(of course I don’t write fanfic, anywhere, what kind of horrible meanie would do that??yes i do actually)(And that is so sweet of you, my interpretation of the characters is spot on?! *hugs* Most of it comes from my own headcanon, but I’m also grateful to be in this fandom and have the benefit of such good headcanons to absorb through other ppls fanworks and RP, etc. <3)
#I love these kind of stories, how ppl got their first taste of this stuff… you were 8?? That’s very young, yep, you probably would have missed certain things… and it sounds to me like it got this Forbidden Fruit quality for you like it did for me. I was 11, and while my parents didn’t stop me from reading it, I wasn’t old enough to see the movie!IWTV in 1994, so I had to wait until it was on VHS (YES I AM THAT OLD) to see it, and even then, it was rated R so I had to sneak over to my friend’s house to watch it. I had bought a copy from another friend and relabeled the tape Forrest Gump, and for some reason my parents never thought it strange that I had 2 copies of that movie… they probably never noticed lol.
But I am jealous that your mom (AR Veteran! omg I bet I am closer to her age than yours) is into it. I tried to get my parents into it a few yrs back, and they made it through the first two books and then dropped it. OH WELL. At least now I can quote canon occasionally and they have an idea of what I’m referencing.
Rules: in a text post, list 10 books that have stayed with you in some way. don’t take but a few minutes, and don’t think too hard– they don’t have to be the “right” or “great” works, just the ones that have touched you. tag 10 friends, including me, so i’ll see your list ;3
1. Interview with the Vampire (+ VC in general) by Anne Rice – wELP… This goes w/o saying and it would be cheating if I listed more than that one, wouldn’t it?
2. the Shining by Stephen King – and the movie, too!
3. Animal Farm by George Orwell, illustrated by Ralph Steadman – this illustration style and this story is KILLER. Go check it out. Right now. I’ll wait.
4.
Firestarter
by Stephen King – and the movie, too! The beginning of my supernatural passion.
5.
The Long Hard Road Out of Hell – biography of Marilyn Manson, written with Neil Strauss
6. Jurassic Park by Michael Crieghton – and the movie, too!!
7. The Sneetches and Other Stories: Dr. Seuss – really good life lessons re: tolerance, etc., and excellent illustration.
8.
Where the Sidewalk Ends: Poems and Drawings by Shel Silverstein – some of these were really very gross and my childhood self loved it all!
9.
Lafcadio: The Lion Who Shot Back by Shel Silverstein – a lion that essentially became a man and then no longer fit into the wild or civilized worlds.
10.Johnny the Homicidal Maniacby Jhonen Vasquez – My teenage angst phase.
Bonus:
11.
the Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry – for French class! I related to the rose, of course. There’s no rose w/o thorns.
12.
Dogs: written and illustrated by Rien Poortvliet – gorgeous illustrations and sweet anecdotes re: doggies!
13.
Lord of the Flies by William Golding – I had to read this for school in middle school I think and I just loved it.
14. Also LOTS of fanfic…. which of course does not exist…
^These are not in order of favorite aside from #1 yes I know I know! Just what comes to mind. Lots of Fluff & Angst there, sheesh. I like it fluffy and angsty what can I say.
Tagging anyone who wants to share! (ﾉ´ヮ´)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧
And specifically, this bunch of ppl bc they seem like they may be booklovers:
do y’all ever have that one mutual…..this majestic motherfucker with the great tags and the great blog and when they reblog stuff from you u actually feel your soul ascend and you’re in a constant state of awe and admiration like………talk to me bithc i’m begging u
Thought you guys might like a peek at my folders in which I capture frames to make gifs – and some of these were abandoned for whatever reason and were never giffed out – and what I label them and a few of them too bc why not?
Louis_Spits_001_v001: he’s beauty he’s grace he spits it back in yo face
Claudia_andBoys_001_v002: Claudia dont play w/ ur food #bad manners
Lestat_Perfect_justPerfect_001_v003: This guy thinks he’s in control lol
Claudia_DontTouchMe_001_v002: Kitty decides if/when you can pet her.
Omg *flails* what a wonderful message to receive! “Damn perfect”?! Well can’t confirm or deny that but I FRICKIN’ TRY.
I’m deeply moved. Couldn’t just toss in the usual reaction gif, too cheap, had to give you smtg a little more special. More of a story. You’ve heard it before but maybe this angle, this variation on it, will feel as fresh to you as it does to me. I’m rambling a bit and having trouble editing it back so you get a long post sorries LOOK WHAT U DO TO ME all these feels!
“I lifted the long wax wick, dipped it into an old flame, and carried the fire to a fresh candle, watched the little tongue grow orange and bright.
