Possibly. Are the policemen vampires, a human police squad looking for vampires, or vampires looking for vampire criminals? If the policemen are humans with a warrant to look for vampires, then they can enter. If the policemen ARE vampires, then you still have to INVITE them in, warrant or no warrant. It might be best to stall them at the door until the sun comes up.
@yakkoTDI I always thought that vampires and Ladies of Shalott were OK with mirror-reflected light, but I could be mistaken. I wouldn’t be much help there because I was out with the flu when Tennyson’s poems and vampire physics were taught at my school.
@yakkoTDI if you suck on the pit of a peach, or accidentally swallow an apple seed, or eat cherries… You’re consuming a little bit of cyanide. Cyanide is deadly to you but you don’t die because it’s just a little.
Maybe that’s similar to Vampires and moonlight. It’s like swallowing an apple seed: moonlight is a little toxic to them but not enough to kill them… they need full on daylight to kill them… And we would need to swallow the seeds of thirty apples.
It depends on what book the vampire is in. Charlaine Harris, definitely not. Ann Rice and Laurell K. Hamilton, not as far as I know. Charlie Stross, no problem at all.
Would the person know the cop was a vampire ahead of the visit or is this simply a series of unfortunate events for the poor soul that opens the door to the beast? If the person has prior knowledge of the cops bloodsucking tendencies, definitely not. “You” have to invite them in of your own accord/ permission. A search warrant is usually issued against an inhabitant of the home, which allows cops to enter the home against said inhabitant’s wishes. In the day and age of video doorbells, if one was smart, they would video screen all visitors and in this case, wouldn’t even bother answering the door.
@mehcuda67 I don’t know for certain, but I think the “no reflection in mirrors” idea was because old mirrors used a silver backing. (Silver is vampire Kryptonite. Or is Kryptonite Superman’s silver bullet?) Digital and video cameras (aside from DSLR) don’t use mirrors, so your surveillance equipment should be able to spot the guy who crawls down your roof and hangs upside down outside your window.
The bigger question is: If the vampire at your window can see your Echo device, then yells Alexa! Simon says: “You may come in.” will he get access to your house?
@mehcuda67@rockblossom I would say Alexa can’t invite a vampire in because it has no soul, it’s mere sound waves and not an actual invite.
Just like when a dog makes a sound that sounds like “sausages”, it’s not actually saying “sausages” just sound waves that sound like it.
I’m getting a little offtopic, but basically, if the sound of the words was all that was needed, the vampire could say themselves “please come in” and when the sound waves echoed back to their own ears (there’s always an echo even if we don’t hear it) off the wall of the house, that would count as an invite.
Or vampires could buy some Sony Walkmen, record.themselves saying “come in”, press play and throw the walkman through a window.
@mehcuda67@OnionSoup@rockblossom I’m not sure the rules of optics/acoustics/linguistics apply for situations involving magic and the supernatural.
Just sayin…
At that point, if there’s is a recognized night walker division, the courts can render the ownership rights temporarily null. Because the abode is now filled with “squatters”, the residents have no protection rendered by the church/landowners from vampires.
Courts: “Nothing but heretics there; you, other heretics, clean them out.”
Vampires: “Then will you accept our proposal to join the union?”
Courts: “Get out!”
Vampires: “But I need adult braces! I can’t afford that on a cop’s salary!”
@chienfou In case you don’t know the actual tradition…
Some traditions also hold that a vampire cannot enter a house unless invited by the owner; after the first invitation they can come and go as they please.
(Wikipedia)
If I remember correctly, this was the case with the original Dracula, but (apparently) didn’t begin there.
Vampires also can’t cross running water…sometimes. When it comes to vampires, the only universal bit is that they drink blood. Although in recent times even that isn’t guaranteed.
@xobzoo
So what if you are a renter?
Does the vampire have to negotiate the entrance with the property owner?
Do you get a say in it?
Is that a lease violation?
