From Pandora– I choose to interpret that proposal like her father said:

In the spirit of the season, I made this picture of The Vampire Pandora for a friend not on tumblr. <3 I really wanted to be extremely indulgent and draw a pretty roman lady with a sunset, so this Pandora when she is still mortal, pre-Dark Gift.

𝖁𝖆𝖒𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖒𝖇𝖊𝖗 𝕯𝖆𝖞 𝕺𝖓𝖊

Prompt: Pantheist Characters: Pandora, Marius Rating: T Word Count: 860 Is it only 12:32 AM where I'm at? Yes. But I told y'all I was antsy for Vamptember to get here so here, have this.

The resin hisses as it catches, bubbling on the hot coal. Cinnamon, frankincense, myrrh, rosemary. The smoke is thick and fragrant, hanging heavy in the air. Two hundred years later and the protocol remains the same; clean hands, clean clothes, palms up in supplication. 

Over my shoulder I feel him glaring and consider it better than the pacing he had done while I made my preparations. Pulling my focus back to my task–cinnamon, frankincense, myrrh, rosemary–I take a deep breath and begin my prayer. Aloud. 

To annoy him. 

“Noble Akasha, Mother of our kind, I pray to you, I do you reverence. I ask your grace and favor that you might allow us to continue to care for you. May you know the sincerity of my request by this offering–” I hear him turn on his heel, start up the stone steps into our house, going to get the offering, “--that we give; may it find favor with you.”

I bend forward and kiss Her foot, the skin hard and cold beneath my lips. Footfalls above, footfalls on the stairs behind me, slow and stumbling. I continue.

“Divine Akasha, may you be well, may you look kindly upon us. I ask that you might continue to favor us. May you know the sincerity of my request by this offering that we give; may it find favor with you.”

“What’s the meaning of thi–” The drunk man is cut off, shoved roughly–too roughly, Marius still upset with my display of pomp and circumstance–to the floor. I feel him land beside me, struggling to shuffle into a seated position.

I kiss Her foot again, reverent. 

Breath held, I wait a moment to see if she’ll move. Marius’s grip on my elbow is tight, pulling me off the floor. But I resist him–his blood and Her blood strong in me, making me able to resist him for just a moment before I give in and allow myself to be moved. Pulled back towards the stairs, back through the smoke where it’s thickest–cinnamon, frankincense, myrrh, rosemary. 

The offering rises, stumbling towards us. He makes it three steps before Marius and I are suddenly halfway up the staircase, past where it bends. He thinks we’ve disappeared into the smoke, figments of his imagination or perhaps ghosts. He is uncertain, too confounded by panic for rational thought. 

Marius tugs at my arm again and again I resist him, listening to the noises coming from the temple below with baited breath. She does refuse them, from time to time. I never know why. 

She doesn’t speak to me anymore. 

If this were the temple of Isis, I could wait for another Priestess to draw Sortes to see if we have won Her favor, if we have pleased Her.

“She is not a Goddess.” Marius hisses into my ear as if reading my mind. I’ve not bothered to make my devotion secret–the thrill of having something to pour so much of myself into that actually reacts to my worship in tangible ways. I had craved this with Isis, had thrown my whole being into my time at the temple when I was there and had gotten very little–aside from a sense of community with the other women, which I cherished–in return. 

Nor is she yours, I think, about to air my grievances when a scraping sound rings out below us. My heart leaps and with Marius now distracted by the noise, I wrench my arm from his grasp to descend a few steps–just enough to peek around the corner at the now screaming offering. 

The wind goes out of me. It is Enkil who has risen from his throne, his stone-like face blank and unknowable, his hand rising to crush the back of the man’s skill in his fist ending the annoyance his presence has become. I watch our somnambulant Father move slowly back to his throne and take a seat and wonder not for the first time just how present he truly is. We rarely notice he’s moved. He has never spoken to either of us. Is he aware enough to have grown sick of the drunkard presence? Or had Akasha told him to end her irritation? 

I hear Marius sigh over my shoulder, knowing in my heart that he too is disappointed that our offering has been rejected. My anger flares as he takes my elbow in hand again and I whirl on him. 

I’m momentarily taken aback by just how wary he looks and nearly give up my anger until I remember I am the source of his discomfort. 

“Hypocrite,” I hiss, “You act as though I don’t watch you cut flowers for her. Dress her lovingly. You think because I cannot use the Mind Gift on you that I don’t know you speak to her silently? I see you rub perfumed oil into her arms. You are just as devoted as I, and yet you have the gall to despise me for it?” 

