THE SECRET VAMFEM FILES: THE AFTERSHOCK

The women wrote back. The husbands complained. The vampires laughed. And VamFem.com had its biggest week ever. Perspective expected outrage. We received it. What we did not expect was enthusiasm. Within hours of publishing Part One of THE SECRET VAMFEM FILES , our inbox began filling with messages from VamFem.com applicants, former applicants, current girlfriends, permanent girlfriends, husbands, ex-husbands, boyfriends, ex-boyfriends, vampire-rights organizations, human relationship organizations and several vampires who apparently believed the appropriate response to an unauthorized leak was to send us more material. By the time Part Two appeared, our investigations inbox had become almost unusable. Some readers wanted The Back Room shut down. Some wanted VamFem.com investigated. Some wanted their applicant numbers removed from screenshots. Some wanted to know why their applicant numbers had not appeared in screenshots. And a surprising number had only one question: What are they saying about me? “I SHOULD BE ANGRY. I’M NOT.” One applicant wrote: To the Editor: I have been on VamFem.com for eleven months. I have been chosen twice. Until your investigation, I assumed both vampires found my profile independently. Now I know there is at least a possibility one of them recommended me. I should be angry. I am not. I want to know what she said. Actually, that is not completely true. I desperately want to know what she said. — Applicant, 34, Denver Another: To Perspective: I found the term “three-hour girl” offensive. Then I thought about it. Three hours sounds respectable. Some of us have jobs. — Applicant, 29, Seattle Another: I had twenty-seven photographs on my profile. After reading Part One, I deleted nineteen. Then I uploaded six new ones. Then I deleted four of those. Then I changed my bio. Then I changed it back. I am not handling this investigation well. — Applicant, Atlanta “I KNOW WHAT MY ASSETS ARE” Some letters required considerably more editing. One applicant wrote: To whoever is reading this at Perspective: I know exactly what I bring to VamFem. I have been chosen [REDACTED] times. Yes, they like my [BLEEP] . Yes, they like my [BLEEP] . And according to one vampire, I have “dangerously good [BLEEP] .” That was her phrase, not mine. I am not a fang chaser. I am a vampire enthusiast. There is a difference. I am a very good girl for vampires and they know it. So if anybody in The Back Room is reading this: I am available next weekend and I can hardly wait to [BLEEP] [BLEEP] [BLEEP] the next one. Pick me again. You know the number. — VF-8—392 Perspective removed four additional sentences from this letter. We will not be restoring them. “THE ARTICLE MADE ME APPLY” Another reader: I had been thinking about VamFem.com for almost two years. I never applied because I thought vampires would look at me and move on. Then I read your article. Now I know they might laugh at my shoes, discuss my legs, complain about my photographs, argue over whether I talk too much and possibly tell another vampire I am worth choosing. For some reason that made the whole thing less frightening. I applied Thursday. My phone chimed Saturday. So thank you, I suppose. — New applicant, 31 Another: You expected women to be scared by discovering vampires gossip? Have you met women? — Applicant, 38 SABRINA VALE RESPONDS Sabrina Vale did not sound surprised when Perspective contacted her. She sounded amused. Then emotional. Vale, one of the best-known permanent girlfriends in vampire culture, told us she had known for years that vampires discussed applicants privately. Not because she had ever seen The Back Room herself. She had not. And according to Vale, her vampire girlfriend has not been an active participant there for a very long time. “Why would she be?” Vale said. “She has me.” Then she laughed. But when we asked whether The Back Room had played any part in her own selection, the laughter disappeared. “Yes,” she said. Her vampire had told her early in their relationship that she had heard about Sabrina before selecting her. Not through advertising. Not through VamFem.com staff. Through other vampires. A conversation. A recommendation. Someone had apparently said Sabrina was sharper than her profile suggested. Another had said she asked too many questions. Someone else had said that was exactly why she was interesting. Vale became quiet while telling us this. Then her eyes filled. “I owe somebody a thank-you,” she said. We asked whom. “I don’t know.” She laughed again, but this time she wiped at one eye. “That’s the ridiculous part. I may never know which woman said, ‘Choose her.’” Vale said she had always known her relationship began with a recommendation somewhere inside vampire circles. What she had never seen was the larger culture around it. The slang. The jokes. The cruelty. The protective threads. The way applicants became known by number before