#I draw brian as a wolf but he looks like a regular dog

[mersei47]

bear tim and frens

[enniewritesathing]

the lore~

aka all the juicy bits about this version of lycanthropy. although, bc it’s long, I’ll split it into this and then specifically to John.

Lycanthrophy is split into 4 “grades”. Grade 1 are carriers (aka genes are not activated/dormant/latent) but have no chance to turn, but they can pass them on. In this case, John’s mom is a Grade 1. It’s unknown what grade his father was, but most likely Grade 1 as well. Grade 1 lycans typically don’t know about it until their children have gone through their first transformation. 

There are two main ways of lycanthrophy -- cursed by a witch or warlock that knows the spell or inheriting the gene from their parents. A lesser known way is through biting, but this is exclusive to Grade 4 lycans and they are rare.

John is a Grade 2 -- mostly human appearance aside from his eyes, hands, body hair, and teeth. In this case, he’d probably be refered to as “wolf-man or man-wolf”, and can still blend in with the human population in this state. Grades 3/4 are closer to the classical werewolf image.

He cannot shapeshift as a Grade 2, so he is still the same height. There’s some muscle increase but seeing that John is already this, it’s hard to tell.

However, when there’s the rare super moon eclipse, he is a Grade 3 with partial transformation for the duration of the eclipse. It’s... not good.

Lycan and werewolf are used interchangably -- werewolf being the most common term and easier to remember. Lycan is the more formal term.

Lycans have a common trigger for transformation, and that is the moon. It’s been reported that they can avoid it by not being touched by the moon’s light, not looking at it, locking themselves away for their duration or simply staying inside of their place of residence.

In John’s case, he is turned by a supermoon and not a regular full moon; a supermoon is typically 3 or 4 times a year and this makes him stay in his lycan state longer. Grade 3/4 only turn the night on the full moon. Regular full moons for John, he has a marked agitation and is sensitive to everything.

There’s also triggers unique to the lycan and far easy to stop the process. John is prone to turning from extreme emotion (anger and anxiety), so he meditates from time to time in to keep himself in check. 

Lycans are naturally carnivores, but it depends on the lycan themself. John has a marked increase in eating meat when he’s turned, but will still eat fruits and veggies. 

Other than the deer he ate, he doesn’t have a preference for ‘wild’ food. He does get those urges to ‘hunt’... he has caught a rabbit and a couple of birds.

Lycans have the ability to communicate with other animals, or at least, be very in tune with them. 

Yes, John has talked to Spaghetti. It’s not any different from what he does, but the only difference is that they can understand each other. She’s not afraid of him due to the fact she considers him as her dad (one of them anyway) and has looked after her since she was a kitten.

John loves cats as it is, and he really does when he’s turned. Most cats are confused about this until he explains the situation... but still, he respects their space. (Cats? They gossip.)

Dogs are wary of him at first until he states his friendliness (sitting on the floor and being eye level with them). 

They have a fondness for dogs and/or cats. Most likely to adopt a bunch.

A lycan’s body tempurature is higher than a human’s, so they have a penchant of wearing less clothes. For John, it’s shirtlessness, having an open shirt, or a tank top. (But really prefers not wearing a shirt).

Because lycans have heighten senses, they can also be extremely empathic to the point of being “psychic”. They can sense emotions as if they’re experiencing it. They can read “surface” thoughts and can tell if a person is lying or otherwise. 

As John said, lycans chooses their mate carefully because once they give the sacred mark, they are bonded to each other until death. If the lycan is the surviving mate, they will not seek out another one. He mentions that he skipped the courtship part of it, but that’s honestly the dating part. This can take as little as a couple of weeks to years and maybe decades. 

Lycans don’t really have a concept of sexuality, or at least the very least, they are really relaxed about it.

The relationship/bondship may not be necessarily be sexual either.

With the sacred mark on their neck, it grants the lycan’s mate life longevity and age deceleration. So, John and Brian are gonna live for a long time because of this.

Lycans of all grades can live past 120 years. If they don’t do anything stupid. Which is way easier said than done.

They are extremely protective of their mates. I mean... John killed a bear. A big grizzly bear. But they are not possessive.

Lycans are also naturally fiercesome fighters. It’s not farfetched that they participate in combat sports of all types. It’s also an excellent way to keep their aggression in check. John does Muay Thai, but he does not tap in to his lycan side.

Lycans in their human form have near-exotic eye colors, or a ultra bright version of human eye colors. John’s eyes are a striking amber. In low light, they appear to glow.

