Let's give a real blog today!

It's a little late.
I'm a little tired.
It's a little cold.
I kinda want to go to bed now.

But, I'm currently waiting for the ability to submit an action which'll take me ten minutes, and I have nothing else to do other than fill that time with something, and writing a blog entry proper seems as good a way as any to do it. Even though the blog will take far more than the time I needed.

I suppose I can write about the story idea I had on Sunday, Red Strider.
With the exception of the polyamorous relationship, I am fairly certain that everything in this story idea has been done before--my take, barring that particular aspect, is nothing unique, nothing original, nothing groundbreaking, nothing putting a twist on the tale which I invented and I am quite certain that it has all been done before.

But I am also quite certain that even if every individual aspect of the story has been done before.

All of them together?

Yeah, my story's the first.

So basically, this is a Little Red Riding Hood and Big Bad Wolf story, with the Lumberjack/Huntsman (combined to be the same guy, which...again, has been done before; combining those two guys to be one and the same is something which is often done) as well.

Specifically, the Big Bad Wolf is a werewolf by birth, who infected Little Red Riding Hood and the Huntsman with his lycanthropy. (So, Little Red Riding Hood as a werewolf, and the Huntsman/Lumberjack as a werewolf--again. Both of these have been done, albeit I'm pretty sure not together.)

To give a little more detail.
Little Red Riding Hood, in this case, is the titular character, the Red Strider: Rosanne (known as Rose to those close to her) "Red Strider" Hood. She, along with Clint "Huntsman" Hunter, and Arthur "Mutt" Wolfe, are a trio of monster hunters, who for their living travel from location to location helping out the locals with whatever supernatural threat may plague their city.

All three of them carry cold iron and silver weapons, along with also carrying wooden stakes, but each of them has their own unique skills, knowledge/background, and tools that the others do not have.

Rosanne was raised by her grandmother, a witch. (Specifically, a good witch--I'll explain more about witches below.) She was taught the knowledge of witchcraft and the tools of the trade, so she is a somewhat-talented witch of her own, albeit not a fullblown master of witchcraft. She was always a hunter, using her bow and arrow, and she also carries two hatchets and two knives on top of that.

She's got some training from Clint in the ways of the woods which she didn't learn with her own upbringing, but he's the real master of the art. She is in love with both Clint and Arthur. Her only qualms with transforming into a werewolf are that she doesn't want to broadcast this to her enemies (as it does have exploitable weaknesses) unless she chooses to, and that she does have a sense of modesty which transforming can potentially run afoul of. (See below.)

Clint Hunter is a master tracker, hunter, herbalist, scientist in the fields of flora and fauna, you get the idea. He basically has lived in the woods his entire life, hunting down prey and learning about natural medicines and remedies, as well as investing time to learn about the supernatural creatures of the world to know of their weaknesses and telltale calling signs.

He uses a crossbow with various different types of bolts, but additionally carries two axes, two hatchets, and two knives on top of that. He is in love with Rose. He is on a last-name basis with Wolfe when showing him begrudging respect. (When not showing begrudging respect, it's just 'Mutt'.) He has a strong distaste for using his werewolf abilities, but will do so in case of emergency.

Arthur Wolfe was born a werewolf. He doesn't know how old he is (werewolves are immortal), because his parents raised him in the wild. He doesn't know the day, month, or even year he was born, and he never cared to track such things. Still, for the vast majority of his life, Arthur was the Big Bad Wolf.

As in. He was evil. He ate people. He killed. He loved the thrill of the hunt, and sought out the best prey, the most challenging of things to hunt down and kill, to get immense pleasure out of the massacre along with a good feast. He was an unrepentant monster...and he still is.

Sort of.

When he met Rosanne, he fell in love with her, and while he originally was planning on eating her, he gradually changed his mind, and eventually (albeit after the eventful fight where Rosanne and Clint were both infected), he swore, promised, to put those days behind him.

He is under no magical oath to keep his word. He is a known liar, he hates being bound by rules, he hates laws, he hates restrictions, and his code of conduct is incredibly lose. So he has every reason to go back on his word--but in his love of Rosanne and knowing that she doesn't want him to do that, he simply chooses not to, even though he still really wants to.

Basically, he didn't change; he still wants to kill, he still wants to hunt, he still wants to be that sadistic murderer, but he gave a promise to not act on what he wanted to do despite his desire to--and while nothing is holding him to that promise...it's not a promise he wants to break because he knows Rosanne would be upset by it.

While he is a werewolf by birth, he is also a skilled alchemist. Alchemy is neither the work of science nor the work of witchcraft. It is a separate system altogether, with different principles. Now, granted. Knowledge of witchcraft/knowledge of scientific principles (such as having botanical knowledge) translate incredibly well into alchemy, but they are still two entirely separate things.

Alchemy, similar to witchcraft, is a latent genetic trait which in addition to requiring the gene also requires training to unlock and utilize the potential of. (And, no, the two are not mutually exclusive; there are plenty of witches who are also alchemists, and vice versa. And some of them are even scientists as well!)

So he carries the tools of the trade, but also arms himself with more traditional weapons. He carries two swords, and in addition to the swords, carries knives...lots, and lots, and lots of knives, throwing them as he pleases, to have basically the same amount of ammo as his companions.

He is in love with Rosanne, and while he and Clint aren't really fond of each other, they at least tolerate and work with the other and have managed to build a steady, healthy, working relationship with Rosanne.

