Tag Archives: vampire physiology

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FQL:

Lestat here. This question is from Chuck Johnson: “Undoubtedly you know of Armand’s attempted suicide following your acquisition of Veronica’s Veil. Do you have any theories on how he saved Sybelle and Benji? Was it truly Divine Intervention, or a form of projection?” — Chuck, no, I don’t have any theory on how Armand managed to save Sybelle and Benji — based on his description in his memoir. I suspect, however, that it was as you said, “a form of projection.” Armand has always had enormous psychic powers as a vampire, including the power to spellbind others with immense and very convincing illusions, the ability to hypnotize and control others, and to slip into altered states himself in which his dreams seem to provide some real gateway to another plane. I don’t doubt that he could do what we call astral projecting and take it perhaps one step further than many others, materializing or affecting matter in the location to which he’s projected himself. But I’m a novice in all this. I make no judgments on Armand’s abilities but I don’t fully understand them. I take him at his word that he did save Benji and Sybelle, and I’m not entirely sure that even he knows quite how he did it. Due to those mysterious psychic abilities, Armand makes a much better friend than an enemy. His spellbinding gifts are particularly dangerous. Being a person of action and a sensualist, I’m not really on Armand’s level when it comes to these mental skills. Armand’s thoughts are almost impossible for me to penetrate, and his boyish countenance often reveals nothing of his true calculations and feelings. I love him and I respect him — and I know that he loves me — but I never for a moment imagine I’m entirely safe with him.

I love him and I respect him — and I know that he loves me — but I never for a moment imagine I’m entirely safe with him.

Lestat here. This question comes from Vicki Golightly: “I have never read the books but I have heard so much about them and yes I do have a question, how were you created and do you have a soul?” — Vicki, if you mean how was I created as a vampire, the process was simple. I was kidnapped by an older vampire named Magnus, taken by force to his tower outside of Paris, and there made a vampire through an exchange of blood. Magnus drained me to the point of death and had I not drunk his powerful blood after that, I would have died. Well, I drank it. And I became a vampire like him. This is how it is done with our species; the human is drained and then infused with the maker’s blood. And yes, I most certainly do have a soul — as surely as any human being has a soul. I define soul as that invisible and conscious part of myself which may or may not survive biological death. And I am certain I have one; I am certain that all human beings have souls. And very likely some non-human beings have souls as well. But this soul question is a matter of faith. I can tell you for certain that I have a conscience, and it is a very human conscience, though I do not always listen to it by any means. —- Vicki, thanks again for your question. —- I’ll be back later today with more answers.

Another Fan Question for Lestat answered!

What about VAMPIRES do you find fascinating?

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Good question! You might want to ask carpenoctem-vampirology, I think she’s found a way to !!earn a living!! through her fascination with vampires, for which I will always be envious!

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I find alot about them fascinating, mainly their psychology (human, but tranformed; they exist outside alot of the human struggle for self-preservation but are still subject to similar needs) and their physiology (how are they made? How are they destroyed? What’s the deal with crucifixes? What about coffins? How do their systems function on just blood as a nutrition source? What is up with those Dark Gifts? etc.).

However it’s not ALL vampires that are fascinating to me. I’m aware of the wide spectrum of vampire media out there, but the ones I find most fascinating (and that doesn’t mean they’re the BEST, just what I prefer) are:

  • Ricean – This vampire species has so much baggage, excitement, chemistry, drama, and it tries to explore the how and why of vampires both as creatures and as people. Also they’re all pretty hawt.

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  • The Lost Boys – I just love the badassery of these vampires, very grunge and rockstar-ish and there’s the added bonus of kid!vampire hunters!
  • 30 Days of Night – these ones are actually monstrous, not the kind you wrap in silk/lace/velvet and cuddle with by candlelight. I love the way the humans try to find a way to beat them, involving an enormous personal sacrifice. 
  • Daybreakers – This concept is intriguing, a whole world of vampires, serving blood in ’50s style coffeeshops?! Also SAM NEIL as a vampire dad omg. 

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  • Let the Right One In – both the original and the remake… an exploration of what it’s like to become a vampire’s companion in the truest sense of the word. The vampire as a flawed creature who is still capable of love.
  • Only Lovers Left Alive – Do you want to see SWINTON, HIDDLESTON, and WASIKOWSKA as vampires? AWWW YISSS. This was a modern-day idea of what it would be like to be this creature that suffers existential ennui, appreciates music and nature, nurtures kindness, is actually very fragile in their reliance upon humans for survival. And also blood popsicles.

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  • Dracula – the original, bc of reasons. How charming was Bela Lugosi?? omg he can bite me any night. 
  • Dracula – the one with Gary Oldman, bc of reasons.
  • Nosferatu – because I can’t have a vampire list and leave that classic masterpiece out. 
  • Shadow of the Vampire – SO COOL like a behind-the-scenes of the filming of Nosferatu!

Probably missing something important here but you’ve had enough, haven’t you? lol. 

You know that Anne Rice’s vampires don’t have sex? They are basicly asexuals because they don’t feel lust for sex, only for blood.

