The Essential Nature of Vampires

If you have no experience with the Buffy and Angel TV shows, this will lose you completely. It also will be a bit spoiler-y. I'm not even going to try to review what I say for that aspect. So, if you haven't watched the whole series and plan to, you might want to finish that before you read this. On the other hand, if you read what I've written, you may better be able to analyze its truth as you watch.

I've been thinking and pondering and, recently, debating/discussing with my brother the core personality traits of the two main vampires in the Buffy/Angel TV shows. They stand apart in major ways from ALL of the "background" vampires. I wanted to know what was it about them as individuals that made them so different. In doing this analysis, I think I've also figured out why I like Spike better... but more on that later. I started with Spike, because he's my favorite and he's relatively easy.

But, before I explain, let me give you the rules I was trying to follow. To be a core trait, it must be something that was present in the individual before they became a vampire and remained present throughout their vampiric life (both good and evil). There were some snags along the way as I tried to fit various explanations into that rule, but I think I may have it nailed down now.

Spike is, at his core, a poet and a romantic. This is easy to see as a human. It's not too hard to see in his relationships with Dru and Buffy throughout his vampiric life. But it becomes a bit tough to explain some of his actions in that light. However, I believe I have an explanation (and I don't think it's a cop-out, though you may disagree). Because this romantic poet nature isn't ideal for survival as a vampire, Spike intentionally decided to follow a course of reckless violence. He didn't really have much of a heart for it, though he did develop a taste after it became a habit. This habit (formed over HUNDREDS of years) was hard to break, and it took the implanting of the anti-violence chip for him to leave it behind... though that still doesn't make a habit easy to break. It's quite possible that his being required to act against his core nature is an explanation for his almost suicidal pursuit of Slayers. And that same violation of his nature is why he had such a problem with his returned soul, it made him insane (though I'm sure the meddling of the First had a lot to do with it too). Sacrificing himself for his love fits perfectly with his personality, and his return in the Angel series would be frustrating as it conflicts with the poetry of his sacrifice.

Angel was much harder. To find his core you must reconcile his basically hedonistic ways as a human with his artistry as Angelus with his rat-eating Angel phase prior to Whistler's intervention with his super-hero Angel phase after teaming up with Buffy. My brother and I tried to stick various things in, but none of them fit, as they conflicted with at least one of his phases. But I think we finally found it when we ended up with selfish, immature, and prideful. As a human, these all fit... his pride being the hardest to see, but it is what kept him from trying overly hard to please his father. As Angelus they are fairly obvious... the immaturity a bit less so. Rat eating Angel we'll get back to. Super-hero Angel is all of the above, but from the point of his introduction to Buffy, she becomes a part of his self-interest, so his protection of her is essentially selfish. Rat-eating Angel is the conflicted stage for him. His pride is mangled by the return of his soul, and he doesn't manage to find a method to repair it on his own. His alliance with Buffy repairs his pride, and because of that, her presence as part of his self-interest makes sense. Early in his Angel phase (before re-becoming Angelus the first time), selfishness motivates him as he tries to ease the pain in his soul. After he realizes the impossibility of that goal, his pride takes over his motivation. Immaturity is easy to see throughout his existence, but none more so than his pouting over Spike's returned soul. The artistry of Angelus' crimes bear testament to his pride and immaturity. He plays with his victims for fun, and takes pride in his ability to play them.

I think I have covered all the bases here. If I've missed something, please let me know so I can revise my opinion or figure out how it fits.

Language

For the last few months, my son has been playing with language. It's fascinating to watch, because this didn't start until after he had a pretty good grasp on functional English. What he does is makes up new words (that sound very similar, and he goes through phases on the words... first words that sound like "lee-low" now words that sound like "bingo"). After he's used his imaginary words he tells me, "That means..." and goes on to give them a new definition each time (even with the same exact words). The most common definition of just about everything is, "I love you", which is sweet.

Initially when he started playing with these made up words, he called the Spanish. I just happen to speak some Spanish (though I don't use it much, I was pretty much fluent back in the early 90s). So, I've told him that Spanish is a different language and if he wants to he can learn it, but that the words he was using were a different language, and he really ought to call it something else.

I enjoy watching this process and will try to occassionally update as he continues to grow in this and other areas.

BookCrossing

I found a site I wanted to share with everyone. This site is: BookCrossing.com. It's been around for a while, but I just stumbled across it for the first time today. It basically lets you put a label on your books (with an individualized tracking number) and "release" them by handing them to a friend or leaving them somewhere they're likely to be found and enjoyed. Found books may be lucky enough to get a journal entry to record their travels so that the path the book takes can be enjoyed by the original sender and subsequent finders.

Also, as a part of this idea, there are fairly regular book exchanges done as "book rings" or "book rays" where the books are passed from one person to another. (Ring books end up back at home, rays do not.) Though this is not the primary purpose of the site, it is certainly a fairly obvious modification of the original idea and happens pretty frequently from what I can tell.

Please visit by clicking this link and see what you think. If you choose to sign up, my referral name is "Evenstar75." I get nothing out of it but credit for having referred people (so don't feel pressured by the referral thing). I just think it's a very nice idea of a way to pass along the books that you no longer want.

Life Changing Books

I've read some good books, and I've read some great books. But very few books have actually made a difference in my life over the long haul.

Following is a short list of authors (and their books) that have made a long-term difference in my life.

• Daniel Quinn
  
  
  
  • Ishmael
    
  • Story of B
    
  • My Ishmael
    
  
  
• Richard Dawkins
  
  
  
  • The Selfish Gene
    
  • The God Delusion
    
  • River Out of Eden
    
  
  
• Harry Browne
  
  
  
  • Why Government Doesn't Work
    
  • The Great Libertarian Offer
    
  • How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World
    
  • Fail-Safe Investing
    
  
  
• Stephen Covey
  
  
  
  • First Things First
    
  
  
• John Taylor Gatto
  
  
  
  • Underground History of Education
    
  
  

Those are the books that most directly changed my life. Some set the stage for other books or writings or the like, some were the "final straw" in changing my opinion about things. But none of them were insignificant to me. If you're interested in discussing any of these books or recommending others that you think I might benefit from, feel free to comment on this post.

Daniel Quinn

I recently discovered an author, Daniel Quinn, who while he apparently doesn't agree with my political beliefs did a great job of making clear to me why I have the beliefs I do. His books tie together my parenting and political philosophy in a new way that I didn't expect. Given that I'm not yet good at explaining his point of view and without that I can't really explain my discoveries, I'm just going to leave it alone for now.

Anyway, I strongly recommend that everyone read at least one (and preferably all) of his books that explain his world-view. That series (all categorized as fiction by Daniel Quinn) is: Ishmael, The Story of B, My Ishmael, Beyond Civilization, and If Life Gives You Lined Paper Write Sideways.