rhodrymavelyne

At last, I saw the second seasons for Interview with the Vampire and The Mayfair Witches, after a very long hesitation.

Why the hesistation? Interview with the Vampire remains one of my favorite books ever. The entire Vampire Chronicles is one of my favorite series. I wasn’t sure how I’d feel as a fan about the changes the television series was making as they advanced.

Parts of Chronicles of the Mayfair Witches I loved. Other parts were traumatically nightmarish. I wasn’t sure which parts would become part of the TV series and which would be dropped.

Daring to see both TV series, I found I enjoyed them a lot.

Armand felt far more toxic than he did in the books. All right, he was pretty bad, yet seductively, deliciously bad, until he reached Queen of the Damned, where he became hilariously adorable as Daniel’s sugar daddy. I recall Anne Rice saying in an interview that she intended for Armand to have a larger part in her third book, but he wasn’t evil enough.

I wonder if the makers of Interview with the Vampire didn’t decide to go for that evil. At the same time, Armand of the TV series was charming, cultured, seductive, and ruthless; qualities he possessed in the books.

I wonder if Armand didn’t love both Louis and Daniel deeply, even if he was also capable of sacrificing both of them?

Rowan and Lasher were far less toxic in the TV series than they were in the books. Letting the nonconsensual aspects of their relationship go made for a more complex and loving bond, which still managed to be disturbing. The Taltos remained innocent and destructive, yet less willfully so.

The Mayfairs were the truly wicked ones. The most wicked of them all was Julien Mayfair.

Gone was Lasher’s lover, the moments of romance between Julien and his familiar. All that was left was the pretense; the ruthless protégé of Marguerite Mayfair, a role Julien didn’t care to dwell upon when telling his story to Michael Curry in the books.

Julien became far more of a villain than Lasher. This startled me, yet why wasn’t he capable of such a role? The books indicated he was, for all his charm.
Julien boasted in the book Lasher of his immunity to Lasher’s charm, due to his masculinity. The softness of femininity conveyed a vulnerability to the Mayfair familar, one which could be used to overpower and kill the women.

This bothered me when I read the book, even though I enjoyed the parts with Julien and Lasher.

There is a certain logic in taking this assertion of male immunity to Lasher, showing how cold and ruthless it could be. It lead a man to be capable of brutal murder of his own flesh and blood, of innocents in order to achieve his goal.

This happened in the book. It also happened in the series.

Both Lestat and Julien became quite brutal in the TV series, yet I feel that both were capable of such brutality in the books, even if they may not have expressed them in the same ways. They could be both cruel and tender to their loved ones.

I wonder if Julien and Lestat will end up warring over Rowan as they did in the book? It would be interesting, if they also fought over Louis.

I could imagine Julien Mayfair as being a patron of a mortal Louis de Pointe du Lac’s establishment in the red light district. There may always have been an attraction between them, even though Louis didn’t acknowledge it, let alone act upon it.

Lestat and Julien was far too alike in the many ways. They loved the same women. Perhaps they’d love the same men as well? (They did both love Quinn Blackwood in the books, although I have no idea if that character will make an appearance in any of the TV series.)

One of the things I missed in The Mayfair Witches was the male intimacy from the books. I loved how the bond developed between Michael Curry and Aaron Lightner, Michael Curry and Julien Mayfair, and even between Julien Mayfair and Lasher.

Every character who overshadowed Rowan Mayfair was removed from the narrative; Michael Curry, Aaron Lightner, and even Mona Mayfair. She was able to take center stage in a way she didn’t in the books, for all she was a very strong character.

There’s an opportunity for feminine intimacy in the TV series; an intimacy I enjoyed when it flourished in the books between Rowan and Mona, Mona and Mary Jane, Rowan and Dolly Jean. I see some of that same intimacy between Rowan and Dolly Jean in the TV series, along with potential for it to blossom between Rowan and Jojo, Rowan and Moira.

I loved the character of Jojo, a trans woman as one of the Mayfair witches, Cortland’s favorite, and Rowan’s confidante.

