Juggling chainsaws

[nalyra-dreaming]

About me

Nalyra ⏛ she/her/they I love complicated characters and relationships. Vampire lover of old. I like a lot of things, so do mind the tags, please.

Ask | Ao3

This blog is NOT Vampire Chronicles / IWTV / TVL spoiler free.

Life is too short for hate, be brave enough to be kind.

PSA

I reserve the right to be silent human, at least until I‘m turned 😛

[charmingpickles]

[tulinokkaelain]

I was delighted by this Anne Rice interview where she talks about the The Body Thief before it was published, and whether she’d write more vampire books, so I’m sharing. 😌 (The Vampire Companion, Volume 1, Number 3, 1992 issue.)

꒷꒦︶꒷꒦︶ ꒷꒦︶꒷꒦

COMPANION: What’s your next project?

ANNE: I've finished the fourth book in "The Vampire Chronicles," which will be published in October of 1992. It's entitled Once Out of Nature -- the Tale of the Body Thief. But it may be simplified to The Body Thief when it is finally published. It's about the same length as The Queen of the Damned.

COMPANION: Tell us about The Body Thief.

ANNE: To me, The Body Thief was an intimate novel. I was able to get inside Lestat again, to become him, and travel the distance with him -- an experience I missed in writing The Queen of the Damned. I loved the mix of characters in Queen, the shifts of points of view and the shifts of texture, but I didn't spend enough time with Lestat himself. I felt unsatisfied when it was over. I wanted my hero back with me again. Also, I had more to say about the entire theme of the Chronicles, about the seductiveness of evil, and the way Lestat in particular had made it seem seductive when he knew evil was evil. Lestat had to admit some things.

COMPANION: How do you think your readers will relate to the book?

ANNE: I honestly don't know. I write the book I want to read and hope they will want to read it. That's all I can do. If they liked the "cast of thousands" in Queen, if they liked its worldscope plot, they might find The Body Thief too quiet and too linear a book for their tastes. The Body Thief is more a fast-paced tale of jeopardy and self-discovery and intense love. But many readers may want to be with Lestat again, as I do. I loved writing Queen but it got quite far away from the original intent and emotional tone of the Chronicles.

And frankly, though I hate to insult my earlier work, I think The Body Thief is attempting something a little more difficult, a little finer perhaps -- a truthful statement about honesty and art in the entire Chronicles which needed to be said. The Body Thief tries to come to terms with the lies in the Chronicles. Evil is, after all, evil. It is not beautiful, really.

In sum, I feel the new book is more like Interview with the Vampire -- a deep dark debate on salvation and damnation, on truth and personal ruthlessness -- how far each of us is willing to go to be happy, to achieve excitement, to feel alive. And surely it is a window into a character's dark and tormented and very human soul. Lestat and Louis argue bitterly in the novel. Lestat continues to be my hero, of course, my dark alter ego -- the demon with a conscience, who refuses to be bad at being bad. There's more I could say, but the novel must say it. If Lestat can't say it for me, I've failed. Oh, I miss him already.

COMPANION: Will there be another vampire novel?

ANNE: Had you asked me that question two months ago, I would have said, "Perhaps not." Now, I'm not so sure. I can't live long without Lestat. I am already thinking about a fifth novel -- starting to see it. You might say the fifth novel is like a spectral figure gathering density and strength in the haunted corridors of my mind. And, of course, he has blond hair. I do know I wasn't content ending the Chronicles with Queen. There was something very wrong with that. Ending them with this fourth novel, The Body Thief feels infinitely better. It carries the whole philosophical inquiry fathoms deeper than Queen. Lestat really examines his conscience in The Body Thief and, of course, Lestat has always had a conscience -- even though he always manages to have a lot of fun doing whatever he's doing, no matter how devilish it may be..." But I'm not saying there won't be fifth novel -- only that, if there isn't, the quartet has a feeling of resolution and substance now which gives me a little peace.

COMPANION: When did you get the idea for The Body Thief?

ANNE: Actually, it came to me the week after I finished Queen. I took my first notes which captures the entire shape of the thing. The story never stopped growing in my mind, but I had to put it on hold.

COMPANION: Why did it take so long?

ANNE: Two reasons. One, there must be time between episodes of the vampires, time for me to perceive a full spectrum of implications of each book, before I proceed to the next. But mostly it was that I had to do The Witching Hour. I'd been brooding over that book for years, and I knew if I postponed it again, it might die. Books do that. If you don't get to them in time, they'll die away. Right now I have a book dying on me. It's called Ruby. It's very dark and sinister -- like all my work, I guess. But I just can't get to Ruby and I feel Ruby slipping away.

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This is the whole thing. It does include other amazing lines such as: “My job is to write books. I love being 3,000 miles from Hollywood.”

[texasbama]

just two idiots obsessed with each other

[asliceofoceanmist]

jacob why you heal me like that

[bluebell218]

These reviews are COOOOOKIN'

(Forbes)

[nalyra-dreaming]

Btw the jackalope that Eric defined a spoiler still hasn't come around yet 👀.

