tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26974492.post4883229607961632065..comments2024-03-28T18:54:13.800-04:00Comments on alien romances: Vampire Archetype Flashburned Into MemoryRowena Cherryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11839386556697211986noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26974492.post-10723944263747530412009-11-18T18:04:43.566-05:002009-11-18T18:04:43.566-05:00"You need to find a 4th way. The same: "..."You need to find a 4th way. The same: "turn into" but different: "by NEW ACTION"."<br /><br />Check.<br /><br />"Then there's shades of gray, where stories happen."<br /><br />Got it.<br /><br />"Yes, in Judaism there's no concept anything like "Original Sin" -- but Souls have traits and choices, lessons to learn and missions to accomplish in life. And in fact, the concept "Evil" has a whole different definition."<br /><br />I've read about that. <br /><br />You wanna know a funny thing? Actually, you probably already know it. <br /><br />Waaay back when the Catholic Church still held a powerful position in Europe, Maria Montessori revolutionized early childhood education with the belief that children are 'born persons' with the capacity for either good or evil. Now, I can't remember if she had any Jewish influence, but that sounds aweful close to me. As far as I know, she came to her beliefs through simple observation.Kimber Lihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03982239712083114488noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26974492.post-17380763505638511472009-11-18T13:18:00.206-05:002009-11-18T13:18:00.206-05:00Kimber An
Define "Evil" for your UNIVER...Kimber An<br /><br />Define "Evil" for your UNIVERSE and build everything around that definition, and you've got a core theme for a series.<br /><br />You want a postulate about the nature of Evil that's both startlingly different from the notions the general populace hold today, AND completely possible and comprehensible but maybe not at one glance.<br /><br />Your specific definition is a notion to develop for the reader, and a great source of internal conflict for the characters. <br /><br />"What Is The Vampire Archetype" -- <br /><br />Well, it's YOUR universe you're building, and "what is" would be a sub-theme to your main theme "What Is Evil".<br /><br />Common thumbnail definition is, as I noted in this post, to do with "Giving" and "Receiving".<br /><br />Evil Vampires take what they need to exist, or what they just want. What they take leaves the giver unable to continue to exist (the Vampire is essentially a parasite that kills the host)<br /><br />Good Vampires ask and wait to be given what they need to exist, or what they want. <br /><br />Then there's shades of gray, where stories happen. <br /><br />The Magickal definition of power abuse (Vampires are powerful enough to take what they want and nobody can resist) is to use power to override another person's free will choice. <br /><br />Different theologies explain why over riding another person's free will choice is "Evil" in different ways.<br /><br />You're building a universe. You have to decide what the objective truth is about Evil in your universe, then what each of the faced-off factions believes and is willing to die to defend. <br /><br />It does not have to be what you believe, but you have to make every image, every decoration, every sound, every echo, every symbol in every scene bespeak that objective truth and be seen via the character's subjective filter.<br /><br />Don't expect to do all that consciously. The writer's most powerful tool is the subconscious.<br /><br />I mean have you any idea how complex the calculations are for catching a ball tossed at you? Or crossing a street between racing cars going every which way? <br /><br />Your subconscious is a great calculator. Let it do its work. <br /><br />Jacqueline Lichtenberg<br />jacquelinelichtenberg.comJacqueline Lichtenberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01613040740264804278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26974492.post-41537872366294284342009-11-18T11:49:24.408-05:002009-11-18T11:49:24.408-05:00Yes, in Judaism there's no concept anything li...Yes, in Judaism there's no concept anything like "Original Sin" -- but Souls have traits and choices, lessons to learn and missions to accomplish in life. And in fact, the concept "Evil" has a whole different definition. I'm sure Islam has its own slant. Pagans have a different take on it. Atheists come at it from another direction entirely. <br /><br />A writer has to consider that the readership consists of all of the above, plus the terminally confused, not to mention the innocent. <br /><br />So the writer has to know what she thinks and explain why and what's important about all that, to the reader in SHOW DON'T TELL, letting the reader spin the conclusions for themselves. <br /><br />All that is the work that goes in before the THEME actually occurs to you consciously. <br /><br />Jacqueline Lichtenberg<br />http://jacquelinelichtenberg.comJacqueline Lichtenberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01613040740264804278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26974492.post-44913899718036706612009-11-18T11:37:35.386-05:002009-11-18T11:37:35.386-05:00I was thinking when I wrote the first comment that...I was thinking when I wrote the first comment that the Vampire myth started back when Evil was defined as something you could be born with and now a lot of us define it by the person's actions.