Fanon Element: The Orgasmic Vampire Bite (NC-17)
The orgasmic vampire bite so often found in Buffyverse fanfiction--if you don't know what I'm referring to, Buffy and Spike are only too happy (in the hands of certain writers) to, ahem, illustrate (in NC-17 fashion, should there be any doubt):
They're a tangle of limbs, and for the time being, Buffy's on top. No longer in a rush for release and relief (unlike the first or the second time), she consciously tries to slow down the rocking of their bodies, lingering in the bliss of teetering on the edge. By the intensity of Spike's gaze, the clenching of his jaw, the way his fingers are no longer roaming her body but deadlocked around her hips, she knows he's close too. Oh, but not yet, not--
With a roar, he reverses their position, pinning her to the bed while he pistons into her, fast and deep. When he tilts her chin, she parts her lips to greet his kisses, until the flashing amber of his eyes elucidates his intention. She gasps as his fangs slide into her jugular, her body tensing preemptively for the pain.
It doesn't come. Instead, a sharp heat, white hot, explodes inside her body, and sends her over the precipitous edge in a delicious free fall...
When she's finally recovered her senses, she finds herself cradled in Spike's arms, utterly spent and sated.
"Oh my God, Spike, that was the best--what was that?" she blurts out.
He cocks a brow--the one with the sexy scar, and smirks. "Told you it didn't have to hurt, love."
And...scene.
There you have it, a vampire bite that not only doesn't hurt, but also triggers orgasms. How awesome is that?
Reasons this fanon element bothers me:
Reason #1: It does not appear in canon. Correction: It doesn't make sense to me.
ETA: Well, as folks below point out, I've completely and categorically blocked out the memory of "Graduation Day, Part 2", where Angel bites Buffy and almost kills her. But Buffy's reaction is undoubtedly orgasmic ecstasy. It's pretty difficult to argue against. It is further corroborated by the fact that the bite house as visited by Riley attract repeat customers. Must feel really good. Addictive, even. Odd, isn't it, for a show calling itself "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" to portray a vampire bite this way?
The closest canon shows a possibly non-hurting vampire bite is in "Buffy vs. Dracula" (Season 5, Episode 1). Buffy wakes up in the middle of the night to find Dracula in her room. Unable to resist his thrall, she lets him bite her. The scene ends with an abrupt blackout immediately after the bite, followed by a groggy Buffy waking up the next morning, as if the bite never happened. An explanation is later given via Willow's research that Dracula can "read and control minds, appear in dreams". Unless I missed it, I can't think of a scene where a vampire biting a human is portrayed in a positive light. The ability to cause orgasms is never mentioned.
Reason #2: You do not surprise a Slayer with a vampire love bite.
Unless, that is, you have a death wish. :P Seems like a no-brainer to me. Because Buffy's first reaction, through muscle memory, is going to be reaching for that bedside stake and driving it home. I'm not saying that in a consensual context, she couldn't be convinced to allow her vampire lover a taste, especially given that in canon, Slayer blood carries special properties to render it irresistible to vampires. But if the vampire lover wants that taste of Slayer blood to not be his (or her) last meal, there should definitely be a discussion prior to the sinking of fangs into a Slayer during sex.
Slayer-training aside, bloodplay is a violent kink and not something most people would be into. Just as you don't take out a riding crop in the middle of an intimate moment and start lashing your partner without a warning, you (sex positive but enlightened vampire that you are) wouldn't start biting and drinking from your lover without a heart-to-heart first, either.
Reason #3: An orgasmic bite is kind of a hard sell.
Maybe it's just me, but I have a hard time believing that a vampire bite could feel that good. I'm sure we've all had bloodwork done at one point or another. Personally I find it to be an unpleasant thing to do, ranking way below a routine dentist's appointment. Drawing blood hurts when the incision is made by a needle by a professional trained in making it as painless as possible. I doubt a vampire has much practice in minimizing the pain of their bites, and doubly so if the bite is the result of a momentary loss of control, as is sometimes written to explain the surprise bite & feed. And a pair of vampire incisors? Waaay bigger than a needle.
And if you're fortunate enough to not have first-hand experience with this kind of thing, having your blood drawn hurts differently at different places of the body.[Squick alert! A rundown of common places for a blood draw (click to open).]The inside of the elbow (where bloodwork is usually done for adults, at least in the United States), is one of the least painful places. Other places to get blood drawn (and thus potential places for a vampire to bite and feed from someone) include the back of the hand, the top of the wrist, the ankle, the top of the foot, top inner thigh, and the neck. The neck is usually the last candidate for a blood draw, because it hurts like hell, and bruises like hell too. (I'm apparently vein-challenged, in that almost every nurse I come across will complain about the difficulty in locating a vein on me with a needle, as if it's something I have control over, so...yeah, I've had the distinct displeasure of having all my arteries jabbed at.)
