Greeting to my fellow creatures of the night. I extend to you every hospitality and hope that you take the time to read what I have to say about our kind. Hollywood tends to enjoy portraying the vampire as an obviously evil presence, the consummate terror of the night, but vampires can be no different than an average person...in appearance anyway. There are what I deem "mortal vampires", a person who is not so much a mythical, bloodsucking, undead assailant, but someone who has a driving urge to attain that which they need. A mortal vampire does portray many of the supposed traits of "real vampires", but these tend to be more of their tastes rather than their needs for survival. Mortal vampires do commonly have a dislike for sunlight, but it is not as though sunshine is deadly to them. It is a preference for the night, a time when they feel more comfortable. Many mortal vampires will tend towards night shifts at work, and spend most of the day sleeping. Another common trait is the desire for blood. Now this is not along the lines of the mythic need for blood, but many mortal vampires tend to relish in the taste of blood and are often drawn to the taste in ways they cannot totally explain or even understand. Blood-drinking is a lot more common than most people believe, but it is usually seen in terms of a sexual act, as the pleasure that mortal vampires derive from it is akin to sexual pleasure and the two are often coupled together. Now, as for crosses, or a stake through the heart...well, these are superstition. Many mortal vampires tend to be anti-christian mostly because their tastes do not mesh well with that of the church, which means while they may not feel any sort of reverance at the sight of a crucifix, they are by no means hurt by them. A stake through the heart...come now, vampire or not, that would be enough to end anyone's life, would it not? In short, vampires are more of a part of civilization than people think, but the classical, mythical vampire is simply that, a myth. I do not, by any means, wish to ruin anyone's love of the myth itself. I love the whole concept of vampires and do indeed respect the power that they have upon or culture, but in the same way that I love any mythical beast, be it a werewolf or a gargoyle. Humanity has wonderful ways to take the evil within us and create a imaginary, tangible foe. It is always much harder to hate that which is within us, than that which can be destroyed with the rising sun, is it not?