| "Turning"The process of converting an ordinary human being with no HLV tendencies of any kind into a full-fledged HLV is referred to as "turning". Sometimes it is also referred to as "being embraced", a phrase from role-playing games, and there are a few other terms drawn from vampire fiction ("the dark gift", "the dark kiss", "bringing across", "bloodsiring", for example). There is great disagreement among HLV's as to whether "turning" is a real phenomenon or is even possible. Many HLV's, especially the majority who are psi-blood feeders, believe that HLV's are born as they are and cannot be "turned" or "turn" anyone who is not also an HLV by birth themselves. Some HLV's have gone through a dramatic change that to them, feels physical and externally catalyzed. They experienced a sudden development of either blood-craving or psychic vampire tendencies, along with secondary symptoms such as sun sensitivity, nocturnalism, and alterations in appetite. Less often, such individuals report positive changes such as greater strength and stamina, faster healing, better reflexes, enhanced senses and so on. In some cases, these individuals trace the changes in themselves to a specific incident. Blood vampires most often identify an experience of sharing blood with another person who was already a blood vampire--either inadvertently, or with prior agreement that the existing blood vampire was "turning" them. Psychic vampires may identify an experience in which they "linked" or psychically bonded with an existing psychic vampire, sometimes via such media as online chat or the telephone. "Turn" stories involving sex or the injection of an unknown substance (supposedly the existing HLV's blood) have also been described. Although some HLV's reporting this experience believe that it was causative and that they were literally "turned" or transformed from ordinary humans into HLV's, many others see such experiences as awakening latent tendencies that had been dormant in the new HLV all along. It is more common for blood vampires to view the change as externally induced and for psychic vampires to adhere to the idea of awakened latent tendencies. This would be consistent with the origin of the "turn" concept in the 20th Century Vampire Myth. Also, blood vampires are more likely to consider the vampire virus hypothesis seriously and this also lends itself to a model for "turning" caused by the transmission of the virus. However, only a minority of HLV's gives full credence to the possibility of "turning". While some believe that it may be possible, or is possible in rare cases, and a very few hold firmly that "turning" is the only way to become an HLV, the majority of HLV's of all types believe that they were born as they are. Even blood-craving HLV's frequently say that their obsession with and craving for blood goes back as far as they can remember. At least one blood-craving HLV experienced a mid-life awakening of her blood-craving tendencies but has absolutely no idea what could have catalyzed it. For the most part, HLV's regard "turning" as belonging to realm of role-playing and fiction. A separate issue, however, are the constant requests that almost every public HLV receives from people asking to be "turned". The "turn fantasy" is a powerful one for many people who are deeply invested in the vampire metaphor. Such individuals not only contact self-described HLV's asking to be turned, but place vampersonal ads and post messages on messageboards, guestbooks and other fora in droves. Those who are seeking to be "turned" do so with an earnestness and even desperation that is amazing to many HLV's. I have only encountered a tiny handful of people seeking to be "turned" because they had a terminal illness. Most are simply unhappy with their lives, or are seeking to change themselves in some profound way. The majority of them (although by no means all) also seem to be very young. Most HLV's are appalled by requests for "turning", whether they believe such a thing is possible or not. HLV's of all types overwhelmingly regard their condition as a serious liability (indeed, I have yet to hear an exception to this in the vampiric community). They often respond to "turn" requests with a litany of the woes they suffer and demand whether the aspirant has thought through all the disadvantages to life with an uncontrollable craving for blood or energy. In many cases, it seems that the aspirant is not, in fact, asking to be "turned" into an HLV as described on this page. Even though they may be addressing a person (such as Sanguinarius, or myself, or other vampire website owners) who has clearly and unequivocally explained on their public site what they are and what it entails, aspirants seem to be seeking a variant of the 20th Century Vampire Myth. It almost seems as though "turn" aspirants assume that the HLV's are just trying to hide the truth from them; anyone who calls themself a "vampire", they think, must be a "vampire" like the Myth, someone privileged and special who they want to be like. The serious danger lies in the type of person who is all too happy to respond positively to "turn" requests, especially from young women. Just imagine, for comparison, a twelve-year-old girl (with a lack of parental supervision) who got online in various adult chatrooms and fora and announced far and wide that she was looking for a cute, nice boy to lose her virginity to. She will doubtless get many responses, and none of them will be from the kind of decent, respectful, attractive young man she is dreaming about, because those young men don't take advantage of naive young girls. No, she'll hear from the kind of pedophilic creeps who slaver at the prospect of having sex with a twelve-year-old. Many of these men are very skilled at telling young girls exactly what they want to hear. Similarly, the online vampire fora have their own schools of sharks cruising for young girls (and boys) they can lure with a promise of "turning". They will spin stories about being immortals, throwing out more and more outrageous details to test their mark's gullibility. They will promise all the beautiful details in the 20th Century Vampire Myth: agelessness, immortality, power, endless love and an enfolding community of peers. If they succeed in meeting their mark at last, the results could be very serious indeed. There have been a number of cases of girls being tricked into sex under the pretense of "turning", or of people being injected with harmful foreign substances. Some of these vampiroid predators have attempted to form a cult-like "vampire clan" of mind-controlled slaves. Those seeking to be "turned" should reflect carefully on what it is that they are really looking for. Few aspirants to "turning" have in mind the realities of being an HLV of any type. The goals they desire, such as a community of intimate friends and peers, a sense of empowerment, freedom from fear about aging, disease, and death, and so forth are better sought in other ways. Immortality and power are not simply handed out free of charge to anyone who wanders by asking for them. If they are available at all, they are available for a price equivalent to their value. |
