#elisaintime

This was a gift fic I wrote for @elisaintime/ @somevagrantchild / @thescorpion (ao3) in 2022. I reread it today and I think it still holds up as one of my all-time faves 💕

Summary:

Set during the IWTV-era, Armand is pressured to choose between the vampire he has long desired for nearly a hundred years, and the fledgling of that same vampire - alluring in his inquisitive nature and tenderness. Time is running out for Armand to make his choice, while Lestat, who is at his mercy, is being held in a cell in the bowels of the Theatre des Vampires - also desperate to salvage what he can of what he once had.

From: @elisaintime/TheScorpion

To: @i-want-my-iwtv​/Burnadette_dpdL

Notes: 

Summary: 1814. A strange woman in their neighborhood has Louis concerned about the safety of their dark secret, but Lestat isn't taking his worries seriously.

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply Category: M/M Fandoms: Vampire Chronicles - Anne RiceInterview With the Vampire (1994), Vampire Chronicles - All Media Types Relationship: Lestat de Lioncourt/Louis de Pointe du Lac Characters: Lestat de Lioncourt, Louis de Pointe du Lac, Claudia (Vampire Chronicles) Additional Tags: Pining, Domestic Fluff, Vampire Chronicles Secret Gift Exchange Language: English Collections: Vampire Chronicles Secret Gift Exchange 2021 Words: 6412

Message from Santa: 

@elisaintime “How do I describe something without it being a metaphor for disability? A lot of our metaphorical terms and our similes-you could say writing is lacking in gusto but its not literally lacking. If we were to be avoiding that completely we would be using a lot of the same language. I’m not saying we should defend these terms at all BUT its hard, its really hard to avoid doing that but still not being a literal robot”

Well I mean you’re supposed to be a writer so write something. Its literally your job to come up with interesting and creative ways to convey yourself. You sat there and nodded as other speakers made the argument that being ableist is a good thing because without it they would have no words they could use, wouldn’t be able to be descriptive and don’t mean ableist slurs in an ableist way because you have decided they are divorced from their meaning. Funny you should mention doing better and your friend saying to put more effort in. Ironic even.

The metaphors come specifically from ableism. Its deemed unacceptable and subhuman to be disabled to tying that to media is simply saying x is bad so we’re gonna compare it to a group we think is bad. Thats the literal root of ableist language. Saying its a metaphor doesn’t change that.

But hard floors have to be vacuumed too! You think I’m going to sweep that shit? Vacuuming’s so much easier!

LOL. I’m glad you and your angry cyclone machine have come to an accord. Me, I’ll still with the broom. It doesn’t try to trip me with cords or catch on fire. XD

Summary: Set during the IWTV-era, Armand is pressured to choose between the vampire he has long desired for nearly a hundred years, and the fledgling of that same vampire - alluring in his inquisitive nature and tenderness. Time is running out for Armand to make his choice, while Lestat, who is at his mercy, is being held in a cell in the bowels of the Theatre des Vampires - also desperate to salvage what he can of what he once had.

Notes: For @elisaintime/TheScorpion (AO3).

🎁 This is a gift for TheScorpion, in return for the wonderful gift they gave me last holiday season! I hope this hits that sweet spot for you of Lestat and Armand having tense/angsty moments, Armand thinking and talking about Lestat with others (but the real challenge was that Lestat himself has a diminished role in the fic itself!).

HUGE thanks to a few ppl who helped me with plotbunnies and encouragement along the way: @hekateinhell, @emileesaurus, @eliestela (tumblr), and @rebness (AO3)/ @wicked-felina 💘

I also have doubts about Louis' future in the series, I heard that Jacob's contract is only for IWTV, that is, after he will be discarded? In the following books Louis has short appearances, so is it likely that he will no longer be a part of the series? And just focus on Lestat and his other companies? It discourages me, I know it's in the books but I like Louis so much :(

So, @elisaintime is my IWTV AMC/film industry authority, I don’t even want to try to speculate, since it’s more her area of expertise! I think she answers these questions really well, so please check out some of her responses! She goes into very good detail, especially from a film industry perspective. Here are some of her posts, I recommend you explore her tag #AMC INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE:

Anon asked: I just checked out IMDb and it says Bailey (Claudia) is only in one episode...