I enjoyed how Moira did the opposite of Mona, starting out as a jealous rival, only to become more of an ally, as opposed to the intimacy which blossomed magically between Rowan and Mona in the book Taltos, only to turn into jealous adversity in The Blood Canticle. I’m hoping Rowan and Moira’s relationship becomes a more intimate one.

I wish both TV series could have done more pick-ups of exquisite detail, like the ones both Hannibal and American Gods displayed. Such moments are a chance to capture with the camera a sense of Anne Rice’s flowery prose. There was one scene with a statue in Paris with that lingering detail. I wish there had been more.

Overall, I really enjoyed both of the second seasons, the television drama made of the books. I enjoyed how the intimacy rekindled between Louis and Daniel at the end of the interview, after realizing how Armand played with both of their lives. I enjoyed the linking of the two worlds, noting how much more sinister the Talamasca is in both.

I wonder how those worlds will collide. I wonder if the Talamasca makes both collide.

I hope The Mayfair Witches contines. I hope The Vampire Lestat will have it debut on television.

One of Darth Vader’s compelling traits as a villain isn’t just his iconic armor, the sinister sound of his breathing; although those things are compelling. Nor is it the fact that he took a suit meant to compensate for life-threatening disabilies and turned it into an expression of power; complementing his formidable mastery of the Force.

All of these traits make him one of the most memorable villains of all time. I’m struck by a quality which drives the plots with Darth Vader, making him again a force to be reckoned with.

This character is obsessive to the point of madness. He directs all of his considerable strength; personal and temporal towards his obsession.

When he was Anakin Skywalker, he was obsessed with Padme. When he became Darth Vader, he became obsessed with Obi-Wan Kenobi. No longer was he restained by morality or anything else. He was set up finding his old master, defeating him, and triumphing over him.

Neither of these obsessions ever left Vader, not completely. They rekindled and became one when he discovered Padme had children, a child Obi-Wan had been training. They became fixated upon Luke Skywalker, his son. Luke was the only legacy of his love for Padme (or so he thought). Young Skywalker had been Obi-Wan’s remaining triumph over Vader, the hope he died for.

An obsession with reclaiming his son threatened to tear the galaxy apart, completely focused upon Luke and anyone in his way.

Maybe the very thought of Leia enduring being the focus of that dangerous obsession drove Luke to fight his father with all his checked rage in Return of the Jedi. In the end, Luke stopped himself, stopped his rage.

Did Vader ever stop himself? Did he let others stop him? I’ve wondered at the way Obi-Wan, Padme, Luke, and even Leia have slipped through his fingers in the movies and the series.

Vader told Obi-Wan that he betrayed and murdered Anakin Skywalker in his battle with his former master at the end of Obi-Wan Kenobi; a lie Ben chose to embrace and pass on to Luke.

This turned out to be a lie in more ways than one. Maybe Anakin was always there, making Vader hesitate at crucial moments, rather than lashing out with his full power.

It’s something I find myself thinking about, after seeing the movies and certain series multiple times.
Yes, I’ve seen them multiple times. I’ve got something in common with Darth Vader; I can be obsessive.

I’ve sometimes imagined having the power to push aside or rip apart anything which stands between myself and what I want. When I was a child, I used to imagine having such power.

As an adult, I sometimes still visualize such an ability vibrating in my entire body, wanting to get out, wanting to lash out.

It’s just as well I don’t have such a power. Such a power could very difficult to stop. You might need others to help stop you.

Perhaps Vader did have those people, even if he didn’t realize it at the time.

It’s something to wonder about.

I was so obsessed with Star Wars as a child, particularly the light sabers. The way they glowed, hummed, and crackled when they hit another saber.

I marvel that this particular universe and story has prevailed, carrying on to generation after generation. My niece and nephews all love Star Wars. They’ve seen all sorts of TV series on Disney+ I haven’t.

Hanging out at my in-laws’s home over the holidays, I saw the first few episodes of Acolyte. Once again, twins are playing a major part in a Star Wars story, only this time they’re identical and both girls.

In a curious way, they’re reminding me of Beth and Kate Kane from Batwoman more than Luke and Leia. They’re closer than anyone, yet divided by allegiences to the Jedi and the coven which raised them.

