#and for anyone saying what about running the coven? lestat was running something too! the streets

[nashvillethotchicken]

I love when people say lestat is jobless (true) as a way to compare him to Armand, who is gainfully employed (huh?). Armand hasn't seen a w2 since the Eisenhower administration. What job does armand have in Dubai beside psychosexual roleplay and ipad?

[ariaste]

so i was the person who brought 'nesting kink' to the Good Omens fandom and I am the person who is bringing the new cool thing to the IWTV fandom: turning kink.

It's like breeding kink but it's By Vampires, For Vampires and it's fucked up. Basically, it does what it says on the tin, so I trust i do not need to explain more about it, you get the vibes.

what i am here to explain, however, is which of these idiots espouses this kink most powerfully. Now, i hear what you are saying: "OP, Lestat had like 6 to 9 fledglings in like 250 years (depending whether we're talking show!Lestat or book!Lestat), surely he is the one with the turning kink." But no, mon cher, that is where you are wrong. He does not have this kink. He turns people because they're very sexy and he loves them, not because the act itself is hot for him. It is the difference between enjoying your wedding night and having a Wedding Night Kink, you see what I mean?

To understand who has a kink about this, you have to consider the way that kinks often work in the brain: There is a Thing that is Taboo or Forbidden, and it is so off-limits that you start getting hot for it. It is a thing that you know intellectually is Disgusting, but some wires get crossed in your brain and now it's Sexy. Sometimes it can even be a way of coping with a past trauma, because getting horny over it is easier and more comfortable to deal with than freaking out about it. Sometimes it is a thing that is very Wrong to do, so you have to say loudly and frequently how much you're Totally Not Into It just in case anyone accuses you of being into it or invites you to participate in something adjacent to it (terrifying, hits too close to home, cannot cope with that, gotta nope right out of that whole situation).

Therefore I present to u: Armand le Beige, who Doth Protests Very Much that the idea of turning someone repulses him, and who lived with a coven that had a rule about No Turning Anyone Without Permission for hundreds of years, yet who then goes and does it anyway. I offer to the jury the theory that this is Armand's nuclear kink, whether he knew it before turning Daniel or not, and that he should get to be suuuuuuuuuper weird about it (specifically with Daniel, because that's who he broke the seal on it with and Nobody Else Can Ever Know, on account of he's a control freak and has to maintain his Image)

that is all. take it and run with it. godspeed

[pumpumdemsugah]

Repeating myself about how Lestat is dumber than a bag of bricks. He knows Claudia is like him and while we don't know ( or I don't remember) why he came to the US he obviously didn't like coven life and went through great trouble to get to the US but thought this

Wouldn't get him killed ? By someone he freely admits is just like him ??? And is vicious ?

He got out smarted at his big age of 300+ years because of his arrogance and being dumb. He made himself an obstacle for her to figure out how to knock down. He pursued Louis and waited until he was weak to turn him because he wants what he wants but the same Claudia who is like him would just give up? And take shit lying down

Lestat has peanuts for brains and far too many people let being attracted to a blonde man get in the way of understanding that. There's some things Lestat could have avoided by giving it thought and thinking about consequences. He could have told them there were vampire laws. He assumed he had forever to teach them but he still had a couple decades to say something or elaborate about European vampires. Even if ep 5 never happened, someone that's as smart and determined as Claudia would want to find out more and make her own way. She needed a companion and they did nothing to help. Claudia had to leave and eventually more European vampires would have made their way to the US and in all his wisdom what did he do to prepare for this? Think about penis and be petty

The most preparation he gave Claudia was forcing her to watch the body of the guy she liked get incinerated after she killed him by accident . "I'm beating you for your own good" type of fathering " the world is going to beat you down so I'll do it first " type of mothering. People gush about Claudia being like Lestat so much and ohhh he loved her ( so does Louis but does that stop anyone talking about him being shit dad ?) and skip past him being a bad dad and stupid.

Her first plan was running away, not murder.

[thelioncourts]

I just want to know what do you think of the whole momstat? I know the show is for the weirdos but I feel like not everything should be adapted? I know Lestat has a singular relationship with Gabrielle I think I read somewhere that once she is turned as a vampire they no longer share that mother/son relationship and it's more fledgling/maker but I still think it's weird if they adapt him having deep feelings for the person who gave birth to him. As someone who have read the books what is your opinion on this?

