A fanart of Jesse from the Vampire Chronicles. We drew it something like 15 years ago… This pic is taken with a camera from the original, sorry for the bad resolution. ^^
I know what you mean, Louis would probably agree w/ you for similar (or the same!) reasons why he wants Lestat to stop writing any more books or authorizing his ghostwriter to do so.
[I just don’t want movies to cheapen it or represent the books in a bad light…]
^So I think Josh Boone is going to handle the material very respectfully, looking at the way he tagged up the Stand for that adaptation, he clearly is treating that book like it’s the Bible for that project *u* We’ll see how the Stand fandom (what do they call themselves? now I’m curious) reacts when that adaptation comes out, as my Dad says, “The proof is in the pudding.”
Anon definitely has some valid concerns, but I wouldn’t worry too much for the reasons given above from Burnadette and myself. Also, on your concern with Boone representing the books in a bad light or cheapening it, evidence has been shown on his twitter that he has been taking careful account of the series and been communicating with Anne pretty well, enough for the both of them to show love and gratitude to each other. Take this recent conversation for example:
And there are other mentions all over the place with Boone mentioning his love of the series. I think we’re in good hands 🙂
Reblogging for @firelight-fading/@phoenifia‘s comments. We don’t have a wide sample size to state it beyond doubt but we’ve seen that when AR is involved (movie!IWTV, Claudia’s Story), the VC adaptation tends to be hella better than when she’s not.
The Vampire Chronicles Meet-up on sunday was great, I feel like I´ve met 100 new people, but I am sure I have met the most someday before, thank you guys so much!
I told my sister to give me pairings, numbered 1 to 7, and I’d generate a list of 7 words, match ‘em up and write drabbles.
She really liked them so I’m sharing :’D
01. Notice | Louis/Lestat (1980s)
“You need to stop cutting it,” said Lestat, running his fingers fondly through Louis’ hair. Louis shrugged his shoulders, in a gesture of disagreement. He didn’t mind Lestat’s touch, though. The cool fingers on his scalp were always welcome. “It’s not as though it won’t grow back,” Louis pointed out. “Modesty,” Lestat scoffed, dropping his hand. “It’s beautiful when you leave it long. You never used to cut it.” “It attracts too much notice.” “Well, let them notice. They do. It’s one of your finer points. I noticed it.” “Hmm and that turned out so well for me.” Lestat glowered.
I bet they’d used too much of the budget to re-film her scenes, but really, she was one of the only things they got right (well, maybe not “right” but close enough). I really like that she was a vampire of color who kept her color, despite being described as white (not Caucasian but light-skinned) in canon. I don’t know if ancient Egyptians were in fact light or dark skinned but in a series of alot of white ppl, it was good to see some diversity.
Crew morale was probably very low after she died, they might not have wanted to even try to replace her 😦
Okay, so firstly: I loved Aaliyah as Akasha. Sure, she wasn’t canon!Akasha, but practically none of the characters were themselves in this weird and loose adaptation. I wish she had completed filming fully and would have loved her backstory to be shown.
That said, I really, really want the next adaptation to do Akasha properly. She shouldn’t be black, but she sure as hell shouldn’t be white.
Akasha was from Uruk, which is roughly modern-day Iraq. Just imagine her role going to an Iraqi actress, and the implications of the most powerful vampire, the first vampire, the queen, being from a region whose people are treated like crap to this day and who face terrible persecution.
I imagine her to be like Sophia Jawad; the striking dark eyes Lestat mentions, the prettiness which underplays her regalness, etc. I would love to see Akasha brought to life as the infuriatingly brilliant debater cursed by her prettiness and her short temper.
I’m so glad that you thought of me when you read it! There are far worse things to be associated with omg. And yes: I still wonder if Louis is genuinely deep and depressed, and the pretentious tone comes from honest misery–or if he’s putting on some kind of Byronic mask, unable to actually feel for others any more than the average vampire does, and that this flowery writing is his attempt to reconcile with him self “Yes I CAN feel, I do still maintain that aspect of my humanity.”
And Lestat comes across as the villain because Louis wants him to, when you read the section of The Vampire Lestat that focuses on his time with Louis, you start to wonder how much Louis exaggerated to make himself feel like the long wandering philosopher, and that Lestat was little more than a rich European fleeing his troubles. Lestat, despite being just as melancholic and miserable is affected by things much differently, and unlike Louis, who at the end tries to stay detached from the world, Lestat compensates for his pain by falling in love with everything he sees in the world, throwing himself to the mercy of it in a half-death wish and half-euphoric madness.
They’re both such fascinating characters for the way that they handle pain and their own evilness (there’s a running debate under the surface with all of the vampires “are we inherently wicked becuase of what we are, or are we merely something enhanced, no more wicked than before, but everything we do seems louder?”). The cast of the novels are all so flawed but so heartfelt (often despite themselves).
As far as anti-heroes go, these two drama queens are up on my favorites list with the Phantom and Rochester, (though while Rochester’s failing was merely hiding and running away from his issues, pretending that they weren’t there, I’d say he’s lower on the ‘Byronic anti-hero’ level and more simply a Percy Shelley).
Finally, don’t apologize, I love talking about these books so much. Or at least the first three. I’m ride or die with Anne Rice at this point, but I try to take everything after Queen of the Damned with a grain of salt….or a few cups of salt. A lot of salt….
#Eloquent eloquence #Annabellioncourt #on point as always
They’re both such fascinating characters for the way that they handle pain and their own evilness… The cast of the novels are all so flawed but so heartfelt (often despite themselves).
^For me, this is what elevates VC from many other vampire/supernatural/any other series. If I liked them as vampires there’s plenty of other vampire media out there to get into, but these characters are who they are first, and vampires secondarily.
I would add that ppl are allowed to have those kinds of feelings when they’re 13, it’s around that time that we’re grasping the harsh reality of the real world. Disappointments about one’s expectations not meeting reality… it’s a trying time.
Whether growing pains are as valid as Louis’ issues (the whole “killing people is wrong but feels right now” is a big one), that’s up to individual reader’s judgment, but I think @annabellioncourt put it very well, that Louis is trying to maintain some dignity with the way he tells his story, which may come across as pretentious by our modern standards. The other thing to remember is that that book was written in the 70′s, and the writing style may seem dated for that reason, as well.
Remember that Louis reads A LOT, and he likes this older literature, so some of the language of the writers he loves seeps into his own language and the way he frames his memories. I think that’s partly why we see/hear so little of Louis in later canon, capturing his voice is a challenge.
I-want-my-IWTV 