Character interaction issues

[Ireth]

I may have asked this question already in some way, shape or form, but I'm asking it again anyway now that I've taken some time to look at it from another angle. One very important character in my Vampire WIP is a vampire who, after pissing off the villain, is robbed of his eyes and abandoned somewhere in the highlands of Scotland, near where the protagonist has recently made his new home. Said blind vampire will eventually meet the protagonist, whether by stumbling onto the castle doorstep or by the protagonist finding him while hunting. They met once before, not long before the blind vampire became blind, but the trouble is that these guys' entire character arc hinges on them not recognizing each other until it's made clear to them who each other is at the climax of the story.

On the one hand, their previous meeting barely lasted five minutes, and they barely spoke ten words to each other; on the other hand, it's only a matter of days between that and the two finding each other again -- not more than ten days to a fortnight, during which the protagonist will have amassed quite a lot of hatred for the blind vampire, and justifiably so. Spoiler: The blind vampire is the one who turned the protagonist into a vampire. How can I go about making sure they don't recognize each other at all?

My original plan was to give the blind vampire a few days or so between being blinded and meeting the protagonist to further alter his appearance from what the protagonist would remember, by cutting his hair or similar, and to choose an alias. But if the vampire in question is newly blind and alone in a strange place, not to mention utterly traumatized by the loss of his eyes, I can't see him lasting too long on his own before the protagonist finds him. He wouldn't reasonably be thinking about that sort of thing anyway, having no knowledge that the protagonist is in the area or even that he needs to change his looks or his name for any other reason.

I can solve the name issue easily by having the blind vampire be too traumatized to speak at all when the protagonist finds him, and so the protagonist will give him his new name when asking "what's your name?" proves fruitless. But a problem still exists with the blind vampire's voice and face that I'm not sure how to solve. Any ideas?

 

[Addison]

Well if the vampire is blind and running from the vampire who blinded him and ducking wolves, bears and whatever else was between him and the protag he'll be pretty beat up. Cut, bruised, pale(r), swollen and possibly sickly. His voice could be strained and his abilities weak. So until he's healed, back on his feet, he looks nothing like the vampire which the protag hates.

 

[Ireth]

Well if the vampire is blind and running from the vampire who blinded him and ducking wolves, bears and whatever else was between him and the protag he'll be pretty beat up. Cut, bruised, pale(r), swollen and possibly sickly. His voice could be strained and his abilities weak. So until he's healed, back on his feet, he looks nothing like the vampire which the protag hates.

That's true, but for the purpose of the story, I need the protagonist to continue not recognizing the blind vampire in any way for a minimum of two years; meanwhile they become friends with each other and the ghost who also resides in the castle, the blinded vampire struggles to overcome his trauma and help the protagonist adjust to being a vampire, and there's the great possibility of sexual tension between them. All of these mean that they will be spending a lot of time together, which gives the protagonist plenty of opportunity to say "Hey, you look/sound like somebody I knew before we met. Weird, huh?"

 

[Addison]

Hmmm....okay you have two vampires who hate each other but grow to like each other, one of which was blinded by another vampire, living someplace in Scotland with a ghost. Protag doesn't recognize the vampire for two years?.....maybe you can put blind vampire in a coma for a bit. If this takes place in Scotland do research on vampire lore from the country. Maybe that can give you ideas. Sunlight kills vampires but is there anything that weakens it? that can injure a vampire and take long time to heal? Holy Water, a garlic-laced dagger?

 

[Ireth]

Hmmm....okay you have two vampires who hate each other but grow to like each other, one of which was blinded by another vampire, living someplace in Scotland with a ghost. Protag doesn't recognize the vampire for two years?.....maybe you can put blind vampire in a coma for a bit.

Good idea. I can't have the coma last too long though, because that character development needs to happen eventually. XD

If this takes place in Scotland do research on vampire lore from the country. Maybe that can give you ideas. Sunlight kills vampires but is there anything that weakens it? that can injure a vampire and take long time to heal? Holy Water, a garlic-laced dagger?