Mmm, I'm interested in what they're going to do. They're clearly going to do something, there have been too many jokes made about incest (by just the cast or by the Immortal account, let alone the handful of ones in the show or the original pilot script) for me to think they're going to avoid it altogether. However -

I do think it's going to be framed as the actual horror that it is. I think a lot of the focus is going to be on how Gabrielle - due to a mixture of the abuses she has faced, her issues with identity, etc. (and I hate that I have to put disclaimers before I say anything, but alas) - fails Lestat with her lack of love and her lack of boundaries with him in particular. The reason I think this is because of the direction they're taking Marius atm.

In the books, AR doesn't frame the Gabrielle situation or the Marius situation as abuse. They are, and part of why we don't see them framed as abuse is because we're getting both from the POV of the one abused (Lestat and Armand). But AR also notoriously has romanticized incest and underage relationships so them not being written as a "bad" or negative thing is on par with her writing.

The show is taking us in a very different direction, in terms of how we, the audience, are supposed to feel about Marius. We see Armand's trauma, we see Louis recognize it as trauma, we see the repercussions. Anyone watching who hasn't read the books is probably seeing the way Armand is and seeing the way he talks about Marius and is sitting there going, "Holy shit, this Marius guy abused the hell out of him," where that's not the case in the books (and you also don't really get the whole picture of Marius/Armand until TVA which is the sixth book in the series so).

I think, for Gabrielle, and for Gabrielle/Lestat, they're going to definitely show aspects of what makes her the way she is (and I'm hesitant using she/her pronouns for Gabrielle rn because I think the show is going to go in a full trans direction (as they should!) but the book doesn't commit all the way so, for now...) and show how Lestat is clamoring for love and affection of any kind from her because he is severely lacking in love from anyone in his life during childhood. But do I think they're going to have them actually have sex? No. I think there might be a weird kiss or two. But I think the focus is going to be much more on the horror of that and then show how strongly their roles reverse as Lestat becomes Gabrielle's Maker/Father.

I also think the Lestat we've met in the show still has conflicting emotions about Gabrielle, and I'm unsure if he has ever actually processed any of them. In the books, Lestat turns Gabrielle when she's dying in order to keep her alive and - following the run-in with Armand's coven and the beginnings of the Theatre - Lestat and Gabrielle leave Paris, but she abandons Lestat to go off and do her own thing, all after becoming really standoffish to him again, just as she was in his childhood.

So, yeah, I think it will be done a little, but mostly to frame it as the horror it is, much like they're doing with Marius.

[mythsofher]

finished anne rice’s interview with the vampire (book)! here are my thoughts:

(these are extremely out of order because i’m typing them as they occur to me)

- until claudia shows up i had a haaaard time getting through it. claudia’s determination and self actualization were so so good.

- book louis is only occasionally interesting

- one of those interesting times is when he kills the priest after confessing to him. found all of that fascinating, actually

- don’t know what anyone is talking about when they talk about loumand’s connection not making sense in the book. louis thinks armand has all the answers! armand answers his questions about vampirism and philosophizes with him. armand doesn’t know what the hell he’s talking about, but louis doesn’t know that. their connection felt genuine to me.

- i got the impression from iwtv book readers that is lestat is hardly ever presented sympathetically and i find that to be somewhat untrue, though maybe i just misunderstood them. after louis talks to armand he starts regretting his hate of lestat (well, he decides he hated lestat for the wrong reasons, at least.) the whiplash from his attitude towards lestat at the beginning of the story versus the end is wild.

- anyone who ever said claudia and louis relationship in the book is not weird is wrong. it’s weird. it’s very weird and not even really about the word “sensual” though that’s weird too. he makes several mentions of wanting her. i want to hit him with a car

- claudia going off on him about turning her into a vampire is beautiful

- the racism and attitude towards his slaves at the beginning is deeply hard to read. even as he says that he was judging them wrongly at the time, even in the present he says that they could tell that he and lestat were vampires because they were more in touch with the supernatural?? i fear this maybe be an anne rice problem actually, at least thats the way it came off to me. like, sure it’s totally reasonable to assume that louis, former slave owner would still be racist even 300 years removed from it but it just read. badly to me.