Anon asked: Damn, I’d be quite disappointed if Louis ends up being pretty much dropped from the show. Here’s hoping the writers change their minds.

Anon asked: Wait so IWTV (the show) is only going to be about the first book and the other books are going to be a separate show??

Anon asked: U said u don’t think they have Louis and Lestat as endgame in the show but didn’t they said they want to do all books? 

Anon asked: I think nowadays it’s actually impossible to plan a series beforehand even if you have a solid plan....

So for my response, I think AMC/Rolin Jones & Co. ARE planning on the first 3 books, bc of what I’ve read, talking about keeping Lestat’s origin story the same, etc., but with the Mayfair series also happening, I can see AMC/RJ & Co. intending to crossover those at some point in the future, as the books did.

I also have doubts about Louis' future in the series, I heard that Jacob's contract is only for IWTV, that is, after he will be discarded? In the following books Louis has short appearances, so is it likely that he will no longer be a part of the series? And just focus on Lestat and his other companies? It discourages me, I know it's in the books but I like Louis so much :(

I would hope that Jacob can give you what you/we adore about Louis in however much screentime he gets, and already being in multiple episodes should give him more screentime than Brad Pitt had as Louis, and Louis wasn't even IN the '02 QOTD movie! And since the interview is occurring during modern times, I suspect we’ll have different time periods that include Louis (possibly hopping around in flashbacks like the Good Omens episodes did), depending on the fan reactions to his performance.

Anon, what is it about Louis that you love? 

During one of the waves of VC criticism about Louis in the books, I had a tag #we appreciate and love louis in this house, for collecting things people wrote about him. At least for me, I don't need hours of screentime to appreciate him, whatever canon gave us or the show will give us, we’ll have that to expand on and discuss. 

...We’re also getting an healthy influx of fanart of Jacob Anderson’s Louis, and I’m sure there’ll be other fanworks, as well. So a character’s official screentime can be considered the appetizer! 🍴 

Here’s an excerpt from an awesome post by @sangcreole-archived, in which they cite just one line from Louis from Queen of the Damned that’s so heartbreaking and beautiful in just a short paragraph, and sangcreole’s analysis hits me right in the feels 💗, I’m hopeful that this, and other lines like this, will make it into the TV series:

When we first meet Louis, he is the personification of guilt because of what happened with his brother, but that guilt sticks with him throughout his transformation, and it becomes incredibly important as he attempts to navigate the new world as a transcended being. He is conflicted as hell, and insists on punishing himself via starvation because he is so heartsick and guilty and full of grief both for his brother, and for his humanity. When he is first turned, the empathy that he possesses doesn’t exactly work in his favor. He is overly empathetic, and refuses to take life because he empathizes too much with everyone (this is doubly hard considering that he does not have the mind gift, so he cannot weed out the bad seeds from the good ones; he tends to assume most people are innocent, or at least undeserving of death). But as he grows older and begins to figure stuff out, I think he is finally able to sympathize and empathize with humans in a gentler way, and I really admire that. He eventually learns to exist in the world and admire the human beings that he walks amongst, and I love that about him. In fact, one of my favorite moments in the series is when he stands up to Akasha and says: 

“Then kill me! I wish that you would. But don’t kill human beings! Don’t interfere with them. Even if they kill each other! Give them time to see this new vision realized; give the cities of the West, corrupt as they may be, time to take their ideals to a suffering and blighted world.”

He is fiercely attached to the human race, even though he is no longer a part of it, and he’s even willing to risk his life for them. 

🔥 😭