#HE WASN'T EVEN A MUSTELID THIS WHOLE TIME

[taffydragonblog]

Who exactly IS Fang the Hunter? What's his history? What's his purpose? Why'd he have to show up when I showed up here? He could've just been hangin' out and I coulda shot him in the fuckin' butt! Nip it in the bud, they say! That's the term! I'm getting close. Why do I have to point that out, it always makes me worse--

[bat-connoisseur]

I turned your Baldurs Gate 3 characters into furries. Sorry. Actually no I'm not I won't pretend anymore.

General notes and specific species under the cut.

Astarion: He is a Ghost Bat! I like to think him being a vampire and being a bat are entirely unrelated, it's just a coincidence and he's honestly pretty mad about it. Ever since I first started playing bg3 I had him assigned as a Ghost Bat or a Spectral Bat in my brain, just arbitrarily, and I went for the former just because the colours work.

Gale: He's a Eurasian Lynx! I had to make him a cat. I just had to. And I trawled through the wikipedia pages for pretty much every type of cat and Lynx was about the only one that fit in my brain. The fluff kinda evokes his beard and hair I think, and I almost didn't have him have proper hair, just the fur, but in the end I wanted to be consistent about it so he got it. Peep the greying muzzle because mans is stressed and dying.

Karlach: She's a Bongo Antelope! I knew I wanted her to be some kind of large hooved mammal, because of the horns but also because their builds and general sturdiness really suit her I think. It was a tough pick, there's so many cool ones, and when sketching I was actually going to have her be a Mountain Nyala, but I changed my mind last minute just because the colours of the Bongo fit SO well. They're also my favourite antelope. Let me have this. She's so cool and she gets to be one of my favourite animals.

Lae'zel: She is a Pterosaur! My specific reference was Dorygnathus, but I was fairly loose on the details and so she doesn't super resemble them beyond the teeth and tail. I wanted her to be something prehistoric since the Gith are aliens or something (i dont know dnd lore that well), and so I wanted her to be in her own sort of category apart from the rest so, prehistoric! I considered making her a dinosaur but the idea of a Pterosaur just really appealed for whatever reason. Kind of parallels their dragon riding if they can fly, I suppose? And their Enhanced 10 Foot Vertical Leap.

Shadowheart: She's a Hare! Very specifically a Hare rather than a rabbit. Hopefully that comes across. I wasn't super sure what to do for her honestly, but in several scenes she has these big scared eyes, and she's generally just kind of having an awful time and being harmed by the gods for the whole game and I was like 'hey I know an animal that looks like it's been personally slighted by the gods' and so Shadowhare was born. There is a part of me that wishes I'd made her a cat for the warrior cats joke though.

Wyll: He's a Pine Marten! I just kind of got it in my head he should be a Mustelid of some kind, I'm not sure why, he just has that kind of vibe to me? Maybe it's the way he moves, maybe it's his skill at killing, maybe I'm just biassed because I love him and I love mustelids, who knows. I looked through em all and I didn't want one of the bigger sturdier ones like a Wolverine because. Strength stat of 8. So I went for one of my smaller favourites, the Pine Marten. The reason he's not an animal with horns naturally like Karlach is because I still wanted them to look out of place on him! I toyed with giving him wings (because they're cool) but ultimately didn't wanna stray toooo far from Pine Marten.

And that's all! Perhaps I'll get around to anthropomorphising the non origin characters, but who even knows. Halsin would almost be too easy. I could make Jaheria a cool ass fox or something though. Much to consider. If I do them then I'm gonna be doing my Tav Deimos and my Durge Lethe though. That's da law.

[finaldestination-3]

All seems well when they slide the door close and enter the home, easily trekking into the kitchen and setting some things down on the far left end of the counter. They think they're in the clear till the scuffle of tiny feet on stone countertops quickly dashes that assumption. Pivoting their whole body to look right and there it is. A couple of electric crackles pop in the air briefly when they make eye contact with the thing but that's as flashy as it gets. They breathe out deeply to prepare for whatever is to come and are not surprised when it hops over to them in its very liquidy-body sort of way.

"And what are you doing out and about? Who let you have the run of the place, much less unsupervised?" They raise an eyebrow in question but know damn well it cannot answer in words they will understand.

Instead it hops in place, fur standing on end, hoping they will understand its signals. And it's in luck because they do. In the next moment, they lower an arm down like a ramp for it to climb and it does exactly that. Little claws are dulled by the fabric of their long sleeved shirt but still felt as it scales them with ease, stopping when it has a sturdy shoulder perch. For a second it seems to falter in whatever it was trying to do, stumped by something, but that doesn't last long. The long curtain of hair they have chosen not to put up today for some reason only does so much to detour the weasel with golden fur. Finding a suitable spot to enter from, it pushes their hair aside and continues on its quest. There is a tickling sensation around their ear and neck as the Raijuu sniffs around and brushes them with its decently soft fur and whiskers. But they hold it together and wait for what they know is coming next. It always comes next.

Little teeth make a solid attempt to bite into flesh that it has bitten into several times before. But something sparks then, ever so briefly, and the creature makes a quick jump back onto the counter. They can see in its eyes the betrayal. This round will go to Shin, not to the Raijuu. Finally.

"You can't pull that trick on me anymore, slinky thing. Nice try though." Their tone is mocking but only lightly.

It's then that another individual enters the kitchen, probably altered from the sound of their voice, to greet the scene unfolding. Kouta looks from his husband to the horrible little animal he usually shares a body with and then back again. He can tell the little preexisting feud between the two may have just hit a snag and for once Shin has the upper hand.

