Oh, @DK3654 I just thought of something that always bothered me about Blade (because you asked about things to avoid), in one of the instalments, someone comes up with a daylight torch, and later, a daylight bomb. Now, yes, you can get daylight lamps, they have a blue coating and shine a very clear light, great for artists and crafters (especially stitchers etc) because you get to see real colour and can easily see the difference in shades of the same colour (I used to use them myself when I did cross-stitch embroidery) but they are not sunlight, they are simulated light. So I never really believed that having a daylight torch or bomb would actually kill vampires, or at least, not to the extent that it did in the movies!
Presumably because the UV radiation is there. UV in such examples, also used in Underworld, is normally specified as the relevant component of sunlight.
To me, the anachronistic gimmicks tend to be more interesting than just giving them a generic set of powers and the need to drink blood. However, if I might point out something that has always interested me in regards to vampires is the potential transhumanist ideas that could come about. If it is possible to feed off animal blood, and vampires are clearly so much stronger than humans, why not simply convert everyone? Perhaps keep a small human population for breeding, but if vampires are unaging, that means you would still have population growth.
I read somewhere (can't remember where) but that is how we can prove that vampires do not exist in reality, because according to the 6 degrees of freedom and network theory and assuming if vampires bite humans they either die or turn to a vampire, if vampires did exist the human race would be wiped out and therefore the vampire's food chain with it. Could be an interesting premise for a story?
Assuming they always kill or turn is a very big assumption and not remotely true for my story, in which they are usually fairly restrained in this regard. And how do you determine the rate at which they bite/turn?
In the original Dracula story, didn't it take Dracula multiple trips to turn Lucy? She slowly got progressively worse as the nights went on as he kept returning. Or am I mistaken?
Well it depends on how often they bite, how often they are exterminated, and whether they can supplement biting humans entirely.
Different methods have come up over the years, I think Rice started the exchange of blood trend which was also used in the Buffyverse and the World of Darkness. Twilight spoke of venom (though as with everything did a hack job of it) and I'm not sure about any others.
The use of the word "venom" in multiple modern incarnations always confuses me. Wouldn't it be more of a pathogen? That's how I envision it essentially.
You're right, most likely a virus (since they hijack cells and use that cell to multiply rather than are alive in the MRS GREN sense) but then, Twilight is the work of an author who can't do basic fact checks. I know that neurotoxins work by blocking synapses (the gaps between nerve cells) but that's as far as my knowledge in the field goes.
Writing vampire characters I'm intrigued. I know so little of vampire mythology *grins*. I like ms. Meyer's ingenuity. I would like to have words with her though, to show her that I do not sparkle. If there is enough blood on my skin I might glisten wetly.
This is something that's always bothered me about modern vampires. Most of the time being a vampire is just a straight fucking upgrade from being a human, they don't even keep the "must feed on fresh blood" thing very relevant to the concept. If becoming a vampire just makes you faster/stronger/live forever, then what exactly is the downside? It's kind of like the way death was presented in Dragon Ball Z. When you died, you went to an after life that was basically just like the normal life except you never aged. You could even get stronger, and you could go to earth even if you were strong enough. So why the fuck don't the heroes just KILL THEMSELVES and stay young forever instead of aging? I know something like DBZ is a really bad example because it's so dumb and everything, but come on.
To me there is no downside to feeding on blood. I could talk about the merits of feeding on blood for days... a 2 hour movie and they only show feeding for mere seconds... pathetic! I like to go slowly, show appreciation for such things. TRS I completely agree about about Dragonball Z and it's characters having little downside. I don't think there is much downside for myself. I do not miss the sun, feh. Who needs that much of a tan. My other weaknesses I would not care to list at this moment. If someone wanted to take my head, I would like to see them try! As for Goku, I believe I could take him. I never would tell him that I don't fight fair. *grins*
Usually with vampires, in any good fiction, they portray two main collective downsides- isolation from humanity, and immoral urges. The first having to do with sunlight and not aging and also often to do with some sense of it affecting their emotions or experiences somehow- 'feeling dead'. The second obviously to do with bloodthirst, but also can involve the same kind of psychological effects, such as being emotionally hardened to fighting and killing. I intend to have a good deal of exploration into both. I absolute do not want a twilight situation where there's far more moaning about it than there is exploration of the actual issue. As I have mentioned before, I am trying to include a good deal of real world issues within the actual storyline, as well as also making parallels between them and supernatural elements. My main vampire character I keep mentioning- her name is Jade, I should probably say at this point- has a central plot arc involving being involuntarily turned and then recruited into the noble house of her sire by exploiting the thrall that results from being turned. She spends several months with them, during which time she delves deep into her more hedonistic side, edged on by her sire who is interested in making Jade his immortal partner, before eventually coming too and escaping. She then spends several weeks desperately trying to find her way, but she can't find a way to support herself, so she starts to lose control, leading her to nearly commit suicide before she is taken in by a group of vampires with somewhat similar histories and perspectives. Jade does reasonably well for some time, but eventually her old house catches up with her, and the leader of her new group is killed in the fighting. She gives up on any part in the supernatural world and resigns to live as normal a life as she can, but she pushes herself too far and starts to become a little unstable, and loses the trust of her closest friends. Luckily for her, in the end, it turns out she's not the only one in her friend circle who isn't exactly human (hint hint it's another of the main characters).