Do you have to use a silver bullet to meet the castle defense criteria??
Or is that for werewolves?
Soooo many questions…
I also don’t know who is authorized to invite them over the threshold. Could some human accomplice break in and invite them while you’re out, so the vampire can come back another night to eat you? Or does it have to be an actual “resident”? (Do children count? If they don’t outright invite everyone in, they could probably be bribed with candy…)
Could a landlord be complicit and invite vampires into the tenants’ dwellings? If a former renter invited the vampire in, does that carry over to the new renter? And how about former owners?
If there are actual answers to any of these, I’d bet they vary by region.
@chienfou@xobzoo In the movie Let the Right One In, didn’t the boy let the girl vampire into his house? I haven’t seen it, so I don’t know the series of events.
@chienfou The use of “they” as a gender-neutral pronoun has become pretty widely accepted. I think the Chicago Manual of Style has given it the OK, but I’m not at my computer to be able to log in and check. I know the government department my team does work for allows it in the training material we write (I’m a copy editor).
Salacia Delorisista Amanita Trigestrata Zeldana Malifee…von Humpeding (her full name being several pages long, better known as Sally) is a Vampire from Überwald, check out disworld series and see what she does?
It would be handy to take a vampire shopping for jewelry with you. If a silver ring on their finger doesn’t sizzle a little, you know it’s not real silver.
Similarly Zombies are allergic to Rolex. If a zombie doesn’t scream when you put a Rolex on them, you know it’s a fake.
… Doesn’t the warrant signify an invite from a human to enter the property? The judge, presumably is a human, and by offering the warrant is inviting the cop to enter that property.
So, yes. If the vampire has a search warrant he has been invited in and can enter the home.
@OnionSoup But who/what controls the validity of an invitation? Does it have to be the owner, an actual resident, or just any human?
I also just realized I had the impression that the person had to be in the house at the time of inviting the vampire in. But that could be just a bad assumption.
@OnionSoup@xobzoo Yeah, that whole thing of AI and vampires is something that worries me. If the next Alexa upgrade causes her to acquire consciousness and a will, can Alexa start inviting vampires into your home?
@macromeh@rockblossom Brains? To borrow from Back to the Future the Animated Series – politicians are jobs without a brain requirement.
(Specifically, the episode where Doc realizes his brain is shrinking and realizes he will no longer be a scientist; his wife consoles him that he could find work that doesn’t require a brain to which Doc immediately resents the notion of joining politics.)
Possibly. Are the policemen vampires, a human police squad looking for vampires, or vampires looking for vampire criminals? If the policemen are humans with a warrant to look for vampires, then they can enter. If the policemen ARE vampires, then you still have to INVITE them in, warrant or no warrant. It might be best to stall them at the door until the sun comes up.
I am still trying to figure out how vampyres go out at night since moonlight is just reflected sunlight.
@yakkoTDI It is reflected light. Vampires can’t see their own reflections in mirrors, so maybe mirrored/reflected light can’t see them either.
Or maybe it isn’t the visible light that does in vampires, but the UV and/or infrared, neither of which is (much) reflected in the moonlight.
@rockblossom But sunlight reflected off a mirror can kill them? Maybe it is just sunlight above a certain intensity?
Maybe we can get some government funding for research.
@yakkoTDI I always thought that vampires and Ladies of Shalott were OK with mirror-reflected light, but I could be mistaken. I wouldn’t be much help there because I was out with the flu when Tennyson’s poems and vampire physics were taught at my school.
@yakkoTDI if you suck on the pit of a peach, or accidentally swallow an apple seed, or eat cherries… You’re consuming a little bit of cyanide. Cyanide is deadly to you but you don’t die because it’s just a little.
Maybe that’s similar to Vampires and moonlight. It’s like swallowing an apple seed: moonlight is a little toxic to them but not enough to kill them… they need full on daylight to kill them… And we would need to swallow the seeds of thirty apples.