What a miracle, I thought. One tiny flame could make so many other flames; one tiny flame could set afire a whole world. Why, I had, with this simple gesture, actually increased the sum total of light in the universe, had I not?…
Because it was
something I could accomplish, like the little candle flame in the church making another flame and still
retaining its own light – my way of creating, my only way, don’t you see? One moment there were two of us,
and then we were three.” – Lestat, Tale of the Body Thief
Why am I quoting this? Like the vampires, we are a “found family” rather than a natural one, bc we draw ppl into this and turn them into one of us, if the addiction can hold! I see that it’s taken hold of you as it has me ;D
It’s not a fandom for everyone, but for those of us who are in it, well, it feels like we almost had no choice, we are hopelessly addicted ;u; When I get messages like yours I can’t help but feel a little like Lestat, like I’ve helped to add a little more light to the world, bringing in fresh blood (pun very much intended!) who might have a new and intriguing perspective on things to share, maintaining the older blood that’s aged like a fine wine, admiring the talent of our fanartists, fanfic writers, meta-analyzers, etc. and encouraging them to keep making more to feed our insatiable need of it! We make great friends within our ranks. Ppl have even met their life partners through fandom.
I also love that ppl shoot me VC news from FB, Twitter, etc., so that I can transmit it out to you so fast that by the time other publications pick it up, we’ve known about it for days already, and have helped each other deal with its impact if necessary, as proper family members should ;]
My closest friends that I’ve made here have been made bc they are as appreciative of this series and its wonderful, addictive characters as I am. Messages like yours keep this blog running and I can’t thank you enough for that *cries*
Hit the jump for moar…
The image above is not a screencap but a manip of a few frames, which I made in Oct. 2013, just a few months after the birth of this blog. I didn’t think anyone would care much for this blog, I expected it would only ever be a place I could indulge my VC addiction privately in public, like someone playing solitaire out in a park. A place to post a few of my graphics, a little of my sense of humor, and gather what little fanworks I could find for my own pleasure. Ppl saw it, ppl responded, ppl wanted to play Cards Against Humanity with me (to expand on the original metaphor, lol), and the whole thing has grown into a conduit through which I’ve gotten back SO MUCH MORE than was originally expected! It brought the fandom I had been looking for, and for the most part given up on finding, right to me!
Because you’re right, our fandom was dead, but only on the surface, driven into hiding by a creator who didn’t understand what fandom was and that it was a normal way to engage with canon. That sharing fanworks builds a community. There were plenty of us out there but few of us could find each other. We protected what little we had and shared it like contraband. She was within her rights and I don’t blame her for her actions, but as a result, I think we’re a much more appreciative group for what we have now than other fandoms who’ve had it easy from the beginning. I hope we are, anyway.
A lot of my sensitivity and care comes from a place of gratitude, and although I am a secular individual, I do try to preach the gospel of gratitude and civility back out to this family we’ve created.
I had ONE Real Life VC friend when I fell into this fandom, and she had to endure the fire-hydrant blast of my VC addiction, at close range, for about 20 years! She’s still my best friend, but let me tell you, she is grateful beyond words that you have all stepped in to take more of the brunt of my addiction now. She’s the one who nudged me to start a tumblr blog in the first place, which I resisted, mind you, so you should all be thanking her, too ;D
That feel when you’d rather answer questions all day in a state of weird and pleasurable natural – albeit caffeinated – high rather than attempt to do any real productive Work for your Job.
I just want to mention, and please take this completely w/o attitude bc I do not intend any attitude here: I get a number of VC Casting ideas on a regular basis, and I do enjoy them a lot! But if you don’t see an answer for yours it’s either bc:
I haven’t had a chance to research the actor yet;
I researched the actor and they don’t reeeally work for me and I’m trying to come up with another role for them so I can still answer publicly; or,
I researched the actor and they don’t work for me and I can’t think of another role for them, so I might have to let it go unanswered or just delete it.
If you haven’t seen your Ask answered, and it’s been a long time, it may have been a #3 sacrifice. Not every male violinist can be the illustrious Nicolas de Lenfent! But you are more than welcome to post your own casting ideas, and tag them #VC Casting, and I will be tracking that tag so I might reblog from your blog ;D
(I’m only talking about casting in terms of the physical attributes of the actors and their acting abilities, not their personal lives.)
As we all know, casting is highly subjective, and “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” What a terribly boring world it would be if we all fell for the exact same faces!
The whole thing stirs up beauty as a concept. We argue whether Louis’s hair is long and straight, and chestnut in color, like in movie!IWTV, or that it’s shoulder-length, wavy and raven black as described in canon. In some fanart it’s drawn just long and black and silky straight, in some, it’s short and curly!
In considering VC Casting, we will have to make compromises, it’s unlikely that whoever is cast will look or be styled sufficiently to please everyone. I have my own subjective ideals for beauty and how the characters should look, don’t take any of my opinions personally (unless you want to agree with me!), I would never want to cause anyone discomfort simply because I disagree with their choice.
Whoever is finally cast, let’s try to give the actors a chance to do their jobs and try to keep in mind that these are fictional characters, and the movie people want us to enjoy their product, and buy the BluRay of it, and make a cult classic out of it, and all that jazz.
