#I really want to have her a ranger too so she can have her wolf family with her lol

[ishouldgay]

I’m going to roll a Druid that’s been raised by wolves. She knows nothing. Who is Baldur and why are people obsessed with his gate? Shadowheart is a cleric of Shar, should she be upset about that, who is Shar? What do you mean a city got dragged into the hells?

[bg-brainrot]

As @cosmicchocomuffin suggested!

Which class/subclass each BG3 character would play in D&D (with a little explanation):

Astarion: Draconic Sorcerer - he would pick a character that comes with power innately, no god, no pact, no strings attached, and he would pick draconic for the eventual flight. Also he would want a high Cha character so that he can attempt to be the face of the party.

Gale: Artillerist Artificer - he would pick another Int based class of course, and, as for Artillerist, he still enjoys being useful, so he'd like the fire power this subclass affords. He would take time every day to ensure his infusions are prepared for the day, not allowing the party to proceed without them.

Karlach: Circle of the Moon Druid - she loves animals and nature and would love to transform into them, but wouldn't want to deal with all of those pesky spells, hence the Circle of the Moon. She would definitely be the cause of half of the chaotic druid wildshape memes online.

Lae'zel: Way of the Astral Self Monk - she would pick monk because they're respected martial warriors, pick the subclass because of its potential to reach enlightenment. But to the surprise of no one, she actually gets really into her character to the point of drawing a blade on the DM (Withers).

Shadowheart: Assassin Rogue - the classic lone wolf class and given all of her Sharran training, she would pick this subclass for the ease of roleplay it offers, with its disguise and mimicry. She starts out aloof, but quickly divulges the entire 12-page backstory she created for her character.

Wyll: Monster Slayer Ranger - he heard people looked down on rangers and decided to give them a chance, then he saw Monster Slayer was an option and knew he picked right. The actual face of the party, simply because he's the only one capable of staying on track-- however, put him in front of a cool monster and you've lost him too.

Non-Origins:

Halsin: Nature Domain Cleric - as someone who loves to help others, he would pick a class with a greater lean to the healing side of magic and with a bit of the same druid utility, then pick the subclass to still have that connection to nature. He will happily go along with whatever the party wants to do, and has ended up in jail a few times for it.

Minthara: Order of the Profane Soul Blood Hunter - she would love a class that's willing to go to any extent to defeat their enemies, like a blood hunter, and the order of the Profane Soul just cranks that up all the more. She would be the classic murder hobo of the group if left unchecked, but she will back off when the rewards are good enough.

Jaheira: Battle Master Fighter - she would go for a classic, reliable class like fighter, with a subclass that utilizes her battle knowledge like Battle Master. She is definitely a guest player, who the DM taps in for a difficult boss fight or arc, so she somehow still ends up the mentor figure in the game.

Minsc: Path of the Beast Barbarian - he wouldn't play something too complicated, hence the Barbarian, and he would love to understand Boo better, so he'd pick the subclass for the Beast abilities that come with this subclass. He would never quite know what he's doing, but makes the best accidental one liners at the table so no one minds helping.

Disclaimer: I only picked stuff I at least have the sourcebooks for. While some extra stuff looked cool, I wasn't familiar enough to get the vibes properly.

[isthedogawolfdog]

I just saw a reel on Instagram, which I absolutely refuse to link because I don’t want to give it more views so I attached a recording of some of the more relevant parts above, but basically this woman (who I assume was a photographer due to the cameras and such) was in the middle of the Arctic doing who knows what. She starts off the video saying something “incredible” happened, and the footage then cuts to her being surrounded by roughly 13 wild wolves. Yeah, you read that right. Due to the poor quality that is my recording, I’ll try and break down what’s happening to the best of my ability.

Throughout the video you can see that the wolves seem not quite quite laid back, but aren’t scared. The wolf closest to the camera at roughly seven seconds in is regarding them with a look that kinda says “hey, what’s this?”.* All the wolves are either walking along on their path, or taking a closer look, not necessarily circling the two individuals but definitely keeping an eye on them. This is probably due to them not seeing people at all prior to this experience. Now, I know that might sound odd, but some areas in the Arctic or places super far north in general have wolves that just haven’t seen people. There was a documentary (which I forget the name of) that covered researchers interacting with a pack who hadn’t seen people. There was also a book (Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowat) published a while ago that dealt with a pack similarly. When described, the behavior in both the book and documentary kinda reminds me of the wolves in this video.

A quick look at the animals tells me these people aren’t in any real danger, however, should the wolves get more curious and get closer things could probably get a bit tricky. Wolves being naturally neophobic, attacks on humans from healthy wild wolves are slim to none these days. Plus, you really shouldn’t interact with wild animals no matter what they’re acting like. Preferably these people would’ve tried scaring them away the second they saw them approaching (acting aggressive, maintaining eye contact, and whatever you do, don’t run!), but instead, we had to have a Disney princess moment.

In the extremely rare chance that the wolves had seen these people as food, we would be seeing more quicker movement, heads below their shoulders**, various behaviors to test and see whether the people were fit enough for a snack, etc. though this is not the case here. So why, might you be wondering, is this bad if the wolves aren’t hunting the people and the people aren’t interacting with the wolves?

Well, you should never, never, interact with wild animals like this, which if you’ve been following my blog for a while now you probably already know. These wolves, if they so happen to see people again, now associate people with something they can get close to without them getting hurt, which works great if you want a cool selfie, but isn’t good if you are a park ranger, a worried parent, or any other person in a position of authority really, let alone if you have a gun. Historically, if a wild animal (especially a wolf!) gets too close to people, they get shot. It doesn’t matter if the animal was exhibiting dangerous behavior or not, people can’t risk it. Basically, wolf getting closer to people and realizing they can do it without problems = them trying again at a time where things are different and people think “oh no, big and wolf!” and kill it.

I’m not sure how the encounter ended, but later footage shows the wolves farther away rallying as a group, so I assume everything went okayish despite the obvious errors. TL:DR, these people are endangering these animals with their need for a cool video, don’t be a Disney princess, and stay away from wild animals even if they look friendly.

*the wolf closest to the camera has its ears kinda flat and to the side, this is called airplane ears by some biologists (yes seriously) and it is a sign of uncertainty.

**fun fact: theories vary, but some have guessed that prey animals can tell whether a wolf is hunting from whether or not their heads are below their shoulders or not! This would explain why we see videos of wolves calmly walking passed a herd of elk while they stay rested, and why other times the elk will bolt as soon as they see the predator.

[wandabear]

FINDERS KEEPERS (but keeps it forever) - WANDA MAXIMOFF X F!READER

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This chapter has some WARNINGS: some horror, suspense, angst and two huge big puppies.

ㅤㅤ Jules is portrayed by Adelaide Kane. Here.

CHAPTER ONE 

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR 

CHAPTER FIVE

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤCHAPTER 4

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Concern could be seen on her face but she said nothing. Just squeezed the steering wheel trying to bear all those feelings and thoughts that bubbled inside.

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“Come on… Say what you’re thinking. now” Y/N dared to say, looking out the window as they entered the forest following a rather lonely dirt road. They took the I-87 to drive almost three hours to the Catskills Mountains. After twenty minutes they reached an old cabin lost among the huge and vast trees.

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“Oh, no. You don’t wanna know what I‘m thinking, Y/N.” Jules sighed and parked in front of the cabin, getting out of the car quickly.

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Y/N didn't answer, she knew very well that she screwed up by telling Wanda almost everything. Just took the huge and heavy sports bag that was in the trunk and followed Jules inside the cabin.

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“I rented the cabin for the whole weekend, I didn't want to seem so…obvious, especially for hunters.” She opened the door and coughed due to the dust, the lonely cabin hadn't been used in a while.

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“What? Really? Where did you find it?" Y/N frowned, it didn't look like a touristy cabin especially because of the dust on the furniture and some cobwebs in the corners.

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“Airbnb.” Jules teased, but seeing Y/N's worried face she just rolled her eyes. “Easy, I'm just kidding. An old ranger pal owed me a favor, told me that I could come here, he assured me of a safe place and well, this place is quite far from everything. This cabin has been out of service for five years, lots of rattlesnakes and cougars around the place. Too many wild animals.”

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“We are not close to civilization by many many miles. Just woods. This is good…” Y/N looked around, quite surprised. “Why didn't we stay here earlier? Why did we have to go to Wyoming?

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“Here we are more exposed than in Wyoming. Hikers, tourists miles away.” Jules walked around the place, opening the kitchen door to inspect everything, only to find old empty cans. “A full moon? Sure. But many nights in a row? I can't guarantee that you will attack someone or that a hunter will find us while looking for a Wendigo.”

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“Do Wendigos exist?” Y/N frowned and turned to see her quite surprised. “I thought it was just us and some old vampire over there.”

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“I don't know.” Her friend shrugged. “We are werewolves. Nothing surprises me anymore."

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Jules came over to take the sports bag and look for some stuff inside it. Found everything she could to ensure that they would be able to spend the night safely, though nothing was certain.

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“The guy who sold me this looked at me like I was buying something very kinky.” Jules took one of the huge chains, they weren't strong enough but she hoped they would hold them long enough. “Although with the right person… I would think about it.”

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“Are you sure it's going to work? We never did this, it worries me.” Y/N swallowed, they never turned without being sure they would be okay.

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Jules grunted, shaking her head.

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“Well, it would work if we were in Wyoming again but because of SOMEONE, we're still here because she can't let go of her fucking ex-girlfriend!” Jules finished muttering, definitely sensing the ferocity of the beast.

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“DON’T START WITH THAT AGAIN!” Y/N temper finally blew up.

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“THEN ACT LIKE YOU HAVE TO AND STOP WHINING!”

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They faced each other and snarled, showing their fangs. Dusk was falling little by little, while the sun was hiding between the mountains, the wolf roared inside.

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Y/N sighed deeply and closed her eyes, searching for the little serenity that remained in her. “I just don’t wanna hurt anyone.”

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“You wont, okay?” Jules did the same and then rested her forehead against Y/N's.  “We won’t.”

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“I don't want us to hurt each other.” The brunette whispered terrified. The thought of hurting Jules sank her heart deeply.

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“We won't get hurt, okay? Let’s do this.”

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Taking a deep breath, both walked away to arrange the place as quickly as possible.  This was the first time they spent a full moon in a place they didn’t know, but at least they knew they wouldn't hurt anyone nearby… Maybe.