"What did you do this time?" He asks, guarded, knowing he may not like the answer. The little weasel has his husband fixed with the mustelid equivalent of a glare but they do not seem phased at all.

"You should see for yourself." There's a very self assured note to their words and Kouta is itching to know why. He really looks at Shin then, examining them for anything that might give away the answer, before it hits him.

"Any reason you've left your hair loose today?"

"Yes, actually. But I won't tell you why unless you investigate."

Oh he was definitely sure he wasn't going to like this. Being led on in this manner usually meant trouble. He knew his spouse's tactics by now. So what exactly did they want him to find? The only way was to give in and poke around, praying it wasn't some sort of ruse or ploy to offset something else.

"Okay, but I'm not trusting you just yet. Not until I can prove you're up to no good. And especially not after that."

"I've got nothing to hide."

"Says the idiot who's opted for a change they almost never indulge in. Show me your ears."

"I won't do the work for you. Come look for yourself, you might be surprised." There is an obvious absence of malign intent or even instigation when they speak. Everything is said genuinely, highlighted with a grin, and that may be more unsettling than if they were truly trying to hide something.

Against his mounting uncertainty, Kouta stepped up closer to his spouse and looked them over before making any other move. And once he was within range, the forgotten weasel made a leap of faith and landed squarely on the shoulder closest to it. Kouta let out a soft "oof" but continued on with his work anyway. Shin stood very still, being overly compliant, as if they were proud of whatever they had done. So he carefully reached one arm up and put a couple fingers under their chin, feather light, to tip their head back a little for a better inspection angle. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary yet.

"I don't know what game you're playing but now I'm even more curious."

"Satisfy your curiosity all you want."

He moved his hand now to the left side of his partner's head, carefully brushing against the longer hair there that was covering the ear he was deadset on getting a good look at. So he moves the hand closer and past their hair, revealing the ear in question. Immediately his eye was drawn to something. This made too much sense now. No wonder the Raijuu was upset, it must have tried its usual bitey routine with them and was greeted with metal rings that do not feel good against teeth.

"Since when did you do this?"

"This morning. Mostly in impulse, but it's practical in the long run. I'm tired of that little shit biting me." They gave a glare if their own, as well as they could from the corner of their eye, to the weasel using Kouta's shoulder as a roost. "So it can cope with the helixes."

Instead of responding right away, Kouta seemed to be a little lost in thought. He knew brand new piercings were tender so touching them was not a good idea. And it would also risk infection to put his dirty fingers on them. Though, other temptations were calling him now that he was in this position. One thing stood in the way though so it was time to rectify that. "Get down." His voice was stern.

The weasel, shocked at first, growled a little and hopped back onto the counter. Kouta muttered a "thank you" but it gave its best impression of not listening. If this was how it was going to be treated, it would find something better to do.

With that out of the way, there was nothing getting in his way now. And, sensing this, Shin shifted into a more comfortable position to better face their spouse. The closeness was sparking a drive of energy in Kouta but he did his best to keep a lid on it and put his hand to his husband's chin again instead. They let him stay there, observing, contemplating. Kouta seemed a bit too nerve-frazzled to do much aside from lightly touch and get lost in his own head. So they took the initiative instead, leaning down just enough, slipping out of his hold in the meantime, to capture his lips in an out of the blue kiss. He had to process it for a moment but quickly got his bearings, closed his eyes, and leaned into it.

This must have really blanked his mind because when he opened his eyes again he found himself seated on the countertop, hands tightly holding the collar of his husband's oversized shirt, with one of their hands cupping the side of his face and the other palm-down on the stone next to them that they were seated on. The two of them pulled away from each other then, each catching their breath, before Kouta pulled them closer once more. His target this time was their neck as he peppered the side of it with needy kisses, trailing a few up their throat next, deciding that whatever he had been doing before they got home was no longer important.

All of his attention had begun to wind them up as he could hear the needy moans begin in the back of their throat, threatening to loudly escape if they were pushed a little more. They could feel the scrape of his elongated bottom canine teeth against the flesh of their neck and it was driving them nuts. Both of their hands were at his sides, rested on the counter, curled into fists to retain some level of self control. If Kouta kept this up then the dam would break. Shin tipped their head back to allow Kouta better access, getting lost in the feeling of attention being rained down upon them, and let one of those throaty moans escape. It drove him wild as he now directed his kisses and nipping up Shin's jawline. Thank gods the two were home alone.

Or, well, mostly alone.

Something crashing to the floor in the next room sounded loudly and broke the pair out of their hazy trance. Kouta damned near jumped out of his skin when he came back down to earth. He set his expression in a snarl, the accompanying growl like hot coals in his throat, before letting loose a reprimand. "WHAT are you doing in there you bastard!"

The loss of contact made Shin whine, not enjoying having to sober up so fast. They didn't even notice when Kouta looked around them to lock eyes with the beast looking in on them from the floor of the other room. They knew the mood was broken and getting it back was gonna take some time so they backed off and let Kouta down. To their surprise, they didn't make a move to chase the beast.

"If I ever let you roam again you best consider yourself real lucky, fucker. Now behave or it's back to jail for you." He used his best tone of authority before looking back at his husband. "I'm sorry about that, so much. I didn't mean to get so jumpy in the moment."

"It's no big deal, I've had worse." They soothed, understanding that accidents happened sometimes.

"Pick up where we left off? That felt *good* and I'm not letting some fancy ferret fuck it up."

That was all they needed to hear.