![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
L is for Louis and Lestat
Apr. 13th, 2018 08:21 amIt’s impossible for me to choose between these two vampires. The two are interwined, part of the essential power, pathos, and humor which drew me into Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles.
Louis drew me in from the first few pages where he terrified and charmed the mortal boy listening to his story. That story became more and more vivid as he poured his emotion, conscience, and memories into the narrative about losing his brother, falling prey to a vampire, and becoming a vampire himself. Paul, Lestat, Babette, Claudia, Morgan, and Armand all became vibrant, full-fleshed characters through his narrative, along with the many victims and almost victims whom crossed his path.
I didn’t truly see Louis himself, visualize Louis as a character until I saw him through Lestat’s eyes.
What I saw was beautiful. The narrative he’d given, giving everyone else weight through his emotions while hiding himself was given the final impact by Lestat himself. Lestat urged us all to look a little more closely at his companion. He didn’t always tell the truth.
One of the things Lestat pointed out above all was how beautiful Louis was. Louis himself wasn’t truly aware of this. The final touch of pointing out Louis’s gentleness, his physical beauty, and his flaws breathed the spark of life which had been missing from Louis’s own narrative.
This spark affected my own aesthetics, shaping my romantic sensibilities. I’ve had a passion for gentle, green-eyed bishounen ever since Louis. Sumeragi Subaru of Tokyo Babylon, X 1999, and Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles rekindled this affection. How appropriate that Subaru should become a vampire in Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle. Athrun Zala of Gundam Seed had a measure of this as well. I even created my own original soft-spoken, green-eyed beauty, Leiwell of my Tales of the Navel/The Shadow Forest series. Like Louis, Leiwell is a lot more dangerous than he looks. :)=
I wouldn’t have this complete picture of Louis, though, if I hadn’t seen him through Lestat’s eyes. Besides, let’s face it, we can’t talk about Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles without talking about Lestat. He’s the heart and soul of the series, the impetus that keeps it going with his impetuous behavior, perpetual curiosity, and his habit of falling in love with whatever and whomever is around him. Lestat does the daring deeds, breaking all the rules vampires should follow. He’s flamboyant, vain, tempermental, and just plain fun. He’s also passionate, romantic, and throws himself with reckless abandon at whatever and whomever takes his fancy.
Once upon a century, that someone was Louis. Lestat found him, drained him, and returned to give the Dark Gift to Louis. An almost dysfunctinal marriage between the two vampires sharing an unlife together. They even raised a vampire child for over half a century.
That particular marriage appeared to end when the vampire child rebelled and attacked one of her undead fathers. It wasn’t over between Lestat and Louis, though. This became heartstoppingly clear when Louis returned to Lestat after Lestat related his own story to the world, the story he hadn’t been able to tell Louis before.
Their reunion in The Vampire Lestat is one of the most romantic scenes I’ve ever swooned over. It’s what turned me into a lover of m/m, delivering a fatal blow to my timid teenage homophobia. It set me on the path of being a supporter and writers about LGBTQ+ relationships and a slash fan, even if I didn’t realize it at the time.
Lestat and Louis’s relationship has always been rocky, yet powerful. It never fails to keep me glued to the page up to the most recent Vampire Chronicle, Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis.
Thank you, Lestat and Louis for changing my life with the sensual, intense power you bring to your stories. Thank you, Anne Rice, for creating two of my favorite characters and one of my favorite pairings. As a ‘tender teenager’ you inspired me. As a woman in my mid-forties, you continue to inspire me, sending me on flights of fanciful fandom and the deep unknown of originality.
May your vampires and their bond be eternal.
Louis drew me in from the first few pages where he terrified and charmed the mortal boy listening to his story. That story became more and more vivid as he poured his emotion, conscience, and memories into the narrative about losing his brother, falling prey to a vampire, and becoming a vampire himself. Paul, Lestat, Babette, Claudia, Morgan, and Armand all became vibrant, full-fleshed characters through his narrative, along with the many victims and almost victims whom crossed his path.
I didn’t truly see Louis himself, visualize Louis as a character until I saw him through Lestat’s eyes.
What I saw was beautiful. The narrative he’d given, giving everyone else weight through his emotions while hiding himself was given the final impact by Lestat himself. Lestat urged us all to look a little more closely at his companion. He didn’t always tell the truth.
One of the things Lestat pointed out above all was how beautiful Louis was. Louis himself wasn’t truly aware of this. The final touch of pointing out Louis’s gentleness, his physical beauty, and his flaws breathed the spark of life which had been missing from Louis’s own narrative.
This spark affected my own aesthetics, shaping my romantic sensibilities. I’ve had a passion for gentle, green-eyed bishounen ever since Louis. Sumeragi Subaru of Tokyo Babylon, X 1999, and Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles rekindled this affection. How appropriate that Subaru should become a vampire in Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle. Athrun Zala of Gundam Seed had a measure of this as well. I even created my own original soft-spoken, green-eyed beauty, Leiwell of my Tales of the Navel/The Shadow Forest series. Like Louis, Leiwell is a lot more dangerous than he looks. :)=
I wouldn’t have this complete picture of Louis, though, if I hadn’t seen him through Lestat’s eyes. Besides, let’s face it, we can’t talk about Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles without talking about Lestat. He’s the heart and soul of the series, the impetus that keeps it going with his impetuous behavior, perpetual curiosity, and his habit of falling in love with whatever and whomever is around him. Lestat does the daring deeds, breaking all the rules vampires should follow. He’s flamboyant, vain, tempermental, and just plain fun. He’s also passionate, romantic, and throws himself with reckless abandon at whatever and whomever takes his fancy.
Once upon a century, that someone was Louis. Lestat found him, drained him, and returned to give the Dark Gift to Louis. An almost dysfunctinal marriage between the two vampires sharing an unlife together. They even raised a vampire child for over half a century.
That particular marriage appeared to end when the vampire child rebelled and attacked one of her undead fathers. It wasn’t over between Lestat and Louis, though. This became heartstoppingly clear when Louis returned to Lestat after Lestat related his own story to the world, the story he hadn’t been able to tell Louis before.
Their reunion in The Vampire Lestat is one of the most romantic scenes I’ve ever swooned over. It’s what turned me into a lover of m/m, delivering a fatal blow to my timid teenage homophobia. It set me on the path of being a supporter and writers about LGBTQ+ relationships and a slash fan, even if I didn’t realize it at the time.
Lestat and Louis’s relationship has always been rocky, yet powerful. It never fails to keep me glued to the page up to the most recent Vampire Chronicle, Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis.
Thank you, Lestat and Louis for changing my life with the sensual, intense power you bring to your stories. Thank you, Anne Rice, for creating two of my favorite characters and one of my favorite pairings. As a ‘tender teenager’ you inspired me. As a woman in my mid-forties, you continue to inspire me, sending me on flights of fanciful fandom and the deep unknown of originality.
May your vampires and their bond be eternal.
