Ohana means Vamps

Due to the blow on our Wednesday expedition, Stella and I went out again last night in hopes for better results which we did. We met a 28 year-old self proclaimed Vampire outside of a club on First Ave. He came up to us, curious of our nature, and we decided that he was a good candidate for our studies.

We used the empathetic approach by leading him to believe we were beginner Goths and we needed someone to help lead the way.

We also shadowed him for most of the night, to witness his interactions between his fellow vampire "family"

Lastly, we also behavior mapped the rest of the vampire crew as much as we could without looking odd.

Casper, the vampire, was drowning us in his infinite rhetoric on his perspective on life, sex, and vampirism. Casper informs us about the different hierarchy in goth culture. Back in his day, there wasn't really any, but as time went on, many sub-cultures were developed (like cyber goths which he despises) and now, like the 70s, Goth is dead but the fashion lives on. He encourages us to be who we want to be, stay focused in what you want and not to let anything such as people or sex to bring you down. He speaks to us like he is an elder. Someone of higher knowledge and experience. This behavior is the reason why many of his friends say he is or wants to be "the father."

This leads us to vampirism, which is not what it seems. It is not about literally being a vampire as in drinking blood, but more about a second family. Every friend he has has been an outcast in their own family. Not being accepted in their own household, they found each other and created their own family, their own sanctuary that they can feel safe and loved. He said " We are all different, but it is the difference that has made us all the same." It is to note that there are many different vampires, but in Casper's world, Vampires just means his family.

Most of the goths/vampires were outside the club, which is where we were. The club was oddly playing hip hop music at the time, which maybe why they were standing outside. However, it seems clear later that despite the wrong music, they were really outside waiting for everyone to arrive. People walked back and forth around the block greeting each other with great passion. Casper has been in the scene the longest, so everyone knows him and seem to love him. Guys will give him special handshakes, yell out each others name, and sometimes hug. Girls kiss him and give him "bear hugs" and are ever so excited to see him. They all dressed the part (corsets, spikes, tights, mini skirts, mainly all black) and their conversations consisted of normal things (from what we heard) like family, work, and sex. No one, besides Casper, gave us any eye contact. It was almost like we were invisible because we were not part of the family. Even when Casper grabbed a hold of his favorite sister, Menadina, to have her tell about "the scene" Menadina would constantly look away, even while talking to us; making sure our eyes would never meet. It was clear that there was love amongst each other, but when it came to us newbies there was a clear protective stance.

It is good to note that everyone in the scene was older, married, and some with kids.