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Blocked the door with some old furniture, nailed the it and the windows too. The musty old basement had only a big old boiler that no longer worked, plus some shitty boxes with stuff that didn’t work.

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Minute by minute, they felt how the heat embrace and suffocated them. Y/N hurried so that they could chain each other and, finally, inject themselves with that purplish liquid.

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“This time it will be two doses of wofsbane, hope not enough to poison us. It will hurt more, but it's worth a try.” Jules swallowed, noting but fear in Y/N's eyes. Of course she was afraid too, especially since the wolves inside them were telling them not to.

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The hooting of the owls and the crackling of the trees, Y/N tried to focus on anything but the liquid her friend was injecting. Closed her eyes tightly, the pain was immeasurable. But for both of them that pain meant hope.

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Ten minutes later, they were both babbling on the floor, hallucinating due to the enormous amount of wolfsbane ingested. Drops of sweat fell down their faces, Y/N tried to reach out to touch Jules hand but it just fell off, due to how weak they were now.

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The girls barely smiled at each other, knowing that maybe they made it, when Y/N's face changed completely. Horror flashed across her face.

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“Jules…” she whispered.

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“Yeah?”

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Y/N swallowed and narrowed her eyes, trying to focus. The sounds of the nature, the owls, the branches, frogs in their ponds, crickets singing in the woods. Two strangely fast heartbeats, which she recognized as Jules and herself but there was something else.

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Something wasn't right.

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She tried to concentrate a bit more, licking her lips, Y/N felt an enormous hunger and that made her eyes widen, her face paled. Feeling a fear that never felt.

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“There’s a third heartbeat.” Y/N exclaimed trying to grab the chain but couldn't, could barely move. Those words made Jules shake her head desperately.   “Oh my god, there’s a third beat. Oh, no no no no.”

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They tried to let go but couldn't, everything was desperate and heartbreaking. They were only minutes away from the beast finally breaking free and someone else was out there.

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“We have to go now, we must… get far away as possible.” Y/N said with her breath ragged. She crawled over to Jules trying to free her but a ‘crack’ made her fall to her knees, chaos began and they couldn't do anything.

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Feeling how tears fell down her face, Jules just closed her eyes, regretting from now on for everything they could cause. “Please, I don't want to hurt anyone.”

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“No, no. Not now.” Y/N whimpered looking at the door and clinging to the wood on the floor.  Moments where physical and mental pain was all they could feel.

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Now the wolf took control, making them prisoners and spectators of the nightmare.  A huge gray wolf and a white wolf were breathing heavily, trying to recover.

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And a long howl began the darkest night.

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Parking the car not too close from the cabin, Wanda remained watching the place with some suspicion. Of all the places she thought they would go, a lonely cabin in the woods was the last place on her mind.

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Everything was possible, right? She had seen worse. There were people who cheated on their partners in the most stupid way possible.

Well, they weren't a couple... were they? I mean, they said it but nothing officially.

ㅤㅤ ㅤㅤ "Ugh." The brunette closed her eyes, resting the forehead against the steering wheel.

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“Come on Wanda, this is stupid.” She told herself, what the hell had made her do this? She should be at home, crying and choking on alcohol or pizza and cursing Y/N like a normal person but no. She followed Y/N all the way to the fucking Catskills to find out what the hell she was doing.

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The sun has already set, the GPS saying she was in the woods -and strangely the dirt road was not even there- and the worst was yet to come.

A long, distant howl made her shrink back in her seat, looking around.

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“Fuck it, I'm out of here.” Wanda started the car and tried to back up to go back down the road but the car stopped suddenly, it was stuck or something. The screen showed that there was a problem with the pressure of one of the tires.

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“No way, really?!” The sokovian whined and got out of the car, getting closer to see what happened to the wheel, using her phone as a flashlight.

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But what she saw made her blood run cold, just a little more. It was ripped, three huge scratches shredded the entire rim. Those cuts were too brutal.

Wanda decided to go back to her car quickly, sheltering from the cold. Maybe it was a branch? Or did she brush against a rock? She thought of everything but the idea that it was some wild animal around.

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“Easy, Wanda, you're just overreacting.” Shaking her head, she called two towing services, but neither agreed to come to the location.

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One of them said that not even for all the money in the world would go near that area of the forest after sunset, and the other guy just said: fuck no, because surely someone was going to rob him and he was fed up with those scams.

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“Fuck!” Wanda yelled annoyed when the guy ended the call without further ado.

It was dark, owls hooting terrified her. She couldn't ask Y/N or anyone in that cabin for help, because she would have to explain what she's doing there, and she wasn't the one to explain. Y/N was.

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The Sokovian ended up calling the only person who could help her in such a situation.

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"Yeah?" Natasha's hoarse voice was heard on the other end of the phone.

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“Nat, I'm sorry I know you might be busy tonight but I need your help.” Wanda said turning on the car's heater.

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“Sure, what is it? I can't hear you well, the connection is kinda lost! Where are you?”

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“I'm stranded on a road near the Catskills, the towing guy says it's too late and he won't go anywhere. I will send you my location. Can you come pick me up?”

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“What?! Wanda, what the hell are you doing there?!”

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She sighed, surely Nat would scold her for that.  “I followed Y/N and her friend to this place, she lied to me. She said that she was working and… well, I can't explain now! Just come for me, please.”

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‘Shit! Wanda, it's... it's full- ... Oh god. Please, lock the car and stay inside. You heard me? DON'T GO OUT, STAY THERE. No matter what you hear, do you understand me?’

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“Why? you're scaring me.” She looked around a bit fearfully and pressed the car lock.

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“Wanda, do as I say. I’m like... two hours away, stay inside. I'm coming for you.”

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The call ended.

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Wanda just closed her eyes, repeating to herself that she was just going crazy for nothing. It was just a forest, she was in her car which was pretty safe. Just had to wait.

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“Yay! You see? I knew that everything would work out.” Wanda smiled, feeling calm until a long, deep howl from the forest made her skin crawl.

Two long, fearful howls dominated the forest. ㅤㅤ

The birds fluttered away to hide in the trees, the animals near the place fell silent. It was an alert, a warning. A much bigger and more dangerous predator was haunting the place and making it its own.

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“They're just coyotes.” Wanda told herself again, watching the forest mist. She wasn't going to deny that that made it so much scarier. “Just coyotes. This place is full of wild animals… Stay in the car and that's it.”

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An hour passed and Natasha didn't arrive. It was understandable, she was quite far from the place. Wanda started the car engine again to use the heating and the radio - to clear her mind and not be a victim of paranoia- trying to pass the time by looking some instagram stories or something like that. An interesting idea crossed her mind.

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She clicked on the Instagram icon to search for 'Jules Boyd' but there was nothing. The girl didn't appear on any social networks, just like Y/N deleted all of them.

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Narrowing her eyes, Wanda decided to google her to see what she could find on her.

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“Jules… Boyd.” The brunette murmured as she scrolled down the screen looking at the results. Some just didn't say much more than some other people's profiles, but something caught her attention when she was about to give up.

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‘Ranger locate hikers lost in Catskills, rescue North Country residents buried in 6 feet of snow.’

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‘Two hikers from the Bronx got lost Saturday on the Hurricane Ledge in Kaaterskill Wild Forest. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation forest ranger Julia Boyd found the hikers…’

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“Julia Boyd.” Wanda finished reading that article.  “She’s a ranger.”

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But suddendly, a loud hit against her door made Wanda jump, the phone slipping from her hands and falling under the seat.

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“Shit! Oh my god!” Wanda screamed, moving away from the door. It was a pretty hard hit, but there was nothing outside. Just the cold, dark night.

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Wanda swallowed totally terrified, turning on the car lights but there was nothing out there. Couldn't hear anything but the crickets.

She stood still for about two minutes until the hitting against her door came back. And not just once, but many times, about to rip the door off.  A growl made Wanda squeal, clinging to the rear door of the car.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

She couldn't see what was stalking her, only heard the growls of the beast. Completely terrified, Wanda got out of the car and ran as fast as she could toward the cabin.

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“Please, Y/N. HELP!”  The sokovian screamed, trying desperately to open the door.

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Wanda knocked on that wooden door with all her might, praying that one of them would listen to her. She didn't mind having to explain herself if something out there wanted to devour her.

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But no one helped and no one responded.

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She pushed and punched until the door swung open. Wanda entered desperately and locked the entrance with every furniture she saw around.

Moved away from the door, sighing quietly knowing that at least she would be safe in there, or so she thought.

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But looking around more carefully, Wanda noticed that this place was far from being a cozy and warm cabin. The wood creaked in a chilling way, it was dark and cold, the crickets continued to accompany her with their solitary song. The chimney full of soot and cobwebs.

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Looked for her phone to use it as a flashlight again, but she couldn't find it.

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“Damn!” Wanda remembered that her phone fell in the car when that thing scared her. Would have to settle for moonlight. “Y/N?”

She walked slowly looking for them but there was nothing. She walked slowly looking for them but there was nothing. Just a simple abandoned cabin, this was becoming increasingly strange, where were they?

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Wanda opened one of the drawers, taking out an old hunting knife and a flashlight. She sighed in relief, maybe she could handle it.

ㅤㅤ

 “Jules?”

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It was a minute or two befores she heard some noise coming from the back of the cabin. She stirred doubtfully, what to do? She decided to go investigate, wielding that knife and the flashlight. Wanda approached noticing that the basement door was open.

The good news was down there that the light was on. That was good, right?

ㅤㅤ The light was flickering restlessly and maybe a bit creepy, wasn't going to deny it, but if this place kept her safe from that thing? She would take it, but when she was about to go down, Wanda stopped. The light went out completely, leaving the stairs in darkness.

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"Fuck no..."

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A few footsteps made her shut up.

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"Y/N? are you there? This is not funny at all. I saw you were here, come on. You can stop pretending now." She backed off.

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But no one responded. What came out of that door was not a human figure, it was something totally and completely different from a human being. That image made Wanda's blood run cold.

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That huge white wolf came out of the basement, watching her with a deadly and hungry look. Jules sniffed at her; a huge predator watching every move.

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The wolf began to walk towards her, showing its fangs menacingly. Wanda squealed, backing slowly towards the door. If she wasn't petrified it was because her survival instinct told her to get away from there as fast as possible, even if it won't help much though.

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So fast, the sokovian picked up an old lamp and threw it at the beast before running out of the cabin. Didn't know where to run, really.