There is something irresistible about creating a coven of witches in the Star Wars universe. Yes, the Jedi knights exist, but they’re more like a priesthood with a strict code of ethics, not allowing room for wildness. The Sith feel like their shadow, absorbing all their negative emotions, inverting and mirroring their power.

I was wary of being drawn into Star Wars again, because it’s been a powerful obsession in my life. As a child, I collected figures. I was fascinated by Darth Vader, his sheer sinister power; by the fact that he was the father to these slight, white-clad adversaries; Luke and Leia. I was fascinated by how close he was to them, yet opposed.

There had never been anything like that I’d ever seen as a child, your own father being the villain. Now it’s become almost iconic and I jumped on the bandwagon with everyone else, embracing the notion of family as a protagonist’s adversary.

There’s no foe worse than those closest to you, yet Lord Vader is hardly the worst father out there. At least he seems to want his children, even if they’re on the opposite side.

I’ve been drawn to the development of this relationship in the comics; reading some of the ones about Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, enjoying how Han Solo, Artoo (amused at how foul-mouthed the little droid is when he’s not around Luke or Leia), Threepio. Chewbacca, and Lando interact with them; delighting in the addition of characters like Dr. Aphra.

Now we have Disney+. Now I have a chance to try some of those TV series my family have been watching.

Time to indulge.

I keep thinking of a myth I’ve forgotten most of, yet I remember a painting of it. Athena triumphs over Ares, forcing warfare to slink away from the battlefield, giving way to wisdom.

I saw this, long before I ever watched Hercules or Xena: Warrior Princess; where Kevin Smith made Ares sexy and sympathetic, if a very manipulative bad boy.

Ares didn’t strike me as being sympathetic in many of the original myths. He provoked quarrels, violence, and bloodshed. He made the world an unstable, unhappy place.

Athena could outwit him and outfight him, but she had many skills beyond applying her wits to war. She used them to guard, guide, and educate. She was a weaver and a patron of knowledge. She could be a champion for those trying to think of a way out of their difficulties as well as to the mighty.

Athena had flaws, but I marveled at how well-rounded she was. Athena was capable of many things, accomplishing, and helping others to accomplish many tasks.

Ares specialized in one thing; something warriors relished and reveled in, yet also kindled their horror and regret. He spread unhappiness, encouraging other to spread it as well.

I’m thinking of this myth a lot right now. It feels as if there’s been too much war and not enough wisdom.

I’m hoping wisdom will get the upper hand in the world.

Most of my life I’ve taken flights of fanciful fandom.

I’ve lost track of the times I’ve gone to Oz or Wonderland as a child. I’m not sure if I was aware of the concept of fanfic until I was an adult. I imagined, talked, and roleplayed it, driving many people crazy as I dragged them into it with the enthusiasm of an obsessive. I played out crazy crossovers with a mixture of Star Wars figures, Smurfs, and Strawberry Shortcake miniatures.

I enjoyed reading fanfics and visualized my own, not quite daring to write any; not until Amber Diceless Roleplaying Game.

One of the ways to get extra character points was to write a journal for my character. Rowan, daughter of Deirdre (none of the male players got the Anne Rice reference, although they smirked whenever my character was around Martin) was fleshed out exquisitely.

I’ve returned to The Chronicles of Amber while keeping a promise I made to myself during lockdown; to return to the books I loved and write reviews for them. I was one of the few people who enjoyed the Merlin books as much as the Corwin books, although I needed the Corwin books to enjoy them. I needed to get to know Corwin and Brand first to appreciate the hungry holes of need they left in Merlin and Rinaldo’s lives, holes which would be a shared bond between the two young Amberites. I needed to encounter Dara with Corwin; appreciating her with, strength, and ambition to see what Merlin was grappling with, to catch a glimpse of what a forbidden passion as well as a power project the Silver Rose of Amber might be.

I’ve found myself writing fanfic about Dara along with some of the other women of Amber. Flora and Llewella have discovered voices which surprised me. I wonder about Nayda; once a more ambiguous life form being shaped into something more definite as Gail, finding herself trapped in a body. I consider the more sinister impression she must have of Mandor than Merlin does, not to mention Dara. I think of how much she impressed the Pattern, how interesting it would be if the ultimate entity of Order continued a more friendly relationship with this Chaos demon.