<br /><br />Back in medieval Europe when the Catholic Church dominated and vampire mythology was accepted as fact, it was believed babies were born with a sinful nature and already damned to hell, which was why they were baptized into the Catholic Church right after birth.<br /><br />I seem to remember a movie, THE BAD SEED, I think it was about a woman who was good but one of her parents was evil and as a result her child was born evil. This was considered a matter of genetics. <br /><br />But, nowadays, a lot of us believe in Free Will. <br /><br />There's been a change over the last couple thousand years.Kimber Lihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03982239712083114488noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26974492.post-25140559985673940842009-11-18T11:10:27.046-05:002009-11-18T11:10:27.046-05:00Kimber An
"The same but different" mean...Kimber An<br /><br />"The same but different" means you find ANOTHER OPTION. <br /><br />Your list of 3 ways to turn someone into something (vampire or otherwise) is fine, but it's all been done to (excuse the expression) death.<br /><br />You need to find a 4th way. The same: "turn into" but different: "by NEW ACTION".<br /><br />And yes, in House of Zeor, (and previously in Operation High Time) I introduced the psychological trauma of Changeover, then discussed in subsequent books how various personal experiences of Changeover shaped the eventual adult personality. <br /><br />Trauma shapes children, and they grow into adults who use that trauma to shape civilization.<br /><br />A lot of our problems (throughout history, but more visibly evident in today's world of communication and record keeping) stem from child abuse.<br /><br />A lot of what's done to children isn't considered "abuse" when in fact for that individual child, it is. <br /><br />How different personalities respond to the impact of trauma is an unending source of drama.<br /><br />We live in our imaginations. We really do. What we imagine to be real is more important than what is actually real when it comes to implementing decisions. <br /><br />If you want to change your life, or ultimately civilization's life course, you start with healthcare for the imagination. <br /><br />Novels and TV shows and films are much more important than I've ever heard anyone admit.Jacqueline Lichtenberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01613040740264804278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26974492.post-63468387254100405322009-11-17T19:41:05.508-05:002009-11-17T19:41:05.508-05:00*Okay, I'm back.*
It seems logical to me that...*Okay, I'm back.*<br /><br />It seems logical to me that there would be a birth, childhood, and adolescense, which makes the whole change automatically into an evil, super-intelligent monster not fly with me. <br /><br />A physicological change doesn't make someone evil anymore than being born white makes someone a racist.<br /><br />Evil is defined by one's actions.<br /><br />As a result, the most vampire-like character in my story is nothing like the archetype, which worries me.<br /><br />Maybe I'm not cut out for this story.<br /><br />What exactly is the Vampire Archetype anyway?Kimber Lihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03982239712083114488noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26974492.post-5318707603416400382009-11-17T16:52:47.139-05:002009-11-17T16:52:47.139-05:00"It's about Vampires in a Science Fiction..."It's about Vampires in a Science Fiction Universe with a framework of a Romance plot, a solid love-story in every novel, a love-story that eventually shapes the way things turn out." <br /><br />Oh, crap.<br /><br />'Course, my critters aren't actually vampires, but if it walks like a duck...<br /><br />Here we go with all that subconscious stuff.<br /><br />Two things consciously inspired me. <br /><br />1) Captain Janeway saying, "A species more powerful than the Borg? That's difficult to imagine."<br /><br />2) The whole turning someone into a vampire thing. As a lifelong childcare professional and mom of four (Yes, four, so I'm bad at math!) children, it just didn't make sense to me. <br /><br />If you take the whole turning someone into a vampire thing on Science Fiction terms, you've got a few possibilities.<br /><br />1) It's an infection, like HIV.<br /><br />2) You're transforming someone like the Borg.<br /><br />3) You're creating a new creature.<br /><br />In all those scenarios there's a change and change is a process. I seem to remember one scene in HOUSE OF ZEOR when an adolescent went nuts because he was going through a change. Can't remember exactly what was going on, but that satisfied me as a reader. <br /><br />*I'll continue this later. Got a diaper to change.*Kimber Lihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03982239712083114488noreply@blogger.com