I don’t think that’s a paradox at all! Gabrielle could have a lab somewhere in a rural little town, w/ internet access and equipment to study whatever natural phenomena she likes, and I bet she would have preferences for sleeping in different kinds of soil, the different textures and scents. Maybe with the vampire Eleni at her side…
She loves the act of climbing out of the earth every night, like a plant pushing it’s way up, killing her breakfast, and then rinsing off in a stream or waterfall…
♠(Louis) Mais, oui, fire burns even in humid places. Where there’s a will, there’s a way, as they say. Lestat thanks you for the birthday wishes, by the way, and we did have candles, and no one was injured. It’s insulting that people have this perception that I burn things accidentally, believe me, it’s almost never an accident. Or perhaps they are aware that’s it’s done on purpose…
It isn’t humid here year-round, but yes, we love the heat, we love the flora and fauna that love the heat, many things are different, more sultry, in the dead heat of summer. Although I do visit other places, I wouldn’t trade New Orleans as my true home for anywhere else on earth.
As for my hair and the humidity, well, even as a mortal my hair was not very affected by the elements, and it isn’t now. My sister and mother on the other hand, they were always at war with the damp air during the summer months. It was a source of great amusement for my brother and I.
♛ Merci, visage gris. It was a long night, with different chapters, always one of my favorite nights of the year. We drink in the revelry of everyone dressed as their favorite monsters and characters… and there are always at least a few extra of “me” strolling around NOLA every year.
This is also the one night of the year I can truly smile widely, show my fangs, and get compliments on how very real they look, and which fangsmith did I get them from? I’ll answer, always with a little bitterness: “Magnus, but he’s long since retired.” I’ll allow admirers to touch them, if I’m in a generous mood.
Sometimes the coven gathers together at a costumed ball for just ourselves, or we’ll decide to throw a charity ball and invite our mortal friends. This year Louis and I stayed in NOLA and spent it doing our own thing.
I don’t carve pumpkins, but Louis does, he’ll do the simple toothy smile style, to let the kids of the neighborhood know we’re open for business, but we also love going to carving contests to see what the truly talented artists can do with just knives and vegetables.
Years ago, we found our pumpkins unceremoniously destroyed, and the culprit in the courtyard, none other than our dearest Mojo, still licking the innards of his victims off his muzzle! After that, we fed him
pieces of raw pumpkin as a treat whenever they were in season, and set the pumpkins for display out of his reach.
I shook Louis awake earlier than he’s accustomed to so that we could catch as much of the parade as possible. He knows this is the annual drill so he kept his complaints to a minimum. Rushing through the flat, throwing on whatever, there’s little time to dress up, as the parade begins very close to sunset. No matter, there would be three wardrobe changes later on… We caught up with it on Canal.
After that, we dressed up for the trick-or-treaters, and handed out candy at the flat, of course. Candy corn? A strange invention, and some say it tastes awful, but you have to realize there has always been candy that’s been seen as lower-class or disgusting, especially for those who can afford better. I buy it anyway, it’s pretty and smells pleasant.
Louis dressed as a black cat, complete with ears and tail (a costume he recycles far too much) and I, being a witch, got into a heated debate with a precocious little bat-child about which Hogwarts house I belonged to. Louis intervened, gave the child a full-size bar of something she wanted, and shooed her away. At any rate, it’s not resolved.
We changed into the more adult costumes for the clubs and bars, and played the game of chasing eachother from one to another, picking up dinner in the midst of the crowd, no death delivered tonight, a taste of a delicious David Bowie here, a bite of a sexy nun there. Louis says I have a preference for religiously-costumed people, and he’s very right. Holy water for my evil little soul!
For the third costume change of the evening, well, I’ll leave that to your imagination, but it was back home, an intimate moment together *winks*
It was a long time coming and a bit more experimental for me— but a request from @i-want-my-iwtv of Louis suffering a trip with Lestat through the air~
#PERFECT JUST PERFECT
(Lestat loves the excuse of having Louis cling to him for dear life, and even though Louis finds the experience very disorienting and cold!, they both love the gorgeous view of the landscapes <3)
♛There are many people out there who never should have been parents. I’m sorry that your mother is the way she is. Louis’ mother was like this, too. All she could see was his flaws. She was so disappointed with the way her life had turned out that her self-worth was built on bullying everyone around her into almost obsequious obedience.
Take heart in knowing that you’ll be free of your mother eventually, free to go out and find people who will love you! People who will see your flaws but love you anyway. People who will want to help you improve in the ways you want to improve, and accept you in the ways you don’t. As you’ll do the same for them.
Hell, I’m far from perfect! But did I deserve the treatment I got from my father every time I wanted to improve my lot in life? It was the way things were at that time, and that’s the way things continue to be for so many people, even in this modern age. Trying to understand the reason why people behave the way they do may give you some perspective and closure. In so many cases, it’s a deep insecurity that causes people to be cruel to their children. I’m guilty of that.
Your parents are just people, too. If it seems like all they do is try to tear you down, without any intention of helping you improve, do not let their disapproval seep into your own opinion of yourself. Life goes on so much longer than your upbringing, you have plenty of time and opportunity to find love and happiness.
