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@leslutdepointedulac
Ignore the fact that I'm only now making a pinned post despite the fact I've been on here for a little over a year now.
Anyway, hey! I'm 21+ and I'm just here clowning around while yapping about vampires and uni-drop outs with their reanimated corpse son.
This blog is for The Vampire Chronicles (books)/Frankenstein (book & GDT 2025)/TSOA, The Iliad, Hades (Game) and it is a no minor zone, so if you're under 18 you shouldn't be here.
Scattered... :
Re-reading TVL I felt compelled to draw Eleni (who I love and who I want as a pen pal) writing Lestat about what was happening with Nicki, Armand and The Théâtre des Vampires. The letters are scattered, yes, Lestat just read the last one, informing him of Nicki's tragic fate...
I tried to do the Colombina from La Commédia dell'arte costume but in blue. Hopefully it translates well on paper.
The ruin of the lamb
prints
my question is more for lestat i guess, but what drew you to louis in the first place? like, why him and not his neighbour?
'Doll, doll,’ I called her. That’s what she was. A magic doll. Laughter and infinite intellect and then the round-cheeked face, the bud mouth. ‘Let me dress you, let me brush your hair,’ I would say to her out of old habit, aware of her smiling and watching me with the thin veil of boredom over her expression.
When I read Lestat the Vampire, the scene in the witch's glade really struck a chord with me. And when she was shown in the series, I was, frankly, disappointed. I really don't like the way Lestat's childhood is depicted in the series and the good moments between him and Gabrielle are completely excluded. In the series, this moment simply reinforces the image of Lestat's family as bad people who mistreat him. But the book version shows something completely different. Firstly, this scene is related to Nikki, and secondly, it shows how sensitive and vulnerable Lestat has always been. He doesn't need to see someone being burned; the very fact that it was done is enough. And in the book, this scene seems to be more significant than in the series. In the series, they turned it into a joke, like, "Oh, these 17th-century entertainments."
thank god vampirism is a flexible metaphor
it’s about being queer it’s about surviving assault it’s about alienation and most of all it’s about how everyone who loved you before might not be able to even look at you now, no matter how many times you try to explain that you didn’t ask to die and you didn’t ask for that death to leave you only half-eaten when it got bored of you.
This is without even mentioning the broader metaphorical implications of disease and contagion; foreign invasion; colonial or imperial violence; interpersonal abuse; generational trauma; religious trauma; violent cultural assimilation; repressed or suppressed desire; the fear of no longer being able to recognise or relate to someone you love; and on and on and on.
Vampirism is a flexible metaphor that reflects the anxieties and desires of its age and its authors, and I love that for it!
People are talking about the books because of the show, so I'm going to do a countdown of my least favorite pieces of misinformation about The Vampire Chronicles that I see regularly on the internet:
10. In the second to last book in the series Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis, Lestat goes to the lost city of Atlantis! This is not in fact a thing that happens in the book. It's a fun book, you should read it.
9. Anne Rice hated [insert character here] which is why they aren't in the later books! No she probably didn't, she probably just forgot they existed. She cared much less about minor characters than any of us do. She also didn't feel like she could write Louis because of his headspace being so tied to a particular point in her life.
8. In Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis, you find out that the vampires are aliens! That's also not what happens in that book, go read it, it's pretty fun book.
7. Anne Rice hired a ghostwriter to write Blood Canticle, or any of a number of her other books! Literally what the fuck are you talking about, why would someone write that book if they weren't Anne Rice!? Also, you think Anne Rice let someone else write LESTAT!? A thing she famously had a weird problem with!?
6. Anne Rice disowned and denounced her former work when she reverted to Christianity! All of the actual quotes about the series from her after she stopped writing it because she consecrated her writing to Christ are much funnier than the thing you're hallucinating, go look them up, she said something about how even her pornography was probably divinely inspired.
5. None of Anne Rice's books after The Queen of the Damned underwent any editing! It's not editing she was talking about, it was developmental comments from her editor, her editor who would give her feedback as she was writing the book. All of her work was copyedited, some better than others, and she actually paid for additional editors for some of her books to catch continuity issues. If you're wondering why she stopped taking developmental comments from her editor, I can only speculate, but I can tell you from reading her diary that her editor thought she should scrap most of that Armand nonsense in the middle of The Vampire Lestat. So I can't be too mad about it.
