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Vampire Chronicles - Blog Posts
Louis when Lestat annoys him and he whips out a copy of 'Interview with the Vampire':
Aaliyah as Akasha 🫀 in Queen of the Damned (2002) directed by Michael Rymer
Lestat meeting Lestat
Claudia meeting Claudia
Armand meeting Armand
.......
The stuff of nightmares....I love it!
Book vs Series
Just be clear, the "plotting murder" with Armand is a reference to his inclinations towards homicide in the books. I really like Rashid and I'm very interested in seeing how they adapt Armand's story in this version
Did you hear about that, mother?
Broke her daughter's legs in two
And said it's too dangerous out there to walk
So
I had to save you
An Old Hobby
The quiet you've been longing for
the absolute creature i become when i see this man-
Because series made me to think about this canon again
For years, I was confused about how to feel about Armand's book backstory.
Like. He's from Kyivan Rus', BUT at the same time from 15th century. Kyivan Rus' was feudal monarchy that existed from probably IX (at least we assume so, because it was mentioned under that name in 852, tho it's not popped from the air, you know) to 1240. From ~1240 to 1349 the country was Rus' Kingdom. After that, Ukraine was splitted between Poland, Lithuania and Moldavian principality. Tho, Ukrainians were called Ruthenians (Latin name for former nation of Kyivan Rus') up until 19th century. I've read Beauplan's and Merimee's works about Ukraine, and they call Ukrainians both Ukrainians and Ruthenians.
SO.
When was Andrii (yes, this is how you would pronounce Ukrainian variation of Ανδρεας or Andrew)? He was Ruthen from Kyivan Rus' or he was Ruthen from 14th century Rus' Kingdom? Or he was even later? Book says he was born in 1481. So, later. A lot later.
We also know that he was kidnapped and enslaved by Mongolians. Mongolians entered Kyiv in 1240, it was a 13th century, not the end of 15th.
AND I HAVE A THEORIES.
Vampires live very long. So, probably it could be a mistake. Maybe Armand is simply older. Maybe he was around in 1240. He was just a child back then. Probably centuries later he was like 'yeah that Mongolians they sold me... so... it was... um... 15th century... yes? no?' Maybe it's just miscount. And then he never bothered to fix that.
The book is written by Daniel if I remember correctly. Perhaps Armand was like 'dude I was in orthodox Christian church I didn't know what year it was, I almost forgot my name and appearance in the catacombs under Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra'. And Daniel asked Marius when he met Andrii. And Marius... Well, if you are around for 2 thousand years, you can remember things incorrectly. So, Daniel, who is American and know nothing about history of Ukraine, and Marius who maybe knows something about Kyivan Rus' because it was a huge and powerful country back then just made that. They counted and assumed that it was 1481. And it was wrong.
Armand is a liar. How we can know that his real name is Andrii? Maybe he had a friend who's name was Andrii and Armand stole it. Maybe he was Taras. Or Bohdan. Or Oleh. How we would know? And maybe he never saw Mongols. How we would know? How would Daniel know? Maybe it was just his grand grandmother who told she saw Mongolians and how they burnt Kyiv. And little Andrii (we can say he was a weirdo all along) was just 'wow I want that! how cool it would be!'. And then he was kidnapped. And assaulted. And sold as a slave. And little weird Andrii just wanted a little comfort in his misery and a cool story. And when Marius asked how Andrii was captured, he made up this cool story about Mongols. Maybe in reality it was something more... Common. Dark and common. Everything could happen. Maybe he was sold by his parents, and he denied it. Maybe it was abuse in that church. Maybe he ran away from church and somehow ended up on the slave market.
Actually, I tend to 3rd. Isn't it a western movie where little talented boy paint so beautifully that Prince Michael (Mykhailo II of Chernihiv I assume) orders one of his icons, but on the way he and his father are interrupted by Mongolians. Also, it was said that Andrii suffered an amnesia due to his trauma caused by life in a brothel. He even starts to learn how to paint from the start, like he never knew how to paint before. So, was he at Lavra at all? Was he an icon painter? We would never know. He could just go to the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, point at some old icon and say he drew it.
Or maybe some part of the story is true and some - isn't. I would speculate that Armand had an education. He wasn't a son of a hunter, no. He knew about Mongols. He knew who was the knyaz in 1240. But in 1481 Yurii Paz was knyaz. Mykhailo would be long dead by that time, obviously. So, how would little poor Andrii Ivanovych from 1481 know who was knyaz back when Mongols burnt Kyiv?)) A hunters son could not, he would not have an education, he would not know how to read or write, so history? Oh no, no way.
