#one of the big points in the early vampire chronicles books are that all vampires are evil; that is the nature of being a vampire

[fallingbyjuleecruise]

genuinely feel that the drama happening in the amc iwtv fandom is what happens when fans promote a show bc it’s gay first and do not mention the plot/genre at all

[perseidlion]

The Interview With the Vampire TV show is a perfect example of how adaptations do not have to follow the source material closely to be an excellent adaptation.

(This is a spoiler-free commentary, but it does discuss the dynamics of the characters in general.)

I read the books back in the day, and of course, saw the original movie. Despite a laundry list of big changes, the series still feels extremely true to the books because it captures the spirit. It gets the characters and their fucked-up dynamics right. It doesn't shy away from them being melodramatic monsters. It keeps to the rules established in the source material. The show also makes sure to preserve key moments and key scenes, but always with a twist.

Since they did that, they were free to shift things in time, amp up and adapt certain dynamics, and change the race of characters in a way that deepens the story and complicates already extremely complicated power dynamics.

The original movie stuck more closely to the era and the appearance of the characters as described by Anne Rice, but I don't think the story loses anything by changing those two elements. In fact, it gives it modern relevance and room for political and social commentary.

I have never ascribed to the idea that an adaptation has to be slavishly accurate to the source material to be a good adaptation. It just has to be smart enough to identify what to keep and what can change. An adaptation adapts. Honestly, I find it boring when I see exactly what was in a book up on screen with no surprises. Where's the fun in that?

The difference between a good adaptation and a bad one is not how accurate it is to the source material, but how well the adaptation respects what made the story compelling to begin with.

What's important here?

Lestat is dramatic and powerful and a monster who is deeply charismatic, but also manipulative.

Louis is overdramatic and self-hating, but oddly drawn to Lestat.

Claudia is fierce, but bitter about her eternal childhood.

Their relationship is deeply toxic but with true affection. They are monsters, but monsters capable of intense love and devotion - to the point where it has the power to destroy them.

THAT is at the core of this story. THAT is what they keep intact. This frees up all sorts of avenues for play around a few key plot beats.

This room for play also gives opportunities to expand on thinner characters or rewrite them entirely. It's been a long time since I read the books, but I don't recall Daniel standing out as more than a framing device, especially in earlier books. But in the show, he's one of the best parts. Not only does he take a much more active role in the story, he delivers some of the most hilarious and cutting lines of the entire series. If the show had stuck closely to the source material, we wouldn't have this Daniel.

It was also smart of them to make Claudia a few years older. The eternal child element is preserved, but the layer of arrested teenaged hormones and womanhood that will never blossom adds an extra layer of angst and sadness. She is stuck forever in a state of rebellion, never allowed to settle and come into her own.

Having her be a young Black woman also deepens her attachment to Louis, visually, socially and symbolically. They are different from Lestat and they understand each other in a way he never can. She's still very much the Claudia from the book but with layers added to deepen her character and add new, fresh dynamics and complications.

It's also delightful to see the show take the homoeroticism that was subtextual in the early books with Louis and Lestat (and in the original film) and making it unapologetically text. Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles have always been incredibly queer and subversive, but it's amazing to see that side of it fully embraced and stated plainly with no ambiguity or qualifiers or hints. It's queer and that queerness is woven into the fabric of the entire narrative. Louis and Lestat are the toxic beating heart of the Vampire Chronicles.

It's also important because we need messy, dark, fucked-up queer narratives. Sweet, coming-of-age stories and romances are of course, important - especially for younger queer people. But us older queer folk not only want to see ourselves in multiple genres, we want permission to see imperfect, messy, and yes, even evil characters. It's a way of reclaiming the monstrous queer that was villainized for so long and making it our own. We want to find something beautiful in the dark.

If we all thought about it, we could probably think of dozens of examples where a show or movie went far off-script from the source material and was still an excellent adaptation.

Interview With the Vampire is just the most recent and one of the best examples of a stellar adaptation that respects the source material but also builds and expands on it.

I look forward to seeing how they surprise me next season.

[volixia669]

Vampire Chronicles Basics

Okay, with the new Interview with the Vampire show coming out, there’s probably going to be some folks who might be curious about the books and wondering why there’s so much disrespect towards the author. This probably isn’t the ONLY primer, but like, whatever.

Note: I never got around to reading all of her books, and some of this is drawing from memory though wikipedia is helpful.

Contextual History Lesson Time!

As a media criticism type person, I find it important to not examine media in a vacuum, and take into account what was happening at the time it was created.

The timing of the first three books is notable. Interview with a Vampire was released in 1976, The Vampire Lestat was released in 1985, and Queen of the Damned was released in 1988.

So we have one book with gay subtext released post free love movement but prior to gay folks becoming more known in society, then two more released during the aids crisis with the queer subtext/text still going strong. This? This is huge. Reportedly, there were people sending Anne Rice letters about how amazing it was to see themselves in the characters. Some these days might roll their eyes at how subtext might be revolutionary, but please understand. During the aids crisis, the queer community, particularly gay men, were being blamed and discriminated against to horrifying levels to the point gay men still can’t give blood.

So for a book series to have not only the metaphor of penetration and being an outbut but also have these characters seem very gay? It’s huge! It’s like a weight being lifted off, even just temporairly, while you go, “Someone sees me and my situation.”

The Vampire Lestat even had Lestat’s mother questioning her gender and deciding to dress and act more masculine. Sure, these days we’d call it “problematic” trans rep for many reasons, but back in 1985? Except for certain more indie films, trans people weren’t even talked about.

Which is a huge reason the series got big among the queer community, others caught wind, and eventually that movie with Brad Pitt was made.

And now we’re in the 90s with a few things happening. One of which being Anne Rice uh...Firing her editor? Not bothering with an editor? Whatever happened, the quality of writing goes downhill.

Additionally, Anne Rice was going through...a lot, and it shows in her writing. She started as one sect of Christianity, left it after a family member died, was athiest/agnostic for awhile, then went to a different sect of Christianity when another family member died, then eventually was in her own thing of believing in God & Jesus but not following any particular sect. Then she died.

This is relevant, as we see Lestat go from prissy rockstar to literally meeting Jesus. So. There’s that.

Another thing that happened in the 90s was the internet becoming bigger, resulting in things like forums, chatgroups, livejournal, and essentially online fandom. People in the Vampire Chronicles fandom began sharing their fanfiction.

Anne Rice hated that. It was her world, her property, her Gary-Stu, and therefore only she could write Vampire Chronicles. She began suing anyone who was writing fanfiction, yes, even the broke teenagers.

She wasn’t the only one doing this of course, but she was certainly adamant about it. Additionally, there’s an emotional element too. Because her work was one of the few popular media where queers could see themselves in, it was like a betrayal to have her say, “No, I hate anyone who loves this world so much they’d write fic.” (not a real quote btw just how it felt)

This is why many fanfic writers in the 2000s, early 2010s, and a few even today write disclaimers at the top of their fic. Because a “I do not own this property. This property belongs to blah blah blah” was one of the few defenses (however flimsy) fanfic writers had. It’s also why, as of the last time I checked ff.net, Anne Rice’s works are not allowed on that site.

That said, from this backlash against fandom, Archive of Our Own and its lawyers were born. The volunteers of OT3 are why y’all will be able to write Lestat fucking Louis into next week and post it there without worrying about Anne Rice’s estate hounding you.

The Books Themselves

So! With that lengthy history done, what about the books? To start off with, while the movie, and this new show are called “Interview with the Vampire”, that’s just the first book. The series as a whole are The Vampire Chronicles.

So we’ve got:

Interview with the Vampire (1976)

The Vampire Lestat (1985)

The Queen of the Damned (1988)

The Tale of the Body Thief (1992)

Memnoch the Devil (1995, the one where Lestat meets Jesus, a lot of people hate it, I think its hilarious with some interesting theological points)

New Tales of the Vampires-Pandora (1998, prequel about an older Roman vampire) New Tales of the Vampires-Vittorio the Vampire (1999, another prequel, about a 15th century Italian Nobleman vampire)

The Vampire Armand (1998, it’s Armand’s story and also I maintain the first 60 pages reads like an M-rated fanfic on ff.net, which is objectively hilarious imho)

Merrick (2000, crossover with another her series called the Mayfair Witches)

Blood and Gold (2001, now the ancient vampire Marius gets his own origin story.)

Blackwood Farm (2002, more Mayfair Witches crossover)

Blood Canticle (2003, EVEN MORE CROSSOVER also was originally gonna be a conclusion buuuuuuuuuuut)

Prince Lestat (2014, Lestat is back and is facing pressure to lead the vampires because I guess all the ones with enough of a brain cell to go that would be a TERRIBLE idea are dead)

Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantic (2016, I guess we’re now in Atlantis?)

Blood Communion (2018)

As you can see there’s a lot of books and content. Especially because Vampire Chronicles wasn’t her only series. On top of her erotic romance series that even my “sure you can watch Criminal Minds while 9 years old” mom was like, “Do not touch that,” she had her Tales of the Mayfair Witches series, which AMC incidentally also has the rights for. So...Lots of books, one world with vampires and witches and Jesus.

However, because of the drop in quality as well as the level of batshittery (no I’m still not over Lestat going to fucking Atlantis), last I checked the main reads are the first three, with Vampire Armand also being thrown in because I mean, after you see Antonio Banderas as Armand you want to know more about him.

Of course by all means! Read more of the books! Maybe you’ll get a laugh like I did! Maybe the quality doesn’t seem so bad to you! Maybe you enjoy batshittery! 

And if you don’t want to give the Anne Rice estate more money because she was a bad person, there’s plenty of libraries that have the books! Trust me. They do. Some might even have them in ebook version, so you can use apps like overdrive or libby to check them out without even leaving your house!

Appropriation in Vampire Chronicles

This is gonna be short since I’m sure there’s whole pieces about this and I don’t have the books in front of me nor am I part of any of these cultures, but I do want to run over that yes, there’s certainly some cultural appropriation in this series, particularly of Egyptian Culture, but also of voodoo and creole culture.

I want to warn of this, so it doesn’t catch anyone off guard, especially since “Merrick” and “Queen of the Damned” in particular are uh. Full of this. I also have no idea if the more recent books are any better in this regard.

That said, I’m curious about how the AMC tackles these aspects, as its already quite clear they’re not following the books 1:1, which is actually going to make for a better story.

Hopefully all that is helpful!

[runningwithfangs]

Vampire Chronicles Book Review/Rant #6

The Vampire Armand

Ok, this is going to be another long one, and this book isn’t even the longest one (most of these books run 450-500 pages).

I feel very conflicted about this book, for the first half or so of it I was just very uncomfortable. I’ve been reading about all these dark, gothic, and terrible things in the other books and yet, this felt especially awful. Armand is very fucked up, he’s a special kind of evil, a special kind of manipulator among all the Evil Manipulative VampiresTM, but DAMN has he been through a lot. The second half of the book felt like we were back in the story of the Vampire Chronicles and back to business as usual.

I want to point out that I was a little worried about this book being boring and repetitive because we already know Armand’s backstory from previous books. However, there are details and min-stories that are worthwhile.

So, Armand tells us of his early life, as the icon painter in Kyiv. He is kidnapped and sex trafficked to Venice, where Marius buys him. Even though he and Marius have a severely fucked up complicated relationship, Armand’s time in Venice seems to be the happiest in his life. When he thinks back on who he was as a youth, he thinks about this time. It's all nicely fleshed out, we meet the boys and Bianca and get enveloped in the world of Renaissance Venice. We also learn that Armand was a little bit of a freak even before he got turned, he was indeed a chaotic, horny little shit and he got stuck that way forever. 