4. The concept of an unreliable narrator is central to the series throughout! No it's not, well, that and most people are using the term wrong or using it inconsistently. The series is a bunch of books mostly in first person, they rarely contradict on actual external events and most of the places where the point of views diverge are purely the personal opinions and subjective experiences of the characters. You are almost never supposed to assume a character is lying in the narration, and there are only two points in the series where anyone is actually noted to have been false in their narration. Neither of the falsehoods is a significant plot point.
3. Anne Rice didn't write books with female leads because she had too much internalized sexism and was ignorant about it! Anne Rice had internalized sexism she was completely cognizant of and actively working through in her work, you can find a bunch of interviews of her talking about it. She also did write fewer female leads because they didn't sell as well, you can find a bunch of interviews with her talking about that too. You don't have to love the way she writes about women, you can't complain she didn't write enough female leads unless you actually read the books that she wrote with female leads in them. You should go read The Witching Hour, it has a great female lead, and if you don't have time to read half a million words, go read Pandora, which is also great.
2. The books aren't gay because she either had to censor them because she couldn't make them gay in the '70s, or because she was naive and homophobic! Neither of these things are true, Anne Rice wrote Cry to Heaven in 1982, she confirmed the queerness of her characters as early as in the first book in the second half, and if you really need it hammered home, it's also in the second and third books. For what it's worth she didn't try to make them less gay later on either. It's Anne Rice, if a character isn't bisexual that's an anomaly. The sex stuff is for thematic reasons in the lore, and there's a bunch of sex stuff that doesn't contradict the lore later on. It's crazy that people who have read The Vampire Armand think this woman was avoiding writing gay sex.
1. Anne Rice wrote [insert book here] on drugs! I know this is basically an expression, but I do feel like it's important to point out that she was sober for 42 years of her life. Exactly one book in The Vampire Chronicles was written under the influence of anything, and it's the first one, and it was alcohol. You can feel any way you want about the woman or her work, but she did and wrote almost all of that shit sober.
"All the old mortal comfort intoxicated me, and I could have closed my eyes and slipped from consciousness carrying him with me, or so it seemed."
here is a star for everyone who’s not feeling their best today (🌟)
Nickistat praise kink but it's Lestat telling Nicki how talented he is at playing the violin and how beautiful his music is (even though Nicki hates it bc he's iffy about compliments like that) bc Lestat loves how awkward it makes him and loves to see him flush with embarrassment and hide his face behind his hair
I couldn't stop thinking about this so I quickly wrote a thing yesterday🧍♀️Ummm I'm not sure what happened towards the end but it did get in major Feels✌️🥲 which I love I just wasn't expecting it lmao. Anyway, enjoy ig 😃
As the last notes ring out through the room, Lestat wipes at his eyes, a smile curving his lips upwards.
"That was wonderful."
He's met with a sigh and slumped shoulders as Nicki goes to place the violin back in its case.
"What?" Lestat asks, tilting his head. "What's the matter?"
"It still isn't right," Nicki says, sounding irritated and down-trodden all at once.
He walks over to the bed, sitting on the edge with his back to Lestat, hunched forward with his elbows resting on his knees. Lestat frowns at him from where he sits on the bed behind him.
"It sounded alright to me."
"Well it would to you," Nicki scoffs, "you can't hear it the way I can." He rubs at his forehead as if trying to stave off a headache, pinching the bridge of his nose between forefinger and thumb. "It's just that one part near the end, I can't quite–" He scoffs again, leaning his forehead against his palm. "I don't know why I'm trying to explain it to you, it's not like you'd understand."
Lestat feels a touch wounded at the comment but pushes it aside and scoots over to sit at his back, resting his head on his shoulder with his arms wrapped around his waist.
"You could try anyway," he suggests.
"And then what? I'll suddenly be able to perfect it just like that?" Nicki clicks his fingers. "Face it, Lestat, there are just some things I'll never master."
"Don't say that," Lestat protests softly, "it sounds too much like you're giving up."
"I'm not giving up, just accepting the truth."
Nicki raises his head and stares ahead, gazing out the window across the room with a resigned look on his face.
"Well I don't think so," Lestat counters, pressing a kiss to Nicki's shoulder. "It's only the truth if you let it be, you just have to keep trying. You'll get it eventually, I know you will." He kisses him again, lips pressed to his neck this time. "You're much too good to let this defeat you."
Nicki scowls a little, shifting away from him to lie down against the pillows, the heels of his hands pressed into his eyes.
"I'm serious, you're too harsh on yourself," Lestat tells him, looking down at him from his seat on the bed.
