I recently contributed to the first issue of WEREWOLVES VERSUS, a new twice yearly zine that pits werewolves verses a different ideological phenomena in each issue. And the first them is WEREWOLVES VERSUS THE 90's! A 60+ page printable digital copy is available via Gumroad starting August 18th and priced as "pay what you want".

So, worldbuilding time!

The plot of my fic involves an American werewolf who comes to the slums of South Africa thinking he can get away with fulfilling his long-repressed urge to hunt humans, but who meets some entirely unexpected opposition.

The story takes place in a reality very much like our own, with a few differences. The main one being, of course, that werewolves exist. I’ve been developing my brand of werewolves for a while now, and they don’t have a lot in common with the baseline pop culture werewolf. Silver bullets, infectious bites, full moons – forget about them.

They’re not cursed supernatural creatures but humans with an inherited medical condition known as Cyclical Allosomorphic Atavism Syndrome. Although the general public is well-aware they exist, there are many misconceptions and myths about the condition, not unlike what the real world has with some diseases, mental illnesses and gender variances (for example, both epilepsy and lycanthropy were thought to be caused by demonic possession, and in some places still are). It’s not contagious, and at the time the story takes place science is just beginning to understand its underlying causes.

Although it isn’t mentioned in the story, the formerly United States are balkanized, and in the area the main character comes from the government heavily regulates the lives of lycanthropes. Diagnosed individuals are required to be on transformation suppressant drugs, to carry a card at all times identifying their condition (the main character’s is seen above), to report for weekly and monthly check-ups that include blood tests to make sure they’re on their meds and not transforming illegally, and to be regularly evaluated by a “case worker” psychiatrist. Since transformations can be suppressed but not prevented entirely, they’re only allowed to occur on a strict schedule in government run enclosures that, inevitably, have been nicknamed dog pounds. The shapeshift itself, referred to as “thresholding”, is caused by a complex interaction of androgens, cortisol and adrenal hormones, blood glucose levels, and sympathetic nervous system activation and can happen at any time.

The werewolf’s rights movement has been around in an organized form since the Victorian era, but is just starting to gain traction with the widespread use of the internet in the 90’s. Like the main character, a lot of werewolves are discovering each other online, sharing their stories and creating a sense of community, and beginning to efficiently organize grassroots political campaigns.

The internet also lets some werewolves explore their darker sides. An unfortunately large number of werewolves experience an intense desire to hunt and consume humans – which, as you might imagine, is generally frowned upon and makes acceptance efforts by rights groups extremely difficult. The majority of werewolves manage to control their anthropophagus mania but the main character is invited to a USENET group where werewolves get together to discuss traveling to less-developed parts of the world where they can stop taking their meds and go on a killing spree with less government interference . . . and this is where the story begins, with Thom Halvorsen sneaking away from his job as a stunt double on a film set in Cape Town to give his carnivorous urges free reign in the squatter camps where he assumes no one is watching.

The 90’s were a rather exciting time in South Africa, what with the apartheid government being officially dismantled. You can actually pinpoint the story as taking place after September 1993 (when AOL let its customers access USENET) and April 1994, when the first general elections in which all citizens were allowed to participate were held. I thought that would make an interesting story setting without leaning too heavily on superficial 90’s things like music or fashion, and I could use my direct experience as an American in S. Africa to add verisimilitude.

One of the interesting things about South Africa is we have eleven official languages, and it’s quite common for people to be bilingual at the very least, and many know at least a few words in other languages. I wanted to give the feeling of that in the story, so I included some non-English words and sentences. They should be fairly clear in context, but if you don’t feel like heading over to translate.google, here’s what they mean (with my loving gratitude to Piet for double checking me):

“Poes klap” – Afrikaans. Literally “pussy punch”, but it actually means a slap upside the head.

“Tarantella” – a mistake on the character’s part. A tarantella is an Italian dance, but the word he’s looking for is the Afrikaans “tarentale”, or guinea fowl.

“Nee” – Afrikaans. “No.”

“Kasie” – Afrikaans. Short form of “location”, used to refer to the townships / informal settlements.

“Braai” – Afrikaans. A barbeque, but don’t call it that in front of an Afrikaner. They take their braais very seriously.

“Ach” is an Afrikaans interjection, it’s actually spelled “ag” but I went with a phonetic spelling.

“Jy het die vlees van my volk verslind, maar nou sal ons jou verskeur, Boer!” – Afrikaans. “You have devoured the flesh of my people, but now we will tear you up, Boer!”. Boer is a sort of catchall term for white Afrikaners but specifically refers to farmers. “Verskeur” is loosely translated; it actually means something like “en-rip”.

“Wildehonde” – Afrikaans. “Wild dogs”, but also used for Cape Hunting Dogs.

“Mpungushe” – Zulu. “Jackal.”

“Ngisalindile namanje” – Zulu. “Still waiting.”

“Kwasukua sukela” – Zulu. “By then” or “Long, long ago” – traditionally used to start a story, as in “Once upon a time”.