He gives me a withering look before releasing me. I hold myself back from stomping up the stairs and instead ascend as calmly as possible, above him and above his duplicity. 

No Place for Grief

No Place for Grief on ao3.

Bianca Solderini & The Vampire Pandora my beloved… they should kiss more often.

@vamptember

So you’re new to the Vampire Chronicles fandom:

Long post. I know I’m not “known” in the fandom, but I’ve been a lurker and popping in here and there and I just want to share my thoughts. I’ve been a fan since 2004 and this is a very special series to me. I know with IWTV coming soon, there is going to be a huge influx of people. That’s not a bad thing. There has been a lot of people join the fandom recently. A couple things: A lot of the fans are older, but there is a lot of diversity in terms of age and background. Just don’t be surprised to find people over 25 here. Yes, they exist. Scary, we know. The books and the show are extremely different and NOT just based on the changing of race. The setting/time frame, the characters’ ages,  backgrounds and what appears to be some personality traits have also changed so be aware of that when exploring. Even from the trailer, the Interviewer, Daniel, has a completely different age and background. Louis’s personality is already different in some ways from what we’ve seen and his background has changed. Some of these changes are huge and it’s okay for people to point out these changes as long as they aren’t racist,sexist, homophobic and generally creepy about it. I can’t believe I have to say that but this is a horror series. Characters are going to do things that are “problematic” like murder or intimidate, abuse or threaten, or stalk. That is the point. That is a horror series. No one should at all think these things are ok and most people who watch the movie or read the show already know that, yet this still seems to pop up anyway.  The Anne Rice Vampire Chronicles are the most famous vampire books after Dracula, of course it’s going to have all the dark elements to it. But I find it ironic people give the vampires from resident evil a free pass for doing the same thing that Anne Rice’s vampires do  I hate using the word problematic, but I’m using it to quote what I’ve seen.  It’s thrown around constantly and this risks losing meaning . The fandom knows that unfortunately, there are definitely some issues with the series, Anne Rice herself and a few additional ones with the tv series. Racism has zero place in the fandom. This is something that I’ve seen burst through the roof.  People say Lestat and Louis are “problematic” - well yes, that’s the point the books are trying to make. They love each other despite their issues. Again, this is a horror novel about vampires discovering their monstrosity while trying to balance humanity. They’re complex. There aren’t too many “Good vampires vs bad vampires” until later and those vampires that are bad are extremely obvious.  Lestat is an example of this for Louis and Louis has his own “problematic” moments with Lestat.. However, my statement from above changes a bit  with some of the race changes some aspects of the relationship are being looked at through a new lens which does lead to some concerning ideas. We’ll have to wait til we see the show for sure as that does change the dynamic of the relationship, but overall, no one should be viewing this as a healthy relationship and Louis is already clear on that. 

Another example: One of my most interesting ships is between a 500 year old vampire named Armand and Daniel. (Who is the name of the interviewer and is actually a 32 year old who was turned into a vampire instead of an old man.). The relationship can be dark and has abuse, too but the way its written is that Daniel has just as much power in his own way making it a very interesting read.He fights back and can be nasty, too. Yet, some parts are strangely sweet in some aspects. Just because I find the dynamic interesting to read about does not mean I condone something as messed up as Armand/Daniel’s relationship. Never in a million years. This attitude should apply to many aspects in this fandom.  Too many people are getting into the series “just for the gay shit”. Come on. There isn’t an issue with enjoying mlm relationships, but fetishization and watching a show just because “you want to see gay vampire fuck” is your prerogative, but it’s shitty because the series is so much more than that and characters shouldn’t be reduced to just their sexualities. (Btw, Anne Rice's vampires don’t have sex, fyi.) So that’s just a few things I thought I’d point out. I understand not everyone will agree with me, but any sort of abuse will be blocked immediately.

Y’know, every now and again, I think we like to have a picture of Marius and Pandora that’s nice and precious. 

This is meant to be after Blood Communion, in Lestat’s court. The clothing of Marius and Pandora during this period is described as being vaguely ancient Roman, with Marius favoring red robes and Pandora wearing long earth-toned dresses with veils. 

Shout out to a random photo of the palace of Versailles (ie: Chateau de Lioncourt) for giving them somewhere to flirt. 

Annotations on Pandora, Part 2

It's interesting how we see the Roman view on their new autocratic society. At the time Pandora was alive Romans still remembered the Republic.

It makes sense that Pandora would be surprised that her father is killed without a trial, as with Germanicus as well.

It modern times we tend to think of past societies as barbaric, that anyone could just do whatever they wanted if they were powerful enough.