"I'm being realistic," Nicki retorts, hands still pressed to his eyes. "We can't all be effortless geniuses in whatever we please like you."
Lestat rests a hand on his ankle and gives a pointed look. "You don't need to be like me, you're already talented in your own right, far more than you give yourself credit for."
"Be quiet," Nicki grumbles.
"I will not," Lestat says and moves to climb on top of him, straddling his waist. "In fact, I won't stop until you believe me."
"Well you'll be trying to quite a while, then."
"As long as it takes," Lestat smiles.
Nicki shifts a hand and glares up at him. "Must you sit on me to do it?"
Lestat's smile turns sly. "I can't risk you trying to escape while I tell you just how talented you are. You realise how impressive it is to pick up a violin at twenty?"
"Impressively old, maybe."
"No, it's amazing. Inspiring. Any child can take it up and spend so many hours and years trying to perfect their craft. But you. You've accomplished so much in such short time. Anyone would be lucky to accomplish even half as much as you in that time and yet you make it look so easy. You have a gift for it."
Nicki covers his face with his hands but Lestat could swear he sees his cheeks redden despite himself.
"You're just saying that to make me feel better." His voice comes out muffled from behind his hands.
"I say it because I believe it. I say it because it's true. Do you think so many people can be wrong? My mother, me, our friends at the theatre, the audience? Renaud doesn't give you solos out of the kindness of his heart, he gives them to you because he knows you capture the attention of everyone in that room and hold them there until even after the last note fills the air."
Nicki groans from behind his hands. "Lestat, stop it, will you."
"You pretend not to notice but when you stand in that orchestra pit and the light falls upon you, the whole room waits with baited breath for that first sound of bow against strings. The audience sit forward, attentive, just waiting to hear that first note; I stand in the wings with my fellow actors, fighting myself not to run and sit on the edge of the stage, so desperately wanting to get as close as possible to your magic. We all want to feel it, Nicki, your magic. Because that's your gift to us, the magic of your soul laid bare for us all to bask in."
"Lestat, please," Nicki says, practically begging. "That's enough."
"But it's not," Lestat counters, a sense of awe tinting his words. "It's never enough. You play with your hands, your fingers so long and swift on the strings, taking us all with you through the music."
He pulls Nicki's hands from his face, smile widening to see the flush brought to his cheeks, his awkward discomfort written all over his face even as he glowers up at him. Looking him in the eye, Lestat lifts his hands to his lips and kisses each of his calloused fingers in turn, his palms, his aching wrists so sore from playing.
The flush in Nicki's face deepens, though Lestat suspects it's from more than just embarrassment. He continues to smile, bringing Nicki's knuckles to his lips and kissing them, then holds his hands in each of his own, gazing down at him adoringly.
"But it's from your heart the music comes from. When you play, we can hear your soul; it pours from you in the most mesmerising torrent. We feel you in your music, right down to our own very souls. It demands attention, commands that we stop and listen to the music of you."
Lestat releases one of Nicki's hands and places his own on his chest, feeling the rapid thud thud thud of Nicki's heart beneath his palm.
He looks away, turning his head to the side and Lestat's almost certain he sees him blink back tears. With his hand still resting over his heart, Lestat lets go of Nicki's other hand, gently turning his face back to look at him and leaning down to brush their lips together.
"Your soul is beautiful," he whispers, kissing him softly on the mouth. "So beautiful. It's the purest thing, so full of spirit and passion. It's magnificent, a true miracle come to life."
Lestat kisses him, slow and gentle, sliding his hand down the length of Nicki's body from his chest to his hips, slipping into his breeches and grinning against his mouth when he hears the breath catch in his throat.
"And what a privilege it is to bear witness to, the sound of your soul."
Nicki's breath grows heavy and ragged as Lestat strokes him, lips teasing his with each word spoken against his mouth, whispered as if sharing a secret for his ears only.
"I wonder if anyone knows the great honour that comes with hearing you play, as you flay yourself open with every draw of your bow and lay yourself bare for us all to marvel at."
He leaves a trail of kisses along Nicki's jaw, moving down to kiss his neck; hot breath tickles his ear as Nicki pants, one hand coming to grip his thigh while another tangles in his hair. Lestat nips at his skin and shifts his hips over Nicki's, earning him a shaken gasp as reward.
"Your soul is the music to make even angels weep," Lestat says into his ear, voice hushed. "They write songs about you up in heaven, about the boy who's soul is so pure he makes even the clouds in the sky stop to listen." He nuzzles against Nicki's cheek. "But their songs could never hope to compare to yours."
