#zami

The Vampire Chronicles (1976) (Interview with the Vampire, The Vampire Lestat, The Queen of the Damned, The Tale of the Body Thief, Memnoch the Devil, The Vampire Armand, Merrick, Blood and Gold, Blackwood Farm, Blood Canticle, Prince Lestat, Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis, Blood Communion) by Anne Rice

Endorsement from submitter: "Every single vampire in this book is canonically bisexual. And Gabrielle is very transmasc coded"

This is the story of Louis, as told in his own words, of his journey through mortal and immortal life. Louis recounts how he became a vampire at the hands of the radiant and sinister Lestat and how he became indoctrinated, unwillingly, into the vampire way of life. His story ebbs and flows through the streets of New Orleans, defining crucial moments such as his discovery of the exquisite lost young child Claudia, wanting not to hurt but to comfort her with the last breaths of humanity he has inside. Yet, he makes Claudia a vampire, trapping her womanly passion, will, and intelligence inside the body of a small child. Louis and Claudia form a seemingly unbreakable alliance and even "settle down" for a while in the opulent French Quarter. Louis remembers Claudia's struggle to understand herself and the hatred they both have for Lestat that sends them halfway across the world to seek others of their kind. Louis and Claudia are desperate to find somewhere they belong, to find others who understand, and someone who knows what and why they are.

Louis and Claudia travel Europe, eventually coming to Paris and the ragingly successful Theatre des Vampires—a theatre of vampires pretending to be mortals pretending to be vampires. Here they meet the magnetic and ethereal Armand, who brings them into a whole society of vampires. But Louis and Claudia find that finding others like themselves provides no easy answers and in fact presents dangers they scarcely imagined.

Originally begun as a short story, the book took off as Anne wrote it, spinning the tragic and triumphant life experiences of a soul. As well as the struggles of its characters, Interview captures the political and social changes of two continents. The novel also introduces Lestat, Anne's most enduring character, a heady mixture of attraction and revulsion. The book, full of lush description, centers on the themes of immortality, change, loss, sexuality, and power.

Horror, historical fiction, fantasy, paranormal, gothic, series, adult

Zami: A New Spelling of My Name (1982) by Audre Lorde

If I didn't define myself for myself, I would be crunched into other people's fantasies for me and eaten alive.

A little black girl opens her eyes in 1930s Harlem. Around her, a heady swirl of passers-by, car horns, kerosene lamps, the stock market falling, fried bananas, tales of her parents' native Grenada. She trudges to public school along snowy sidewalks, and finds she is tongue-tied, legally blind, left behind by her older sisters. On she stumbles through teenage hardships—suicide, abortion, hunger, a Christmas spent alone—until she emerges into happiness: an oasis of friendship in Washington Heights, an affair in a dirty factory in Connecticut, and, finally, a journey down to the heat of Mexico, discovering sex, tenderness, and suppers of hot tamales and cold milk. This is Audre Lorde's story. It is a rapturous, life-affirming tale of independence, love, work, strength, sexuality and change, rich with poetry and fierce emotional power.

TOP ROW

First and Second images, left/middle: Just some cute doodles of Lotti in more outfits, most of which I find randomly online.

Third image, right: A concept that I'm not in love with for Lotti's coworker/family member. He's a major conspiracy theorist, like her, but in a very different way? She's all about possible crimes or evil-doings in the city that are usually a bit more plausible, where as he's more all about aliens and the supernatural. He doesn't REALLY believe this stuff though, he just likes to piss her off and counter her theories with crazy ones. [Think like he's if Shane was more into the supernatural aspect of mysteries, but Ryan was the one who was all about it making perfect logical sense from Watcher]

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MIDDLE ROW

First image:

A concept for if I gave Blossom a full body. I personally love it.

Second image: More doodles of what Blossom could look like at different ages. The top images would be her around 12-ish? While the bottom has her more like 20-ish.

Alt text reads as such: Childhood hat + smaller braids, no longer needs buddle, has a tail. // No braids now, childhood hat is too small now, move eye lashes, fancy dress time! Usually still in overalls. Bigger tail.

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BOTTOM ROW

First image: Just some ideas for more outfits for Zami. As a world famous E-Girl, with a MASSIVE following, she needs lots of different looks! Also I'm not longer that in love with her current on haha.

Second image: Some more designs for Zami, as well as me trying to slightly redesign an old character for Neo as well.