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Cartomancer Arch Sire (194) Posts: 1,252 Honor: 34,355 [ Give / Take ] |
It's interesting how this genre is one where it's kind of damned if you do damned if you don't. Some people adore it all... but with others, there are codes some 'fans' believe should never be altered in the telling of such a tale. While some modern vampires will hate all of it because it 'paints an incorrect picture of who they are', I am sorry to say I disagree. People took this name from folklore, the name first belonged to a legendary myth. They use it to best describe themselves- but the name was coined far before for these glorious monsters. Many big names in the vampire scene will be first to say 'vampire' is a misnomer for them, while others cannot let go of needing the name more than actually being content with who they are. To agree with me here does not threaten the reality of who these people are. Then again- I am okay with the name when I think about how we use the term 'goth' today. In modern times, a goth is not a Germanic Native. Viewing it from that perspective give us further clarity.
And so- as some people can't seem to stop talking about how Stephenie Meyer has 'ruined' vampires (I don't agree, I'll take them all), are there any other authors out there that have totally ruined your vision of what vampires should be in a story? Is there a vampire epitome in fiction?
My one gripe about this kind of thing is the idea of putting limits and boundaries on a writer's creativity. I don't think that should ever happen. People should always feel free to be unique in their work. But this is one literary arena where some people are steadfast in not being able to accept new versions.
*You'll notice I am on all fictional vampire sides, I've got all their backs :P Many kinds of people join Vampire Rave and I welcome them all as a representative of the site. I refuse to scoff at their preferences, because I am here in service as well as membership.*
It's okay to have your own opinions and express what you dislike and what you prefer.
I never really got into vampires until I saw Interview With The Vampire. Putting aside the fact that Brad and Tom were UBER hot, the whole story line to me was fascinating and very believable (YaY Anne Rice!). That is when the "Goth" scene became clear to me. BUT being Goth does NOT mean you are a vampire and vice versa. Yes it's a life style, but it is what you make it to be for yourself.
I don't believe that any author has ruined any thing about vampires. It's an individual's conception of them; how they put it on paper.
All of the vampires throughout history each of their own unique personalities if you will and each have made their own unique mark in history.
Sparkling vampires is not my idea of what a real vampire should look like, but everyone forgets the books written by Stephenie Meyer were conceived in a dream she had. She admitted on the Oprah show that chapter 13 of TWILIGHT was the dream she had that started this legacy. She wrote the dream down and then finished the rest of the book around it. HOW does that ruin anything about vampires? You make it what it is for you. And remember she wrote the books for the Tweens...... 13 to 19 year olds basically. WHO KNEW the moms would snag onto it and make it a huge thing?
The "real" vampires of the world - well are they really real too? It's your own decision.
I love vampires. Period. Fake or real, literary or theatrical. I love them.
Change is good. An immortal must adapt to a changing world or hide and die. Vampires have different personalities and this makes a story interesting. Some have more depth and some are the valley girls of vampire fiction. They are us with a deathly twist.
Well, the key word is fiction, with vampire novels usually falling into the genre of fantasy. What I enjoy most about this genre is that it allows writers so much freedom in their creativity.
It is "fiction", even if there are real vampires they are not being represented by the writer or the writing would be classed as non-fiction. The sooner people realise this, the better.
Very true at that part. I prefer the vampires in Vampire Academy novels and the Legacy of Kain series of games. Even though I know neither one is how me or other vampires I know truly are, they make really good stories :) But the vampires in Vampire Academy do get pretty close to what real vamps are, well the closest I've seen anyway.
So SeraConner, you believe you are a real vampire? What do you look like? How do you tell people?
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Cartomancer Arch Sire (194) Posts: 1,252 Honor: 34,355 [ Give / Take ] |
So, SeraConner- you prefer fictional vampire to look like regular people? Personally I wouldn't find that to be very interesting. I'm looking for fantasy when it comes to vampires.
