Werewolf school

[Ookami-kun]

I always wonder how academics work in werewolves.

Will there be a special school for werewolves funded by "teh department of educashun"? What stuff do they teach? XP

[Avareis]

Probably stuff like
First rule of being a werewolf is...we do not talk about being werewolves.
The second rule of being a werewolf is....we do not talk about being werewolves...

That and how to comb your mane, relearn how to brush your teeth, how to eat all over again, that one should aim for the newspapers instead of anywhere you want to...You know, the stuff you learn when you were three, but for some reason your instincts need a refreshment course on every day activities.

[RedEye]

"Thomas," Paul said warningly; "you have a whole life as a Smooth that is waiting to get you in trouble. I see Crossers, who forget they're covered in flammible Fur, try to deal with fire the way they used to; and wind up burned. They think they have form control and find out they don't, once they're out in public. You have to remember, you're an entirely different person now, and you have to learn to be that person." (Wulfen Blood)

A newly Crossed Werewolf is like a willful child in many ways, thinking that he or she already knows how to do things. Trouble is, they really don't know how to act or even live properly, since everything that they are used to has changed dramatically.

In one section of the story "Wulfen Blood", Tom; a newly Crossed-over Werewolf, tries to take a leak, and winds up redecorating the entire bathroom and himself as well. He doesn't even know how to pee, now that he has a sheath. He has to use a "walker" because he isn't used to being digitigrade, and his faster reflexes make balancing even more difficult-since corrections happen so fast that he isn't used to them and is very unsteady on his feet.

Drinking is also a new thing for him: his first sip of water runs out the side of his now larger mouth and down his chest. Straws become his friends...
Scent becomes different; the doctor that monitored his Crossing smells like dirty socks, food tastes radically different, and his mate smells like a combination of flowers and spice-and peace, contentment, and love.

Sight is different, too; everything is now pastel (low color saturation) because almost forty percent of the Cones in his eyes (color receptors) have become Rods-which see in black and white only. He has superior night sight, but at the cost of his Color senses. He can hear people talking quietly-across a room.

A newly Crossed Werewolf is going to need to re-learn everything, as well as having to learn to speak clearly (different mouth), take care of bodily needs (canid body form), and adapt to a totally alien lifestyle. Certain foods now will taste awful to him, and things he used to dislike will become favorites.

So, in essence, the New Wulf will have to learn almost everything; I don't see classes as much as a "Master Po-Grasshopper" teacher/student relationship. While there might be some sort of "Pack History" or "Were'history 101" for the things that are normally academic; most of the "Werewolf Education" would be almost a one-on-one sort of thing.
Perhaps there might be an "Apprentice/Journeywulf/Master" setup- but one thing is certain: Education on how to live while Fuzzy and Toothy is gonna be a must, unless you are a Werewolf that dies at the end of the movie.
That would bite.

[Silent Hunter]

I can imagine Werewolves buying large isolated land with a forest and game. Somewhere where Were's can learn about themselves without limit. The schools would be private. Form the outside it would just look like a huge game house. The hard thing though is what about teen wolves that still under their parents? Those that go to normal schools. How will they learn?

[RedEye]

I can imagine Werewolves buying large isolated land with a forest and game. Somewhere where Were's can learn about themselves without limit. The schools would be private. Form the outside it would just look like a huge game house. The hard thing though is what about teen wolves that still under their parents? Those that go to normal schools. How will they learn?

That would depend on a couple of things, IMHO.
First; is this a Family thing- Like "Teen Wolf" was? Is it a case of being bitten by a Werewolf and Crossing Over that way? Or, is it an "intimate" exposure, like a certain web-comic is dealing with?*

Secondly; Is there an organized Pack in the area? Is the exposure from an accidental situation, like being bitten?

If there is an established Pack in the area, one would suppose that said teen would be "counseled" by someone on how to stay Smooth until summer, when there might be a "Camping Trip" or a "Summer Camp" for the exposed teen to attend, and learn how to "manage" the new part of their life.
If the thing is familial, like "Teen Wolf"; the parent(s) would be the ones to deal with it. They would have the experience.
If it were of the "intimate" nature, I guess the person that teen was "intimate" with would be the one to deal with it, however badly.*
If it was accidental-and there is no one to help the young person deal with the problem, there is always the Web as a source of information; but I suspect that it would end up like any other bad horror flick-where the Werewolf dies at the end of the movie.
Of course, nobody would talk about it...since Werewolves don't exist.

