I try to think of things that would crush a persons spirit. I look for whats good in the world and think how can I make it not good? I base alot of it off the Joker in batman. He's my maniacal muse.
I agree with you completely The thing is, I don;t view dark as scary and evil. I view it as... how to put this... I think darkness as a certain mysteriousness and elegance to it. I love darkness and all that it entails. I don't view it as evil. I've inspired you?! (i do hope it was me you're speaking of). Ha! After years of hoping I would be my fiance's muse, I have inspired someone with a mere thread. I will be perky the rest of the day thanks to you. No joke. lol. I view vampires as sophisticated, tortured souls, some embraces their "curse", others viewing it as a blessing. as for werewolves, I view them as scary in their own right, but awesome nonetheless. I forgot when I posted this thread that most people have a different opinion of darkness than I. Forgiveness?
Lol! You've earned the right to let me call you a dork, for that one. I'm pretty burned after the beach... I do love being pale. Muaha.
Indeed. I am fascinated by vampires because there are so many ways to take it. Yes, it's all been done before, but when you've got a character in your head thats dying to get out, and he or she happens to be a vampire, why not let them. Some could be tortured, lonely souls, pained at the lives they msut take to live themselves. Others could have the ability to not kill the humans they feed off of. Others could feed off of animals to avoid the human blood thing altogether. Some are immortal, others are not. It's all fascinating seeing the different ways vampire mythology has been taken. One thing I have been palying around with, is somethign from wikipedia. Apparently, it was once believed in Brazil and other like places, that the 7th son of any family was destined to turn into a werewolf, and the 7th daughter a witch. Because of this belief, often times 7th sons or daughters were cast off, abandoned, or even murdered by their own families. I'm considering writing a story based on this, but it included necromancers and vampires. Perhaps they form their own city, filled with the castoffs of regular humans... Who knows.
I get my inspiration from watching movies with dark moods. Queen of the Damned, though horribly done for the shallow MTV generation, has one such mood. It leaves you with this epic feeling, like you are "one" with the night, if that makes sense. Lol. I dunno. i love that feeling though. Like when you walk down the street at night and instead of fearing the darkness, you embrace it. Being in that mood normally ignites a writer's spark.
I like the dark themes of Vampire mythology (anything older then me pretty much) I don’t see vampires and werewolves as dark anymore though (not saying it'll stay that way). Dark writing for me is human. moral decay. There is plenty of inspirations out there for it (just have to watch the news and see how sick we really are). Also reading a good book and the species denial
But a vampire's morality is decaying, right before his or her very eyes. Depending on which version of a vampire you go with, that is. I'm speaking of the kind that have to kill to feed. If that ain't torturous, I dunno what is Alright, I'm prepared to be mocked for this but: what is the species denial? Also, I'm curious what a serial hug offender is
Oh, no i know that. But its more real when you see human form decay in front of your eyes then havoing to read someone take that and put it in vampire form. I just can't care nor connect as much. I like thei dea of keeping the idea real and putting it in the form it festers best. Humanity. One that cant grasp or control the fall of themselves
SOrry, missed some of your questions Serial Hug offender - No idea really. Something stupid. http://www.humancondition.info/ASpeciesInDenial.html (Link to information on the book) Its just asking we are we the way we are. Im reading it and a few others for research and ideas on my darkish book
You sound very much like my friend Remo. lol. He too is fascinated by such questions, on an even deeper level than I.
Considering we know deep down in our mind that one day our own species will wipe....our own species from this planet.....and not really care enough to change the way we are (in large enough numbers to cause change)......we are pathetic, and scary.
Agreed. Compassionate and sensitive as I am, I acknowledge that I do little to nothing for the human race as it stands, even with my life-loving mind. Ha.
