#some portuguese slang doesn't shine as brightly now that it's been translated

[shadebyshad]

About Rebekah and her desire to have a child...

There are too many things to put in this title, so let's go with a brief subtitle: Rebekah Mikaelson, her desire to have children, things about humanity vs. vampirism and my contained anger about the whole plot.

Maybe it's too long, but stick with me

vampirism vs. humanity

First, we need to remember what vampirism symbolically represents in literature (and eventually in film) over the years: by exploring the transgression between life and death, they represent the concerns of a society at a particular time, as well as the dark side of the individual. They symbolize the exploitation of others, sexuality, lack of respect for others, contagious diseases, fear of the unknown (especially foreign cultures), non-conformism and religion.

Today, vampires personify real-world problems and offer a kind of refuge. Whereas previously vampires were subversive and unwanted beings, today they are something to be envied, a goal to be achieved. Despite being ambiguous beings, they are still beautiful, romantic (Twilight and TVD) and immortal. They are beings who reflect on their impulses, who repudiate the act of feeding on human blood (Edward and Stefan) and, according to myself, with a certain morality surrounding them.

And why does this matter for my long analysis? Well, because I'm obsessed with vampire and witch stories HAUAHUA. And because I think that TVD/TO fails a lot by not wanting to reflect deeply on humanity vs. vampirism. The writers bring up the concept of vampires being able to "turn off their humanity", but they never really define what "humanity" would be and then, in the last seasons, they show that they don't know what that means.

I like this concept a lot, it's interesting to see it used in the first seasons with the younger vampires and the older ones, who have a different idea of feelings and so on. I think too much, I analyze too much and I think the writers should have done the same, HAUHAUHA. What is humanity to vampires? Is it relative? Certainly, but what would be the humanity of each vampire who has been turned off in the series? And why should humanity reflect on how vampires perceive themselves and are perceived by others in the series? Klaus said that vampires should adapt their perception of time, but what about humanity?

They're not human anymore, they're going to live/have lived things that no human could understand, what we humans and mortals consider "humanity" shouldn't be relevant to them, at least for the older vampires. I understand and find it totally plausible that these concepts are still present in Caroline, Tyler and Elena when they turn. In fact, it would be very interesting to see them shedding this human notion in order to understand that it is no longer something viable for them.

And all this to say that I understand Rebekah wanting to be human by living a thousand years and realizing that life has no meaning if it's eternal, a human philosophy, but I understand the gorgeous's thinking and, like a fan, I'll just say: Rebekah, go for it!

Rebekah, trauma and being human again

I've only watched TO up to the second season, so if I've got something wrong, sorry, but anyway… Rebekah has a terrible fear of being abandoned, falls in love easily, loves too much, was transformed without her consent and, unfortunately or fortunately, I find her decision/desire to be human very coherent with the character.

Being human again would be a way of regaining the control that was taken from her, although wanting to "build a family" would be her way of escaping from the Mikaelsons. Since you can't choose what kind of family you're going to be born into, you just have to be lucky, the family Rebekah built would be different, they would be people she had chosen, people who had shown themselves to be worthy and affectionate. It's even common for this desire to manifest itself in children from toxic homes, at least I see it that way.

I'd love to see what made Rebekah think that her salvation was to be human, even though she was one of the most powerful beings in the world and had lived for so many years. Societies could be shitty to her because she's a woman, but like? Who gives a fuck? She could have a whole city at her feet if she wanted to, she could make people doubt her existence as a vampire like Klaus did and whatever else. So, how did she get there?

And I think that has a lot to do with his inability to have biological children. And with that…

children

REBEKAH COULD HAVE BEEN A MOTHER! Regardless of whether or not she is capable of giving birth, she can be a mother. Many women can't give birth either, and then the excuse of the story is that she's a vampire? Oh, fuck off, eh? That's what adoption is for.

I don't understand TVD's obsession with biological children and "creating a family", they're vampires from thousands of years ago, who go to school, go to several colleges, found a town, open a fucking bar, buy a bunch of houses, whatever, but they can't have a child? Spare me, spare us

I hate Caroline's pregnancy plot, but they know how to work that obsession better… work it more or less. I still hate it, it's one more time that TVD overturns all its pre-established rules.

And Rebekah might have thought that adopted children didn't have the same value as biological ones, but this isn't shown at any point. And if that were the case, her relationship with Klaus and Mikael would have been very different, as would the way she sees Klaus and Marcel's father-son relationship

It would have been lovely to see Rebekah find that mother-daughter connection with a child she could actually adopt, instead of the aunt-niece relationship. Vampires are so connected to the unconventional, even today being a worshipped and envied being, that it's very frustrating to see her wanting a child so badly and NOT GOING TO ADOPT ONE!!! It would be going against the typical tradition, understanding and showing that there are other ways of being a mother.

For a teen series with so much violence, it lacked boldness

And Rebekah can be a great feminist icon with good writing, okay?! When she comes out of the coffin and we meet her in the third season, she herself says that she was criticized for wearing pants at a time when it was a scandal. She's a Viking who, if we pretend that the writers have done real research into the Norse and the Vikings, has learned to fight and has done things that, from a Eurocentric and patriarchal perspective, are not good for a woman. And it's quite likely that she did more things that went against the grain, so I don't know why we didn't get our "Interview with the Vampire" plot starring Rebekah Mikaelson.

Well, at least she got the happy ending she deserved