The First Rule Of Practical Vampire Slaying Is...

Watcher and Slayer
Reviewing the Rules

A vampire can’t just walk into your house and start sucking your blood.

First, it has to be invited.

You know, there are so many things I love about this rule that it's hard to know where to begin...but just for starters, let me say this: I absolutely love how this rule makes such clear, fair sense! 
     The very idea that a vampire can enter our lives without permission - that it can simply come swooping in any where, any time and without our say-so, is not only boring and inconsistent, but it doesn't even make any sense, either. 

      If the story - whether it's about mythological vampires or personal vampires - is going to be any good at all, then it's going to insist that we, as the vampire's hosts or potential hosts, have meaningful roles in it, too.  There must be a time and place in the story where our decisions and movements (and not just the vampire's) have significance and make things happen, too. 

      Any decent story simply has to be about more than some poor guy who, through no fault of his own, suddenly becomes an unholy supply of meals to some vampire who just happened to be flying over the neighborhood one night.  Honestly: what kind of story is that -  about a blameless person getting into the worst kind of mess possible and without hope of ever getting out of it?   Yuck.  It's not only pointless and tiresome, but just plain gross, besides.
     Any good vampire story has to include the strategies, motivations, and actions of all its players - and if it wants to get really good and interesting, will also demonstrate the complexity of the relationships that vampires and hosts have with each other: why the vampire is sometimes slain, and why other times the host remains to be drained and ready to join the ranks of The Undead, too. 

      And so, in the end, what could possibly be more important to a story about a person in deep, deep trouble than for them to see an actual ray of hope - a way out that really might work?  This is just exactly  what our invitation rule gives to us:  it gives us that hope. 
     After all, if we're without the power and ability to invite a vampire across our thresholds and into our lives before it can feed, then how can we possibly have the power and ability to push it back over the line and out of our lives again?  I mean, either we've got the power or we haven't: it's not a  "sometimes" thing.
      We can hardly say, "Oh yeah, you see all that good stuff that I've got in my life?  Well, I'm the one responsible for bringing that in" ...and then, out of the other side of our mouths say, "but see all that other crumby stuff in my life,  especially those stupid vampires eating me out of house and home?  Well... I'll be darned if I know how they got in." 
     Either we are conscious and mature players in our lives or we are not, and the beauty of this invitation rule is how it serves as a reminder to us, every time we start feeling victimized, that if we can just become willing to take an honest look at ourselves and assume the appropriate measure of responsibility for whatever difficult situation or relationship we're in, then we'll also discover the exact measure of power we need to do something (the right thing) about it - and best of all:  we'll find that power within us. 

    

This is the Practical Vampire Slayer, signing off for today. 

    
I'll hope to see you on Sunday, when we'll be reviewing Rule #2 - the one about how vampires only need one invitation to cross the threshold in order to come and go as they please for all eternity - because it's a doozie.   

  
  Pina atunci,

 The Practical Vampire Slayer