Wanda reached the car but what she saw was much worse. The car door was completely smashed, there was no chance she could hide there. And everything got worse and worse.

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A growl made her turn. Behind the car, slowly, a gray wolf came out of the darkness staring at her.

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She was going to die, or so she thought.

Trapped, completely surrounded, the only option was to run. Running down that dark and disastrous path that she had come from, but of course she would be easy prey that way, right?

ㅤㅤ

Wanda just ran as fast as she could trying to hide among the trees, trying to lose them. And far from desperately running after her, that gray wolf just enjoyed watching Wanda run. Like a large predatory animal, enjoying its prey.

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Y/N allowed her to have the upper hand.

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The heavy breathing and the pumping of her own heart is all Wanda heard. Her face was dirty as were her clothes, she rolled down a stupid hill and fell on an dirty bunch of dry leaves. ㅤㅤ

How long had she been like this? Desperate running away, lost in the fucking woods. The howling in the night was driving her crazy, and maybe that's what they wanted. She stopped for a moment, closed her eyes trying to think, those were wolves. Much bigger than normal but they were wolves.

ㅤ

Think, Wanda, think.

Wolves have a very acute sense of smell that they use to detect other animals like a mile away or something. A huge part of a wolf’s brain is used to process smell, just as a huge part of our brain is used to process visual information.

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Wanda took the knife and cut her hand so she could leave some blood on that tree and run again, leaving her blood and scent in many different places to confuse those beasts.

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Twenty minutes later running in the opposite direction the sokovian was glad to find that stupid road again, couldn't leave it because Natasha wouldn't find her, and of course she didn't want to die lost in a damned forest either.

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She stopped for a moment to breathe, the branches of the trees moved slowly like whispers of the forest, as if everything in that forest connected with each other.

But a nearby howl made her jump, looking for refuge behind some big fern bushes hiding from one of the wolves. Perhaps she was very stupid to think that she could fool both of them. She gripped the knife tightly when she heard the crack of branches and the wolf's panting.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Jules sniffed that place for a moment, looking for the owner of that scent, and continued on its way following that false trail of blood.

Wanda sighed, the plan worked but now she had to keep up. The hiss of a near rattlesnake made Wanda snap out of her hiding place, terrified, run back toward the cabin.

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She was this close to snap. How is that she ended up trapped in that freaking hell? Wolves, darkness, forest, rattlesnakes.

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How grateful she was to get back to the car and was even more grateful not to find any wolf close to it. Perhaps both were gone to follow the blood trail. Yeah, it was that for sure.

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Wanda looked for her phone on the sides of her seat, and smiled widely upon finding it. She tried to unlock it so she could call the police, Natasha or whoever was necessary, but a growl behind her made her turn around slowly and carefully.

ㅤㅤ

Oh no.

ㅤㅤ

Those huge, watery green eyes showed the anguish and fear she felt, especially when she saw that big grey wolf look at her like that. Those fangs were all Wanda could see.

She really believed that she was free of it. Growling and snarling, Y/N slowly approached her prey.

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“Please no.” Terrified, Wanda backed up as far as she could, crashing into the wooden wall of the cabin. She never seen the size of a beast like that, a shiver ran down her spine. The cold feeling of knowing that you would die soon.

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“Stay away!” Being brave, she raised the knife and held it steady, ready to defend herself with it if necessary. A Sokovian was not going to die without a fight. “I'm going to shove this through your fucking skull. Back off!”

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But far from being afraid, the wolf seemed unfazed by the threat. She even seemed to enjoy it, slowly circling her. Like a predator it surrounded the meal before the surprise attack.

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“Fuck you, Y/N, for making me come here.” Wanda yelled, accepting her fate.  

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The beast advanced, but then stopped.

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Y/N didn't move forward but didn't let her go either, just stayed in front of her sniffing; the wolf recognized that scent and would do so anywhere in the world.

Not the blood one. Wanda's essence.

ㅤㅤ

“Oh god or someone else there… Please, don't let it hurt me.” She prayed, closing her eyes, waiting for the final attack that would put an end to her life.

ㅤㅤ

But nothing happened.

ㅤㅤ

Wanda fearfully opened those green eyes again, seeing that that beast was just staring at her. Its huge yellow eyes were terrifying but also captivating.

The wolf no longer showed its teeth to frighten her. It was just there, watching her.

Leaving that frightening and threatening position, Y/N lowered its ears and relaxed its body, recognizing Wanda, not as a threat or as prey. It was Wanda. She was hers. ㅤㅤ

And for a moment, Wanda felt her body relax slowly, feeling a very strange security at the connection between their gazes. She wasn’t going to move, any sudden movement can make the beast to attack her.

ㅤㅤ

“Y/N, stay away.” Natasha's voice caught their attention. The wolf quickly turned to face her, Natasha was a few feets away pointing the gun at her.

ㅤㅤ

Y/N snarled at Natasha, this time in a more aggressive way.

ㅤㅤ

“Y/N? What do you mean with that?” Wanda exclaimed confused and terrified, gulped seeing that the beast becomes aggressive again.  “Natasha, shoot it!”

ㅤㅤ

Natasha shook her head, sweating. “No, Wanda. I can’t.”

ㅤㅤ

“It’s going to kill us! Just shoot it!”  Of course Wanda wanted to survive, but to do so, she had to give what she loved most in the world without knowing it.

ㅤㅤ

“WANDA, YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND!” Natasha yelled desperately, switching gaze between her friend and the wolf. Failed in the first step, avoid making eye contact with the wolf.

ㅤㅤ

Y/N interpreted this as challenging or threatening behaviour.  Every step the wolf took was one that Nat took back.

ㅤㅤ

“Don't make me do it, Y/N. Those are silver bullets... with wolfsbane... you gave them to me.” The russian swallowed, holding the gun with both hands. She was trained to handle these issues, she was a specialized agent. But not to kill a werewolf and even less a friend. “Stop! I don’t want to do this but I will!”

ㅤㅤ

Y/N wasn't going to back down. The wolf understood that Natasha was threatening Wanda, with all those screams and with that gun, and was going to do whatever it took to protect her.

ㅤㅤ

“Fuck!”  Natasha cursed. Took a step forward, threatening the redhead to back off but Natasha charged the gun, ready to fire if Y/N got close. Obviously the wolf took that as a more agressive challenge, and the wolf attacked. ㅤㅤ

Leaping towards her, Y/N rushed to bite Natasha but ended up on the ground.

She whimpered feeling the other wolf's teeth holding her to the ground, preventing Y/N from biting the girls.

ㅤㅤ

Before the astonished look of Wanda and Natasha, those wolves began to fight each other in an internal and external struggle to maintain control over the other.

ㅤㅤ

“Wanda, let’s go.” Natasha reached out to take Wanda's hand, pushing her out of the woods as the wolves kept fighting. ㅤㅤ

It was a deadly dance between Y/N and Jules, between biting and whimpers and grunts, one of the two would end up on the ground.  Blood soon stained their fur.

ㅤㅤ

Jules whimpered in pain as she felt Y/N's sharp teeth tear into her skin on the side of her back, just like Y/N had her leg bloody from the bites. Of course there was only one winner in that fight, and the blood on the white fur proved it. Y/N howled painfully but victoriously, marking territory. Licking her teeth.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

She tried to follow the scent of Wanda but Jules caught her again, making them both to fall again. Even though the pack was small, it was a fight of instincts.

Wanda and Natasha ran to the truck but Nat stopped, glancing back. Those two were still howling and fighting and it didn't look like it was going to end well. ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“We must do something, they are going to kill each other.” Natasha swallowed, took the keys and handed them to Wanda. “The sunrise will come soon, two minutes. Get in the truck, if something happens, go.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“What do you mean go? Those fucking wolves almost killed me! All night running from them!” Wanda screamed in disbelief, was Natasha that crazy? “What does it matter? We have to go.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Wanda, you don't understand. Just get in the truck.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Natasha took the gun and fired into the air to scare the beasts away.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

And like a ray of hope, the first ray of light intruded between the branches of the trees. Like a blanket of hope for them, receiving a new day.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

05:35 am. The curse ends.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

The grey wolf had the white one on the ground, whimpering. The dominant dance was over. With a single movement Y/N could kill her, but didn't. It was just a fight, a wolf would never kill another wolf from its pack.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

The grey wolf looked up to see how those two women were watching them from the truck and advanced towards them, or at least tried to, because after just a few steps Y/N stumbled, weakened.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Y/N and Jules felt it, their bodies grow heavy. They weren't tired from the fight but more from the rising sun, weakening them, returning them back to a painful human form soon.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Wanda could see an agitated grey wolf, who got up although its legs trembled but she howled again, and this time the white one friend joined in a long howl. The last goodbye before going back to its eternal prison.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Both wolves limped away, sore and injured, seeming to find it harder and harder to stay on their feet until they fell to the ground. Far from a painful and shocking transformation, their bodies vanished for a few seconds, returning them to their human form.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Y/N kept lying on the ground, trying to catch her breath, until she turned to look for Jules as they did so many times.

Every full moon, they both watched each other making sure everything was fine, despite the pain, they would always be together.

If one or the other woke up earlier, they came over to make sure they were okay. A dreamy look that meant that for a month, they were freed from chaos.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

But the pain reached Y/N’s chest when she saw her friend lying on the ground, there was no warm look on Jules this time, she wasn't reaching out to take her hand and squeeze it. There was blood on her pale skin.

Jules was on the ground, bloody, hurt and dirty, with a stabbing pain in the side of her body that made her just stay still.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“What the f-” Wanda whispered, unable to believe what she was seeing.

Her mouth moved but no words left her lips. Natasha just hurried to grab some blankets from her truck.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Jules!” Y/N got up as she could and came running, falling to the side of Jules to check on her. There was a deep wound on the side of her stomach, fang marks over her body and her neck.  Y/N's eyes filled with tears.  “Oh shit. Jules, I’m so sorry.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“I’m okay.”  The girl said barely, the pain could be heard in her voice.  