Then everything changed when the Children of Darkness attacked. Marius is seemingly killed and the boys are taken to Rome, where they’re tortured and then thrown into a fire. Armand was supposed to be killed in the fire too, but he’s saved at the last second because Santino sees a true love for God in him. And so Armand’s coven era begins, which is his darkest time. Until Lestat destroys it all (this part is brief since we saw it all play out already in The Vampire Lestat).

Armand briefly talks about the Theatré era and meeting Louis. And then, kind of out of nowhere, the Claudia Bomb gets dropped. Armand admits he cut off her head and stitched it on the body of a female vampire he decapitated creating a “child-headed monster woman”. Ummm wtf. How did he even have time to do that between the kidnapping and the execution?!

But finally, we’ve caught up to the present and it’s time to talk about his suicide attempt at seeing Veronica’s Veil. The attempt fails, he’s too old and strong but also . . . had to save Sybelle from her brother’s abuse and adopt her and Beji as his human children ? How lucky that he finds these two who are rich, orphaned, chill about dead bodies, and just immediately in love with him. I’m very confused as to how this whole thing happened and apparently so is Armand. 

But what I want to talk about is all the weird supernatural stuff that happens throughout this book that is not explained and that doesn’t fit in with previous supernatural cannon. 

First, Armand sees ghosts! He sees the ghosts of his victims while he’s imprisoned by Santino. Vampires aren’t supposed to see ghosts, it’s a big deal that David still can and that Lestat sees exactly one (Roger). 

Second, he has supernatural visions. When he’s feverish and dying sees the priests from back home tell him it’s not his time to die yet, and then he gets turned. When he’s flying up into the sun he again has visions of his family and of being a priest back home. Are these ghosts and visions just hallucinations?

Third, God is real?! Actual God and Jesus are real and Actual God directly inspired human Armand to paint his Actual Image?? The face that Armand painted “not by human hands” and the face on the Veil are the same?! So Armand had to try to kill himself about it?!

When Armand drinks from Lestat finally to see Him in the blood, he doesn’t see Lestat’s memories but instead has this nightmare interaction where Jesus’s face gets bigger and bigger and is kinda chasing him. That’s now how memories in the blood work!! And he gets thrown across the room by seemingly no one and everyone saw it?!

Memnoch left things vague, was it all real, or was Memonch some kind of bewitching spirit? But this book says God is real, Veronica’s Veil is real, AND Armand has been uniquely touched by Him. This is where I was really losing it. And even Marius is like, I guess my atheistic views were wrong maybe, idk.

It’s just such a turnaround from where we started. 

This book had me up and down, it made me not like Marius (I think I still like Marius but just not in this book, not to say he isn’t also a disaster like the rest of them). It does have a lot of really beautiful writing, I always enjoy Anne’s writing as Armand. And it does deepen my understanding of him, this angel/gremlin/boy/devil. Not my favorite book so far, but I’m not upset that I read it or re-visited it for this post.

Favorites:

There are some wonderful descriptions of Renaissance art.

When Marius takes Armamd to Bianca's bedroom to accuse her of poisoning men, she's all “I'm bad for killing people? Ok pedo, WHAT ABOUT YOU?” 

How Armand describes these vampires:

Lestat - maverick and trickster, 6 feet tall (they're all legally bound to mention his height) dubbed The Brat Prince by MY Marius, who never gave me a cute nickname but it's FINE I don't even care. “Intolerably annoying but one with whom I cannot exist” 💀 meanwhile Lestat is like oh I ignore Armand at all times and as much as possible

Louis - “already described but always fun to envisage” he's just SO HOT “soft voice, very human, weak . .. unable to read minds, or to levitate or to spellbind others… which can be hilarious” 

I love the descriptions of Louis! It's always like “What a weak piece of shit I need to fuck him Right Now”

Gabrielle - “Everyone hates her” do they though? Or is it just YOU? “dusty, genderless” Iconic.

Pandora - “a goddess made of bleeding marble, a powerful beauty out of the deepest and most ancient soul of Roman Italy” damn what a line 

Least Favorites:

I mean, all the child S.A. and abuse. . . like that was very disturbing. And the way Armand describes it, so matter-of-fact, it’s a contrast to a lot of the flowery, poetic language he uses in this book and others for basically everything else. Like he has to detach himself to describe it. Horrible. 

Not only did the boys get thrown into the fire but then they fed Ricardo the Armand and he didn't realize 😭 that's so fucked up 😭

Lack of Devil's Minion. He just kinda says his love wasn't really honest, he just needed Daniel to explain the modern world. . . 

Monastery of the caves - did monks really bury themselves and slowly starve to death there?

Smutt:

I can't condone any of the intimate acts in this book, it's all underage/non-consent/dubious consent and/or really weird. It's not enjoyable, it's not a fun time. 

Marius seems the be the only vampire still interested in sexual acts though, with vampires and humans (noticed from this and other books).

Nonsense Meter:

Tentative 5/10 

This book was all over the place, from extremely disturbing yet realistic events to Claudia’s Head and strange very convenient teenage adoptees. 

Misc:

“I’m an impregnable little boy” Don’t let the MPreg crowd get you Armand XD

Not the 1800s orientalism describing David’s new half-Indian body as smelling of cardamom and cashews.

Lestat is woken up from his coma by music much like a certain vampire mommy was.

I listened to some of Beethoven’s Sonatas while writing this, they actually slap.

[darkandstormydolls]

okay so today I am compiling a list that I have had in the back of my mind for a while and want to get written down: books with well-written goth characters

I am putting it on the internet in the hopes that there are some other people who have spent a while being frustrated with stereotypical rebellious and depressed teenagers in books who will enjoy some decent goth characters

This list is inspired by the fact that I was looking for more books with goth characters and I kept getting recommended by the internet to “The Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl”. And I read about half of “Goth Girl Rising” (the sequel. I did not realize it was the sequel until I was pretty far into it) before I had to put it down because I was so frustrated with it. The main character is every negative stereotype played up to an absurd degree, to the point that it’s painful to read, and the same thing goes for all the other goth characters. So, here’s a list of actually good goth characters!

Side note: I know there are lots and lots of books that fit into the gothic genre or are considered “goth” books. And those are good, and I enjoy them. However, this list is reserved for books set in the modern day that have characters who explicitly call themselves “goth” and fit the definition of the subculture.

Without further ado:

1. Goth Girl, Queen of the Universe by Lindsey S. Zrull

I will shout the praises of this book from the rooftops as long as I live. It’s absolutely wonderful, and and admittedly I am a bit biased because I have a lot in common with the main character, but it really is a good book. One of the themes in it is basically “embrace the cringe if it’s something that makes you happy”, which I love, and it also handles mental illness really really well in my opinion. The main character says at one point that she first got into goth through the works of Edgar Allen Poe, and all in all it seems like the author really has a good grasp of the subculture

2. The Last Dragon Chronicles by Chris d’Lacey

Okay, so a confession: it has been years since I read this series. To the point that I had to look up the title because I only remember a vague impression of the books. And I don’t think I ever finished it. But I feel they deserve a place on this list. The goth character here, Zanna, the main character’s girlfriend, and it’s not really a big deal in the books, but she’s mentioned as being a goth early on and is described in black skirts and heavy makeup and things throughout the books. I may have to go back and reread these books because I think I may have been a little young to fully get them when I first read them back in elementary school. Anyways, it’s not a big part of the books, but this isn’t a list of books about goths, it’s a list of books with them, so here it is

3. Vampire Kisses by Ellen Schrieber

Admittedly, this series is not the most highbrow of literature. It is pure teenage vampire fluff. But it is also utterly delightful, as many fluff books are.

Now, I will say: yes, these books are full of troupes and stereotypes. But they’re the kind that the subculture makes fun of itself for affectionately. The main character is obsessed with vampires, and the vampires are perhaps tied with the movie Hotel Transylvania for stereotypical appearance, but they’re great fun to read, and they portray a wide variety of goth characters representing all facets of goth, from the main character of rather mallgoth Raven, to the gentle, romantic Alexander, edgy and rebellious Jagger, femme-fatale-pastel-goth-out-for-revenge Luna, perky Scarlett, and a whole range of others. I’ve only read the fist seven books (my library doesn’t have book eight and I didn’t want to read nine before it), but they’re wonderfully fun, easy reads. There’s also a couple of manga books if that’s your thing.

4. Mall Goth by Kate Leth

Now, graphic novels are not usually my cup of tea. But the draw of good goth characters was enough for me to pick up and idly read about half of it at the library. I don’t have a super firm grasp on the plot of this book, since I was mostly skimming it, but it seems like a pretty typical teen drama book. I have no objections to the way that the alternative characters are depicted, and there are a couple of them, including the main character

Honorable mention to: My Summer as a Goth

This one is a movie, not a book, but it still deserves an honorable mention because it shows teenaged goths really well. It’s a pretty typical teen drama, and there are a few contrived coincidences and minor plot holes, but it’s overall a delightful movie with a very nice plot and lots of fun characters. One of my friends and I have taken to watching this movie repeatedly and have a wonderful time every time

If anyone has any books to add to this list, please tell me! I am always looking for more books with goth characters

[gothiclover13]

Interview With the Vampire Episode Five Review: Some Thoughts

*Spoilers

TW: Discussion of SA and DV

Ok. So I normally don't write reviews for episodes, but last night's episode of AMC's Interview with the Vampire: "A Vile Hunger for Your Hammering Heart," has understandably been pretty controversial with fans and I just wanted to share some thoughts.

First, I have really been enjoying the series so far and the direction they have taken this adaptation. I have loved how the series has incorporated its changes into this adaption. I also think the show has stayed true to the spirit of the book and the characters. One thing I really appreciate is how well-casted it is and how much the actors clearly cared for Rice's work and bringing these beloved characters to life. Sam Reid is clearly having the time of his life, Bailey Bass has been so moving, and Jacob Anderson OH MY GOD! Louis was the character I was least interested in seeing and Jacob's acting has been the highlight of the series for me. It really speaks to his talent that he can imbue a much less "showy" role with such subtle nuances and pathos. There is such a difference in "early vampire Louis" and "interview with Daniel" Louis and Jacob's acting has conveyed that so beautifully. I also adore the beautiful rendering of New Orleans and my hat goes off to the entire production.

So...episode 5. I knew this one was being talked a lot about based off of what fans who had had early screenings said, but I was still not prepared. Holy shit.

Before I get into THE scene, I will say the rest of the episode was really good at establishing Claudia's hopelessness and frustration, Lestat's growing impatience, and Louis' ennui. It also seemed like a natural progression from the previous episode and I knew the episode was going to inevitably raise tension between the three characters in order to have an effective buildup of resentment that would plausibly end with Lestat's "murder." Also. I finally got to see Louis in his Mr. Roger's grey, cable-knit sweater. Points for Louis' cozy-core aesthetic.

My first main criticism is the decision to have Claudia's character be assaulted by Bruce/Killer. It just feels like another example of a series using SA for shock value. What did it add to the story? For Claudia to find out vampires can be really mean? Was there no other way for her to find that out? Why have her meet Bruce/Killer, other than for it to be an easter egg for Vampire Chronicles fans? Bailey Bass's acting has been so incredible and I absolutely love her Claudia, so to see this happen to her was pretty upsetting and it felt like a disservice to the character. The whole thing just seemed like another problematic example of writing using SA as a way to make a female character "stronger," or more worldly. Thanks. I hate it.