It depends on what book the vampire is in. Charlaine Harris, definitely not. Ann Rice and Laurell K. Hamilton, not as far as I know. Charlie Stross, no problem at all.
@werehatrack What about Stephen King?
@yakkoTDI Dunno. I never read any of his vampire stuff.
@werehatrack @yakkoTDI I suspect that Mr. King would not enter my house unless invited.
Would the person know the cop was a vampire ahead of the visit or is this simply a series of unfortunate events for the poor soul that opens the door to the beast? If the person has prior knowledge of the cops bloodsucking tendencies, definitely not. “You” have to invite them in of your own accord/ permission. A search warrant is usually issued against an inhabitant of the home, which allows cops to enter the home against said inhabitant’s wishes. In the day and age of video doorbells, if one was smart, they would video screen all visitors and in this case, wouldn’t even bother answering the door.
@dagirlgenius If vampires don’t show up in mirrors, would they show up in video cameras?
@mehcuda67 I don’t know for certain, but I think the “no reflection in mirrors” idea was because old mirrors used a silver backing. (Silver is vampire Kryptonite. Or is Kryptonite Superman’s silver bullet?) Digital and video cameras (aside from DSLR) don’t use mirrors, so your surveillance equipment should be able to spot the guy who crawls down your roof and hangs upside down outside your window.
The bigger question is: If the vampire at your window can see your Echo device, then yells Alexa! Simon says: “You may come in.” will he get access to your house?
@mehcuda67 @rockblossom I would say Alexa can’t invite a vampire in because it has no soul, it’s mere sound waves and not an actual invite.
Just like when a dog makes a sound that sounds like “sausages”, it’s not actually saying “sausages” just sound waves that sound like it.
I’m getting a little offtopic, but basically, if the sound of the words was all that was needed, the vampire could say themselves “please come in” and when the sound waves echoed back to their own ears (there’s always an echo even if we don’t hear it) off the wall of the house, that would count as an invite.
Or vampires could buy some Sony Walkmen, record.themselves saying “come in”, press play and throw the walkman through a window.
@mehcuda67 @OnionSoup @rockblossom I’m not sure the rules of optics/acoustics/linguistics apply for situations involving magic and the supernatural.
Just sayin…
@macromeh @mehcuda67 @rockblossom hence the reason you don’t see vampires with sony Walkmen walking around town.
@OnionSoup I don’t see them because I don’t walk around town in the dark and they aren’t out during the day.
Vampire vandalism?
@rockblossom to be honest, I’d rather they break my window than the skin on my neck.
Maybe they just want to take a bite out of crime.
@mehcuda67 And here I thought the criminals were the blood suckers.
@Kidsandliz @mehcuda67 That’s the lawyers.
@blaineg @mehcuda67
How about a mortgage holder or landlord vampire?
@blaineg Author’s choice.
/giphy sparkle
At that point, if there’s is a recognized night walker division, the courts can render the ownership rights temporarily null. Because the abode is now filled with “squatters”, the residents have no protection rendered by the church/landowners from vampires.
Courts: “Nothing but heretics there; you, other heretics, clean them out.”
Vampires: “Then will you accept our proposal to join the union?”
Courts: “Get out!”
Vampires: “But I need adult braces! I can’t afford that on a cop’s salary!”
Wait… I’m sorry… What are we talking about?? I couldn’t get past the mismatched plural usage…
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
@chienfou Call the Grammar Police! Or - only in daylight, because the GPs could be vampires. Or can they? Are vampires known for good grammar?
@chienfou In case you don’t know the actual tradition…
If I remember correctly, this was the case with the original Dracula, but (apparently) didn’t begin there.
Vampires also can’t cross running water…sometimes. When it comes to vampires, the only universal bit is that they drink blood. Although in recent times even that isn’t guaranteed.
@xobzoo
So what if you are a renter?
Does the vampire have to negotiate the entrance with the property owner?