Reasons I like to read about consensual vampire bites:
When it's well written, it is incredibly powerful. A Slayer willing to fight off both a warrior's fighter instinct and a human's survival instinct to give something to her vampire lover in an intimate setting? Speaks volumes about her feelings for that lover. About their trust in each other. About their commitment. It's powerful because it hurts, a positive precisely due to its negativity. It requires the overcoming of Slayer training to fear a vampire's bite, to regard a vampire's feeding from a human as something evil and unclean. It goes beyond passion to compassion, to the understanding of vampire nature. An orgasmic vampire bite, on the other hand, requires no sacrifice, not perhaps even a second thought to weigh the pros and cons. That's not the giving of oneself as much as a hedonistic indulgence.
When you think about it, it's only natural that a romantic relationship between a human and a vampire would lead to bloodplay. Sex and blood are intrinsically linked for a vampire. The human lover's blood would be an additional dimension of the person to know, to savor, to love. A few sips of it are as delightful as...chocolate-covered strawberries and champagne (I'm guessing, obvs). For the human, the wish to satisfy one's lover in anyway one can would eventually lead to the giving of one's blood, more so if it's Slayer blood! And given the right circumstances, in a safe setting, pain can be conditioned to give pleasure, especially with a supportive and patient lover. And aren't they always, in these fanfics? ;) Conveniently, with her Slayer's high threshold for pain and enhanced healing, Buffy is in a unique position to pull it off logistically as well. (As in, she won't end up anemic or sporting conspicuous bruises all the time.)
Going further, involving blood in their relationship would elevate their connection to a new level. Something fitting of their mystical universe. Something unique to their relationship, the pairing of a Slayer and the former Slayer of Slayers (and current redeemed Champion). A Slayer's blood, willingly given. A feeding vampire, but not a killer. In the Buffy/Spike example, Buffy would be giving more of herself than she could possibly do in a relationship with another human, and Spike would be getting more than he would possibly get in a relationship with anyone but another Slayer. Blood calls to blood, so the co-mingling of blood is significant, and could possibly have long-term ramifications? (Hmm, now my writer's mind is going clickity click...) It is all kinds of awesome and just sexy beautiful fun. *Sighs longingly* I do love myself a good story. ;)
Well, so what do you think? :)
They're a tangle of limbs, and for the time being, Buffy's on top. No longer in a rush for release and relief (unlike the first or the second time), she consciously tries to slow down the rocking of their bodies, lingering in the bliss of teetering on the edge. By the intensity of Spike's gaze, the clenching of his jaw, the way his fingers are no longer roaming her body but deadlocked around her hips, she knows he's close too. Oh, but not yet, not--
With a roar, he reverses their position, pinning her to the bed while he pistons into her, fast and deep. When he tilts her chin, she parts her lips to greet his kisses, until the flashing amber of his eyes elucidates his intention. She gasps as his fangs slide into her jugular, her body tensing preemptively for the pain.
It doesn't come. Instead, a sharp heat, white hot, explodes inside her body, and sends her over the precipitous edge in a delicious free fall...
When she's finally recovered her senses, she finds herself cradled in Spike's arms, utterly spent and sated.
"Oh my God, Spike, that was the best--what was that?" she blurts out.
He cocks a brow--the one with the sexy scar, and smirks. "Told you it didn't have to hurt, love."
And...scene.
There you have it, a vampire bite that not only doesn't hurt, but also triggers orgasms. How awesome is that?
Reasons this fanon element bothers me:
Reason #1: It does not appear in canon. Correction: It doesn't make sense to me.
ETA: Well, as folks below point out, I've completely and categorically blocked out the memory of "Graduation Day, Part 2", where Angel bites Buffy and almost kills her. But Buffy's reaction is undoubtedly orgasmic ecstasy. It's pretty difficult to argue against. It is further corroborated by the fact that the bite house as visited by Riley attract repeat customers. Must feel really good. Addictive, even. Odd, isn't it, for a show calling itself "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" to portray a vampire bite this way?
The closest canon shows a possibly non-hurting vampire bite is in "Buffy vs. Dracula" (Season 5, Episode 1). Buffy wakes up in the middle of the night to find Dracula in her room. Unable to resist his thrall, she lets him bite her. The scene ends with an abrupt blackout immediately after the bite, followed by a groggy Buffy waking up the next morning, as if the bite never happened. An explanation is later given via Willow's research that Dracula can "read and control minds, appear in dreams". Unless I missed it, I can't think of a scene where a vampire biting a human is portrayed in a positive light. The ability to cause orgasms is never mentioned.