The first few times transforming is harsh on the body, but the more times a lycan turns, the better they are off, and the faster the process is. Grade 3/4 lycans can transform as fast as 30 seconds. John, after this, learns to transform within 5 minutes.

The point, the start of transformation is the heart, and then it spreads to the rest of the body. Because of that, it causes immense pain and of course, spikes the lycan’s heart rate to an dangerous rate. 

John tells Brian that his heart was stopped six times last in order for him to not transform and have his human side to take back control. This is a way, but it’s a very extreme way and it only works in a specialized controlled environment. He almost dies because of this. 

To compensate for this, lycan hearts are strong (in order to handle the transformation.)

In the notes, it describes transformation as “succumbing to the ocean’s waves.” John interprets this as a sort of meditation.

The reason there are so few lycans is a combination of calculated purges that have dwindled their population to near non-existance over the course of 500 years. 

It is not known how many remain because they’re scattered across the world and extremely elusive. Because of this, there’s no lycan social hierarchy or dynamics; and if they did exist, it wouldn’t be that rigid/strict. (Meaning, John would theorectically be an alpha... not that he’d really adhere to that. He’s not the posturing, aggressive sort.)

Personality wise, lycans do tend to be introverted as to not draw suspiscion, however, they are known to be very social.

Lycans are pretty durable, even if in their human state. 

The stories and myths about lycans stem from Grade 3/4s losing control of themselves and going feral/berserk.

Lycans are allergic to a certain amount of silver; they can still use utensils to eat with. If wounded with silver, depending on how much, the wound takes longer to heal. If shot with silver bullets, it takes two to kill them -- one to the brain and one to the heart (not necessarily in that order). Otherwise, it will severely wound them and even force the lycan to revert back to their human state.

Lycans can heal themselves if the wound isn’t mortal. The bigger it is, the more time it takes, so it can vary between a few seconds to hours, and will leave behind very faint scars. For broken bones, it takes about a day to mend.

Wolfsbane -- of all types -- smell foul to a lycan.

A lycan’s mate smells very sweet to them. (When John turns again and they’re home, he just... sniffs everything.)

They are more likely to remember a person by their scent than by their name. This is especially important when a Grade 3/4 lycan turns.

Lycans do try to be discrete about that, but curiousity tends to take over when met with new situations.

Some don’t have a sense of space. This true for John when he wants something or attention. 

The first transformation usually takes place around the age of 13. Any earlier, a lycan child may be at high risk of dying. This was true for John’s twin brother, Jacob, who turned at the age of 9. John was 11 when he first turned and nearly died. 

The week preceding turning, lycans grades 2-4 experience a fever that is initially low grade (~100.4F) then turns to high grade (103F+).

Depending on the grade (or themself), a lycan does not wear clothing during turning, or at least something that can stretch with their body in order to not rip their clothing (usually spandex for modesty). Clothing feels very abrasive on their skin as well (which is why John tore his off).

Lycans... do howl, but this is more of a Grade 3/4 thing. John has howled before but it’s very soft and low. It’s like a “woooooo”sound. Certain noises do set them off though.

They do share a lot of their behaviors with dogs. Grade 2 lycans can disguise it as quirks, but it is noticable. (for example, when Brian asks a question that starts with “Do you wanna...?” and John immediately perks up.)

Of course, they are naturally hairy and not exclusive to a lycan’s gender. Some prefer to groom and some prefer to rock it. 

Lycans make excellent cuddlers. Especially during the winter time.

Lycans do get along with other occults... but they don’t like the smell of vampires.

And here’s the spicy portion because I’m sure some of ya’ll were looking for it 👀

Lycans do go through heat from 1 to 5 times a year, and lasts about a week. It’s preceded by being extremely horny on main. John goes through it 3 times a year and can happen in either lycan or human form.

There’s little to no refractory period -- aka cooldown.

John is pretty mindful of Brian’s rules but boy is he annoying until he says it’s okay to go. He is also mindful of teeth and claws but Brian doesn’t mind that. (Or his tongue.)

Sex can last hours and can happen multiple times a day during heat.

This is when most bond marks are made, and typically made on the neck. Other locations include inner thigh, hand (around the thumb area), upper arm, shoulder, collarbone, or if the lycan is really cheeky... the ass cheek.

Some lycans have sex in their human form because of convenience. Some. This doesn’t exactly apply to Grade 2 lycans because they’re still human-shaped. 

Sex can also be a little rough and tends to leave marks behind.

There are... some enhancements.