Shifters have become increasingly popular in today's fiction writing. There are werewolves, werebirds, werecats, werebadgers, even weresnakes. So, I must ask, where are all the werebugs? Is there no place in the paranormal romance genre for shifter insects? I mean, vamps are hot. Vampires feed by drinking the blood of their host. Does that make wereticks and shifter mosquitoes uber hot?? O.k., I must confess that I just threw up a little but I have to admit that if a PNR author wrote a novel featuring a weredungbeetle as the leading man I would *have* to read it. That would just be epic.
So what are your thoughts? Do you think werebugs could be hot? If so, which insects do you think would make the most steamy weres?
o0o0o Dean is delicious! Way to get side-tracked! um ... werebugs ... hehe ... NO! I'll just take Dean, you keep the werebugs! Bugs aren't sexy! *shudder* Um ... maybe those little mint-green leaf-insects (are they actually called that? I've always called them that :o) Those are cute, maybe those could be sexy! Anything delicate and long-libbed I guess ... not, like, spiders or cockroaches or caterpillars. Ugh.
ReplyDeleteOMG -- I needed that! Excellent photoshop skills as well. Actually, there are werebugs in MaryJanice Davidson's YA series, Jennifer Scales. They are werearachnids (spiders and scorpians).
ReplyDeleteOh no, I'm arachnaphobic so that series would definitely not work for me! LOL.
ReplyDeleteYes, I think I'll stick with Dean. Yummmm.....wait. What were we talking about again?! LOL!
I agree that some of the delicate insects may work. Butterflies, Lady Bugs, Mint-green-leaf-insects....and now that I think more about it wasn't Xander nearly devoured by a preying manitis shifter in one of the early seasons of Buffy? But spiders, *shudder*, I would scratch ALL of my skin off before I made it past chapter one!
xx,
E.J.
I'll just take dean with out the bugs..can't say i have ever heard of were bugs..many syfy movies with the bugs .
ReplyDeletehmmm, I would have to go with NO. There is such a thing of too much. Werebugs would definitly be too much.
ReplyDeletehmm if it was a butterfly or maby a praying mantis it would be cool but.. not alot of people liek bugs XD its like asking if someone wants to see a werefrog.. i do not thing there is a huge fanbase.
ReplyDeleteWEREROACH!!!! -stomps-... oops.
I've never liked bugs very much. It reminds me of "The Fly". Icky. :(
ReplyDeleteYeah, I'd have to give that a big NO vote for werebugs! After all, bugs are not mammals (I wasn't sure if you were meaning for a human to morph into a 'bug', but that's pretty improbable if you're a mammal going to a bug or arachnid.) Anyway - no & no. {I've not heard of a werebadger either. And a weresnake? No thanks.} lol
ReplyDelete.. I don't know how I'd feel about werebugs (love the photoshop job, too) xD Although, I agree, I'd be really curious about reading about one!
ReplyDeleteActually .... I think it's a really hot idea. Kafka's "Metamorphosis" has always been one of my favorites. I am fascinated by insects - I actually had many as pets growing up : spiders, praying mantis, caterpillars, walking sticks - loved all of them. I always smile when I find one in my house (there's an ant crawling on my keyboard as I type!)
ReplyDeleteIt would take a huge amount of research to do justice to the werebug concept (unless you already have a degree in entomology,) but I think it would be a blast. I'd love to try it. And then there were my pet snakes ....
Beachpoet,
ReplyDeleteI agree that a book including werebugs would definitely require a huge amount of research but I find the idea intriguing.
How would one deal with a romantic situation when one falls for a shifter who is developing (or already has) a hive mentality?
For those who are repulsed by the idea of werebugs (and it seems like the majority here are at least a little repulsed) wouldn't that be the greatest challenge for love to conquer? I mean, so many PNR books today still contest that the werewolves and vamps are monsters with the leading man or woman often asking, "How can you fall in love with a monster?" and yet we've come to accept them (and let's admit it many of us drool over them) so is it really a challenge for their love to overcome?
O.k., I have to admit that when I first posted this, on April Fools Day, I was feeling a bit cheeky but I am now genuinely intrigued with the idea.
Thank you all so much for your comments!
xx,
E.J.
I have to admit that I find the idea of overcoming fear and revulsion to acknowledge underlying love compelling. You're right - we are challenging the traditional concepts of "monsterhood" right now in the PNR genre, and exploring the possibilities and realities of redemption and worth in all beings. I think Amy Lane does this especially well.
ReplyDeleteI am intrigued by the vision of a spider shifter - furry tarantula type - and how that could work with a human partner. I might prefer the more solitary model over the hive model - but the latter has definite possibilities, too. I'm so glad you brought this up - even if it was an April Fool's moment. No telling where it might go.
Jacqie
+JMJ+
ReplyDeleteThat's an interesting question. I was tempted to leave a snappy answer like, "Franz Kafka ruined werebugs for all of us." =P
But bugs aren't really very sexy, are they? When someone in a Romance novel is compared to a bug, he is usually the villain or the also-ran for the heroine's affections!