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“I'm so sorry. I couldn't stop it.” Y/N whimpered not knowing what to do, what to say.  This was all so...shocking.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“It will heal soon, okay?” Jules breathing was rough due to the pain. “Just get me in the cabin, please.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ Y/N nodded, but the worst came when she saw a completely pale, shocked and disappointed Wanda watching her.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Wanda…” She whispered, feeling her heart ache deeply.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Y/N… take this.”  Natasha approached them both and handed her the blankets so they could cover themselves. Y/N remembered the state she was in and nodded, feeling very embarrassed. First she covered Jules and then covered herself.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Tried to ignore the other two women who were watching them with a mix of curiosity, pity, and fear.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“What can we do… to help?” Natasha felt enormous sadness seeing them like that.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Just… get her out of here.” Y/N said, watching Wanda out of the corner of her eye as she took Jules in her arms and walked towards the cabin. She couldn't even look Wanda in the eyes, not after all she'd done to her.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Nodding, Natasha walked over to escort her friend to the truck.  Wanda seemed pretty shocked still.  “Wanda, let’s go home.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“No, I won't go.” The Sokovian shook her head.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Wanda, come on!”  Natasha took her arm but Wanda broke free of her, pushing Nat.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Not until they explain to me what the hell is going on here!” Wanda screamed in shock, annoyed and completely terrified. She spent one of the worst nights of her life and she demanded that someone explain to her what was happening there.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

She walked determined towards the cabin, willing to know what the hell was going on.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

They owed her that much.

“Is she okay?” Natasha asked as they entered the cabin again. Wanda didn't say anything, she just settled in a corner, keeping her distance with some fear.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“I’m very okay.” Jules cocked her head to see her, Y/N was finishing covering her stomach with a new bandage. “Just a little sore. Don’t cry for me yet.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Natasha just rolled her eyes, taking a seat in one of the chairs.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“It's okay, it's just… healing faster than it should.” Y/N sighed, she noticed everyone's gazes on her.  “Something we… We can do.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Natasha nodded.  “So… accelerated healing. That's nice.” She knew what was happening to Y/N, but she never thought about the consequences. Y/N had told her it was best for Yelena and her to stay out of it.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Among other quite interesting stuff.” Y/N swallowed, noticing how Wanda was staring at her as if she were something weird. And she was, of course.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“What the hell are you both?” Wanda asked bluntly, trying to finally know the truth.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Lesbians.” Jules responded sarcastically.  “At least from me, of course. Also I’m a Pisces.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Werewolves.” Y/N said, accepting the reality that surrounded her. There was  no point in lying anymore. There was an awkward silence for a moment.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“And that's because you...” Wanda tried to find a logical reason for all this. “Were born like this?”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“No. Someone bit them both.” Natasha sighed, now Wanda was looking really upset.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“What? You knew about all this.” Wanda opened her eyes big, she couldn't believe it. “You literally watched me wait a year for her and you didn't say anything!”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

"It wasn't my choice!" Nat fought back.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

"I asked Nat not to say anything, so you would be safer." Y/N got up to approach her but Wanda backed away quickly, fearful. “What I told you is true… Someone bit me, then I bit Jules.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“You turned your friend into that? You did this to her?” Wanda seemed more and more upset and terrified.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Wait, it's not her fault. She didn't know…” Jules tried to defend Y/N. “She didn't want to, I just went to help her and… it was an accident.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“And what? You both turn in this thing every month. Like a book club or something? ” Wanda gave a wry little laugh with a shrug. “Every month you go out to howl to the moon and hurt innocent people?”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Y/N frowned. “No, we don't do that.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Shut up, I don't want to listen to you! You’re a liar!” Wanda yelled pointing at her.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Then you will have to listen to me! We don't hurt anyone. Every full moon we lock ourselves in separate cells and we don't get hurt, this is the first time we… were …free.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“And you both almost killed me.” The Sokovian tried not to cry, crossing her arms.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Natasha didn't say anything, just kept quiet because she knew she had no right to. She had already done enough by hiding everything from Wanda.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“I’m sorry.” Y/N whispered, her eyes expressed all the pain and sadness she felt in those moments.  The guilt began to drown her more and more. “We wouldn't have hurt you. I don’t know, we’re new to this…”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“We cannot control ourselves the first few months.” Jules sighed. “We cannot control the wolf yet but maybe we will.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“They turned us very… recently. A year.” Y/N said in a low voice, looking down feeling how Wanda was watching her and shaking her head. All the lies began to fall one after the other, like dominoes. “It bit me the night we went out on our date. That was true.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“You choose to play with it, with people.” Wanda swallowed and shook her head, feeling deep disappointment.  “You do, you've lied to me all this time. You made me up a story that wasn't true!”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Y/N said nothing, tried but couldn't. She was right, Wanda was absolutely right, and there was nothing to say to defend herself.

Jules was right too, it was always best to have been away. She barely spent a week with Wanda and almost killed her. Or maybe not, but she almost bit her.

Y/N looked down, guilty.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Wait, stop there. You don't know how much she's been through without you.”  Jules broke the silence when she saw her friend like that. Wanda had reason to be upset, angry and scared but not to be cruel.  “You have no idea what this woman has been through all this time away from you, thinking about you, missing you, crying every night. I witnessed all the pain she has gone through without you.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Jules.” Y/N tried. “Don’t do this.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“No, tell her the truth, Y/N!” Jules narrowed her eyes.  “Tell her the pain you go through every full moon, when your body twists and your bones break. Tell her that when the full moon reaches the sky, you’re afraid, crying of thinking about hurting yourself or someone else. That you live with guilt. I'm sorry for what we did to you Wanda, but if it were a choice, it wouldn't be called a fucking curse!”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Wanda clenched her jaw, she didn't have much to say to that. She just looked away.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“We don't even attack each other, we’re from the same pack. But we are learning... we live away from everything, to take care of ourselves and people. We came here because  didn't want to disappoint you all.” Y/N ran a hand over her face, trying to calm down.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“So what happened?”  Natasha frowned. “Because definitely that wound is not for nothing. You were fighting and it was scary.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Don't know.” Y/N shrugged. “I just know that a part of me… didn't like something.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Like what?”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“I didn't like it at all that you targeted Wanda.” Y/N wrinkled her nose at Natasha.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“I wasn't aiming at her, I was aiming at you.” Natasha narrowed her eyes.   She then turned to see Jules, who was trying to sit up on the sofa, holding the wound on her stomach.  “And did you defend me or what?”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Jules rolled her eyes.  “Pff, we've known each other for a week and we've had sex twice, lover. Calm down your pants.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“You two had sex?” Y/N raised an eyebrow, seeing that Jules avoided looking at her. Another secret.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Well, yeah… Should you have warned me of something? Can I be infected because of we…? Like a 'welcome to lycanthropy' letter or something?” Natasha raised an eyebrow in amusement, trying to make the moment less tense and more enjoyable.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Yeah, the old 'welcome to Werewolf 101' because you ate my pussy Oh, fuck off, Natasha.” Jules said sarcastically and they all laughed, well, all but Wanda.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

The Sokovian remained deadly serious, with her arms crossed. She simply couldn't believe how they were all laughing while she had been through hell.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Natasha, can you take me home?  I think I want to go now.”  Wanda muttered walking towards the door, without even saying goodbye.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Wanda…” Y/N gasped seeing Wanda leave the cabin, as fast as she could.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Natasha and Jules watched each other as Y/N ran after Wanda, leaving them alone for a moment so they could sort things out.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Wanda, wait.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

She managed to get ahead, standing in front of the brunette. Wanda shuddered, as if she were experiencing some dejavu, feeling that she was reliving that situation in a very different way. She was afraid to be around her and she wasn't going to deny it.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

"Listen to me…"

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Wanda looked down, no longer in the mood to be upset. She was just too tired of it. "I've heard you, I just want to go."

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“I’m so sorry. I didn't want all of this to end like this...” Y/N took her hand, feeling tears well up in her eyes. She would never have wanted to hurt the love of her life. “I never meant to hurt you. You have to believe me… I wanted you to be safe from this. I wanted you to be safe from myself, being away is what I had to do.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“And you were right.” Wanda said looking down, breaking Y/N's heart with the most painful but necessary truth. Tears began to fall down her face.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“I know it’s too much… but if you only…” Y/N tried one more time.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Wanda cut her off quickly. “I need to think… I- I need some time."

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

"Wanda, please, I love you..."

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

"I love you but… This is too much.” Wanda cleared her throat, wiping away a few tears. "Sometimes love is not enough."

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Gulping and feeling how everything around her was sinking, Y/N just nodded. “I'll be waiting for you.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Natasha came out of the cabin and put a hand on Y/N's shoulder, squeezing gently to show her support. Y/N stayed there, watching the love of her life get further and further away. Her heart broke again.

ㅤㅤ

Wanda sighed deeply before getting out of the new car, well, the one Pietro gave her while hers was in the workshop.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

A week passed since the incident and Wanda completely moved away from everything. From Y/N, from Natasha.

Taking her remaining vacation days from work, she decided to take some time to think about everything. Think about what she would do from now on.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

The Sokovian took her jacket off before going through the door of that bookstore. It was a small but cozy place. The huge shelves full of books and a counter at the end of the room, there were also some old vinyls for sale.

Wanda walked around the place while the manager talked to a customer. It was just her, two boys who were looking for some comics and a man in his fifties, who gave Wanda a rather kind smile as he searched through history books.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ She smiled too and went over to see some stuff, current novels and some science fiction books as well. Wanda stopped looking at a little book called 'Cycle of the Werewolf' by Stephen King.

The brunette hesitated to take it but decided to go to the counter when she saw that the customer left.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Excuse me, umh… hi.” Wanda smiled nervously.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

The girl of about twenty-five years old and tired eyes watched her as she typed on the keyboard.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Hello! Welcome to the Corner Store. How can I help you?”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Well I... I was looking for a section about some stuff... Umh… ” Wanda cleared her throat, she didn't want to look crazy but didn't know how to say it. Sure she looked like a Karen looking for dirty steamy stuff.  “Supernatural stuff?”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Buffy the Vampire Slayer? Supernatural? Section 8, to the right. We have some comics and books, yes.” The girl turned back to her monitor.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“No, no that.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Oh, vampires romance? Well, there's a section on Romance genre, Section 3.” ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“No, I mean... really supernatural stuff.” She swallowed, looking around her.  She felt quite stupid and nervous. Why not just Google about it? She wanted to go straight to the most real information possible.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Narrowing her eyes, the manager finally smiled. “Wicca? Do you want to start some ritual or something, ma’am?”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“No, I just want…” Wanda exhaled in exasperation, closing her eyes.  “I want to know about wolves. W-Werewolves. I want to write about them and I need some information, that’s it.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Oh don't worry, I'm just messing with you.” The blonde girl took a piece of paper and quickly wrote down an address.  “If you need that stuff, you should go to this address. Ask for Layla.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Thank you.”  Wanda looked at the paper.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Aldebaran. 117 32nd St, Brooklyn.