He quickens the pace of his hand in Nicki's breeches to the sound of his heavy panting against his ear. Capturing his mouth in another kiss, forceful yet slow, Lestat takes in all the beautiful noises he makes, a different kind of music in their own right.
He parts from the kiss, smiling a little when Nicki tries to chase his lips and giving him one more chaste kiss in response. He rests their foreheads together, hot breath hitting his skin from beneath him.
"You tell me there's a darkness in you, that you're evil and that you revel in it. But how can that be true when your soul is made of light itself? It's the very meaning of goodness, don't you see? The world holds its breath just to hear you, time stops just so you can fill it with that wonderful music."
Lestat feels a shudder from under him and touching his lips to his cheeks, he feels a slight wetness that wasn't there before.
"Nicolas de Lenfent, my Nicki. You were put on this earth to show us your soul. You have and will achieve so much. You are light, you are good. And you are beautiful."
A soft, choked cry escapes Nicki then as he reaches his release and his hands tighten on Lestat's thigh and in his hair. Lestat covers his face in light kisses and withdraws his hand from Nicki's breeches, wiping it off on the blanket beside him and briefly telling himself he'll deal with it later.
Nicki brings his arms around Lestat, holding him close as his body shudders and trembles both with the aftermath of his orgasm and the tears which he seems to try and hide, silent save for the occasional sniffle.
Lestat stays right where he is, unmoving, refusing to sit up in spite of his body starting to ache so long as his lover needs him close. He leans his head against Nicki's shoulder, face tucked into his neck with his arm over his chest, hand resting on his other shoulder.
They stay like that for some time, Lestat laying against him, acting as a comforting weight almost, and Nicki holding him to himself, cheek resting against the top of Lestat's head.
Eventually, the shaking and sniffling stop, Nicki falling still and silent. He loosens his hold on Lestat, though doesn't release him entirely, and his breath evens out, chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm beneath Lestat's arm. They lie in the quiet together, Lestat still not moving from his position even though his muscles are screaming at him to sit up.
After a few moments longer in the tranquil silence, Lestat murmurs quietly against Nicki's neck.
"Do you believe it now, the talent you possess?"
Nicki stays silent, the quiet dragging out long enough that Lestat wonders whether he's heard him. Then,
"No."
That one simple word leaves Lestat stunned, hitting him with full force it almost hurts. Finally, he sits up, untangling himself from Nicki's arms so he can stare down at him, face a mixture of bewilderment, pain and sorrow. He tries to conjure up something to say, opens his mouth to ask him why?, but nothing comes out. He stares at him, lost for words.
Nicki gazes back up at him, a sadness in his eyes even as he offers Lestat a small smile. He places one hand back on his thigh, the other on his waist, thumb gently rubbing back and forth as if to comfort him even though if either of them need it, Lestat surely doesn't think it's him.
He tries again to ask him why. Why, after all he's said, does Nicki still refuse to see his own worth? But like before, his words fail him and he's left staring at him tearfully. Nicki's sadness seems to deepens, though Lestat can't tell whether it's sadness for himself, for Lestat, or both. He tries to smile more but Lestat can see the effort it takes him to do such a simple action; he wishes he wouldn't do it, wouldn't do something that hurts himself just to comfort him.
Nicki goes to speak then, and despite the sombre quality in both his eyes and words, it makes Lestat smile and his chest bloom with warmth.
"No. But I believe you, Lestat."
louclaudia sketch
Nickistat praise kink but it's Lestat telling Nicki how talented he is at playing the violin and how beautiful his music is (even though Nicki hates it bc he's iffy about compliments like that) bc Lestat loves how awkward it makes him and loves to see him flush with embarrassment and hide his face behind his hair
you're my son and to some extent my dog
There's absolutely nothing I love more than making Nicki do things he's most certainly does NOT want to do just because Eleni asked him reallyyyyy nicely in the most genuinely sincere 'but it's okay if you don't, you don't have to' no pressure type of way
put your ‘on repeat’ playlist on shuffle & let your friends pick their favorite of the first five songs!
Tagged by: @uncivilcivilservice thank youu!! 💞💞
Pick a song
Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na) by My Chemical Romance
Lost In The Back Of My Mind by ALT BLK ERA
Desert Song by My Chemical Romance (again)
Adrenaline by Rosetta Stone
Driven Like the Snow by Sisters of Mercy
Tagging: If you see this I'm tagging you 🫵