I think that a vampire should and can be crafted however the writer desires he/she to be. It's about creativity in fiction, so a writer may as well create what he/she wants, right?
Whether readers like it is another matter.
Well I feel that anyone that writes should be allowed to express their own way to describe or create the Vampire in their books, I mean it is their creation not anyones elses. I feel alot think that the Vampire should always be the mean villian, like the real vlad that killed so many people. The stories and myths grew from him I feel. Yet, to me he was just a very evil murderous man.
The "real" vampires of the world, I mean are they really real too? I feel that would have to be in the beholders own decision. Yet I feel there are no immortals walking around the planet, and if so would they not want to help us and let us know that they could in some sense of the word.?
Bottom line like was already said
I love vampires. Fake or real, literary or theatrical. I love them all. To me they are the best fantasy out there. :0
The first vampire story I ever read was Interview With A Vampire in 1989. Since then I have read more than I can count. I could care less less if they sparkle or if they turn into a bat. I prefer that the book be entertaining and interesting. Or more simply put be creative. If they were all the same, why would I need to keep reading?
The genre has many faces, as it really should. Now I'm not a fan of the pop culture vampires as of late though there are many which really are. I prefer a darker, more violent vampire mytho to the sparkling romantic Twilight attributes, though I love what Anne Rice has done for the stories. There are many faces and attributes to the vampire story, who am I to say they're not welcome or right? After all, I didn't write them.
I think it is a good thing to shy away from the idealism contributed by the origins of what society has learned about the vampire through both Paladori and Stoker.
Creating new gimmicks is a very cool idea. First it was bats and now through shows like Forever Knight, they fly on their own.
I am not into any sort of sparkly crap, but hey. Blade made the generation of the dhampir come to life, why not concepts like Moonlight and Trueblood where prolonged sun contact could be fatal instead of outright burning? I think that is very clever.
Instead of coffins, vampires from Moonlight need ice. What better resting place then a freezer? I guess this is to keep their bodies from decay or at least smelling.
Though authors still have yet to differenciate from the sucking on the neck or inner thigh thing. Even the fangs are paramount still.
I guess my answer to the question would be: Anyway the author deems as nessessary, just as long as the novel is well written and entices the reader to keep reading after the first chapter.
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Cartomancer Arch Sire (194) Posts: 1,252 Honor: 34,355 [ Give / Take ] |
Moonlight and True Blood are awesome- and The Vampire Diaries have a neat spin with a ring they wear to allow them in the sun. Some think that show is is doing a little copy-cat of Twilight with the age the main vampires are, but the books were actually written almost 20 years ago.
With Me it is not so much the portrayal of Vampire Traits as it is the personalities of the characters. Too may seem to boil down to the "Pity me I am a monster" types, and that just spoils it for me. And this has made me very apprehensive towards new "vampire" books, movies and tv shows. A good example is that literally just yesterday I gave in to curiousity and watched the first two episodes of TrueBlood. And While I may still be apprehensive about where it goes from here, I will admit I was pleasently supprised by the personalities of the "Vampires" I have seen so far.
I would have to say some of My favorite portayals and personalities are from "30 Days of Night," "Lost Boys: The Tribe," "Dracula 2000" and the two take off sequals, And the "Blade" trilogy.
Trinity blood is good too. The vampires in that are very proud of who what they are, though they hate being called vampires as it's a nickname given to them by humans.
ok I am dumb so why do they feel that the name *vampire* is a nickname. I mean they are blood sucking individuals, so why would it be a nickname.. Please enlighten me.
Thanks
In trinity blood the "vampires" are a race called methusula (think I spelled it right) that showed up and went to war with humans. Due to their traits (stronger, faster, fangs, and drinking of human blood) the humans called them vampires since they resembled the vampires of legend. But the methusula were proud of their race's name and hated being called vampires.
ok yet, they are Vampires when ever they get doen . I mean as I said they bite and drink blood just like the Vampire Bats .. so why be offended by beiing called what they are in actuality?.
