#Your Headcanon May Vary: Sexytimes

[iwantmyiwtv]

 [First real discussion post here omg! Of course we have to talk about sex bc why not...]

 

A casual Wall of Text™®© continuation of this VC asexuality discussion if u want to catch up. 

 

[fanart by Dany&Dany][does anyone have a better res version? Gimme!]

 

While there is no Right answer, since everyone’s headcanon may vary, I kinda felt like continuing this discussion bc I had other ideas, but there was a tumblr person who made great points and I wanted to share my responses :] 

Note: the tumblr person hasn't responded to my request to quote them with their name attached, so that's why I'm not crediting them.
 

Keep in mind that, IIRC, AR doesn’t really address sexuality between vampires until QOTD with the quote I used in the above link, so it’s possible that she hadn’t decided herself on this until later. I’m pretty sure that the only canon we get about it before QOTD is in IWTV when Claudia asks Louis about sex and he talks about it very much in the past tense, as if it doesn’t happen anymore (which it might, between him and Lestat, but he’s answering a person who really can’t do sex, and possibly doesn’t want to hurt her feels about it). 

 

Basically I think AR, blending the vampire origin mythology with the Isis/Osiris Egyptian mythology, also used the sexuality consequence of that story. Osiris lost his penis, so he couldn’t procreate or do sex. Hence, vampires couldn’t.

 

I think it’s also the idea that Ricean vampires are immortal, SO magical, so physically attractive, so Gifted with all these Dark Gifts, heightened senses, some of them can FLY, do telekinesis, do pyrokinesis, they have mind-reading and bewitching powers, etc. etc. Did I mention BEAUTIFUL even if they’re turned in old age?? (except for Magnus, he was an ugly douchebag bc he stole vampirism but whatevs), etc… 

 

^To have all that, for such feeling creatures, it’s an ultimate sacrifice to give up sex. Like monks or priests in some religions. It’s not fair to have all that power and beauty and ALSO get to enjoy sex. AR brings up the religious ideas of the denial of urges as being the Right thing to do, going against one’s natural desires in the hopes of pleasing a benevolent God. It’s been suggested that Louis’ struggle with killing people in IWTV was a metaphor for the denial of sex. It’s when he finally gives in that he finds peace, physically, but he’s still morally tormented for awhile. It’s when Claudia enters the picture that he seems to accept his nature and just kill people.

 

Continued discussion under the cut! Spoilers there, too.

 

[Tumblr person wrote in bold]

This is one thing about VC canon that’s always seemed…odd to me.

 

Like, why not? Why wouldn’t they be able to have sex? As far as the mechanics. .. well, their blood animates everything else in them, why not those parts too?

 

That’s a great point, they should be able! But there are human beings with blood and everything seemingly working who cannot do sex. There are all kinds of drugs and treatments for erectile dysfunction. There are some who are just not able, even with all the advancements we have in that regard. They can still have physical closeness and intimacy, it may even count as sex, it just depends on one’s definition of sex. 

 

I can get it not being as fulfilling as sharing blood and being pointless in terms of procreation. And also not being able to have sex with humans because of the risk of losing control and hurting someone.

 

Yep. (People Off the Page: these are also points I mentioned in my previous post on the subject.)

 

But as feeling creatures, surely they would still enjoy it, even if just for the feelings of physical closeness it provides. Isn’t connection and grounding something they’re constantly after anyways?

 

Well, like humans, some do want connection and grounding, physical closeness, some don’t. Pandora clearly, in that scene, wants that intimacy, she asks Marius for it on their wedding night. Sex is a very symbolic act especially w/ a wedding, it’s meant to consummate a marriage, like SEALING THE DEAL (altho can we add that it’s kinda gross in their situation bc her body just rid itself of the unnecessary stuff through both ends so she’s probly somewhat… um… gross down there?)

 

Don’t forget that Lestat is so out of touch with sexuality that when he gets a mortal body in TOBT he rapes a woman. Awkwardly. It’s not pretty D:

 

I would also suggest that penetrative sex is not the only means of intimacy with another person. This is going into discussing Asexuality as an orientation and I’m not the authority, but a connection, physical closeness, grounding… intimacy can be achieved without penetrative sex, and that’s what AR argues, that the blood sharing supersedes sex, that bloodsharing is comparable to the intimate act of an infant taking nourishment and love at the same time from a mother’s breast. 

 

Lestat drinking from Magnus: “… it was all my craving, all the want and misery and hunger that I had ever known… all the desperate desires of my life were a thousand fold fed.” - TVL

 

Lestat talking about his first victim: “It was the musky smell of the first whore in whose bed I had spent my passion. It was the roasted venison after days and days of starvation in winter… this was a thousand times more luscious, tasting of the thick human heart that pumped it, the very essence of that hot, almost smoky scent. ” - TVL

 

Also, if the dark gift enhances every sense and sensation humans have x100, why is sex (arguably one of the most intense physical human interactions) be the exception?

 

If they could do sex in canon, I think that it would definitely be a magnified experience! Thankfully we have our own headcanons and an ever-increasing amount of fanfic/fanart/etc. for that ;D

 

They don’t use bathrooms because presumably not eating or drinking means they have no waste. But isn’t it canon that they can vomit blood? 

 

Yep! Lestat does it in TVL and then licks it up bc he’s a classy individual, hahaha.

 

And they canon cry blood tears too! So if we’re talking bodily fluids then…they’d either not be there at all or just be more blood (where my headcanon usually falls).

 

There are a bunch of interpretations for what their “stuff” would be made of, and some fanfic doesn’t specify. Here's a post with more on that. 

 

So yeah, I’ve never really bought into that part of canon. Imo, there’s just no reason for it.

 

Well I’ve sorta offered some reasons for their asexuality, but again, you make some great points, and I totally love the fanon works where they’re fully sexual. 

 

Just wanted to continue the conversation bc I love disucssing #vampire physiology *u*

 

~Mater Fabuloso