• 🇰 🌀 🇱 🇦 🇳 🇦 🇰 🇮 @pawb.social
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    18 hours ago

    Do vampires cast a shadow? Because if they cast a shadow, would they actually be able to see through themselves in a mirror, or would they just see a big void in the shape of their body as the light from behind them hits their body but not the mirror? 🤔

    • stebo@sopuli.xyz
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      12 hours ago

      Idk about vampire lore but if they are invisible in mirror it means light passes through them undisturbed and therefore they shouldn’t cast a shadow. But with the same logic they would be invisible altogether so it being exclusive to mirrors is a wild thing…

      • Simulation6@sopuli.xyz
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        9 hours ago

        I always thought the lore was that they could not see themselves in a mirror and that was misinterpreted as they did not have a reflection. First one could just be a mental block or they just don’t recognize their reflections as themselves.

    • Capt. Wolf@lemmy.world
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      15 hours ago

      Ummm… Because shadows aren’t a solid mass. They’re just where light isn’t. So even in a case where a vampire casts a shadow, it wouldn’t matter, mirrors still work in the dark.

      • stebo@sopuli.xyz
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        12 hours ago

        mirrors still work in the dark.

        I mean, do they? Mirrors reflect light. If there’s no light then there’s nothing for the mirror to do.

        This is like saying a water wheel works without water. No it doesn’t, it just sits there.

      • Mirrors work by reflecting light. If the light isn’t passing through the vampire from behind to hit the mirror, it cannot reflect it. If a vampire casts a shadow, this implies that light does not pass through them. For them to not reflect in a mirror, but still be able to see what is behind them, light would need to pass through their body, which would mean they also would not cast a shadow.

        • Capt. Wolf@lemmy.world
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          14 hours ago

          Right, I get what you’re saying. So I guess you’d have to fall back on the lore… There’s some that says they don’t cast shadows, some that do, and if you consider Bram Stoker’s Dracula, he’s able to control his shadow. Then I guess also the lore for why they don’t have reflections comes into play? Either because the mirror is coated in silver, which destroys their reflection, or because the mirror reflects the soul, and vampires don’t have souls.

          I dunno, I guess it all depends which mythos you want to follow and just how much you’re willing to ignore basic physics.

        • Snazz@lemmy.world
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          11 hours ago

          We could say that vampires don’t have a material body and they just alter the wavelength of light that passes through them to project a living form towards the eyes of living observers. That way they could be visible without having a reflection.

          Then they could give themselves a shadow by shifting the visible light from bright light sources into infrared or ultraviolet instead of blocking it as material objects do.