Ricean vampires, unfortunately, are condemned to enjoy the Deathsleep which renders them unconscious for the daylight hours. The plus side being: no snoring can wake them! Not that they can snore, since they don’t breathe. But still.
Louis, IWTV: “Numbness came over my limbs, and then the paralysis of oblivion.“
Louis, IWTV: “You see, I wasn’t sure then why I awoke each evening when I did, whether it was automatic when the deathlike sleep left me, and why it happened sometimes earlier than at other times.”
In movie!IWTV, yes, Claudia is awake right at dawn and seems fully conscious, as she tiptoes carefully around the sunlight.
^It was too perfect a moment not to include in a movie about lonely ppl, that singular act of a daughter climbing into bed w/ her mommy!Louis (bc we all know he’s the mom) rather than sleep alone! ❤ And purely platonic at that point in the movie.
There is a fic out there that suggests that Ricean vampires do awaken during the day when they are under extreme emotional duress, and it’s a very disorienting state to be in, they can’t function very rationally, as nocturnal animals also act erratically in daylight.
I sleep in a bed when at home….and mostly when I travel. I prefer it and it is comfortable to awaken in. I do keep coffins in hidden areas of the house, however and these are fail-safes, when I need to feel more secure. The ground or tombs only when there is no other alternative….or I’ve decided that I’ll sleep for a few decades or so.
I have also found that I sleep less now than I ever have before. It is possible that my “promotion” has altered my need for it. During the day, if I am awake, I stay hidden in the dark as much as I can…it stings my eyes less and I don’t have to move around much.
In true slumber, I will murder anyone that I sense to be a threat and this seems to be an unconscious action. I have found that if blood is shared, I’m less inclined to sense them as a threat and kill them. So it is possible to sleep in bed beside me or in my arms…..however, for all intents and purposes, I am dead. Pooled blood, rigor mortis, clouded eyes….all that fun. So be prepared to sleep next to a corpse for several hours.
All at once….but then it is just deafening noise. My preternatural senses have evolved in such a way that they allow me to pick through the layers and find what I want or need to hear. Sometimes I fail if my concentration is broken and that is where my migraines come from.
I had it through the blood of my mother, who had come from those people, the daughter of a Keltic chieftain married to a Roman patrician.
Marius, The Vampire Lestat
I just don’t understand how this works? Could she still be a Roman citizen, even if he defines her as a Celtic ‘princess’? Was she a freed slave? ARgh I need answers!
She was not a Roman citizen. If Marius’ father indeed legally married her, she must have been a freed slave. My headcanon is that he probably bought her on slave market, possibly after some successful military campaign in Galia (don’t bother figuring out if there was any at the time, there probably wasn’t). She was proably super expensive and the guy who was selling her surely made a point of her blood status to get a higher price.
Now, did he marry her before she was pregnant or after? He must have married her before Marius was born, that’s certain. Marius was born as a free Roman citizen so his mother couldn’t have been a slave at the time. I assume his father bought himself a pretty barbaric princess, got her pregnant and decided to free and marry her so his child would be a citizen. Did he fall in love with her? Was there any other reason? Who knows.
Oh definitely! This isn’t exactly what you meant but I remembered this dialogue from Hook, and my hand slipped, you can tell Lestat would be using a very annoying voice here to imitate Claudia:
Just beginning to drift off, there was a soft rapping at my coffin. “Louis?”
Movement was difficult. Rather just stay down. Pretended to sleep.
“Louis, are you awake?”
He wouldn’t let up. “Can this wait ‘till tomorrow?“
A brief silence, and the rustling of fabric. He was probably wringing his hands.
I rallied my strength and pushed the lid of my coffin aside a few inches. “Well, what is it?”
When I saw his face I immediately regretted my tone. Tears wobbled in his eyes, a few red trails of tears already marked his cheek. He leaned back as if to step away.
“Oh, Lestat, I’m so sorry, please, what’s wrong?” I said, opening the lid enough to sit up and reach for him. He hesitated, then knelt down, shivering a little as our hands met.
“I- I miss her. A little girl tonight… I bought her a doll… and she smiled…” He managed, shoulders folding in like a bird’s wings. I was so drained, though, the sunrise was rapidly approaching. “She had sweet little dimples just like… just like…”
“Shhh, get in, here, there’s room for you,” I tossed out a few ragged old pillows I normally used. He was shaking a little as I guided him in, and let me arrange him. I shut the lid and fell back finally as he wrapped his arms around me. “Better?” I looked deeply into his eyes.
“Better.” He nuzzled into my hair. “You smell like her.” He took a few more deep breaths.
“So do you, Lestat.” I gripped him tighter, his hair brushing my face, took in his wholesome scent, and let the darkness take us both.
I-want-my-IWTV 