Ireth
Myth Weaver
This is something that's been nagging at my mind lately, ever since I heard a comment on Twilight describing it as "a woman's choice between necrophilia and bestiality." Where do people stand on this, specifically with regards to romantic or sexual relations between shapeshifters of any sort and non-shapeshifters in fantasy?
I personally don't see a problem with it, depending on how human or how animal the shapeshifters are portrayed. It's fantasy, and you have to suspend your disbelief to some extent. Three of the couples I most enjoy roleplaying with a friend of mine are human/lycanthrope pairs -- two are married couples, and one is a celibate romantic relationship that hasn't yet progressed to marriage due to the ages of the characters. And although the lycanthropes tend to act a bit more animalistic in the week preceding the full moon, it's not like they ever have sex while the lycanthrope half of the couple is in animal form. They'd be smart enough to do it only in the other three weeks, especially when the moon is waning. Both of the married couples specifically planned their nuptials to be on the day of the new moon so they wouldn't have to deal with that problem on their respective wedding nights, and they make sure to sleep in separate (locked) rooms when the full moon transformation happens, for safety's sake.
Harking back to the comment about Twilight, I'd have to say that if I actually liked the series enough to choose a "team", I'd be on Team Jacob in regards to the Bella romance. Unfortunately, the fourth book totally ruined it for me with the whole Renesmee thing, which is another issue in itself that I won't be tackling here.
I personally don't see a problem with it, depending on how human or how animal the shapeshifters are portrayed. It's fantasy, and you have to suspend your disbelief to some extent. Three of the couples I most enjoy roleplaying with a friend of mine are human/lycanthrope pairs -- two are married couples, and one is a celibate romantic relationship that hasn't yet progressed to marriage due to the ages of the characters. And although the lycanthropes tend to act a bit more animalistic in the week preceding the full moon, it's not like they ever have sex while the lycanthrope half of the couple is in animal form. They'd be smart enough to do it only in the other three weeks, especially when the moon is waning. Both of the married couples specifically planned their nuptials to be on the day of the new moon so they wouldn't have to deal with that problem on their respective wedding nights, and they make sure to sleep in separate (locked) rooms when the full moon transformation happens, for safety's sake.
Harking back to the comment about Twilight, I'd have to say that if I actually liked the series enough to choose a "team", I'd be on Team Jacob in regards to the Bella romance. Unfortunately, the fourth book totally ruined it for me with the whole Renesmee thing, which is another issue in itself that I won't be tackling here.