Re: Vampire physics:

Gruff wrote:

On Tue, 01 Aug 2006 09:31:04 +1000, James A. Donald
<jamesd@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:



Mary K. Kuhner:


If I were writing a vampire story, I'd want to know
why they can't cross water or be seen in a mirror.
There are various possible reasons, and I wouldn't
necessarily put my reason into the story, but "just
because" is unsatisfying. For one thing, it gives no basis for thinking about "What about cameras?
Closed-circuit TV? Does water running in a sewer pipe
count as running water?"


Yes, and what about eyes? They're just a type of camera...



If I were writing about vampires using those traditional rules, I would not attribute them to laws of physics at all. Vampires could not cross running water because they fear it, or are cursed. They don't get along with garlic or mustard seeds for the same reason. They recoil from crosses (or mogen david?) for the same reason. Not casting a reflection may be another way of saying that others are afraid to see them. The reflection is there, but something about their appearance makes others simply not perceive them in the mirror (remember "The Nonesuch?").

As to cameras, perhaps the image is there, but some people, subconsciously realizing it is a vampire, will just not see them in the photograph.

Which raises interesting questions about the innocent. Suppose a child, knowing nothing of vampires, sees one in a mirror. Will they see it? In the photograph? If the curses are treated as in-depth religious manifestations, what about someone of another religion?

Even turning into a bat (etc) can be described as illusionary, psycho-somatic. That is, he believes he can do that, and so do others, therefore they act as if it has been done. You look at the man, and see the bat. So does he. Somehow he finds ways to accomplish tasks which he thought only a bat could do, fooling himself and everyone else all the while.

When writing such alternate-reallity stuff, one must first ask what it is they are trying to write about. Is it the classic Bram Stoker vampire with all the trimmings? Or just a monster that flies, drinks blood, and doesn't die? A guy who looks like a headwaiter and sleeps in a tafeta-lined box? You have to decide what story you are telling, and then decide what elements are needed to do that. THEN you come up with rules that will allow you to do so.

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