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I have read the series. I’m aware. For some reason, and it’s probably unintentional on your part, Anon, but it seeeeems like you have some kind of issue with this?

They still do feel sexual lust, it’s channeled through the experience of taking/sharing blood.

Alot of fanfic writers and VC RPers just ignore the canon asexuality and let the Ricean vampires have sex however they want. Some have very creative headcanons about it. I for one enjoy reading it. 

In terms of VC CANON, however:

  • They’re asexual in that they aren’t described as having penetrative sex.
  • Unless your headcanon is that they do and they can, in which case Anne Rice decided to just leave it out for whatever reason. Some people think this is the case. *shrugs*
  • However… physiologically it would make sense that the Ricean vampires do not procreate in this manner because they procreate via the Dark Gift. At that time, the mortal body *dies*, transformed and frozen from further change/development. Male vampires would be shooting blanks (if they shoot anything at all) because they can’t make new sperm; female vampires wouldn’t be producing eggs, and wouldn’t have the organs to be able to grow a baby. 

I think that reproductive obstacle is why Anne Rice made the choice that they could BE sexual, but not in a reproductive way. 

Anon, the definition of sex is different for everyone who does it. The Ricean vampires can do tons of other very sensual/sexual things. Who says that a penis in a vagina (or anywhere else) is the only legitimate definition of sex? Sex cannot be totally defined by the dictionary definition, when it’s such a widely interpreted issue.

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natsulasommer:

prettyinpwn:

natsulasommer:

hikikotaku:

hikikotaku:

hikikotaku:

factsbrain:

Like all living things, humans are bio­luminescent (meaning we glow) – We glow brightest during the afternoon. – weird, interesting & funny facts

what

i’ve been staring at this for like 5 minutes. so.. what. i don’t think people glow. but this is telling me that we actually emit visible light.. especially in the afternoon?? am i reading this right or what

“all living things” plants. when do the plants glow

science side of tumblr pls

I’m not from the science side of tumblr, but here’s the answer anyways:

 Basically, all living things are bioluminescent because every living thing has chemical reactions occurring in their cells. The energy created from these chemical reactions physically manifests as light, thus… all living things naturally glow.

 However, this glow cannot be seen by the human eye. In fact, the only way they’ve ever captured this light is through special cameras. Using these ultra special cameras, they’ve imaged subjects’ bodies over 24 hour periods. It has been found out that humans emit the most of this glow during the afternoon (about 4 PM), it is the weakest in the morning (about 10 AM), and the brightest light is emitted from the cheeks, neck, and forehead.

The light is about a thousand times weaker than what humans can perceive.

 Basically, it’s a side effect of metabolic reactions. It’s been suspected that humans are bioluminescent for years, but they weren’t able to confirm it until recently thanks to technology and a man named Masaki Kobayashi from the Tohoku Institute of Technology.

 Sources:

http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2009/07/20/photographing-the-glow-of-the-human-body/

http://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2009/jul/17/human-bioluminescence

http://www.livescience.com/7799-strange-humans-glow-visible-light.html

10/10 explaination

10/10 source

10/10 time to answer

overal 10/10

you are now offiicially from the science side of tumblr.

and thank you

Source: factsbrain.com

Since you mentioned me as a potential reference re: The Lost Boys vampires and tattoos (I’m oddly flattered to be considered the TLB reference, by the way): no, in the movie none of them are shown to have tattoos–just piercings. However, in theory I think they would indeed retain any tattoos they had from when they were human, and could get permanent ones after being turned (which could be removed by scraping/cutting/etc. off the tattooed skin and letting it regenerate to its natural state).

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You are ABSOLUTELY The Lost Boys authority! 

thank you for your commentary on tattoos, I agree 100%. I think it would be the same for the Ricean vampires. 

So a tattoo, gotten before or after turning, could potentially be permanent, or it could be removed as you’ve described.

Vampire Weaknesses?

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nijah:

All vampires are effected by sunlight and fire, but the older a vampire gets, the less he is affected by these. The oldest Vamps (4000 years plus) are not burned by the sun, merely browned (eg. Akasha and Enkil, and Lestat ) .And children of millennia (1000 +) are able to withstand some fire. (eg Pandora, Marius, Mael)In fact, they could walk through a huge bonfire and walk out the other side only cleansed, but if they stayed in it, they would eventually die.

The Blood is what animates a Vampire. If All the blood of a vampire is drained, the vampire is as good as dead. This is extremely difficult though as vampires contain huge amounts of blood and in some cases it would take hours to drain a vampire fully. Now, here is the tricky bit. All vampires are immortal. BUT, say for instance, a blood drinker was to be cut in half. Slices in two horizontally, then both halves would crawl around until they were finally joined back together again. Meanwhile, the blood loss from it would render the vampire almost useless. If an arm was to be cut off in battle, the vampire could pick the arm up and rest it on the stump, but it would take a long time to heal back on, even for the eldest vamp. (eg. Enkil, King of the Egypt, had an arm severed in battle.. he picked it up and put it back on, where it healed) Lost limbs do not regenerate. And the big question, the Beheading. If a vampire is beheaded, you might as well call it dead. For without the head on the shoulders, the creature can do little, for the shock of the instant blood loss would all but render the vampire unconscious. (eg, Akasha, the very first Vampire was attacked by Meakre , and her head was severed. She was powerless after it was severed and could not even reach the head to put it back on..)