“You're welcome, miss. Have a good day.”

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

Nodding, the brunette left that library to get in the car. It wasn't very far so maybe it would be interesting to go there right now.

But behind her came that old man, pulling out his phone as he watched the sokovian leave. He dialed a number and waited a few seconds.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ

“Hello. Yeah. I think I have a job for you... I could be wrong but…” The old man narrowed his eyes.  “I think it's a veeery big puppy. Write down the license plate number.”

This was.. This chapter was a huge challenge. Hope you enjoyed.

I'm working on the next chapter of 'WISH YOU WERE HERE'.

the cutest and lovely people tags ✨ : @lijo-8 , @duck-5 , @username23345 , @i-need-somebody-else , @lattayhottay16 , @germz19 , @chaeismybae , @mrns21 , @whhyyynottt , @tita001 , @dont-worry-aboutme-darling , @is-mise-rachel , @devilsanus616 @imnotasuperhero @wandanatfan @katiemay-025 @yourmamacom

[bettsfic]

bg3 build: beast priest (shadowheart respec)

i'm playing around with some new builds! after scrounging the internet for good build guides, i didn't find any that i thought were interesting. in my current playthrough, i'm trying to respec all the companions to be the classes they would have chosen without their various traumas.

the beast priest is my respec for shadowheart. if you haven't noticed, shadowheart's basic build isn't great. when you find her, she's already level 1, which means the game chooses her subclass for you: trickery domain. and that doesn't make sense at all, narratively or for the stats she's been assigned. so to make her a good trickery domain cleric, you would want to respec her anyway just to fix level 1.

but i don't want her to be a trickery domain cleric. i don't even want her to be a healer. i want her to be an emo bird girl. the Ebony Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way of bg3, emphasis on raven. by endgame, we learn that shadowheart loves animals and nature, and she's a bit of a rebel (my graffiti queen). without having been kidnapped by the mother superior, i can see her either noping off into the woods or staying in the city to be the type of person who accidentally acquires really a lot of cats. so my goal is for her to have lots of animals, do a fuckton of damage, and fight off the darkness with lots and lots of light.

you can find the full build on eip. more detail and a level by level breakdown under the cut.

the beast priest build involves taking 6-7 levels of beast master ranger and 5-6 levels of war priest cleric. you start off as a ranger, because rangers have great early game damage and are also imo the easiest class for beginners. you stand in one spot and you shoot stuff. you can also get Harold (crossbow) pretty early on and it can be your main weapon through most of the game. it does insane damage and casts Bane.

i'm not familiar enough with armor and weapons to include recommendations in this guide (beyond Harold. get Harold). that is too much for me to keep track of, and i swap things out a lot. use whatever you find most helpful and/or looks the coolest. you probably can't use this build for lone wolf tactician or anything, but i do think it's very fun for an explorer or balanced playthrough, and it fixes a lot of the problems in shadowheart's base build.

this build does a few things:

uses war priest weapon buffs to increase ranged damage

minimizes concentration spells to prioritize ensnared strike and hunter's mark

backup heals (unfortunately this means either respeccing another companion to take on main healing duties or building a main heals tav. i'm working on a bardadin build for this very purpose. there is also always halsin, but he takes a while to acquire)

it's very beneficial to astarion that the bird can blind enemies near him so he can gain advantage to sneak attack (i'll share my build for him too eventually; he is also part ranger)

toolkit against undead (guardian spirits is a must)

important team utilities like guidance

what this build can't do:

be the "face" of your team, by which i mean initiate dialogue. we have no charisma or proficiency in anything related to talking to people. we are a gloomy emo girl sequestered to the back of the group and we shoot stuff and hang out with our bird

steal shit, disarm traps, lockpick. i mean, you can, but you'll probably have another character better equipped for it. we'll be wearing medium armor or heavy armor (optional), so we'll have a disadvantage on stealth anyway

here's how i've broken down each level:

initial build

if you're respeccing shadowheart, you won't be able to change her race or background, which means she'll remain an acolyte and have proficiency in insight and religion.

if you're making your tav a beast priest, you should choose whatever background and race makes sense for your character's narrative. the caveat being, as stated above, stealth and sleight of hand are kind of useless here, as well as dialogue proficiencies like persuasion, intimidation, deception, performance, etc.

what *is* helpful is having proficiency in the things you walk up to and go "oh shit, what's that?" so survival and perception are pretty important. folk hero and outlander are therefore both good background choices, but again, what's important to me in a build is that the story makes sense.

note you will not need investigation because we'll be taking bounty hunter as a favored enemy.

level 1: ranger (1)

proficiencies: survival, nature, animal handling (see above for more explanation; really just take whatever you think will be useful)

favored enemy: bounty hunter

bounty hunter gives disadvantage to enemies hit by ensnaring strike. very helpful for astarion and your companion. however, it's sometimes difficult to choose when to use hunter's mark versus ensnaring strike.

natural explorer: beast tamer

all of these are kind of useless, tbh. but i chose this one because early game, your companion dies very easily and this way you'll be able to bring it back without using a spell slot.

from my understanding, in EA you could either have your summon pet OR your companion out, not both, but in full release you can now have both summons out at once.

level 2: ranger (2)

fighting style: archery

we are going to be very far away from our enemies and Harold is going to be very dear to us.

spells: hunter's mark, ensnaring strike (ranged)

both spells require concentration so you can only pick one. ensnaring strike gives disadvantage to an enemy but hunter's mark does more damage, and your companion does more advantage to it as well. for cc situations, i'd choose ensnaring strike; for taking down one big dude at a time, hunter's mark. hunter's mark can be recast as long as you maintain concentration.

level 3: cleric (1)

deity: any (if you're respeccing shadowheart, your deity will remain shar)

domain: war domain

cantrips: guidance, sacred flame, light

the only one that's important here is guidance. the other two can be whatever your party needs most. the reason we're taking one level of cleric early and the others later is because guidance is a must. if someone else on your team has it, or if you have a bard, you can stay as a ranger until 5.

level 4: ranger (3)

subclass: beast master

spell: cure wounds OR speak with animals

for shadowheart's respec, i would say cure wounds so that she can start subhealing. however, if you don't have anyone in your party who can speak to animals yet, that's pretty important. the strange ox you meet in the grove provides a lot of endgame help, and it's fun talking to the owlbear and scratch.

level 5: ranger (4)

feat: resilient (wisdom)

taking resilience in wisdom gives us a proficiency in wisdom saving throws, which we'll need for both cleric and ranger spells.

level 6: ranger (5)

spells: anything that would be most helpful to your team.

you probably already have somebody who can cast longstrider as a ritual spell. enhance leap is helpful although this is pretty late in the game to be getting that. i try to avoid concentration spells because of hunter's mark and aoe spells because astarion and karlach are always in the thick of it and i don't want to hurt them.

what's important this level is that your companion's AC and damage increases, and it gets an extra attack.

level 7: cleric (2)

you get turn undead and guided strike this level. both are very useful, particularly guided strike. nothing to choose though.

level 8: cleric (3)

new spells! these can be prepared based on what you think you'll need for a given scenario. lesser restoration is a must if you're letting astarion bite you every night. but if that's the case you probably already have it.

level 9: cleric (4)

cantrip: whatever's most helpful at this point

feat: ability improvement (1 in wisdom, 1 in dexterity)

if you have auntie ethel's hair, then you might want 2 in one or the other.

level 10: cleric (5)

here's where you get guardian spirits, which is the single most important mid-game spell you can have (although in this build you get it pretty late). make sure when you cast it, you have as many movement speed spells and potions you can get. you're going to cast it and run around like mad killing everything.

level 11 & 12: ranger OR cleric (6 & 7)

here's where you have a difficult choice to make. your last two levels can be ranger 6 and 7, which will give your companion a huge buff. or you can choose cleric 6 and 7, which will give you war god's blessing, which gives you a +10 attack roll to give to someone else on your team.

you an also do cleric 6 and ranger 6, which will grant you war god's blessing AND allow you to take ranger knight as a favored enemy, which gives you the ability to wear heavy armor (if you want that). you can also gain resistance to cold, fire, or poison, but since you encounter all of those things in pretty equal measure, i never know which to choose.

i think it'll depend on what sounds more fun to you. personally, i think seeing my animal companion destroy everything is very fun. but if you enjoy reactions and buffing your teammates, i can also see wanting to stick with cleric through the end.

unlock to level 20

you might be thinking it's not worth it to only take two half classes instead of one whole one and lose out on late game spells and abilities. and i agree with you completely. my favorite part of beast master is when your companion gets two special abilities at 11. if you're playing completely vanilla, this is the major sacrifice of multiclassing. you're prioritizing creativity and cool combos over fancy spells and abilities.

but if you install a mod that lets you level to 20 (no class can go beyond 12, but you can multiclass to 20), you can take 11 levels of ranger and 9 levels of cleric. level 11 of ranger maxes out your animal; level 8 of cleric gives you divine strike, and level 9 gives you flame strike.

i didn't find anything from 10-12 in cleric very helpful. there's divine intervention which you can only use once in the game, ever, and i used it at a very integral time and it didn't do enough. heroes' feast is helpful but halsin has that too. heal, which should be the best healing spell in the game, is currently bugged and i don't know when they'll fix it.

you could also do level 12 of ranger for the extra feat if you don't have both wisdom and dexterity to 20, and stay at 8 for cleric.

if you do unlock to level 20, i would download the double xp mod (although i haven't gotten mine to work yet) so you can get to 20 at about the same pace you get to 12 in vanilla. this obvs is extremely unbalanced and makes you very very OP but that makes the game more fun for me. and anyway, if it gets too easy you can always play tactician or honor mode.

i hope you found this helpful! i'll probably be tweaking and updating it as i go. i'm working on respecs for astarion, karlach, halsin, jaheira, and wyll right now. gale, lae'zel, and minsc i'll be able to look at once i play around with them more. i haven't used them much yet in my teams.

if you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to send me an ask!

[changeling-fae]

random OC ask: does your OC have a favorite animal, or an animal they feel most akin to? what significance does it hold to them?

I'm finally answering the behemoth list of oc asks I've been wanting to answer for weeks. Thank you for the ask!