Yet, that is very interesting I had not known that thank you.
ok I googled this and well it is just a book or ledgend, written by someone so how can you base reality on this book/books?
When Earth's population drastically increased, humanity, led by the United Nations, attempted to colonize Mars. During the colonization, they discovered two alien technologies: the Bacillus and the Crusnik nanomachines.
The colonists installed the Bacillus in their bodies which transformed them into Methuselahs. They installed the Crusnik in the bodies of four test tube babies: Seth, Cain, Abel and Lilith whose enhanced bodies were the only ones able to survive the procedure.
Continuing wars on Earth eventually led to "Armageddon," the apocalyptic event that happened 900 years before the start of the story, and the colonists returned to Earth to help with rebuilding.
However, when the colonists returned to Earth, a war broke out between the Methuselahs and the humans who had remained on earth. Abel, Cain, and Seth took the Methuselah's side—while Lilith supported the Vatican, which guarded humanity.
During the war, Cain went insane and killed Lilith. In grief, Abel took her body to the Vatican where she was buried. Abel remained at her side, weeping for her, for 900 years.
At the start of the story, the vampiric Methuselahs, still a major political and military force, continue to wage war on the "Terrans," as they call regular humans. The Roman Catholic Church is a major military power determined to protect humans from the Methuselahs, with its seat of power based in the Vatican.
The Methuselahs have their capital in Byzantium, which is surrounded by a field of particles to filter out UV radiation, protecting the Methuselah population.
Both groups use "lost technologies", such as airships, missiles, and computers, to engage in a cold war with one another. A third great power, Albion also plays a role in the war with its superior arsenal of lost technology and weapons and higher level of manufacturing ability versus the Vatican.
The independent monarchy of Albion is a primarily human country, however the secret of their expertise in lost technology is found in the Ghetto, an underground city of enslaved Methuselah. It is these Methuselah who operate and manufacture the lost technology, but with the death of the Albion Queen, some of the enslaved vampires begin a rebellion for the freedom of all of the Ghetto residents.
Differences between adaptations;
While the novels, manga, and anime series all cover the same basic story and feature many of the same characters, they do have some minor and major differences.
Each has its own unique variation on the major story arcs, and in general the novels give the most detail concerning the political elements and background information on the stories. There are a few minor name changes and many details found in the novels are not given in the anime or manga.
I mean we have yet to do many things stated here such as Mars etc. so how would a story affect *real people* is my question ?? Not because of some book wrote, ya know that was the writers edge and his own writings just like all the other Novels and movies that are out there.
I was wanting to know why the *Vampires of today * or real people feel that it is a nick name. ??
Never said it applied to actual reality, just that it was a good fiction story. As for real life vamps considering it a nickname, some do and some don't in my experience. I care not which it is. I am what I am, whether I'm a vampire or something called a vampire due to similarities to vampire legends, doesn't matter to me.
We don't need any more type of invented type of vampires. HIstory has given society to many as it is. I believe in privacy and descretion not advertisment
ok gotcha and I agree we have plenty around do not need much more .. ;)
No one should be offended by the way a vampire is portrayed by an author.
First of all, anyone have a different opinion of what a vampire really is.
Second, an author is a god in their work. They portray the characters and story in any way they want to. It is their choice.
I see the same thing with fan-fiction, people criticising the work of others and saying that certain things didn't happen in the actual story and that the characters wouldn't behave in such a manner.
This is all wrong, because like in anything, an author is free to crerate their own story and characters. Readers, watchers, can choose to like it or not.
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Cartomancer Arch Sire (194) Posts: 1,252 Honor: 34,355 [ Give / Take ] |
"We don't need any more type of invented type of vampires. HIstory has given society to many as it is. I believe in privacy and descretion not advertisment"
What needs to be kept private here, someone's imagination? That's what I am talking about. This thread is about fiction, not reality. Vampiric fiction has been around forever- why should people stop creating? The only thing that would happen if we did not have it in my opinion is that we'd have a lot less people saying they were vampires. Nothing for them to 'parallel'. And where would the goth world (in all facets - fashion, film) be without the vampire influence over time?
