No, they don’t really date in canon *cries* You gottaread between the lines!
[^from Mad Magazine. Date night used to involve getting all dolled up, sharing a nice French “wine” and then pretending to eat dinner and this is where alot of my sense of humor originally came from btw]
They had a very intense and rocky beginning that seemed to skip over the dating phase directly to marriage, then parenting, and then the separation for around 100 years.
I wouldn’t say they “date” in canon in the conventional sense of the word. There are certain moments they have together like that heartbreaking little scene when they met the night before Lestat’s concert (TVL), and another time when Lestat drags Louis against his will to go pester David Talbot for the first time (QOTD) 😛
…But in a more general sense, they do sort of Netflix and chill together. From Tale of the Body Thief:
“It’s amazing how often he came to visit me in my overheated and brilliantly illuminated rooms downtown. There he watched my giant television screen for hours. Sometimes he brought his own films for it on disk or tape. The Company of Wolves, that was one which he watched over and over… There were many other films which delighted him. But these visits could never be commanded by me, and they never lasted very long. He often deplored the “rank materialism” in which I “wallowed” and turned his back on my velvet cushions and thickly carpeted floor, and lavish marble bath. He drifted off again, to his forlorn and vine-covered shack.”
You’d think, for one of the fandom’s main ships, there would be more of it explicitly canon. There just isn’t, sadly. Part of why it’s such a tough ship is that AR just does not let us have much in terms of fluff of them! It mostly happens off-screen. Which is where fanfic steps in to satisfy that need ;]
“Master, don’t let me ever make you angry. Don’t let me ever–.” “No, Amadeo, be my challenger, be my questioner, be my bold and ungrateful pupil.” He looked faintly sad. He pushed me gently. He gestured to the coffin. The purple satin damask shimmered. “And so I lie in it,” I whispered, “so young.” – Marius and Armand; The Vampire Armand Personal Vampire Armand Aesthetic part 2 Model: Kirill Nikolini
“She laughed. Or rather she started to laugh, and she stopped as if she
weren’t allowed to laugh. What a gay and interesting little get-together
this was going to be!…
The dark-eyed female
was enthralled. I winked at her. She would have been gorgeous if
someone had thrown her into a waterfall and held her there for half an
hour and I told her so silently.” – Lestat re: Eleni, The Vampire Lestat
Marius appreciates Louis for his human tenderness, his empathy, and Louis comes to Marius for paternal support. When they play strategy games like cards or chess, they’re among the best-matched opponents in the coven. Pandora’s at their level, too. All three have excellent poker faces.
Marius finds Louis aesthetically appealing but doesn’t have any romantic intentions towards him, but even so, he can’t help but be curious about “upgrading” Louis. For how it might enhance Louis, but also possibly bc the act itself, the intimacy involved, is kind of tantalizing to think about ;]
There’s fic out there that Louis has occasionally modeled in the nude for Marius’ paintings ;}
Canon quote under the cut.
Marius re: Louis, when he’s consoling him that Lestat is still alive, in Queen of the Damned:
“He smiled at Louis. Something in the manner of this one made Marius happy, though he wasn’t sure why. He beckoned for Louis to come to him and they met at the foot of the table and walked together out of the room. Marius put his arm around Louis’s shoulder and they went down the iron stairs together, through the damp earth, Marius walking slowly and heavily, exactly like a human being might walk.
“ ‘And you’re sure of it?’ ” Louis asked respectfully.
Marius stopped. “ ‘Oh, yes, quite sure.’ ” They looked at one another for a moment, and again Marius smiled. This one was so gifted yet not gifted at the same time; he wondered if the human light would go out of Louis’s eyes if he ever gained more power, if he ever had, for instance, a little of the blood of Marius in his veins.
…Then he embraced Louis again warmly. Just a little blood, and Louis might be stronger, true, but then he might lose the human tenderness, the human wisdom that no one could give another; the gift of knowing others’ suffering with which Louis had probably been born.”
