[HPFGU-OTChatter] Twilight v Harry Potter WAS: Re: Torrents

[P. Alexis Nguyen]

Alla:
> I can't wait what you will think about my favorite vampire from
> Dresden files Ali.

Ali:
I'm placing book orders over lunch.  I'll let you know!  :)



Alla:
> But since you mentioned them, I mean Meyer's vampires are really
> really not vampires, no? I mean Cullens, what features do they have
> that one can recognize them as vampires? To me the main appeal of
> vampires had always been you know, taming the monster within, these
> are … "vegetarians" that sparkle, lol.

Ali:
Ah yes.  Glitter boy. :)

How does one define vampire?  It's an interesting question, really.
Are they the fallen?  The evil undead?  What's the common thread
between all the "vampire" folklore of the world?  As far as I can
tell, blood.  There's no agreement on whether vampires can transform
into another creature, whether they can tolerate direct sunlight/holy
water/crosses/whatever, whether they can read minds/fly/whatever, or
even whether they are created or born or what.  The only commonality
is that vampires need blood to live, and human blood is best.

The creation of glitter boy definitely verges on the "not quite
vampire" thing, but hey, can't say that Meyers didn't make things her
own.



Alla:
> I mean, I know writer has to make creatures of folklore their own,
> but to me they still should be recognizable as having some connection
> with folklore, like JKR did with werewolves for example. I think what
> Meyer did is a mockery of vampires. IMO of course.

Ali:
Mockery?  You'd be more lax if you sat in on the "vampires,
werewolves, and zombies" (which I liked to call "zombies and other
stuff") panel at NYC Comic-Con this year.  The single guy there who
wrote about vampires didn't know the mythology at all, didn't seem to
care, and I do believe his vampires were thus due to a virus from
outer space or something.  It wasn't terribly exciting, trust me, and
I promised to be more tolerant of anyone who at least acknowledges the
vampire mythos in their books (which Meyers does, even if she doesn't
quite go with it).

Really, though, I'm generally just more accepting when I can latch
onto what I consider the definitive trait of the myth.  Vampires drink
blood, werewolves are people who transform into wolves or wolf-like
creatures (whether by will, forced by moonlight, or whatever), etc.
As long as the single defining characteristic is there, I'm not too
stuck on it (but again, glitter boy did push it).  It's more important
to me that the author has first conveyed that he has some of the
knowledge of the mythos that he's twisting into the image of his
choosing.

I'm much pickier about "real" people and the solving mysteries.  :)

~Ali