Thanks for the compliments on my blargh! *u* I try to answer asks thoughtfully and respectfully and expect the same consideration back from whoever reads my answers ^_____^
As always, #your headcanon may vary, bc we’re talking about fictional vampires, they are not people. Whether you consider them to be people in their own world is up to you. For me, I see them as ex-people. They share a supernatural parasite that gradually eats away at their mortal parts, replacing it with its own immortal substance, perfecting their host bodies to its own design. So they exist beyond the definitions of sex and gender for me.
I do not believe the vampires are canonically capable of penetrative sex but do I love fanart/fanfic/RP where they have penetrative sex? YES, YES I DO, MORE PLZ. Have I commissioned such fanart of it for myself? Y E S. Will I commission more of it or write my own in the future? YOU’RE GOTDAMN RIGHT I WILL. I love the creativity of the fanon interpretations and I will support these ideas forever.
According to Lestat vampires don’t feel sex drive,
I don’t recall anywhere in canon where Lestat says that vampires do not feel a sex drive. He has described himself as a sensualist, and we know he falls in love easily. I think that they do feel a sex drive, just not in the genitally-penetrative sex way (not the most eloquent phrasing there but I can’t think of another way to put it; “PIV/penis-in-vagina” just doesn’t apply to most of our gay ships).
Turning vampires seems to be their ultimate “sexual” act that they can perform, bc it is equivalent to pregnancy (a fledgling is being “born to darkness”), and it is always described primarily as the sharing of the Blood between maker and fledgling. I headcanon that Lestat loves the act of performing this, and that’s partly why he has had SO MANY FLEDGLINGS. So I believe that they still do feel sexual lust, it’s channeled through the experience of taking/sharing blood, and other sensually physical things.
In fanon there is a wide spectrum of whether they can have genitally-penetrative sex, some even speculate that their um… output… would be very bloody. There is fanart/fanfics/RP/etc. in which they can have that kind of sex, and ones in which they cannot.
in The Tale of the Body Thief one of the things he wants to expierence when he has a human body is sex because he says this is something he can’t do with his vampire body.
^This is up to every reader’s interpretation, and yes, in my opinion, Ricean vampires in canon cannot have penetrative sex. My main evidence for them as being unable to have genitally-penetrative sex comes from [hit the jump for spoilers].
AR has written alot of other novels with genitally-penetrative sex being an important factor, so I doubt it was an oversight in denying it to her vampires. If you want to go by her as the authority on her novels, and many ppl do, she posted definitively about it when asked about Daniel and Marius in PL:
AR does not go into much further detail than that, even in canon, other than the fact that the sharing of blood is more intimate for them than than simple mortal penetrative sex. Part of why she chose this may be to avoid the issue of pregnancy the way mortals do it; a baby cannot grow in undead flesh, y’know?
TL;DR: Personally, I headcanon them as unable to have genitally-penetrative sex. There are human couples who are unable (or do not want) to experience genitally-penetrative sex, and they can still be sexually intimate with each other in other ways. So it’s partly in how you define sex and intimacy.
But in his book Armand mentions that he had sex with Marius several times.
Armand was mortal for some of that book, and Marius did sexual things with him, but not genitally-penetrative sex. After Armand is turned, Marius and Armand have an intimate moment with a mortal woman together, but again, it is not genitally-penetrative sex for them.
My main evidence for them as being unable to have genitally-penetrative sex comes from:
Louis’s description of sex in IWTV:
Claudia asks Louis about sex in IWTV, and he replies that it “‘…was something hurried…And… it was seldom savored… something acute that was quickly lost. I think that it was the pale shadow of killing.’”
^He’s talking about it as occurring in the past, I think he means when he was mortal. Here he says it’s not equivalent to the act of taking blood from a victim, sex is a lesser experience for him.
Lestat’s description of his non-functioning Priapus in QOTD:
“I studied my reflection … and the organ, the organ we don’t need, poised as if ready for what it would never again know how to do or want to do, marble, a Priapus at a gate” – Lestat, Queen of the Damned
^This quote has been interpreted over and over again as meaning many things, one of which being that the vampires have a permanent boner, which I disagree with. I highly doubt Louis, someone with a lot of dignity, would be fine with walking around for eternity with a permanent boner. I blame this misunderstanding on the translators who translated “poised” to “erect” in various other languages.
I interpret that quote as meaning that his Priapus is just “waiting.”
and Pandora’s description of Marius’ non-functioning (but very hard) dick in her book. Pandora wants Marius to sex her up on their ‘wedding night’ and he can’t do it, but they try, awkwardly:
He covered me and kissed my cheek. “Drink from me,” he said, “drink until the pain goes away. It’s only the body dying, drink Pandora, you are immortal.“ “Fill me, take me,” I said. I reached down between his legs. “It doesn’t matter now.” But it was hard, this organ I sought, the organ forever lost to the god Osiris. I guided it, hard and cold as it was, into my body. Then I drank and drank, and when I felt his teeth again on my neck, when he began to draw from me the new mixture that filled my veins, it was sweet suckling, and I knew him and loved him and knew all his secrets in one flash which meant nothing. He was right. The lower organs meant nothing. He fed on me. I fed on him. This was our marriage. –Pandora
I think AR is telling us that in order to be immortal, a great sacrifice must be made. Not just outliving your loved ones, food and drink, sunlight, and your appearance being altered. For many people, sex is as necessary to life as eating and breathing. To give that up for eternity is a huge sacrifice, but, you do get super powers an immortality. Fair trade?
