Vampires - the new "out" trend?

[RKCoon]

SOmeone explain this to me, cause i dont get it. i tried too, i really did, but no clicky for this raccoon. recently, on a great number of boards, ive come across an ever growing number of (at one time, claimed) vampires who have either "evolved past vampirism" or "have decided/determined they are not vamp". What. the Fuck? what is it, is it a case of suddenly, its not so cool anymore to be a vamp, its gotta be more? ok, yes, i admit, vampirism, for me, has not been my focal point nor been at my forefront, what with a number of other things emerging inside me - however, its not because vampirism has receded, its not because its gone away, or i miscalled it - but rather, other things have come up that i need dealt with. my hunger - for blood - has not gone ANYplace, and it sure as hades aint being satiated with energy (but thats another rant for later), but it IS STILL THERE. however, ive seen a multitude of people across the OVC as a whole that have, for whatever stated reason, changed thier stance on being vamp personally. eh? now, while im the first to say im not too good just yet on reading people, i do have a BIT of an idea- and when i go and check on these people - what i feel from my own vampirism is VERY similar if not identical to what i feel from these persons that i do take the time to scan and check out.

So, i dont get it. why are people, especially older more experienced types, turning their backs on what, in my perspective, they still are? i cannot personally see it being a mass misdiagnose - especially if you consider the fact that most of these older types have taught and wrote based on thier personal experiences, and to suddenly say "Im not a vamp (anymore)" would not only negate untold mounds of information, but how many people that awakened learning from these people would be led way the hell down the wrong path? i dunno, seems off kilter to me. granted, there is some personal choice here - but i dont view vampirism as something that can be opted into or out of, further it IS a source of pride to me to BE vamp. with ALL its ups and downs.

[incubus]

I feel partly this is aimed at me, although for along time I have been trying to explain I am not vamp.

It is not due to I changed my mind, it is because I opened my eyes. Yes there are many vamps, I do not change my view on that. But I just figured out more of what I really am.

Why others are doing it who knows, I was one first I was aware of to go in dif direction after being involved for so long.

Maybe they seen me do it an think its the new fad? lol

[RKCoon]

*shrugs* i wouldnt say aimed insomuch as statement of observations that make little sence to me.

[incubus]

Well many do for their own reasons, I know myself mine have been documented over the last 2 years almost, and I know another whom the term no longer fits yet to my knowlege they have yet to toss the title of vamp as I have (may have missed it)

As for other communities, I must say I am more ignorant to them then ever. I do not keep council nor do I talk to anyone any more besides a few people.

Guess best thing you can do is ask them for their reasons?

[RKCoon]

*laughs* im tempted to post this a few other places, tho itd prolly erupt ina flame war. hehe maybe i will anyway. :p

[incubus]

I do not see why it would be a flame war, someone like myself who no longer needs to feed (I do if I want to get high now lol) or what ever the case I do not see why anyone on either side of it should be offended.

[Camazotz]

For me personally RK I've never said that I'm not vamp anymore.. I would no more be able to deny that than deny that I have blue eyes.

My hunger however is a different matter. For whatever reason I've found other ways (with some help from certain people who know who they are.. and who have my heartfelt thanks) and it's been a real blessing. Having spent years trying to deal with the donor issue, the crapness of substitutes etc I know it's impossible to deny the hunger.. so when I simply don't feel it and don't feel it for as long as it has been, then I know something has shifted within me.

[incubus]

The need to no longer need to feed is awsome, If I choose to (choose) its a high lol but can go easily with out now.... Myself I was pointed in this direction by Rhian , but even she knew was stepping stone.

[Vicereine]

OK. Just offering my own opinion here.

I dont denounce my vampire side. At all. I know it is an integral part of me. But isnt it part of human nature to evolve. To not stagnate. My own personal experience is that through trying to understand myself better. I have learnt about other facets of myself.

Vampire is the first stage for me. It was the stage where I connected with something deeper inside of me. Something that drove me, held me and persued me at the same time.

As i tried to find ways of both exploring and containing this aspect of myself I moved forward into therianism. Discovering a deeper seated animal portion of my soul that linked tightly to my vampiric side.

Through efforts to contain and ground myself I have moved into a more spiritual/angelic stage.

I can no more say I am not a vampire than say I was never a child.

now HOLD YOUR HORSES people before you jump all over that. Im not saying that all those who claim only vampirism are children. Nor do I say that they are in anyway backward or incapable of evolving. I am talking my own experience here.

Being a vampire was my first step into learning more about myself , evolving doesnt mean denouncing in my case, but incorporating.

I am able to tap into each aspect now in different ways. And i do so often.

I can see how others might evolve and leave the initial stage behind. The same as I can see how someone might construe themselves vampiric only upon further study to realise that its close but not exactly what they are.

My own personal way of dealing is to hold onto my past as it is that which roots me and allows me to reach to new heights. Without my past and each step I have taken I would not be what I am and where I am now.

Just my perspective.

[incubus]

I can totally see where your coming from, can not say the same evolution for myself. I can no more call myself then I can call myself otherkin.