These are my own vampires, quite different from the classic ones. Sunlight doesn't kill them, it just transforms them into demonic-looking beasts if they've drunk human blood. Christian things like holy water and crosses have no effect, since these vampires have their origins in a pagan goddess, and the Judeo-Christian God can be said to not exist in the story. They are burned by iron and repelled by rowan wood, much like the Fae.

 

[Addison]

So your vampires are stemming from Pagan culture. It sounds like you've done your research. maybe in the battle which cost him his sight he was cut and bloodies by iron. All that iron cutting into flesh and blood and into his eyes (if blades were the method) could have serious effects. There could be bits of iron stuck in his flesh which still have him bleed and take ill through out the two years as his body fights the bits.

 

[Ireth]

So your vampires are stemming from Pagan culture. It sounds like you've done your research. maybe in the battle which cost him his sight he was cut and bloodies by iron. All that iron cutting into flesh and blood and into his eyes (if blades were the method) could have serious effects. There could be bits of iron stuck in his flesh which still have him bleed and take ill through out the two years as his body fights the bits.

Possibly, though it wasn't a battle that cost him his eyes. He defied the regime of the self-appointed Lord of the vampires, and as punishment he had his eyes burned out with an iron poker. I can see some flecks of iron maybe being trapped in what remains of his eye sockets, which would give him a lot of pain. Though I'm not sure how this ties back to the original question of "how to keep the protagonist from recognizing the blind vampire for who he really is."

 

[Wynnara]

On the one hand, their previous meeting barely lasted five minutes, and they barely spoke ten words to each other; on the other hand, it's only a matter of days between that and the two finding each other again -- not more than ten days to a fortnight, during which the protagonist will have amassed quite a lot of hatred for the blind vampire, and justifiably so. Spoiler: The blind vampire is the one who turned the protagonist into a vampire. How can I go about making sure they don't recognize each other at all?

Okay, it's a bit tricky to address this without addressing your spoiler, so here goes... Non-blind vampire presumably knows the identity of blind vampire because that's his attacker. The obvious problem here is that he would likely remember the face of his attacker, so it seems to me the best way to address that is to change the nature of the attack if you can. The bite occurs in such a way that the blind vampire's face is not seen and thus he learns the name of his attacker later and not the face. I wouldn't be too worried about the five-minute meeting. Speaking as someone who has been doing a lot of "networking"-type business events of late, I very much doubt I could pull the people I talk to at these events out of a line-up if my life depended on it. Part of that is that I'm simply not great at remembering faces, (even with the best of intentions), but also the lack of emotional weight behind most day-to-day interactions of the variety you are talking about... 10 words or less... they simply don't leave an impression.

As for your blind vampire... if he's been blinded by someone else, he could be under the impression that the guy who blinded him is still out there and withholds his name to protect himself. Another reason he might seek to withhold it is out of shame. If there were any arrogance, vanity or ego in his personality, he might rather people believe he had disappeared or died than see him in such a weakened state.

I personally wouldn't go the coma route. In my mind that sticks a giant speedbump in the middle of your story and you want that moment when these two meet without realizing each other's identities... you want that emotional kick so that you can pay it off in full later.

 

[ThinkerX]

Possible solution to the first part:

The blind vampire is not alone when he meets the MC the second time around. Somebody - or possibly something - found him out there, fixed him up, and delivered him. Given your predilicitions...possibly a fae?

Said fae - assuming they have magic in your novel - also took a stab at trying to fix your wounded vampires vision, and instead managed to muck up his memory a bit. As a consquence, your blinded vampire doesn't really remember much of anything from the past couple of months (?) Said fae also took to refering to the blinded vampire by a nickname made up by the fae, using it often enough that the blinded vampire adopted it.

Said fae does have a few words with your MC as he drops off the blinded vampire, a sort of belated explanation. Fae is not aware of previous encounter between MC and blinded vampire. Said fae then vanishes into the wilderness.