- armand is fascinating in this book. i know that i’m extremely biased because i already love tv armand but. listen. his stoicism in the beginning, this allusion that he’s extremely wise when really he doesn’t know what the fuck is going on. he tells louis that he’s evil, and shows it. god i’m trying to put this into words but i can’t. the way he tries to get louis to run away with him before the abduction had me gasping. i’m not sure if armand really was the one who got rid of the guards, but i could believe it i guess. and armand leaves louis!!! he leaves him!!!

- the one ☝🏻 time that i was cheering for louis is when he tells armand immediately yeah, actually you could have prevented it. you’re the coven leader, you’re the oldest, of course you could have prevented it. go off

- aaaAAah when louis tells armand he already knew that armand was the one who killed claudia. the fucking fact that armand’s upset that louis’s not upset, because at least louis would be passionate about something having to do with armand again. these aren’t thoughts, these are just me recounting the story to you but goddamn this moment was so . so!

- claudia makes me extremely sad. all she wanted was to be put first by someone. that scene where she beats the hell out of a doll. goddamn. she’s too smart to have to grace louis with her presence, unfortunately she needs him because she has the body of a five year old.

- rest in peace madeleine. i wasn’t a huge fan of you in this but whatever i’m sorry you’re dead

- oh wait speaking of. death. paul’s death in the beginning and louis imagining what would have happened if he had just told paul he believed him and spoken kindly to him genuinely had me choking up for a minute

- book daniel you hardly exist and don’t have a name. that’s all i have to say about that

-OH WAIT the fucking way claudia gets turned is crazy?? like louis tries to murder her multiple times (tries. more like tries uncontrollably) and can’t because… her heart’s too strong? she’s five. louis. she’s five! AND LESTAT LOCKS HER IN A COFFIN WHEN SHE’S STILL HUMAN. one of the most horrifying things in this whole book, genuinely.

i probably have more but this is it for now i think.

[darklingichor]

Dreadful Company by Vivian Shaw *Spoilers*

I've had a hell of a time writing this, through no fault of the book.

Work blows big.

Anyway.

Dreadful Companyfinds Greta and Ruthven in Paris. Greta is there for a medical conference and Ruthven is there to make sure she has fun.

Weird things are happening in the city of lights. It becomes apprent to Greta when she starts finding monsters (supernatural animals) in her hotel room. First is a Well Monster. Routinely summoned way back when keeping treasure hidden in wells was the best way to avoid theft and interest rates, they are toad-like creatures who protect anything shiny

The next was an hair monster, which in the description, sounds a bit like the footstool from beauty and the beast, but with long hair like a Shih Tzu. They are bred as pets, but can also be summoned magically.

Greta feels that finding monsters in her room is odd so she plans on telling Paris's equivalent of Ruthven, a werewolf named St. Germain.

Before she can, she is kidnapped and taken to the catacombs under the city.

There is a coven of vampires who is lead by a guy named Corvin. Corvin crossed Ruthven in the 1990's. He and his coven at the time were going around London,making far too much of a show of themselves, thinking they were superior to humans.

Ruthven, when it became evident that this guy was too stupid to understand that acting like a low class Lestat was going to get them all killed, cleaned his clock and told him to get out of his city.

Corvin has been nursing a grudge since then and when he saw Ruthven and Greta at the opera, he decided he was going to get back at him.

So, he has is second in command Grisaille, kidnapped her and throw her in a dungeon. What the next phase of his plan is, is less clear.

Grisaille is an interesting character, and one that I quickly came to love. He's probably about 200 years old and describes himself as a great second in command, as long as he is following a good leader, which, of course he knows Corvin is not.

He's got a decent streak that he tries to play down, honestly, he has something like imposter syndrome. It is hinted that he was involved with Viktor Frankenstein and the creation of his monster, and that he has never gotten over the guilt. To that end,making any sort of decision terrifies him, hence his role as a lieutenant.

Of course when push comes to shove, he does the right thing.

That's something I really love about these books. Vampires aren't seen as cursed beings doomed to be bad. Outside of Varney's trips into self loathing which get less frequent as time goes on, there's not a lot of brooding on a cursed existence. Just like anyone else, what a vampire makes of their life is up to them, as long g as they don't decide to grow garlic in the land of the midnight sun.