Nym:

Nym doesn't really notice animals too much. She likes them but with her violent intrusive thoughts she tends to avoid them. She's also a consummate carnivore, and just loves meat. That being said, she's been compared to sheep and goats by my friends (what with her horns, hair, and hooves) and narratively Raphael refers to her as "little lamb". Her journal title would be Silence of the Lamb too. Mostly tied to innocence, loss of innocence, sacrificial lamb, lamb brought to slaughter, and wolf in sheep's clothing imagery and theming.

Trinket:

Visually, deer but as far as a personal favorite animal, she relates to cunning animals; specifically foxes and corvids. If she were aware of ocean denizens, cuttlefish would definitely be up her alley. Her own cunning and risk taking personality is something she takes pride in so animals tied to deception (whether earned or just stereotyped) she'd feel a measure of kinship to.

Flint:

Well he's definitely as big and as strong as an ox. But he's still acclimatizing to the Material Plane after being born and raised in the hells. I think he'd feel kinship with alligators if he ever met one. A creature with endless patience, strength, and ability to hide within plain sight would definitely appeal to him on a professional level. That being said, I can also see him having a soft spot for pandas or capybaras. Chill animals that are just vibing.

Casira:

Oh nightingales and songbirds for sure. Green Finch and Linnet Bird from Sweeney Todd and Black Bird from The Beatles (specifically from the Across the Universe soundtrack) are both on her playlist, lol. Caged bird imagery is very much part of her aesthetic and by design on my part and she absolutely feels a kinship to pet songbirds.

Iluatria:

So Lua is a unicorn trapped in mortal form and on a mission from Selune, so she's already kinda an animal (albeit a magical sentient animal), and her kinship is to other unicorns and creatures in her category. But quoting from one of my favorite books, The Last Unicorn (the obvious inspo), "She did not look anything like a horned horse, as unicorns are often pictured, being smaller and cloven-hoofed, and possessing that oldest, wildest grace that horses have never had, that deer have only in a shy, thin imitation and goats in dancing mockery."

Victyrr:

Victyrr definitely has a kinship with scorpions. He has a spider animal companion in game but if I could I'd give him a large golden scorpion. He's a half-drow who was raised in isolation in the underdark and so I think his kinship with scorpions would be how they're arachnids but not a spider. As a gloom stalker ranger, he's good at striking and hiding in small cracks and from the dark. His name also means in drow, Abyss Scorpion, or Profound Dagger, or Profound Scorpion, etc.

[barb-l]

A, R, U?

(🫶🏽 thank you for your support)

Oh man. I dont wanna sound like I'm tooting my own horn, but I genuinely find it hard to choose because I love my fics dearly. I enjoy writing so much, almost as much as I do drawing.

In no particular order, one of them is my Power Rangers 2017 fic Code Yellow. Idk if I've told her this(probably not cuz i dont much like to talk about my feelings) but the premise of Kimberly and the rest of the OG's being much older than the next rangers, with Kimberly serving as the next Yellow Ranger's mentor was inspired by my friendship with another PR fic writer(if you know unicorn affair then you know she's a legend). We became friends when I was like 17 and still relatively new to accepting my queerness, so getting to be friends with an older sapphic woman who was very kind, into the same things I was, and was in a loving relationship with another woman? It was very comforting and filled me with hope. Kimberly and Aisha's dynamic aren't the same as my dynamic with that person, but I can say that I projected a lot of my feelings over the warm comfort of having a friend that was like an older sister to Aisha.

I haven't made myself finish it yet, but I have hope I will even now years later. This is a snippet from my drafts

Another one is "Courtship Woes", the second part of a fic series for probably the craziest ship I've ever shipped, Wednesday Addams and Lydia Deetz from the musical version of Beetlejuice. It's a very different Wednesday from what a lot of you are probably used to in my Wenclair fics tho, as it's characterized as a mixture of Ms Ricci's version in the 90's movie and the animated version voiced by Chloe Grace Moretz. While I like to think of Jenna's Wednesday to be more like Morticia, I wrote this Wednesday to be a lot more like Gomez. So I guess I already have written a Gomezified Wednesday. Huh.

And, predictably, the other one is "raven in the den, wolf in the nest". I'm still really proud of what I've accomplished for this fic. The final chapter was especially very healing to write with Wednesday's confession affecting Enid's confrontation with Esther in the climax of the fic. The whole point of the Addams Family isn't the gothicness necessarily, but that they were supposed to be the topsy-turvy of what is conventional. It was one of the main points of that fic, with Morticia fainting over the thought of her wonderful spawn dating an adorable rainbow being the topsy-turvy version of the disapproving parent trope. That confession was supposed to go along with that theme too. In typical stories that involve monsters, the crux of that romance is the person's love of the other person despite them being a beast. But Wednesday isn't a typical girl. Loving a murderous beast would be what's expected of a grim girl like Wednesday, but the best thing about Wenclair is how they still keep the topsy-turvy theme for Addamses. Enid is insecure about not being the ferocious monster she's supposed to be, yet despite all odds Wednesday loves her regardless. She grew so dang attached to her even before Enid got the chance to shift and that's both so unexpected but makes so much sense of Wednesday Addams.

Fredrik Backman is my absolute favorite writer. The way he writes grief and loneliness alongside humor and love in his works is just phenomenal. It just saddens me that I do not understand a lick of Swedish and can only rely on the english translated copies, so I can't say that I fully know how he writes his prose as translations can only go so far. But I can say that the emotions he evokes in his writings is what I always try to strive for. To make my readers tear up as much as I could make them laugh. Or maybe more of the latter. Like a warm hug.

(also wow that's very wenclai--)

I apologize for cheating and choosing my OC's, but I think I'd want to actually write a fic with Vega and Sora someday.

[toxycodone]

Rari facts:

- is 6'6"

- wolf like with his animal features. great hearing, great sense of smell

- ranger by trade. excellent at finding and disarmind traps, long-range reconnaissance and cqc. hires himself out to adventurers or whoever pays him more. a little morally bankrupt lol

- voracious eater. carnivore.

- soft fur, looks like an alexander's archipelago wolf.

- preferred weapon is two marlin spikes. usually, they're used to help tie knots on ships with huge ropes, but rari likes to use them to stab people + they fit into his boots

- gets overloaded sensory-wise pretty easily, which is why he's so good at tracking people.

- from a village high in the eastern mountains. [cynocephali were said to live in india!]

- he's got a sheath and a knot. good for him.

- pretty stocky build. lots of scars from previous jobs.

views on the party:

laios: finds him adorable. likes messing with him.

marcille: too much of an egghead for him. tbh he thinks she talks too much

chilchuck: kindred spirits to the end. similar professions, both haters. one is just more of a homosexual who loves attention [rari its rari]

senshi: he finds senshi calming. reminds him of the older cyno in his village.

izutsumi: cat 🖕 but respects her combat style

any more questions about rari or even things you think would be cool to add to rari's thing would be appreciated [but not required] 🙏🙏🙏

HeroForge link to Rari for the curious anons who wanted to see him: https://www.heroforge.com/load_config%3D47399064/

HE IS. SO COOL.

man fuck him teasing Laios in the hot spring I’m kicking that man aside BC IM TRYNA GET AT THAT KNOT FIRST.

Okay also I need you to know I’m on a deep dive on Alexander archipelago wolves because oh my god? An entirely separate sub species of grey wolf is CRAZY I’ve never heard of them

But also I think…for the sake of story

He and Laios TOTALLY need to have some sort of like. Serious talk because I’m sure Laios’s interest in him is cute at first but it quickly gets really fucking annoying

And this is mainly because Laios is like Rari = Dog and equates that WAY too much. Like 💀 even despite Kuro being a whole ass adventurer and a fully fledged member of Kabru’s party Laios still refers to him as dog. Still thinks of Izutsumi as “cat”

I need Rari to smack a little sense into him and be like. Yes I’m a Demi human NO I AM NOT A PET.

Laios just gets too excited IG IDK I JUST. Think about that.

Also….have u considered maybe a little bandana on Rari’s head…like a sailor…….🥺. And maybe some rope as a secondary item for his spikes can work too? May be useful for tying knots to create lassos and such to access high places/escape traps/etc.

(Also wtf I am. Going to use hero forge this is crazy awesome???)

[chicgeekgirl89]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Thanks to @bonheur-cafe and @lemonlyman-dotcom for the tags!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

99! Must do something special for 100! Any suggestions?

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

358,733

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Actively: 911 Lone Star, Heartstopper

Previously: NCIS LA, SEAL Team, Teen Wolf, others...

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

The Good, the Bad, and the Very Ugly

The House in the Pines Where the Road Ends

Hold Onto Me

The Austin Chronicle Hot Sauce Festival

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes! It means SO MUCH to me when people comment, I feel like the least I can do is say thank you! Also, it always makes me happy when someone responds to my comments, so I try and give that magical feeling to others!

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I Could Have Loved You- This is a SEAL Team fic that explored the six weeks in season 2 where Sonny and Lisa were together in before she would have left for her officer billet. In the end I had her leave even though both of them wanted to stay together. Honestly still prefer it to the shit show the show turned them into.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

It All Fades Away- I finally married Kensi and Deeks off on the beach because the damn show was taking too long. It was really beautiful! Also this is so old that it's only posted on ff.net lol.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not often, especially now that I'm on AO3. People used to be real mean over on ff.net.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

No. I like to let people have their privacy. I will write straight up to the line of smut though.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I have written exactly one 911 LS/The Rookie crossover for @bluenet13 and I only posted it on Tumblr. It involved the Reyes sisters is was generally hilarious.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of. Please don't steal my things lol.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Someone asked me many years ago if they could translate one of my fics into German and I said yes. I saw it once, no idea where it's posted now.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Nope!

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

Tarlos, Ron/Hermione, Nick and Charlie

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I have a Ron/Hermione fic that spans the time from the end of DH to 19 Years Later and it's not done and it makes me sad because I really loved a lot of it.

16. What are your writing strengths?

DIALOGUE. I only have one, but I do think I'm pretty damn good at it. Okay maybe also character voice.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Scene description. I hate it.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

Yes? Sure? But like, know what you're doing. Don't guess.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

First ever? Star Wars. First posted? Power Rangers. I've come a long way lolol.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

Ever?!?! Oh, I don't know! Anything involving Adriana and Francesca maybe? Or maybe Requesting Immediate Backup. I loved writing Andrea and T.K. teaming up on Carlos to make him feel better when he's sick.

Tagging (no pressure) @ladytessa74, @carlos-in-glasses, and anyone else who wants to play!

