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So I briefly touched on this in my last post about True Blood, but I wanted to discuss aging and vampires in more detail.
If you don't mind me raving about Jessica's character for a minute, I want to point out that she has two disadvantages working against her: she was a sheltered teenage girl and she is a new vampire. She's both learning how to be an adult and how to be a vampire, and both of those are visible. When she's telling Hoyt that he doesn't understand, she says that both because he doesn't know what it's like to be a vampire and because Jessica is a teenager and thinks no one understands what she's going through, and isn't going to bother to explain.
The "is a vampire dating a teenager a pedophile" debate is one that is really fun, personally. Are vampire really their age? Is it like they've lived multiple lifetimes or do they hit a stasis point where they don't have to mentally deal with aging and such and so stay at a twenty-something mentality?
Which ties into why Spike and Damon falling in love with a human and changing works for me and Eric - not so much. Spike and Damon are both "only" around two hundred years old and have spent that time in emotionally juvenile relationships. Eric was a mother fucking viking. If my math is right (always questionable) that means he is at least a thousand years old. A. Thousand. Years. Old. ....And Sookie is special enough to catch his attention because....? I don't mean this as a diss on Sookie, in particular. I just can't believe that after meeting as many people as you would in ten. different. centuries. you would not find anyone unique.
That said, I do find it interesting that Eric seems a little bit more emotional whenever he's around Godric, and I wonder if that's because, given that Godric is his maker, Eric feels safe enough with him to be a bit more vulnerable and less detached and in control.
If you don't mind me raving about Jessica's character for a minute, I want to point out that she has two disadvantages working against her: she was a sheltered teenage girl and she is a new vampire. She's both learning how to be an adult and how to be a vampire, and both of those are visible. When she's telling Hoyt that he doesn't understand, she says that both because he doesn't know what it's like to be a vampire and because Jessica is a teenager and thinks no one understands what she's going through, and isn't going to bother to explain.
The "is a vampire dating a teenager a pedophile" debate is one that is really fun, personally. Are vampire really their age? Is it like they've lived multiple lifetimes or do they hit a stasis point where they don't have to mentally deal with aging and such and so stay at a twenty-something mentality?
Which ties into why Spike and Damon falling in love with a human and changing works for me and Eric - not so much. Spike and Damon are both "only" around two hundred years old and have spent that time in emotionally juvenile relationships. Eric was a mother fucking viking. If my math is right (always questionable) that means he is at least a thousand years old. A. Thousand. Years. Old. ....And Sookie is special enough to catch his attention because....? I don't mean this as a diss on Sookie, in particular. I just can't believe that after meeting as many people as you would in ten. different. centuries. you would not find anyone unique.
That said, I do find it interesting that Eric seems a little bit more emotional whenever he's around Godric, and I wonder if that's because, given that Godric is his maker, Eric feels safe enough with him to be a bit more vulnerable and less detached and in control.
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I think some of it is definitely that Eric feels (or felt, rather) secure enough around Godric TO step back and let go, as it were. But I also get the impression that for a while it was maybe just the two of them, like all they had was each other.
And who's to say Eric DIDN'T meet someone wonderful and fantastic before Sookie? Maybe he did and they died/left him because they're crazy fucking stupid for leaving such a hot piece of man? But, like I said in the other post, it's become standard now for the Bad Boy to fall for the It Girl, and Sookie IS the It Girl. It's been stressed quite a bit over the past two seasons that her abilities set her apart. Even Marianne, a maenad (sp?) that's been around for almost a thousand years herself, had no idea what Sookie was.
So, it's not COMPLETELY unreasonable that Eric would be interested in her, at first because of what she can do and later because she's not a bad looking woman.
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You know, this is very true. And it actually got me to thinking - what about Pam? Regardless of if what he feels for her is romantic, he clearly liked and was interested enough with Pam to turn her and keep her with him for... do we know how old she is?
But, like I said in the other post, it's become standard now for the Bad Boy to fall for the It Girl, and Sookie IS the It Girl. It's been stressed quite a bit over the past two seasons that her abilities set her apart. Even Marianne, a maenad (sp?) that's been around for almost a thousand years herself, had no idea what Sookie was.