I do not believe I ever was vamp, I believe it was just the part of me I was most used to expressing. While in nature it was very much as a vamp, I found ways to be more as I am meant. Hell every day growing and I push myself and its limits.

To me saying I once believed I was vamp, is like saying I once believed I was a boy, but now being a man I can no longer call myself a boy.

In no way do I think its bad for those who do not evolve, perhaps they are as they are, I as I am.... I can not make myself need to feed as I once needed, I can not deny what I have become.

[Preist]

Anyone who has went through an awakaning knows for them selves that it is not just a one off action its an ongoing thing and if the changes of awakaning are difficult then the progression has to be there instead of a decline in what we are were traits may remaine things will certainly move ahead and if people rememeber it then its not a mis diagnosis its just progression

but on another hand with the way the OVC has moved its self in recent years with all role players and such like moving in claiming to be vamp because they now had acess to info to use to claim there case then no its no longer cool to be vampire and i know of a few who have back away from the OVC because of that fact bringing them selves away from a dieing comunity on the whole

Preist

[Alyushia]

True Preist, very true.

[Malcaius]

i have always believed that the process of awakening never ends, we grow, we adapt, and we learn. but this whole "im no longer a vamp because its not cool" disgusts me. if your not a vamp know then face it you never were, the need never truly goes away, those who are know this, those who don't are full of lies and self disception.

now inky has fairly said he does not think he ever was a vampire, so this does not fly at him. but a lot of people are now saying, my hunger is gone im ascended or some fluffy crap like that. some are saying it because they're looking for an out, because this community is falling apart. but many are saying it because omg were not cool anymore we need to make ourselves look better and then we can turn on those people who haven't followed are lead and treat them like shit and call them unclean beasts.

i for one don't like it, and hate what is happening to the community, if its not the fakes getting better "omg im cured" its the toddites (who unfortunately have a good stranglehold on the communal masses) saying blood drinkers are bad if you drink blood your a weak pathetic excuse for a vampire and people should scorn you.

its a shame to think that even real vampire are making excuses to become media friendly or to remove themselves from the community entirely. and i can see that eventually the OVC will become just a memory and only a few of us will remain to care for each other and any freshly awakened we may find.

[Alyushia]

and i can see that eventually the OVC will become just a memory and only a few of us will remain to care for each other and any freshly awakened we may find.

I actually wonder if it may be better that way.
There has been such a flood of roleplayers and of teenagers looking to be "cool" that much of the OVC has become, in many ways, a joke. (just an opinion)

[incubus]

Ya I have been saying for years my thoughts now, but I do not totally want out of the VC, being as many friends in it. I also have some of the traits, although different with them.

Why some want out of the VC is the same reason few years ago Nox had 2000+ members, most just thought it was cool.

I hope the VC loses all its 'cool' an remains uncool , then only the interesting would be around lol

[Malcaius]

its good the cool is going but bad that some of the real is going because of the cool making things smell

[incubus]

You know a thought hit me (rare I know lol) but I also place a lot of the blame with the OVC being slow or smaller on all community operators and owners (myself included)

Let me explain. Back when Nox was done it was done out of love as all know for me and Nef, but unintentionally it did later cause of rift in the OVC, one of the biggest was when Chadsang showed up and all his friends, bringing them to the new home he found here at Nox, and divided them from their last home.

Now since Nox’s time it has had ups, downs but also others from Nox made their own community, and another rip, and another. How simple isn’t it? Maybe they wanted for local, maybe away from me? It is why I blame a lot on us owners of such communities.

While no one community will ever be able to cater to all it is on us owners to do our best to try to accommodate our members who make it a community. How may less rips in it would there been if not for Nox? Or if not for my um, explicit ways in the past (to put them mildly).

We all preach for unity yet keep making more branches off the tree, pretty soon something has to give, so a huge blame is on people like me. We failed in many ways in our efforts to make things better.

If us owners, elders would have been better , perhaps there would be less communities, and a stronger central community then there currently is. We lead in our own ways, set rules in our own ways and would hope like me we all did so with others best interest in mind. But we caused a rip.

As for the fad of vampirism, I recall when I found out of that aspect of me and would try to share, explain it an people thought I was fucked in the head. Then couple years it was like saying I was white. It seemed to spred fast at one point that vampirism is not odd, and partly thanks to those media whores who so belittled the community.

What the community needs and always has needed is unity. But that is hard when so many different communities out and to many different ways of running such.

[Vicereine]

Unity is a state of being. A place that you know exsists in the company of a few. Human nature is to explore, push boundaries and branch out. With the right state of mind and approach you can always return to unity. Unity is family, with its complexities and challenges.

And blame, as far as it goes, is a concept I dont sit well with. We are all intelligent beings capable of forming our own choices. We all need to own the choices we make , good and bad. Blame is often an excuse, a way to lighten any guilt of the bad choices we make. This I say in reference to being an adult. I do not include things that happen as a child.

