#the cruel irony that sarah probably acted more like a human as a vampire in season 2 than as a fledgling in season 1 will haunt me

[discocandles]

I haven't talked about my babysitter's a vampire in a bit, but it's october, so i have no excuse(or every excuse. whatever). this show impacted me a lot.

In mbav, i feel like vampirism is treated a bit differently than in other supernatural media. and maybe that's because its for a younger audience that a lot of other vampire media, aiming for pre-teens rather than actual teenagers and young adults. From what i remember of buffy, vampires aren't people anymore. The person dies when they get turned and are left as like demons, i think? its been a while since i last saw btvs. When turned into a vampire in mbav, you still retain your personality for the most part. there's just also vampire quirks next to it. and don't ask about the vampire diaries, i've never wached it.

like we only see people get turned in the mbav movie, and while we never see what Sarah was like as a human, we get a few ideas from erica, and it's not like she's unrecognizable after being turned(into a fledgling, but beside the point), just acting kinda weird and distant. Rory also doesnt act super different when turned, but almost made this whole post about him, and i have a theory about why he barely changed that i'll get into later. Erica's change was pretty dramatic but given the fact that the main thing the movie told us about her personality before being turned was her obsession with the dusk franchise it was pretty easy for her to have a dramatic change, and she still has elements of the girl she was before that come through from time to time, especially in season 2.

I think people don't change a lot when turned in mbav because they has a bigger sense of freedom to do whatever they want to due to all the power they now have at their disposal. We see this more in the show, because of the need to defeat Jesse takes precedent in the movie. In a lot of Erica's s1 plotlines, she's doing things because she's "hot now", or didn't have the courage to do, or just because she wants to. And with Rory, part of the reason he didn't change all that much is because prior to being turned, he already did whatever he wanted, and his wants are more aligned with publicly being a nerd rather getting more power. Like in the movie, he talked about his interests with Ethan and Benny, but as a vampire he's broadcasting those interests in the hallways in addition to that.

Sarah is a bit of a different case, especially as a fledgling, because she feels held back by her vampirism rather than her humanity. The thing Sarah wants is one of the few things her vampiric powers can't do: go away. she sees them as a shackle instead of as freeing. and she acts like a normal human should act like to cope, trying out for sports and getting a job or two. Scarfing down human food to stave off her bloodthirst. But in season 2, when she's fully a vampire, we see her sense of doing whatever she wants pop up a few times. it happens a lot in episode 1, when she dunks VP Hicks in the trash can, and especially when she's resistant to the Vampire Counsil. We also see her join activities that she's actually interested in, similar to Rory being even more outward about his interests after being turned. she joins the talent show and the school play, and she starts dating again. ironically, i think that's pretty similar to things she would've done as a human. hell, we even see her being best friends with Erica again, which hadn't happened since before Jesse turned her.

and speaking of getting turned, vampirism started as an allegory for like, losing your virginity before getting married. and it's not really present as a metaphor in the show(again, made for pre-teens), but there are a few moments that it's hinted at. Like Rory calling his vampire bite a "wicked hickey" or Erica leaving a bedroom with Gord looking really disheveled. It's the closest to a legitimate allegory with Sarah and Jesse, because the way he phrased him turning her into a fledgling is very very similar to that of sexual assault. it's very clear that Sarah did not consent to being turned, even if Jesse was her boyfriend at the time. its less an allegory for loss of virginity and more one for the importance of giving consent, and even then, it's not that exact of a metaphor.

away from that, also interesting is how different Erica is from Rory and Sarah. there were hints of her desire to rebel in the beginning("if i had a hot boyfriend, i'd totally ditch class too. what? i would!"), but they feel understated after everything she does after being turned. while in the movie, it's because she was one of Jesse's followers, but her morals also skew towards the gray area in the show, sometimes having Rory as a henchman to have do her bidding/hep her. it could be attributed to her vampirism, except the fact that Sarah and Rory don't often share that muted sense of morality is odd, especially since she was introduced as a straight As good girl that's really into canon's twilight. And in season 2, we see she still has some of her nerdy aspects in there that she's hiding, like when she geeks out to Ethan that the star of dusk is in town, or her chemistry knowledge, or her following instructions for vampire rituals on halloween. also, the way she acted around David in the werewolf episode seemed to call back to her nerdier side. idk it just fascinates me the ways that erica acts, because she will wholeheartedly do things that are at least kinda questionable morally, but hesitates when it feels nerdy or sees the guys are also doing it.

anyway, those were some of my thoughts mbav that i've kinda just had in the back of my mind.