*Peter Is the Wolf, at Peteristhewolf.com, published by WLP comics online.

[MattSullivan]

You mean like....Camp Lycanthrope

[Terastas]

You mean like....Camp Lycanthrope

That's the most I could picture werewolves having. Anything bigger would be too great a risk of exposure.

I think the main focus of the werewolf school would be to help new werewolves get accustomed to their new forms, so I think it would be less like a school or a camp and more like a CPR course -- something where the "students" could range anywhere in age from ten to thirty. Also, anywhere from the first day to a maximum of the first week I think would be more like daycare in the sense that the new werewolves would spend time just getting accustomed to their new forms: learning to walk again on a different set of legs, learning to do simple tasks with a different set of hands, learning to make sense of their surroundings with a new set of senses, etc.

Once accustomed to their new forms, I think the "subjects" would concern either one of two things. The first, obviously, would be the rules of being a werewolf, which would discuss how and why they maintain their anonymity. The second I think would be some additional skill building courses that could be beneficial to a werewolf, like sign language so they could talk in werewolf form, or some of your typical Eagle Scout courses so they could be more at home in the wild.

Oh, and of course they'd have to teach their newcomers how to control the shift. A werewolf wouldn't be much good to a pack if there's a chance he might shift on the subway.

[Fullmoonstar]

"Thomas," Paul said warningly; "you have a whole life as a Smooth that is waiting to get you in trouble. I see Crossers, who forget they're covered in flammible Fur, try to deal with fire the way they used to; and wind up burned. They think they have form control and find out they don't, once they're out in public. You have to remember, you're an entirely different person now, and you have to learn to be that person." (Wulfen Blood)

A newly Crossed Werewolf is like a willful child in many ways, thinking that he or she already knows how to do things. Trouble is, they really don't know how to act or even live properly, since everything that they are used to has changed dramatically.

In one section of the story "Wulfen Blood", Tom; a newly Crossed-over Werewolf, tries to take a leak, and winds up redecorating the entire bathroom and himself as well. He doesn't even know how to pee, now that he has a sheath. He has to use a "walker" because he isn't used to being digitigrade, and his faster reflexes make balancing even more difficult-since corrections happen so fast that he isn't used to them and is very unsteady on his feet.

Drinking is also a new thing for him: his first sip of water runs out the side of his now larger mouth and down his chest. Straws become his friends...
Scent becomes different; the doctor that monitored his Crossing smells like dirty socks, food tastes radically different, and his mate smells like a combination of flowers and spice-and peace, contentment, and love.

Sight is different, too; everything is now pastel (low color saturation) because almost forty percent of the Cones in his eyes (color receptors) have become Rods-which see in black and white only. He has superior night sight, but at the cost of his Color senses. He can hear people talking quietly-across a room.

A newly Crossed Werewolf is going to need to re-learn everything, as well as having to learn to speak clearly (different mouth), take care of bodily needs (canid body form), and adapt to a totally alien lifestyle. Certain foods now will taste awful to him, and things he used to dislike will become favorites.

So, in essence, the New Wulf will have to learn almost everything; I don't see classes as much as a "Master Po-Grasshopper" teacher/student relationship. While there might be some sort of "Pack History" or "Were'history 101" for the things that are normally academic; most of the "Werewolf Education" would be almost a one-on-one sort of thing.
Perhaps there might be an "Apprentice/Journeywulf/Master" setup- but one thing is certain: Education on how to live while Fuzzy and Toothy is gonna be a must, unless you are a Werewolf that dies at the end of the movie.
That would bite.

You mean like....Camp Lycanthrope

That's the most I could picture werewolves having. Anything bigger would be too great a risk of exposure.

I think the main focus of the werewolf school would be to help new werewolves get accustomed to their new forms, so I think it would be less like a school or a camp and more like a CPR course -- something where the "students" could range anywhere in age from ten to thirty. Also, anywhere from the first day to a maximum of the first week I think would be more like daycare in the sense that the new werewolves would spend time just getting accustomed to their new forms: learning to walk again on a different set of legs, learning to do simple tasks with a different set of hands, learning to make sense of their surroundings with a new set of senses, etc.

Once accustomed to their new forms, I think the "subjects" would concern either one of two things. The first, obviously, would be the rules of being a werewolf, which would discuss how and why they maintain their anonymity. The second I think would be some additional skill building courses that could be beneficial to a werewolf, like sign language so they could talk in werewolf form, or some of your typical Eagle Scout courses so they could be more at home in the wild.

