one of my fave parts in tvl was when lestat beat the shit out of armand and like five mins later was all like “oh my the poor thing. he’s so pretty, better help him”
I think the body’s original owner is described as Anglo-Indian, a term that makes me think of the British Raj, though Wikipedia says it’s still in use today.
I’m pretty sure that’s a derogatory term, Anon. *tsk tsk*
True, the ethnic appearance of that body certainly drew Lestat’s interest from the beginning, and now it holds a caucasian’s soul inside.
For what it’s worth, the first time that body is described (I did a quick search so this may not be the first time, oh well), the skin color isn’t even mentioned:
“Yes, there stood the same tall, powerfully built body, and the hair was the same thick, wavy brown hair…How his large brown eyes glittered. And what shining teeth he had.” – Tale of the Body Thief
Anyway I don’t have time to go find more quotes describing that body’s appearance but you get the idea.
David Talbot probably had/has difficulty adjusting to the racial reactions he gets from this adopted ethnicity. It was hard enough adjusting to being young again. The looks an old white man gets are certainly not the looks a young – did we ever find out his actual ethnicity? I can’t remember – ethnic man gets.
In theory, yes, I suppose we can get tattoos. Granted, it would be a great deal tougher on the artist considering how hard they would have to press just to break our skin. Depending on how old the immortal is, it may not work at all. Ultimately, however, the ink would be rejected by our bodies, and by morning the tattoo would be gone entirely.
Lestat here. And this time, I’m going to answer two questions. The first is from Bridgett Davenport: “Lestat, excluding vampires, who is the most interesting non-human you have met?” —- I would say the ghost of Roger whom I encountered in “Memnoch the Devil.” Roger was the first of my victims and maybe my only victim ever to come back from the dead to talk to me in ghostly form. He terrified me (temporarily anyway), and fascinated me. This was my first real experience with ghosts and how ghost “incarnate.” I don’t want to think of any of my other victims coming back to haunt me, ever. I have come to no first conclusions as to what Roger’s visitation actually meant. —- Second Question: From Elise Miller: “Lestat, you’ve seen so much and lived through so many years of human turmoil, does the current state of humanity irk you, or do you pay little attention to it?” — It’s the opposite, Elise. I’m in awe of the current state of humanity, the inventiveness, the imagination, the technological knowledge, the artistic fertility, and the huge areas of the globe that are at peace. I’m more than ever optimistic about the future of humankind, and all the more sad that I can witness human progress but never be part of it. But I’m an optimist by nature, I must admit. I’m profoundly grateful that I’m able to watch all this from the sidelines, and glory in the new music, the new art, the new humanistic philosophies being developed all the time.
