Switches Off: It's Not Just For Vampires!

[badboy_fangirl]

So here's what I'm doing in the hopes that my Lexi plotbunny will hop away: I am writing Switch Meta. Please join me...

So, I've been thinking about this, and then a chat with linsell_farm reminded me that my thoughts about this subject are a bit complicated, and it might be a good idea to put it out there to the universe in a effort to better understand it.

Comments

[upupa_epops]

For me, the humanity switch is simply a psychological defense mechanism? Because yes -- humans do it as well. I wouldn't even associate it with conscience. They just feel so much, you know? And people, when they're in too much pain, sometimes go numb. When someone you love dies, you can mourn and hurt, but you can also not quite feel it. Go through the motions, organize everything, laugh at jokes, think about picking up your dry-cleaning. Your grief is too much, and your brain doesn't let it in. And then a month later you clean out your drawers, find an old birthday card from that person, and it hits you. By surprise.

Idk, this is how I imagine the vampire switch, based on Rose's statement. Makes sense: newbies aren't used to feeling SO MUCH, so they're more likely to get into overload and switch it off. Older vampires are more used to handling heightened emotions, so they're less likely to need such coping mechanism.

[hotarujazz]

I think it's combination of switching off the conscience that you are talking about and numbing yourself to emotions that Marta is talking about.

Because "switch off" vampires clearly don't have their conscience and look like they are operating with "half of themselves" which would be the id and half of the ego. But they also don't seem to feel extremely intense emotions. Elena clearly doesn't feel the grief right now or the pain and love but she does feel annoyance, enjoyment, lust, anger(but not rage), etc. That points to me that she is also numb emotionally like Marta explained.

I find it perfectly logical and understanding that hate comes first. It so much easier to feel hate than love so it's easier to let yourself feel it!

[woobloo]

Humanity's a fascinating concept discussed in the show simply because of its subjectivity and lack of definitions