Oh, and of course they'd have to teach their newcomers how to control the shift. A werewolf wouldn't be much good to a pack if there's a chance he might shift on the subway.

That is all right. I have to agree with you two. That would be the stuff a Werewolfschool would teach in my opinion, too. I think that a school like this would be in a sore need for "new Werewolves". Not only to survive with their new form and abilities, but also to feel comfortable with it

[cumulusprotagonist]

Segregation is
Sick sick sick

[RedEye]

Segregation is
Sick sick sick

Not to belabor a point, but HUH?

[JoshuaMadoc]

Segregation is
Sick sick sick

Not to belabor a point, but HUH?

Uncle, I think he means to say "i wouldn't want to feel like a zoo animal if someone thought it'd be smart to be inspired by the White/Color segregation era and build a "freaks-only" school".

[Silent Hunter]

Redeye, here is what i mean.

A average teenage who is in secondry/high school gets bitten ona night out. He/she is doing well at school and there is no normal reason to take he/she out. The teens parents do not believe or know of WW. Thats the problem.

Segregation is
Sick sick sick

It'd be worse if WW became public knowledge. Plus new WW can be a bit violent sometimes and with fang, claw and muscle it is not good for a normal human. It would be done for valid protection, not racism though i can see your point.

[Scott Gardener]

I did a short story bringing up the issue of segregation, in my storyline in which werewolves reveal themselves in the near future. A werewolf kid gets into a skirmish with "normal" kids and bites one of them, prompting an outcry from parents "concerned" that their kids could get infected by being near lycanthropic children. Politicians then get involved, with conservatives promising to "protect children" while liberal factions oppose seperate schools as a first step towards segregation and inequality.

It's at http://jonlrabbit.bravepages.com/awaken ... ening.html as "Gerald."

[RedEye]

Hokey-Dokey: Now I understand what was meant.

Let's construct two models and try them out.

Model One: Just let the new Werewolf try to work things out by him/her self. There have been a whole bucketful of movies made about this-and guess what happens: The Wulf Dies! Usually in the next to last scene- the one before the scene shows the Hero and the Rescued Love, embracing...only there's this eensy little scratch on his hand...

Model Two: (This is actually a treatment for a maybe-TV movie) The kid-in this case a girl-gets the Werewolf hickey. She disappears pretty soon, but her boyfriend (the Feckless Hero) follows a series of clues to what appears to be an old Army Hospital.
He finds his lady; only she's changed a little bit-all Fuzzy and Toothy now. She does the reasonable thing: she turns him in-to the Werewolf Pack that runs the place.
Seems that there are really a LOT of Werewolves; and yes, accidents do happen occasionally...hence the "Hospital/School" she's at.
The kid gets a tour: People Crossing Over, new Wulfen, the History-all the formula stuff. His ladyfriend is learning to control her strength, to Shift to Human, how to manage her new and totally different body, and how NOT to pass on the Werewolf Viroid to someone else. They are kept apart from the public until they can blend in-to "Pass"-and keep control of their new abilities.
He has a "crisis" over all this (since Werewolves are supposed to be really nasty creatures) and almost blabs the "Secret" to his parents when he's returned home (by the same Wulf that is showing the girl how to "Pass").
Eventually, he returns to the Hospital ( he's been given a visitation card) and finds her still learning how to be what she's become.
They Kiss (ooooops!)...and the story starts again.

Fact is, we segregate things and people every day. In work, school, socially-just so we can be with our "comfortable" people. Schools segregate by grade, ability, and social skills. Society segregates on ethnic and social levels...you do realize that Jails are a form of Segregation, don'cha?
The School I sopke of was as much for the safety of the new Wulf as it was to hide them until they can intermix with Smooths safely and productively. The students learn to respect the Wolf that is a part of them, now; and reach accord with it, so they can go back to Society and be the normal appearing people that contribute and support this country...with their Wulfen abilities available when needed.

It isn't segregation: it's Education and Socialization under controlled and safe circumstances, where the new Wulf can learn to be what and who they are, while protecting the Secret.

[JoshuaMadoc]

Okay then, uncle RedEye, i read your description semi-briefly, and honestly i find them as boring as normal high school... Where's the improvisation? The integration of human devices to boost the learning process? What about scenarios where certain facilities aren't set in the US like they always have been? The "school" disguising itself as a polytechnical boarding school with a massive interior environment to suit multitudes of zoanthrope species?

