefer a human companion. I should read the book, it would be great to have some backstory re: if there had been any other vampires in Eli’s life, whether Eli had ever considered turning someone… whether that was even possible given Eli’s trapped-in-a-child/tween-body thing. I think Eli at least had a maker in the book version, but I don’t know why they were separated. 

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^More hugs and love for Eli would have been gr9 ❤ 

 Anyone is free to comment/reblog. 

Eli is a male, period. Whether the film explained it or not, it’s still a fact and you are being ignorant by misgendering and refusing the acknowledge it.

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^This is not how you win someone over to your opinion.

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[^X Logical Fallacy Referee] Not sharing your opinion is not a sign of “being ignorant.” As of now, all of your asks will be deleted. If an Ask sounds remotely like something from you, it will be deleted. This is a fandom blog for entertainment, not a US Presidential Debate. 

Since this is our last exchange, I’ll answer for the sake of showing my followers that I will not be bullied by an anonymous person:

  • As previously stated twice now: I did not read the book, I saw the 2 film adaptations. Based on my interpretation of them AND what readers of the book have told me privately, I concluded that Eli can be referred to with female pronouns. I’ve repeatedly stated that that’s just my opinion and I have NEVER tried to force it on anyone else.
  • I added to the original post that Eli’s gender is ambiguous, which is a compromise, even though I disagreed with you.
  • An anonymous person cannot convince me of a “fact” when even the author of the original book has not convinced 100% of their readers of said “fact.” The author could tell me to refer to Eli with male pronouns and I might still

    politely

    refuse. Why should the author care what one reader thinks? Anne Rice has had to deal with FAR worse from her readers.

  • I linked to David Lowery, at least one example of another person who also found it ambiguous, so unfollow me and inform that blogger, and many others, of your truth.
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I gathered from the Ask about Armand a little while ago that you’re not deeply involved in issues of gender and such, but why did you persistently misgender Eli throughout your discussion of “Let The Right One In”? Eli is VERY clear about not being a girl, despite presentation, and actively brings it up in conversation as a potential roadblock to the romance should Oskar happen to be straight. The genital mutilation suffered in past centuries does not make Eli a ‘she’.

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You’re right that I am not deeply involved in issues of gender, though I can understand being/growing up nonbinary/transgendered/gender-fluid/etc. in a culture that seems to only understand/reward the male/female binary would be very difficult, especially in certain parts of the world. The Armand post (about whether he might be androgynous and/or agender) got a good number of Likes, but most importantly, @jeffer-sin‘s comment (”i’m agender/genderfluid and i totally agree with this post thank you”) confirmed that I

answered it sensitively, as I always strive to do, especially with topics like these.

Re: Misgendering Eli, I feel like this is a headcanon discrepancy between us. Your points serve to convince you that she is not female, but they do not convince me. As always, #your headcanon may vary, so please do not take my opinion as law. Even an author can’t force an idea on their readers; people still ask AR whether Nicolas and Lestat were gay lovers! Some people clearly have a different headcanon than the author, but their headcanon is still valid.

This Wiki post describes the issue of Eli’s gender: “The original film ultimately leaves the character’s gender ambiguous, as the scene showing Eli’s scarred genitalia is not explained. …In the 2010 film it is quite clear that Abby was born female…” 

One of your points was the “I’m not a girl" scene. ^This is the one from the original film and I interpreted that line of dialogue as meaning that Eli is not human. In context, Eli seems not to know what a “girlfriend” is, or what “going steady” entails (even though Eli is centuries-old, maybe this is feigning ignorance for Oskar), so roadblocking Oskar from a romantic (maybe sexual) relationship seems a little premature. Oskar is 12 and I don’t remember him ever pressuring her in a sexual way, again, no reason for Eli to roadblock him against a romantic/sexual relationship at this time. Once Eli has an understanding of what “going steady” means, the moment ends with Eli agreeing to “go steady” and holding Oskar’s hand as they fall asleep. This little bit of tenderness may not fall under “romantic” in the traditional sense of the word, but it seemed like a sign of love and care which had nothing to do with gender. But that’s my own interpretation.