 

[Ireth]

Okay, it's a bit tricky to address this without addressing your spoiler, so here goes... Non-blind vampire presumably knows the identity of blind vampire because that's his attacker. The obvious problem here is that he would likely remember the face of his attacker, so it seems to me the best way to address that is to change the nature of the attack if you can. The bite occurs in such a way that the blind vampire's face is not seen and thus he learns the name of his attacker later and not the face.

Well, let's see... *pulls up story* As it is right now, the scene in question begins thus: soon-to-be-blind vampire shows up on protagonist's family's doorstep in the middle of the night on Samhain (Halloween), looking generally sickly and pale (justified because, y'know, he's dead). Protagonist's mom and dad invite him in and offer him something to drink and a bed for the night. Soon-to-be-blind vampire meets protagonist and gives his name when asked. Protagonist goes to ready a place for him to sleep; soon-to-be-blind vampire follows and attacks him from behind. So the protagonist does actually see his attacker's face, just not for very long.

I wouldn't be too worried about the five-minute meeting. Speaking as someone who has been doing a lot of "networking"-type business events of late, I very much doubt I could pull the people I talk to at these events out of a line-up if my life depended on it. Part of that is that I'm simply not great at remembering faces, (even with the best of intentions), but also the lack of emotional weight behind most day-to-day interactions of the variety you are talking about... 10 words or less... they simply don't leave an impression.

Under normal circumstances perhaps, but surely something as traumatic as this would leave a more lasting impression, would it not?

As for your blind vampire... if he's been blinded by someone else, he could be under the impression that the guy who blinded him is still out there and withholds his name to protect himself. Another reason he might seek to withhold it is out of shame. If there were any arrogance, vanity or ego in his personality, he might rather people believe he had disappeared or died than see him in such a weakened state.

That's entirely possible. I think the first would be more likely than the second.

I personally wouldn't go the coma route. In my mind that sticks a giant speedbump in the middle of your story and you want that moment when these two meet without realizing each other's identities... you want that emotional kick so that you can pay it off in full later.

Good point. ^^

 

[Ireth]

Possible solution to the first part:

The blind vampire is not alone when he meets the MC the second time around. Somebody - or possibly something - found him out there, fixed him up, and delivered him. Given your predilicitions...possibly a fae?

Said fae - assuming they have magic in your novel - also took a stab at trying to fix your wounded vampires vision, and instead managed to muck up his memory a bit. As a consquence, your blinded vampire doesn't really remember much of anything from the past couple of months (?) Said fae also took to refering to the blinded vampire by a nickname made up by the fae, using it often enough that the blinded vampire adopted it.

Said fae does have a few words with your MC as he drops off the blinded vampire, a sort of belated explanation. Fae is not aware of previous encounter between MC and blinded vampire. Said fae then vanishes into the wilderness.

It's a nice thought. Unfortunately, given that the scene takes place at the start of winter as per the Celtic calendar, any Fae who was out and about would be Unseelie, and thus much more likely to torment the poor vampire for amusement rather than help him. (Note to self: seriously reconsider the scene with the Fae in the first chapter.)

 

[ThinkerX]

It's a nice thought. Unfortunately, given that the scene takes place at the start of winter as per the Celtic calendar, any Fae who was out and about would be Unseelie, and thus much more likely to torment the poor vampire for amusement rather than help him.

Hmmm...

1) Maybe a half fey? As in not really welcome by either court?

2) Maybe the fae had an ulterior motive of some sort? 'Hmm...a crippled vampire...if that situation comes to pass in a few years, he might be useful.' Or failing that, simply insane, even by fae standards.

3) A non-fae supernatural creature - perhaps a dwarf or phouka?

 

[Ireth]

Hmmm...

1) Maybe a half fey? As in not really welcome by either court?