Remorsefully, David Talbot

Queens of the Damned 2024: masterlist ~ reines des damnés by enbylestat

Full collection here.

1 - all dolled up: this I learned by watching you.

2 - sapphicism: no place for grief.

3 - m.ommy k.ink: yes maman.

4 - siren: Found a Pearl.

5 - femme fatale: Loveliness we share.

6 - p.egging/f.emdom - Escapade with The Vampire.

@vamptember

meet my new character , Pandora, my excuse to draw women in suit

She is a Vampire Hunter, Diana’s pain in Ass and stubborn grumpy kid(28yo)

QUEEN OF THE DAMNED (2002) Dir. Michael Rymer

𝖁𝖆𝖒𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖒𝖇𝖊𝖗 𝕻𝖗𝖊𝖘𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖘...

Join us in celebrating the many wives, mothers, lovers, and daughters of The Vampire Chronicles!

In honor of International Women’s Day, Vamptember will be hosting a 3-day mini event taking place the weekend of March 8th to shine a spotlight on Anne Rice's beloved female characters and/or the female versions of your favorite male characters! 🥰

Create fic, art, playlists, moodboards, headcanons, meta, and anything else you can think of that centers the beautiful, brilliant, dynamic ladies of TVC! Base it on the books, the movie, the show, the musical, or even that other movie! Canon or AU!

𝕽𝖚𝖑𝖊𝖘 & 𝕲𝖚𝖎𝖉𝖊𝖑𝖎𝖓𝖊𝖘

Each day has FIVE PROMPTS in case one doesn’t speak to you! There's SFW and NSFW options to chose from but be as creative as you want! Pick one or combine them or rearrange them, it's up to you!

Genderswapped and trans versions of canonically male characters are welcome!

The event isn’t femslash exclusive with regards to NSFW content but it is highly encouraged!

As of March 6, our ao3 collection is live!

Tag your posts #vamptember so that we can reblog! If your post isn’t showing in the tag please don’t hesitate to DM it to us!

𝕿𝖊𝖑𝖑 𝖞𝖔𝖚𝖗 𝖋𝖗𝖎𝖊𝖓𝖉𝖘 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖘𝖍𝖆𝖗𝖊 𝖙𝖔 𝖘𝖕𝖗𝖊𝖆𝖉 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖜𝖔𝖗𝖉! 𝕯𝖆𝖎𝖑𝖞 𝖕𝖗𝖔𝖒𝖕𝖙𝖘 𝖇𝖊𝖑𝖔𝖜 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖈𝖚𝖙!

[prompts & graphics by @lovevamp 💕]

𝖁𝖆𝖒𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖒𝖇𝖊𝖗 𝕯𝖆𝖞 𝕿𝖍𝖗𝖊𝖊

Prompt: Bathed Characters: Pandora Rating: Mature Words: 2049 He's following his next victim. He doesn't know he's met his match.

Read Here

(Text on this graphic pulled from the lyrics of the song "Bleeding Baroness by Candlemass)

Pandora and Marius (Commission) A birthday gift for @monstersinthecosmos from @hekateinhell and @apoptoses 💖💖💖

Random fantastic details from Armand’s descriptions of the remaining vampires. 

@monstersinthecosmos and I were talking and she dug up this exchange Anne had with someone on Fanpop back in the day, concerning vampires' love and sexuality. There were quite a few fascinating tidbits but these are my favorites:

I see them [vampires] as transcending matters of gender or age. Lestat loves Louis. Louis loves Claudia. Armand loves Lestat. Lestat loves Gabrielle. There is no distinct difference in the quality of any of these loves. This has also been described as polymorphous sensuality.

"--- Armand is desperately in love with Lestat but it has nothing to do with sex. Armand feels Marius failed him and Marius feels Armand failed him, and that part has nothing to do with sex. Marius and Pandora, that is a love affair, but again sex has nothing to do with it. So they are all capable of loving people of their own gender and the other gender; gender doesn't matter. It's the essence. Lestat loves David Talbot as a lover, a friend, a mentor, a father, etc. --- It goes on like that. The act of dominating and drinking blood can happen between any two characters regardless of gender. They cannot be pinned down. They see all life as potentially beautiful and all forms of love as rewarding."

X

I'm verklempt at the fact Anne mentioned Armand and Lestat in the same vein as Armand and Marius and Marius and Pandora, but also I love how much she emphasizes that they can cannot be pinned down and all that forms of love are rewarding!

It's just such a revolutionary way of thinking especially when you consider that she was a woman born in the 1940s in the American South. She may have missed the beat on some things but on others, she was right on the fucking money.