Hello there! I am fresh blood in this fandom , having only just picked up the books after remembering how much I liked the IWTV movie in highschool. I am currently on the second book and while I am pretty sure I will probably get my answer soon by just reading, I am also impatient (and afraid of missing smth). My question to you: Why couldn't Claudia access the full extent of her vampire powers? Are they really that biologically discriminate?
Yum, we can always use fresh blood! >;}
Why couldnāt Claudia access the full extent of her vampire powers? Are they really that biologically discriminate?Ā
^They donāt all automatically get all the vampiric powers, and some powers are onlyĀ āearnedā over time (like the cloud gift, which is flight). Some vampires automatically do get certain gifts upon being turned, like Lestat and the mind gift, but Louis didnāt get that one (debatable somewhat, as Armand notes in TVA that Louis can spellbind others inadvertently but that might also be bc Louis is just too adorable and dreamy for anyone to handle).Ā
We donāt know just how strong/gifted Claudia was, I donāt think there are any scenes that explicitly talk about her abilities. She was most likely stronger than her mortal self, even if she was weak compared to other vampires. Even if she had the mind gift, she would not have been able to read Lestatās mind, and he wouldnāt be able to read hers, due to the barrier between fledglings and makers. But she might have been able to read Louisā mind, since sheās his sibling. We donāt know.
Not sure where youāre at now, but in TVL thereās some discussion about fledglings and strength when Armand tells Lestat what he knows about the Dark Trick, and later, Marius that tells Lestat what he knows about it. Claudia is not specifically mentioned at the time, bc she doesnāt exist yet in the story.
The Dark Gift is not an exact science, and even makers with gifts cannot purposely give/withhold them to/from their fledglings :-\Ā Armand mentions in TVL:Ā
But let Armand understand here also that the effect of the Dark Trick is unpredictable, even when passed on by the very young vampire and with all due care. For reasons no one knows, some mortals when Born to Darkness become as powerful as Titans, others may be no more than corpses that move. That is why mortals must be chosen with skill. Those with great passion and indomitable will should be avoided as well as those who have none.
The Dark Gift in unpredictable,Ā despite all good/bad intentions; itās the vampiric form of pregnancy. But there are things about the procedure that can affect the strength of the fledgling:
Whether the blood is transferred between maker and fledglingonce (for Louis and Claudia) or multiple times (for Marius) - IIRC,Ā Marius doesnāt tell Lestat this in TVL, but multiple times seems to make for a stronger fledgling. Why didnāt Lestat do it multiple times for Claudia? I think Claudia was already in such bad physical shape that Lestat didnāt want to risk it. Plus, he had already turned 3 fledglings using the single transfer procedure, he probably felt like that was good enough.
Age and/or power of the maker - Lestat was only ~15 yo vampire himself when he turns Claudia. Thatās still almost a fledgling himself, even tho he had been turned with powerful blood from a 300+ yo vampire.
Timing of making previous fledglings of the maker - Marius tells Lestat that the gift is weaker from the Maker to fledglings if given close in time period. Lestat had already made 3 vampires in his 15 year time, each one was weaker in strength than the last. It seems like whatever the Makerās power, itās outweighed by this timing issue.
The fledglingās diet after turning - Louis was feeding on animals for the first 4-ish years of vampiring, which is like bad junk food, and probably not drinking the volumeĀ of blood he needed, either. Claudia seemed to have a voracious appetite, but she did have the body of a child, so itās possible that she was physically unable to consume the amount of blood needed for the vampiric parasite to really transform her body properly. Possibly another reason why vampires generally donāt approve of turning children.