However, If a limb is cut off and burned, the vampire may take the same limb from a mortal and use it. Although, the mortal arm will eventually die and need to be replaced. (eg. Maharets eyes were taken from her before she was given the Dark Gift. Until Thorne gave her his, she uses mortal eyes, but these give her irritation because the demon blood does not keep them alive)

Vampire Gifts

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nijah:

Those who have lived for more than a thousand years are by far the most powerful of the vampires; they are called the Children of the Millennia. After several hundred years, and depending on the strength of their maker, vampires begin to exhibit special powers, referred to by most of them as “gifts”.

  • Mind Gift (the combined abilities of telepathy and telekinesis). This is the ability to communicate and read thoughts, especially of humans, and to move objects with the mind. This gift is used largely to obtain blood – since via telepathy a criminal or amoral human can be sensed, and many of vampires refuse to feed on the innocent, this allows them to identify their prey. It is impossible for a maker or fledgling to contact each other directly, although in some cases it is possible for a vampire to seek out their master/fledgling by looking through the eyes of those near their fledgling, or by hearing the thoughts of their master/fledgling through others in a relay effect. A vampire of sufficient power or age may also unwillingly ‘hear’ the thoughts of all the humans within range of this power, leading to an old vampire saying: “If you do not learn to silence the voices, they will drive you mad.” Khayman of the First Brood possessed this level of telepathic power, but had trained himself to hear the multitude of thoughts as “one annoying noise.” Older vampires may also possess the ability to move objects with the mind.
  • Spell Gift. This gift allows a vampire to cloud the mind of a human, bending the human to his or her will.
  • Enhanced physicality and senses. All vampires have superhuman senses (sight, hearing, etc.) and strength, and are able to do things many times faster than humans can, with little or no effort. Eidetic memory from the moment of becoming a vampire seems to be natural, however, memories of their humans lives, particularly those relating to sensation, fade over the years. They can move faster than the human eye can detect, see in the darkest of nighttime, pick one sound out of even the noisiest area, and raise the volume of their voice to painfully loud levels.
  • Fire Gift. Another power usually only developed by a Child of the Millennia. This gift is known to be possessed by Marius, Akasha, Eudoxia, Thorne, Khayman, Lestat, Mekare and Maharet, and later the vampires Merrick Mayfair and Quinn Blackwood. With the Fire Gift, a vampire can set alight an object or being of their choice. Use of the gift on humans was performed by Lestat, when he set aflame gunmen on the tropical island. The Fire Gift is specially fatal to vampires, as the “changed” blood found within their bodies ignites easily, thus rendering them extremely vulnerable to fire.
  • Cloud Gift (flight). Not all vampires have this ability. Lestat, though young by vampire standards, gains this ability after repeatedly drinking Akasha’s blood. Quinn Blackwood was given the strength to use this gift by his maker, Petronia. Otherwise, flight is a power only exhibited by the Children of The Millenia. Louis, Gabrielle, and Santino are among a few that do not have this gift or are never mentioned having it. Most if not all vampires dislike or even hate flying, as they find it extremely unsettling due to it being a sign that they are truly no longer human.
  • Killing Gift. Believed to be possessed by the eldest Children of the Millennia, like most gifts it comes with age. Known holders of this power are Akasha, Marius, Lestat, Maharet, Mekare, Khayman and Mael. This power was originally combined with the Fire Gift.  The exact nature of the power is unknown, but it seems to cause numerous fatal ruptures in the entire cardiovascular system.
  • Immortality. Unless killed by one of the vampire’s weaknesses, namely sunlight and fire, or an elder vampire’s powers, it is said that they have the potential to live eternally. As they age they become more powerful and slowly their skin becomes whiter, smoother, and more reflective, resembling marble as seen with Akasha and Enkil, Maharet, Mekare, and Khayman. Lestat and Jesse Reeves share much of this ancient appearance due to receiving blood from Akasha and Maharet, respectively. During their immortality, vampires will sometimes go into a kind of hibernation, either because they have become mentally unbalanced from knowing what they have become, or because their surroundings have changed too much for them to cope with. This is hinted to usually happen within 100–200 years of being created, and is mentioned as the “dangerous time” by the elders. Many vampires commit suicide if they continually exist in the world. Maharet is the only vampire explicitly said to have never “gone underground”; she has lived, night by night, for over six thousand years, mainly by keeping the records of her mortal daughter’s descendants.
  • Rapid Healing. Vampires are immune to most attacks other than their known weakness and even then are apparently able to heal quickly, especially if they feed or are covered in vampire blood. All vampires can potentially heal from any non-fatal wound, including decapitation, as proved by Mael, but time and blood are needed. A bullet wound, for instance, would heal within seconds, but serious burns from a fire would require decades, if not centuries, to heal. However, the greater the damage done to them, the stronger they will be when they are fully healed. An influx of blood from a vampire, especially a powerful vampire, can greatly speed up the healing process.