Now. The final sequence in the episode. Whew boy. When I first watched it I was pretty much in shock. Lestat and Louis's fight is undeniably intense, visceral, and brutal. So much of it also felt uncomfortably close to similar real-life instances of domestic abuse. From Lestat saying he's "trying to restrain himself," to Louis trying to protect Claudia. I completely agree with Sam Reid that the episode should have had a trigger warning and I understand why this scene was upsetting for some people.

Lestat flying with Louis into the sky (which, ugh, this is the context for their first flight!) begging him to say he will, "never love him," all seemed like it was meant to be one big crescendo to this entire sequence and the series, thus far, with Lestat finally snapping from his fear of abandonment and inability to make Louis love him. Lestat dropping Louis back down before finally hovering before Claudia and Louis all seemed like pretty deliberate framing to put the characters, and the audience, against him.

So, did I hate this? No. Was it out of character for book Lestat? 100% I emphasize book Lestat because while I believe the series' show-runners and cast do care about respecting the spirt of Rice's works, adaptational changes have kind of necessitated these characters take on a life of their own separate from the books. Louis is waaay different, but also similar to his book counter-point in a lot of ways. Claudia is essentially a new character with new issues and obstacles to overcome. Lestat is actually pretty close to his book counter-part and the series has kept the fact that he and Louis's relationship was initially toxic and abusive.

No, I don't think Anne Rice was at her typewriter in 1973 visualizing this abuse as a Dragon Ball Z-level fight between these two, but they were also never the healthiest relationship (initially). Would book Lestat ever brutally beat Louis and drop him a mile back to the Earth, heck no! Again, the Lestat in the books would never have done this and I completely understand why this scene may have been too much for fans. I do, however, feel like the scene is in keeping with the characterization we have gotten thus far for series Lestat. He has been shown to be a lot more violent (he punched through a guy's head in the FIRST episode), disdainful of humans, and is given to fits of angry outbursts. Louis considering leaving with Claudia seemed like the plausible final straw based on how they had been setting his character up. It's funny how the series showrunners emphasized telling the story with the context of the rest of the Vampire Chronicles in order to make Lestat less villainous, when this is, arguably, more horrible than anything he did in the original book.

So in short, I feel like this scene worked within the established context of this series, but I understand if it turned fans off. My only question is how the series will handle the fallout now that Lestat has committed such unforgivable abuse. How will the series justify Louis ever forgiving him? It's a lot and I am very curious to see how the next two episodes will handle it. Hopefully with sensitivity and care.

So those are my two cents! I'm still very invested in the series and these characters and am curious to see how this episode will situate itself in the overall series down the road.

[crvsh-culture]

interactive fiction recs

here are my current interactive fiction recs. i will be updating the list, as there are more that i have yet to play through.

disclaimer: not all of those listed are/will be free!! their demos are free, but the finalized book may be paid.

The Wayhaven Chronicles: up to book 3 demo books 1 and 2 can both be found on HostedGames app. by @seraphinitegames

we have all seen litg blogs shift into a wayhaven focus, but for good reason! reader is a small town detective that finds out that their own world is very much supernatural- starting with four vampire agents. you can play as male, female, or non-binary. the four love interests are all super interesting and unique, offered in male and female counterparts- i’ve done every route, including the love triangle route which is crushing but just as interesting.

When Twilight strikes: book 1 demo by @evertidings

just found this recently and i’m obsessed- i have reblogged their demo here already but i’m talking about it again. reader is a bounty hunter for supernaturals, in the top bounty hunter duo to be exact. you can play as male, female, non-binary, or you can set your own pronouns which i found really cool! there are five different love interests that are all so so interesting- i’m not sure which route i’m doing first tbh- offered in male, female, and non-binary counterparts. a lot of tropes seems to be covered such as enemies to lovers, best friends/ partners to lovers, and a sarcastic criminal bounty love interest.

Tricksters: book 1 demo by @folkborewrites

guess what? another supernatural universe babey. reader is thrust into a supernatural world in connection to their fathers disappearance. you can play as male, female, or non-binary. there are four love interests, but there are strictly two men and two women love interests with no counterparts. they’re all still really cool characters though and the story line is so interesting. very early in the demo, so i don’t have as much to say, but i still recommend!

Buried Love: up to day 3 available by @buriedlove

by our very own @kittidot. she very much deserves to be mentioned, because i’m very much in love with this story. reader is a human going on a dating game show, but you guessed it, supernatural characters are involved! you can play as male, female, non-binary (with customizable pronouns), or gender-fluid. there are 8 potential endgame love interests with set genders and include four male, three female, and one non-binary option- though we only know 5 of the love interests at this point in the game. the current love interests range from a vampire (who i love), a werewolf, a valkyrie, an elf prince (who i also love), and another human!

Mind blind: book 1 demo by @mindblindbard

shifting away from supernatural things, but definitely not in a natural human world! set in a future Chicago, where everyone is somewhat mentally enhanced- telepathy, telekinesis and so on, OR simply having mental ability to block those special telepaths and such from reaching their brain. but guess who none of the above applies to? yup, the reader is unique in that way. as the book is described: the story where you are not the chosen one! you can play as male, female, or non-binary. plus you can choose to play as asexual, which is super cool because i know IF’s can be a struggle for asexuals at times. there are five love interests- three which have male and female counterparts, one set female love interest, and one set male love interest. the storyline in phenomenal but i don’t want to give too much away, it’s a very very big recommend though!

Body Count: (18+) book 1 demo by @bodycountgame

a dating game show- those of the litg demographic will probably enjoy this one- but once again, not a normal game show. because guess what? someone gets murdered! it’s very early stages of the demo, so we haven’t really gotten to the whole murder part, but it’s in the description so good luck. you can play as male, female, or non-binary (including xe/xem and ze/zir pronoun options!) The love interests have set genders and include four male, four female, and three non-binary options. this includes fellow contestants as well as two of the show’s directors! of all mentioned, this is the most interactive and very unique in that way. as it is early in the demo, the murders are determined by a voting session held on the tumblr of our dear author, Nell. they offer a list of names and let us vote for our favorites- bottom three characters are then placed in their hands and Nell decides who it will be who dies. i’m so invested in this already.

Golden: book 1 demo by @milaswriting

back to the supernatural babey. our dear MC has a fancy little birthmark that pushes them into the supernatural world, starting with a team of supernaturals meant to kill protect observe the MC. you can play as male, female, or nb- with hijab options in the appearance selection! our team of supernatural are what make up the love interests- with male and female counterparts- and include supernaturals such as a vampire, a werewolf (who i love), a wizard/witch, and a half god/goddess. early stage demo, but i already love.

Blood Moon: book 1 demo by @barbwritesstuff

i think this is a first for my list but YOU get to be a supernatural!!! your pack moves into a city and one night you encounter a stray (a werewolf without a pack of their own) wandering your streets- and this opens up just how deep the supernatural world is in your city. you can play as male, female, or non-binary. the love interests are set genders and include three males (including a trans character! one that is really well written, even in spicy scenes), three females, and one non-binary option. each character is super unique and i am already loving their story line and actually getting to be a supernatural.

The Odessa Dating Games: book 1 demo by @theodessadatinggames

reality dating with a royal twist! your lovely roommate makes a bet to get you to sign up for a dating site- but big surprise! this actually leads to you becoming a contestant in a show to compete for a royal hand in marriage with the heir to odessa. you can play as male, female, or non-binary. love interests include two set females, one set male, one with m/f counterparts, one with m/f/nb counterparts, and- as the author describes it- “a few others that I’ll let you guys discover for yourselves!” i honestly stayed up way longer than i should have because i couldn’t stop reading this demo. i couldn’t recommend it more.

You Live and Fern: (18+) book 1 demo by @beetlebethwrites

i’m a sucker for a slice of life IF. you and your friends run a nature video channel and are trying to make it in the world. it’s described as “friendship and found family vibes” which is totally accurate and exactly what i’m looking for in my media. you can play as male, female, or non-binary with the option for your mc to be trans! the RO’s include one male, one female, three non-binary people (two whom we have not met yet, but one of them uses xe/xem pronouns and another uses he/they pronouns!), and a m/f/nb gender selectable RO * if i’ve made a mistake in the way i described the gender and pronouns thing, pls don’t hesitate to correct me! *

Remember, You Will Die: book 1 demo by @vapolis

y’all aren’t even ready for this one. the most action packed thing i have recommended so far, but i’m obsessed. you play as a mercenary- a gun for hire with quite the track record- but missions start… going wrong. there’s so many cool components that i can’t even begin to talk about for spoiler reasons, but i cannot recommend enough. you can play as male, female, or non-binary with the option for your MC to be trans. there are four RO’s that include one male, one female, one non-binary person (who i fell in love with by accident- i went into this story set on someone else but i simply love them) , and one f/m selectable choice. ** do check the warnings in the beginning if you are triggered by reading sensitive content. **

honorable mentions (aka, no demo yet but i’m obsessed.)

Ear Candy: (18+) by @earcandy-if

the way that this story has a hold on me is insane. we don’t even have a demo out and i’m in love with everyone and the OC i have for this… anyways! you are a drummer in the band Second Rate, fresh off a grammy win. seeing as the demo isn’t out yet, i have little info about the full customizations for your MC but it does say gender customizable! there are four RO’s with set genders, two males and two females. includes a fwb routes with your bands front man, and yes i will be fully consumed in the angst of that, thank u.

Straight Red: by @straightred-if

by the same author as ear candy. her characters are living rent free rn…. anyway. you are a newly signed soccer player to thornwall fc. once again a slice of life if, but one of the first sports IF i’ve found so i’m very excited. once again, no demo, so we don’t have full details on MC customization but it is gender customizable. it has been stated that this team is not gender specific so the team will be a big mix of people! there are three RO’s, all with set genders and include one male (a beefy himbo!), one female (a doctor!!!), and one non-binary person (fwb babey!) i have my favorite RO but im honestly in love with them all if you couldn’t tell.

[tuiyla]

A Definitive History of Bubbline

With “Obsidian” coming out in two days, it really is time for a definitive history of Marceline and Bubblegum’s relationship. And by that I mean the tumultuous road that led us to “Obsidian” from a production and fandom point of view. For a list of Bubbline episodes, check out my Bubbline Guide (and part two) - which I need to update, I know I know. For this post, I wanted to highlight how far this pairing has come and what Bubbline means to queer representation in children’s cartoons.

This is less of an analysis and more of an overview with links to more information on specific incidents to keep it (relatively) brief. I say it’s a definitive history but it isn’t an exhaustive one, so do check out the links included to learn more about how we got here. I realize not everyone cares about these kinds of things but I think it’s important to know how hard Adventure Time’s creators had to fight. Bubbline is a pioneer ship in many ways but it doesn’t always get the recognition it deserves.

Initial Concepts

As is the case with much of Adventure Time, the initial concept of who the characters of Bonnibel and Marceline were going to be is very different than what we ended up getting. @gunterfan1992 explores this and other production tidbits in depth in his book so I do recommend checking that out. The short version is that these two were created to be opposites and with a Betty and Veronica type dynamic in mind where they would both be love interest to the protagonist, Finn.

This didn’t quite end up being the case but remnants of this concept are seen in “Go With Me” (March, 2011), the episode with the first on-screen Bubbline interaction. As Marcy helps - and sabotages - Finn in asking Bonnie out, she also becomes a potential love interest for him but she shuts him down immediately. So while Finn’s crush on PB continues, the notion that Marceline would be part of a love triangle is dismissed. Instead, this first Bonnie and Marcy interaction established that the two already know each other and there’s some bitterness in that past.