I find new characters popping into my head as I chortle over the stoned boys at the Wonderland bar; singing, watching the man paint while the Cheshire Cat grins. I imagine a non-binary bartender named Alys with the blood of Amber and Chaos, yet no knowledge of either Pattern or Logrus. All Alys knows is the mural, reflecting a shifting reality which they’re helping the man create. Sometimes Alys arm-wrestles visitors and borrows the Vorpal Sword to fight bandersnatches. They sport a bandersnatch tattoo, pouring drinks for Merle and Luke when they come to visit. They listen as the two kings get drunk and sing.

I find myself hanging onto Mandor’s every word as he wines and dines Merlin with such charm, courts Fiona, and entertains Jasra; all the while noting his casual mention of the hells he’s personally designed.

There’s so much potential in Amber and Chaos. It’s a creative cauldron of a vast array of worlds overlapping each other, sometimes shifting and changing along with their denizens.

How could I resist?

There wasn’t much anime at FanimeCon 2024. I might have enjoyed some of what was playing at the Doubletree, anime my husband saw, but didn’t get into.

I wouldn’t have wanted to miss the panel on queer fandom. I felt like I was reliving my youth; as significant events and changes were cited over the years.

I remembered my furtive visits to fanfic sites as our panel host shared them in the early 1990s. It was such a guilty pleasure, going to them. I didn’t dare tell anyone about that pleasure, yet I wouldn’t have given it up. At a time when most of the TV shows I enjoyed were pushing the most contrived heterosexual relationships to deny the homoerotic power crackling between many characters of the same gender; fanfiction was like a drink of cool water upon a parched throat.

I remembered all of that as I sat there, listening. I remembered when the world became aware of slash fanfction. Our enemies screamed abuse and did everything to stop up, putting pressure on the sites where slash fanfic could be found to deny readers their passion. I remembered the crushing sense of betrayal when beloved authors sides with our enemies in opposing our passion, making it all the more guilty.

Thank all the powers in existence for Storm Constantine. It made all the difference in the world that she was there for us, supporting us. It made all the difference to me as a writer, having her as a source of inspiration. It still does. Her words live on to generate creativity, even though we lost her.

No way was I not going to mention her when I realized our panel host had never heard of her. I’m going to remind slash fiction readers and writers of her every chance I get. I remember how much it mattered to me when I found her and started reading her. I connected with Storm Constantine’s writing in a way I hadn’t anyone’s other than Anne Rice’s. This was my writing. This was a writer I felt represented me; what was in my heart that I fumbled to express.

It wasn’t just the Wraeththu books; the amazing, post-apocalyptic, androgynous flowering hope they presented to a binary world. It was everything she wrote. I felt connected to everything.

I’m still mourning her loss. I still draw upon her words for inspiration.

We’ve come so far since that time when Storm Constantine first began to inspire me. It’s taken much of my life and all of my youth to become a published author of original stories and poems along with a prolific fanfiction author at Archive of Our Own.

At least I’ve lived to see these things happen. Not everyone is so lucky.

Thank every power for Archive of Our Own. Thank you for being a place where I can post all of these stories; fanfiction for series lost past which still bubble up inside. Like Storm Constantine, you’ve become a haven, an inspiration, and a historical landmark in fandom.

We are all the better for having you.

I’m so glad the Doctor is now asking the question as well.

I have my own theories about the Doctor’s past, the past that the Doctor remembers.
Many believed Claire Bloom was the Doctor’s mother, but I wonder if she wasn’t the Doctor’s father. Perhaps I should say the Time Lord the Doctor believed to be his father. In that incarnation, she was referred to as an angel covering her face in shame. Her posture was similiar to that of a Weeping Angel.

Is that what happens to certain Time Lords; shamed, disgraced, and cut off from the Time Vortex? Do they become Weeping Angels?