I'm not implying that i put down your idea, but i believe that if this idea was to really roll off, taking chances would just nerf the whole thing altogether.

[RedEye]

One of the things I was carefully avoiding in my treatment was ANY similarity to "Professor Xavier's School for Exceptional Children".

In the treatment/story there are Smoothkin at the School who are assisting and critiquing the new Wulfen in their "Passing in Smooth" training, as well as Smoothkin doctors and nurses who oversee the Crossing over process... I just wrote a very condensed version of a twenty page story/script-base; that's all.
While there are other Were's at the School (mostly Pumans-Native American Were's) they are at about one-in-five compared to the Wulfen.

The whole point of the story was to entertain (duh!) and to bring out the possibility that Werewolves are not monsters, not cursed-just different.

People who are Cursed have supporters, as do Monsters; but just being different leaves you out in the cold, usually. I think it's the human pack mentality at work...

[JoshuaMadoc]

That's exactly the problem i find -- What could possibly hurt about the facility looking like Prof. X's mutant school? There's nothing degrading or demeaning about the facility chewing on bits of cliche, because really, reality itself is a cliche, just like how in the TV show "The First 48", almost all the murders are about money and drugs, and i've yet to see a motive that's about revenge or jealousy. The only one who can say what is and isn't cliche is the author itself.

Look at Matt's rendition of "werewolf school", for example. No offense to Matt, but some elements of his rendition are cliche if you compare it to deer-hunt camp, boyscout camp flicks, and Jericho. Your rendition of "werewolf school" is also cliche, because it sounds like a cross between Teen Wolf, Team America and a 60s-70s era Hanna-Barberra cartoon show. C'mon, Unc... Don't go around and not look at the paradox at hand. Confront it, get to know it, make antitheses out of it, befriend it, acquaint it, whatever.

Masamune Shirow wasn't afraid of describing every bit of plot elements in each afterword of each series that contains lots of cliches, so why can't everybody else?

[RedEye]

That's exactly the problem i find -- What could possibly hurt about the facility looking like Prof. X's mutant school? There's nothing degrading or demeaning about the facility chewing on bits of cliche, because really, reality itself is a cliche, just like how in the TV show "The First 48", almost all the murders are about money and drugs, and i've yet to see a motive that's about revenge or jealousy. The only one who can say what is and isn't cliche is the author itself.

Look at Matt's rendition of "werewolf school", for example. No offense to Matt, but some elements of his rendition are cliche if you compare it to deer-hunt camp, boyscout camp flicks, and Jericho. Your rendition of "werewolf school" is also cliche, because it sounds like a cross between Teen Wolf, Team America and a 60s-70s era Hanna-Barberra cartoon show. C'mon, Unc... Don't go around and not look at the paradox at hand. Confront it, get to know it, make antitheses out of it, befriend it, acquaint it, whatever.

Masamune Shirow wasn't afraid of describing every bit of plot elements in each afterword of each series that contains lots of cliches, so why can't everybody else?

Yeah, there are cliche' parts; but remember, this was for sale. It is interesting enough in its cliche' form that Buena Vista Productions paid for a two year exclusive on it. Wow! Hollywood! $257.00 after taxes and other deductions. Good thing that I have decent retirement income.

Wulfen Blood, which does break rules right and left, is still unsold. I'm considering Lulu as a site for it.

[JoshuaMadoc]

Uncle, I do not comprehend. I'm trying to use an example regardless of whether it is for sale or not. Is the point of making a product that one is supposed to enjoy in any degree really only about enough money-making to make the author feel accomplished or validated? Not that i'm disregarding his persistence, but seriously...

I'm trying to make a point that building a polytechnical school for zoanthropes will have its paradox, and running around it won't help the fact that it will make improvisation efforts much more difficult. I was expecting you to rebutt me with something witty, but it seems this has spiralled elsewhere...

[Silent Hunter]

Just a question here.

Why, when all WW schools/safe houses/estates are mentioned are they old buildings that have been renevated? Why can't people build new ones? They could be pritvatly run buildings that don't have to be classed as schools in the public eye. They can still be in open area's too. Any CCTV would be rigged as well.

Just my two pennies.

[JoshuaMadoc]

Just a question here.