Ruthven, before the kidnapping was called away from Paris, so wasn't there to notice that Greta seems to have disappeared. Varney, however was supposed to meet her at the airport, when she returned to London. When she didn't show, he raises the alarm

Thus our two vampires connect with the werewolf of Paris and set out to find Greta.

This element of the story is frustrating to me. I kind of hate it when the reader knows everything that the characters need to know.

It has always made me wish that I could jump into the book like the kids from Mary Poppins and give them directions.

While Varney, Ruthven and St. Germain try to figure out where to start, other beings are sensing what Greta was suspecting, when the monsters appeared.

Shit's going slightly sideways.

The first to notice are a pair of Psychopomps (beings that help souls cross to the other side ) they keep seeing a lot of weird ghost activity and along with that some very odd things happening with time and such. Plus the ghosts in the Paris cemetery say somethings off

This is related too, but also sort of running parallel with Greta's story, the two don't really cross until close to the end.

I love the psychopomps, and want a series following them as they go around the world helping souls crossover. They are much less depressing about it than Odd Thomas, or the kid from The Sixth Sense.

I have also headcannoed the psychopomps as being in a QPP as well as business partners. Just a vibe I got.

All three books are also amazing with relationships. No one puts out the romance above friends feeling, and all of the main romantic relationships, it is clear that the people like each other, and the relationships are diverse, and believable. In short, they don't take over the story *and* they didn't make me roll my eyes. Very cool!

This book perfectly balances handling the set up from the first book, while setting up what will be the driving force in the next book., and having a strong plot of its own.

[monsieur-nicolas-de-lenfent]

And here it was, the cold shower he knew it was coming all along and feared and wasn't ready to confront it just yet. Or better said, Nicolas did not know how to confront it. So, he stood and listened, accepted the had to come by now blows and silently cursed myself. He felt his familiar churn of emotions but decided to let them fuck off. He knew what would be the worst result by now, keeping everything bottled up but he decided to plant his feet firmly on the ground and listen to what else was coming.

He felt his fang slowly grazing his cheek at the mention of his ex-lover. Was that anger or jealousy, rolled together and coming from his current lover? Could be. Maybe. It hurt nonetheless. Like he had had a clue Lestat would waltz in after his recent fledglings would bump their way into Paris and into the arms of the Coven. Like he had a clue on Armand slowly not giving a damn. Well, he had picked some signs long ago when he had faced the pyre. And before that moment. Back in the good old, crazy days when crazy Nicolas couldn't stop the voices in his head and let himself he convinced death was the only way to protect the ones he loved. God, he felt like retorting something but he decided against it and let his sharp fingernails bite deep into the tissue of his palm.

Yes, he had blamed himself and he kept blaming himself and now it was finally addressed. Santiago had a point. Well, truth be told, he had several valid points and Nicolas had to finally crack that icy exterior and show himself. Warts and all as the mortals said. Truth was, he did not know if anyone would want the new him with the history of his old self. Maybe Marcus had known something all along about him and maybe his powers were a curse. Think that for a latter time. He let the thought run back to where he kept every doubt and fear and that door felt harder and harder to close lately.

"We don't have to leave Paris, you know. We can try all you said here as well. It's your call on this. If you really want it, I can make the necessary phone calls and arrangements and we'd be off in a couple of hours" Nicolas paid attention to his voice knowing he tended to switch to something colder and calculated when he felt hurt or afraid or upset. He refrained from looking at the ring. Fuck, he had been an idiot about that as well. Might have been a trigger or something to fresh to address. For him, that ring had become a beacon of hope, one of the few solid items he had salvaged when the smoke cleared and the pain laced everything. Maybe he had been wrong to cling to it for so long. Maybe not. Santiago had a valid point. They were like two strangers brought back together and now barring scars and sporting different attitudes. He felt like he was calculating what words he should chose, what he should says. Fuck. Whatever he felt right now began clawing so badly inside him, it hurt like a mother fucker.

"I love you, too. So much. And I need you, too. A lot" it felt like he had blurted the words without that filter of running them through Nicolas, the ice cold bastard in a black suit and tie. And he wanted to say so many things and ask so much more "Let's take this journey. Know each other how we are now. Although, I think you've noticed by now, I don't win popularity points with my new way of life, my choice of clothes and my polished, cold attitude. I still work on tempering the cold Nicolas with puppy, doe eyed too much feeling and emoting Nicolas. So, let's talk or do something. Anything you want. I can help more with painting and constructions. If I am left with Skype and directors boards too much, I might end up francizing this place and trust me I can explain the pros and cons of this" he attempted to light up the atmosphere although knowing himself, he'd crack the deals in a week. He stopped himself from wincing as he pulled the fingernails from the battered palms.