“What Was Missing” and the Mathematical Controversy

A potential preexisting relationship between the two was further explored in “What Was Missing” (September 2011) just a season later. The episode was written and storyboarded by Rebecca Sugar and eventual showrunner Adam Muto. Sugar was responsible for much of the character depth added to Marceline and later even played, quite aptly, her mother in the Stakes miniseries. It was Sugar who wrote the now beyond iconic “I’m Just Your Problem” based on personal experiences and suggested that Marcy and Bonnie be queer characters with a complicated romantic past.

“What Was Missing” was hugely important in how it hinted at a complex relationship through character interactions, Marceline’s song, and the last scene twist with PB’s shirt. The AT crew were supportive of the idea and sneaked in plenty of queer subtext, but this is where I have to point out that 2011 was a very different time and it’s thanks, in part, to Bubbline that things have changed. Autostraddle’s article from back when covers what is now known as the Mathematical controversy. Audiences picked up on the subtext and Cartoon Network was not having it. The popularity of the ship soared but the execs were not taking to queer implications kindly.

Great Bubbline Drought

So, the ship has sailed but controversy looms over it. “What Was Missing” s subtle by today’s standards but it was enough to keep Marceline and Bubblegum apart for two years on-screen. Each character went through wonderful development in the meantime, as did the show itself, but there’s a certain sense of bitterness to what came to be known as the Great Bubbline Drought. CN got so afraid of the potential backlash that they waited two years to have a new episode featuring the pair, “Sky Witch” (July 2013), by which point Sugar had left AT to work on her own show, Steven Universe. I’m happy that Sugar got to create her own show and push for even more queer representation, but it’s also sad that she never got to write more for the ship she pioneered.

“Sky Witch” still happened, though, and featured even more subtext, from PB’s side this time around. The shirt returned and there was hope as Marcy and Bonnie were seen hanging out together more often (”Red Starved” and “Princess Day”). Another controversy threatened to emerge in August 2014 when Olivia Olson, Marceline’s voice actress said that creator Pendleton Ward had confirmed a pre-show Bubbline romance. It was a messy ordeal with deleted tweets and questions about whether the two could get together again in the series. Fortunately, though, things changed in the three years between 2011 to 2014 and another Bubbline drought didn’t follow.

The Season That Changed Everything

It took another two years after “Sky Witch” but the ball was finally, inevitably, relentlessly rolling. “Varmints” premiered in November 2015 and three episodes later, the Stakes miniseries kicked off. What season 7 meant wasn’t just breadcrumbs and (not so) subtle songs anymore: suddenly, there were too many Bubbline moments to count. “Varmints” served as a follow-up to “What Was Missing” and a final reconciliation, and though Stakes was primarily about Marcy, it also developed her relationship with Bonnie. Afterwards, it became clear that Bubbline was heading somewhere.

It’s worth noting that the cultural context also changed between when “Sky Witch” and “Varmints” aired. In December 2014, The Legend of Korra ended with Korra and Asami beginning their romantic relationship, and Rebecca Sugar was making Steven Universe more and more explicitly queer by the day. Adventure Time started the ball rolling but now it wasn’t alone as a popular Western cable cartoon with queer characters. However, Bubbline was still very much subtext at this point, just with significantly more hope of becoming more.

Late Series Entanglement

But at what point does subtext become plain text? Bubbline fans sure did have fun with that question between Stakes and the finale. Bonnie and Marcy became near inseparable, with most of their major appearances involving one another from this point on. These included the meet the adoptive dad date “Broke His Crown” (March 2016), the Elements miniseries (April 2017) and the nigh on obnoxiously on the nose “Marcy & Hunson” (December 2017). In fact, all but two of Marceline’s major appearances from season 7 on included Bonnie - the exceptions being “Everything Stays” as part of Stakes, and “Ketchup”, which really wasn’t any less gay.

Bubbline moments really did become too many to count, with the vast majority of them having romantic implications. And with queer representation becoming more and more prominent in Western animation, canon Bubbline romance seemed like a question of when rather than if. I’d like to point out here how this was often frustrating, though. After the very rocky start, this relationship was thriving and was really basically confirmed, but that last little push to make it undeniably a part of queer history was still needed.

“Come on!” - The End and Beyond

The almost three years that passed between Stakes and “Come Along With Me” (September 2018) were much more tolerable than the Drought; after all, there was plenty of Bubbline content in the later seasons. The big question as the finale came was whether Adventure Time would fizzle out on its early pioneer of a wlw ship or follow through, once and for all. Almost four years after LoK ended and just before season 1 of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power dropped, Marcy and Bonnie had an emotional moment, kissed on screen, and ended the series together.

The intricacies of why a kiss was needed as a signifier of romance is a discussion for another day. But wouldn’t it have been strange after almost a decade of build-up for them not to seal the deal with a kiss? And to think it almost didn’t happen, as by that point it was so obvious they were together. Again, I direct your attention towards Paul Thomas’s book, he explains how it was storyboard artist Hanna K. Nyström’s call to add this final detail. Because, come on! Sometimes, you need to be as clear as possible, and that’s the case with queer representation in animation.

Since the finale, the comics have been continuing the Bubbline train - which are not technically canon but one can have fun regardless. In any case, the existence of Marcy and Bonnie’s relationship, of their queer identities, is not something that can reasonably be denied. It was a long road, and, make no mistake, an arduous one, but this is the story of a win. A win for storytelling and a win for wlw relationships.

We’ll Build Our Own Forever

So, there you have it, a Bubbline timeline of sorts. In March of 2011 we had the first on-screen interaction and now, in November of 2020, we’re getting a 45-minute-long special with the two of them as the central characters. They’re canonically in love, with King Princess covers of Bubbline songs and more. I tried to contain myself, for once, and not write too much. I think it’s important that people have a general idea of just how monumental all of this is and how, even just 9 years ago, “Obsidian” would have been totally inconceivable.

Some of this might have come as a surprise to you. It’s certainly not been easy to get to where we are now with Bubbline and it’s yet to be seen how open “Obsidian” will be about the relationship. I’ve been talking about Bubbline for years and attempted to chronicle their relationship many times so I’m happy I’ve finally done it from this perspective as well.

Adventure Time: Distant Lands “Obsidian” is streaming on Nov 19 on HBO Max. If you can, stream it so we can show that there’s popular demand for stories like that of an angry vampire and a despotic piece of gum.

[sodalitefully]

Enter freely and of your own will [GNR, Sluff AU]

I know, I know, I've written vampire AUs before… Several times.  But I had to write something about what a nerd Slash is for vampire fiction!  Mostly inspired by interviews Slash gave after gnr covered Sympathy For The Devil for Interview With A Vampire (so any digs at the movie adaptation are based on Slash’s opinion, not mine – I’ve never seen it!).  Occasional mentions of blood and stuff, but not particularly graphic.  This fic is expanding on an AU I originally drew here.

~~~~

In my mind, it all played out like the plot of a paranormal romance novel.  I’ve gotten familiar with those lately, thanks to the collection hidden in the bottom shelves of Slash’s library, buried below the gothic horror classics, the crime thrillers, and about a mountain of nonfiction.  Hell, I could probably write my own!  “Tall blonde unexpectedly falls for rock and roll bad boy with a dark secret,” yeah, the readers would eat that up.  Of course, our love story didn’t really start when the unsuspecting protagonist moved to a new city, or when the leather-clad love interest showed off his supernatural shredding skills.  No, I’d say it started a couple years later, when I found out Slash’s other deep, dark, embarrassing secret.   

It wasn’t a dark and stormy night… but it was a movie night at my place, a tradition for Slash and I.  Whenever we needed a break from the so-called rockstar lifestyle, we’d get together for a night in, smoke some pot and put on a movie. Slash laid back on my couch while I dug through a cabinet packed with VHS tapes and listed off a few options: 

“Let’s see, we have Jurassic Park, Alien, Interview With a Vampire – Uh, sorry, I guess that would be weird huh?”  Slash made a sour face. 

“Ugh.  I hate that movie, it’s such a bad adaptation. Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt, seriously?” 

“Wait,” I dropped The Empire Strikes Back and Blazing Saddles onto the growing heap of tapes and sat back on my heels to look at Slash in surprise. "You’ve seen it before?” 

“Uh…” Vampires may not be able to blush but I'd known Slash long enough to tell when he’s flustered.   

“And you’ve read the book?” 

“… Yes?”  I laughed, Slash ducked and hid his face, obviously feeling self-conscious, but I didn’t mean to laugh at him.  It was just… 

I’d assumed that a real-life vampire would roll their eyes at the cliche, over-romanticized movie interpretations of their kind.  Instead, I learned of Slash’s (nearly) indiscriminate love for all things vampire, anything from Carmilla to Buffy The Vampire Slayer.  He was a sucker (hah, get it?) for dripping fangs, swishing capes, even those crazy accents, ever since he was a kid.  And I can’t lie, it was pretty endearing.  I wasn’t in love with him yet, but the more he told me about his obsession, the more warm and tingly I felt, charmed by how genuine he was – Hell, I barely even teased him about it!  Somehow, that conversation felt even more personal than finding out he was a damn vampire.  I was really touched that he felt comfortable sharing his interests with me, that he trusted me with his softer, nerdier, more romantic side.   

I resisted the temptation to press for more details that night, but a month or so later, I caught him in the act!  I remember waking up in the afternoon after crashing at his place so late it was early the night before.  I wandered around his big, spooky house until I found Slash curled up in one of his fancy antique armchairs, his legs dangling over the armrest and a paperback book cradled in his lap.  I couldn’t make out the curlicued script on the cover, but from the captivated look on his face it was a favorite – his eyes were bright as they darted across the page, and his lips curled into a warm, gentle smile. 

I couldn’t stand to disturb him, so I snuck off before he noticed me in the doorway, and headed down the hall to the room he’d transformed into a tiny library – The man had a library in his house; between that and the subtly gothic decor it was hard to believe I never noticed that Slash was playing up the vampire aesthetic, consciously or not!  Anyway, I poked around until I found where he hid his collection of vampire lit, and snatched a few that were, shall we say, not quite as acclaimed as Dracula or even The Vampire Chronicles.  I don’t remember the titles, but there were a couple paperback romances and a horror novel with a badass-looking dude on the cover. 

I had to see what all the fuss was about, you know?  Yeah, this kind of thing wasn’t exactly up my alley, but Slash usually had good taste, so I figured it couldn’t hurt to check it out.  Plus, if it was important to Slash, I wanted to know about it!  And not just the well-known classics either; I wanted the guilty pleasures, I wanted to see what it was that could make Slash smile like that when no one was watching. 

I’ll be honest, it wasn’t bad.  I wasn’t a big reader at the time, but I raced through the horror novel in just two days, and trust me, I barely slept the night in between!  The trashy romance was more enjoyable than I would ever admit; even with all the cliches and melodrama there was something compelling about unraveling the tangled web of forbidden love in a world full of the supernatural. 

At this point, I was very cautiously beginning to entertain the idea that I might see Slash as more than just a buddy and a bandmate.  As friends, were were closer than ever, hardly spent a day apart, and I was beginning to notice things that I hadn’t noticed before.  Things like the way he always smiled at my lame jokes, the way he leaned on my shoulder when he was pretending to be drunk, the way he tossed his hair on stage… And I couldn’t help wondering whether Slash identified more with the heroine or the love interest.  Did he want to be the cool, mysterious vampire lover, or the unsuspecting protagonist who gets drawn into an alluring new world? 

I got my answer a couple months later, in town again after a leg on the road. It was a steaming hot summer day back in L.A., and Slash was dozing on his couch. This wasn’t unusual in and of itself, Slash’s sleep schedule had been fucked for as long as I'd known him. No, what made this instance significant was that I was also on the couch, reclined with my feet over the armrest and Slash draped across my chest. Tales From The Crypt played at a murmur on a brand-new TV set, but I wasn’t paying any attention. 

See, at this point I’d recently learned that, when Slash focused hard enough, he could hear a living person’s blood pulsing in their veins and detect changes in body temperature.  And that had me wondering: Could he tell that my heart beat faster when he leaned against me on stage?  Could he tell that my ears got warm every time he turned a smile my way? 

Could he tell how much I was affected by his weight on top of me?   

He was like a huge cat in my lap, relaxed from head to toe.  If you paid attention, you could tell that he was breathing more slowly that an ordinary human should be and his bare skin was slightly cool.  Other than that he looked completely normal… Except for his teeth.  His mouth was slightly open, allowing his pointed, knife-sharp teeth to scrape against his lower lip. 

To Slash’s chagrin, they weren't gleaming white, perfectly straight fangs; instead they more closely resembled a shark’s jaw, crowded with small flesh-tearing blades.  It was rare to see them exposed, Slash was careful to limit himself to tight-lipped smiles and mumbled dialogue whenever his secret was at risk. Even in private he was self-conscious about it, and I considered myself lucky when he grinned openly in my presence. 

“Hey, Slash?”   

“…Hmm?” Languidly, he shifted until he was looking up at me.  Midafternoon sun leaked through the blinds brightly enough for me to make out a hint of red in his eyes, the other (un)dead giveaway that was usually obscured by his sedately lidded gaze.   

"You know how you said the other day that you have really strong senses? Well... I was wondering what other, uh, non-human traits you have. How true are the myths about vampires, really?” 

“Well… Hm.  My eyes are pretty sensitive to daylight.  And technically I’m nocturnal.  But I don’t have fangs, I don’t really look like a vampire and I don’t have superpowers.” I swear to god, he pouted a little.  "All things considered I didn’t really get any of the cool stuff." 

“No super-strength?  Or mind reading? Can you shapeshift into a bat?” 

“Don’t you think I’d tell you if I could turn into a bat?  At least I don’t have any of those stupid weaknesses, I can be in the sun and eat garlic and whatever.” He paused ponderously. “…You know, I might be immortal, I was around a long time before Tony and Ola took me in.  Guess I’ll find out in a few decades.” 

“That would be pretty cool.” 

“Yeah, maybe." 

“So... do you enthrall your victims?” I prodded, in a spooky, menacing voice belied by my goofy grin. 

Slash snorted a laugh and shook his head at my antics. “No, I can’t do that either.  Well, I don’t know, do you feel enthralled?” 

I laughed awkwardly and counted my blessings when Slash didn't notice that my unspoken answer was an empathetic Yes. 

Slash chuckled with me, then sighed.  “Fuck, I wish vampires like that were real, though…” he confessed softly. 

“Like what?” 

“You know, badass, seductive, awesome powers…” He waved a hand toward a pinup poster on the wall with a corset and fangs, then let his head fall back to my chest.  He mumbled into my shirt, “Is it really so much to ask for a sexy vampire to come and sweep me off my feet?” 

“Slash, I hate to tell you this, but…” I couldn’t make it through the sentence with a straight face. 

He swatted my bicep – pretty hard too, was he sure he didn’t have super-strength? “Fuck you, Duff, you know what I mean." 

And, yeah, dreaming of being wooed by a beautiful, badass, intelligent and darkly mysterious vampire?  Who appeared in my life and changed it forever, who blew me away with his capability and his passion?  Who could captivate me with just a look? 

Yeah. Believe me, I could relate.

