Post by Bambi on Apr 11, 2009 12:44:14 GMT -8
Not so long ago, divorce was unheard of. A person married another and stuck by them through thick and thin. It was expected for the wife to become almost a dutiful servant, unless she married into money, but even then her place was in the home. Women did not work, they gave birth and kept house and that left the man as the only earner, the breadwinner. In some countries divorce is still illegal and women who decide to leave their partner, usually because he is violent, are tracked down and killed for bringing shame on their families. In most countries however, divorce is common place and no longer holds the stigma once attached to it. In fact, it’s almost uncommon for a marriage to last a lifetime.
So that’s the human take on marriage, now lets look at how it is for us, the undead.
We are capable of binding, the vampire equivalent of marriage, and unbinding infinite times with no repercussions. Nobody frowns on these acts of flippancy and, more often than not, a failed binding is replaced with a new one in a matter of months. What is more, we have the luxury of changing our families in a similar manner. So, should you love your partner but your family does not approve, you can simply sever your sire and take a new one should you wish. It’s almost too easy.
And yes, we do take this for granted. I for one have been partner bound and separated twice so know from first hand experience how easy it is to hand over a few coins to break a link. Did it hurt? Sure I was upset but, compared to a human divorce, I got off lightly. There was no arguing over who got custody of the children or the house or the dog because, as a vampire, my childer are only linked to me, we own our own houses as money is so plentiful and the dog.. well nobody but me wants my pink poodle following them around. So does having such an easy way out make relationships less solid? I happen to think so. If you have a huge argument with your partner bound you know a handful of coin will get them out of your unlife so why bother working through any issues?
Bed hopping and sire hopping is so normal here that to hear of a vampire who has been with the same partner or family (heads of lines aside) for a number of years is like finding the image of Jesus on a Pringle.. miraculous. I almost want to go up to someone who has been partner bound for X amount of years and ask what the secret is but most of the time I already know the answer. It’s because they love their partner and usually because said partner spends most of their time asleep.
So is love, an emotion linked mainly to humans, something we undead are capable of? It would seem so as so many of us profess to it. So why does it so frequently fizzle out? I believe it dies because we are vampires and we are greedy and we know that no matter what, this city provides us with a quick fix and an easy way out of all our problems.
So that’s the human take on marriage, now lets look at how it is for us, the undead.
We are capable of binding, the vampire equivalent of marriage, and unbinding infinite times with no repercussions. Nobody frowns on these acts of flippancy and, more often than not, a failed binding is replaced with a new one in a matter of months. What is more, we have the luxury of changing our families in a similar manner. So, should you love your partner but your family does not approve, you can simply sever your sire and take a new one should you wish. It’s almost too easy.
And yes, we do take this for granted. I for one have been partner bound and separated twice so know from first hand experience how easy it is to hand over a few coins to break a link. Did it hurt? Sure I was upset but, compared to a human divorce, I got off lightly. There was no arguing over who got custody of the children or the house or the dog because, as a vampire, my childer are only linked to me, we own our own houses as money is so plentiful and the dog.. well nobody but me wants my pink poodle following them around. So does having such an easy way out make relationships less solid? I happen to think so. If you have a huge argument with your partner bound you know a handful of coin will get them out of your unlife so why bother working through any issues?
Bed hopping and sire hopping is so normal here that to hear of a vampire who has been with the same partner or family (heads of lines aside) for a number of years is like finding the image of Jesus on a Pringle.. miraculous. I almost want to go up to someone who has been partner bound for X amount of years and ask what the secret is but most of the time I already know the answer. It’s because they love their partner and usually because said partner spends most of their time asleep.
So is love, an emotion linked mainly to humans, something we undead are capable of? It would seem so as so many of us profess to it. So why does it so frequently fizzle out? I believe it dies because we are vampires and we are greedy and we know that no matter what, this city provides us with a quick fix and an easy way out of all our problems.
Protestants don't have that little magic trick called annulment which states that the marriage never occured in the first place.