becoming known by name. “That part is uncomfortable,” she said. Then she paused. “But I also know this: somewhere, one vampire talked to another vampire about me, and because of that conversation the woman I love looked at my profile differently.” Another pause. “How am I supposed to be angry about that?” Vale was not entirely forgiving. She strongly criticized the posting of photographs taken without a woman’s knowledge. She described some of the body commentary as “juvenile.” And when shown the term profile princess , she laughed for almost thirty seconds. “I absolutely would have been one,” she said. Then she added: “Actually, I probably was.” THE HUSBANDS ARE NOT AMUSED Perspective also received a statement from an organization calling itself the Coalition for Human Relationship Integrity , which says it represents spouses and former spouses who believe vampire dating has damaged human relationships. Its statement accused VamFem.com of: “Normalizing infidelity, glamorizing secrecy and encouraging emotionally vulnerable women to abandon established relationships in pursuit of fantasy.” The organization also objected to Perspective’s coverage. Its letter reads in part: Women are being removed from their homes in luxury vehicles, taken to expensive hotels and private residences, exposed to predatory romantic environments and returned physically exhausted and psychologically altered. Perspective asked the Coalition what it meant by psychologically altered . We received no clarification. The statement continued: Vampires possess wealth, social influence, unusual physical advantages and centuries of interpersonal experience. Ordinary men cannot reasonably compete with this. That sentence generated a considerable response online. One woman wrote: Then don’t compete. Improve. Another: Centuries of interpersonal experience sounds attractive, actually. The Coalition later disabled comments on its public statement. ONE EX-HUSBAND WROTE US DIRECTLY His letter: My former wife had never worn a dress above the knee during our marriage. Since joining VamFem.com she owns seven short dresses, five pairs of expensive heels and something she calls a “feeding-night look,” although she is not even the vampire. She says she is “finding herself.” I would like to know what exactly she was missing. We forwarded the letter to the former wife after obtaining permission. Her response consisted of three words. Quite a lot. VAMPIRE DATING MAGAZINE RESPONDS Vampire Dating Magazine waited two days before responding publicly. Its headline: WE TOLD YOU THEY TALK The editorial began: Humans have spent centuries imagining what vampires say behind closed doors. You finally got an answer. Apparently we discuss shoes. Bad dates. Sex. Terrible profile photographs. Ex-husbands. And whether somebody can stay awake past two in the morning. Congratulations on solving the mystery. VDM then became considerably more serious. The magazine condemned unauthorized photographs. It called the sleeping-woman screenshots “indefensible.” It also criticized vampires who encouraged applicants to believe sexual availability could improve their chances of becoming permanent girlfriends. One line was particularly direct: If you told a human woman she had to make herself “useful enough” to be kept, The Back Room is not your biggest problem. You are. VDM also defended the recommendation culture itself. Its editorial argued that vampires have always spoken to one another privately and that the existence of those conversations should surprise nobody. What matters, the magazine wrote, is: whether the woman becomes gossip, or whether the conversation helps another vampire understand her better. THEN A VAMPIRE SENT US ANOTHER PACKAGE The email arrived at 3:04 a.m. Subject line: YOU PEOPLE ARE STILL MISSING THE FUNNY PART No name. No explanation. Attached were fourteen screenshots from what appeared to be The Back Room. The sender included one sentence: You published two investigations and somehow made humans more interested. We thought you should see the damage. The first screenshot was titled: PERSPECTIVE HAS LOST CONTROL OF THE SITUATION Velours: Applications up again. MaraNocturne: How much? Velours: I am not posting internal numbers. OldBlood: Since when do you respect privacy? Velours: Since Perspective learned copy and paste. Another: NewMoon: Someone updated her bio to “I hate champagne and I will not bring a suitcase.”