2) Maybe the fae had an ulterior motive of some sort? 'Hmm...a crippled vampire...if that situation comes to pass in a few years, he might be useful.' Or failing that, simply insane, even by fae standards.

3) A non-fae supernatural creature - perhaps a dwarf or phouka?

1) Half-Fae are still welcome in the Courts; they're actually pretty common, since full-blooded Fae don't breed well together and they often choose human lovers. One of the Fae the protagonist meets is actually a half-blood.

2) Hmm... that could be helpful. I'll need to think on that some more.

3) Well, I don't have dwarves, and phouka (pooka?) are actually a type of Fae.

 

[Wynnara]

Under normal circumstances perhaps, but surely something as traumatic as this would leave a more lasting impression, would it not?

I don't know about that. Some years back I was hit by a car at a crosswalk. I fractured my hip in two places and was on bed rest for a month and a half afterwards. Just after the accident both the driver of the car that hit me and an off-duty fireman sat with me in the middle of the street until the ambulance arrived... maybe fifteen minutes or so. I could probably give a general description of the driver and the car itself and I remember having a conversation with the driver who was, understandably, feeling pretty awful about the whole thing. I was, also understandably, quite pissed and told him as much.

My point is that I don't really remember either of the faces of the driver or the other guy. Approximate age, ethnicity, maybe haircut... but I was so focused on my own pain that their faces didn't leave an impression. Now, I think it could be validly played either way. It would really depend on how you wrote their meetings and the emotions/trauma in them.

It's a bit different in your story, but I would also urge you to not get too locked into the plot circumstances at this stage. Key into the emotions and character interplay that is really at that heart of the situation here. If that is ultimately better served by having them meet initially in a different way, then I'd change those circumstances before I'd change anything else.

 

[Ireth]

I don't know about that. Some years back I was hit by a car at a crosswalk. I fractured my hip in two places and was on bed rest for a month and a half afterwards. Just after the accident both the driver of the car that hit me and an off-duty fireman sat with me in the middle of the street until the ambulance arrived... maybe fifteen minutes or so. I could probably give a general description of the driver and the car itself and I remember having a conversation with the driver who was, understandably, feeling pretty awful about the whole thing. I was, also understandably, quite pissed and told him as much.

My point is that I don't really remember either of the faces of the driver or the other guy. Approximate age, ethnicity, maybe haircut... but I was so focused on my own pain that their faces didn't leave an impression. Now, I think it could be validly played either way. It would really depend on how you wrote their meetings and the emotions/trauma in them.

It's a bit different in your story, but I would also urge you to not get too locked into the plot circumstances at this stage. Key into the emotions and character interplay that is really at that heart of the situation here. If that is ultimately better served by having them meet initially in a different way, then I'd change those circumstances before I'd change anything else.

Hmmm. As for the emotions the protagonist was feeling before the attack, they're pretty neutral. I think the strongest thing he felt was confusion mixed with pity. "Oh, this guy doesn't look so well. I wonder who he is and what's the matter?"

I've also entertained the notion of having these two be friends before the attack, so there's an element of trust there that gets broken. I'm not sure how that would affect their later interaction though, aside from giving the protagonist a clearer memory of who the blind guy really is, which could complicate things between them.

 

[Wynnara]

Hmmm. As for the emotions the protagonist was feeling before the attack, they're pretty neutral. I think the strongest thing he felt was confusion mixed with pity. "Oh, this guy doesn't look so well. I wonder who he is and what's the matter?"

I've also entertained the notion of having these two be friends before the attack, so there's an element of trust there that gets broken. I'm not sure how that would affect their later interaction though, aside from giving the protagonist a clearer memory of who the blind guy really is, which could complicate things between them.

Hmm... if the aim is to take a character that the protagonist hates, but in an abstract way... as in "I hate the guy who did this to me"... then I'd make the initial meeting as incidental and devoid of emotion as possible so that the subsequent hate can be abstract... the attacker becomes this larger-than-life figure in the protagonist's mind that he can direct his anger toward, so it becomes that much more shocking for him when he realizes that all this emotion has been directed toward someone who is now his friend.