Louis – @merciful-death’s Louis has a black cat named Harriet (#headcanon accepted!). She leaves him dead mice often, and according to Lestat (@devilsfool): “She hunts them to try to feed you. She’s convinced that you are a terrible hunter.”
I also see Louis as being visited frequently by a big stray tomcat, and Lestat doesn’t approve of this one either bc MORE CAT HAIR ON VELVET FURNITURE. Velvet is very cat-hair-ophillic. This cat doesn’t have a name but Louis calls him by a lot of baby names (”Mon chou,” “Sir Fluff,” “Kitten,”) and Lestat calls him by a lot of rude names (”Hairball,” “Trashface,” “Loaf”). This cat actually followed Harriet to their home one night, and he likes to nap with her when she allows it.
Lestat – I know you didn’t ask about Lestat but I have to include him a little more! According to @annabellioncourt, “Lestat was also a canon dog person, and while there are people who love both (hi) I think with Lestat’s constant need for validation he’d be a total dog person.
Like no cats at all.
He hissed back at Louis’s cat once.
Lestat almost always has a dog, and he has meticulous memory of all the dogs he ever had.“
^#headcanon accepted.
Daniel – Lizards! Frogs! Snakes! Reptiles in general. Also insects. He has a big pinned collection, featuring gorgeous butterflies and buprestidae. Lestat loves this collection and goes to reptile houses with Daniel on occasion. They both love cobras.
Armand – I can’t find the canon evidence but I’m pretty sure he had big fancy aquariums on Night Island.
[X] Armand is truly fascinated with owls, owls are totes his spirit animal, deceptively powerful in their small size. Their symbolism for intelligence and careful planning. And y’know, they’re basically "flying pillows filled with seething hatred.” like Armand!
Hit the jump for a bit more.
Marius had taxidermied animals:“giant stuffed beasts mounted in lifelike attitudes – the brown bear, the lion, the tiger, even the elephant standing in his own immense chamber, lizards as big as dragons, birds of prey clutching dried branches made to look like the limbs of real trees.” -TVL
Marius also had a “giant aquarium, the great room-sized tank” filled w/ “rare and beautiful tropical fish” and caged birds. – QOTD
Claudia loved birds, especially small ones. She likes songbirds especially. She also loved rabbits but more for their fur than their personality.
Yes, definitely! Lestat wears makeup often, typically at least guyliner (black or dark blue) and a lightweight (as in, not too “gluey”), organic lipgloss, with a rosy tint. Neither of them typically wear makeup that’s very scented or flavored, since they find those pretty chemically distasteful.
It’s canon that Lestat wears violet shades much of the time, which are not opaque, tinted just enough to diffuse a little of the dazzling effect of his eye color but allow the artistry of his makeup to be visible.
Louis will not put on makeup unless Lestat requests it, but does admit that it gives him an otherworldly quality. He prefers a light smokey eye and a hint of blush.
Despite his strenuous efforts to improve, Lestat is not as talented at drawing winged eyeliner, so whenever he wants that look he has to ask Louis to do it for him. Lestat also really enjoys playing w/ metallic powders [X]:
Sometimes Lestat will see a look in a work of art, magazine, or movie, and he wants to try it out on himself or Louis. He’s copied several of David Bowie’s looks. Some nights they both get all glamorous in order to better entice victims (murderous transphobic/homophobic bigots are a favorite dinner).
Louis’ first makeover was done by Claudia(fanart by @obsessional-ram!), and he resisted at first, but it was a battle he couldn’t hope to win as she pushed him down to her level and began applying foundation and eyeshadow primer. She went for an orchid-inspired look, w/ pastel shades and then deepened the contrast with his eyes with teal green and gold eyeshadow colors, a cool-toned smokey overlay, mascara, and warm lavender blush. A deep berry lip tint completed the look.