Another hint for hybrid Daniel.

I wonder though how could Daniel be hybrid? Would Armand have to half turn him? The turning was horrific but I don't think Armand would risk Daniel becoming a revenant... How can a vampire regress to being hybrid?

I think it has to do with the blood sharing during the "lost years", that we do not officially know of yet. At least that would make sense to me. And that would explain why he would need antibodies, too, to a certain degree.

[nalyra-dreaming]

Hi, can you explain what Claudia means by this? I can’t grasp it.

"The train, Antoinette, Tom Anderson, slit throat, took your Black queen and ran off with him across the ocean.

And shitty little bitch that you are, revenge swelled in your brain.

How long you rehearse my death, Antoinette?

Memorize your every line of that play just for fun, Mr. Anderson, and your little make-’em-ups not in the script"

Hey,

so I talked about three of these before, here:

Did Antoinette actually plan Claudia's death? Because I do not think for one second that LESTAT did. But it makes a lot of sense, in a way,

The other, "And shitty little bitch that you are, revenge swelled in your brain."... that is Claudia believing Lestat came to Paris for revenge.

[nalyra-dreaming]

I remember some people were trying to spoil, that Loumand fans won't be happy, when we'll see Louis' reaction regarding Magnus

And IT WAS FUCKING FAKE , cause apparently Louis knew all that time 💁🏻‍♂️

*blinks*

I mean.... (not sure why this came up now??) but people spreading false rumors has been known for a while...?

[nalyra-dreaming]

curious what you think about the theory that louis was actually in on the decapitation with armand and daniel going around. or if that ever crossed your mind?

No, that never crossed my mind.

[nalyra-dreaming]

pretty good Autumn interview, Sam t talked a lot. He said episode 7 is the most horror there ever they've ever done and Assad gives a excellent performance

😈

[nalyra-dreaming]

interesting!!!!

https://x.com/i/status/2077145785830113606

Very, yes :)

[ileftmysoulinnorway]

Some of the hotels, restaurants and bars you can visit if you find yourself in the Toronto area:

Bisha Hotel (Toronto)

Knights Inn (Burlington)

Sheraton Hotel (Hamilton)

Shakespeare's (Hamilton)

The Lakeview Diner (Toronto)

Sneaky Dee's (Toronto)

Daphne (Toronto)

You can also look them up on the map, along with other filming locations for IWTV/TVL.

[virginiaisforvampires]

46 minutes of pure Jam cocaine. 😌♥️🙌🏽

[cbrownjc]

White writers writing for Black characters

So yeah, fandom, you wanna talk about this? Then let's talk.

Because, first, after the collective amnesia of forgetting what Claudia said to Louis about being a slave in Season One (when there was a black writer on staff btw) seems to be no-so-much anymore right now as far as I can tell, the other side of the argument seems to be the fact that there were no black writers on staff this season, and that means the writers shouldn't have done it, even if it wouldn't have been out-of-character for her to say such things.

But the real nonsense -- yes, nonsense -- I've been seeing lately is this idea that, if there had been a black writer or two on the show this season, the things we are seeing when it comes to the whole show, would not be happening. Or, somehow, be drastically different.

Well, let me give some of you who might be thinking this the reality check you seem to desperately need -- because no, it would not.

Because this show was not CREATED by a black person or POC. It was created by a white man. Rolin Jones. The vision of this adaptation, and the direction in which it is going, is based on how HE wishes to adapt the source material.

And no matter who is on the writing staff? That will always remain the case.

That vision of this show and the story it's telling isn't going to change, no matter how many black writers -- male, female, they or them -- you put in that writer's room.

What the show is doing right now, the direction of the story that is being told, would not change just because a black writer or two was in the writer's room.

Because, again, overall, this is Rolin Jones' adaptation of Anne Rice's work. And it will always be that, at the end of the day, no matter who is on the writing staff.

That you would have gotten this ship you wanted because there was a black writer or two on staff? (Because I'm not stupid, I know that is what is at the heart of much of this talk.)

You are being naïve at best, and basically advocating for tokenism at worst. Because guess what? Nothing would be different wrt how the show was being written or where it is going from where it is right now.

Because at the end of the day, this show is Rolin Jones' vision. And it will always be that. And those black writers would be writing with Rolin's overall vision of the story in mind.

Now, I'm not saying that no black or POC writers should ever write for the show. Not at all! I think such a thing would, hopefully, benefit the show even more, particually when it comes to such voices advocating for the black and POC characters in the show.

My point is, however, that if you think such a thing would change the overall direction of the story the show is telling? That we wouldn't have gotten the seance scene -- which is lifted directly from the books, btw -- or that the focus of this season, and what it's setting up, would have not happened and changed completely?

Then you are being naïve at best about that. Because none of those writers would be the actual creator and showrunner of this show. The one who actually dictates the overall story and direction of this show.

Rolin Jones is the one who has always been directing how this story, how it is told, from the very first episode. Because it is his pitch for the show that AMC decided to go with.

