So, I have to lean heavily on the biological cause to vampirism. Although FK canon is all over the place regarding what actually takes place, or needs to take place to bring a person across, the one consistent thing is that the individual is bitten by a vampire.
It's unclear as to whether actively receiving vampire blood is required--we have several examples of each--LaCroix actively gives Nicholas blood when bringing him across, but Nick doesn't with any of his fledglings that we can see. Nor does LaCroix with the Jack the Ripper character in Bad Blood. We also see LaCroix bring back an apparently very dead Alexandria in Fatal Mistake, yet couldn't/wouldn't do the same for Alyssa Von Lintz in Dead of Night. I do notice that it's not LaCroix that Alexandria is hunting. Smart girl.
The length of time between 'dead' and arising as a vampire also seems to vary widely. Does this allow for the 'choice' that Nick feels he had the opportunity to make, or is there another explanation?
Anyway, Natalie identifies 'extra nucleotides' in Nick's blood in The Fix. And I think she refers to it as the vampire virus at least once. I'm going to go with the principal cause being a physical one with a transmission between the two individuals.
I do think there is a lot to be said about state of mind given the information we have from the third season. The most convincing is the Ellen/Monica/Jacquline situation is HoD. Although Monica does say that Monica's indiscretions led her to a vampire, which I take to mean a biting did occur. I've never interacted with anyone with a dissociative personality disorder, but I've heard its very profound. And we see 'her' eat, but not break any of the other vampire rules.
As far as Nick in Night in Question, although Natalie claims that they were 'so close', they weren't really close at all. Nick eats, but says the food was awful. Nick also eats in 1966, so apparently they CAN eat, it's just an awful experience for them. The fact that he is a vampire immediately slides into his subconscious as soon as he falls asleep, and although he doesn't know he's a vampire, he came close to combusting when he went out in the daylight.
I still don't know what to make of the Janette situation, other than it being a plot device to set up LK. She seemed to think she had returned to mortality, and there were some indications that it was true--the most relevant for me is that she did react as a mortal both times when she was shot, but how she got there really made little to no sense.
I see the spiritual and moral downfall theories as closely allied, maybe because we are seeing this world largely through Nick's experiences and to him they are closely related. As you mentioned, given Nick's era and status in society, the Catholic Church would have been all encompassing for him. He really can't see through any other lens, idt, even when he tries to as in his comment in the flashback in SoB "If there's a God, he hasn't shown himself to me." He so strongly believes that vampirism is a 'fall from grace' that it makes it a huge part of it for Nick whether he wants it to be or not.
Even LaCroix, who was a pagan in his mortal life, would have spent nearly 2 thousand years in a world where the Church was paramount. It's hard not to be absorbed into a mentality by it. We do have examples of vampires being affected by religious symbols that are not their own--Nick reacts to a menorah in PotM at the shiva, and the Vietnamese vampire in CRCH reacts to the cross, even though he is almost certainly been raised as a Buddhist. It does give credence to the idea that religion/spirituality has some place here in our theory. For Nick, that's an absolute.
As far as a cure, Klytaimestra had a great take on it in her wonderful story Five Years Later:Conversation with a Vampire.
It's a long story, so I'll recap the relevant part. In it, a very compelling (almost) OC tells Nick that there are many cures, or combinations of interventions that can lead to a cure, and that each vampire has to find his own way. As an example he says that the acupuncture cure was one that would work, with certain prayers being said.
For my part, I do think that there is most likely a physical cure to be found although not in the 1990s and not by Natalie, given her education and resources.
no subject
So, I have to lean heavily on the biological cause to vampirism. Although FK canon is all over the place regarding what actually takes place, or needs to take place to bring a person across, the one consistent thing is that the individual is bitten by a vampire.
It's unclear as to whether actively receiving vampire blood is required--we have several examples of each--LaCroix actively gives Nicholas blood when bringing him across, but Nick doesn't with any of his fledglings that we can see. Nor does LaCroix with the Jack the Ripper character in Bad Blood. We also see LaCroix bring back an apparently very dead Alexandria in Fatal Mistake, yet couldn't/wouldn't do the same for Alyssa Von Lintz in Dead of Night. I do notice that it's not LaCroix that Alexandria is hunting. Smart girl.
The length of time between 'dead' and arising as a vampire also seems to vary widely. Does this allow for the 'choice' that Nick feels he had the opportunity to make, or is there another explanation?
Anyway, Natalie identifies 'extra nucleotides' in Nick's blood in The Fix. And I think she refers to it as the vampire virus at least once. I'm going to go with the principal cause being a physical one with a transmission between the two individuals.
I do think there is a lot to be said about state of mind given the information we have from the third season. The most convincing is the Ellen/Monica/Jacquline situation is HoD. Although Monica does say that Monica's indiscretions led her to a vampire, which I take to mean a biting did occur. I've never interacted with anyone with a dissociative personality disorder, but I've heard its very profound. And we see 'her' eat, but not break any of the other vampire rules.
As far as Nick in Night in Question, although Natalie claims that they were 'so close', they weren't really close at all. Nick eats, but says the food was awful. Nick also eats in 1966, so apparently they CAN eat, it's just an awful experience for them. The fact that he is a vampire immediately slides into his subconscious as soon as he falls asleep, and although he doesn't know he's a vampire, he came close to combusting when he went out in the daylight.
I still don't know what to make of the Janette situation, other than it being a plot device to set up LK. She seemed to think she had returned to mortality, and there were some indications that it was true--the most relevant for me is that she did react as a mortal both times when she was shot, but how she got there really made little to no sense.
I see the spiritual and moral downfall theories as closely allied, maybe because we are seeing this world largely through Nick's experiences and to him they are closely related. As you mentioned, given Nick's era and status in society, the Catholic Church would have been all encompassing for him. He really can't see through any other lens, idt, even when he tries to as in his comment in the flashback in SoB "If there's a God, he hasn't shown himself to me." He so strongly believes that vampirism is a 'fall from grace' that it makes it a huge part of it for Nick whether he wants it to be or not.
Even LaCroix, who was a pagan in his mortal life, would have spent nearly 2 thousand years in a world where the Church was paramount. It's hard not to be absorbed into a mentality by it. We do have examples of vampires being affected by religious symbols that are not their own--Nick reacts to a menorah in PotM at the shiva, and the Vietnamese vampire in CRCH reacts to the cross, even though he is almost certainly been raised as a Buddhist. It does give credence to the idea that religion/spirituality has some place here in our theory. For Nick, that's an absolute.
As far as a cure, Klytaimestra had a great take on it in her wonderful story Five Years Later:Conversation with a Vampire.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/191612?show_comments=true&view_full_work=true#comments
It's a long story, so I'll recap the relevant part. In it, a very compelling (almost) OC tells Nick that there are many cures, or combinations of interventions that can lead to a cure, and that each vampire has to find his own way. As an example he says that the acupuncture cure was one that would work, with certain prayers being said.
For my part, I do think that there is most likely a physical cure to be found although not in the 1990s and not by Natalie, given her education and resources.
Another great topic, thanks!