Zero Angel
Auror
NICE! I feel really stupid for not realizing lycanthropy referred only to werewolves -_- I'm usually sharp enough to catch things like that!
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Vampires and You
- Thread starter Queshire
- Start date
NICE! I feel really stupid for not realizing lycanthropy referred only to werewolves -_- I'm usually sharp enough to catch things like that!
Yay! Someone else who calls their weres therianthropes! My therian and I are very happy.
Ireth
Myth Weaver
Yup, lycanthrope comes from the Greek words for "wolf" and "man"; lykos = wolf, and anthropos = human. It really annoyed me in one of my old RP sites when three different strains of therianthropy were all referred to as lycanthropy even though only one of them involved lupine transformation; the other two were bears and leopards. I make a point of referring to my werebear as an arctanthrope. ^^
Zero Angel
Auror
I blame D&D for imprinting me at a young age.
- Thread starter
- #25
Queshire
Istar
there's something I've wanted to do with werewolves for awhile now, but I haven't found a place to do it. Essentially, werewolves aren't really wolf-like. They're predatory, completely and undeniably predatory, like a Sasquatch with a mouth full of huge knife-like fangs. They're only called werewolves because, well, to ye olde medieval peasants, wolves were THE alpha predators around. There aren't words to describe them properly so they use the closest thing they have, wolves. Similarly, in other cultures, with other alpha predators the animal compared to would be different. Maybe bears, or lions, or jaguars, but that's just different ways to describe the same creature.
wordwalker
Auror
The other trick to naming creatures like this is not to shorten it to "weres"-- "were-wolf" is "(hu)man-wolf," so we're all Weres.
(I think...)
If I have to categorize, I'll say werebeasts, werecreatures, or invent a word. Or stick to werewolves anyway, because they have all the fun.
(I think...
)If I have to categorize, I'll say werebeasts, werecreatures, or invent a word. Or stick to werewolves anyway, because they have all the fun.
- Thread starter
- #27
Queshire
Istar
I have to disagree with not shorting it to were. Sure, it's not scientific, but most people in the world aren't scientists and it conveys the information it needs to convey without extra work. With calling them therianthrope you'll have to explain what a therianthrope is as not everyone as would know what it means. Admittedly that's no problem if they're a big part of your story, but if they aren't then were can convey all the information you need in four short letters. Mostly it's just a matter of preference I suppose.
Trick
Auror
Isn't this what that Daybreakers movie was about? Never saw it, just heard something similar to this.
The roots of the word "lycanthropy" suggest that it refers only to werewolves. The term is used in psychiatry, however, and in that context it refers to delusions of shape-shifting into any animal, as I understand it. Also, in popular culture the word is often used in the same way (D&D, for example), to refer to transformation into any animal. Not that the latter makes it a correct usage, but it seems to be the one that is imprinted into the minds of most.
I believe this is significant, not just when it comes to werewolves and theriantropes, but with a lot of things. We who write about these things tend to do a bit of research about what we're writing. This occasionally leads us to digging up facts and information that while not incorrect aren't part of what the average person would refer to as "common knowledge".
Sure, theriantropy is the correct scientific term, but most people I interact with on a daily basis wouldn't have a clue what it means unless I explained it to them. I'm using it in my setting as it's scientifically correct and I want to try and give my setting an aura of modern scientific correctness, even though it's a fantasy setting.
If I wanted a smooth story where the details were less important than the fact that a person just turned into an enormous, raging tiger on the subway during rush hour I wouldn't use terms I don't think people are familiar with.
Zero Angel
Auror
Yes, pretty much.
Addison
Auror
Not to disrespect a fellow writer but my vampires will not be "Orlando Bloom hot". I would follow the classic vampire but have them believably adapt to the era/ modern time of the story. In my opinion, a vampire has the following powers and weaknesses: strength, flight, hypnosis, shape shifting, speed, weakness to holy water, no reflection, must drink so much blood within a certain time to stay alive. But vampires, like all humans, are vulnerable to things like acne, anorexia, obesity, cavities, poor eye sight. Just because they have eternal youth does not mean they have eternal life.
Ireth
Myth Weaver
Well, that depends, IMO, on if said previous-human suffered from such things at the point of being turned. A book called Bloodsucking Fiends (can't recall the author offhand, alas) did this quite well. None of this stupid ableist bullsh*t a certain YA vampire series tried to pull off with its cast full of Sues.
I mean, really -- if you get pregnant and turn into a vampire within moments of your baby being born, as well as suffering horrific injuries during the birthing process (broken SPINE, anyone?), then you should live out your eternal vampire existence in a wheelchair, with a saggy baby belly that's been ripped open to get your impossible halfbreed spawn out of you.
/end rant
That just made me giggle and destroyed my entire need to rant. /bow
crash
Scribe
I'm trying to avoid the impossibly beautiful vampires as much as possible. Yes, most of my vampires look young and fit and several are very good looking, but just as many have behaviours that make them seem odd. My main vampire is in an odd position where she's almost a century old (yes, she's young by vampire standards), looks to be in her mid thirties, but is physically in her mid twenties. Most of this is explained as being due to all the hardship of her life (born during the early days of the Soviet Union, sniper during WWII, sent to a Gulag after the war, lived on the run for almost forty years and has only been able to settle down during the past ten years at best) as to way she looks older than she physically is.
