It was a complicated matter, but I will do my best to answer satisfactorily.
Towards the end of my life I began to express... compassion for humanity, which was at odds with how I had existed for nearly two millennia. I believe Eric felt betrayed by this shift in my ideologies, as I was the one who had taught him everything he knew of being vampire. I had instilled in him the concept that there was no such thing as good or evil, only survival or death. That our survival came at the expense of so many hundreds of humans did not trouble me then, but it began to in perhaps the early eighteen hundreds. By the nineteen hundreds, I had tired entirely of the predatory brutality perpetuated by my people against humanity.
At no point did we agree not to speak for a set duration. It was merely a matter of being on different paths. As I was perhaps the fifth oldest vampire in existence at that time and as such wielded a certain amount of power within the political hierarchy of our kind, I became a governor of a vampire territory in Texas and recognized that even our prodigious powers would not protect us against the advancing technologies of humanity. Being revealed was inevitable, and I knew then we would have to control the narrative surrounding this revelation or risk extinction. We are strong, yes, but our vulnerabilities have been known to humanity since time immemorial. As such, I began working with others towards a political end to reveal the existence of vampires, a motion that came to fruition in 2009.
Eric's own influence followed a parallel line, presiding over a significant part of Louisiana state. Being both my progeny and himself over a millennia, he was afforded certain privileges and had earned the respect of many among our kind. We may have reconciled earlier if not for these responsibilities heavy on us both.
However, when he thought me in danger he was at my side as quickly as constraints would allow. There is no lack of love between us. When you are immortal, you always expect that you have more time to accomplish what you wish to. It is not always true.
[Whoa he did not expect this, but he reads it all fascinated anyway. It's still so hard to imagine centuries, even as someone who has lived out a long life in another timeline. It's still not a thousand years.]
Vampires went public in your world. How did that go over? Humans aren't super well known for making it easy to be different.
Some were horrified. Some sought out means to kill us, and many succeeded. Others came to us in droves to offer themselves. Wealthy people with fatal diseases would often ply us with gifts in the hopes we would turn them. Many religions and their respective churches took up against us. I myself was a guest of one of them for some time.
Yeah that sounds about what I'd expect. We have vampires in my world but they're very quiet and secretive, as are most supernatural beings. Do you think you made the right choice? It did put a big bulls-eye on your back.
I think we made the inevitable choice. We were able to paint vampirism as a tragic condition, more a disease inflicted upon the unwary and unwilling than an evolutionary happenstance. Controlling the narrative afforded us more sympathizers than our existence being revealed after a massacre would have, most certainly.
I do not regret how it came about. I only perhaps regret not doing it sooner.
What timeline was it in? Because probably doing it later when there was a lot of TV, pop culture, social media, etc., was probably wise. It's easier to push out that narrative when you have technology on your side. I've often thought if we went public, all the supernatural stuff, we could get famous real fast.
Do you see vampirism as a tragic condition? Or was that just the company line?
2006. Right at the height of Stephanie Meyer's popularity for those Twilight novels of hers. Believe me, it did help pave the way.
The way I view vampirism has changed a great deal over the years. I have seen it as many things — gift and curse both. Now I am... undecided. I think it is perhaps best described by what you make of it yourself.
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Towards the end of my life I began to express... compassion for humanity, which was at odds with how I had existed for nearly two millennia. I believe Eric felt betrayed by this shift in my ideologies, as I was the one who had taught him everything he knew of being vampire. I had instilled in him the concept that there was no such thing as good or evil, only survival or death. That our survival came at the expense of so many hundreds of humans did not trouble me then, but it began to in perhaps the early eighteen hundreds. By the nineteen hundreds, I had tired entirely of the predatory brutality perpetuated by my people against humanity.
At no point did we agree not to speak for a set duration. It was merely a matter of being on different paths. As I was perhaps the fifth oldest vampire in existence at that time and as such wielded a certain amount of power within the political hierarchy of our kind, I became a governor of a vampire territory in Texas and recognized that even our prodigious powers would not protect us against the advancing technologies of humanity. Being revealed was inevitable, and I knew then we would have to control the narrative surrounding this revelation or risk extinction. We are strong, yes, but our vulnerabilities have been known to humanity since time immemorial. As such, I began working with others towards a political end to reveal the existence of vampires, a motion that came to fruition in 2009.
Eric's own influence followed a parallel line, presiding over a significant part of Louisiana state. Being both my progeny and himself over a millennia, he was afforded certain privileges and had earned the respect of many among our kind. We may have reconciled earlier if not for these responsibilities heavy on us both.
However, when he thought me in danger he was at my side as quickly as constraints would allow. There is no lack of love between us. When you are immortal, you always expect that you have more time to accomplish what you wish to. It is not always true.
no subject
Vampires went public in your world. How did that go over? Humans aren't super well known for making it easy to be different.
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no subject
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I do not regret how it came about. I only perhaps regret not doing it sooner.
no subject
Do you see vampirism as a tragic condition? Or was that just the company line?
no subject
The way I view vampirism has changed a great deal over the years. I have seen it as many things — gift and curse both. Now I am... undecided. I think it is perhaps best described by what you make of it yourself.