DK I am rooting for you and your story and Jade. She has had a hard life, perhaps now things will change for the better for her. If she is ever in need of blood tell her to swing by my place. I will offer what I can of course. I cannot speak to isolation from society, I do not isolate myself from the villagers. Occasionally I pick one, my ballerina keeps telling me they are called soccer mom's. What is a vampire to do, it is difficult to keep up with the changing times. As to the other *Smiles showing fangs*. Whenever my beloved ballerina moans, I feel an immoral urge coming on. What do you say beloved, will you moan for me or simply blush to torture me further.
With the growing amount of jobs that work at night there's no need to be isolated anymore, not to mention the club scene and things like that. And character's feel less emotions just limits their characters and makes them less interesting. It's replacing emotional depth with angst. And them wanting to feed on blood isn't immoral for the same reason humans eating meat isn't. If they need to do it to survive, then it's fine. Not to mention they could just invest in blood banks.
Well, killing humans is normally considered more consequential to a human moral perspective and society than killing animals. But yeah there a number of ways they could obtain blood without killing people. They could get animal blood from butchers, or human blood from blood banks yes. These can be frozen or refrigerated so the supply does not have to be fresh. They can also make artificial blood or put preservatives even. Also, depending on how much they need in one go, they could feed on willing humans without killing them which is depicted in some versions; although often which moral questions and/or drug-like elements.
It's restricting and not even likes the choices. It's funny you should mention 'the club scene' because that's actually a major part of Jade's character. I didn't say without emotions. My vampires will be far from without emotions. But it does affect their emotional state. Jade as a character, is, for most of the story, not really ok with being a vampire. But she not going to be sitting around complaining about it. It's not all misery and angst. If anything, the reason why she doesn't accept it is more to do with how much she actually enjoys it and how guilty she feels about that. They are compelled towards killing people to get it. Yes, they can get collected blood, but it's not quite the same, meaning it's not always easy and they have to be careful. And it's not a great feeling for a typically moral person to regularly feel like killing random people whether they like it or not. Yes, they can deal and learn to adapt. I want that to be possible because it's pretty necessary for the several protagonistic vampire characters and the place of the vampires as an accepted group in the occult world (and not simply as a threat). But it's also important that they are not super powered with no consequences, especially when vampires are supposed to be a creature of darkness traditionally associated with evil. I prefer it to be an interesting tangle of different good, bad and ambiguous aspects.
I shall try this new thing, feeding on my victims but not killing them. Why do you shrug at me so lovely? Do you not think I am up to this challenge. Dearest smiling at me in that way is a grave offense in the old country. Do you wish me to levitate you up high? Because I will, and then I will become like mist and engulf your athletic beautiful body. Why are you shaking my arm so fervently, do you not want a tickle fest. Here comes the heavy penalty my dearest, I will stop as soon as I hear your sincere plaintive cries. Or whatever sound your vocal chords can manage.
I am not a fan of vampire stories or films or TV shows, because I'm more of a logical/emotional person who finds the existence of vampires totally unbelievable, and consequently not very interesting. (Right up there with Batman and Spiderman. A bit of fun, but I can't take these things seriously at all.) However, one aspect of the vampire's (so-called) existence that I do find interesting is their immortality. Of course I know nothing is immortal, but a lot of us sometimes wish we were. As Woody Allen once said, when asked about how he would like to achieve immortality (through his work) "I intend to achieve immortality by not dying." It's funny ...BUT.... What if we WERE immortal? What if we could not die? If we were otherwise ourselves, but had achieved immortality somehow? Would we actually want it? I find stories that explore this idea quite compelling. Because death is part of life and when we step outside that inevitable circle, we find what? Just an endless passing of days. And nothing matters any more. Interview With A Vampire, by Anne Rice, explores this idea quite well, which is why it's one of the few vampire stories I actually like. Other non-vampire stories deal with immortality as well. none of them make immortality seem as attractive as we'd initially expect. Of course if we accept that we are not immortal, that we actually don't want to be, then we can savour our lives for however long they last, and be thankful there will be a beginning, middle and end. Okay, we might wish for a LONGER life ...that I wouldn't mind. Or a life that gives us more eternal youth and less decrepit old age. But immortality? I can't imagine anything more horrific, to be honest. If I were writing a vampire story, I think that's what I would focus on.
The thing about vampires is that they are never really undying, because while they don't age, they almost always die anyway, it's not uncommon for them to even die young. Immortality is a significant theme I will be exploring with Jade, concerning how it affects relationships with other characters for instance, but more so with the older vampires who have already lived for a very long time (Jade is not that old). Jade's sire, Vitaly, is mainly influenced by it that he has never really had a very meaningful of fulfilling life. He hopes that if he had a partner it could provide with more meaning an fulfillment, which he turns to Jade for, of course, it doesn't work out though. The leaders of the same house as Vitaly, Hilda & Markus, come to see immortal lives as being worth more, and therefore devaluing ordinary humans somewhat. This is very important to their main goals and actions in their story.