Do you get a say in it?
Is that a lease violation?
Do you have to use a silver bullet to meet the castle defense criteria??
Or is that for werewolves?
Soooo many questions…
@chienfou I have many of the same questions.
I also don’t know who is authorized to invite them over the threshold. Could some human accomplice break in and invite them while you’re out, so the vampire can come back another night to eat you? Or does it have to be an actual “resident”? (Do children count? If they don’t outright invite everyone in, they could probably be bribed with candy…)
Could a landlord be complicit and invite vampires into the tenants’ dwellings? If a former renter invited the vampire in, does that carry over to the new renter? And how about former owners?
If there are actual answers to any of these, I’d bet they vary by region.
@chienfou @xobzoo Does this mean chaotic vampires who disregard laws don’t exist?
@chienfou @xobzoo In the movie Let the Right One In, didn’t the boy let the girl vampire into his house? I haven’t seen it, so I don’t know the series of events.
@chienfou The use of “they” as a gender-neutral pronoun has become pretty widely accepted. I think the Chicago Manual of Style has given it the OK, but I’m not at my computer to be able to log in and check. I know the government department my team does work for allows it in the training material we write (I’m a copy editor).
@lisagd I think the “a vampire policemen” part elicited the comment about grammar.
@lisagd @rockblossom
Exactly… a/men is a church term…
@rockblossom That reference was way too obtuse for me, then.
@chienfou @rockblossom ?? a/men? I’m really confused now.
@lisagd @rockblossom
just being a smartass… The OP was
A vampire policemEn (emphasis mine). Ergo the mismatched singular/plural…
Hopefully that helps.
@chienfou @rockblossom Aah. I was reading on my phone, so I didn’t see that. I thought chienfou was talking about singular “they.”
Salacia Delorisista Amanita Trigestrata Zeldana Malifee…von Humpeding (her full name being several pages long, better known as Sally) is a Vampire from Überwald, check out disworld series and see what she does?
It would be handy to take a vampire shopping for jewelry with you. If a silver ring on their finger doesn’t sizzle a little, you know it’s not real silver.
Similarly Zombies are allergic to Rolex. If a zombie doesn’t scream when you put a Rolex on them, you know it’s a fake.
@OnionSoup So, what are shapeshifters good for?
@werehatrack um… Determining the quality of shape wear?
I’ve thought about this more…
… Doesn’t the warrant signify an invite from a human to enter the property? The judge, presumably is a human, and by offering the warrant is inviting the cop to enter that property.
So, yes. If the vampire has a search warrant he has been invited in and can enter the home.
@OnionSoup But who/what controls the validity of an invitation? Does it have to be the owner, an actual resident, or just any human?
I also just realized I had the impression that the person had to be in the house at the time of inviting the vampire in. But that could be just a bad assumption.
@OnionSoup @xobzoo
To my knowledge, the Us Supreme Court membership includes no vampires.
This seems discriminatory and unjust.
OTOH, the US Senste has Mitch McConnell and Dianne Feinstein, so that body is more representative toward the undying
@f00l @OnionSoup @xobzoo Also, Fetterman provides representation for the zombie constituency.
@macromeh And he’s apparently already attacked some of his fellow Congresscritters and eaten their brains.
@xobzoo I asked ChatGPT and it said vampire lore varies but in general the human would have to be inside the house.
… But then it said that vampires are fictional, so now I don’t trust it.
@OnionSoup @xobzoo Yeah, that whole thing of AI and vampires is something that worries me. If the next Alexa upgrade causes her to acquire consciousness and a will, can Alexa start inviting vampires into your home?
@macromeh @rockblossom Brains? To borrow from Back to the Future the Animated Series – politicians are jobs without a brain requirement.
(Specifically, the episode where Doc realizes his brain is shrinking and realizes he will no longer be a scientist; his wife consoles him that he could find work that doesn’t require a brain to which Doc immediately resents the notion of joining politics.)