The audience will need to be stonned very stonned :D

you folks crack me up. :D totally.

I took the werecougar from work done by laurel hamilton in her anita black vampire hunter series in which there are many forms of lycanthropes, but some that are more prominent than others.

for instance the werewolves are very prominent, well organized, and very contagious. She also has wereleapards, who are less organized and prominent; wererats who seem to be second only to the wolves; werejaguars for when her characters travel to the southwest part of the country; and even a wereswan a condition brought on by a witch's curse.

the theory seems to be that there will be some forms of lycanthropy that will be found everywhere and there are other forms that are regional and even local. generally these lesser known forms are much harder to contract and predict.

Part of why I chose the werecougar is because it is a silent, solitary hunter, who is very smart, strong, willful, and can be found in all the areas that my characters will be traveling to.

stonned? So is that more than being stoned?

LOL:p Just giving ya shit.

maybe it should be "stoohhhnned"?

If you do some research and draw off Native American shapechanging traditions , a werecougar might be very feasible. The trick then would be trying to explain the disease as a spiritual/physical change. If you examine shamanism a little, you see that a shapeshifter would just be outwardly assuming a sort of totemic true shape. Hamilton's shapeshifting traditions and connections to folklore are sorta spotty. A werecreature is often just another thing to be. Keep in mind the situation's only as interesting as the person going through it, and that the two should be playing off each other. Hamilton sort of pisses me off in that way. Everybody sooner or later just works out to be their species. It makes supernatural things a lot more banal.

LOL..
Elvis..stay the hell away from the waikato water supply ..!!

Just try and stop me Stubsey!

interesting that you bring in native american shamanism. that's what will be experiencing next. It will be the wise woman that trains him along with several others in regards to controlling the lycanthropy and using it. I was thinking directly along the lines of the shamanic shapeshifting but you've definately helped explain it abit better for me.

I agree with you regarding some of hamiltons use of the lycanthrope. her earlier works are much better, but I also take into consideration that she is not writing horror she is writing alternate history and using monsters as part of the medium.

on a more philosophical note, the were cougar also represents an inner conflict that my protaganist continually is struggling with. He is torn between revenge, and aggression on one hand and humility, peace, and forgiveness on the other. The cougar is that part of him that revels in the stalking, and silent killing of prey -- aggression and revenge.

I"m having alot of fun figuring this all out as I write it and thanks for all the help.

I don't want to be helpful. I want to be a bitch and say things like: Laurel K. Hamilton ripped her shit from White Wolf (cock sucking ass pasties that they are) who ripped their shit from folk tales... and not even the good ones.

However I probably shouldn't say things like that.

I'm writing some stories i would like to post on horror to get some feed-back..........ANYBODY want to read them??