So where the show is right now is always where it was going to go. And that would not have changed even if there had been a black writer or two on staff.

So, with that said, should white writers write for black characters?

Well, instead of making a long argument about this myself (though yes, I'm still going to have comments about it), I'm going to let two actual black TV writers and, even more importantly, showrunners/creators talk about what THEY think about this.

This video is from The Hollywood Reporter Drama Showrunners' roundtable back in 2018. And the two black showrunners on the panel, Courtney Kemp and Lena Waithe, had, IMO, some of the most insightful comments on that panel, IMO, especially about this very topic, starting at 46:04. (Transcribed below).

Courtney Kemp --

I just feel like, when we start to say "Only this person can write this narrative," those of us who are of color, or somewhat othered, that means we can only write ourselves. Nuh uh, I ain't signing up for that. I am not going to say that only people of color can write people of color because that means only white people can write white people, and that's not okay. Every writer should be able to write anything; if you do the research, you're sensitive enough to ask the questions, because I come from journalism. Would we say the same thing about journalist? Would we say that only certain journalists can cover certain things? No. Educate yourself! Ask people!

Lena Waithe --

A big thing for me is, if you are a white, straight showrunner? And you want to tell a story that isn't like your life? That's totally cool. But you've got to have someone whose life you are writing about, right next to you. And you've got to be asking them, because sometimes the thing that I don't love is the white male straight showrunner that acts as if they have the audacity to tell a narrative that isn't theirs without asking for help.

----

Seriously, watch the whole roundtable if you can. It's one of the best ones The Hollywood Reproter has done, IMO.

Anyway, what Lena said about having someone in the room next to the person writing about things such as this?

Well, that is exactly what IWTVL has with Jacob Anderson and Delainey Hayles. The two black actors who are playing Louis and Claudia, respectively, and who have talked openly and often about the collaborative process that Rolin has done with them. Both of them, especially Delainey, have done so in the After Dark episode post EP306. And even more recently, Jacob did so in a TV Guide interview.

But, as is always the case with this fandom, their opinions are either ignored or dismissed. Some people even treat them like they shouldn't be allowed to have an opinion because they are biracial and, therefore, a poor, dumb sell-out who doesn't know any better (Jacob).

Which, frankly, I find way more insulting -- along with the just outright ignoring of what Delainey has said -- than anything the show has done this season.

Jacob and Delainey are not just some poor, dumb, black people who some of you think need to be "saved" from the show via a bunch of performative advocacy, thanks. 🙄

Because it is also not lost on me that the majority of people doing things like this are white fans. (Like the one who was reporting the show to the NAACP. Really!? 🙄)

Anyway, as I said above, at the end of the day, this show is Rolin Jones' vision. And it will always be that, no matter who is on the writing staff for it. The white showrunner who created the show and the overall story arc that the show is telling.

And any black writers would did join the writing staff would be writing with Rolin's overall vision of the story in mind, not their own.

And definitely not with any fandom fanons or headcanons some of you think would be implemented on the show if there were a black writer or two on the staff.

And, at the end of the day, when the things you think would change about the show didn't change, many of you would just do the same thing with those black writers that you are doing with the black actors on the show -- Jacob, Delainey, and now Sheila -- and just ignore everything they have said regarding the show, their characters, and the collaborations they have done with the writers regarding where the story is going, at best.

At worst, you do the same thing to them that some of you have already done to Jacob, especially if any of them are biracial like he is. But even if they were not, you'd still probably just call them sell-outs when you still didn't get what you really wanted the show to do, and things remained exactly the same.

Plus, thinking that any and all black writers would think the same about the story is just, once again, seeing black people in a monolithic way that some people have -- that all black people think exactly the same about all things.

Because, for all anyone knows, if there had been a black writer on staff? That scene might have gone down even harder than what we got . . . with even harsher language than what we heard.

And maybe also with the stabbing of Louis that Claudia did in the book to him during that scene, remaining in as well.

[lestandevalois]

I have flat out refused to drink anything other than blood for three seasons of IWTV, but Rolin Jones is adamant that the Vampires drink like regular drinks and eat regular food. And I've been like, "This is so dumb, I don't understand why we do this."

Thank you and bless you Sam🙏

[cbrownjc]

I mean, yes, Sam's right, that is dumb. Because Louis already said in Season 1 that, to vampires, human food tastes like paste or soap.

Who would want to eat things that regularly taste like paste or soap!?

Hell, even in EP304, Louis wasn't eating the food he ordered at the diner with Reginia. Which is what made her suspicious of him in the first place.

So yeah, vampires putting blood in such things makes much more sense. Like, I love Louis and Lestat drinking blood-beer in this episode. More of things like THAT, please, if they are going to actually eat the food or drink the drinks in question.

[nalyra-dreaming]

Do you think that the decapitation of Louis head will disconnect him from the sacred core instead because if his head isn’t reconnected to his body in time his heart is gonna stop completely which would truly separate him from amel.

No, I don't think these are related, but... we'll see.