That is very (and unfortunately, in some ways) true. Like, I think I would give more lassitude to the writers about Eric and Sookie if it didn't feel kind of obligatory. As for what Sookie is... have you read far enough into the books to know? Because I have mixed feelings about how that is playing out.
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Okay, this is gonna sound a bit blasphemous ... but I haven't actually read the series beyond the first book. *ducks* My friend reads them religiously and has spoiled me on most of what's happening, so feel free to discuss away.
I have the books on a "to read" list, but unfortunately they're not a priority read -- like Soulless is. Or the Kitty series. My god, thank you SO MUCH for reccing both those series!
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Okay, this is gonna sound a bit blasphemous ... but I haven't actually read the series beyond the first book. *ducks* My friend reads them religiously and has spoiled me on most of what's happening, so feel free to discuss away.
It's not blasphemous at all. Honestly, I think the first book is the best, and later books get more and more predictable... and the second to last book I never even finished because I was bored and pissed off at Sookie.
What I was going to mention, about her fairy blood, is that I really like that there is a REASON she's like catnip to vampires, but I wish the problems arising from that (and her telepathic nephew) had been explored more, instead of some stupid fairy war that really doesn't fit with the over-all tone of the books.
I have the books on a "to read" list, but unfortunately they're not a priority read -- like Soulless is. Or the Kitty series. My god, thank you SO MUCH for reccing both those series!
My pleasure!
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Yeah, but there's always a reason: Anita Blake is a necromancer, therefore vampire bait. Rachel Morgan is a witch, therefore vampire bait. The thing about those two though is that it's always been a part of them.
Sookie finding out about some fairy ancestor is cool and all (self discovery provokes character change) but it sounds like from what you and my friend have said that it just ... kinda popped in, was mentioned, and then passed by.
And what supernatural series DOESN'T involve a freakin' faerie war nowadays? Honestly ... when I get to writing about faeries in my novel, I'm doing it different.
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totally popping in late at random
I have been mentally working on this original thing, that started out with small fantasy stuff but in my expansive notetaking has turned out to include vampires, goblins, demons, AND faeries. But I have a pretty good reason for all of them existing, and existing together, which has always bothered me because no one bothers to explain why faeries and vampires would evolve in the same ecosystem, what the hell.
*Also vampire rats and magic cockroaches and the faeries look like baby-eating wasps hordes.
...I wish I weren't taking three nights of classes! I have no time to write.
Have you read the October Daye series, starting with Rosemary and Rue? It's all faeries, none of the other groups. I didn't expect to like it, but after a while, I did. The sequel was decent too.
Re: totally popping in late at random
Oooh, this sounds interesting. And it's definitely something that no other urban fantasy with both vampires and fairies has addressed (that I've read, at least).
I haven't read Rosemary and Rue, but it's on my to-read list.
(That's really funny about your comment is that I'm talking about fairies and how much I hate them in TB over in my most recent post of TB, so I'm like, 'rashaka, how could you be late, I've barely even started responding to comments in this entry!')
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Not that either of these thoughts relate to Jessica, who sounds like her story is interesting enough on her own.
As for Sookie and Eric (or any vampire in this universe and a human). It is true that they've lived a long time and met a lot of people, but before vampires as a group came "out of the coffin" the type of interaction would be a bit limited. As a vampire you might interact with people as a food source (either as the food or someone who can lead you to food or lure the food to you) or as a...servant or liason of some sort to act on your behalf for things taking place during the day. Or, argubly, you might interact with humans with no ulterior motive but you'd have had to pretend you were human. Or possibly you might interact with humans trying to kill you. All of these interactions sort of predispose certain conotations to those interactions. Really then, vampires society would have been limited to other supernatural. Its only been a while since human interaction expanded and even post "out of coffin" there are still a lot of those same issues. So, it is possible that vampires might have only recently found humans who were "different." This is the first time it is even very possible to meet humans outside of those limited interactions.
Mind you, I haven't watched this seasons at all so this could all be so much fluff too!
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Not that either of these thoughts relate to Jessica, who sounds like her story is interesting enough on her own.
Actually, it TOTALLY applies to Jessica, because she was like, seventeen before she was turned, and even more importantly, (imho) she was raised in a very strict way, so she had never have the chance to have an internal moral code. She still doesn't. Her ethics were inflicted on her by her father and then Bill has his own ideas about how she should behave. Neither of them are gave her the tools to make her own choices, which is why she's in such trouble now.