Also, why does the soon-to-be-blind vampire bite this guy? Is it purely "I'm hungry" and this guy is just dinner?


Btw, do you watch "The Vampire Diaries"? This reminds me a bit of the dynamic between Damon (vampire) and Alaric (human turned vampire hunter because his wife was killed by a vampire--which turns out to have been Damon). These two end up being good friends almost in spite of themselves.

 

[Ireth]

Hmm... if the aim is to take a character that the protagonist hates, but in an abstract way... as in "I hate the guy who did this to me"... then I'd make the initial meeting as incidental and devoid of emotion as possible so that the subsequent hate can be abstract... the attacker becomes this larger-than-life figure in the protagonist's mind that he can direct his anger toward, so it becomes that much more shocking for him when he realizes that all this emotion has been directed toward someone who is now his friend.

Also, why does the soon-to-be-blind vampire bite this guy? Is it purely "I'm hungry" and this guy is just dinner?


Btw, do you watch "The Vampire Diaries"? This reminds me a bit of the dynamic between Damon (vampire) and Alaric (human turned vampire hunter because his wife was killed by a vampire--which turns out to have been Damon). These two end up being good friends almost in spite of themselves.

I like the abstract hate idea. That'll make it all the more effective when he meets his attacker as a broken shell of himself.

The soon-to-be-blind vampire is motivated by his desire to have a child. As a human he lost his wife to childbirth, and their daughter was stillborn. It wasn't too long after that that he was turned into a vampire. Since vampires in my world can neither father nor bear offspring, remarrying and having another kid wasn't an option even with another vampire. Naturally, the only way he could have a child was to turn and adopt one. He found the idea of turning a human baby or child abhorrent, and so the first person he chose to be his adopted child was a young woman of 15. Unfortunately she died before he could complete the turning process, and so he moved on in search of another person to adopt. The next victim he chooses some hundred years later is the protagonist: a man of 23 years, who seems strong enough to survive the turning process without dying for real first. He leaves the protagonist's little sister be, not wanting a repeat of what happened the first time.

I was initially thinking the soon-to-be-blind vampire would lurk and watch the protagonist's family for a matter of years before the actual attack, growing to be friends with them so they would trust him to be around their children, but thinking about it now, that makes him sound like a paedophile without the actual lust for prepubescent children.

I've never seen the Vampire Diaries, but they sound interesting.

 

[danr62]

Huh, my wife and I have been on a Vampire Diaries Netflix kick for the last couple of weeks...

Anyway, here's another option...

Spoiler: Show This

You could set up it up so that the transformation process blurs or wipes out the memories of the last moments of mortal life. As a result, he does't remember what happenened, but maybe gets a vague idea of the identity of his turner from another source, and directs his hatred at this vague and shadowy concept he has of his turner.

Other than that, I'm not sure how else to make this work besides what has been suggested before.

 

[Ireth]

I like that idea, danr. I have something similar in place for the rare instances when vampires are restored to their human selves.

EDIT: On second thought, having that idea happen with regards to turning rather than resurrecting conflicts with a lot of what's already been set up in canon. The first two vampires are explicitly shown to remember exactly what happened when they were cursed/turned, and that drove their actions immediately after waking up -- Conall, the first vampire, tracked down the man who had inadvertently caused him to be cursed (and wound up almost killing the guy's twin brother instead); Luthais, Conall's first victim, beat the undead crap out of Conall immediately upon waking up and seeing him after being turned.

 

[ThinkerX]

One other thought:

Possibly the outside rescurer of the blinded vampire is a 'unknown'? As in not a fae, not human (but probably passing himself off as human) and not native to the region at all? Or possibly even the world?

Possible alternative, though you probably don't want to go there - a human wizard?

The locals would know the 'man of mystery' as a traveling pedlar or mystic or healer of some sort.