And there would not be so many people in this community, many just like the fictional vampire, was curious and joined here, maybe even to take ideas for a literal work, art, etc...
I like my fantasy just that -- fantasy. My opinion is that movie vampires should shape shift, fly, be very difficult to kill, and can seduce anyone. period. I'm not that big into movie vamps with a soft spot, for a silly girl no less. But I do see why it would make for a good chick flick, I just prefer my vampire movie to be an action/thriller kind of movie, that's all.
Honestly in my personal opinion I don't think that an author can "ruin" vampires for me. I have read the old myths and fables and I just think its all how a reader sees what the author has written...
Okay so in the Twilight saga, the vampires "sparkle".. and personally I found the character of Edward annoying and wishy washy.. but that doesn't mean I didn't find a vampire character that didn't annoy me...
But in those books, they are just that, characters... the author did not claim (at least to MY knowledge) that any of it was based on truth or anything like that...
I chalk it up to that "naughty pleasure" read like romance novels and the ilk...
I LOVE FICTION, no boundaries whatsoever! My vampires won’t sparkle, mine will all have fairy floss pink hair :D
And MY vampires will not only be nightstalkers, but daywalkers as well. Some will be 'good' and some will be 'evil'.
So - there!
MMMmmm yes let them write and craft as they wish.
How can one objectively object to that which has yet to take form... that would be taking the subject in question and being, in my view, overly sujective rather than objective....oooo my head hurts.
After reading that post FS mine hurts too.
Anyway Vampires have alot of potential as far as imagination goes.We have the traditional Vampire stories such as Dracula and Nofseratu,the Dawson Creek type stories like the Twilight stuff,and we interview them too.I like to see new twists like Life Force etc..Whats next,techno Vamp?
Techno Vamp, now there's an interesting concept.
Howa bout Sci-fi Vamp?
Pass water through the earths gravitational field and use a current to break H20 into its elements.
The gas produced floats to the surface in a large chambre, the energy from which drives a turbine.
The molecules are then ignited producing more energy.
The Chambre then sinks to the Ocean floor and again the energy drives the turbine.
At all stages energy is produced which is impossible.
Furmula...changing the state of matter through a gravitational field prpduces free energy? Huh?
My head hurts.
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Cartomancer Arch Sire (194) Posts: 1,252 Honor: 34,355 [ Give / Take ] |
Something tells me at any of those points the character would be called something other than vampire. But hey, that's just me.
I would do a lot of ancient historical research and read up on all cultures version of what a vampire is, and try to come up with a main character that resembles a bit of those and tie it into the legends.
PsiDreamer - kudos to you!
When I write about vampires, I like my historical backgrounds to be as correct as possible. And since my vampires are thousands of years old, and from all over the globe, keeping track of the history is important.
While it is good to follow history I do think adding new things makes it more interesting as long as you dont go changing the story to the point where you cannot make out what it is about.
I enjoy a little mystery, the reader, or audience should have to foreshadow if there is a vampire as a character.
This would 'thin the herd' from those who read the book, to those who jump on the bandwagon when 9and if) the movie comes out.
to reinvent the genre would take a skilled writer. I have toyed with a few sci-fi vampire character types.
Dabbler - I too like a bit of mystery in some of the fiction I read. (Which is few and far between now adays). When I write. I try to leave certain details out so that the reader can draw thier own conclusions as to what My character is. My Wife and I have been playing with an idea I have come to call "The Hunters Journal"
As far as Sci-Fi Vampires. I think there have been a few successful tries at redefining and exploring of possibilities. Gene Rodenbarry's "Earth Final Conflict" and the show "Star Gate Atlantis" being a couple. Plus I liked the way the did "Ultraviolet." Another two interesting twists I enjoyed were "Perfect Creature" & "Night Junkies"
Oh...And least I forget..."Night Watch" and "Day Watch."