~~~~

Happy Halloween! 

[ettawritesnstudies]

Etta’s big creative to do list for when I’m not drowning in final exams

(the rest are below the cut because this got LONG! I am putting this here so you have some idea of the stuff I’ll be posting about come Monday 5/11 and also so I can find it again instead of putting it in my notebook where it will inevitably get lost among my fluids practice and history essay jottings. if you’re curious about the fact that I am not yet done with my semester, yes, I am absolutely procrastinating an essay right now by writing this. don’t worry about it.)

FINISH STORGE!! I’m only like 3 chapters away from writing The End and I desperately want to do that this year so I can edit and start sharing snippets with alpha readers by this time next year at the latest :D

Outline the Laoche Chronicles

this includes the trilogy outline in broad strokes to make sure everything sets up the next points

a detailed outline for the first book which will need a name eventually

(my outlining process can be found here!)

Character profiles for all the new OCs

(this process can be found in this post!

worldbuilding write-up questionnaire for the new civilizations that’ll feature in the main trilogy and differ from Storge

Learn how to make edits for tumblr because graphic design and anything resembling Proper Authors Platform Branding continue to elude me

This won’t happen this month, but I need to do a cleanout of the social media’s I do have so I can put writing stuff there too and start a proper Author’s Internet Presence. If I do finish Storge this year, I’ll be looking for beta readers eventually and I need to have something to show for myself. This includes...

doing a mass edit of this blog and organizing my tags

teaching myself HTML/CSS and making a custom blog theme that works for my needs or commissioning someone to do this for me

making a Laoche Chronicles wip page

buying a domain and designing an actual authors website

making an #aesthetictrash book Instagram? I’m vaguely aware this is something people do but I only use insta for it’s chat feature with my college friends so I know not the first thing about how that works

I have a disasterous Pinterest that’s 100% private boards for my various bits of nonsense that needs to be turned into a place to showcase WIP aesthetics

I refuse to touch twitter nor facebook nor snapchat nor ticktock with a fifteen foot pole

if you couldn’t tell by now, I was that kid who had a brick trac-phone until 10th grade, and used my smartphone primarily as a music device until very recently

Write a considerable backlog for my Newsies fanfic so I don’t fall behind whenever I go to my internship in a month

Finish the intro for my Vampire Plague Doctor Buddy Cop story and the Chaotic SFF Academia idea that I started last month, and write a few one shots for those Maybe start posting them somewhere if I’m happy with how they turn out?

Make a proper quilt from the 10389238320923 old event t-shirts I have sitting in a pile in the basement so I can take it to college with me in the fall. (also maybe mockup a walking skirt out of an old sheet, so I at least have an idea of what to do whenever proper fabric stores open again)

It’s going to be below freezing tomorrow for SOME REASON despite being MID- MAY, but I need to plant my garden and make a compost pile at some point

Make a list of art skills to start practicing so I can tackle the concept of “learning to draw” in a logical manner like you would in a class, and start doing these drills

Also participate in the rest of MerMay

Read a few books! My current next list of TBR looks like this

Illthdar! I have been dying to get my hands on @illthdar‘s book but I didn’t want to start it during the school year and then have to inevitably put it down like two chapters in because I had boring real life obligations to attend to, so this is my first read for as soon as I’m done with the semester on Sunday.

Pride and Prejudice, which I've heard is excellent and regrettably not actually read yet (nor any of Austen, yes I’m a heretic I know, but I’m also an engineering student and 90% of my time is spent doing maths)

Storm of Fire and Blood - I have had this book for a year and put it down because of school which is a crying shame because I really love this series! For any religious/historical fiction fans I highly recommend the Sword and Serpent trilogy! It’s a retelling of the story of St. George and the Dragon long before he’s ever a saint. I think anyone could enjoy it, but if you’re Catholic or enjoy early Christian history, you’ll get a lot of the references and saint cameos and it’s just! A lot of fun!!

also my patron St. Katherine of Alexandria is a major character in the 2nd and 3rd books and she’s absolutely wonderful so I might be just a little bit biased

Make a few watercolor maps of the world of Laoche! Including detailed maps of the city of Maaren where Storge takes place, and Arga (one of the countries in the later trilogy)

update my bullet journal which has been languishing unused on my dresser since march when I moved home from college 

Carve new dulcimer hammers and teach myself a few songs. (also maybe try to make a longbow or new bridges for the dulcimer but that’s all probably a BIT of a stretch)

Brush up on my piano and guitar practice because I am very very rusty. I need to find some new songs to learn because I don’t really want to relearn Debussy or Chopin again, but I need to find some good ones first...

If you’re still reading this. Wow. Congratulations. That was a lot. and thank you! But yeah! This is what’s been knocking around in my head recently while I was supposed to be studying, but now that it is out of my head and into a post hopefully I will be able to focus again :P This is extremely ambitious and I 100000% will not be able to finish everything on this list, but! it is a plan! Wish me luck!

[theonyxpath]

So we unwrapped the Kickstarter for Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition and WOW; we funded in less than a day, and it has been shambling along ever since!

If you caught last week’s MMN blog, I put up a bunch of bullet points describing the features and changes for this new edition, so please give that a read if you’re interested. You can also check last Friday’s Onyx Pathcast for more thoughts from Mummy 2e writer Meghan Fitzgerald, and then this coming Friday’s Pathcast is actually a deep-dive into Mummy 2e – so you can give both of those informative programs a listen, too!

And if you look below, in the Onyx Path Media section, Matthew has several links to Mummy oriented actual play streams you can check out!

If you folks recall, Mummy‘s first edition was a really early KS for us- it started in the first year Onyx Path was in business. It was one of those that we put up during the wild times of early Kickstarter, and it was also created before we had put together the 2nd Edition rules, and before the overall game world was entitled Chronicles of Darkness.

So, reeeaaal early, and in a lot of ways an atypical game line for where CofD has gone. Fortunately, we have the option to create a new edition that will bring Mummy into shambling step with the rest of second edition, but doing that well and not losing Mummy‘s unique tone and flavor is still a trick to do.

I wasn’t sure we wanted to even go down that sandy road when I received a written pitch from Matthew Dawkins as to how we could do it. I still kind of back-burnered that pitch a tad, as we had a lot of pitches at that time that needed parsing first. I guess that Matthew figured that a more direct approach was needed, so he summoned every ounce of his audio-visual power and sent me a video pitch, too!

They Came from Beneath the Sea! art by Larry Blamire

(Un)fortunately(?), that video pitch seems to have been lost to time (and me losing a chunk of files in swapping computers), so I asked Matthew for his thoughts on what he wanted to emphasize with his pitch back in the day:

When I pitched Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition to Rich, it was with the intention of making the game more accessible while adding more hooks to grab the interests of new players. I’m a big fan of utility and expansion in games. I love 1st Edition, but I found some of the content unusually dense for an RPG, whether through language used, depth of metaplot, or even the concepts behind the mummy guilds.

I asked “who wants to play an engraver when you could be playing a member of the secret police?”. It’s the same guild, but in 2nd Edition, we give focus to the part that tells you how you might play the character, and their active role in society, rather than their history. Additionally, I wanted to fix some of Mummy‘s mechanical issues while providing new play tools.

This is where the non-chronological style of play came in, explaining how experiences work for a character in 2019 (“this is the first time you’ve awoken!”), through to using it as a way to empower your cult (“your mummy was last awake in 2019 and is now awake in 1970, so he tells his cultists to back the Dallas Cowboys to substantially grow their wealth and make them grateful to him”).

The other big element was bringing immortals forward from World of Darkness: Immortals, as so many people had been asking for South American mummies and Chinese mummies, but Mummy: The Curse isn’t a game about those kinds of creature. Immortals from their previous book work as fantastic antagonists and cultists as they are, but also allow for global mummies of other kinds to appear in Mummy: The Curse.

When all was said and done, we were both very enthusiastic about what we could do with Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition, and that seems to have translated through to the excitement we’re seeing from fans about Mummy right now.

From what we’re hearing from everybody, it really sounds like Matthew and company have hit it out of the park in terms of clarifying the right things, adding the right stuff, and cutting very little in favor of re-presenting and tweaking existing aspects of first edition to fit. Thanks to everybody who is posting how much they are loving the book’s text as it’s released during this KS!

