Yes, if you buy this post right here, (which I do, and I’m also going to rebagel it bc why haven’t I yet? Maybe it’s buried in the queue…), in which @gojiro informs us that:
“…mirrors used to be backed with a reflective layer of silver — which, as the metal of purity, would not ‘interact’ with Vampires, who are the Devil’s work. However, modern mirrors have used aluminum as their reflective backing for many years now — and aluminum is not a ‘picky’ metal at all…”
So yes you may headcanon Armand as winning the Ugly Sweater Contest by standing in front of Lestat w/ a mirror as shown above by @superhiki!
…but I also really like the “hair dying parties with other vampires cause they can’t see what they’re doing in the mirror.” which still works for the vampires of What We Do in the Shadows, who live in the modern era, and can’t see their reflection in mirrors (but they can see it in photographs, IDK I JUST REALLY LIKE THE DYE PARTY IDEA so as Tim Gunn would say, “Make it work.”)
For Ricean vampires (idk the rules with others), I don’t think dye would last forever bc they can cut their hair, and the dye would be effectively removed.
Dye is a color treatment on material that’s basically dead and outside their bodies. Even though their hair does not grow longer than the length it was when they were turned, it can be cut off and will grow back their natural color. I don’t think the dye would vanish during turning, either, like nailpolish wouldn’t vanish during turning. The nail underneath would change to that vampiry glassiness, but not be visible. The hair would change in texture inside the dye.
With something like a tattoo, I would think that it could be permanent, if the mortal had them before being turned, because the ink is under the skin, but maybe the vampiric parasite would reject the ink as being unnecessary. I don’t think we have any tattooed vampires in canon to know for sure.
I treat vampires as just very long living humans, which means even tattoos fade over time as the skin cells regenerate. Vlad has one (it features in the book) which he had done while alive, but after 400 years it has faded into a smude under his skin. In another few hundred it’ll be gone entirely. They’re undead not dead, with abnormally lengthened lives, so regeneration seems plausible, unlike a zombie who cannot heal.
So things like hair dye would grow and fade out too, in my universe too. Which means now I’m imagining hair dying parties with other vampires cause they can’t see whay they’re doing in the mirror.
For Ricean vampires however I’d say cutting the hair off would probably remove the dye and purge any tattoos from under the skin, especially the metals found in the ink.
I very much agree with “I treat vampires as just very long living humans, which means even tattoos fade over time as the skin cells regenerate.” and in fact, Ricean vampires do change, whatever animates them is working to convert their flesh; they can even accrue supernatural gifts over time*. I agree, then, re: your Vlad character, and it would probably be the same for Ricean vampires. Fading tattoos.
*Injury may also contribute to this, it’s implied that suffering damage will make them stronger (the old “whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” thing, probably).
Which means now I’m imagining hair dying parties with other vampires cause they can’t see what they’re doing in the mirror.
For Ricean vampires (idk the rules with others), I don’t think dye would last forever bc they can cut their hair, and the dye would be effectively removed.
Dye is a color treatment on material that’s basically dead and outside their bodies. Even though their hair does not grow longer than the length it was when they were turned, it can be cut off and will grow back their natural color. I don’t think the dye would vanish during turning, either, like nailpolish wouldn’t vanish during turning. The nail underneath would change to that vampiry glassiness, but not be visible. The hair would change in texture inside the dye.
With something like a tattoo, I would think that it could be permanent, if the mortal had them before being turned, because the ink is under the skin, but maybe the vampiric parasite would reject the ink as being unnecessary. I don’t think we have any tattooed vampires in canon to know for sure.
Caffeine is a natural blood thinner so it could have some interesting effects for them. Not sure what though.
They’d probably also jitter quite a bit, depending on whether or not they absorb things more readily through their food (which one would think they would due to needing to absorb the things they need from blood) which could make the risk of addiction fairly substantial.
So yea, I think it would, though how that plays out is up to you and your worldbuilding 🙂
Unwanted butting-in from medical human and caffeine addict: caffeine isn’t so much a blood thinner, but it does act to boost metabolism and acts to release adrenaline (small doses). Obviously the specific effect will vary based on your vamp mythos and what you’ve decided vampirism means in your story, but I can see this used in an interesting way or two…
For instance, if your ‘verse uses cold vamps (ie room-temperature or slightly above), caffeine and a few other substances could act to help them raise their body temperature to “pass” with a human date (other things being alcohol for the vasodilatory properties, cinnamon for metabolic boost, taurine/guanine, plus the strategic application of hot packs). NICUs will give underdeveloped premies caffeine drips to aid development and raise core temp, so this isn’t completely left-field.