You mention Eli’s genital mutilation, but that is not explained in the films. From what I’ve read of the book, the character is referred to with female pronouns until the ritual castration is revealed, and then the character is referred to with male pronouns. It is up to every reader’s interpretation to determine gender of the character at any point.

I’m sorry that we disagree on this, and I understand that some people might not headcanon Eli as female. This is a blog that is here to highlight a certain fandom and is focused on entertainment, and where I do my best to keep it politically-neutral, fair-minded, and civil. That is my prerogative on my own blog.

If anyone is interested in more headcanons and interpretations, check out the links below. I am sure there are many many more, but these are good for a start:

I was wondering what your opinion was of the vampire films “Let the Right One In” and “Let Me In”? Or the book that inspired both films for that matter. They were some of the more recent beautifully done pieces on vampires, and vampire children, and I was just wondering what your take on them was? Good bad or indifferent, I don’t mind. I love hearing others opinions especially yours. Thank you for reading!

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I’m quite flattered that you want my opinion, apparently I had alot of thoughts on this, you’re getting a Wall of Text™,

enjoy!

I haven’t read the book, and I probably should, but I saw both “Let the Right One In” and “Let Me In.” I preferred the original movie to the US remake but they were both very good! I am really picky about the vampire media I like, they have to be characters first and vampires second, and the vampiring has to be compelling in some way, introducing something new and believable to the lore.

I don’t remember it completely so I can’t get into a lot of detail, but browsing gifs reminds me what I loved about it: a dreamy and chilly atmosphere, lots of good vampire physiology woven in seamlessly, and the child actors were all amazingly talented, they all seemed very genuine, their emotions were real with subtle variations, and not mimicry, which can happen with child actors. The whole cast of both movies had great chemistry and I believed in all of them. The basic concept of Eli needing a mortal attendant, and this is the story of how she found a new one!! #MY HEART.

The original actors were better, in my opinion, bc they seemed more like the kind of kids who might live next door to you. As opposed to the trope of the “girl/boy next door” who is attractive and popular, you might not take special notice of these kids, they have their own kind of beauty but weren’t the conventionally attractive kind you see in ads. 

Eli especially had the perfect blend of childlike curiosity and that old soul carried within, not a face you’d use to sell laundry soap, fortunately. Otherworldly w/o being too supernatural. EDIT: Eli’s gender is ambiguous, according to this Wiki post: “The original film ultimately leaves the character’s gender ambiguous, as the scene showing Eli’s scarred genitalia is not explained. In both films, the vampire tells the boy “I’m not a girl”. In the 2010 film it is quite clear that Abby was born female,…” I interpreted that line of dialogue as meaning that Eli is not a mortal girl, but not that it was a statement about her gender, also. As I said, I haven’t read the book, and maybe that will change my headcanon, but for now, I headcanon Eli as female and will use those pronouns.

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This vampire story also brought back the idea of having to be invited in, and without that permission, the vampire in question would start having physical reactions! Like a severe allergic reaction! We got the blood tears that not many vampire movies want (or are able) to tackle.

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Then there’s the whole sunlight makes them spontaneously combust, we all expected smtg to happen to this accidentally-turned victim and IT HAPPENED in a HOSPITAL idk that made it really funny to me! Dying dramatically in a place of healing, the orderly opening the blinds bc that’s usually a friendly thing to do BUT NOT TODAY.

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Then we have Oskar, who was so sweet to Eli. Yes he’s platinum blond with skin as white as leprosy (did you see what I did there??) but this is a kid who gets bullied on a regular basis and hasn’t lost his kind heart.

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You can tell that he’s intrigued by Eli and cares about her before they’ve even had that much time to get to know eachother, it’s that way for best friends. Sometimes you just know in the first 5 min of meeting someone that you want to be friends with them forever, if possible ^u^ 

I don’t remember when this hug occurs but just look at them, she is so scared of liking him, bc she might hurt him, she’s holding back so hard, just… it’s so good! Such chemistry between them. He wants to teach her about modern things, she wants to have a reason to live, it reminds me very much of Daniel/Armand.

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Yah so overall, thanks for reminding me of these movies! I think a rewatch is needed…