Continued from here with @monsieur-nicolas-de-lenfent

Santiago raised an eyebrow as Nicolas came over and knelt down in front of him and took his hands. “Tell me you’re not proposing. I mean, I know that we were together for a few years before you decided to go into the flames, but I think this might be a bit sudden after so long apart,” he stated with a slightly teasing voice as he watched the other male. He pulled one free and ran it through Nicolas’s hair lightly.

Santiago shrugged slightly, brushing off Nicolas’s concern. “I’d rather not think or talk about it if you please, Nicolas. I’d rather just forget about it altogether, can we stop mentioning it?” he asked, looking away from the other male and out the nearby window, not liking the way that thinking of the past made him feel. He loathed it actually, made him rage. He tugged his hands away from Nicolas once more as he began to go on about how he was his everything, that he was passionate and talented, and that it hadn’t been destroyed.

“Nico… fuck you’re naive.” He looked over at the other male, watching him with dark eyes. “Yes, they fucking did. I am not the man I used to be, and that is the man that you loved. I am a shell of that man, Nicolas. You barely know me anymore. You spent all of a decade with me before going into the fire, leaving me alone in the theatre. I was practically running that place by the time it burned down, did you know that? Armand kept stepping back and retreating into himself and I was the one that stayed. I was the one that took the place over. Eleni left, Laurent left, Felix left, Eugenia left. It was me. Me, I kept that place alive, and then it was taken from me by Lestat and his little brood.”

He shook his head, getting up to his feet and moving around Nicolas. “We’re taking the Theatre back, but it was more my theatre than anyone else’s. I tried to help him, your maker, your ex-lover, because I still loved you, even though you’d abandoned me. Thought I’d be better off without you. And look what it got me. Decapitated, burned. And captured by Him.” He moved to stand in front of the windows, crossing his arms over his chest. The logical part of his brain knew it wasn’t Nicolas’s fault that the theatre had burned down. But Nicolas was the reason he’d been alone. Nicolas was the reason Marcus had taken him.

He sighed, bowing his head slightly and pinching the bridge of his nose. “I don’t even know who I am anymore, Nicolas. I don’t think I’m that man who you found in the alleyway of Paris and made into a vampire. I don’t think I have been that man for a very long time. Even before - He - took me.” He sighed softly, turning towards the other male. “I just want to forget it. All of it. Can’t we do that? Start fresh? Start over completely? Can’t we do that, Nico?” He moved back towards him, reaching out and pulling Nicolas up to his feet.

“Let’s leave now. Get away from this town, this place, for a little while and just… get to know each other again. Please? We can just… buy new clothes when we get there or something.” He looked up at Nicolas. “You yourself have said that you’ve been hiding who you are, that you don’t know your own strengths anymore either. Let us explore this together. Who you are… and who I am… now as we are, and not who we were then when we were both so new and young and innocent.” He smiled slightly.

“We both have changed… let us learn who we are together, Nicolas. I love you, I need you. No one else knows what I have been through… no one else can understand me the way that you can. And no one can know you like I do.” He smiled slightly, watching the other male quietly. “Let’s take that journey together.”

[alienkaiwrites-inactive-blog]