♠Oh, but he does go along with my “escapades.” Quite often. His ghostwriter just doesn’t write about it in his books. Few realize that ours is not the one-sided relationship it may appear to be on the surface.
What I consider “special” might seem mundane to others. This year, I was grateful to have Lestat with me, as there were many years without him. Each year he asks me what I wish for, what physical objects he can give, places we might go. He wants to know if I want a coven gathering or to just keep to ourselves. I usually choose the latter, but I receive cards to our P.O. box from the coven from all over the world. How do they know it’s my birthday? I’ve never even met some of them.
Every year I’ve been able to do so, I tell him I’m content to just have him with me.
Despite my reticence to ask for anything, he always finds an object that has some meaning to me, perhaps an early edition of a favorite novel with the author’s notations, or he will make a “happening” in which we awaken to a string quartet playing works from one of my favorite composers in our candlelit courtyard. He won’t force me to dance; we curl up together in a rattan chaise, with pillows and plush blankets, to enjoy the music.
After that, he sometimes blindfolds me and we take flight to some other destination. This year, we went to Portland’s Rose Test Garden in Oregon. Roses of so many different colors and scents, some more like citrus, others more like honey… it was a truly unique experience.
We stayed there in the garden for two nights, where I expressed my appreciation to him. I won’t go into more detail on that. Some nights, we sleep in the dirt, as if we were a part of nature. Lestat gently excavated me on the second night, waking up with the film of good clean dirt was almost like a rebirth. Seeing his face with the backdrop of the starry night sky, his hands carefully wiping my face clean as he spoke gentle words to me, that was a special gift.
So as always, #your headcanon may vary but these are my headcanons…
Personality: She is perceived by other characters as cold and reptilian bc for the most part she refuses to go through the motions of civilized discussion, it all feels superficial to her. In not engaging that way, other characters might struggle to get to know her, but few would call her “shallow.” They know she doesn’t perform for anyone. She absolutely CAN be warm and effusive and physically affectionate when the stars align when she wants to be. She’ll crack a smile at coven gatherings! She has a sense of humor and often makes a beeline for Daniel, he always has a fresh joke ready for her. She is actually more intimidating than Lestat, and few can withstand her undivided attention for very long.
I headcanon that her Mind Gift was very strong as a fledgling, and rather than try to tune out all the mental radio waves bombarding her, escaping into untamed nature w/out anyone in it was the obvious solution. The cold never bothered her anyway.
Prey: We would love to project onto her the image of an avenging angel like her son, specifically targeting men that resembled her husband, but in the end she tolerated him, she didn’t have the urge to go back to the Auvergne to get sweet vengeance on him. She felt like Lestat was wasting his time to go back and take care of his decrepit old father, but she didn’t have any moral objections to it.
Hit the jump for more, cut for length.
Since Gabrielle spends most of her time in the wilderness, I headcanon that she’s more interested in hunting large wild animals than people. She may come upon lost tribes, too, but in those situations I imagine she just takes the weak or elderly to put them out of their misery, but never children. Gabrielle is probably one of the only vampires in the coven who has never killed a child.
When she is in a more civilized place (like when she’s visiting the coven), I headcanon that she’s more of a Louis-style vampire; taking those who cross her path, more bc she just wants to get it over with than any other reason (Lestat finds this distasteful in her case bc she should know better!, but completely reasonable for Louis). Gabrielle does not enjoy toying with human prey but she loves a fight with a grizzly or a panther.
Shipping: You asked me this awhile back, and I think that answer still stands. As AU, sure, #ship all the ships!, but in my headcanon I don’t really ship Gabrielle with anyone. If I was forced to choose…
Gabrielle/Eleni would be my primary ship for her bc I think their personalities would mesh well, Eleni has a well of inner peace, really, the patience of a saint, so she wouldn’t be possessive of Gabrielle. Neither would be too demanding on each other, but they would be drawn together based on similar interests at first (SCIENCE) and find each other disarming and sweet and the love would be natural.
There’s no denying there is something intriguing about the Gabrielle/Lestat ship, and I don’t see it as completely taboo bc after she’s turned, she’s his fledgling, which (for me anyway) effectively
cancels out the fact that she was his biological mother. They will always be drawn to each other bc noone else is truly like they are, they learned how to vampire together, and relied on each other in those early years. I see it as 95% psychological and 5% bloodplay (she taught him his first bloodkiss!) and does not involve any penetrative sex. NONE AT ALL. But we can still tease him about his Oedipus complex ;]
I-want-my-IWTV 