busted lestat doll commissioned by anne rice

it makes sense that louis tries his hand at being an artist, and that attempt a symbol of profound hope! but he also happened to pick the artform most prohibitive to him as a vampire (photography requires light and patience, whereas he’s always outrunning the sun.) and he takes photos of humans that he cannot get emotionally close to (the photo he takes of armand is notably the only one an art dealer gets a lil frisson off of.) he completely stacks the deck against himself, putting himself in a position to reaffirm his prior belief that vampirism is a curse and a limitation.

when he realizes his art isn’t great he quits. but if he had waited for cameras to improve, or taken photos of fellow vampires, (and fwiw i think there was a post floating around about how if louis just ate more, things might be easier lolol) or just been content to suck at it for a while, there’s no reason why he couldn’t have continued (lord knows other vampires are out there being bad and weird at whatever they’re making, in part bc they’re v much out of step with the culture they’re attempting to contribute to. and louis actually seems a great deal more clued in to the zeitgeist based on what he says to claudia about the parisian modern art scene, and even up to 2022 where he knows what essencefest is like my girl still knows whats what more or less.)

i think louis stops not only bc its painful and frustrating to not be able to practice this artform the way he wants to, but bc he cannot deal with the idea that he isn’t Creating Value or contributing, he would just be enjoying himself.

INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE 2x07・I Could Not Prevent It

oscar the grouch, who lived and loved in a trash can

oscar the grouch, who ate rotten bananas because he didn't have the self esteem to try for fresh ones

Let me preface by saying that his all might end up being complete nonsense and if that's the case then I guess I'm just boo boo the fool. Anyway, I've been noticing for a while, and especially in this season, that there's a real disconnect between what we hear some vampires say about vampire blood, power levels and the gifts versus what we actually see being depicted on screen.

Santiago says, about his maker, "His blood was exquisite. I'm a good mimic, and I can fly."

Daniel says, speaking as Armand, "You're not gonna get any of my special vamp skills because my blood sucks."

Marius says, to Lestat about Akasha's blood, "It already owns you. May madness or sunlight relieve you of the burden."

Lestat says, constantly, as explanation for his apparently incredible power, "I have the blood of Akasha in me."

But let's actually look at the evidence.

Santiago had the cloud gift despite being a young vampire, presumably because his maker passed it to him. At the same time, both Lestat and Armand had the cloud gift when they made Louis, Claudia and Daniel, and yet none of them got it when they were turned. Lestat told Claudia and Louis that it "isn't something you can teach. You're born with it, or you're not." So I guess that answers it.

Except - now it looks like Louis does have the cloud gift! So what happened? Did he learn it from someone? Did he practice it himself? Did it come with age? Was he able to access it once he accepted his vampirism? We don't know.

Lestat and Armand both have the fire gift, and yet being turned by Lestat and drinking Armand's blood recreationally did not pass it to Louis. He had to learn how to develop it on his own. Later on in Paris, he also used mimicry with Santiago - did he get that from Lestat's blood? From Armand's? As far as I'm concerned, there's reason to think so.

Akasha's blood clearly did something weird to Lestat's body, what with him flying in the air (in a potentially orgasmic state?) for three days. But is there any real indication that it had long-lasting effects, or that it has fundamentally changed him somehow? That it actually made him stronger, or that it influences his behavior in any way? At the end of season 2, Lestat claimed that he couldn't be killed with the fire gift because of it, but just this recent episode we saw him get absolutely fried by the sun after being outside for barely a minute.

In the tower, when Lestat first revealed that he had the blood of Akasha in him, Louis responded with "My blood is your blood". Lestat's response? "And yet." He didn't actually have an answer.

So like... I'm not the first person to point out that this all just reads like vampire eugenics.

After the band asks Lestat to turn them, he gives them a speech about why they shouldn't want his blood. This is occurring right after we saw Marius yelling at him that he shouldn't have drunk from Akasha and that her blood "owns him" now. In the present, Lestat remembers the way he dragged Louis on the ground by his jaw after he beat him, and he says, "This is the hell I unleash on all those near me. It cannot be restrained in the moment or tamed over time."

And I mean. That's a load of bullshit, right?

"I am trying to restrain myself", "I don't know what possessed me that night", "I have my maker's temper"... Lestat still clings to this idea that the violence he enacts is caused by something external, some corrupting force that takes over him for which he can't be held fully accountable. But what actual reason is there for him to believe this? Right now, it looks like he's just taking Marius' word and running with it. Marius, who seems to believe Akasha's blood is innately evil, destructive, violent. Why does he think that, I wonder?

So far, we've only ever seen characters claim that the blood a vampire is turned with (or even just the blood they drink) influences their power or temperament - but what we see in the show completely contradicts this idea. Vampire powers and abilities are consistently shown to be either learned, developed with age, and/or completely arbitrary. And who are the characters making these biologically deterministic claims, so far? Santiago. Daniel. Marius. Lestat. Who are the characters questioning them? Louis. Claudia.