Why, when all WW schools/safe houses/estates are mentioned are they old buildings that have been renevated? Why can't people build new ones? They could be pritvatly run buildings that don't have to be classed as schools in the public eye. They can still be in open area's too. Any CCTV would be rigged as well.

Just my two pennies.

The way i see it, it's to keep up "tradition". But theoretically speaking, it's to avoid the buildings being caught in some kind of automated facility registry net or something.

[Silent Hunter]

And old buildings would not? You can't keep secret that old builidngs are being used. They'd be still registered. What if the building is unsafe and needs major, profesinal work on it? What to do you do if some mechinary breaks down and you have no knowledge of fixing it?

Its harder then you think.

[Dreamer]

That's exactly the problem i find -- What could possibly hurt about the facility looking like Prof. X's mutant school? There's nothing degrading or demeaning about the facility chewing on bits of cliche, because really, reality itself is a cliche, just like how in the TV show "The First 48", almost all the murders are about money and drugs, and i've yet to see a motive that's about revenge or jealousy. The only one who can say what is and isn't cliche is the author itself.

Look at Matt's rendition of "werewolf school", for example. No offense to Matt, but some elements of his rendition are cliche if you compare it to deer-hunt camp, boyscout camp flicks, and Jericho. Your rendition of "werewolf school" is also cliche, because it sounds like a cross between Teen Wolf, Team America and a 60s-70s era Hanna-Barberra cartoon show. C'mon, Unc... Don't go around and not look at the paradox at hand. Confront it, get to know it, make antitheses out of it, befriend it, acquaint it, whatever.

Masamune Shirow wasn't afraid of describing every bit of plot elements in each afterword of each series that contains lots of cliches, so why can't everybody else?

Yeah, there are cliche' parts; but remember, this was for sale. It is interesting enough in its cliche' form that Buena Vista Productions paid for a two year exclusive on it. Wow! Hollywood! $257.00 after taxes and other deductions. Good thing that I have decent retirement income.

Wulfen Blood, which does break rules right and left, is still unsold. I'm considering Lulu as a site for it.

YA mean that that TV movie idea could actually become a TV movie? That could be interesting...

[JoshuaMadoc]

And old buildings would not? You can't keep secret that old builidngs are being used. They'd be still registered. What if the building is unsafe and needs major, profesinal work on it? What to do you do if some mechinary breaks down and you have no knowledge of fixing it?

Its harder then you think.

Now that you mention it, Australia keeps tabs of buildings older than WW1 diggers... So yes, I can't really answer much, because thus far, i would've hacked online and changed the registration details or just completely delete it. If a building or machine breaks down and i don't know how to fix it, i'd call up a member who knows either fields, if possible. If not, then i could just carefully hire an acquaintance outside of the "community" and hope to god that bureaucracy keeps investigators from sniffing around.

[RedEye]

Well, for one, an older building would usually be cheaper than a modern one. Plus, you wouldn't have to answer why some rooms have double-thick walls (Renovation, don'cha'know) and others have...odd...configurations.

New buildings excite interest, while old ones are just "there"; a part of the generally ignored scenery. Then there's the glass issue; older buildings have smaller windows while new ones have lots of breakable glass on the ground floor.

When I wrote the treatment; it was supposed to be in an old Army Hospital; bought by a collaboration of three Councils (half a state's worth of Werewolves) for the usual government ten cents on the dollar price bid.
It had the usual chain-link fencing and served well as a "Facility for Physically Challenged People", run by a collection of "Charities" for children and adults with "Physical Challenges". Lycanthropy could well be seen as a "Physical Challenge", plus the building helped set the scene and atmosphere for the shots that would be made "there".

In the Treatment, the ratio of Werewolves to Smooths is approximately one in five hundred, calculated nation-wide. That's a lot of Fuzz and Tooth, and they are all still in hiding (pretty much). It takes from five to six days to "Cross Over" once the Lupan-izinig starts; hence there is a pretty decent flow of people being brought in and then leaving-"cured" and able to hide in society.

These are Werewolves who aren't the shaggy, violent, monsters of film history-they're people who could be your next door neighbors, only with a little something extra thrown in. What I did was to take the positive social/societal structures in Wolves and Humans and build on that, rather than the atypical "Monster" we are used to seeing.

Maybe it'll get made, maybe not. At least Disney/ABC/Buena Vistsa is less focussed in the Horror aspect of things than the other production firms.