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We've all heard, and explained to death the realities of psychic and sanguinarian vampires. But how often do the other main type of vampire, hybrids, get mentioned? I know, I know, when you hear the term "hybrid" you often think a crossbreed... or a car. But that's not the case, well, not exactly. While we are not cars, or "half breeds", we are in fact a combination of both sang and psi vampires! But why? How? How did we find out?
Now, does this mean that we can simply choose which one to feed off? No. While there are psi vampires out there who choose to draw energy from blood (perpetuating the myth that that's what sangs take) those people will still get by just fine on energy. In other cases where sangs have learned to psi feed in order to try to quell their blood cravings, they are simply using energy as a sub. Blood feeding will make the symptoms go away entirely in a sang. So what do hybrids need then? Simple, we need both! A true hybrid cannot get by on just one or the other, they will NEED to consume both in order to maintain their health, though they may lean more so towards one side or the other.
Hybrids often have "two" awakenings. This means they will often come into the other need shortly after their first awakening. The common trend seems to be for the psi part of them to awaken first, and then the sang within three years. This does not mean however that it cannot be the other way around. There are a few hybrids who developed their blood need first. This also doesn't mean that if the other need does not develop within three years that the person is not a hybrid. There are cases in which the other hunger may take years to develop. The generalizations presented are simply the average. This can be confusing for many vampires, who have just gotten settled into their new life, only to be presented with a whole new set of issues.
There are many possible reasons as to why hybrids have a dual need, and I will discuss them. Many of these are opinions based on anecdotal evidence. I will list them in descending order to the amount of credence I personally give them. You may share different ideas than I do.
Reason 1: Genetics
This is my personal favourite. Many vampires can trace at least one other vampire in their family line. Now, this would obviously mean that said gene is recessive, and may be activated by changing hormones. Now, in the case of hybrids, many of them seem to be able to find at least one psi, and at least one sang. Now, assuming that the conditions are caused by two different genes, this would mean that said individual, for whatever reason, possesses both, and both are active within the individual. Now, suppose the sang vampirism, and psi vampirism are caused by the same gene acting in different ways. What does this mean for hybrids? Well, it would seem at that point that vampires would run on a continuum, with the gene acting differently depending on the individual. For some reason or another, the hormones that caused the gene to activate did not do so in a way that caused one condition or the other, but instead caused both. I personally run on the assumption that we share a combination of both genes.
Reason 2: Otherkin
This was a reason presented to me by a good friend named ShadowMatt. His theory is that we have sanguinarianism, but need to drain energy due to being otherkin as well. This theory came about due to the fact that my kintype is a leanan sidhe, and there seems to be a large percentage of hybrids who are fae. This theory is still being studied however, by both ShadowMatt and myself.
Reason 3: Sanguinarians in limbo
Going by a theory presented by some sangs that we all suck energy before we awaken. Going by this, it could be said that hybrids never fully awakened.
Reason 4: Astral symbiont
This reason assumes that we are physically sanguinarians. Those who subscribe to this theory state that we have symbionts in our energy system causing us to need extra energy. This goes in tandem with the theory of subtle body damage. A variation on this is that the symbiont causes us to need whatever is in blood, and that we are by nature energy vampires.
Reason 5: Choice
There are some out there of a mind that we simply chose to take both. The main proponents of this are what I call adaptive vampires. They are psi's that choose to feed on blood, or sangs that suck energy as a sub. They are not true hybrids in my opinion.
But what's the difference? A true hybrid will ALWAYS need both. They cannot simply subsist on one or the other without experiencing detrimental effects on their overall health and well being. An adaptive however, WILL ALWAYS be able to get by on one or the other, depending on what they actually awakened as.
That being said however, there is a trend among hybrids that only serves to add to the confusion. What is this trend? Well, it appears that when we have gone without either blood or energy for a long period of time. Why does this happen, and how does it make us different from an adaptive? Simple. A hybrid will still need both. Even if say, their energy need increased during blood famine, they will still need the blood. That will never change. Why though? My opinion is that it is in an attempt to compensate. Our body knows that something is unavailable, and therefore will increase the other need in a last ditch attempt to keep us functioning. It's almost as it it puts the need on a back burner until the substance becomes available again. At that point, we seem to go back to normal in terms of the severity of our needs.
So what?
What I am trying to say here is that even though we do not know why, there are vampires who need both. Hybrids are a very valid type, and a growing demographic in our community. It is my hope that more research is done, and that more hybrids can come together in order to fully realize what our unique condition and view on what it is to be a vampire entails. We deserve just as much credence in the vampire community as sanguinarians, and psychic vampires.
Hopefully this has cleared up what a hybrid is to some. It is my hope that hybrids who do read this will become inspired to write their own thoughts on the subject.
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