[galaxycunt]

Watering the Ask Culture to help it grow: Info dumb about an OC you've been thinking about 🥰🥰🥰

ooo

Thank you I have some rando bg3 thoughts of my tiefling ranger tia who loves wizards

ok so like in the game she’s a monk but WHATEVER I smooch Gale in that game and get all romantic

But!!

I love her with Rolan too bc wizards are just big old nerds and Tia is such a granola girl who loves the outdoors and I see her waving to her love from their lil tower while she goes and disappears to hike and camp for a few weeks.

bc idk what rangers really do but i see Tia was like a nature guide where she’s like okay yall I’ll take u city folks to go hunt some monsters and stuff like that

So she meets Rolan who loves to organize his socks and is stressed out and grumpy and she’s like hey man, let’s go on a chill hike no worries it’s 10 miles round trip and only 1500 elevation gain.

And he somehow goes???

And he kinda hates it but then she gives him breaks and she’ll knee down to the floor and show him a pretty flower and say this can be made into this and that.

And he’s like oh wow yeah.

And they listen to the birds and the wind in the leaves

And she’s like see don’t you feel better

And he does!

So they keep going and he’s telling her things about magic bc she knows a little bit but it’s different when it’s stuff you learn in the field vs him learning it in school.

And so they stop at the top of a butte and eat a meal. Maybe they make out idk

But she’ll talk about her family and her sister who died and her parents and he’ll talk about how he got adopted and what his family was like even if he thinks they aren’t really his. But they are but he’s unsure.

And Tia would laugh about that fire cat he made for Cal or whatever it was and she’s like yeah I raised my wolf since he was a puppy

So you know she wins the fight at the end of the game and Rolan’s thinking about that hike and he’s worried bc she hasn’t come back even tho she never said she was gonna he just expects her to, and she does and they fall more in love and there he is running the shop and being a scholar and she goes back to hiking but doesn’t fight or do guides because she’s tired of it for awhile.

So she’s like should I still do that? Should I just become a fisherman?

But she takes Rolan on a trip and they camp bc they want to not because they need to and they have fun and maybe that’s all she really needs to do anymore the fight is over and she’s okay now and maybe they’ll make little babies together

[amazing-spiderling]

It was way too late to be my birthday... but we had a party anyway.

If I was to fail a personality test, it would probably be because my favorite movie is unironically the 1999 cult classic "Mystery Men" based VERY loosely on the comic of the same name. While I was aware of it when it came out, I was unable to see it until I snagged a copy out of a bargain bin in a K-Mart on a family vacation. It is an anomaly of a movie. A superhero movie before even Spider-Man had really made a mark. An all-star cast. An All Star soundtrack. No, really, the song All Star was written for this soundtrack. Captain Amazing was taking out bad guys in Neoprene before Ben Affleck was even approached to pull on the red suit. it made negative 87 billion dollars and was by all accounts a *terrible* film to work on, and the director never made another movie again. It is remarkable.

So when my friend said we should do a little something after Paul Reubens passed, I lost no time in putting together a little "not really my birthday anymore but I'll use it as an excuse" Mystery Men themed soiree. These were the results:

First of all, the menu. I love a theme party and coming up with fun food and drinks to serve. While there are a few specific foods featured in the movie, I decided instead to embrace the aesthetic of the setting while is like if a Cheesecake Factory was a city with a population of 3.5 million. I made pretty much everything from scratch, down to folding my own wontons and a lot of trial and error to make nori chips.

The spread! I have good friends so a lot of them helped me plate things as people started to arrive, helping to make sure the hot things stayed hot and the crispy things stayed crispy for serving.

My buddy is a trained baker, and makes specialty themed cakes as a side hustle. She's also a fan of the movie and was excited to try and tackle it as a theme- especially when she looked online and found zero (0) examples of Mystery Men themed cakes online. (Wonder why, haha.) She did an amazing version of Champion City around the sides with tons of detail, some All Star lyrics on top and even a nod to her favorite characters in the movie, the Disco Boys. The cake was yuzu flavored with fresh mango filling and super tasty! You can find her other cakes on Instagram @olive_bakes if you want to see some ADORABLE decorating jobs.

Keeping with theme, we had "Superhero Tryouts" and everyone had to come in costume as the most super version of themselves, complete with powers and origin story. We had several strong candidates, including:

Candy Cavity Crush: She uses her giant lollipop to knock people's teeth out… so they can eat more candy without fear of cavities

The Ranger: She discovered an alien crash site, since all of the aliens were dead she helped herself to their technology. She doesn't really know how to use it but that won't stop her. And she's pretty sure that when she powers up her bracelets she gets 20% stronger (with a 17% margin of error)

Unsexy M&M: Actually a supervillain with a single target, Tucker Carlson. (The application review committee considered her a hero by our standards.)

Star Soldier: He was abducted by an alien race to fight in their space war but during trading they deemed that he was too dangerous with a space blaster and equipped him only with his "star sword" before returning him to Earth. (He was only gone for about a week.)

Flamin' Hot: She received her powers at the Korean BBQ where she resides, has the power to overcook your meat. (The interview committee has considered pairing her up with a cannibal hero to better weaponize her powers)

The Zookeeper: More of a schtick than a superpower, he captures an imprisons animal themed superheroes on his home planet for the inhabitants to enjoy.

Cyber Wolf: With his sidekick "Rocket Dog", he has the ability to find just about anything on the internet… By accident. He would also like you to know that the correct pronunciation of GIF is "Jyeff"

The Real Commander Shepherd: To escape any conversation tree by using their favorite tagline. Also may or may not have left 20 rapidly breeding hamsters behind in my home

Tiger Claw: Born with his incredible tiger powers, like the ability to crawl on all fours (although it did require several months training). He is also capable of growing out his fingernails several tenths of a centimeter and using them to scratch anything. Remarkably everyone in his family was born with the same abilities.

Blood Skull: Formerly an accountant, he killed and drink the blood of his co-worker Jerry and discovered he could read the thoughts of any person at the time their blood was taken. (Generally those thoughts are, OW, which isn't actually that helpful, But the committee is potentially interested if he still has his license as a CPA)

Also these little guys who were automatically approved for membership on my super team. ^u^

(I forgot to snap a photo of myself, but I was also there, dressed as The Bowler, making me the only real hero qualified to review applications, haha.)

We watched the movie (with a pause midway for interviews, of course) ate a lot of food and had a good time. I'm really happy that I have friends who are not only willing to participate in my shenanigans, but embrace the silliness- I think it leads to a better time for us all. Looking forward to the next time we can all hang out like this. <3

[rosexknight]

For the first time ever, I am having to play a backup character. I saw this coming when we started Curse of Strahd, and I was a bit torn on what exactly to play. I thought at first I might play one of my exiting characters, but then the thought of playing a native Barovian crossed my mind, and I loved that idea too much to not go for it. Idalia Alastroi is a Barovian and a member of the Keepers of the Feather. She is a Beast Master Ranger/Arcane Archer Fighter. Normally she wears an eyepatch, as she is quite self-conscious about her eye. Her companion is Hook, a black phase wolf. He looks scary, but he's really a big softie, at least for Idalia. Her family was killed by monsters (Perhaps werewolves?), and her scar and damaged eye is proof that she is the only one who survived. Having ben born in Barovia, a land of loss and despair and oppressive fog, Idalia is a pragmatist. She knows she can never leave, and that Strahd will likely rule over them forever. But she can't help but be curious about the outside world, and enjoys hearing stories about it. She's also very jaded, and is not surprised by much of the horrors of Barovia anymore. She's going to be alot of fun to play, and I can't wait. Another attempt at a pixel and I think I'm getting pretty good at these~! This is Idalia Alastroi, my backup character for our streamed Curse of Strahd game. Seriously I am very happy with how she came out. Plus her wolf. Probably the easiest pixel I have made so far, and I don't know if it was just that he had less detail or if I'm just better with animals. But! Here is Hook. Hook is the primal beast companion of Idalia Alastroi in our Curse of Strahd game. Since he can take his own actions, he needs his own sprite. We are streaming weekly now! Fridays at 10pmEST over at www.twitch.tv/metaisfutile/ Hope you enjoy~! Want art like this monthly? Why not join? My General Patreon, safe for all audiences: www.patreon.com/rosexknight My 18+ ADULT-ONLY Patreon: www.patreon.com/rosexxxknight

[editoress]

Now normally I'd give an OriRanna interaction idea, and I always welcome those, but I also wanna be different and hear what you think an interaction between Char and Ledo would be like? Maybe these two chilling after a job early on when they're still trying to get familiar with each other pre-campaign? Or perhaps the party has split while searching for something and they have to work together?

At the risk of being wrong, it's like—

*

Char wasn’t exactly the bark-chewing, misanthropic image of a ranger, but she had to admit that the lone wolf act had its temptations. For one thing, her disguise, which had held up to years of passing glances and brief meetings, was far harder to maintain under constant scrutiny. Harder, and less comfortable. Her tail cramped and her soles itched. But unless Char got her own room at an inn, her teammates were always nearby.

For another, traveling with a group, the mending really piled up.

A couple of weeks ago, Char had made the mistake of demonstrating her ability to sew. Now she sat on a rock with her elbows resting on her knees, darning a few alarming tears in Cook’s favorite shirt. Their target had been quick and free with a knife, but not, in the end, very good with it. Cook still radiated an indignant air as she made dinner across the camp.

At least Char wasn’t the only one who had been volunteered. Ledo seemed handy with basically any tool she was given, so she was checking the rivets and buckles on several pieces of Char’s and Lehala’s leather armor. 

“This is really tarnished,” Ledo noted.

Char looked up to see Ledo frowning over her slim pauldron. Ledo didn’t say it to insult; she said it like a crafter, apologetic, concerned over details. “Mhmm,” Char said, then took the needle out of her mouth. “Don’t want it to shine.”

Ledo gave her a knowing smile. “I see. I won’t polish it then.”

“Yeah, that’d ruin the surprise.” Char tugged on the thread, checking the way it pulled the torn linen together. Satisfied, she went back to stitching. “You can do Lehala’s, though. That’ll be the last thing somebody notices.”

Ledo chuckled, and a comfortable silence returned. Char belatedly remembered to angle her work toward the firelight she didn’t need to see by. There was a pause in the quiet clinking and scuffing of Ledo’s work, and Char looked up to find the tiefling watching her. “I thought Celeste snagged her skirt on something, too?” Ledo said idly.

