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 š
Decided to compile more facts here about Davidās appearance for future reference, bolded mentions of his skin.
In
Tale of the Body Thief, David describes him:
ā āMother an Anglo-Indian, which may
explain the exceptionally beautiful complexion youāre describing, and which I can see here plainly enough.
Father a London cabbie who died in jail.āĀ ā
Lestat describes him AT LENGTH in TOBT so I just picked a few relevant bits:Ā
āā¦thick, wavy brown hair.ā ā¦Ā āā¦brown eyes and smooth youthful mouth.ā
āThe thick glossy hair, the
uncommonly smooth and satin like skin. The exceptional beauty.ā
āHe was a little taller than I am, six feet two, I
figured, and he was extremely well built, as Iād seen before. Iād been right about the age. The body couldnāt
have been more than twenty-five years old.ā
āā¦ 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.ā
āā¦ Indeed, late adolescence had only just completed itself in this young male form, though I hadnāt
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.ā
The short answer is: Yes, there are PoC vampires in VC (āVoC,ā right? Vampires of Color?). There arenāt many in the recurring character cast but theyāre in the series! Hereās one in
Queen of the Damned:
āDavis was a black Dead guy and one damned good-looking black Dead guy,ā¦ 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.ā
Have I ever imagined what they looked like? I think that was a pretty good description, because other than theĀ āgold glow,ā I would describe a PoC vampire like I would a PoC person, with the features that they have!
[^X]Ā 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 donāt have a stand on this but I very much like the way that it was handled in movie!QOTD.Ā
Itās worth noting that there is a debate as to what color the Ancient Egyptiansā skin really was, and I added a bit from 2 articles under the cut which might be of interest to you.Ā
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.Ā
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.Ā
Subterranean fauna are animals that have adapted to live undergroundā¦ troglofauna are associated with caves and spaces above the water table ā¦ Adaptations to the subterranean environment include a heightened sense of hearing, touch and smell[1]ā¦ 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 āclimatic theory,ā which related human features, dispositions, and cultures to the environment.
ā¦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.Ā
The rate at which they lose pigmentation and how much pigment is lost varies by individual. Itās also possible that some vampires retain a skin color that is similar to their mortal skin color. Itās not an exact science.
There are also examples of vampire skin becoming darker after surviving exposure to sunlight.
Hope that helped!Ā Hit the jump for stuff about Egyptian skin color.
ā¦ancient Egyptians didnāt really perceive themselves as either āblackā or āwhite.ā Just look at the above painting from Pharaoh Seti Iās tomb. The top right group, with the palest skin are Libyans (Berbers), the next one over to the left are Nubians, followed by āAsiaticsā (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 ārace.ā
So why does this matter? Why is it important that we acknowledge the Egyptians donāt 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 motherās identity is uncertain,[49] and that of her paternal grandmother is also not known for certain.[50]
ā*stretches out on the couch* How Iāve missed answering questions for you darlings. Been nearly a month. Louis and I have been off the grid.
Weāre back now, for the time being. Heās sitting beside me now rolling his eyes at your comment, but Iām defending you! His hair is absolutely –Ā positively –Ā amazingly beautiful, although not as gorgeous as mine, of course. Mine is more of an experience than a simple physical material.Ā
You know, now that Iām reflecting on it, his hair looks most sexy when itās wet, either damp from the misty rain we get in New Orleans, or when itās made almost liquid in some secluded pool rigged with lighting under the surface. He likes to swim under water, and when his head rises above the surface, the way his hair sweeps forward around his neckā¦ itās almost as if it moves under his command, as part of his own personal brand of witchcraft. Very sexy when itās sticking in vein-shapes to his flesh from bloodsweatā¦ *flicks at his fang* Now youāve got me drooling. How embarrassingā¦
*Adjusts position, wipes at his chin, composes himself* Of course he lets me brush his hair! Louis prefers a wide-toothed comb or finger-combing. He dislikes the chemical fragrances of your usual modern haircare products, but every so often I earn the reward of sharing a steaming hot bath in which I am permitted to lather his hair up with organic shampoo and conditioner. Lately, he prefers these almond or mint scented.
I tend not to brush my hair often, as it separates the twists, but I do love to have it pulled when we are engaged in that special kind of heated debateā¦ And fortunately for me, he loves to pull it.Ā
Louis knows the LOTR trilogy by heart and heās read all the books. He likes to try to sneak quotes in when possible:
The whole coven agrees that theyāre all beautiful films, theyāre modern classics in a way. The LOTR movies are watched more often at coven gatherings than the Hobbit movies, but more because of the story and characters than the cinematography Louis has a not-so-secret crush on Aragorn that everyone likes to tease him about!
Louis knows all kinds of obscure trivia, and has debates about them with Armand, who has also read them all. Lestat, feeling left out of these discussions, tried to read the books and fell asleep repeatedly. He mispronounced the names of characters and places a few times and refuses to try to read them again for fear of further ridicule.Ā
Armand is very into the hobbits themselves as creatures and has gone to New Zealand with Daniel more than once to check out Hobbiton.
