I feel like the reason certain dog-lovers insist cats are evil is because they read their body language as if they were dogs. So here’s a very basic guide to common “mean” things cats do that actually aren’t mean at all if you know what they’re thinking.
Rolling and exposing belly- attacks you when touched
Does not mean: Give belly rubs! – haha I tricked you!
Actually means: I’m playful! If you reach for my belly I’ll grab your arm and bite it because I think we’re playfighting!Lazily exposing belly – still attacks when touched
Does not mean: tricked you again!
Actually means: I’m showing you my belly because I trust you. Please don’t break that trust by invading my personal space. I might accept a belly rub if I’m not ticklish and I know you well.Snapping at you while being pet
Does not mean: I suddenly decided I dislike you!
Actually means: You’re petting me in a way that gives me too much restless energy. Please focus on petting my head and shoulders instead of stroking the full length of my back next time.Is in the same room but makes no attempt to interact
Does not mean: I’m ignoring you
Actually means: We’re hanging out! I’m being respectful by giving you space while still enjoying your company.Slapping/scratching your hand when you try to pet them
Does not mean: I hate you!
Actually means: You’ve failed to establish that we’re not playing, or the way you’re approaching me scares me. Be calmer, speak more gently, make eye-contact and blink slowly at me before you try again.I’m sorry but if I need a pamphlet to understand cats, I don’t want them
Would say the same about a human? Doubt it.
My dad always says “cats are just humans too” and that actually a really good thing to keep in mind. No, cats aren’t human but they have preferences and wishes that they can’t communicate to us using words so they use actions.
It’s no different to a person trying to communicate their own needs but not knowing how to phrase them.
If we make an effort to understand, we’re rewarded with trust and love.
It’s that easy.
Tag Archives: psychology
Sometimes I hate that I love Lestat
Because the Lestat I love isn’t the one Anne’s interested in writing. The Lestat I love isn’t an infallible, untouchable prince whom everyone falls in love with at first sight. He’s a fuckup who never stops trying.
I love the Lestat who came out of an abusive home and still wanted desperately that there was good in the world, and that he could be a good person. Who wanted to make people happy and who was desperately in love with his depressed as fuck proto-hipster boyfriend. Who lived as a queer man without shame.
I love the Lestat who had panic attacks about death and the unknowable enormity of the universe.
I love the Lestat who was a victim and a survivor, who was moved not to exert his power over others but make sure they didn’t suffer like he had.
I love the Lestat who tried to take care of his loved ones even when he was spectacularly bad at it, who wore his heart sincerely on his sleeve and lived in terror of his loved ones throwing him away because they didn’t need him anymore.
I rooted for the Lestat who realized the enormity of the wrongs he did to Louis by keeping him ignorant and by indulging his need to be needed. I loved the Lestat who was willing to show all of his fears and his fuckups in print, when his whole life had been dedicated to pretending he was untouchable, just to apologize to the man he loved.
I loved a Lestat who was allowed to be wrong, to be punished, to be humbled and rejected and keep going. Whose bravado and bluster was a cover for a sincere heart, not a hard and empty shell. The Lestat I love isn’t a rapist, an autocrat, a power hungry monster. He had countless flaws, but he was meant to fix them, not wait around for the universe to concoct a reason why his bad behavior and disregard for others’ agency is okay.
I don’t know where that Lestat went. But I miss him.
in response to your personality and birthday posts, knowing the characteristics of ENTJs, Lestat pretty much fits the bill. (Natural leader, charismatic, energetic, confident, strong willed, stubborn, arrogant, impatient, domininant, cold/ruthless…) Lestat and Armand both fit as scorpios (intuitive, passionate, driven, jealous, manipulative, sexual, secretive, resentful, leaders) and Louis (probably) fits as a libra (patient, detached, romantic, gentle, diplomatic, tactful, smart, changeable).
Wow, thanks for this! Lestat seems to be pretty in line with the traits associated with ENTJs you’ve listed there. Louis seems very much like a libra as you’ve described it, too.
It makes some sense if Armand is ENTJ too, I think some of his friction w/ Lestat is bc they are more alike than they might like to admit.
Which character from the series would you say is a ENFJ?
I haven’t studied the MBTI personality theory well enough to do this, so I can’t say 😛
[^X] I’ll open this up to everyone else to answer, tho!
Also, I think it could be interesting if ppl take the Personality Test in a character of their choice and let me know the results, and see if multiple ppl get the same result for specific characters. Do the thing!
(But I also feel like applying human psychology may not be so easy to do to vampires… they are people first and vampires second, but we know that the way they experience and process emotions changes post-turning. It seems like their emotions are especially volatile as fledglings for some amount of time.)
Hello, it’s me again. Have u ever heard of Eneagram of personality? I think Lestat is Enthusiast and Louis is Individualist. Don’t u think so? What about other vampires? What kind of personalities they have, in ur opinion?
Ummm, I’ve never heard of Enneagram of personality before! I went on Wiki for answers, and I’m still not really clear on it… but anyone is welcome to comment/reblog this post with their ideas re: the character’s alignment on it.
^Gluttony (in the Enthusiast category) would definitely be a vice for Lestat, tho.
I feel like ppl who see Louis as predominantly Melancholy (and ”Fantasizing”, on the chart), well… he is melancholy at the beginning of IWTV, and he’s always been more of an introvert than Lestat, but his revenge on the TdV, and then his rather icy breakup w/ Armand,
…and as canon progressed, I guess I see his strength and dignity such that I don’t see him as all that melancholy anymore. If anything, I see him as more of a Peacemaker, bc that is what he did for 65 years in NOLA. He wanted peace of mind so badly. And I think, over time, he found it in pursuing intrinsic goals and not looking to anyone else to validate his existence.
Hi, do you think that Lestat could have or could have had bipolar depression? Or is it more of a vampire trait that some of them sometimes bury themselves underground, and don’t have the will or the strength to go on? Thanks :)
The short answer is Yes.
I think vampires going underground is a metaphor for when people need to withdraw from society and practice self-care. A kind of convalescence. I think that’s why AR has made such a big point about it, in terms of vampire physiology, that those who suffer physical/emotional damage and then go underground for periods of time end up much stronger for it. Same can be said of people, right?
Oh absolutely, Lestat could have bipolar depression, or manic depression, at the very least post-traumatic stress disorder… he had a very abusive childhood (and some fanfic speculates he had a history of sexual abuse as well as emotional & physical abuse).
The reason and manner in which Lestat was “given” the Dark Gift would be considered rape, as well, so even if his mortal life had been relatively normal, it wouldn’t be surprising if he developed stress-related emotional issues and coping mechanisms bc of that experience. Plus a lot of other traumatic experiences all within a short time of his turning (the forced breakup with Nicki, turning Nicki, Oedipal issues with Gabrielle, Akasha, etc).
The fact that he did the same thing to David Talbot so much later on shows just how true the line that one of those vampires said, and I’m paraphrasing, “As we go on, we become more truly ourselves.” Clearly what Magnus did to Lestat is still fresh in his mind, always there, regardless of his many triumphs in the face of adversity.
The way Lestat treated Louis and Claudia in IWTV was similar to how his father and brothers treated him growing up, who knows how much of that was nature or nurture, but the de Lioncourt men seem to have a certain attitude that’s hard to shake.
I-want-my-IWTV 