I was hoping you'd chime in KillerRabbit. Trauma as liberating force, is not uncommon today, I was surprised (in a good way) at how subversive the "interrogation" scene between Kylo Ren and Rey was in The Force Awakens. Sexual politics in stories are always interesting to me, I think because it's such a veiled subject in the public square, I think this is also one of the reasons why vampire fiction is so compelling to people.
It's kind of interesting to compare modern vampires and werewolves this way, vampires are allegories for decadence, while werewolves are about uncontrolled animalistic passions, but they're allegories have been twisted together. I'm not totally sure why. Possibly because vampires are more popular they subsume the aspects of other stories.
Thanks!
Great insights. Yes, I was also struck by the sexual politics in that scene as well. I clearly remember thinking "this is Disney"?
Great breakdown of the archetypes! Yes, the werewolf is pure ID and some of that has been imported into vampire fiction. But to be fair to the conflaters this isn't entirely divorced from the original. Because while the count appears in polite society, when we meet the transformed Lucy she has lost all of Victorian manners.
Okay! The OP has kindly asked that we stop the hijack but I had to acknowledge @Sozz 's insights.
So here's my attempt to get the thread back on track:
I like Wyll. While I don't like thoroughly modern characters that seem out of place in a medieval fantasy (looking at you Nenio) I like Wyll because he's a character that belongs in Faerun yet his his conflict speaks to the present. He's an influencer. He's a good guy who is simultaneously empowered and hindered by his obsession with his image.
I can't remember her name but Wyll reminds of that vegan influncer who was caught on cell phone eating fish and was forced to apologize to her followers.
