Unlucky_Associate507 t1_j0u25se wrote on December 19, 2022 at 12:36 PM

The problem with vampires is that they are fundamentally a metaphor for exploitative and parasitic people. They cannot be good-the best modern vampire tale I ever encountered was Being Human, were vampirism was an excellent metaphor for being a drug addict

mushroomgoth OP t1_j0u4j6g wrote on December 19, 2022 at 1:01 PM

I think my personal favourite type of vampire is the vampires in Skulduggery Pleasant. The sunlight binds them to their human form, and at night, they literally rip off their human skin to reveal this animalistic creature with no control.

There's also the fact that there's a vampire written into a few of the books that creepily obsesses over the main character and only exists to make fun of Edward Cullen, and I find it so stupidly funny

Unlucky_Associate507 t1_j0u9v30 wrote on December 19, 2022 at 1:50 PM

I think the skullduggery pleasant vampire is pretty brilliant and it works with the metaphor of vampires as exploiters. Like I see them as sort of like old men who marry young women and vampirically live off their youth... but your skullduggery pleasant is brilliant to: wealthy men like LISK (long Island serial killer) who appear normal and pleasant on the surface but have such horrible fantasies that they let out when no one can see them.

I think if Smeyers had wanted to create beautiful immortal people who can sometimes be prats but are basically so above humans that we can't really judge them... she could have used Fae. Heck Sarah Jay Maas even has her character become a Fae and Smeyers could've thought that up.

PartyPorpoise t1_j0y16xe wrote on December 20, 2022 at 6:36 AM

Nah, there's always room to recontextualize. In this case... Vampires are often a metaphor for sexual deviancy. If you're part of a group that is viewed as sexually deviant, then maybe you'd sympathize with vampires. I think vampire romance is so popular with women (and teen girls) because female sexuality is so stigmatized. (unless it's for male pleasure) Vampires are unashamed in their sexuality, so it's an appealing fantasy.

Sure, there are other aspects to the fantasy as well, but the sexuality of vampires plays into the traditional depictions.