Glad that response clarified things and that youāre sticking with it. I really appreciate your followup message!
Just because you read something doesnāt mean you endorse it. When things get too squicky for me, IĀ āeat aroundā them, like youād eat around the bruised areas of a banana. A whole banana is not ruined by a few bruises for me, but I can understand and I donāt judge if it ruins it for others.
Iām sorry that you may have to stop reading the series.Ā
Whether there is pedophilia/incest in the novels depends on your definition of those things, and also your headcanons about the characters.Ā
Low-level spoiling here as a kind of trigger warning:
Incest: Technically, almost every vampire is made by a vampire to be their companion. Makers and fledglings have a parent-child relationship because of the nature of the Dark Gift. So every relationship that continues from that point is technically incestuous. Louis is Lestatās child in this way.
The person who commented in that thread was probably referring more specifically to Lestatās relationship with his mother, Gabrielle. While they do not have penetrative sex, they are far more intimate than a mother and son should be. I wonāt spoil it further for you. You have to read TVL.
Pedophilia: There are several underage fictional characters throughout the series and they are sometimes spoken of in a sexualized manner (Claudia, for example), and/or have non-consensual, dubiously consensual, and consensual sex (well, a child cannot truly give consent, you would have to read The Vampire Armand to better understand the consent from the underage characters) with adult fictional characters.Ā
If those topics make it difficult for you to enjoy the books, then I think you might consider not reading them further.
āā¦ Fiction is how we both study and de-fang our monsters. To lock violent fiction away, or to close our eyes to it, is to give our monsters and our fears undeserved power and richer hunting grounds.ā
āI donāt understand.ā How many times have you read that in conjunction with a violent act?
āI donātunderstand why he did it.ā Or āI donāt understand why this happened.ā Sammy Yatim, shot dead and then tasered by police on a Toronto streetcar, and even the chair of the Police Services Board asks, āHow could this happen?ā
ā¦.Here in Britain, our weakling government is attempting to launch a web filter that would somehow erase āviolent materialā from Internet provision ā placing it, by association, in the same category as child pornography. Every week seems to bring a new attempt to ban something or other because itās uncomfortably or scary or perhaps even indefensibly disgusting.
ā¦.we generally demonize violent acts and violent work. We make them Other, and we just distance ourselves. They are Other, and they didnāt come from us, and weāre just going to stand over there and shake our heads sadly. And, moreover, anyone who gets closer to it in order to experience or understand it must be a freak.
ā¦The function of fiction is being lost in the conversation on violence. My book editor, Sean McDonald, thinks of it as āradical empathy.ā Fiction, like any other form of art, is there to consider aspects of the real world in the ways that simple objective views canāt ā from the inside. We cannot Other characters when we are seeing the world from the inside of their skulls. This is the great success of Thomas Harrisās Hannibal Lecter, both in print and as so richly embodied by Mads Mikkelsen in the Hannibal television series: For every three scary, strange things we discover about him, there is one thing that we can relate to. The Other is revealed as a damaged or alienated human, and we learn something about the roots of violence and the traps of horror.
ā¦ Fiction is how we both study and de-fang our monsters. To lock violent fiction away, or to close our eyes to it, is to give our monsters and our fears undeserved power and richer hunting grounds.ā
^Not sure why he only has one lens in, maybe those light ones made it hard to see? IDK WE MAY NEVER KNOW *cries* But in the novels, it was Armandās idea to dress Lestat up for this trial, being overly glamorous emphasizes the sharp contrast between the clothes and his physical grossness, since Lestat was always so vain about his appearance ;A;
I actually donāt really track any tags *embarassment* I trackedĀ #vampire chroniclesĀ when I started out here but thereās too much in that tag for me to keep up with. Same with all the character names š
But! Your ask has inspired me to track these tags below, and I encourage others to use them, respectfully:
#VC fandom loveĀ – for those moments when the fandom is extending positivity and other happy messages ā¤ If you havenāt sent one in awhile, do the thing! Send it anon if youāre shy.Ā
#VC fandom hunters– for those seeking others to connect with in the fandom.Ā
#Free VC Advertising/Ā #VC Free Advertising– this is for when someone has inspired you to buy/read the books in the series, or watch/buy the movies that have been made, basically, reasons why a blog has actually promoted the material.Ā
^Why does this matter? Because fanworks and discussion are sometimes blamed for decreasing consumer interest in a given copyrighted work, and if someone has encouraged your interest in theĀ
copyrighted work, it was essentiallyĀ *~FREE ADVERTISING,~* which is the OPPOSITE ofĀ ādecreasing consumer interest.ā Good defense.
(You can also tag me as #iwantmyiwtv,
#i want my iwtv, and #i-want-my-iwtv, I track those and check sometimes.)
I-want-my-IWTV 