The Bite Diaries

We’re opening the diary a day later than usual, but for good reason BECAUSE…

This week, we're turning the tables (and the microphone) to our resident vampire enthusiast. 

Producer Brandi steps out of the shadows as co-ghost to find out who Arin really is beyond the fangs, fictional men, and psychological deep dives.

We're talking questionable first dates, religious upbringing, boundaries, healing, creative obsessions, and why Damon Salvatore will NEVER get a free pass just because he's hot.

Plus, a little vampire-themed rapid fire, some questionable immortality plans, and a surprisingly heartfelt conversation about what it means to be human.

Because behind every vampire obsession is a very human story.

Thank you for listening to The Bite Diaries, where we speak about vampires, because being human bites.

Don’t forget to follow Arin on IG @beinghumanbites

Note: This episode contains spoilers for The Vampire Diaries, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and other vampire favorites.

This week, Arin opens the diary on a personal yet common phenomenon:

Maladaptive Daydreaming and the desire to be invisible.

She explores why we’re so drawn to the worlds we escape into and the difference between fantasies as a refuge versus an extinction of self. 

Arin starts off with her own story, one of vivid nightmares and becoming the heroine in her own imagination…

Arin continues, using The Vampire Diaries and Buffy the Vampire Slayer as mirrors, sinking her teeth into the complicated path from escaping reality to finding the courage to face it.

Because sometimes the fantasy world isn't where we lose ourselves. Sometimes it's where we first learn how to survive.

Note: This episode discusses trauma, abuse, and mental health themes. It also contains spoilers for The Vampire Diaries and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, including major plot points.

Mentioned Readings & Sources:

• Dr. Glenn Patrick Doyle @DrDoyleSays on IG
• Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows by John Koenig

And don’t forget to follow Arin on IG @BeingHumanBites

This week, Arin opens the diary on one of Buffy’s messiest questions: 

When does loving someone turn into enabling them? 

But also...

What do our toxic relationships reveal about our past lives? 

What happens when we outgrow those dynamics? 

Or, plot twist: what happens when we don’t recognize the cycle at all?

Using Selfless as a mirror for toxic family systems, Arin sinks her teeth into Xander the enabler, Buffy the truth teller, Willow the fixer, and why sometimes breaking the cycle means being willing to stand alone.

Because sometimes the hardest demon to slay is the one everyone else keeps making excuses for.

Note: This episode contains spoilers for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, including major plot points through Season 7.

This week, Arin opens the diary on Buffy’s return from the dead and what happens when surviving changes you in ways the people closest to you can’t understand. 

Through Buffy’s near-death experience, her growing isolation, and the unexpected person who makes her feel safest, Arin explores the psychological weight of coming back to a life that no longer feels like your own. 

Along the way, Arin connects Buffy’s experience to real-life accounts of near-death experiences (NDEs) and the profound ways they can change how people see themselves, their relationships, and the lives they return to. And maybe the hardest part of surviving isn’t coming back at all. 

Maybe it’s figuring out who you are once you do.

Note: This episode contains spoilers for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, particularly Season 6, Episodes 3 and 4, and includes discussions of PTSD, depression, and self-harm. Listener discretion is advised.

Support Resource: If you or someone you know is struggling following a near-death experience, the International Association for Near-Death Studies (IANDS) offers information, community resources, and support groups for near-death experiencers and those close to them.

This week, Arin opens the diary to Klaus and Camille versus Klaus and Caroline, comparing toxic cliches to a story of resilience and respect. 

This episode doesn’t just focus on your favorite characters, it’s a defense of why empathetic love is more enduring than romanticized struggle love. Arin opens a page in her own diary, and shares her experience of a past relationship devoid of empathy and the consequences of that imbalance.  

Although power dynamics play a critical role in these fictional dynamics, what does our attraction to them say about our desires and needs within our own? Is what we crave in others what we lack in ourselves?

Note: This episode contains major spoilers for The Vampire Diaries and The Originals, including character deaths, transformations, and major relationship storylines.

A Discovery of Witches gives us forbidden romance, time travel, centuries-old vampires, powerful witches, and enough historical drama for a mortal lifetime. But beneath all that, the series also asks a much bigger question: 

Who are the real monsters?

This week, Arin opens the diary on A Discovery of Witches: from Matthew and Diana’s romance and Marcus challenging centuries of vampire hierarchy, to the characters (and storylines) that deserved sooo. Much. More.

Because while the series isn't afraid to acknowledge racism, discrimination, and humanity’s capacity for cruelty, acknowledging injustice isn’t the same as actually discussing it.

We’re talking Agatha, Chris, Timothy, wasted potential, disappointing villains, questionable vampire relationship choices, and why representation in fantasy matters…especially in stories where literally anything is possible.

Plus, Arin shares several fantasy and supernatural books by Black authors to add to your reading list.

Because everyone deserves to see themselves slaying the monster.

BOOKS & RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Blood Moon by Brittany N. Lewis
• Craving Carla by Tessa Stone
• My Soul to Keep by Tananarive Due
• The City’s Ruin by M.J. Castleton
• “Why Is Society Intent on Erasing Black People in Fantasy and Sci-Fi’s Imaginary Worlds?” by Ashley Nkadi
• Also referenced: Science fiction author Walter Jon Williams.

Note: This episode contains major spoilers for all three seasons of A Discovery of Witches. Consider this your warning before we sink our teeth in.

The diary is officially open!

Why are we so attracted to things we know are bad for us?

In the first-ever episode of The Bite Diaries, Arin opens the diary with Bram Stoker's Dracula and Nosferatu , two vampire stories with very different ideas about desire, danger, power, shame, and the women caught in their orbit.

But the conversation doesn't stay fictional for long.

Arin gets personal about growing up in a religious cult, being fascinated by everything she wasn't supposed to touch, and why danger and unpredictability can sometimes feel strangely familiar. 

From Ellen's relationship with Count Orlok to Ouija boards in Sabbath school, Episode 1 asks what our favorite monsters might reveal about the parts of ourselves we'd rather keep in the dark.

Note: Spoilers for Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) and Nosferatu (2024).