2. What is Theo’s day like?

      5:16 – Turn off the alarm clock after hitting snooze for the second time. Roll out of bed, don’t disturb Rowan as he begins to curl up at the end of the bed for an early morning nap, having spent the night at vigilant watch at the end of the bed, keeping away the nightmares and anyone peering in. Pull on a sweater and make your way to the bathroom. Turn on the hot water before the lights. Take a shower in the dark.      5:41 – Turn off the water, turn on the lights. Dry off, shaking hair and waking up the cat with flying water droplets. He’ll growl, and sulk away, but use this time to make the bed like mother taught. Fluff the pillows, set the bed as though company is coming over. Head to the kitchen.      5:57 – Start with eggs. Add tomatoes, salt, a little hot sauce. Light a cigarette as you open the door to the fridge and remember yet again you need to buy butter. Substitute vegetable oil. Don’t let the ash fall in the hot pan, because that happened just a week ago and it ruined the whole morning.      6:17 – Head outside as the first rays of sun start to hit the sky. Walk up to the roof of the apartment building with Rowan following behind, quiet as a fox. Spread out the yoga mat, throw the bird seed. Begin vinyasa yoga.      7:15 – Turn off alarm. Put things away, grab a bottle of water. Tell Rowan to stay home, but let him out the door when you open it to leave again. Tell the rabbits to behave and promise to be home soon. Water the plants as you leave, giving special attention to the cannabis plants about to bud and bloom. Take a slow walk to the library, enjoying a cigarette and feed the birds.      8:00 – Clock in at work, or wait for the librarian to unlock the doors and let you in with that soft smile. Read whatever history book of the week, on Scandinavian Witches, or Irish folktales, or African Magicks. Mumble Latin to yourself and practice little parlor tricks – holding a ball of fire, or drawing runes in that ratted notebook.      10:00 – Stop for a bit. Stand and stretch your legs, look for Rowan who’s probably by your feet yet again, giving that terrifying little jump as you nearly step on him. Find the charger for your phone (front pocket or jacket pocket, always), make sure it’s charged though it’s rare to have a text from anyone. Plug in your headphones. Stretch. Sit down again.        12:00 – Lunch break. Try and find something new, though it’s rare in such a little town. Find that dinner that the cops dine at, or maybe sneak into that little spot where the werewolves hang out. Admire people. Admire their happiness, or false perception of it. Keep your mouth shut and your head down. No one wants to deal with some fragile boy anyway. Wonder for a while if you ought to find a coven – someone who knows what they’re doing.      12:30 – Pay the bill, tip generously. Walk for a while. Work will call if they really need you to return.      1:00 – Stop by the plant store, if only to look. Maybe buy a little cactus. Give wildflowers to strangers passing by. Maybe return to the library. Have another cigarette. Feed the birds again. Feed a dog. Sneak into the music store and try that violin (why don’t you just buy the damned thing, Theo?). Sketch things you like. Harass the spirits at the local haunted house. Stay away from the church that smells even more like death than the cemetery and the funeral home.      2:30 – Start job #2 at one of the shops downtown. Serve and fake your smile and try to ignore Rowan wandering around your feet at all time. Tell the nosiest customers he’s a service pet. Ignore him when he bites into your calf after you say it. The cat seems to understand whatever you say, no matter how you say it. When you’re waiting in the back for the food for your tables, play that stupid game on your phone or read that book that they’ve been waiting for you to return. Be charming, show the guests that sparkle in your eye that used to make a girl fawn over you in high school (though you really wanted the boys to fawn over you, too). Be charming and smile and try your best to get tips.      6:30 – If you’re lucky, clock out from work. Otherwise sneak a meal behind the building, picking at your food because you don’t really like it, but your mother’s voice whispers yet in your ear eat or you’ll shrink, and I won’t be able to find you. Your father’s voice whispers as you finish your meal get back to work, boy.      8:00 – If you’re unlucky, finally get off work. Wander home in the dark, Rowan at your side. Do not fear the dark, unlit streets. Create witchlight in your fingertips and let that guide your way with the soft mewing noises of Rowan.      8:23 – Greet Lucifer and Lestat. Give them their extra food, and their treats for being such good bunnies today. Feed Rowan, if he’s hungry. Shower again, this time wash your hair. Use that body wash that smells like vanilla and coconut. Check your phone, know that no one will call unless they need you.      9:53 – Throw in a movie. Maybe tonight it will be a documentary on lore of generations long dead. Maybe it will be a proper movie. Try not to feel so alone.      11:14 – Fall asleep, right on time, just like clockwork. Dream fitfully. Have those visions of running through the forest and screaming at the sky.      1:05 – Wake up for a while. Finish a chapter in a book, wondering why it’s always 1:05, why these times are so concrete. Run your hands through Rowan’s fur. Ponder if he’s part Maine Coon. Sneak out for a cigarette, Rowan glowering at you.      1:41 – Fall back asleep, ignoring the tears that fall from the corners of your eyes and choke your throat. Curl tight around Rowan. Feel a little less alone with the city’s aura pressing down around you.