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This is my simplified quick-read version of the essay explaining the science behind my vargr werewolves. I tried to make it easy to understand; if something remains unclear, I'll try to fix it. But please, no comments "correcting" me about what werewolves are "really" like. Werewolves are not real, and this is fiction written for my geeky amusement and hopefully the geeky amusement of others. I'll post the longer, more science-y version if there's enough interest expressed.
Hugs and thanks to
Cetetic for being my beta!
Hugs and thanks to
Cetetic for being my beta!
Category Story / Transformation
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 120 x 120px
File Size 18.3 kB
Definitely interesting! I read it all, and naturally... I want to read more. You have a lot of unique points that while are a twist on some already "known" facts there's a lot here that's new, but still makes sense. I especially liked the part about their "howl" being closer to the call of some lemurs. Awesome stuff!
That's REALLY really cool!!! I love how well everything is explained; my friends and I are all werewolf nuts, and it's always great to see people come up with stuff like this. :)
I have a questions for you, just because I'm an oddball! You said your vargr females are not able to transform, because of lack of testosterone. What about a testosterone injection? If it was artificially supplied, would they be able to shapeshift? Would they look different than the males?
Sorry, I love stuff like this and I think too much. Can't wait to see more from you about the vargr, hopefully! ^___^
I have a questions for you, just because I'm an oddball! You said your vargr females are not able to transform, because of lack of testosterone. What about a testosterone injection? If it was artificially supplied, would they be able to shapeshift? Would they look different than the males?
Sorry, I love stuff like this and I think too much. Can't wait to see more from you about the vargr, hopefully! ^___^
It's possible, but they might have more fully mature bones than male vargr (with the growth plates closed off) since their bones would be affected normally at puberty. It's something I'm still toying with, though, haven't made a final Word of God type decision yet. :) There's some more vargr stuff scattered here and there in the gallery.
Man, what kind of education have you gotten? I need to know all that stuff too! So far all I know is up to 12th grade biology, but it's so limited. Physiology, sociology, evolution, biological processes such as bone growth and teeth, all that, I need to know! Where did you learn all that?
I would really like to read the full-fledged version, as I'm writing something similar to this (as in disease which causes transformation, but into a furry, not a werewolf).
And finally, wouldn't it be just as plausible to say women vargr can shapeshift, but not males? Females have a montlhy hormone cycle that could cause the change. As for the moon, it has been proven that sleeping while exposed to moonlight will regulate hormonal cycles in women, so why not? And last teeny weeny bit, I find it exhilarating to know more and more scientific knowledge, but it's equally sad to know your fantasies grow more and more improbable as you learn more.
I would really like to read the full-fledged version, as I'm writing something similar to this (as in disease which causes transformation, but into a furry, not a werewolf).
And finally, wouldn't it be just as plausible to say women vargr can shapeshift, but not males? Females have a montlhy hormone cycle that could cause the change. As for the moon, it has been proven that sleeping while exposed to moonlight will regulate hormonal cycles in women, so why not? And last teeny weeny bit, I find it exhilarating to know more and more scientific knowledge, but it's equally sad to know your fantasies grow more and more improbable as you learn more.
With all this stuff, I pretty much taught myself. I'm old and I've been a biology nut for a while LOL
Richard Dawkins is a good place to start, try the Ancestor's Tale, it's a doorstop of a book but after finishing I felt a 100x smarter. He covers a lot of the concepts I've used here. If you're interested I can scrape together a reading list. And I'd be glad to help if you'd like a beta on your furry version.
As for lady shapeshifters, it's specifically testosterone that's causing them to go through what's basically a cyclical adolescence, and females just don't produce enough testo to effect the change. The original, non-shifting ur-vargr had very butch, hyena-like females . . . although there are a few ways a female might be able to shapeshift. Can't give everything away, tho! Heh. And this is just the Reader's Digest version.
Richard Dawkins is a good place to start, try the Ancestor's Tale, it's a doorstop of a book but after finishing I felt a 100x smarter. He covers a lot of the concepts I've used here. If you're interested I can scrape together a reading list. And I'd be glad to help if you'd like a beta on your furry version.
