#akasha asks

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Akasha's tapping while otherworldly felt also surprisingly human? Like this creature has been existing for a thousand upon thousand years and still, here she is, with the motor tic! kinda endearing. And I saw someone on twt comparing the repetition in the end of her monologue with Lestat's stutter. only for her it's not the sign of vulnerability but to emphasize her power.

Also I saw people bashing her wig, but I feel like it really suit her? it looks almost like a replica a of an ancient Egyptian wig and the locs really add to the Medusa feel.

Yeah, exactly, there was that real straddle of the line between completely human and completely inhuman in the moment that just worked so incredibly well. I love that sentiment about the stutter too. It's really fascinating to me how they've punctuated that as a rhythm in different ways across the season, and it felt especially overt in this episode both with Akasha's repetition, and with Lestat interrupting the band and having them play the same songs over and over again trying to get the music to a point of intentional clarity. Super well done, and I feel like re-watching the season is going to emphasise all the different ways they've worked the stutter in and it's evolving meaning in a way that's going to be so interesting to unpick.

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

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Akasha getting reacting for the first time when Lestat asks where God is. Magnus getting angry when Lestat starts praying…. What’s going on???

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

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re: Akasha. your opinion is not controversial at all because she really is a bit of one note villain in the books, unfortunately.

and I love that you mentioned her transition from stone to flesh. maybe it's the whispering, the subtle rustling and Sheila's physicality, but Akasha really has that serpentine quality to her that I've not seen in any vampire so far, aside from Louis. the pretermatural stillness and then the sudden explosion of movement, like a snake striking to bite, only adds to it.

(x)

Ah! I'm glad I'm not alone then, haha, and can't wait to see what the show and Sheila do with her!

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.

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I'm curious about the decision to have Akasha/Amel select Lestat as The Keeper. Why was he chosen? How long did Akasha/Amel keep tabs on him?

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.

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So, we've had our Akasha's debut and I'm floored. From her first whisper to that incredible monologue in the end (which I've replayed hundred times by now) she is incredible. One scene but what fucking scene. By god I hope Rolin gives her more depth than Anne ever did, because Sheila would devour it.

Would love to hear your thoughts and impressions on her too.

She was iiiiiincredible, anon!! I've actually been pretty nervous about how they were going to adapt Akasha, not because of Sheila or even Aaliyah (who's iconic in the film), but because (and I don't know how controversial this is - maybe not at all, based on your ask, haha) I've lowkey always found Akasha a little boring as a character in the book? She's also tonally so different to so many of the characters across the first two books, and that shift in gears works for me in some ways, but less so in others.

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!

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Curious whether Akasha's blood also has effect for Lestat's fledglings he (will have/have) made after he drank from Akasha? Lestat is stronger after drinking her blood, does that carry through to his fledglings? What about vampires that just drink from him?

I think it does in the show, anon, yeah! I actually think we've seen that underscored a bit this season already in how the show's been emphasising Louis' vampiric powers since he embraced them post Dubai, while I think the only one we've seen Gabi really use is telepathy and the cloud gift, and even that, the way it's shot kind of leaves it ambiguous. Louis also would've gotten a power boost though from presumably drinking from Armand for as long as he did too, whereas Gabi hasn't been around Lestat long enough post-Akasha to really drink all that meaningfully from him.

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!

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I'm wondering what Lestat is sick with. Is it drugs or something else? Could it be related to the Akasha?

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.

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so where do you think Akasha taking Lestat will fall in the seasons? End of season 3? Half way through or the end of season 4? Interested to know your thoughts. Also hope you’re having a nice holiday!

I could be extremely wrong on this point, but I'm really starting to think it'll be s4. I've been saying for a while that I think the ideal way to adapt TVL and QOTD would be to do both across three seasons, just because they're such a duology within the broader series, and they might not be approaching it that way, of course (just to reiterate, I have no idea, haha) but between Rolin saying at SDCC that to adapt TVL meant knowing how to adapt QOTD, and revealing that s3 will be Lestat narrating from after QOTD, and with the new reveal that TVL will be split in two parts - -

I don't know.

I think that maybe they might be approaching it with that sort of feeling?

If that's the case, I'd say Lestat's likely to be abducted by Akasha early-to-midway through s4, with a heavy foreshadowing in the s3 finale. I don't think I've posted it on here before (although I think I have mentioned it to someone in DMs), but I have a very curly, far-too-early, probably-wrong theory, haha, that s3 will end with Akasha burning Baby Jenks (and perhaps Sam too, who I loosely suspect they might use as a stand-in for Laurent). If the season's doing what I think it could be doing (again! Emphasis on could!), I think it could function well as a symbol of lost innocence and the way so many of these characters - Claudia, Baby Jenks, Nicki, Madeleine, Daciana - are on a seeming inevitable path towards destruction, at the hands of others or themselves, and yet Lestat, like Louis, like Armand, like Gabrielle, somehow always manage to survive.

I think that sets up pretty well to get into the broader story lore stuff and could potentially amplify the stakes around Akasha's abduction of Lestat. If his stitches are torn open in s3 only to provide a wound for Akasha to hook her fingers in during s4 - - that makes sense to me, on both a character and story level. Baby Jenks' death, if played right - if this is what they're doing, could pretty elegantly be its own propelling incident in that regard, especially given Lestat includes her story in QOTD without ever having met her, and we already know that they are going to get to meet in s3.