CofD Dark Eras 2 art by Brian LeBlanc

Here’s another thing I want to share (and hope you’ll be interested in), which came out of the blue during the SAVE con a few weeks ago, is this interview I gave to our friend Josh Heath about the beginning days of White Wolf in the 1990s, and very specifically about the creation of Werewolf: The Apocalypse on a visual level.

https://keepontheheathlands.podbean.com/e/interview-with-rich-thomas-of-onyx-path-publishing/

As you can hear in the interview, I dove into Werewolf as I arrived in the White Wolf offices and it was the first core book I art directed, so that time period has some pretty intense memories for me. Hope that intensity and excitement comes through in the interview!

So…

Many Worlds, One Path!

BLURBS!

Kickstarter!

The Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition Kickstarter funded within a day, and is now shambling pretty quickly for a mummy towards 200% funding. Backers have already unlocked the Mummy 2e Screen as a Stretch Goal, and are now headed towards starting a whole new project, the Mummy 2e Companion!

Please check out this blog from last week for a description of all the amazing features of this new edition!

Be there to witness the majesty and terror of this new version of Mummy: The Curse!

Onyx Path Media!

This Friday’s Onyx Pathcast features a timely deep-dive into Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition, which is currently on Kickstarter (see above)!

The Onyx Path Twitch schedule is filling up with exciting games once again, with games of Vampire: The Masquerade, Scion, Pugmire, Hunter: The Vigil, Aberrant, Scarred Lands, Changeling: The Lost, Changeling: The Dreaming, Mage: The Awakening, and more all scheduled for this coming week!

It really helps us to have subscribers on our Twitch channel, and you can do so for free and catch premieres as they go up if you have an Amazon Prime account. Just type Twitch Amazon Prime into Google and you’ll be shown how to subscribe for free.

What’s more, we’ll drop a news episode later this week, and next week you can expect to see a Q&A regarding Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition, along with character creation and a one-shout for that game as it rolls on Kickstarter. Do check us out on twitch.tv/theonyxpath and give us a follow and a subscribe

Do you follow us on YouTube? Well, if you haven’t subscribed to us on Twitch, do not despair, as a couple of weeks after each episode on Twitch we transfer the videos over to YouTube right here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzN5jRB35OvnC-6gxnRY4gQ We already have episodes of Aberrant and Changeling up, with more to come!

If Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition interests you, but you want to know a little more about it before taking the plunge into Duat (or at least on Kickstarter), we’ve a few exciting resources for you. Some were posted last week, some are new!

The Story Told Podcast interviewed Matthew Dawkins regarding Mummy: The Curse right here: https://thestorytold.libsyn.com/mummy-2nd-edition-with-matthew-dawkins

Red Moon Roleplaying played their inaugural session of Mummy: The Curse right here: https://youtu.be/AJiyP2UzLSc

And Red Moon Roleplaying have a Mummy: The Curse character creation session here, where a mummy, an immortal, and a mortal are created: https://youtu.be/GJIEAEAx2MY

Lots of Mummy goodness with more to come!

Meanwhile, our fans keep creating excellent content, not limited to:

Occultists Anonymous continues for you Mage: The Awakening fans out there (and we know there are lots of you):

Episode 56: Bad To The Bone

Songbird has called Celestial Fire to burn the body of Supay, just as Atratus felt like she was making in-roads with the Judge! Wyrd the Seer has slowed down Supay, but is it enough? https://youtu.be/inPtPBPaNCA

Episode 57: Now & Again

Atratus takes a dive into dark uncharted waters, metaphorically and metaphysically speaking. Songbird’s contemplates terrible things, while Wyrd stands guard… https://youtu.be/RBurUUf1kj4

Plus, our good friends at the Story Told RPG Podcast continue their Exalted Dragon-Blooded actual play right here: http://thestorytold.libsyn.com/fall-of-jiara-episode-18

And if you’re looking for more Exalted goodness, here’s Ekorren with a video on positioning and movement in Exalted 3rd Edition: https://youtu.be/Vgc-3LNznd4

Drop Matthew a message via the contact button on matthewdawkins.com if you have actual plays, reviews, or game overviews you want us to profile on the blog!

Please check any of these out and let us know if you find or produce any actual plays of our games!

Electronic Gaming!

As we find ways to enable our community to more easily play our games, the Onyx Dice Rolling App is live! Our dev team has been doing updates since we launched based on the excellent use-case comments by our community, and this thing is awesome! (Seriously, you need to roll 100 dice for Exalted? This app has you covered.)

On Amazon and Barnes & Noble!

You can now read our fiction from the comfort and convenience of your Kindle (from Amazon) and Nook (from Barnes & Noble).

If you enjoy these or any other of our books, please help us by writing reviews on the site of the sales venue from which you bought it. Reviews really, really help us get folks interested in our amazing fiction!

Our selection includes these latest fiction books:

Our Sales Partners!

We’re working with Studio2 to get Pugmire and Monarchies of Mau out into stores, as well as to individuals through their online store. You can pick up the traditionally printed main book, the screen, and the official Pugmire dice through our friends there! https://studio2publishing.com/search?q=pugmire

We’ve added Prince’s Gambit to our Studio2 catalog: https://studio2publishing.com/products/prince-s-gambit-card-game

Now, we’ve added Changeling: The Lost 2nd Edition products to Studio2‘s store! See them here: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/all-products/changeling-the-lost

Scarred Lands (Pathfinder) books are also on sale at Studio2, and they have the 5e version, supplements, and dice as well!: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/scarred-lands

Scion 2e books and other products are available now at Studio2: https://studio2publishing.com/blogs/new-releases/scion-second-edition-book-one-origin-now-available-at-your-local-retailer-or-online

Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books? Try this link! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Onyx-Path-Publishing/

And you can order Pugmire, Monarchies of Mau, Cavaliers of Mars, and Changeling: The Lost 2e at the same link! And NOW Scion Origin and Scion Hero are available to order!

As always, you can find most of Onyx Path’s titles at DriveThruRPG.com!

On Sale This Week!

This Wednesday, The Cup of Dreams, the long-awaited fourth book for The Immortal Eyes Saga fiction for Changeling 20th goes live in PDF, eBook, and physical book PoD versions on DTRPG!

In addition, we are also offering this Wednesday the W20 Auspice Gift Deck cards in PDF and physical PoD versions from DTRPG!

Conventions!

PAX Unplugged: December 6th – 8th, in Philadelphia, PA. We’re going to have lots and lots of gaming for folks to sign up for, a lot of them featuring our game creators! 2020: Midwinter: January 9th – 12th, in Milwaukee, WI.

And now, the new project status updates!

DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM EDDY WEBB (projects in bold have changed status since last week):

First Draft (The first phase of a project that is about the work being done by writers, not dev prep)

Exalted Essay Collection (Exalted)

N!ternational Wrestling Entertainment (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Creating in the Realms of Pugmire (Realms of Pugmire)

Contagion Chronicle Ready-Made Characters (Chronicles of Darkness)

Trinity Continuum: Adventure! core (Trinity Continuum: Adventure!)

Redlines

Kith and Kin (Changeling: The Lost 2e)

Crucible of Legends (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Dragon-Blooded Novella #2 (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Exigents (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Many-Faced Strangers – Lunars Companion (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Second Draft

Across the Eight Directions (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Contagion Chronicle: Global Outbreaks (Chronicles of Darkness)

Player’s Guide to the Contagion Chronicle (Chronicles of Darkness)

Tales of Aquatic Terror (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

M20 Victorian Mage (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Contagion Chronicle Jumpstart (Chronicles of Darkness)

Development

Heirs to the Shogunate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

TC: Aberrant Reference Screen (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Titanomachy (Scion 2nd Edition)

Trinity Continuum Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum Core)

Monsters of the Deep (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

One Foot in the Grave Jumpstart (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2e)

Lunars Novella (Rosenberg) (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Scion: Demigod (Scion 2nd Edition)

Manuscript Approval

Scion: Dragon (Scion 2nd Edition)

Masks of the Mythos (Scion 2nd Edition)

Wraith20 Fiction Anthology (Wraith: The Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition)

Post-Approval Development

Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)

Scion LARP Rules (Scion)

Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition core rulebook (Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition)

Editing

Lunars: Fangs at the Gate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Hunter: The Vigil 2e core (Hunter: The Vigil 2nd Edition)

Let the Streets Run Red (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Geist 2e Fiction Anthology (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition)

Dragon-Blooded Novella #1 (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Scion Companion: Mysteries of the World (Scion 2nd Edition)

Cults of the Blood Gods (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Legendlore core book (Legendlore)

WoD Ghost Hunters (World of Darkness)

Mythical Denizens (Creatures of the World Bestiary) (Scion 2nd Edition)

Pirates of Pugmire KS-Added Adventure (Realms of Pugmire)

M20 The Technocracy Reloaded (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Yugman’s Guide to Ghelspad (Scarred Lands)

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant core (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Terra Firma (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Post-Editing Development

Chicago Folio/Dossier (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

TC: Aeon Ready-Made Characters (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)

City of the Towered Tombs (Cavaliers of Mars)

Oak, Ash, and Thorn: Changeling: The Lost 2nd Companion (Changeling: The Lost 2nd)

W20 Shattered Dreams Gift Cards (Werewolf: The Apocalypse 20th)

TC: Aeon Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Tales of Good Dogs – Pugmire Fiction Anthology (Pugmire)

Vigil Watch (Scarred Lands)

Indexing

ART DIRECTION FROM MIKE CHANEY!

In Art Direction

Contagion Chronicle – Sent out contracts.

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant

Hunter: The Vigil 2e

Ex3 Lunars – Art in at WW for approval.

TCfBtS!: Heroic Land Dwellers

Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed

Ex3 Monthly Stuff

Cults of the Blood God (KS)

Chicago Folio – Finals rolling in.

Mummy 2 (KS) – Going.

City of the Towered Tombs – Contracted.

Let the Streets Run Red

CtL Oak Ash and Thorn – Awaiting artnotes.

Scion Mythical Denizens – Contracted.

Deviant

Yugman’s Guide to Ghelspad – Going over the art notes and getting it going.

Vigil Watch

In Layout

They Came from Beneath the Sea! – First half in proofing.

Trinity Continuum Aeon: Distant Worlds

VtR Spilled Blood

Pirates of Pugmire

Proofing

Memento Mori

Dark Eras 2 – Adding my comments to first dev pass.

Trinity Continuum Aeon Jumpstart

Geist 2e Screen – At WW for final approval.

At Press

Trinity: In Media Res – PoD proofs coming.

V5: Chicago – Printing. Prepping PoD files.

Aeon Aexpansion – PoD proofs coming.

W20 Auspice Gift Cards deck – PDF and PoD versions on sale this Weds.

Geist 2e (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition) – Getting print files ready.

DR:E – Getting print files ready.

DRE Screen – Getting print files prepped.

C20 Cup of Dreams – PDF, eBook, and PoD versions on sale this Wednesday.

DR:E Threat Guide – Helnau’s Guide to Wasteland Beasties – prepping PoD files.

M20 Book of the Fallen – Backer PDF errata being gathered.

Trinity RMCs – Backer PDF files soon out to backers.

Today’s Reason to Celebrate!

Today in the US, we celebrate Veteran’s Day: the day we give thanks to those who served in our armed forces in wars and battles around the world. For those of our creators, as well as anyone out there, who have served: we thank you for your service!

