Being Human: What are the rules?

[nialla42]

Now that the first series has finished on BBC America, I thought I'd indulge in one of my favorite hobbies... nitpicking the world building rules and see if they'd really "work" or are at least internally consistent.

Comments

[or_mabinogi]

The vampire thing seems restricted to simple photo-sensitivity. They can be out in the sunlight, but would prefer not to. Of course, this creates a conundrum with the next point: their bodies are cold. It was mentioned that Bernie felt cold afterward, and it's the unspoken reason why Mitchell is always sporting those fingerless gloves. So if they feel cold all the time maybe stepping into the sun would warm them up.

The werewolf issue bugs me big time. First off, he only seems to transform during the night never mind that full moons don't occur only at night. So if the astronomical full moon is at 12:00 GMT, would he transform the night before or the coming night? I'm a little bothered by the requirement of the full moon, too. It doesn't seem fair to adapt vampires to walking around in the daylight but keeping werewolves as an involuntary change that happens only during (near?) a full moon. I always liked the idea of lycans who could transform at will regardless of astronomical events. (I also take issue with astrology, so that may be related.)

The creation of one is confusing. I might be able to buy that the tooth and claw of a werewolf, being magically formed in the transformation, would be carriers of some magic voodoo mutagen that effects the DNA of the infected. But I used to hear that the job was carried through the saliva of a bite, which would make more sense. A scratch just seems so... accidental.

I think it was said that his senses were heightened only just before and after and that most of the time he's very much just normal. I think his aggression is heightened as well, since the only times he's been shown to act out has been just prior to a change (the pilot and the finale).

Maybe the old man belongs to an order of Wizards. Josie mentioned them, but I guess that doesn't mean there are any. That might actually be worse than a group of Watchers and/or Hunters.

Annie does need to go say "Boo, Tiger." *g*

[nialla42]

Maybe the cold conundrum is on purpose? They always feel cold, because their bodies don't warm in the sun as they should.

The photo-sensitivity actually plays into one theory of how that part of vampire lore came into being. There are people who are born with a genetic disorder that caused them to be unable to go outside without severe burning and blistering. Back in the day, this instantly translated into "creature of the night and must be killed".

Werewolf mythology always drives me batty, especially when it's dependent on a nighttime full moon. If a were moves, will that affect when he changes? If we send a werewolf to the ISS, will he ever change? Or would he cycle rapidly though their day/night cycle whenever the moon was full? What if you sent a wolf to the moon?

I used to be on an email list that would have discussions like this until heads started exploding. *g*

I know the "reason" why the myths say werewolves only transform on the night of the full moon. It's because it's night, and the full moon often makes things seem scarier, and wolves can be pretty darn scary.

Your mention of the word lycan reminds me of something. They used the term more than once, but I couldn't tell if it was just a reference to lycanthropy or if in this 'verse Lycans are a recognized species.

Some of the more recent lycanthropy lore goes with the concept of it being a virus, one that can be caught when someone's "contagious", i.e. in their other form.

I prefer the virus answer to magical curse, though I'll also go along with shapeshifters using magic. I think the idea of it being a curse you didn't do anything to deserve, have no control over, and no way out of is just too depressing, especially if you can't defend yourself outside of that brief window of time.

I think a bite would fit more into the thinking of those who created the myths, since they had no real concept of disease transmission, but could certainly understand bite wounds could be nasty things.

A virus can be transmitted with a sneeze, much less a scratch. In fact, I had thought Nina was going to catch it prior to the reveal of the scratch mark (like Mitchell wouldn't have smelled fresh blood).

Wolf-George stopped attacking the door very quickly after he saw Nina, so either he was stopping because it recognized her, or else the magic mojo virus was really fast acting if that was what he was sensing.

Unless... George and Nina did have sex the while he was about to change, so perhaps she was already infected and just just didn't realize it.

I'm blurry on timelines of when there were full moons when it seemed liked only a few days had passed otherwise, so if she get lycanthropy as an STD, I'm not sure if she's been through an entire full moon cycle yet.

[mindyfromohio]

I could not have a bigger crush on George (and his adorable mini-Kelly-Clarkson girlfriend).