As for lady shapeshifters, it's specifically testosterone that's causing them to go through what's basically a cyclical adolescence, and females just don't produce enough testo to effect the change. The original, non-shifting ur-vargr had very butch, hyena-like females . . . although there are a few ways a female might be able to shapeshift. Can't give everything away, tho! Heh. And this is just the Reader's Digest version.
Well, I'm young and I'm a biology nut too! Going in Biochemistry at University next year
Also, yes please, I would really love a reading list, I have nothing much to read nowadays.
Testosterone induced cyclical adolescence? I understood the first 2 words. Could you explain more?
I was basing my 'female shapeshift' theory on the basis that their hormone concentrations change along their monthly cycle. Thus, a specific female hormones could allow a change once per month depending on the cycle. Male hormone levels essentially increase at puberty, then stay pretty constant throughout the rest of their lives. All that from 11 grade biology
Also, yes please, I would really love a reading list, I have nothing much to read nowadays.
Testosterone induced cyclical adolescence? I understood the first 2 words. Could you explain more?
I was basing my 'female shapeshift' theory on the basis that their hormone concentrations change along their monthly cycle. Thus, a specific female hormones could allow a change once per month depending on the cycle. Male hormone levels essentially increase at puberty, then stay pretty constant throughout the rest of their lives. All that from 11 grade biology
Ok, I'll try to be clearer.
The basic idea is that humans are neotenic, that is, we never fully mature. The genes that would have, for example, made our skulls plates fuse are repressed, so the brain continues to grow for a longer period of time, as if our period of childhood development has been lengthened. The surge of testosterone a vargr experiences when he enters a cycle is causing him to "mature", activating the recessive ur-vargr genes that had been turned off by evolution. Because of the supercharged mitochondrial engine, a process that would normally take years takes only a few minutes (which is REALLY stretching it, but otherwise it wouldn't be much of a werewolf story!). Then when testosterone levels drop, the vargr experiences adolescence in reverse - the body is rebuilt, but without the testosterone, is reset to 'normal human' mode.
So why not women? Basically because different hormones are involved. In females, puberty is caused by estridol, which among other things causes bones to stop growing (males produce it too, but in smaller amounts and over a longer period of time, which is why they generally end up taller). Androgenic hormones produce changes that are exaggerated in vargr - the deep voice, the hair, the greater muscle mass, the aggression. The ur-vargr females, like female hyena, were brimming with testosterone, but modern human females just don't produce enough of it to change . . . if they did, they would actually be intersex, not purely female. A testosterone shot might cause a change, but it would cause a lot of other problems, too. For example, there would be no way for her bones to grow, they would probably end up warped and deformed, and when she changed back to default human, she would suffer the side-effects of the injection.
I admit, the restriction was also done partly for plot reasons. In the story this is the background for, one of the plot threads is that vargr are extremely competitive and prone to violence against other vargr - imagine a group of teenage boys strong enough to toss trcuks around showing off for one another - and this is making it nigh-impossible for a vargr-rights activist to organize them. Meetings inevitably turn into riots.
The basic idea is that humans are neotenic, that is, we never fully mature. The genes that would have, for example, made our skulls plates fuse are repressed, so the brain continues to grow for a longer period of time, as if our period of childhood development has been lengthened. The surge of testosterone a vargr experiences when he enters a cycle is causing him to "mature", activating the recessive ur-vargr genes that had been turned off by evolution. Because of the supercharged mitochondrial engine, a process that would normally take years takes only a few minutes (which is REALLY stretching it, but otherwise it wouldn't be much of a werewolf story!). Then when testosterone levels drop, the vargr experiences adolescence in reverse - the body is rebuilt, but without the testosterone, is reset to 'normal human' mode.