(The TWOP recapper has referenced Jessica's storyline as a fable on why abstinence-only sex ed doesn't work, and that metaphor fits PERFECTLY.)
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Are you talking about Jessica being basically a virgin forever or are you talking about Bill never teaching her how not to kill a human if she has to feed on one, which he forbids? Because with the latter, I get a similar nudge on that could be paralleled to abstinence-only sex ed. Both are similar in goals in that applying a certain set of morals on a certain case of actions, but with the wrong information (or lack of it) it can be disastrous for everyone.
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That would be the one.
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And without giving any spoilers, Sookie IS special. Maybe not exceedingly unique in personality, but in other ways. Including creepy ways vampires notice, like smell and taste. She would catch his attention if nothing else, and maybe he's lonely, or drawn to the fact that she is one of the few who sees the person before the vampire.
I guess it could also come down to the soulmate thing. Not the "one person in all eternity for me" kind, but the sense that you have multiple kindred spirits and meet them throughout your life. Its improbable, but Eric just may not have met anyone he really connected with before. He was kind of Godric's shadow for centuries. To argue the other way, we don't actually know that Eric has never been in love before. I mean he is really fucking old.
Basically I don't find it unbelievable for multiple reasons. And isn't that part of the fantasy - that someone with so much wisdom and experience has never met anyone like YOU before? That you can have such a strong affect on someone who shouldn't be affected by much of anything anymore?
And Bottom Line: Eric is a viking, a people who regarded their women highly. Bill is an Antebellum southern gentleman from a time of chattel-marriage. AND IT SHOWS. Eric >>>>>>>>>>> Bill.
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That is true. And one of the things that is interesting about this mass coming out is that vampires are having to deal with the culture fetishizing them in a way that hadn't happened before.
And without giving any spoilers, Sookie IS special. Maybe not exceedingly unique in personality, but in other ways. Including creepy ways vampires notice, like smell and taste. She would catch his attention if nothing else, and maybe he's lonely, or drawn to the fact that she is one of the few who sees the person before the vampire.
I actually know about why Sookie is so attractive to vampires, and while I think that was, in some ways, a very creative idea, I think it could have been done more interestingly.
And isn't that part of the fantasy - that someone with so much wisdom and experience has never met anyone like YOU before? That you can have such a strong affect on someone who shouldn't be affected by much of anything anymore?
That is TOTALLY the fantasy. It's why Twilight and Anita Blake is so popular and there isn't a damn thing wrong with that fantasy... but in a lot of ways it's not MY fantasy, so while some people will watch the Eric and Sookie relationship play out, I'm leaning back and drooling over Eric and being very meta about it.
And Bottom Line: Eric is a viking, a people who regarded their women highly. Bill is an Antebellum southern gentleman from a time of chattel-marriage. AND IT SHOWS. Eric >>>>>>>>>>> Bill.
Ha!
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Very much true. ^^; Becoming a new vampire? Already a trouble. Becoming a vampire in one's teenage years? Pretty damn bad.
And to become one as a sheltered teenage girl? Oh, man...
Which ties into why Spike and Damon falling in love with a human and changing works for me and Eric - not so much. Spike and Damon are both "only" around two hundred years old and have spent that time in emotionally juvenile relationships. Eric was a mother fucking viking. If my math is right (always questionable) that means he is at least a thousand years old. A. Thousand. Years. Old...I just can't believe that after meeting as many people as you would in ten. different. centuries. you would not find anyone unique.
Exactly. If Eric is a viking, he should be at least 1000 years old and someone who has seen enough people around to be able to tell uniqueness.
Very interesting point on vampires. :3
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Yeah. Added to which, she wasn't made by choice (hers or her maker's) so she's kind of an unwanted, sheltered, teenage vampire.
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And on the note of 'why is Sookie so new' it's pretty obvious what company Eric has preferred to keep over the last bajillion years or whatever -- cold ruthless manoeuvring vampire company, and sex toys -- so it might be simple chance that she is a) yummy enough for physical desire to come first and b) constantly in close proximity enough for liking her to follow.
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You know, I would really like to read/watch a vampire story that did more with that - exploring the long history of friends/lovers an almost immortal would have without denigrating past loves.
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