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Werewolves? Vampires? Quests? Alpha males? Virginal heroines? Tropes exist for a reason; learn how to use them the right way and when to avoid them.
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I dunno. I have problems with vampires because they require severe suspension of disbelief in so many aspects: First we have to go back over one hundred years, to believing that there’s something magical about blood that can make someone super strong, but doesn’t have that effect on the one who makes the blood. Next, we have to believe that someone dead can move about using muscles that don’t have a metabolism, or blood delivering nutrients—yet be stronger and have the ability to repair physical damage almost instantly. And then you have to believe that sunlight has magical properties not prevented by SPF 200 sunblock. And that doesn’t begin to address how a 180 lb man can morph into a two pound bat (or maybe how a two pound bat can morph into a hollow 2 lb man) And then there’s the small problem of the blood. Somehow, it goes to the stomach and is digested, we assume, yet still must be human blood? That’s just silly. The only alternative is hollow fangs. But with them you face “I’m sorry…I would take your blood, but at the moment my fangs are clogged with bubble gum.” As for me, my vampires are living people, with a logical reason for the condition, and a need to obey physical law. Harder to write, but lots of fun. For one thing, you get to put the fangs where they belong, into the tongue, so they can feel for a pulse and actually hit the target. That also solves the problem of having chewing-gum plug their fangs. ;)
The core problem is not with vampires I think but with nearly all paranormal creatures in recent literature. It stems from the fact that the very reason for their existence in folklore is lost. For Vampires as an example, the main reason they persisted in so many mythologies and stories is not because vampires are realistic or super awesome, it is because at the heart of their idea is one of a predatory, almost parasitic creature. Human's are the top of the food chain, therefore a creature that can prey on us, feed on us like we feed on animals, is naturally discomfiting. We need only look at films like Predator or Alien films to see science fiction parallels. Similarly, early changes to the mythos of vampires, for example that they could bewitch and charm humans before feeding on them, is just another element of this. Another example is werewolves. They aren't representative of some foolish medieval belief that humans can change into animals. Rather they're a personification of the beast within, the idea that if one truly loses control you can become the anything, a monster that values neither life nor love or compassion. The reason they were scary was not because of how they looked, or even what they did, it’s what they represented. The real problem is that paranormal and mythical creatures no longer represent these things. Instead their paranormal powers are used to airbrush inherent 'problems' of being human. They're unnaturally attractive, always physically fit, ageless, they have no need to worry about rejection or courtship because they have some in built power that lets them charm people. These problems don't come from the preceding mythos they come from the writer, and indeed to a degree the reader. Both of them wanting a man or woman so perfect that no human could ever fill that role. Instead we get creatures put in their place, and for some reason their paranormal status allows people to accept an unnaturally perfect character.
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