A Visitor's Guide to Mystic Falls - By Red Page 0,32
Damon, but from Anna stalking Jeremy, Jeremy tailing Vicki . . .
And then there’s Elena, who appears to be a prime Object of Obsession™ for both humans and vampires at Mystic Falls—frequently (for the vampires) because of her resemblance to Katherine, but more often because she is simply at 6882 Visitor's Guide to Mystic Falls[FIN].indd 87
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the heart of events, the glue holding together many of the relationships.
So, what is it with vampire story lines and obsession? It seems you cannot have one without the other.
First, let’s attempt to understand and define obsession itself, sans vampires.
According to The Living Webster Encyclopedic Dictionary of the English Language, obsession is “a thought or emotion which comes strongly to mind with unwanted persistency.”
In general people obsess about obtaining things—material objects, special relationships with other people, resolution to problematic situations, revenge, closure, social and personal justice. We also obsess about achieving—life goals, status, respect, fame, recognition, proficiency, inner balance—and about avoiding—danger, death, pain, discomfort, shame, humiliation, difficulty, anything that particularly frightens us or causes stress and anxiety.
Most people experience at least occasional bouts of desire—to obtain, achieve, or avoid—that become extended preoccupations. Who, as a kid, never wanted a specific toy to the point of nagging our parents about it? How many of us have never experienced a serious crush on someone at school or at the office? The difference between a mere longing for something and obsession is not so much the degree of the need or its urgency, but control. As soon as we lose control over our own behavior as it relates to the object of our desire, and allow our desire to overpower and rule us, we can be described as obsessed. At that point, all figurative brakes are off and our desire takes over. Completely unregulated, it 6882 Visitor's Guide to Mystic Falls[FIN].indd 88
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grows in urgency and intensity. On the other hand, as soon as we regain the ability to let go and relinquish the object of our obsession (if we ever do), our obsession fades away.
For purposes of our discussion, then, let’s define obsession as a single-minded, unhealthy, overpowering preoccupation (with something or someone) over which a person has little to no control.
And what about vampires? The basic layman definition of a vampire (without all the supernatural paraphernalia of blood and fangs) is that of a user of others: not just a predator, but a parasite. (We’ve all heard the term “emotional vampire” used to describe a person who seems to “feed” on [mostly negative] emotional energy generated by others—a person who gets energized by or enjoys seeing others argue, get upset, or become excited while they themselves remain calm and unaffected.) A predator feeds on others, but is a part of a natural food chain, the circle of life. A parasite, however, takes from the living without contributing anything in return. The vampire preys on others to fulfill its own needs regardless of the consequences to anyone else.
Vampires are defined not solely by their hunger, or what they hunger for, but their lack of control in feeding that hunger—the lengths to which they are willing to go, and the damage they are willing to do. Obsession, taken to the fur-thest extreme, can be seen as an out-of-control vampiric need for its object. Vampires and obsession are natural bed-fellows. Indeed, all vampire tropes ultimately portray obsession of one kind or another. Foremost is vampires’ obsession with blood.
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Blood
Blood is the only true sustenance left to a vamp (assuming we are talking about your common, everyday, “normal”
bloodsucker vamp and not, say, an incubus/succubus sex fiend). And what drives a vampire first and foremost is the eternal need to quench its hunger for it. The hunger is in command, and the vampire follows, like a puppet, doing anything and everything it can to take care of this need. So here we have creatures who are walking obsessives by definition.
In the world of The Vampire Diaries, Stefan, seemingly the most humane vampire, is also the