The only vampire books I have read however, leave a lot of questions unanswered. Well, it's not like Young Adult books aren't infamous in their adjustments to occult culture (sparkles, anyone?). Here are some pressing questions even the most popular YA vampire books have yet to answer:
1. Twilight: Are vampires sterile or not?
Edward + Bella = Renesmee?? I can't be the only one who was mystified by this turn of events. I don't know if you bought the whole male-vampire-and-female-human-can-conceive thing because I sure as hell didn't. We're told pretty much the entire series that Esme and Rosalie really, really want kids, but are totally unable to have them. I don't think it's illogical for me to assume that once you die, so do your abilities to create life. Yet within a few chapters of Breaking Dawn, Edward has impregnated Bella and the author is all like, "Well, I never said that would apply to men. Men just have so much more power than women, and that's why Edward/Jacob/Every Guy in Forks is constantly saving Bella from herself." Because, you know, she's hopeless without men.
(from mrsalvatorre.tumblr.com)
Some other perspectives:
Chicagoland Vampires: Yes, vampires are sterile. Except apparently some can procreate with the help of magic from the shape-shifters or something. It's not confirmed yet, but there's a 99.9% chance that Ethan and Merit are going to have a creepy vampire baby.
Vampire Academy: No. Just No. In the world of Vampire Academy, all the vampires grow up from infanthood like humans, but Dhampirs are unable to reproduce with one another, and have to cross pollinate with Moroi or something. That's a whole other issue, though.
Mortal Instruments: Maybe.... Throughout the first half of the series (and by that I mean, the better half), we're convinced that they are, indeed, sterile. At no time whatsoever are we presented with a pregnant vampire, or a vampire kid of any sort. But by the first chapter of the fourth book, the entire thing is blown apart by a single pointless conversation between Simon and Isabelle.
Isabelle: Do you even really know how vampires are made?
Simon: Well, when a mommy vampire and a daddy vampire love each other very much...
Isabelle: Fine, you know that vampires don't really need to have sex to reproduce, but I bet you don't really know how it works...
NO, WE DON'T. And it's your job to explain it to us. But apparently random dinner conversations with Simon and Isabelle really are random dinner conversations, because none of this is ever brought back up. Ever.
2. Mortal Instruments: Vampires turn pale after they're made, right? But what if you're black? Do you turn darker or become white?
This isn't really a Mortal Instruments specific question. It's just curiosity in general. My friend Adelle once asked me if I thought darker-skinned vampires would turn completely white after they were bitten, or if they would turn completely dark. The only reason this is linked to TMI is because, even though Simon and everybody else is mentioned to become pale and chalky after they're turned, Raphael still maintains the "honey-colored skin of a Diego painting" of his original Spanish descent. Does the 'becoming paler' thing only work on Caucasians? Or does your color slowly return over time?
Some other perspectives:
Twilight: No effect. Or darker. Both is possible. In the movie, Laurent is definitely dark-skinned, and so are those Amazon people. I'm not sure what they're called. I'm assuming that they were born that way, and that getting paler is something that is only inflicted upon the paler skinned vampires. I don't know, maybe their skin was paler before?
Vampire Academy: No effect. Rose inherits her Turkish father's tanned skin, though this can be open to interpretation, as she describes the color as being "the inside of an almond," which are milk white when raw and pale gold when roasted. Then again, she is a born vampire, so that might be different.
3. Twilight: Are all vampires just invincible to daylight now? Just sparkly?
This is probably one of the things that most vampire fanatics are unable to stomach. Everyone has heard about how Twilight vampires are basically flimsy forest fairies that sparkle in the sun. While in ancient vampire lore (as ancient as the 2004 novel Let the Right One In, as least) vampires are known to catch flame and burn themselves alive when met with sunlight, Twilight vampires have little to fear from the day. Sure, they sparkle to "attract prey" but it doesn't hurt them whatsoever. Also, it only happens when it's really sunny. Yeah, right.
(from mrhankey.tumblr.com)
Some other perspectives:
Vampire Diaries: Only with the aid of magical jewelry. I have a confession: I've never read the books. I have, however, watched approximately 3 random episodes of the TV show, during which it's revealed that vampires can walk in the daylight when they wear special rings and amulets blessed by witches or something. But if they're not, they do get burned.
