1. dream09

    dream09 New Member

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    I REALLY need a suggestion please =[

    Discussion in 'Character Development' started by dream09, Aug 20, 2009.

    Hi,
    I just joined the site because I have a MAJOR case of writers block... So here is my problem..
    This may sound very odd, but I've been writing a novel on vampires for quite some time now. I have thought through the whole story up until Isaac goes into sunlight..
    I've heard a suggestion to make him turn coal black, some have said make him disappear, some have said to have him not be affected.. I would like him to be affected, but not in a serious way to hurt him. And I'm not about to use sparkling for those who have read twilight.
    If you could please be of some assistance that would make my brain fell 100x better =]
    Thank you,
    Cheyenne
     
  2. kyle777

    kyle777 Member

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    um....didn't you just post this in Character Development? Because that is the right place for this to go. As for your problem....it's kind of difficult to judge what a character should and shouldn't do without being inside your head. This is something you really should come to a conclusion by yourself. You obviously don't want him to sparkle, that'd be a rip of Twilight....I mean, there are many possibilites with this, so go through them all and see which one fits the story.
     
  3. Shea

    Shea New Member

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    Well, technically, vampires are dead right? So, what if the magic of being a vampire casts a glamour of sorts, so that when hidden from ultraviolet light, they appear as when they were turned, but in the presence of enough ultraviolet light, say from the sun, the glamour is rendered useless, and they are visible as a definitively dead (and yet alive) body? And why limit it to eyesight? We have five senses, why not additionally incorporate a smell? Even maybe a sound if you are willing to get really creative?
     
  4. Kathryn

    Kathryn New Member

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    Why can't you hurt him?

    Do you know where your story is going? Have something happen to him that'll advance the story in the way in which you want it to go.
     
  5. arron89

    arron89 Banned

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    Call me a Purist, but I still think the idea of vampires being hurt by/allergic to sunlight is the best. It just fits the characteristics of vampires so well. The sparkly vampire treatment from Twilight was awful...I guess its kinda romantic, but seriously? Dude just gets all shiny? How is that cool?
    That said, I guess turning black could be a pretty cool idea, cuz it would still act as an incentive to keep out of the sun most of the time, and it enhances the "monster" side of the myth, a side that's conveniently glossed over in favour of the glamorous side in a lot of recent fiction.
    I definitely thing he should be adversely affected though, preferably injured by it.
     
  6. ValianceInEnd

    ValianceInEnd Active Member

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    You probably just wanna go with tradition there. Have him get a wee bit crispy, but when he gets back in the dark he can regenerate.
     
  7. OrdinaryJoe

    OrdinaryJoe Active Member

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    Well, if you really do not want your vampire to burst into flames and turn into a pile of ash I would suggest sunlight having some other negative effect on your character. How about blindness, weakness, rapid aging, insanity, insatiable bloodlust or even blood loss from their eyes, ears, nose and mouth. I think vampires must have a weakness or they are to powerfull for people to relate to them.
     
  8. HorusEye

    HorusEye Contributor Contributor

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    I think the saving grace of the whole vampire mythology is that they're condemned to eternal darkness. Without this aspect, they're just super-humans. Anne Rice did it great - her vampires felt a genuine sense of loss when they were turned, and never would be able to look at another sunrise again for all eternity. Being one of her vampires was not a gift but a curse.
     
  9. Rumpole40k

    Rumpole40k Banned

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    The truth of the matter is HOW you present the effect is far more important than the effect itself. A great writer could probably have their vampres turn yellow with purple polka dots and still sell it. Ultimately you will have to decide, but why not choose and effect that would be intersting challenging to write?
     
  10. Cogito

    Cogito Former Mod, Retired Supporter Contributor

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    It's your story, and how you decide this will affect the story. Therefore it is not a decision others can make for you.

    If you are trying to find an idea no one has written before, forget it. It's a pointless pursuit. Just about every worthwhile variation has already been done, so you will end up with the downright silly (sparkly, for example).

    A writer has to be prepared to make choices and live with them. Otherwise he or she will go nowhere. Writing by consensus just doesn't work.
     
  11. Leaka

    Leaka Creative Mettle

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    How about they turn dead looking? I mean what if sunlight has the ability to create the rapid decay a normal dead body would, I mean they are the living dead. First by evaporating their blood yadda yadda yadda. Or whatever way you explain.
     
  12. bluebell80

    bluebell80 New Member

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    If you think back to Dracula, he isn't killed by going in the sunlight, only weakened. In Queen of the Damned and books after it, Lestat was immune from the sun's effects after drinking from the Queen, the purest vampire blood there was. There was no burning or anything for him, but his skin did still look and feel like marble.

