random thought while reading more Twilight...

[ratcreature]

So, I started reading the second part -- though I'm not that far along yet -- and I really don't get how this vampire reaction to blood is supposed to work. Apparently even a little blood, like from a paper cut, taxes their control, unless they have lots of practice like Carlisle. Okay, whatever.

But how does that work while they are in a school where half the students will bleed three to five days per month?? Granted, it's not a lot of blood, but more than from a paper cut, so they must smell that. And it's not like they growl a lot at random girls from what I gathered. Is this explained somewhere? Did I miss something? Does menstrual bloood smell icky? What? I don't get it.

Comments

[lizz612.livejournal.com]

Hi, so I'm random. I was thinking about this very topic (in response to this (http://ideas.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/14/women-vampires-and-gay-men/?scp=2&sq=vampires&st=cse)blathering bit of nonsense) and it seems to be an under-addressed issue. I know it is mentioned in passing in one of the Sookie Stackhouse books (a vampire smells it and looks hungry for a second), but that's all I've read. The internet says Rice doesn't talk about it, nothing about Buffy's monthly friend, nada. I'm so not surprised.

BTW, this is post shows up on the third page of a google of "vampire menstruation". You're just that famous.

[ratcreature]

I suspect it is just one of these genre conventions where everyone ignores something. Only I don't actually read or watch that much vampire fiction, so it is a really glaring omission to me, especially if like Twilight the narrative goes on and on about how any blood smell makes vampires crazy. It's not that I want pages of talk about bodily fluids, but an off-hand mention would have been nice.