Despite that, as someone who is queer and disabled, I'm still attracted to the idea of vampires specifically because they speak to my lived experience. That's not to say I condone villainizing minority groups! That's very bad! But something about vampirism itches a scratch parallel to things I've experienced.

As a vampire, you Completely rely on the lives of others. You cannot survive without your friends, your partner(s), your community. And sure, no one can live in isolation, but you Need other people in a way that most don't. You may not be a burden, but you are a weight in their lives.

You have rules you have to live by, rules that often make very little sense. But if you break even one, you're fucking toast. You have sensitivities that few others think about, and sometimes they forget you have, with disastrous consequences.

You have very select powers that don't always work, and using them leaves you exhausted. You are not welcome in many of the places you used to frequent, either because of physical inability or ostracization. You can't enjoy the things you used to love, because those things will only hurt you now.

Everyone has different experiences, but for me, vampirism is a pretty acute reflection of my disabilities and queer experience. My mental health issues have absolutely shaped, and even helped, my art and writing, but they also severely and negatively impact my quality of life. My physical disability means I can't dance, or sleep, like I used to. Being queer has closed a lot of doors, but opened many more.

Who will win? Spooky distorted voice or my audio processing disorder?

(It's the latter. Every. Time.)

I'm convinced that if I Did encounter a real-life spooky internet thing, I'd survive simply because I couldn't understand a single thing they say, lmao.