** Velours: Keeper. OldBlood: Stop saying keeper after reading one sentence. Velours: Fine. Excellent applicant energy. Another: ScarletRoom: Seeing a lot more casual photos. Mireille: Good. ScarletRoom: Also seeing women explicitly write “not looking for permanent.” OldBlood: Better. Velours: One wrote “probably not permanent unless you are extremely convincing.” MaraNocturne: Humans adapt quickly. THEY ARE WRITING TO US WITHOUT WRITING TO US The women cannot message vampires directly. They cannot browse vampire profiles. They cannot contact other applicants. What they can do is edit their own VamFem.com profile. And after the leak, they did. What many apparently forgot is that vampires can see the entire revision history. Every photograph. Every deleted photograph. Every sentence added. Every sentence removed. Every version. One leaked thread: NewMoon: VF-7—118 changed her bio to: “If one of you is going to review me later, spell my number correctly.” Velours: Magnificent. Mireille: How many drafts? NewMoon: Seven. Velours: Of course. OldBlood: What did draft one say? NewMoon: “If you’re going to gossip about me, at least get the facts right.” Velours: Better. NewMoon: Draft three was “I know you talk.” MaraNocturne: Oh, she is having a week. Another: ScarletRoom: VF-8—204 added: “Yes, the photos are current. Yes, these are my real legs. No, I am not bringing a suitcase.”** Velours: Revision history? ScarletRoom: First version said, “No suitcase unless you ask nicely.” Mireille: 😂 OldBlood: That woman understands the assignment. Another: NewMoon: VF-6—771 deleted three glamour shots and uploaded jeans, T-shirt, no makeup. Velours: Why? NewMoon: New bio says: “Apparently you people want to know what we look like on Tuesday afternoon.” OldBlood: I hate Perspective. Velours: You created Tuesday afternoon. And one more: MaraNocturne: VF-5—918 changed “Looking for something unforgettable” to “Not looking for permanent. Probably.”** Velours: Probably? MaraNocturne: She deleted “definitely not permanent” first. OldBlood: And before that? MaraNocturne: “I would never become a perma-girl.” Velours: So she is absolutely thinking about becoming a perma-girl. MaraNocturne: Obviously. THE FORUM IS APPARENTLY LAUGHING One screenshot came with no title. Velours: Humans were supposed to be horrified. MaraNocturne: They are. Velours: Applications are still climbing. OldBlood: Those two things are not mutually exclusive. Another: NewMoon: Three applicants this week referenced “Tuesday afternoon.” OldBlood: I regret everything. Velours: You created a slogan. OldBlood: I made one comment. MaraNocturne: Congratulations. You are merchandise now. Then: Velours: Somebody make the shirt. VAMFEM.COM RESPONDS WITH NUMBERS VamFem.com initially declined to release traffic statistics. Then, four days after Part Two, founder Adrienne agreed to provide a limited set of figures. They were extraordinary. In the seven days before Part One: New applications: 18,412 Profile edits: 71,906 New photographs uploaded: 84,117 In the seven days after Part One: New applications: 52,941 Profile edits: 281,604 New photographs uploaded: 496,220 That represents an increase in new applications of roughly: 187 percent. After Part Two, the numbers climbed again. In the following seven days: New applications: 68,307 Profile edits: 346,118 New photographs uploaded: 577,804 VamFem.com also reported several unusual behavioral changes. Applicants deleting references to becoming permanent girlfriends increased sharply. Use of the words independent , career , friends , my own life and not looking for permanent rose across profile descriptions. Casual photographs increased. Overly staged professional photographs declined slightly. References to sunrise girl appeared in more than four thousand profiles before VamFem.com quietly asked applicants to stop using forum slang they did not fully understand. “I WILL NOT BRING A SUITCASE” That phrase became particularly common. Within three days, VamFem.com recorded more than twelve thousand profile descriptions containing some variation of: I will not bring a suitcase. One applicant wrote: No suitcase. No vampire trivia. No fake fangs. I will eat dinner. Another: I own one pair of heels and hate them. Choose accordingly. Another: I am not a sunrise girl. I am asleep by one. Manage expectations. And: Current photos. Current body. Current nose. No filters. Apparently everyone had read the leak. THE MOST SURPRISING NUMBER One statistic stood out. References to permanent girlfriend , perma-girl , keeper and similar language in applicant profiles fell by more than half. Perspective asked Adrienne whether she considered that significant. “Yes.” Good or bad? “Good.” Why? Adrienne answered: “Women should apply because they want an experience with a vampire. Not because they are auditioning for ownership.” We asked whether she believed Parts One and Two had improved applicant behavior. She paused. Then: “I would not use the word improved.” What word would she use? “More informed.” DID THE EXPOSÉ HURT VAMFEM.COM ? We asked directly. Adrienne looked almost amused. PERSPECTIVE: Were you concerned applications would collapse? ADRIENNE: No. PERSPECTIVE: Why not? ADRIENNE: Because you told women vampires talk about them. PERSPECTIVE: That sounds invasive. ADRIENNE: It is invasive. PERSPECTIVE: Yet applications increased. ADRIENNE: Yes. PERSPECTIVE: Why? She waited. Then: ADRIENNE: You expected women to discover that