Subject: I have now read the phrase "covetous corpses." My life is enhanced by this. ^_^ (nm)
Author:
Posted on: 2020-01-07 14:37:12 UTC
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Since apparently I have vampire-slaying powers, or something... by
on 2020-01-07 02:16:47 UTC
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...I am making a post for the Edification of all on common vampiric traits.
The nice thing about the incredible diversity of vampires is that you can pick and choose all sorts of traits depending on the theme your story is going for. A common question asked about vampires is "do they reflect in mirrors? If they don't, is it only silver mirrors that don't show their image, or photography methods that don't use silver?" The answer depends, of course, on the vampire type being used, but the answer to this fairly simple question shows how these traits can tell you about the vampire in question.
For example, two common answers are "They do have reflections, except in silver mirrors because the purity of silver is deadly to vampires" and "they don't reflect at all- the undead have no souls, so they can't be captured in photographs or reflections." Though these have somewhat similar mechanical effects and use similar reasoning (something about the vampire is corrupted/missing/wrong), they result in a vastly different thematic energy.
A vampire that doesn't reflect in silver mirrors will go largely unnoticed, since most people don't use silvered mirrors anymore. This results in a message somewhere along the lines of "the Old Ways protected us from vampires, and discarding them has left us vulnerable to evil." Would-be vampire hunters might retrieve a mirror from their attic that belonged to a great-grandmother, literally reviving tradition to defend themselves.
On the other hand, our alternate scenario means that our modern technology is capable of quantifying evil and defending us from it. With our modern resources, we'll be able to sniff out the undead before they pose a threat. Our heroes might set up camera rigs or check people coming into a safe zone to see if they reflect. They'll probably also use other modern technology to defend against the undead threat. Altogether, this results in a vastly different story. Another story with different goals might decide that vampires do reflect, because their souls are either human or unquantifiable by something as mundane as a mirror.
Another question I get a lot is "Wait, silver? Isn't that a vulnerability that werewolves get?" Well, yes and no. Werewolves and vampires have often been intertwined in mythology. In one Eastern European account of a village supposedly threatened by vampires, one of the undead was said to "walk in the shape of a wolf". Dracula draws on these traditions with his command of animals, and some vampires even borrow the shapeshifting gambit entirely, covetous corpses that they are. Either way, the malevolence of these early legends meant that the supposedly pure-natured silver was used to combat them.
However, the legends eventually grew apart. Vampires often retained their aversion to silver, as their more subtle and social predation didn't conflict with the original symbology. It's only now, when authors seek to make vampires and werewolves more distinct from each other that vampires have lost that. However, werewolves got a lot burlier in their later forms. Expecting a cross or string of garlic to hold off a 300-pound slavering beast didn't make much sense to people, so they lost many vulnerabilities that couldn't be made more convincingly threatening. Silver was melted into bullets or onto daggers while fire was still employed to hold the beasts back, but garlic and holy water went out of fashion for our dear wolves.
Thanks for reading! If you have more questions about vampires, I may or may not have an answer– but I can promise you that I will have an opinion.
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I have now read the phrase "covetous corpses." My life is enhanced by this. ^_^ (nm) by
on 2020-01-07 14:37:12 UTC
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I realised something by
on 2020-01-07 08:59:08 UTC
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I realise that your new nickname on Discord was related to Vampires…
Why didn’t I think of that?
Anyway, according to the Bullfuvg man( I censored his name), when Vampires see rice( anything that has rice), it they will stop and start counting the individual grains! They will count the amount of rice one by one. If you don’t even eat rice often, seeds can work as well. Any kind of seeds.
Huh, finding Vampires must be really easy. Also by Bullfuvg man, you have to invite a Vampire into your home before they can attack you.
Thanks Bullfuvg man and Cicada!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eHEItvqF-tg ( Language!)
~SomeRandomPersonAccount
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One more thing that I forgot to mention! by
on 2020-01-07 09:15:48 UTC
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Running water can also kill Vampires. Now where is that Water gun…
~SomeRandomPersonAccount
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Running water by
on 2020-01-07 16:32:22 UTC
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Usually, it's just that they can't cross running water. And all of those weaknesses naturally depend on the themes in question- for example, a vampire that needs invitation to enter a house is more likely to emphasize the terror of a predator that passes itself off as human, one that counts rice will have an alien mindset and some themes of madness, etc. And my name's just a coincidence- I like garlic for completely coincidental reasons that have nothing to do with any vampire-slaying powers I may or may not have.
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It was a coincidence all along? by
on 2020-01-08 13:20:18 UTC
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Awww I actually thought that I figured out a reason on why you changed your username. : (
But thanks for replying though!
~SomeRandomPersonAccount