[quarantineroulette]

Meet Me in the Bathroom and where things went wrong in NYC

“I remember seeing these kids that were 15 years old...They were saying, ‘This is the first time I’m seeing the Strokes. I listened to them all through elementary school and middle school.’ It was so cool to see them there so excited. I don’t know, maybe somewhere, somehow, years from now Vampire Weekend will do some kind of reunion show, but I can’t imagine young kids being there saying, ‘I love Vampire Weekend so much...I’ve been listening to them since elementary school.’ And if they are, they should be punched in the face.”   - Laura Young, blogger

While reading Lizzy Goodman’s Meet Me in the Bathroom: Rebirth and Rock and Roll in New York City 2001 - 2011 I found myself in a state that was equal parts amusement and depression. I moved to New York in 2006, after the initial New York Rock Renaissance had settled a bit. I came to New York because of a few of those Renaissance bands - specifically Interpol - but one year later the lackluster (to me at the time) Our Love to Admire was released and it just got worse from there. A few good bands and lots of bad ones came and went, New York became increasingly harder to succeed in if you were without a trust fund, and much of Brooklyn rapidly morphed into a suffocating Disneyland for yipsters. 

Goodman’s book evokes both the excitement that drove people like me to New York and the despair at what it inevitably became after a certain point in time. But it’s also much more than that: an account of the in-between era, when the Internet grew from being a gathering place for harmless to deviant weirdos to a music-sharing network to be reckoned with; an oral history on a few of the last rock bands who made it through before the door closed perhaps definitively; a very gossipy petri dish; a less cool younger sibling to Please Kill Me.   

My main takeaway from Meet Me..., however, is that it encapsulates a turning point for artists in NY, where wealth and marketing skills trumped having any real talent. It started out innocently enough - the book mentions that The Strokes, Interpol, and Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the big three it focuses on, all came from varying degrees of affluence. The sheer power of Karen O left Yeah Yeah Yeahs fairly safe from claims of derivation or stagnation that were sometimes directed at The Strokes or Interpol, and early on I even found myself thinking, “did I ever really need to read this much hyperbole on The Strokes?” Then I remembered that something like “12:51″ is basically a perfect song - that instantly irresistible riff, instrumental chorus, the handclaps, dumb lyrics - and I let it slide. 

 As NY slowly evolved into the kiddie’s big city play set it is today, money gradually overtook talent and so we had things like the Misshapes, whose ethos was that anybody can DJ, just show up and plug in your iPod, no further skills necessary. Because these Jersey kids had the marketing wherewithal, in crowd connections, & an entrepreneurial approach to early social media, Misshapes became a huge nightlife phenomena, overshadowing Tiswas, a less successful, more authentic club night in a similar vein, where being a DJ was (rightly) considered a learned skill. 

Then came the rich kid music nerds like Vampire Weekend, who blended styles that never really needed to be blended just because they downloaded a bunch of music from the Internet and it seemed like a novel idea. Because of privilege, these boat-shoed Columbia students could say they made music as a “hobby” not as a “profession” and got a lot farther than The Strokes in the process. The Strokes, suffering from “leader of the pack” syndrome, took a creative tumble as squarer bands fielded calls from Geoff Travis and debuted in the Billboard Top 20. 

Despite these depressing findings, I found a lot to enjoy in Meet Me..., especially the chapters on Yeah Yeah Yeahs - whose history I honestly wasn’t that knowledgable of - and of course the passages on Interpol. The commentary from Paul Banks was especially hilarious, and I could’ve easily just read a book of him and Matt Berninger from The National going back and forth on things (I’m aware this probably makes me sound like a sad white dude and I accept it). I also appreciated its focus on the rise of blog culture, and how this medium gave more of a voice to female music writers and fans. Those women, as well as the late, great Marc Spitz, were the critical voices whom I most appreciated, although it was nice when Rob Sheffield shared his PG Conor Oberst / Nick Zinner slash fantasy. 

My main criticism of the book is its omission of some of the less successful bands of the era - such as Calla, stellastarr*, !!!, The Double and others. A few are given a sentence or two, but a whole chapter would have been preferred over chronicling The Vines, The Killers, and other outlying bands who were included to show the scope of The Strokes’ influence. In this way I found the book a bit too macro, and would have preferred if it focused on a slightly shorter period of time. This could have created some loose ends, but some of the more interesting bands covered - Liars, TV on the Radio, The National - peter out inconclusively, although TV on the Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe gets a pretty brilliant final say in a chapter entitled “We Warmed it Up for you Fuckers.” 

All in all, Meet Me in the Bathroom made me even less happy about being a New Yorker in 2019, but it also gave me a decade’s worth of early 2000s music trivia to pull out whenever my friends and I tire of complaining about how lame New York has become.  

[mademoiselleseraph]

Forgotten things about the early Twilight fandom for people who weren't there

(Source: I was in the "first wave" of fans, before the movies, or even the final book of the series, were released and only the second or third kid in my middle school to read the books.)

While it's remembered as a "girl thing" and most criticisms of the books and movies stem from them being such, it was actually pretty evenly split between boys and girls. I don't know what the sales data would indicate, but a lot of us lent the books to friends, so it may not be accurate.

While it was kind of weird to us (Native fans of the series) that the author was a white lady high-jacking a real life Indigenous culture, but a lot of us were refreshed at seeing Native characters treated like regular people who just happen to turn into wolves and not caricatures of the mystical noble savages with a special connection to nature. It wasn't based on a stereotype so it wasn't the worst it could be.

Adult men did mock the books, but so did other teenage girls, more than teenage boys. Most of the teenage girls who made fun of the Twilight books were die-hard Harry Potter fans who insisted there was a rivalry that no one else was actually invested in.

The books got a lot of shit and were sometimes compared unfavorably to Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles, even though a lot of the criticisms could be applied to Anne Rice's vampires, too. Anne Rice vampires also inexplicably become beautiful when they transform and though they don't sparkle in sunlight, their skin does become shiny, to the point where Lestat admitted to needing to powder his face to keep it from catching the light.

Another big criticism of the series was that Edward was a virgin "for no reason." People were genuinely mad that a vampire boy was generally uninterested in sex.

Fans were a lot more self-aware than most seem to think. Many of them readily admitted that the story would be better without Edward, Bella, Jacob, and their love triangle drama. Many also felt iffy on the name "Renesme"

Related to the previous point, the Team Edward/Team Jacob stuff was mostly for shits and giggles and was rarely taken seriously. A common response to it was "Team Alice" whether they meant Alice with Bella romantically or just Alice herself.

Alice was the most loved character. A lot of people also loved Bella's dad, Charlie, and got really into the Cullens' back stories (Rosalie's was generally considered the most interesting and satisfying and Jasper's was a close second).

Stephanie Meyer was very open, honest, amd humble to her fans, even dedicating her books to them and frankly explaining that she didn't intend for her characters to be role models when asked. This inspired a lot of fans to write their own stories about vampires and other paranormal beings.

We (the fans) called ourselves "twilighters" but when the movies came out, the news called us "twi-hearts" and that isn't actually all that important, I'm just salty about it to this day.

I might add on to this if I remember more

[cameoamalthea]

I was rewatching Princess Tutu recently and Mytho’s sitution seems really similiar to the Nobodies-

(Continuation of princess tutu- I accidentally sent early) Mytho shows up as a somewhat teen with no heart and no memories. there is some change in the time between there and the beginning of the show, due mostly to how other characters tell him to act, but he doesn’t age, physically or emotionally, to the point where nobody sees it as an age gap relationship when they ship him with characters who were children when they met him and are now the same apparent age.

***

Interesting. I haven’t seen seen Princess Tutu and don’t know anything about it so I can’t really speak to the comparison.

For me, the whether nobodies age thing is less about shipping and more about hating the idea of Terra growing older when none of his friends do (since it’s established Aqua is in a timeless place). 

As for age-gaps, I’ve shipped pairings with age-gaps. Buffy and Angel was my first ship (hence Buffy comparisons in some of my posts). In season one Buffy is 16 and Angel is a vampire who was turned at 26. (the actors were 18 and 26 respectively). The show commented on the age gap.

Season 1 Episode 7

Angel:  When I am all I can ever think about is how badly I want to kiss you.Buffy:  ...over the dam... (looks up at him) Kiss me?Angel:  I'm older than you, and this can't ever... I better go.Buffy:  H-how much older?Angel:  I should...Buffy:  (approaches him) ...go... You said...They kiss. They kiss again. They kiss passionately. She puts her arm around him. The kiss goes on for several moments. Angel suddenly pulls back and looks away.

Season 2 Episode 9

Buffy:  (looks up at Angel) The Cliff Notes version? I want a normal life. Like I had before.Angel:  Before me.Buffy:  No, Angel, (touches his hand) it's not you. (touches his cheek) You're the one freaky thing in my freaky world that still makes sense to me. (lowers her hand) I just get messed sometimes. (Angel looks down) I wish we could be regular kids.Angel:  (looks back up) Yeah. I'll never be a kid. (gets up)Buffy:  Okay, then a regular kid and her cradle robbing, creature-of-the-night boyfriend.

He’s older than her, but since he’s a vampire with a soul and she’s the chosen one with the strength to fight evil, they have the power to fight vampires together. They’re also soul mates and in love with each other. He doesn’t manipulate her into the relationship, he has no power over her, there’s no abuse. 

In real life age gaps in relationship aren’t a good idea. They’re likely to be abusive because predators like to target people with less social power and less experience. If the relationship isn’t one you can be open about there’s more chance for abuse because there’s no one you can talk to about it. Furthermore, even aside from abuse if two people are in different life stages it’s unlikely to work out. 

For Buffy and Angel, the life-stage thing isn’t as much of an issue because they share the same job, fight vampires and evil. Angel is part of her peer group because he wants to help her fight. 

There are other examples. Pretty sure all of the canon Disney Princess Relationships have an age gap, how much varies. Mulan and Shang is the biggest with a 16 year old and her 28 year old commanding officer - that’s problematic).

Han and Leia have a ten year age gap and Leia is only 19.

The thing with fiction is the story can be whatever the writer wants it to be, if a relationship is a good relationship depends on if the writer writes it as a good relationship. And we should certainly criticize when abusive or predatory behavior is written as romantic. That doesn’t mean we still enjoy problematic tropes or films that have problematic tropes (I love Star Wars) but we should be aware when fiction reenforces harmful norms and stereotypes so we don’t internalize the message. So that we know that someone acting that way in real life is a red flag.

But fiction doesn’t have to be a guide book for what to do (non fiction guide books do that, that’s why they’re called guide book. 50 Shades is not a guide to dating or BDSM, 101 Dalmatians is not a guide to buying a dog, both pieces of media caused harm when people took fiction as a guide rather than educating themselves. Education is really the key to preventing harm).

I like some fictional relationships that are messed up. I watched Queer as Folk reruns in High School and that show has a 17 year old hook up with a 29 year old and all the characters are deeply flawed and not meant to be gay role models. But the show was good for me to watch because it depicted sexuality as a good thing and not something shameful. And it’s problematic in a lot of other ways. But you can like something without it being perfect and like characters who are terrible people (I was also a big Anne Rice Vampire Chronicles fan in high school).

So for me, an age gap isn’t a deal breaker. Especially since most of what I like reading  and writing are AUs. Even canon verse, you can headcannon characters different ages. I’m sure some people think of Terra and Aqua as in their 20s and others in their teens.

For me though, the Nobodies not aging thing is less about shipping and more about not wanting the characters to lose ten years from their life.To me that’s really tragic (I could go into that in more detail if you want, but that will have to be another ask, as this got really long).