She also braided tiny light-colored flowers into his hair, and put him in one of the maid’s dresses.
When Lestat came out of the bath, where he had been for about an hour, he was struck by the enhancements and made some mumbled excuse as to why he needed Louis’ attention immediately… and privately. Claudia was very proud of herself for producing such a positive reaction, even though on the surface she kicked and complained at being thrown out of the house on an obviously unnecessary errand “Go get us more… ah… matches! From across town!”
The very next night, Lestat had her try out bold eyeshadows and powders on himself ;D
In canon, Lestat wears makeup at least for camouflage:
“I covered up my blue eyes, as always, with black glasses, lest their radiance mesmerize and entrance at random – a real nuisance – and over my delicate white hands, with their telltale glassy fingernails, I drew the usual pair of soft gray leather gloves.” – Tale of the Body Thief
“Ah, a bit of oily brown camouflage for the skin. I smoothed the lotion over my cheekbones, over the bit of neck and chest that was bare.” –
Travis Fimmel was once a big VC fandom choice for playing Lestat, and this gifset reminded me why. Look at all that menace and delight all wrapped up together! And he looks great spattered with blood. Really brings out his eyes.
“You little bastard, ” he said coldly. “You didn’t kill eight wolves! ”
His face had an ugly disgusted look to it. But the remarkable thing was
this: Almost as soon as he spoke these words, he realized for some
reason that he had made a mistake. Maybe it was the look on my face.
Maybe it was my mother’s murmured outrage or my other brother not
speaking at all. It was probably my face.– The Vampire Lestat
Also he gets an axe accessory in Prince Lestat, so there’s that, too! Would probably be about that size bc he can wear it inside his coat inconspicuously.
Yes, there are definitely more VoC (vampires of color!) in VC, I only made an example of one, so as not to spoil that anon too much, as they are just starting the series 😉
Decided to compile more facts here about David’s appearance for future reference, bolded mentions of his skin.
In
Tale of the Body Thief, David describes him:
“ ‘Mother an Anglo-Indian, which may
explain the exceptionally beautiful complexion you’re describing, and which I can see here plainly enough.
Father a London cabbie who died in jail.’ “
Lestat describes him AT LENGTH in TOBT so I just picked a few relevant bits:
“…thick, wavy brown hair.” … “…brown eyes and smooth youthful mouth.”
“The thick glossy hair, the
uncommonly smooth and satin like skin. The exceptional beauty.”
“He was a little taller than I am, six feet two, I
figured, and he was extremely well built, as I’d seen before. I’d been right about the age. The body couldn’t
have been more than twenty-five years old.”
“… The fabric of the
turtleneck shirt showed his muscles to great advantage, and the clean white cotton made his skin seem all
the more richly colored, almost a dark golden brown.”
“… Indeed, late adolescence had only just completed itself in this young male form, though I hadn’t
thought about it before. It was in every sense only just finished, like a coin with the first clear impression
stamped upon it and not a single tiny scratch of true wear.”
The short answer is: Yes, there are PoC vampires in VC (”VoC,” right? Vampires of Color?). There aren’t many in the recurring character cast but they’re in the series! Here’s one in
Queen of the Damned:
“Davis was a black Dead guy and one damned good-looking black Dead guy,… His skin had a gold glow to it, the Dead glow which in the case of white Dead guys made them look like they were standing in a fluorescent light all the time.”
Have I ever imagined what they looked like? I think that was a pretty good description, because other than the “gold glow,” I would describe a PoC vampire like I would a PoC person, with the features that they have!
[^X] Akasha is an Egyptian VoC, described in the novels as having porcelain white skin, and this is a point of contention in the VC fandom, that AR has whitewashed her. I don’t have a stand on this but I very much like the way that it was handled in movie!QOTD.
It’s worth noting that there is a debate as to what color the Ancient Egyptians’ skin really was, and I added a bit from 2 articles under the cut which might be of interest to you.