Reason #2: You do not surprise a Slayer with a vampire love bite.
Unless, that is, you have a death wish. :P Seems like a no-brainer to me. Because Buffy's first reaction, through muscle memory, is going to be reaching for that bedside stake and driving it home. I'm not saying that in a consensual context, she couldn't be convinced to allow her vampire lover a taste, especially given that in canon, Slayer blood carries special properties to render it irresistible to vampires. But if the vampire lover wants that taste of Slayer blood to not be his (or her) last meal, there should definitely be a discussion prior to the sinking of fangs into a Slayer during sex.
Slayer-training aside, bloodplay is a violent kink and not something most people would be into. Just as you don't take out a riding crop in the middle of an intimate moment and start lashing your partner without a warning, you (sex positive but enlightened vampire that you are) wouldn't start biting and drinking from your lover without a heart-to-heart first, either.
Reason #3: An orgasmic bite is kind of a hard sell.
Maybe it's just me, but I have a hard time believing that a vampire bite could feel that good. I'm sure we've all had bloodwork done at one point or another. Personally I find it to be an unpleasant thing to do, ranking way below a routine dentist's appointment. Drawing blood hurts when the incision is made by a needle by a professional trained in making it as painless as possible. I doubt a vampire has much practice in minimizing the pain of their bites, and doubly so if the bite is the result of a momentary loss of control, as is sometimes written to explain the surprise bite & feed. And a pair of vampire incisors? Waaay bigger than a needle.
And if you're fortunate enough to not have first-hand experience with this kind of thing, having your blood drawn hurts differently at different places of the body.[Squick alert! A rundown of common places for a blood draw (click to open).]The inside of the elbow (where bloodwork is usually done for adults, at least in the United States), is one of the least painful places. Other places to get blood drawn (and thus potential places for a vampire to bite and feed from someone) include the back of the hand, the top of the wrist, the ankle, the top of the foot, top inner thigh, and the neck. The neck is usually the last candidate for a blood draw, because it hurts like hell, and bruises like hell too. (I'm apparently vein-challenged, in that almost every nurse I come across will complain about the difficulty in locating a vein on me with a needle, as if it's something I have control over, so...yeah, I've had the distinct displeasure of having all my arteries jabbed at.)
Reasons I like to read about consensual vampire bites:
When it's well written, it is incredibly powerful. A Slayer willing to fight off both a warrior's fighter instinct and a human's survival instinct to give something to her vampire lover in an intimate setting? Speaks volumes about her feelings for that lover. About their trust in each other. About their commitment. It's powerful because it hurts, a positive precisely due to its negativity. It requires the overcoming of Slayer training to fear a vampire's bite, to regard a vampire's feeding from a human as something evil and unclean. It goes beyond passion to compassion, to the understanding of vampire nature. An orgasmic vampire bite, on the other hand, requires no sacrifice, not perhaps even a second thought to weigh the pros and cons. That's not the giving of oneself as much as a hedonistic indulgence.
When you think about it, it's only natural that a romantic relationship between a human and a vampire would lead to bloodplay. Sex and blood are intrinsically linked for a vampire. The human lover's blood would be an additional dimension of the person to know, to savor, to love. A few sips of it are as delightful as...chocolate-covered strawberries and champagne (I'm guessing, obvs). For the human, the wish to satisfy one's lover in anyway one can would eventually lead to the giving of one's blood, more so if it's Slayer blood! And given the right circumstances, in a safe setting, pain can be conditioned to give pleasure, especially with a supportive and patient lover. And aren't they always, in these fanfics? ;) Conveniently, with her Slayer's high threshold for pain and enhanced healing, Buffy is in a unique position to pull it off logistically as well. (As in, she won't end up anemic or sporting conspicuous bruises all the time.)
Going further, involving blood in their relationship would elevate their connection to a new level. Something fitting of their mystical universe. Something unique to their relationship, the pairing of a Slayer and the former Slayer of Slayers (and current redeemed Champion). A Slayer's blood, willingly given. A feeding vampire, but not a killer. In the Buffy/Spike example, Buffy would be giving more of herself than she could possibly do in a relationship with another human, and Spike would be getting more than he would possibly get in a relationship with anyone but another Slayer. Blood calls to blood, so the co-mingling of blood is significant, and could possibly have long-term ramifications? (Hmm, now my writer's mind is going clickity click...) It is all kinds of awesome and just sexy beautiful fun. *Sighs longingly* I do love myself a good story. ;)
Well, so what do you think? :)