Imprinting

[ringswraith]

Knives, I don't understand why you think that imprinting is a purely sexual urge. All the evidence we have points to it not being that way at all.

Because the whole point of it is to ensure wolfy future generations- i.e., procreation. Yeah, it might be about finding that one special someone, but ultimately it's finding that one special someone to have kids with. And that is a biologically sexual urge.

[Knives]

What Wraith said - imprinting is explicitly stated to be purposed for reproduction. Saying that imprinting is not sexual is like saying, y'know, making babies is totally not sexual.

Fun fact, learned from my wife who grew up in a wolf-breeding family; in the wild (and domestically, if you let them), a wolf who chooses a mate that spurns him attempts to take that mate anyway. In order to not be mated, she must proceed to whup his candy butt eight ways to Sunday.

As for your argument, 'Pire (may I call you 'Pire?), I've heard it before, from Ms. Meyer. It's bunk. Strangely enough, despite not being a looker, I've had girls give me "that level of adoration". And you know what? It's freaking creepy. It only gets worse when it's a guy doing it, lemme tell you. Maybe a sappy girl who grew up on too much Disney or is so utterly innocent that she cannot concieve of such problems as stalkers, obsession, co-dependence et cetera might fall for it, but other girls would, at the very least, be highly concerned about the male in question, and would be more likely to tell him to get away, leave her alone, or eat pepper spray.

[vampirenerd]

Sure you can call me whatever lol...I would just like to first point out that everytime this topic comes up it reminds me of the song "Every Breath You Take" by the Police. It's supposed to be a song about a stalker but everyone thinks it's a love song lol. I was of course, just repeating what we're told in the book. Of course it's romantic to think that if someone is that in to you, you would have a hard time resisting. If it happened to me though, I will admit it would be kinda creepy lol. But I still stick by my theory that the wolf wouldn't try to find someone else. Judging by what SM tells us, the imprint is the one and only for the wolf...so I don't think they would be able to find someone else.

And Knives, there is nothing wrong with too much Disney lol

[The girlie-wolf]

I still don't understand why Leah would have to stop phasing to imprint. None of the other wolves have to. Why couldn't she imprint, then learn to stop phasing, and then have kids.

Cuz the whole purpose of imprinting is passing the gene.... whcih means having a child. The other wolves have no problem to pass the gene because they don't need to change and cuz the fact that they phase won't hurt the babies...
And Leah has to pass the gene. But she can't be pregnat when she wtill phases... agreed? so she'll need to stop phasing first. but to stop phasing and to start aging again is quite a long process. And maybe it will take too long. If it takes too long maybe the imprintee would die first... until she stips phasing. maybe it would take her too long.
And I agree...there is nothing wring with too much diesny

[ringswraith]

Ok, let me see if I get this straight.

We agree that imprinting serves to ensure passing on the "gene" to future generations- i.e., having kids.

You're saying that Leah won't imprint until she stops phasing, because until then, she will be unable to bear child.

Well, how does this affect Quil? Claire can't have kids until she's much older. Why would Quil imprint on her? By your logic, since Claire can't bear children, Quil should not have imprinted on her. Wouldn't it make more sense for him to have imprinted on someone around his age, as the other wolves (Sam, Jared, Paul) have?

[The girlie-wolf]

You got the begining right...
But Quil don't age... so he has no problem to wait for Claire to grow up, right? he won't age until she is ready to have children and he won't need to stop phasing for it...
If Leah imprints on a guy she'll have to stop phasing because he grows up, not like Quil and Claire cuz Quil can wait for Claire but the guy can't wait for Leah to stop phasing if it will take her a long time... got it?

[Edwards Wheels]

Does anyone think it might be possible for things to be very different for Leah? I mean she's female so we dont know the rules etc as far as she's concerned with phasing, stopping phasing and imprinting. My thought came after rereading Eclipse. This might not make as much sense in writing as it does in my head so bear with me.

If Leah was to imprint after the ending of Breaking Dawn where the vampire numbers have stabilised, therefore wolf numbers aren't needed as they were before, do you think it would be possible for Leah to stop phasing easier because she'd imprinted and then be able to pass the gene on?

I guess what I'm saying is that because she's a woman, and in theory needs to pass the gene on, would her imprinting on someone change the way her life is? Because passing the gene on is so important whether that part of nature would be stronger than the need to phase? Almost like her biological clock was ticking away, and she found her mate and boom! The phasing part of her has gone so she can have babies?

I really hope someone understands what I'm talking about here lol

[vampirenerd]

I think I understand what you're saying izzysmum...BECAUSE she imprints she'll stop phasing sooner. Of course we don't know anything for sure b/c Leah is just one big mystery but that does make sense. The passing on of the gene is more important to the wolf then phasing so she'd have an easier time stopping so she can pass on the gene.

Girlie, as for your arguments, I guess what we're seeing different is the time in which it will take Leah to stop phasing. You're under the impression that it's obviously going to take her at least thirty to forty years. That would be assuming that the guys is in his twenties also, and guys usually stop producing children around fifty to sixty years old. Of course, if it's her true match and she does take that long I still think they would be together if he's still able to have kids even if he's fifty...but that's just my opinion and a WHOLE nother topic lol.

First, my main point I'm trying to make is that you DON"T have to have kids as soon as you imprint. Quil and Jacob both imprinted on girls that will have to wait years before being able to have kids but they're still imprinted. So, why can't Leah imprint and then wait to have kids? It shouldn't be any different b/c she's female. I, of course, am under the impression that it won't take her nearly as long to stop phasing as you think it will. I really like what izzysmum said, that the need to produce a child with the gene would outweigh the need to imprint. That's kinda what I've been saying all along, that once she imprints it'll be easier for her to stop phasing sooner.

[ringswraith]

To add to what vampirenerd said, I'm saying that the imprint happens so long as the potential to have offspring with that person is present. It doesn't matter whether it happens now or in the future- as you (and I) pointed out with Quil and Claire- just that it's possible.

So, going with that logic, why wouldn't Leah imprint, even if she's an active wolf? In fact, no one imprinted until at least after their first phase. And you haven't made a comment regarding my point with Paul- he's just as hotheaded as Leah is (perhaps a little less so, but still), and yet he's already able to control himself enough to be with Rachel. And he's only been a wolf (again, if I'm calculating all this correctly) a few months longer than she has. So why wouldn't Leah be able to do this?

In fact, I'm rather certain that had the story continued, she would have imprinted. She's one of the few wolves who have an added advantage (her speed). I can't fathom her wolfish side not wanting to pass that on.

[Edwards Wheels]

I'm glad I managed to get my point across lol, i had a hard time converting what I had in my head into words. I was assuming that it's harder for the males to stop phasing because in theory they don't really need to stop phasing.

I was also curious about whether or not the rest of the wolves would need to carry on phasing if the cullens were to move on? They said the pack had never been so big, but that it was due to the amount of vampires in the area, so would maybe the lesser ranked wolves find phasing happening less and less or all of them or would it make no difference that the vampires were gone and they'd all just carry on with a huge pack running around La Push?