Akasha is also very old, and Ricean vampire physiology involves the lightening of the skin over time. This is another point of contention in the VC fandom, again, it appears on the surface to be AR whitewashing a PoC.
I would suggest that the draining of pigmentation is due to the lack of exposure to sunlight, as we can see in examples in nature of subterranean animals who have evolved over time to be light-colored.
Subterranean fauna are animals that have adapted to live underground… troglofauna are associated with caves and spaces above the water table … Adaptations to the subterranean environment include a heightened sense of hearing, touch and smell[1]… and loss of under-used or unnecessary senses, apparent in the lack of pigmentation and eyesight of most subterranean fauna.
^So maybe AR drew a little from there. Why a lack of pigmentation? I found an interesting study/article (In the Light of Evolution: Volume IV: The Human Condition) on that, too, which points to the lack of sunlight as the cause:
Observers beginning with Hippocrates in the fifth century associated human traits and temperament with the environment and recognized that skin color was part of this package (Isaac, 2004). The association of dark skin pigmentation with intense sunshine and heat was further developed by Aristotle and his followers as part of a comprehensive “climatic theory,” which related human features, dispositions, and cultures to the environment.
…The evolution of light pigmentation at high latitudes has long been related to the significance of production of vitamin D in the skin under conditions of reduced sunlight (Murray, 1934; Loomis, 1967).
^I would suggest that the vampiric parasite is always working on converting its host into a better vampire (and less of a mortal) cell by cell, and the process is accelerated too much by the UV rays in sunlight, which causes their skin to burn. Being unable to tolerate the discomfort, the vampire skin gradually drains of color due to lack of exposure to sunlight.
The rate at which they lose pigmentation and how much pigment is lost varies by individual. It’s also possible that some vampires retain a skin color that is similar to their mortal skin color. It’s not an exact science.
There are also examples of vampire skin becoming darker after surviving exposure to sunlight.
Hope that helped! Hit the jump for stuff about Egyptian skin color.
…ancient Egyptians didn’t really perceive themselves as either “black” or “white.” Just look at the above painting from Pharaoh Seti I’s tomb. The top right group, with the palest skin are Libyans (Berbers), the next one over to the left are Nubians, followed by “Asiatics” (Mesopotamians). The bottom central group are Egyptians. By their own perception Egyptians were neither particularly dark nor particularly pale, and given their xenophobic attitude towards outside cultures (which was fairly common for most ancient peoples) they would probably resent being sorted into either “race.”
So why does this matter? Why is it important that we acknowledge the Egyptians don’t fit into our constructed dichotomy of black vs. white, of European or African?Well, for one thing many modern Egyptians find it kind of offensive. Despite their modern self-identification as Arabs, most Egyptians still feel a strong claim to the historical legacy of their ancient forebears and find it pretty annoying when American scholars (and, black or white, it is mostly Americans) try to pigeonhole the pharaohs into one racial category or another for political purposes.
The race and skin color of Cleopatra, the last pharaoh of the Greek Ptolomaic dynasty of Egypt, established in 323 BCE, has also caused frequent debate.[46] For example, the article Was Cleopatra Black? was published in Ebony magazine in 2012,[47] and an article about Afrocentrism from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch mentions the question, too.[48] Scholars generally identify Cleopatra as of Greek and Persian ancestry, based on fact that her Greek Macedonian family had intermingled with the Persian aristocracy of the time. However, her mother’s identity is uncertain,[49] and that of her paternal grandmother is also not known for certain.[50]
Part I: The Coven Master, owner of the Théâtre des Vampires (1700s)
“[…]I saw a small figure appear. Compact it was, the figure of a young boy, not a man. […] And the creature was not human. […] His face was shining white, and perfect, the countenance of a god it seemed, a Cupid out of Caravaggio, seductive yet ethereal, with auburn hair and dark brown eyes.”
I-want-my-IWTV 