vampires notice them in extraordinary detail and lose interest? There was no obvious response to that. THE BACK ROOM HAD A RESPONSE TO THE NUMBERS Another leaked screenshot: Velours: 187%. MaraNocturne: Stop. Velours: ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY-SEVEN PERCENT. OldBlood: We can read. Velours: Perspective exposed us and accidentally ran the best recruitment campaign in VamFem history. NewMoon: Are we thanking them? OldBlood: Absolutely not. Velours: I am. Another vampire: ScarletRoom: My city is flooded with new profiles. Mireille: “Flooded” is dramatic. ScarletRoom: Thirty-two new applicants matching my filters since yesterday. Velours: Poor thing. Then: OldBlood: Everyone remember that curiosity is not consent to behave like idiots. Velours: There she is.** SOME WOMEN ARE ANGRY The enthusiasm should not obscure that. Perspective received letters from women who felt betrayed. One wrote: I did not apply to become somebody’s recommendation. I applied to meet one vampire. If she talks about me afterward, I should know. Another: I recognized myself in one of the descriptions. No number. No photograph. Still me. I laughed at first. Then I cried. Then I wondered what else was said that you did not receive. That is the problem. And another: I do not care that vampires gossip. I care that I did not know I had become gossip. That distinction matters. OTHER WOMEN DISAGREE One applicant wrote: My girlfriends know everything about every man I have ever dated. Everything. Do I truly believe vampires somehow do not do the same thing? No. What bothers me is the photographs. Stop that. The rest? Please. Another: If a vampire tells another vampire I have great legs, I will somehow survive. If she tells another vampire I am funny, please send me the screenshot. THE HUSBANDS’ ORGANIZATION DECLARES VICTORY Despite VamFem.com ’s record growth, the Coalition for Human Relationship Integrity issued another statement. It claimed the investigation had: “finally exposed the predatory structure underlying vampire-human dating.” The group described the increase in applications as evidence that women were being manipulated by media attention. A spokesperson told Perspective: “Publicity does not equal legitimacy.” When asked whether the Coalition had gained members since the investigation, he confirmed that membership had nearly doubled. Perspective asked whether that meant the investigation had also been good for his organization. He ended the interview. VDM SELLS OUT Vampire Dating Magazine also benefited. The issue published immediately after the leak sold out its first print run. Its most-read online articles that week were: PERMANENT IS TUESDAY AFTERNOON SO YOU THINK YOU’RE A SUNRISE GIRL PLEASE DO NOT BRING A SUITCASE and: FANG CHASER: FUNNY UNTIL IT ISN’T VDM’s editor declined to provide exact traffic figures. She did provide one comment. “Perspective has done wonders for us.” SABRINA WRITES AGAIN Two days after our interview, Sabrina Vale sent Perspective a short follow-up message. She had spoken to her vampire. She had asked again about the recommendation that led to her selection. This time she learned a little more. Her vampire remembered the exchange. One vampire had said: She asks too many questions. Another had replied: Then choose her. You hate boring women. That was apparently enough. Sabrina’s message read: I cried when she told me. Not because it was romantic. It wasn’t. It was two vampires gossiping. But one woman who did not know me looked at my profile and said something that made another woman curious enough to choose me. That stupid little conversation changed my entire life. So whoever she was: Thank you. And if you are still in The Back Room somewhere— I still ask too many questions. THE LAST SCREENSHOT The vampire who sent Perspective the second leak included one final image. The thread title: ARE HUMANS EVER GOING TO STOP READING THIS? Velours: No. MaraNocturne: Definitely not. NewMoon: Should we stop posting? OldBlood: Are you going to? NewMoon: No. Velours: There you go. Then: ScarletRoom: Perspective will probably publish this too. Velours: Good. Mireille: Why good? A pause. Then: Velours: Because somewhere right now a woman is reading this wondering whether we're talking about her. Another pause. Velours: And tomorrow she'll update her profile.** The final reply: OldBlood: Humans are exhausting.** Then: Velours: You love them.** No answer followed. Perspective set out to expose a hidden vampire forum. Instead, women rewrote their profiles. Vampires rewrote some of their rules. Husbands organized. Ex-husbands complained. Vampire Dating Magazine sold out. Sabrina Vale cried over a conversation between two vampires that happened years ago. And VamFem.com recorded the largest influx of new applicants in its history. At 11:59 Sunday night, the site posted one sentence beneath its logo. Women Apply. Vampires Choose. Then another. Applications remain open.