More on beauty under the cut.
My 8 year old cousin just told me on Saturday night, right in the middle of a lovely collage session in which we were cutting up models from Seventeen and making fashion plates, that she wished she had “straight blonde hair.” She said curly hair was ugly. Her hair is perfect Louis de Pointe du Lac hair to me, brunette and maybe a little lighter than his, but silky and slightly wavy to her shoulders, then descending like a little bubbling waterfall into the most perfect little shining curls for about 4 inches. Oooh purple prose! But I had to paint a picture since I can’t post one here, so let me be briefly flowery just for the sake of description, ok?
I knew I didn’t have a satisfactory answer for her concern, because telling her “But you have beautiful French girl hair!” “But mine is just like yours! Is mine ugly?” would have meant nothing in the face of a culture that forces certain ideals of beauty at us from such an early age. She said “I wish my hair was straight and blonde,” as if that would solve all her major problems, so that she could then go on to tackle the important ones.
She then followed it up with “- like my dance teacher Lilly.” Ah! Now it was clear! She wanted to look like someone she deeply respects and appreciates! Hopefully that’s really where it’s coming from and not the mass media trying to convince us all from an early age that our inadequacies are many and can only be overcome with dye, paint, etc. I admit that I wear makeup, but for me, it’s more like war paint, and bc I enjoy the art of it.
I told her anyway, “My best friend has straight black hair, and she told me that many girls like her get their hair professionally curled, they pay a lot of money to try to get their hair curly like yours.”
“Really?” said my 8 year old cousin.
“Really.” I said.
She seemed somewhat pleased with this factoid and we went back to our art project, but still… It just brought up this whole beauty topic. It’s not resolved, the conversation is far from over, but at least we started it.
Obsession fuels it, I can usually remember the scene I want when I have a good joke or text post to go with it. Then it’s a matter of slapping the images and text together.
I have *~a particular skill set~* w/ enough photo and video editing training that I can pull frames from my DVD copy of IWTV but it’s gotten a lot easier over time for just about anyone with even the most basic knowledge of apps to do some of what I can do here and sometimes I have to resort to more basic programs when I don’t have access to my higher-powered stuff at home.
There are tutorials on Youtube for grabbing images and making gifs in various ways. That’s how I learned to make gifs. I would include links here but there are too many to choose from! And it depends on what software you have and how much photo and video editing you already know.
I use Adobe Premiere to capture frames, and Photoshop to manipulate them and add text. I pay for both legally. I recommend that so that you can have a clear conscience and also you can call Adobe for support!
You can also do it with MSWord, MSPaint, and there is free screencap software out there (I think the Snipping Tool is already installed and free w/ the Windows operating system), just get a copy of the movie so you can pause it and pull your screencaps!
^Yes I spend my free time and design skills making graphics re: a movie (that was made 20+ years ago) for a series started 40+ years ago I HAVE NO SHAME AND NO REGERTS ;u;
After
careful consideration, I decided to delete that post and I asked
those who reblogged it to delete it also. If there are any reblogs or
screencaptures still posted, I disown them.
The way I
expressed my opinion may have hindered my intended message, to clarify:
I
have no pity for a confirmed rapist; I have great empathy for the
victims of any abuse; and I deeply respect the pain of their real
life experience.
This
is an issue beyond the scope of a fandom blog. I deleted the post because
I had not appreciated the hurt it might cause when I expressed myself
in the style that I did, along with citing the Reddit article, and I DO NOT endorse James Barbour in any shape or
form. I cited it so anyone could begin their own research on the subject. I realized that my overall treatment is not how I want to
approach this issue.
I
do apologize for my style of writing in that post; a heavy topic like
this demanded a more serious tone, and I attempted to add a little
levity since that is my naturally optimistic disposition. What appeared to be waffling was my attempt to present both sides of the issue without choosing a side, which I do not feel confident enough to do at this point with the information on hand. The use of the word “noncon” was an abbreviation for “non-consensual” which is a word used out in the world at large (I also abbreviate “people” to “ppl,” which is not a standard abbreviation, and I abbreviate out of the habit of writing on a fandom blog; it was not intended to belittle anyone’s experiences). I can understand why all of those things could be offensive to others and I am sorry for any hurt
that may have caused.
There
are many places where this topic can be discussed, but I don’t think that
it is appropriate on 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.
The guilt or innocence of the accused rests with the judicial system. As citizens, we have limited access to all the facts.
I
hope this clarifies and terminates this dialogue.
“There’s no way to cheat a sensualist like me, somebody who can die laughing for hours over the pattern of the carpet in a hotel lobby.”
-Lestat
I really connect with this quote because just as Lestat spent ages laughing at something not actually that funny, I spent ages laughing at this fucking quote
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).
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.
… 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.
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.
I-want-my-IWTV 