As for the Doctor’s mother, the Doctor has said he’s vague on the concept of motherhood. (The Doctor was David Tennant as the time.) He’s also said he was half-human. (The Doctor was Paul McGann at the time.)

The Doctor has also said she has seven grans, the fifth was her favorite, even if the fifth thought the second was a Zygon. (The Doctor was Jodie Whittaker at the time.) I would love to see more of that, even if it’s in a flashback, what with the ruined Gallifrey, but to return to the Doctor’s mother (who might have no relation to the seven grans).

What if the Doctor believed their mother was from Earth? What if the Doctor’s reasons for first coming to Earth (that they can remember) was to find their mother, a human woman they never knew? What if the Doctor was still looking for her, even as they find and connect with many other humans? (This may be why Adelaide Brook, her daughter, and granddaughter touched him in a very personal way in The Waters of Mars.)

The Doctor’s past was revealed to be a lie, but the Doctor’s memories may still feel real to the Doctor. Where did the lies come from? How much truth is symbolically hidden within them? How will the truth continue to bleed through the lies the Doctor thought were the truth?

I hope future episodes of Doctor Who will explore further the Doctor’s memories; the one he has and the ones which were lost. I’m looking forward to what the upcoming episodes will explore.

There’s been a lot of speculation about what classic elements of Doctor Who will return, reinvented.

My own imagination keeps returning to the Rani; speculating on the part she could play if she came back.

What if the Rani was involved in the Time War? What if she designed some of the horrors the Doctor mentioned in The End of Time, Part 2? What if she was the one who resurrected both the Master and Rassilon?

She may be wanted as a war criminal by the Shadow Proclamation, but she may be decorated as a war hero by the High Council of the Time Lords. As far as the latter is concerned, the Doctor may be the war criminal. Rassilon may need her to stay alive. The Master may need her as well, even though he’s reluctant to admit it.

What if the Rani escaped the destruction of Gallifrey? What if she had some hold over the Master and was using him to find the remaining Cyber Masters to rebuild Gallifrey in a shape more to her liking?

What if the Rani was intent on resurrecting other Time Lords, such as Morbius?

What if the Rani knew the Doctor was the Timeless Child or found out? What if she wanted to use the Doctor to recreate the Time Lords or something superior? What if she was searching for the Doctor to do so and decided to use the Master to catch him? What if she wanted to use the Doctor to get to his lost race and universe?

What if the Rani had been part of Division? She may even have been a professional rival of Tecteun, only she became too dangerous and underwent the same treatments as the Doctor, enabling her to attend the Academy with the Doctor and the Master?

If so, if the Rani is far older than the Doctor thought, what if the Rani is the one who created the Master as a deliberate foil for the Doctor, the Timeless Child, one who would challenge and check them? What if the Master’s lust for blood and pain was something ingrained in his creation as much as the drums? What if he was made this way to keep the Doctor distracted from other projects Division might have had? Selecting a childhood friend, someone the Timeless Child loved may have been a coldblooded calculation to play on their emotions.

What if the Rani’s motivation for almost everything she does isn’t that different from Bryan Fuller’s Hannibal Lecter? What if she’s just curious? Her curiosity might both mirror, yet be far more twisted than the Doctor’s.

All of these possibilities could shape the Rani into a distinct and different adversary for the Doctor than the Master, the rival the Doctor shares a strong emotional bond with.

It’s interesting, considering the possibilities.

Once again I’m late to the party, yet falling madly in love with the series once I watched it.

What a beautifully balanced show Sense8 was; expressing trauma and joy, action and fun, intimacy and group dynamics; being hunted, individual loneliness leading to the discovery that no one is ever alone in a series of beautiful journeys eight different people make.

This is the first television series to challenge Hannibal for Number 1 in my regard. Hannibal was the first series I was certain challenged Babylon 5 for my Number 1, although Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Witchblade, and Sherlock came close. How curious, yet appropriate another show by J. Michael Stracynski should take the top space in my regard, not that JMS was alone in writing Sense8. The Wachowskis, whom I’ve only just become aware of, even though I’ve loved some of their movies made this happen as well. I’m starting to look up some of their other works besides The Matrix movies, curious about what else they’ve done.

