#vampyler

i already yelled a shit ton about how vampirism is inherently linked to a great Change. in typical lore its You Died but obv as our conceptions of vampirism have changed that has also changed! its become about an illness, in bram stoker's dracula its connected with sin, and in lore we're moving increasingly toward this idea of corruption. obviously this has always been around, with the upior being (arguably) a story warning about the spread of disease, but its become a lot more about moral corruption (blame christian colonization. always blame christian colonization. this is why sinners is about vampires and also christianity btw) and by the time you get to twilight the nuance about disease/illness is basically out the window. so when were looking at a vampire!will to me its less about vampirism as correlated with an illness (though it very much could be! i just don't think the aids epidemic was utilized enough in canon as a part of will's understanding of his queerness; the ways in which he's othered by hawkins and his dad seemed to have more to do with a This Thing You Are Doing Is Evil and you are morally reprehensible for having feelings which is in much more the vein of a vampirism is a sin than vampirism is a contagious disease and we love the person you were but for the safety of everyone else you have to go type of thing) and thats important 2 me! so y'all know the characterization of vampire!will i'm talking about.

and then i also already talked a little about vampirism including a point from which you can never go back, and will as a character is so incredibly defined by his stint in the upside down that it feels hard to deny his quasi-vampirism? even if we're talking in solely canonical events, he gets taken to a dark place where something that can be reasonably construed as sexual assault happens to him and he's from that point forward set apart from every other human being, including the fact that he now has inhuman abilities that he gains through draining a host of its strength. that sounds like *checks notes* literally the dictionary description of a vampire idk. and thats not even mentioning the fact that he literally dies! he literally canonically dies!! he is irrevocably changed by his death. remember about vampires used to become vampires through their death. in some stories they'd be turned into a vampire (vecna SA-ing will) and then die (when its cold i'd like to die scene) and then they come back to life (cpr/hospital) as a vampire (has connection to upside down). so. there is also that. and it is a fact. and i feel normal about it.

and despite the overwhelming evidence that will is a vampire, i am gonna have to make the argument for mike not being a vampire or. i will die next time i see a vampire!mike post. like my head will just actually combust. if we've established two (2) necessary things for a character to be appropriately vampire -- a Thing that Happens To them and really fucked up feelings about being inherently Wrong -- then mike checks one of those boxes! internalized homophobia is basically like a prerequisite to being a vampire. and like, cmon. mike, who tries so badly to be Normal and to act Normal and to say Nothing is Wrong while he knows deep down that something is very, very wrong but maybe if he ignores it maybe it will go away? and then it doesn't go away because it's a part of him and it might be a part he hates but this illness has metastasized and he cannot cut it out? that's hella vampire. self hatred is also a prerequisite for vampirism btw. if you aren't gay you at least have to hate yourself. but mike wheeler is very much Not a vampire because there's no Thing Done To Him. part of being a vampire character is a lack of autonomy in what happens to you/your body that Is Not There for mike! and thats why he cannot be a vampire character! and why it would be ooc for him to be a vampire! part of mike's tragedy is that YES he's in a tough spot NO you cannot reasonably expect him do do anything other than what he did (s5 doesn't count it never happened it can't hurt me) but all of it was his choice. he dug that damn grave with his own two hands and to say that he didn't is disrespectful to him, his arc, and the people he hurt through his actions. that sounds so serious lmao what he's a fictional character it doesn't matter That Much im just using long words lol.