Posted on Tuesday, 24-Nov-98

In the course of this strange little story of mine several questions have come up. I thought post a FAQ to assist those of you who are not familiar with vampire lore and the like. I really appreciate everyone's enthusiasm for the story and hope this FAQ will help make it easier to follow!

Lizzy, the Vampire Slayer is an attempt at a blend of the Pride and Prejudice and Buffy, the Vampire Slayer universes, so I'm loosely following the events of P&P2, just with some of the characters a bit on the wild side!

The time is 1811 (just like P&P). I'm using the same places and main characters as P&P. Some changes in setting/time of day have been necessitated by the inconvenience of half the people in the story being vampires (ergo, not so fond of sunshine).

The Things That Seem to Puzzle People the Most:

What is this 'demonic visage' thing you keep bringing up?

The vampires on Buffy (and in my story)... their faces change... get "Star Trekky" (excellent adjective, courtesy of Lu)… when they get angry or hungry (like when Darcy was kissing Darla at the Netherfield Ball... he heard her laugh, pulled away, discovered she was neither Lizzy nor the beautiful girl he'd seen at first... she had the face of a demon).

What is thrall?

From the Netherfield Ball Post Mortem Chapter: From another book, Elizabeth read of the hypnotic trance that some vampires could bring to their victims, taking thoughts from their minds and amplifying them. A powerful vampire could make a human see things that were not there, even feel things that were not real. With real feelings and emotions at the root, thrall was awesomely effective.

This means that a vampire with psychic powers can really mess with your brain. Note that in the first several chapters Wickham is always charming, hypnotic, mesmerizing, etc. and stares into Lizzy's eyes a lot. Sometimes when he looks away or forgets himself Lizzy's vampire sense kicks in a bit…

What is this thing about sensing the presence of vampires? Why doesn't it always work?

This is from the Buffy movie. It is not part of the Buffy TV show. For this story, I decided to use it to help Darcy know he'd found the Slayer. Doesn't work against vampires who are enthralling Lizzy because of the confusion the vampire has created. Only fairly strong or gifted vampires can do a thrall, so this little warning system can be handy to have (as most vampires are idiots and trigger it immediately).

How does one become a vampire?

To quote Buffy, the Vampire Slayer: "They suck your blood, then YOU SUCK THEIRS. It's a great big sucking thing."

In other words, until Lizzy drinks the blood of a vampire, she won't become one herself. Note also that in Georgiana's vision, The Master said that he and Lizzy would become joined on the 3rd night... that's when he means to make her a vampire- it's part of a spell.

What kills a vampire?

Stake through the heart. Beheading. Fire. Daylight.

Garlic, holy water, and crosses just annoy them/hurt.

Why the big deal about inviting vampires into a home?

Vampires can't come in unless they are invited. Once invited, they have carte blanche to enter from then on (unless you work a spell to reverse the invitation).

Who are these people?

Non-P&P characters are from or inspired by Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

• GILES: On Buffy, Giles is the name of Buffy's Watcher. He is of British descent and is the librarian at her high school (was formerly curator for The British Museum). He is one of the faculty at her high school now. They are, therefore, not an item.

  Giles in LtVS is an ancestor of Buffy's Giles. His Slayer was named Jennifer.

• ANGEL/ANGELUS: Buffy's love interest is Angel. Angel was made a vampire in 1753 by Darla. In 1898 gypsies cursed him with the return of his soul (he killed a favorite of the tribe and it was the best revenge they could dream up)... with one little clause... if he was ever truly happy again his soul would go away. For nearly 100 years he wandered around miserable and guilty 'cause he remembered all his horrible crimes.

  He was known as 'Angelus, the scourge of Europe' in his hayday (pre 1898). He and Buffy fell in love during Seasons 1&2. Midseason 2 they made love and he was truly happy. His soul went away and he turned awful again. He murdered Giles' girlfriend (a techno-pagan gypsy from the tribe that cursed him), and tormented everyone else (tried to kill Buffy's friends, tortured Giles, tried to suck the whole world into Hell via a demon named Acathla, etc.).

  Just as the door to Hell opened up so that Acathla could suck the world in, Angel got his soul back (a friend of Buffy's worked the gypsy curse with good intentions). Buffy knew, though, that his blood was the key to opening up or CLOSING the door to Hell, so she kissed him & told him she loved him, then ran him through so he was sucked into Hell and the portal closed. Angel was tormented in Hell for 100 years or so, but time passes differently in Hell (that's what Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy, decreed and I'm not gonna argue with him), so he's back. Angel is slated to have a series of his own beginning next fall.

  For those who haven't seen the show, he's quite a looker. Tall, dark, handsome, brooding.

  Additional note: Don't expect Angelus to be a nice guy in our story. It's 1811. He has no soul!

• THE MASTER: The Master is like King of the Vampires. He's nearly 1000 years old and very powerful and strong. As to hierarchy beneath him, he decides it. Darla and Angel are his favorites, therefore top bananas--- all others treated as drones beneath them. (I just wanted to have someone slap Wickham around... pure whim.)

  The Master always hangs back and lets his minions do all the work for him. Buffy season one he had to because he was caught in a temporal distortion and couldn't get out.

• DARLA: Made a vampire sometime in the 1500's. Darla was The Master's favorite for 400 years. Very pretty and sweet looking until she gets hungry or upset…

• SPIKE/William the Bloody: Spike is a creation of Angel's. He came along sometime in the late 1700's. He's a vicious killer with a sense of humor. He can be unusually friendly for a vampire--- even has fallen in love with another vampire (Drusilla) and stayed in love with her for about 100 years. He's called Spike because he likes to torture victims with railroad spikes. (The railroad came along in 1804 at the latest, so it's appropriate to use the name Spike in a story set in 1811.)

What's the deal with Mr. Collins?

Mr. Collins is a witch's apprentice. Beyond that, he's just as icky as JA wrote him in the first place... and then some!

What's the deal with Lady Catherine?

Lady Catherine is a witch. (It works!) She has a thing about birds.

When is the TV show on?

Buffy is on at 8 pm on Tuesday (EST) on the WB.

Again, I hope that this helps! Thanks for reading my story and for all of your encouragement.

G :)