We had earth hour a few days ago and as much as global warming is "fashionable" these days. Everyone talks about OMG we should do this, we SHOULD do that..... i turned my power off for the hour and decided to go for a walk.... I must say out of the one hundred homes there might have been ten off.....of those ten off, maybe half were not even at home... People just dont give a **** about anything..... (Im not saying they have too), they just don't (and im not talking about individuals, just a mass majority) Im not trying to take this off topic by the way...this is just what i see as dark... and sick. (or something)
As long as they don't light up like a disco ball, Oh Ja! Love werewolves, and other shapeshifters. They are my love. The thought of a dark beastly nature appeals to me, so much as a writer you could do with that. (And so much not being done, don't know whether to blame vampires or not.)
I've been reading Camus's The Plague recently, so with that in mind I find your comments interesting Speedy- it is only natural to act in a manner which is immediately convenient after all. But on topic, I agree with Speedy- I think the most compelling works of dark fiction are those which expound on human nature, particularly human deficiencies. My problem with vampires and werewolves and other stock supernatural beings and races is that certain traits and attributes are inherently attached to them and define them- even if one is subverting their type, they are still defined by that subversion. Humans offer a much wider, more heroic and chilling range of possibilities- as after all vampires and werewolves are simply exaggerated portraits of particular aspects of human nature.
Elegance? hmm I wouldn't have associated dark with evil(I don't believe in the concept per se) but I also thought of it as...well the opposite of the light. Things people would want hidden, things we try not think about, things we pretend aren't there. The ugly, harsh, unrelenting truth. I find it odd that our interpretations of the same word are so different. But that is the flaw of language. Words not not concepts, simply the symbols we use to try to define concepts. They are the pointers of the human mind and we have overloaded the variables. Sorry for the coding reference but it came to me and I had to use it. I've always hated that idea. That the vampire was like a wayward soul that had been seduced by the glory of power or some such nonsense. To me vampires are simply addicts. They are no different from alcoholics and yet we view the addict as a pathetic wretch and the vampire as a noble seductive creature of awesome. Well that's a very debatable point. I don't think we should have that debate in this thread. Considering I don't know that deep down in my mind it clearly isn't species wide. Well do you really think that hour would have helped had we all done it? The problem is a mindset and the solution needs to be a change in that mindset.
Not all of Meyer's vampires are good. The Cullens are, but look at the ones from Italy. They are down right evil. I have loved vampires since I was like four. The first vampire movie I remember watching was a comedy with Jim Carry. I think it was Love at First Bite. Or first bitten, or Once bitten, something like that. The next one I recall watching was Fright Night, which I loved. What I like most about vampires is their fangs. If vampires don't have fangs, they are not vampires to me. I am still editing my vampire novel Bending Nature, which can be found on webook. Michael is not a scary vampire, though. Venna can be argued to be the evil one. They are both from another planet. I took the idea of vampires and created my own. I created a type of vampire I love. One of my favorite vampire worlds is Vampire the masquerade. I have also loved werewolves for just as long. My favorite thing about werewolves is their struggle to remain human, to not kill, to get control of the beast. I have a werewolf novel planned. I have plotted the whole thing. A lot of the plot came from my story structure article, which can be found in my blog. Lost Boys, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Underworld, American Werewolf in London (Paris), Howling, Vampire in Brooklin, Moon Light, Interview With a Vampire (movie), Tale of a Body Theif, Memnoch the Devil, Merrick, Saliem's lot, Blood and Chocolate (novel and movie), Marked, True Blood and the Sookie novels . . .
This entire post earned you many kudos, my friend. First off, Vampire the Masquerade is my favorite game. Both bloodlines and redemption, though I favored Redemption more. Secondly, I agree with the fangs thing. It's a bit gross to go tearing into your meal with regular teeth when all you need is the blood therein.. Thirdly, I just saw the Lost Boys a couple of months ago and loved it, in all its 80's cheese. Bram Strokers Dracula pwns all. Underworld, American Werewold in London, Interview with a Vampire, and Blood and Chocolate are all favorites of mine. That is all.
Crimsonrose, I am working on a dark type of novel right now. I have alot of deep charaters. Why do you use Vampires in your books? There are other evil and deep creatures out there?
