#I have three other WIPs to finish first dfdfkjsd;

[mimicmockingbirds]

Yellowjackets - Werewolves HCs

I know absolutely no one asked for this, but I'm missing the Yellowjackets crew, and I've been binging a horror media all week, so here are my loose ideas for a werewolf AU as inspired by this post

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Van & Taissa:

Obviously Van is the first one to turn, having been attacked by a rival werewolf during her side-quest with Tai, Mari, Akilah, and Misty like in the show

Tai also gets bitten in the process of helping Van heal/deal with her first transformation

From there, they spread the curse to the rest of the group, making them the leading alpha pair by proxy of "creating" the rest of the pack like alpha-parent pairs in the wild

Van struggles with the leadership role, considering herself more of a follower than a leader when in human form

Tai leans into it, being a natural leader in human form; although, since it was her idea to go on the side-quest that got Van bitten to begin with, she is more cautious when it comes to making decisions

Tai also gets more protective of the group as a whole, often herding them or biting their scruffs to keep them in place (i.e. safe) from rival wolves

Shauna:

Instantly embraces having a bigger, physically stronger body as a wolf

Uses it to unleash all of the compartmentalized anger and aggression she carries in human form, making her the most snappish of the group, bordering on feral

Consequently, she really struggles to submit to Tai and Van as the alpha pair, often testing their patience by trying to go off on her own or stealing scraps of their food

Has a lot of nicks on her body from Taissa constantly having to correct her behavior

Jackie:

The complete opposite as Shauna; she absolutely hates having a second body and the strangeness of having to navigate it

Is the most resistant to change in general, so her transformation process is particularly difficult

Stays in her human form as much as possible; only really shifts when there's conflict among the other wolves and they need a mediator to calm things down (especially because it's usually started by Shauna)

Since she's in human form so often, her social standing in the team/pack starts to decline, making her more submissive and subdued

Natalie:

Is resistant to the change at first, as she is resistant to the supernatural in general

Gradually starts to embrace having a wolf side when it proves useful in hunting/providing for the others

Starts to thrive because wolves naturally communicate via actions, which she prefers as someone who was raised on volatile emotions rather than rational words

Sometimes stays in wolf form just to vibe and show her affection for others, clambering on top of them or licking their muzzles when she's in a good mood

Mostly reverts to human form when she's upset, because it's easier to hide her emotions that way (although it quickly becomes a sign in and of itself that she's in a poor mood)

Misty:

Is absolutely enthralled with having a new, bigger body with better senses and strength

She is still the smallest of the group, so she compensates by being very vocal as a wolf, constantly yipping or howling

Shifts between human and wolf the most often, usually at random, because she does still value having human qualities when she needs to play group medic

As a human, she lacks a lot of social awareness for boundaries; as a wolf, that becomes even worse

Constantly inserts herself into others' personal space, butting her head or muzzle against theirs to see what they're doing or where they're going; consequently, she receives a lot of corrective behavior from the others, like nips to the ear or base of her tail

It works for about 5 seconds, then she's right back in their space

Laura Lee:

Absolutely hates shifting

Still views the entire situation of being stranded, and now forced to deal with transformations into another body, as some form of divine punishment

Like Jackie, mostly keeps to her human form whenever possible, and shifts only to play mediator when the others need it

However, unlike Jackie, her social standing doesn't suffer, since she has status by proxy of being friends with the likes of Van and Lottie

Lottie:

Is disorientated by the transformation process at first, wondering whether it's another symptom of her mental illness or withdrawal from her meds

Eventually accepts it, and is even comforted that she's not the only one suffering from strange phenomena for once

Due to her acceptance to change and the unknown, she is able to shift the most easily from one body to the other

She's the most attuned to the Wilderness as a human, so she has the best senses as a wolf; starts to accompany Natalie on hunts, wherein she tracks down the prey for Nat to kill

Is very anxious, so she is often scratching or grooming herself; her fur gets patchy around her paws from licking them so much

Builds a closer friendship with Natalie (from hunting together) and Van (for gifting her the bone-necklace), so they try to console her anxious habits, either by laying next to her or directly on top of her to keep her still

Travis:

Only embraces the change when Natalie does, especially since it proves so useful in hunting

Despite being a bigger size than the girls, he has the lowest social standing, since he was never officially on the team and thus, is considered an outsider to the instinctive pack dynamic

Mostly hovers at a distance from the girls during any gathering; however, he only exhibits outwardly submissive behavior like lowered ears and a tucked-in tail towards Van and Taissa, since they're the official alpha pair

Prefers to flee rather than fight during conflicts amongst the pack, only becoming aggressive when his hunting partners (Nat and Lottie) are involved