It also increases heart rate (particularly in “overdose”), which, if you have still-beating-heart-just-super-slow-heart-rate vamps, they might use caffeine to take their heart rate from “almost a stone” to “a very very very slow, but marginally realistic, human heart rate”. Again, passing for human on a date…
Just remember, caffeine is also a diuretic, and they may need to use the bathroom. And a male/bepenised vamp in the bathroom pissing blood into a urinal just tickles me pink.
Other thoughts: if vampires eat blood, and digest blood, then their poop will look very dark and tarry, and stink like the ending of worlds, and their puke will look like coffee grounds. Just a word to the wise.
Note to Scripty-Followers: @thebibliosphere‘s blog is SO VERY MUCH NSFW. I love her, but do not say I did not warn. Gods alone, so very NSFW…
I will have you know I only posted twice about sex related things yesterday. (Multiple reblogs of the same post don’t count, I was helping people with their vampire erotica problems, I should be sainted for my restraint)
and “caffeine isn’t so much a blood thinner”, my doctors lied to me, bitches gonna get stitches. Thank you for that about the heart rate and the body temp, I’ll be using that.
This isn’t all that random, I’ve had far more random questions than this!
^So much love for Brad that as miserable as he may have been WAS, this was perfect, capturing that kind of orgasmic quality while being fed on ❤
In the vampire chronicles mythos, are there any benefits/positive reinforcements for humans that are fed on?
Not sure what “benefits/positive reinforcements for humans that are fed on” means… but I do get the impression that it’s a deeply intimate act, that the vampire doing the feeding is doing their best to keep their victim calm and complacent, ecstasy is a pretty good state to shoot for and that would be beneficial? I mean, if the vampire’s intent is to finish off their victim then there’s no real benefit for the human, lol, but if not an intent to kill, ecstasy is a pretty positive reinforcement! There is some fanon that the vampire can make it a really painful and negative experience if they want to, with the speed that they draw the blood, etc.
I know the vampire itself experiences a sort of euphoria when feeding, but is this also true for the human?
I don’t have my books w/ me either, but I distinctly remember the ecstasy they describe experiencing when they’re being fed on as mortals. Daniel goes into a state of being almost addicted to the feeling (and to the drops of blood Armand gives him in measured amounts).
This is intensified when they’re being given the Dark Gift, the part when they’re almost completely drained. It’s an immersive sensory experience for both the vampire and the mortal.
There’s fanon that a mortal does experience certain physical enhancement in their senses from drinking vampire blood, but just being fed on would probably not enhance them, as Louis dragged his sorry butt back to Pointe du Lac after Lestat fed on him the first night. He seemed pretty bent out of shape.
♛Of course you’re a huge fan of mine, how could you not be? *smiles*
Fangs do give mortals a noticeable confidence boost; every version of myself I see on the streets of New Orleans is just oozing with it. Even those masquerading in cosplay as Armand or Louis take pleasure in flaunting their fangs.
The only fangs I “make” are the ones grown naturally by my fledglings or the one custom pair that I discussed previously, which were realistic in shape but not material. Take note, I actually have six upper fangs. I don’t know why. Something to do with our appetites, perhaps. That’s all the advice I have on that.
//ooc; so Lestat obviously can’t really take a picture for you! But here’s a pic of Brad trying on fangs for IWTV. More angles here [X]. They did two sets in IWTV, these are the “attack” or “wide-shot” fangs, longer than the normal ones so that they’re visible from a distance.
Claudia’s here are shorter, possibly bc she was a child, but also bc Michele Burke was going for a vampire makeup in which at first the vampires looked like normal people, but w/ something slightly *off,* that they could conceal the fangs when speaking, passing for normal people, or reveal them if they chose to do so.
what is my life that I’m drawing whiskers on a pic of Brad Pitt from 1992 or ‘93 and indicating which of his teeth would be fangs OH WELL
^Basically you want the fangs to be long enough to be visible but not interfere when you close your mouth, so they’re really more draping along the outside of the lower teeth. To get that canine point looking sharp, curving it back like a snake’s makes sense.
