#akasha asks

That different tone with Lestat really was great too. There were beats where he felt like a kid too used to being alone playing in his room to me, which I wasn't expecting at all, but really worked so well! It definitely gave you a good sense of what he was maybe like when he was younger, and painted more of a picture of some of the bits that we missed. It's funny that you bring up the discovery of theatre here too, because I was actually just saying to someone in dm's last night that I'm surprised that we didn't get Lestat falling in love with performance, whether in that first taste with the Italian troupe, or that fuller experience for him in Paris. I thought we might've even gotten it as a part of the surreal sequence in the finale, especially with his teen self there, but alas! I do hope we get it in s4, and I think we might, particularly if the show is properly revisiting the 18th Century!

That fanart is incredible (the artistic talent in this fandom is seriously out of control), and I thought her wig looked great too!

Anne had religious trauma and a bone to pick with God, haha.

And yes!! Sheila delivered such an incredible physical performance in and of herself, but she was so well supported by the writing of that monologue and the make-up and prosthetics and the vfx and the sound design and the score. Truly just everyone coming together to maximise their joint slay, haha. I can definitely see the serpentine feeling (I felt there were some hints almost of a sort of Medusa-esque, Greek figure in her? Which was pretty incredible, also parts of it felt a little Ganja & Hess to me, which is also thrilling), but there was something to the tapping too that felt really original and really got to me? Just - - otherworldly, like I said in the last post, and I'm so, so thrilled that she's our Akasha.

I can't really say in terms of Amel, but the show is, I think, deepening the mother shaped wound in Lestat that I think Akasha's just going to find an ease in filling. I think beyond that, her draw to and use of him will likely be similar to both Gabriella's and Magnus' - he has a capacity to influence as an artist and a relentless ability to survive that's not common. He's Lelio and he's Wolfkiller to all of them, and there's something in that that they both want to keep and to wield, in their own ways.

Sheila completely ate though! What an astonishing performance, and wildly great character introduction! The otherworldliness and that transition from stone to life, and that monologue just being a barrage of questions that so incredibly encapsulated someone - something - ancient waking up! So, so, so good, and it's making me genuinely excited for that particular arc!

I think that kind of answers your last question too, where I think vampires would maybe get a little rush from his blood short term, but longer term drinking probably would equate to more power. That's just a guess though!

It would genuinely be hilarious if it was something to do with Viktor, but if that leak/rumour is true, I've been assuming it'd be related to Akasha waking up and her blood in his veins calling him to her. It could be interesting if they're making their connection physical in that sort of way, and after a season of him being increasingly unwell and crashing out and using drugs to feel temporarily better, he finds he can feel better for longer with her. It could play with these ideas of her as heroin(e)/cure/holy mother/vengeful-god that really explores the murkiness of need and trauma and consent (and inability to consent) and unhealthy romanticisation in ways that could really work for their dynamic.