Mortal Instruments: When you have extra-angelic Shadowhunter blood in your veins. Simon becomes permanently immune to the sunlight after he takes blood from Jace on Valentines ship. Everybody else just avoids sunlight at all costs.
Drake Chronicles: It makes them weak, but it's survivable. Solange and everyone else in her extended family is constantly traipsing around the place in half-sunlit scenarios, though it's revealed that it's especially potent to newly turned vampires. Older vampires can withstand sunlight for longer amounts of time, and with fewer ill effects.
4. Chicagoland Vampires: What is with the eyes? Seriously?
Why is it that they all change color? And they all change for different reasons? Chicagoland vampires have eyes that turn silver when they're excited or angered, no matter what your eye color was originally. It turns pure silver. Yes, this is pretty much the most terrifying aspects of vampirism mentioned in all YA books so far. I'm not going to talk about the blood consumption thing, because most YA vampires are either super tame or super lame.
Some other perspectives:
Night Huntress: They glow green. The vampires of Night Huntress world are also cursed with strange ocular conditions. Their irises glow green when they're hungry, or when they're aroused. It's all a very dramatic affair.
Twilight: They turn red or gold. The twilight vampires have their eye color changed pretty permanently after they're turned. And all vampires have the same golden eye color, except for when they're hungry or newly born, which is when they turn red. I swear, this is getting out of hand. It should be pretty easy to spot a vampire like this, just make sure they have the weird golden eyes and you're cool.
Fifty Shades of Grey: They turn dark. Yeah, I know that this isn't a vampire novel, and that it's semi-realistic porn or whatever, but come on. I only skimmed through a few pages of it, and even I know that Christian Grey is a vampire in disguise. His eyes 'darken' whenever he's aroused or thinking something dark and twisted, he's a billionaire, and he has a thing with forcing Anna (Alice? Annie? Yeah, Anna) to eat large portions of meat -which is clearly proof that he's fattening her up for slaughter!! Blood packed with nutrients! Don't say I didn't warn you.
5: Twilight: This is awkward but... What about periods? Can vampires smell periods? Do all the vampire boyfriends of the world avoid their girlfriends at least once a month?
As we all know, the main thing keeping Bella and Edward apart in the Twilight novels is the fact that they are, after all, of different species. Edward's main argument throughout their relationship is that he is afraid the smell of her blood out of fear that he will want to suck her dry and potentially kill her. There's a scene in New Moon (which I, due to a strange obsession I had with birthday parties at the time, remember vividly) where Bella cuts her finger and the smell from that drop of blood causes Jared to go insane and attempt to throw himself at her. If that one drop of blood is so potent, what happens when Bella's period comes? Are the vampires attracted to that kind of blood? Can they smell it whenever Bella has a period? Does Edward know her 'moon cycle' better than she does herself? What do they do when it happens? I would love to read a fanfic that deals with this.
Some other perspectives:
Vampire Diaries: No idea. There is no mention of this, as far as I know (which is not much, really. I've only ever watched two episodes of the TV show and an excerpt of the novel)
Night Huntress: I think they can smell it?? I wasn't as big a fan of this series as a lot of other people were, and I've only read it once, but I do remember Bones mentioning that he could smell her period and the main character being slightly mortified by this.
Mortal Instruments:No idea. Either Simon is really just a tactful human being, or else he was never able to smell that kind of blood on anybody.
Drake Chronicles: No idea. Well, all the main characters are vampires, so it's likely this was never a problem.
Fifty Shades of Grey: . We've all heard about that awkward tampon scene already, and I think evidence suggests that Christian Grey just doesn't give a frack. Then again, he isn't exactly a stellar example of a well fleshed out vampire character, so I don't know if that counts.
The Others: They smell it like normal blood. Anne Bishop's novels don't really focus on vampires per say, but there is one fantastically realistic scene where a vampire smells blood on Meg and almost bursts into the bathroom believing she's hurt herself, only to find her cranky about her period. This is one of the few period scenes I've ever read in paranormal/urban fantasy, and I have to say, I quite liked it.
Till the next time I feel like an over the top analysis,