So, simply, we do not know who is Andrii. Is he Andrii at all? Was he born in 1481? Was he even 17 when Marius was thinking he was? Was his father a hunter named Ivan? Was he an icon painter at Lavra? probably yes and Ann Rice just didn't research enough
I just was thinking about it for years since I have read Vampire Armand. All these years I was wondering how he end up stolen by Mongols in 15th century...
Tho, it would be hilarious to see Armand's icon in Vampireverse Lavra. Imagine that. By the way, Lavra still have catacombs (I was there on tour). Maybe in Vampireverse some of Andrii's friends are there. Literally, their mummies as saints. He would arrive in Ukraine, in Kyiv and like 'oooh let's go see my old friends'. 'Look, Daniel, this is Marko, I knew him. Oh, and this is Illya, he looks better now, actually'. And then he would see his icon. And like... You know how it feels to see your artwork after some time. It's just not that good anymore, you know. You can do better now. Yes, this is how he would feel. It was a masterpiece in 1490s, he painted it for a year and a half. And now he can draw photo-like detailed art on his graphics tablet.
If you read this, thank you for the attention! Love you!
Clodia pretending to be Ukrainian willager working in Kyiv while speaking russian... What a shame.
Tho, it shows western view very accurate. Would an American vampiress know that Ukrainians speak Ukrainian (what a surprise)? Would a nazi know that Ukrainians speak Ukrainian? I think we all know the answer. It would be a dark irony, but I think showrunners eather didn't know...
I'm also very sour abot tolstoy's full screan cameo, but well... At least they showed true ruzzians - how they were through WWII and how nothing changed. But still... It's so westerned. Oooh, look, they kill and torture innocent people, what a fascinating rotten creatures, let's show tolstoy's book.
Still, it would be nice to see Kyivan Armand, as he meant to be in the books. But well... At least they romanticized nazis, not ruzzis. It's a progress...
As a Ukrainian fan of VC, I am very disappointed with the plot twist of the series. Of course, this could be predicted, but I hoped to the last that Armand's Ukrainian origin would be reflected at least in the series. It is very bitter that even in the 21st century, in a series that positions itself as modern and tolerant, Ukraine was again erased from history and canon.
They turned a blind eye to Ukraine. Again. And this is right now, when the genocide of the Ukrainian people and culture is taking place. They play up the narrative of a non-existent Ukraine, a Ukraine that invisible to the world.
As a Ukrainian fan of VC, I am very disappointed with the plot twist of the series. Of course, this could be predicted, but I hoped to the last that Armand's Ukrainian origin would be reflected at least in the series. It is very bitter that even in the 21st century, in a series that positions itself as modern and tolerant, Ukraine was again erased from history and canon.
They turned a blind eye to Ukraine. Again. And this is right now, when the genocide of the Ukrainian people and culture is taking place. They play up the narrative of a non-existent Ukraine, a Ukraine that invisible to the world.
So fans of Anne Rice have probably heard of the new series being made on Interview with a Vampire. I did not have high hopes for this from the start for many reasons. I'd seen so many adaptations and remakes absolutely screwed that at this point it never excites me to hear one is being made. The more I heard about the changes that were being made the more disappointed I was.
I saw nothing wrong with changing Louis's race as it seemed to fit the time period and story. Then I heard about the changes made to Claudia's character and I was pissed. The whole point of Claudia is that she is forever trapped in a child's body while her mind ages. Changing her age to late teens completely erases everything about the character and that entire storyline. It's a pointless change and it takes away the originality of the story.
This last change just made me sad. It recently came out that this series confirms Louis and Lestat's relationship and will heavily rely on sex between them. Now I was actually very happy to hear about the relationship confirmation (I've always shipped them so this was awesome news) but what disappoints me is the sex part. In Anne Rice's series the vampires cannot have sex. Now maybe they changed this because they thought it would draw more people in or maybe it was for representation. Either way it upsets me because this was the perfect opportunity for some asexual representation. It was right there! They wouldn't have had to change anything! To have an asexual relationship represented in something so well known would have been huge! Instead they actively chose to change that part of the lore and its sad. Asexuality is already barely represented and when it is its often poorly represented so to see this choice made when we were so close to something awesome is just...disheartening.