[techcrunchappcom]

New Post has been published on https://techcrunchapp.com/brave-new-world-is-all-dressed-up-with-no-place-to-go-rolling-stone/

‘Brave New World’ Is All Dressed Up With No Place to Go - Rolling Stone

In the new TV adaptation of Brave New World, Alden Ehrenreich plays John the Savage, a stranger to the future society of New London, who is constantly puzzled by the city’s decadence as well as its rigid caste system. At one point, John arrives at a fancy party where the guests are preparing for what they claim is an exciting new game that involves lots of technology and vibrant outfits. As the rules are explained to him, John quickly realizes that it’s just a hi-tech version of Hide and Seek. When he asks what the special suits do, his host replies, “The suits? They look fabulous!”

Welcome to this not-so Brave New World, where all the ideas feel old and not nearly as deeply considered as the creators think. But hey, at least it all looks fabulous.

In addition to Ehenreich, this latest version of Aldous Huxley’s middle school English-class staple stars, among others, Jessica Brown Findlay from Downton Abbey as pleasure-seeking Lenina Crowne, Harry Lloyd from Counterpart as administrator Bernard Marx, Kylie Bunbury from Pitch as Lenina’s friend Frannie, Joseph Morgan from The Vampire Diaries as menial laborer Cjack 60, and Demi Moore as John’s alcoholic mother Linda. It’s a great-looking cast, and a great-looking show. New London is a gleaming and wholly plausible paradise for people like Lenina and Bernard, as well as an obvious dystopia for anyone unlucky enough to be born at Cjack 60’s rank. The scenery is gorgeous, the digital FX casually real, so that when Lenina enjoys the wonder of zero gravity on an orbital flight with Bernard, it makes sense both that she’d be giddy and that the other passengers would be utterly jaded to it.

But this adaptation, developed by Grant Morrison, Brian Taylor, and David Wiener, never digs below those polished surfaces, either in exploring the characters or the story’s themes.

We are told at the beginning that New London has three rules to keep everyone happy: No privacy. No family. No monogamy. It quickly becomes clear that the last dictate is the TV show’s primary area of interest. If Westworld hadn’t already ground every last ounce of titillation out of the concept of filmed orgies, Brave New World will in short order. New London is a place where the citizenry are kept docile through abundant drugs, sex, and other distractions. While Huxley was writing about his own time in the 1930s, there are clear parallels to our world, and this adaptation occasionally takes a break from the flash and flesh to point them out. “The Savage Lands,” where John has grown up, have been reimagined from a Native American-styled wilderness preserve into a theme park chronicling the excesses of early 21st century America: In one scene, Lenina marvels at a recreation of a big-box store opening on Black Friday. Mostly, though, the show treats the book’s big questions as excuses for spectacles of sex and violence. There’s an impressive action sequence in the second episode, presented largely as a single take, when Bernard and Lenina’s Savage Lands trip goes horribly awry, but it also feels besides the point of the whole thing.

(l-r) Joseph Morgan as Cjack 60, Alden Ehrenreich as John the Savage.

Steve Schofield/Peacock

The problem is that the series has so little interest in exploring what went into the creation of a place like New London, and what motivates the people who live there. There are brief glimpses of the community’s superficial entertainment options — video programs with names like The Moist Boys and Face Punch — but Brave New World itself doesn’t feel significantly deeper. In the book, John has grown up quoting the complete works of Shakespeare; here, he trudges around in a black trench coat saying things like, “You pop that smug little twat in his grill, you’re gonna feel fuckin’ great!” There’s also the problem that the version of the character we meet in The Savage Lands feels wholly different from the one who causes such a stir when he arrives in New London midway through the season. But the intense boredom he feels after a few days of experiencing all of New London’s bacchanal pleasures will feel familiar to anyone who decides to sit through all nine of the show’s chapters.

At one point, Bernard listen to John’s digital music player, and is stunned to hear Lou Reed’s “Perfect Day,” because he’s accustomed to songs not having lyrics. John suggests musicians in the olden days wanted their music to mean something, but Bernard just finds the words distracting. The Brave New World creative team seems to be on Bernard’s side of this debate, not wanting deep thoughts to get in the way of their pretty pictures.

Brave New World was originally developed at Syfy, then shifted to USA, and has ended up one of the initial originals for the launch of NBCUniversal’s new ad-supported, partially-free, partially-not hodgepodge of a streaming service, Peacock (about which you can find more details here). Though Peacock has a fairly impressive library of old shows and movies, originals are few and far between at this stage, with some of its higher-profile series either disrupted by the pandemic or still very early in development. In addition to Brave New World, Peacock launches with another Psych reunion movie, plus a pair of British shows: the police procedural The Capture and Intelligence, an Office-esque comedy that asks the question, “How long will you tolerate watching David Schwimmer play an unrelenting asshole?” (My answer: The length of one episode, and barely that.) Brave New World is arguably the closest thing the launch has to a marquee attraction, and it definitely has the shine of one. But, like John the Savage turning away from New London’s social elite to listen to his ancient MP3s, odds are you’ll soon lose interest in what’s shiny and new on Peacock in favor of firing up the complete run of Columbo.

All nine episodes of Brave New World premiere July 15th on Peacock. I’ve seen the whole thing.

[bughead-fic-request]

I would like to thank @leaalda for making these amazing banners.

This is an effort to spread the word about all fan fiction writers in our little fandom. If you would like to be featured or nominate a writer, please contact me. Please reblog this post if you can and check out some of @ficmuse work!

1. First things first, if someone wanted to read your stories where can they find them.

I post all of my work on AO3

2. Tell us a little about yourself.

I’ve been a writer and a poet since childhood. Professionally, I’ve worked for a major Internet service provider, been an executive secretary, made collections calls and even sold windows door to door. I just completed an art history Capstone in Roman and Greek art and am contemplating graduate school. I’m also a mom and a wife. I’ve worn a whole lot of hats in my life.

3. What do you never leave home without?

Something to read. I carry my Kindle in my purse. I read a lot of romance, mystery, and historical fiction.

4. Are you an early bird or a night owl?

Depends. If I’m really immersed in something I’m writing, I’ll pound the keys until 2 am or later. Ideally, I’m in bed by eleven.

5. If you could live in any fictional world which one would you choose and why?

Westeros! Ice zombies? Dragons? Bring it on.

6. Who is the most famous person you’ve ever met.

I’m a fangirl with a travel budget, so I’ve met some actors from my various fandoms, including James Marsters from Buffy and William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy from Star Trek. I like attending conventions. I’ve met Charlaine Harris, one of my favorite authors. That was a big thrill, too.

7. What are some of your favorite movies/TV?

TV: X-Files; Buffy the Vampire Slayer; Friends. Movies: While You Were Sleeping; Fifth Elements; Pride and Prejudice (2005).

8. What are some of your favorite bands/musicians?

Music is a really important element of my life. I need music while writing, cooking, driving, you name it. My all time favorite bands include Coldplay, Depeche Mode, Garbage, and Muse. Musicians? Jeff Buckley, Leonard Cohen, Tori Amos, Sarah McLachlan.

9. Favorite Books?

Jane Austen; I waffle between Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion. Charlaine Harris’ Southern Vampire Mysteries. Dorothy Dunnett’s Lymond Chronicles. Dorothy Sayer’s Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries.

10. Favorite Food?

Any configuration of a potato. Baked; fried; mashed. I’m a potato fan.

11. Biggest pet peeve?

Passive aggressive people. Just tell me what I’ve done to piss you off and I’ll try to make it right. If you can’t do that, we’re at an impasse.

12. What did you want to be when you were little? What do you want to be now?

I’ve always wanted to be a published author and that’s still my dream.

13. What are your biggest fears? Do you have any strange fears?

Oh, boy. I have a phobia about driving on the highway. It’s very weird. I’ve gone way the hell out of my way to take side roads instead of highways.

14. When you are on your deathbed what would be the one you’d regret not doing?

When I was fifteen, I had the choice to go to boarding school in England. At the last minute, I backed out and went to a school in Pennsylvania instead. I really regret that; my whole life would have been on a different path.

Okay… lets talk about your writing!

15. Which is your favorite of the fics you've written for the Bughead fandom?

I’ve only written a few, but the BLT universe (Bizarre Love Triangle, Long Live Rock) is my baby. That’s my blood, sweat and tears, right there.

16. Which was the hardest to write, in terms of plot?

Fugue. The idea of Jughead as a murderer was so preposterous, I had to figure out a way to make it real and believable.

17. How do you come up with the ideas for you fic(s)? Do you people watch? Listen to music? Get inspired by TV/movies?

I get inspired by music more than anything else. Usually, finding the right song is the key to unlocking a story for me. But it can be other things. I eavesdrop like crazy and I also am very moved by neon signs and photography. I often look at moodboards and listen to a fic specific soundtrack while I’m writing.

18. Idea that you always wanted to write but could never make work?

I’ve been writing a fic with Betty as the POV character. The plot is inspired by the movie Groundhog Day. She keeps repeating the same night over and over. It’s funny on film, but I think it’s too repetitive as a story. I haven’t given up on it yet, but it is really kicking my butt.

19. Least favorite plot point/chapter/moment you’ve written?

Archie and Betty hooking up in Long Live Rock was just such a bummer.

20. Favorite plot point/chapter/moment you’ve written?

Jughead’s backstory about how he got his beanie in Bizarre Love Triangle.

21.Favorite character to write?

Jughead, for sure.

22. Favorite line or lines of dialogue that you've written?

For Long Live Rock, I had to write a lot of song lyrics. I’m particularly fond of some I wrote for Jughead: Fortunes have been made and fortunes have been lost /Princes earning money by moving rocks Princesses waiting tables in a neon glow/What we had we'll find again and never let it go.

23. Best comment/review you’ve ever received?

I really love it when people just get so flipped out that they can’t even articulate their feelings and it’s a lot of capital letters and exclamation marks.

24. How do you handle bad reviews or comments?

Unfortunately, I have a thin skin. I can handle the occasional nasty comment, but when it’s message after message of people hating what you do, it’s demoralizing.  My husband has repeatedly suggested not reading the comments on Ao3, but I feel an obligation to respond to each reader unless they are being a complete and utter asshat. The hate mail I received on Tumblr for parts of Long Live Rock was just unbelievable. That stuff, I just delete and try to ignore. That being said, constructive criticism is great. But that’s rare and far between. I get a lot of “this is great” or “I hate this with the fire of a thousand suns” and not much in the middle.

25. If you could change anything in any of your stories, what would it be?

The inevitable typos that I can only notice after I post them. Each one causes me physical pain.

26. What is your favorite story you’ve ever written? Any fandom?

My first real labor of love was a story called The Countess which was based on the BBC TV show of Robin Hood. I had a massive fangirl crush on the bad guy, Sir Guy of Gisborne. I shipped him with Maid Marian and despite the fact that she DIED, I still wanted a happy ending for my OTP. Did I mention that he killed her? Because that was the canon ending of that ship! So, I literally resurrected her, made the hero of the canon story the villain, and gave the full monty love story and a happy ending to Marian and Guy. It made my heart happy. It still does, because that canon just pissed me off to no end. One of the great joys of fan fiction is the ability to tell canon to go screw itself.

27. What are you reading right now? Both fan fiction and general fiction?

I haven’t read much Bughead fic because it lessens my ability to get into the headspace of my own AU. However, I am fortunate to have a plethora of fic recommendations from my dear @jandjsalmon waiting for me. As for fiction, I am currently reading a historical mystery called Instruments of Darkness by Imogen Robertson.

28. Do you have an advice for writers that want to get into this fandom but might be scared?

Don’t be afraid that your work isn’t good enough. Your work is always better than you think it is! You are your own worst critic. Trust that there is an audience for every story. We are a very welcoming community and you are guaranteed to find someone who will appreciate the work of your imagination.