[MLE]

Rob, teh OVC as a whole is lucky that thier are ppl like you willing to try.. No one is perfect, and no one should expect you to be either.. (even you ;) )

as long as there are ppl out there wanting to start fights or attack others (from within the community or out) there will be ppl defending, and in such a rip is born. we can't just sit back and let ourselves or others be attacked (at least most will not let this happen), and therefor it will be damn near impossible to avoid such.. would be nice if everyone could pull thier heads out of thier asses and thought of the big picture and betterment of all, but as stated previosly is impossible to please all.

All we can really do is keep striving for better and keep open minds, as whats best is not always obvious. This place has dwindled down alot, but there is enough desire and ability here to make it better. I think that is why this place has done as well as it has. We may not be perfect but we are still one of , if not the best damn site out there. We can be even better too. I believe that with all that I am.

[Craze]

What the community needs and always has needed is unity.

This is true. Unfortunatly, most of the people who style themselves elders (Present company not included) are more interested in having a nice bunch of people kneeling at their feet and yessing them to death than actually expressing opinion. For MOST in the VC, unity= total agreement. Mostly this is on the bigger boards, where the owner and/or admins start refusing to listen to other people and think their way is the only way. Once our "elders" (Again, present company not included) pull their heads out of their asses and figure out that you can disagree and still be united, then the VC will be better off.

[Alyushia]

I have watched the rivalries, the battles, the power plays and the media whores...and quite frankly it has almost driven me away from The VC completely.

While being able to converse with others of like "proclivities" is a wonderful thing, sometimes the stress, dismay and ultimately disgust just outweigh the benefits of the Community.

To put it a bit more bluntly: I get awfully sick of the bullshit.

[Craze]

A good 90% of the community gets awfully sick of the bullshit. But its that 10% that insists on having the spotlight that keep the bullshit going.

[Camazotz]

Just an aside.. Mal, I hope sometime to catch you around to have a chat, to perhaps explain to you what's going on with me. I really hope you never think that I am amongst the people who're denying what they are because they think it's no longer 'cool' or for some 'fluffy' reason... sometimes things just DO change and to not accept that fact would be to stop moving forward. The VC means a lot to me, both the people in it and the community as a whole and again would like to state that I am NOT for a moment saying that I am not vampire- just that my needs (emphasis on MY) have changed.

[theoutsider]

There is something that seems to be overlooked by too many people here... What is vampirism? By definition, it's absorbing blood/energy/chi/something from others due to a need in the vampire, right?

But what if you are using blood/energy/chi/something as a suppliment to mask some other problem? In other words, what if you are metabolizing something in the 'vampire traits' simply because it's the easiest way to deal with something else? Like an allergenic person taking anti-histamines to 'cure' an overreaction of their immune system (instead of dealing with the immune reaction itself)... They don't have an 'antihistamine deficiency', but they use something to cure a different problem.

Perhaps, in recent times, as the 'poser' quotent has dropped off, the number of people who have been 'hiding' some other problem under vampirism have become much more obvious...

[RKCoon]

Annddd Craze nails it in one as per usual. Funny what personal exprience does for one eh? ;)

[darklin]

Good question outsider and my own personal answer to it is this…..

I don’t believe that I use my vampirism as an excuse to mask some deep routed problem or another.
My experience with it has caused me more pain than anything else in my life even the harsh upbringing I had, at least with that I still knew where I stood half the time.
I have tried very hard to deny myself and I have fallen flat on my face in the process.
I will never again deny my vamp side or my therian side.
Both are apart of me and there’s absolutely nothing I can do about it apart from get on with it and accept things most would only deem madness..

My needs as others have mentioned have changed but that’s only because I have had to adapt to my surroundings and survive the best way I can.
As any human would they use there primal instincts to guide them and help them get through life but I see myself (as far as others in RL around me are concerned) as having the upper hand with it.
I don’t mean to sound condescending but there is no one I know in RL around me apart from a very few that have such a deep insight into things as I feel I do.
Even after all that I have been through im still learning new things about myself.
The process I believe is ongoing and will be till the day I die. There’s nothing wrong with me, im not crazy, nor am blinded by some fantasy that I think makes me look cool because I haven’t felt cool in a very long time( sad I know but true)
I embrace what comes my way and I try my best to make it work for me and for my family.
If I could go to the roof tops and shout what I wanted everyone to know I would be bagged up and shipped off to the loony ward so my life is led in secret and my needs are private to most around me.
I personally cannot comment on the VC as a whole because I don’t do drama or bullshit and that’s all I have ever found when I have gone outside of Nox.

If the OVC fades then it fades with some fantastic memories that I will cherish forever more and gratitude from myself that I was given the chance to meet some of the most wonderful people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing….

But…..i have no intention on letting that happen with this little haven we call home. Im a Nox lifer through and through Lmao…

[Merticus]

Enjoyed reading this thread...

In my opinion the OVC and VC in general is going through a "correction" or a maturation if you wish at the moment... hopefully what remains will be intact enough over the next year to serve the needs of what each of us seek from the community. I'm generally not concerned over the level of "drama", "public interest", or "revisionist labeling" that is occurring; though that is from my own perspective from conversing with numerous groups and individuals.