So why not women? Basically because different hormones are involved. In females, puberty is caused by estridol, which among other things causes bones to stop growing (males produce it too, but in smaller amounts and over a longer period of time, which is why they generally end up taller). Androgenic hormones produce changes that are exaggerated in vargr - the deep voice, the hair, the greater muscle mass, the aggression. The ur-vargr females, like female hyena, were brimming with testosterone, but modern human females just don't produce enough of it to change . . . if they did, they would actually be intersex, not purely female. A testosterone shot might cause a change, but it would cause a lot of other problems, too. For example, there would be no way for her bones to grow, they would probably end up warped and deformed, and when she changed back to default human, she would suffer the side-effects of the injection.
I admit, the restriction was also done partly for plot reasons. In the story this is the background for, one of the plot threads is that vargr are extremely competitive and prone to violence against other vargr - imagine a group of teenage boys strong enough to toss trcuks around showing off for one another - and this is making it nigh-impossible for a vargr-rights activist to organize them. Meetings inevitably turn into riots.
First off, I'll say I'm very curious, and I seek knowledge for knowledge's sake. I do not mean to be offensive or anything, so please bear with me.
Is it a fact we are neotenic, or is it just something part of your story?
Why is testosterone the trigger in your story? Is it because it makes us mature? If so, why do female mature if they produce so much less testosterone?
Yeah, supercharged mitochondria is stretching quite a bit, but eh, most of the readers don't even know what a mitochondria is.
As for the plot, that will make a VERY interesting story. Could their violence be bred away?
Now that raises a lot of ethical questions too, doesn't it?
Since I know more about DNA and I'm going into Biochemistry at university next year, I decided to base my "change factor" on a supercomplex micro-organism. However, since there is no way such an organism can exist in the first place, I'll have to make an improbable origin for it.
Is it a fact we are neotenic, or is it just something part of your story?
Why is testosterone the trigger in your story? Is it because it makes us mature? If so, why do female mature if they produce so much less testosterone?
Yeah, supercharged mitochondria is stretching quite a bit, but eh, most of the readers don't even know what a mitochondria is.
As for the plot, that will make a VERY interesting story. Could their violence be bred away?
Now that raises a lot of ethical questions too, doesn't it?
Since I know more about DNA and I'm going into Biochemistry at university next year, I decided to base my "change factor" on a supercomplex micro-organism. However, since there is no way such an organism can exist in the first place, I'll have to make an improbable origin for it.
If I told, that would ruin the plot!
But seriously, none of those situations would result in a werewolf. It's not the estrogen that's the key factor, it's the androgens. Normal female vargr are distinctly physically different than non-vargr, but they just don't produce the massive amounts of androgens needed for a shapeshift.
Someone with an XXY would be a man, not a woman. It's the Y that determines that. That situation would mean less androgens, hence no shapeshift (and many, many other problems).
There are a few things that might produce a "female" werewolf, although it would be dodgy defining the individual as male or female - not a binary thing at all. Partial androgen insensitivity for example. Considering both that and lycanthropy aren't common conditions, I don't know how often they would overlap. Let's just say it's not impossible, just improbable.
Gee, I've certainly put a lot of thought into something completely imaginary and irrelevant, eh? As a writer it was just a whim to propel the character in certain directions. It's ended up being a heck of a lot of work, though.
But seriously, none of those situations would result in a werewolf. It's not the estrogen that's the key factor, it's the androgens. Normal female vargr are distinctly physically different than non-vargr, but they just don't produce the massive amounts of androgens needed for a shapeshift.
Someone with an XXY would be a man, not a woman. It's the Y that determines that. That situation would mean less androgens, hence no shapeshift (and many, many other problems).
There are a few things that might produce a "female" werewolf, although it would be dodgy defining the individual as male or female - not a binary thing at all. Partial androgen insensitivity for example. Considering both that and lycanthropy aren't common conditions, I don't know how often they would overlap. Let's just say it's not impossible, just improbable.
Gee, I've certainly put a lot of thought into something completely imaginary and irrelevant, eh? As a writer it was just a whim to propel the character in certain directions. It's ended up being a heck of a lot of work, though.
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