    What happens to your Issac will totally depend on your mythology of the vampires in your story. Sunlight damage has always been part of classical mythology of vampires, whether they were just weakened in the sun or actually killed by it, or if they went back into an inanimate state of death during the day.

    Frankly, I didn't like the whole sparkly vampire idea. It's stupid.
     
  13. MarginOfError

    MarginOfError New Member

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    You could go with something very contemporary and have the sunlight lay him flat with a migraine for three day.
     
  14. Tall and Weird

    Tall and Weird New Member

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    How about they simply begin rotting in true sunlight? The darkness protects their dead flesh from the ravages of time but the moment natural light hits them... the look and smell of rotting meat is very unappealing.
     
  15. Twisted Inversely

    Twisted Inversely New Member

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    Vampires are dead right? Yes I know they walk around, and talk and sometimes bite people but for all intents and purposes they are dead.

    So how about sunlight reveals them as the corpses they would have been had they not been turned into vampires.

    Let me explain. A newly created vampire wouldn’t have any problems in sunlight as their corpse would essentially look human, if a little pale.

    After a couple of years though, when their corpse would have started to rot, one touch of the suns glare would turn them into something resembling Barbossa and his crew from Pirates of the Caribbean.

    Fast forward a few decades and they would be skeletons, and a few centuries after that dust.
     
  16. Marcelo

    Marcelo Member

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    Which would make older Vampires to avoid sunlight. Wow, this is cool. :cool:
     
  17. bluebell80

    bluebell80 New Member

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    There's an idea you probably should have kept to yourself. ;)
     
  18. Unit7

    Unit7 Contributor Contributor

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    Yeah I second that...

    I mean that is a brilliant reason as to avoid the sunlight.

    *cough* excuse me while I stea- er go read TV Tropes...
     
  19. OrdinaryJoe

    OrdinaryJoe Active Member

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    Actually that concept has already been used. In the True Blood series on HBO, or in reality the Suzie Stackhouse novels that the show is derived from. Bill, Suzie’s 200 year old vampire boyfriend is out in the sun for about half an hour and although he is seriously damaged by it, he is buried and comes back fully healed the next day. Godric the 2000 year old vampire commits suicide by standing in the light of dawn and disintegrates within a minute. So the damaging effects of the sun correlate to the age of the vampire. So although it is a good concept, it has been used before.
     
  20. fandango

    fandango New Member

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    I like your thinking. Throw in a touch of hayfever and you could be onto something.
     
  21. Far Away

    Far Away New Member

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    Personally I dislike the current vampire trend, but if it's what floats your boat, go for it.

    I agree with others when they say have him be hurt by the sun. Not being hurt/destroyed by the sun seems to be a uniquely Stephanie Meyer creation, so try and deviate from that.

    I suggest studying the origins of vampire mythology. Where did they come from? Why are they hurt by the sun? etc. This should give you a better idea of how to represent your vampire.
     
  22. Operaghost

    Operaghost New Member

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    Actually in Dracula and even classic vampire lore its only direct sunlight that can kill them, not the sun itself. There is actually a genuine diesease in which sufferers are allergic to direct ultra-violet light, i forget the name of it i'm afraid but basically it can cause rashes, swelling and in extreme circumstances anaphylatic shock how about vampire suffer form an advanced form of this, it will affect them and have the bonus of being based on reality? (in fact there is another genuine disease caused by lack of iron in which some people have taken to drinking animal blood as they believes it helps them although this hasn't been scientifically proven) at the end of the day its your story and your established lore, oh and you are right to stray away form the stephanie meyer route as twilight sucks, there i said it, but having vampires sparkle? is this a way to romanticise the vampires even more so tweenage girls can go weak at the knees, in its defence the film was ok though
     
  23. Hwkngrl412

    Hwkngrl412 New Member

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    First, what does the sun represent to your vampire? Is it a "forbidden fruit" of sorts, like with Anne Rice? Is is an enemy? Does it redeem or condemn? Is it a religious analogy? Does it inflict physical pain or spiritual/emotional/etc? Once you have a solid idea of what the sun represents to your vampire(s) and throughout the story, then you can get a better idea of what sorts of punishments it inflicts on your character. Hope this helps!
     
  24. Atari

    Atari Active Member

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    Well, why don't you just make them NOT be vampires? Call them something else, and make them have a negligible weakness to sunlight?

    Me, I don't really understand the fascination with vampires, at least, not the fascination with ALTERING them.
    I mean, vampires are already created and have their weaknesses and strengths. Why alter them, but keep the name 'vampire'?

    I think it'd be cool if you just made something else.
     
  25. Nervous1st

    Nervous1st New Member

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    I actually agree with this. If you alter the traditional Vampire, then I believe they are no longer Vampires.

    It's like recreating a Superman story, I don't think you can change the nature of Vampires any more than you can change Superman.
     

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