The IWTV fangs also involve the lateral incisor, the tooth between the front and the canine, and here it’s also kind of pointed backwards here but I think Tom’s was done straighter. It also looks like Tom had the first premolars as fangs, too, but I’m not sure. Doing the lower canine is a thing other vampire media does, often. I’m not sure if they did that for IWTV. I don’t think so since this post has Brad’s fangs for sale on eBay and it’s only the upper teeth.
I imagine straight or curved, having one or two neighboring fangs would be beneficial for gripping a struggling victim’s flesh, sharing the strain put on the canines.
I just don’t understand. How come Lestat could kick Armand’s ass into the ground like that anyways back at Palais Royal that time? Sure, he caught him by surprise or wtv, so????? I mean, he was like what? Three hundred and something? Wasn’t Marius like 1500 years when he turned him and yeah okay, I get it Magnus was old but was he that old? And this blonde bitch Lestat was like twenty holy shit.
These are the questions that keep me up at night.
i’m still pissed over this and i’ll keep reblogging it untill someone gives me a reasonable explanation
I think it has a lot to do with the fact that Lestat is “fearless” and a lot of times in VC world the vampires need to embrace their strength to wield it. Armand would’ve had strength if he tapped into it, between the advantage of his age and from Marius’s blood, but he was living underground and not really using it and honing it. Marius explains that a lot in B&G, too, like he would talk about how he’d make these little discoveries and have to practice them and teach Mael and Avicus how to use them because they were like oblivious dumb dumbs and weren’t exercising their GIFTS. And it happens in QOTD, too, with Akasha teaching Lestat how to use the Cloud Gift and all that shit, and it has to do with having the balls to let go and let the Blood guide you and all that. I think a lot of vampires secretly acquire these things and they lay dormant until the vampire has the balls the try them on.
So Lestat, I think, hits the ground running and is willing to push himself, whereas Armand has been rigidly following these coven rules and repressing himself for centuries and doesn’t know how to vampire.
Vampires are feared everywhere, but the Balkan region has been especially haunted. Garlic has been regarded as an effective prophylactic against vampires. We wanted to explore this alleged effect experimentally. Owing to the lack of vampires, we used leeches instead. In strictly standardized research surroundings, the leeches were to attach themselves to either a hand smeared with garlic or to a clean hand. The garlic-smeared hand was preferred in two out of three cases (95% confidence interval 50.4% to 80.4%). When they preferred the garlic the leeches used only 14.9 seconds to attach themselves, compared with 44.9 seconds when going to the non-garlic hand (p < 0.05). The traditional belief that garlic has prophylactic properties is probably wrong. The reverse may in fact be true. This study indicates that garlic possibly attracts vampires. Therefore to avoid a Balkan-like development in Norway, restrictions on the use of garlic should be considered.
“Oh no,” the vampire said, tying the dinner napkin around his neck, “you smothered yourself in garlic?” Licking his lips as he pulls out salt and pepper shaker. “Whatever shall I do.”
♠Lestat is confused as to why you’re directing your questions to me, he’s trying to force me to answer what he would answer, but I am pointedly ignoring him.
It’s not of great interest to me, but I will note that he has gone to considerable research about brushing teeth, he and Daniel bring home these little “self-care” packages: toothpaste of different flavors, devices that spray water or have vibrating bristles, and they test these items out on fruit or each other. I sometimes participate.
There are nights that Lestat returns to me from hunting and his breath is truly atrocious, so he has to do some level of cleansing to be permitted within my personal space. I follow the same etiquette for his sake.
In the past, we would have a basin and would wash before going out, and before going to sleep for the day. Little mortal rituals like these keep us feeling that we have some semblance to humanity still, and perhaps, it is also restorative in the way many acts of taking care of oneself are restorative.
However, it’s not necessary for us to brush our teeth in much the same way, I suppose, as it is unnecessary for wild animals. Perhaps it’s because we do not consume cooked meat, refined sugars, or flavored drinks. Fareed suggests that we have saliva with a high Ph value, which protects the enamel from demineralizing and thus prevents cavities.
I-want-my-IWTV 