I believe that one of the three best fictional Monsters in the history of the world (the other two being Dragons and Vampires) is the Werewolf, and find pressured opinions that forbid (without actually saying it) the description and depiction of a Werewolf as a "Monster", or something worthy of being seen as a Monster (at pain of hate and ridicule) to be a painful stab at the heart of dramatized fiction and the beloved battles between good and evil altogether.Midnight wrote:... You don't get grief from having your own opinion about things, you get grief for trying to shut other people down for having their own opinions. We know that you cannot countenance any vision of a werewolf other than that of a ravening monster completely out of control of him- or herself; most other people here think that it's time that alternative visions (which may be every bit as dangerous, but aren't as ubiquitous as yours) got their own fifteen minutes of fame.Vuldari wrote:Isn't a Wiki a page of (supposed, "As far as I know this is correct") "FACTS"?
... after all the grief I get about expressing my own (albeit often incomplete) knowledge of how werewolves WERE portrayed in the past, are commonly portrayed today, and how the average person perceives a Werewolf ...
This Wiki has the potential to be an amazing information resource about werewolves and werewolf lore of all types - books, films, legends, comics, web comics, you name it - and the last thing I want is to see it restricted to stories which fulfil the "Approved by Vuldari" criterion.
That is my motivation behind preferring to keep Werewolves "Scary" (and a good person who is in complete control is not scary at all).
I believe that the whole "Werewolf" genre is nothing and will not continue to thrive without it roots left planted firmly around the identity of a MONSTER ... regardless of how far it's branches may stretch and wander away from that in all different directions. (Which I never, EVER have claimed or suggested they shouldn't. ... but some just never seem to understand that. Branch out as far as your imagination can take it ... I'm just afraid some are trying to rip it up by the roots and remove it from the garden of MONSTERS it grew from ... which I often fear my lead to it's demise.)
I just like people to understand my opinion. (which I don't think you do yet)
My essay-posts about elements and histories of Werewolves that I did not invent myself have ALWAYS been intended as informative (like mini-wikis), as reference and reason for my opinions and suggestions. It has always been a matter of misinterpretation by readers that the stating of historical facts and personal observations is a claim to have any authority to invalidate anyone elses opinions or ideas. There is a reason for everything I do and everything I believe, and I just like to provide others with all of those reasons so they can see for themselves the train of thought that led me to having the opinion or coming to the conclusion that I did. Some are intimidated by my efforts towards making strong arguments, and others just seem to miss the points I make and suggest that I said something other than I did, which leads to those conversations turning heated and argumentative rather than passive discussions and debates very often. However, though I may occasionally list reasons why an idea or opinion is unappealing to me, I never intend to suggest that person is not allowed to have it.
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Books, Films, Comics, Legends, Folklore ... If you read my whole post, you would have seen that I said that these things would be GOOD things to make a Wiki about, because those are established and well defined.
That is NOT what Celestialwolf suggested though. The suggestion was that we make a Wiki of ideas from "The PacksDen" about what a werewolf SHOULD be ... (which would, by essence, intentionally or unintentionally, also be saying that all that differs from it's contents are what a werewolf SHOULDN'T be)
THAT is what I was in protest against.
Many here have shared their opinions on what they WANT werewolves to be, and there are many points that are notably more popular one way than the other ... but I don't really like the idea of collecting all of the POPULAR ideas together in any kind of "Official" document, as to me it would just sort of feel like the popular kids all ganging together and sticking their tongues out at the less popular kids going, "Nya, naa, na, naa, naaaaaa ... we're more popular than Yoouu ... ooooo ..."
A Wiki about every Book, Film, Comic (printed or web) and Traceable Legend/Folktale we know of? (Relating to Werewolves) SURE!
A Wiki about whose opinions are more popular than others? No.