Char pulled a face. “I think she’s waiting to see how neat my stitches are.” She snorted. “Kind of tempting to do it shitty so she won’t ask me to fix hers. But…” She shrugged. Cook was alright, and there was no need to ruin her shirt.

“She’s certainly the type to want it to look nice,” Ledo agreed. “But if she’s fussy, I can mend it good as new.” She snapped her mechanical fingers.

“Then what am I doing with a needle and thread?” Char complained without particular rancor. After all, Ledo was touching up her armor.

“Well, I can’t add those lovely seamstress touches,” Ledo teased, indicating the half-repaired shirt in Char’s hands. “Do you embroider, too?”

“Are you kidding?” Char deadpanned. “When would I have the time?”

Ledo laughed and shook her head. She was watchful and calculating, but for better or worse, she was friendly, too. It was easy enough to pass the time until Cook called everyone over for dinner. It was good enough company, at the end of the day, that Char spent another night without any particular desire to run off into the woods and live off the land.

[gamergirlbonestaskforce141riot]

Ok, this is really gonna be a ridiculous one, but I'll give it a shot.

Imagine all your OCs meeting in some secluded place. They don't know what mystical power brought them together, they don't understand entirely, what is going on. They just try to figure out, what's going on.

Give them a room to have a small talk. Who would hit it right away with others? Who would like to remain silent? Who would have fun, who would be frightened? What would these characters tell to their friends/beloved ones, after they experience such a meeting? How would the meeting affect them? You can hide their real names behind numbers (like '#1 said to #4...'), if you don't want to share too much information.

Well, it would either be a bloody rave or a bloody crime scene, honestly... I have a lot of OCs but I'll mention the ones I like/use the most

Michelle of Cameron: Brujah (Vampire the Masquerade), Scottish, 823 years old (19 when she was converted). She's a joy to be around, so she'd be mingling and getting along right away with everyone who would be willing to talk to her. She'd tell EVERYTHING to her husband Yusuf (Assamite, Persian, 2545 years old, 27 when converted) about her new 'friends' and he'd freak out and grumble about 'magic' and 'fucking mages and supernatural shit'. She'd also tell everything to her adoptive father Aristos (Brujah, Spartan, 2503 years old, 35 when converted), and he'd take it more indulgently, listening to her kindly, but innerly would be just as alarmed.

Rhea Frost: Elf (Shadowrun), 30. She'd keep to her corner, a hand over her gun and just observe, scanning everyone with her eye implant. She'd answer when spoken to, and she'd even crack a tense smile, but she doesn't trust anyone (in her line of work that'd be a mistake) and would just keep to herself and wait for this strange supernatural happening to finally end so she can go back to her job protecting her boss (and secret husband). She'd tell him of course and Yireiwuchi-san (vampire, age unknown) would just meditate about it.

Calliara Viento de Escarcha: D&D, half-elf, ranger, 25. She'd make instant besties with Michelle, excitedly trying to befriend the rest of them, but Michelle would be the more open to chat of anything and everything. She only has her wolf companion to talk about it, and her god (Solondor Thelandira), but she might mention the meeting to a couple of her lovers (she's polyamorous) as a curiosity.

Eira Karanir and Freyja Greywolf: Nords, cousins, Dragonborns (Skyrim). While Freyja would keep to herself, on the opposite corner to Rhea just in case, Eira although timid would be open to make conversation. They are no strangers to elves or vampires, but the modern weapons of Rhea and Riot would baffle them and make them ask if it's 'dwemer' technology. They'd comment their strange encounter to their companions once back, but they find so many uncanny things every day that they are rarely surprised by anything.

Sgt. Christine 'Riot' Vega: COD OC, almost 29. She'd innerly be freaking out, surrounded by a (very nice, incredibly beautiful and sweet) 800+ year old VAMPIRE, an almost 2 meter tall ELF with cybernetics and futuristic weapons, another (smaller, with impossibly white hair) ELF, well she says she's 'only' half elf, and two seemingly normal human young women but that say they can tear things apart using their voice. She'd be nice enough to keep a conversation going if asked something, but she'd keep her distance and wonder what the fuck was in Soap's latest concoction. She of course would keep everything to herself, deeming it a bad trip.

[seeminglyseph]

I’m considering... for my entirely indulgent Neverafter Hansel character, to have his Twice Upon A Time re-entry to the Neverafter through a differing version of his tale feature him entering a loop of Brother and Sister tales, rather than strictly Hansel and Gretel. it feels like it would be really interesting to like. have a character whose conflict is also in the way their story is about being part of a half, and a grim reminder of the fates of children left to wander defenceless.

Also I want to turn him part way into a goat.

and being able to go like ‘so now I think I might know where my sister is, but it’s chained to a rock at the bottom of a frozen river.” In my headcanon which I am making up because idk maybe they’ll really put out out a rulebook and I can play in a game or something sometime okay?! In my headcanon in the times of the Neverafter where the stories become twisted versions of themselves Gretel not only cooks the witch, after being tortured and starved for weeks she ends up devouring the witch as well. In *my* mind gaining a witch’s powers and becoming a small fragment of Baba Yaga who... look somehow in my imagination versions of the witch are like pale reflections of memories *of* Baba Yaga. Because the witch with Gingerbread House is such a big deal in Hansel and Gretel’s story but also like... Gretel could not kill Baba Yaga. so a memory trapped in a story, like the Big Bad Wolf who is Death but can be killed over and over again in countless tales. idk. Half of the fun of engaging in fiction is getting too engaged in fiction okay. While Gretel the Witch freed Hansel, he took time to regain his strength and then followed a path she’d left (I’m imagining scorched footsteps for dramatic purposes) finding that with her new witch powers she’d been able to find her way back to their home and killed their parents. He’s a little conflicted about this but over time kinda hardens his heart and settles on ‘I would choose Gretel over them, I’ll stand by her on this’ and sets off to try and find her’ and that’s where the story finds him.

I’m thinking like he ends up with the biggest age gap between lives, entering the game as about 14. Still unsure and kind of childlike in his temperament. I think he’d be a ranger... just kind of a boy scout sort of guy. Has an axe but it’s his dad’s and he doesn’t really have the strength to use it so he’s got a crossbow to make up for it. He fancies himself a tracker but he’s comply lost Gretel’s trail and is starting to give up hope that he’ll ever find her again. Then he dies and wakes up in his second story, this time he’s a goat. as the memories of Brother and Sister flash to his mind, his sister calling to him from under the flowing waters of the river, the awakening of a second mind in his body partially breaks the spell that had held this body in the form of a goat for many years, just as the goat was to be killed. In a panic Hansel just kinda kicks and flails and fights his way out, running until he finally finds a way to regroup, readjust, and find his party again. This time he’s come to realize that his and his sister’s names are different, though he goes by Hansel to the group because it’s the most conscious memory. Their histories are different, and the witch that haunted them no longer had a trap in the woods, but was in some nature a Stepmother and Witch, who had cursed him to be a goat when he’d drank water from the hoof of a goat. And he’s like an adult because of how much time he spent as a goat. Mostly just to represent some character growth ‘cause in my head I want to like have a prologue version of Hansel and then Adult Hansel even though the explanation for which is a bit weak... And the Stepmother/Baba Yaga connection... I maybe will figure out how to weave into the grain of the existing story when we gain more information, idk. This is my like... indulgent OC story to imagine scenarios with. I don’t know if that’s not an acceptable thing or not I am an entirely blockable blog I suppose if ‘having an OC’ is something that bugs people. I just want him to be ‘chip on his shoulder older brother’ archetype while also like... looking for his sister who is like going through her villain witch phase maybe which like... fair. who hasn’t? but like. call? send a letter? come on. don’t leave your bro hanging like this.

[mattkenzie]

Listening to the Wolf and Owl podcast (Episode 11)

- So we are still in that covid era which was tough on Wolf (all social distancing and wearing masks) Owl was wearing this awesome mask that matched his hoodie. (I never liked wearing those paper masks so I made my own masks from T-Shirts… if I had to go out, I had to wear a mask.)

- So Wolf (Tom) has a certain charm offensive where he would compliment you in order to get a conversation with him.

- I can’t see Wolf in a fadora, a newsboys cap, yes! (A fadora is so cringe) but apparently he could pull it off.

- “The thing about it Rom, if I could give you some advice as I can see you are quivering here a bit my baby, Is when you wear something you got to wear it with upmost confidence.” -Tom Davis

- (Yeah, I can see that, when it comes picking clothes for yourself, I used to think that I need to be presentable so I don’t look like a slob, but the truth is I need to be comfortable with what I am wearing. Since I bought some Dixxon flannels a month ago, I feel confident about myself. I pick my colours, I know the style that I am aiming for. I’m sick and tired of seeing every man wearing black, navy and Khaki green.)

- (Picturing a pig with a bow.) 🐷🎀

- (So I got hit my covid (even though I was staying indoors “shielding” when I felt like I had a cold, I didn’t want to confuse it as covid so I took the test… which came out as positive.) I loved the bedside manner. But I tend to think that the receptionists have the worst bedside manners.

- I really felt sorry for Lisa (Owl’s wife), tough love is the worst especially when she was pregnant with her first child (wasn’t moving or kicking.)

- So we shift to a new topic about making up new words “persnickety” IS a word which means fussy (not too long ago I used the word twazzock, which means idiot).

- I don’t like the word pernickety though (which also means fussy)

- A Runo! 🦏🤣

- I find Wolf’s pronunciations very endearing, he has BFG vibes.

- (I am not a handshakey person, I’m not a touchy person either. But I will hug you if I trust you enough.)

- Oh yeah, I get caught off guard when someone shakes my hand as I don’t know what they’re going to do next (no firm grips!)

- So Wolf mentioned about popularity in secondary school (I was the outcast in my primary school but it got better when I transferred to a different school) Yes schools are different back in the days as we weren’t allowed to have mobile phones or used the internet (as it was exclusively used on the PC). I was well liked but not popular which is a big difference even though I was a fat kid. My childhood was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and then it became Power Rangers.

- Man, I know I get compliments about how young I look for my age but poor Owl has old man vibes (46 but actually 42 in this recording), I tend to feel that Wolf is oldest of the two, it’s just Owl makes himself come off as old because of how highly educated he comes off as.

- If I am going to change, I am going to do it for me and not for the world, I don’t own it anything. (But I’m not touching ‘going back with my ex’ subject.)

- yeah, we don’t exactly visit other people’s houses (we just catch up when we are out in town and have a coffee.)