I had the same reaction to Bryan Fuller, once I realized he was the one behind Hannibal, that he’d also been involved with Heroes and Pushing Daisies. I wanted to find the rest of his work and I loved what I found. Hannibal, however, has a special place in my heart as does Sense8.

I found myself falling in love with all of the characters in Sense8; not just the cluster itself, but those connected to them; how they connected to other. The series felt like it was all about connection; a network of sensates reaching out to embrace others. I loved Capheus’s optimism, Will’s wide-eyed surprise at everything he was encountering, balanced out by a determination to get to the bottom of it, leaving no one behind. Kala’s innocence and intelligence mingled into an endearingly eccentric and strong character who kept evolving and learning. Sun’s wide-eyed waifish vulnerability was a powerful contrast with her physical prowess, leading her to open up with other characters while aiding them their strength. Wolfgang seemed so standoffish and tough, yet a boyish gentleness sparkled in him when he interacted with certain people, kindled more and more when he spent time with his cluster. Riley seemed so fragile and introspective when we met her, communicating more through music than words, yet she rallied at other character’s vulnerable moments, showing a strength which got Will and the rest of her cluster through many a crisis. Nomi was just as vulnerable, yet intelligent and focused, matching Will in determination to understand what was happening, supported every step of the way by her amazing girlfriend, Amanita. Amanita, wow, what a woman, how she rallied to Nomi’s side, never losing her own quirky wit, bringing a little of old San Francisco with her mom, her dads, and her book shop connections. Lito was so melodramatic, yet tender-hearted, made all the more thoughtful by his love for Hernando, the professor who loved art, not to mention Dani, the friend who gave a strong voice to women who love seeing men together and become a loyal ally of that love. Offering opposition was the sinister Whispers, hunting the cluster from its birth. His story, the way wove in with Will’s was fascinating. He managed to say “Hello, Will” with a certain unique intimate menace in the wake of many a Hannibal Lecter, something I tip my hat to him for doing. Whispers and Jonas provided an interesting balance to Angelica, the cluster’s mysterious mother; beginning to weave the network in which Angelica’s cluster would find their places in.

It was a fascinating weave, ending on a satisfying note. At the same time, flights of fanciful fandom took off in many directions, especially as the sensates became more public. Has this cluster come out? Whom have they come out to? Did Kala reveal what she was to her family? (Probably, although her stepfather could be a problem.) Is Sun in charge of her brother’s company now? What will happen to Capheus since the local sensates reached out to him? Will he win his election? Will Lito come out as a sensate as his movie premieres? Will Lito’s former manager regret letting him go? (I hope so.) Does some fragment of Whispers cling to Will’s mind, haunting him? This has the most fanfic potential for me. I would love to see Will give birth to a cluster of his own, yet I’m unclear on how sensates find themselves expecting. The moment Jonas told Will either gender could give birth to a cluster felt like a teaser for Will, of what may happen in his future. I imagined two girls in his cluster having a lot of love for each other they express by fighting each other, causing Will no end of headaches. :)

There are so many delightful possibilities for the Sense8 universe. I’m so glad to have discovered it. Thank you, JMS, Lana, and Lilly for providing this wonderful series.

It’s hard taking flight in fanciful fandom when reality is biting with a painful sting.

I remind myself that I did get to discover and indulge in an old love before sickness invaded our home. My husband got me Ultraviolet, a 1998 vampire series on DVD for our fifteenth wedding anniversary.

To think Stephen Moyer played Vampire Jack ten years before he played Vampire Bill on True Blood. They’re such different series, yet I can see a crossover element in the synthetic blood. The vampires of Ultraviolet were trying to create it. The vampires of True Blood had succeeded in doing so, allowing vampires to come out of the coffin and mainstream.

The undead had far more sinister motivations for the synthetic blood in Ultraviolet or perhaps one could say environmentalist?

I realized that vampires who loved humans and vampires who loved toying with humans might find common ground in opposing these particular undead scientists. Neither would want to give humanity up. A sadistic master vampire and their estranged human-loving fledgling might be united in opposing a threat to humanity, even within their own ranks.

It’s an interesting thought.