When the Vampyre Identity becomes an escape from the self

Escapism is commonly a coping mechanism used to escape one’s reality. This coping mechanism allows a person to disconnect from times of struggle and dedicate their falsehood to activities, fantasy, or even a whole new identity or persona. Now escapism isn’t necessarily bad until it has gone too far to the point you can’t maintain your necessities and is a lifestyle that stunts personal growth.

I would like to make a note before I get into it: I am not talking about the alterhuman identity, but I do believe, like any identity, you can stray so far from reality that it affects the current self.

You will often see this within subcultures such as the vampyre community. During my time within the VC, these are the more prominent scenarios you will see.

Creating a vampyric personification

Outside of the usage of Vampyre glamour magick to present yourself as you wish. There are people who unintentionally participate in vampyric glamours to create a vampyric personification to force their way in to make it seem they have some form of authority or standing within the VC since in their dayside life they have no such power or are inherently unhappy with their mundane life. You may see these individuals claim to be an Elder, speak in a fanciful tongue, present vampire media as fact, and claim to be a true Vampyre because they said they can physically lift up a car above their head within the dayside.

Seeking to be Turned

I occasionally get DMs or verification applications asking to be turned. Every time someone has asked this, they always follow up with something along the lines of “I hate being human” or “I’m tired of my current life and wish I had more going for me.” From my understanding, these people aren’t happy with their mundane lives and are searching for ways to become someone else. They fall into the glorious trap of vampyres and believe it is something that will fulfill their lives. Which some members of the VC may find offensive because the personal struggles they face are not something to be desired.

Joining the Vampyre Community

It is acceptable to join a community to learn, support, and find connections with other individuals. This is the point of joining a community, but part of being sucked into escapism is that you need to feel validated within this escapism. This is where people are disingenuous with their identity and fall into conformity because they see a set of beliefs and have the need to now curate their identity to match the general consensus within the VC so they can fit in and fuel their escapism.

So why the VC? Why has this always been an issue?

I have mentioned before the glamour of the vampyric identity. There is a natural glamour to it that attracts others; you can even up this glamour. People are so attracted to vampyres because of vampire media such as Twilight, Interview with the Vampire, etc. Because of these vampire media, people fall in love with the aesthetic and overall feel of the vampyric essence so they go and seek “real vampyres” whether that is to be a donor for them or shape their personification into a vampyre. Control, the mystique, and myth have fueled the power of the vampyric glamour. It is intoxicating to withdraw or bring people in. Sometimes this intoxication makes someone want to develop these traits to become someone else.

How escapism can be harmful to the self and the VC

When you have a bunch of people who do not feel comfortable in their own skin they will adapt and mold their skin to present themselves differently when in the inside that is something that they truly dont feel. This is harmful to yourself as this stuns your personal growth and makes it hard to accept yourself if what you are constantly doing is changing just to either be what you want to be and not what you are. This is harmful to the VC for multiple reasons. 1. A lot of organizations within the VC have security measures to keep members safe, so if we have people lying about who they are and changing their personality by putting up a vampyric personification, we can't get a good read on their intentions, and if they do, they will see this personification and deny the individual from joining, assuming they are larping or have a strong superiority complex. 2. Unfortunately for the people who do manage to slip in, they often do have an unchecked superiority complex. They may claim to be a part of a secret organization that has a high and mighty power over people but will label it as doing it to keep people safe by being a spectator. Like I have mentioned before, they might even claim to be an elder. With these individuals, it's a toss-up; a lot of them either don't know a thing about the VC, or they do because they have done extensive research to play the part they seek. 3. With these personifications, they seek validation and will base their personification based on the VC general consensus over specific topics. This causes disingenuous experiences to be put out there and feed into this vicious cycle. This behavior misrepresents the VC and causes people to not want to take the community seriously.

My final thoughts

While this topic I have presented has been put in a more negative light, there are, of course, positives that can come from this. But my overall view is I think the behavior is more harmful than good. I also want to note that this behavior is sad when you take a step back and look at why someone may do this. I do feel bad that people aren't happy with their current livelihoods to the point that they want to lie about their identity so they can fit in and feel as if they have some part of something bigger, something that makes them feel special. A lot of times they don't realize this is attention-seeking behavior.