He is a bit of a dick, and unashamably so. He's blunt, he doesn't mince words, he's unapologetic, unrepentant, but he is also astute, sharp-witted, reliable, and willing to do what needs to be done. He won't hesitate to perform a deed which is heroic in spite of his past lifestyle, and this past lifestyle can be an asset when called upon to perform deeds that are necessary but which nobody wants to due, e.g. mercy killing those who truly cannot be saved. (Which, they usually can be, if they are willing.)

So there are a few setting details I figured I should mention.
Obviously, this would be a land of fairy tales. A fantasy setting of some sort.
I haven't worked out all the details of the setting, but the general rule of thumb: almost no supernatural creature is inherently always evil; their evilness comes from the individual rather than from the supernatural.

For instance, obviously, Arthur is a werewolf who is evil--doing good things out of love, but still at heart evil. That's not due to being a werewolf; that's due to him having just been evil.

Most people are neutral with a slight inclination to lean towards acts of altruism, that is to say, most people are "more or less, decent/good folk". This includes the world of the supernatural. But the world is a big, big place, and plenty of places are plagued by those who in spite of the general natural lean towards being good...are just, rotten to their core.

Monsters, who are monsters. And most of them are supernatural with the power to inflict great harm on others.

Witches are no exception.
For the sake of classification, you can call some people "good witches" and some people "bad witches", but this is not something designated by some steadfast rule. There's no "oh you were born a bad witch, you can only be a bad witch", or "you were born a good witch, you must be a good witch"; there's no "good witch powers" compared to "bad witch powers"; there's no real separation between the two.

Witches are witches, regardless of whether they are good or bad. And whether they are good or bad isn't determined by birth, but rather, by what they do with the powers at their disposal. Witch powers are universal, so any witch can use any witch power, but some witch powers are more 'evil' in nature (for instance, the witchcraft which extends your lifespan beyond its natural maximum), while other powers are more 'good' in nature (for instance, shielding a place from harm).

I also wanted to talk about werewolves in the setting.
Birth-werewolves, those who were born as werewolves, are almost identical to werewolves who were turned later in their life. The transmission vector is specifically body fluids during a blue moon, usually a bite but other fluids work just as well for these purposes.

The main difference: werewolves who were turned must take full-wolf form during the full moon, and can't transform during the new moon; a birth werewolf has neither of these restrictions. Turned werewolves can also only transmit while in their full wolf form, a limitation a birth wolf lacks.

But, to get into their powers:
In human form, werewolves have peak levels of human everything. The strongest of strong human strength, the toughest of tough human endurance, the most attuned of sensitive human senses. Able to see, smell, hear, see, etc. to the highest ability possible for a human. With no need of exercising regularly being able to do stunts like run a marathon in record time, lift low hundreds of pounds, transport this load a long distance, you get the idea.

They are fast, they are strong, they are tough, but they are still at levels which a human can plausibly achieve. High athletic level, with the build to match. (So, yes, they are naturally ripped. Which applies regardless of gender.) If you took a look at them, you wouldn't think that they were supernatural creatures; you would think that they were average humans, performing feats which are appropriate for their in-shape body build.

And while no human could do everything they do all at once, a human could do anything individually that they do.

The one exception which is supernatural: they have skin which is harder to breach than any human (but not so hard as to make you think it's armor), and they still regenerate ridiculously well. I mean, cut off their heads and they'll die; cause intense extended trauma and they'll die (like, ripped in half and guts scattered), but they can explicitly survive wounds which would normally be lethal.

In their full wolf form, there are advantages and disadvantages.

They possess telepathy with other werewolves, able to communicate with other werewolves, regardless of the other werewolves' states. Other werewolves human but there's a full wolf werewolf? They can still communicate two ways without speaking a word. Other werewolves in half-wolf form but there's a full werewolf? They can still communicate two ways without speaking a word.

They can communicate with canines and felines--a particularly useful skill to have, as cats and dogs are particularly attuned to the supernatural world, and both have evil-detecting/good-detecting innate abilities.

They have the best smelling of any creature in existence. Go look up creatures with good smell (like dogs, bears, and the like--I'd actually have to do the research there myself which...I currently haven't), look at what they can do with their noses, and werewolves in full wolf form can do it.

They have the best hearing of any creature in existence. Same as above.

They have full night vision, able to see in absolute pitch black darkness with a clarity as if it were still as bright as day.

They are incredibly fast, nimble, agile, mobile, and maneuverable. They can sprint at incredible speeds, leap incredible distances with good turns, dodge, weave, twist, turn, you name it. 

Their fur provides not only natural warmth but also a natural level of armor, protecting against bodily harm.

They can pass as being "just a big dog".

They can still fit into smaller spaces.

They are still REALLY strong, supernaturally so. They're stronger than they are when they're human in these wolf forms.

And they have even higher regeneration capabilities in this form.

The form comes with a number of disadvantages though.
Full wolves are full wolves--no human vocal chords. By which, I mean, they can't speak. They can growl, but those growls can't really be understood by others.

Clothes do not transform with the werewolf--so when you take full wolf form, none of your human clothes would fit, and thus, they won't be there when you transform out of full wolf form.

They are fully quadrupedal; this obviously limits their dexterity. No fine motor control with paws or I guess jaws; they can't really do anything which requires opposable thumbs or the like.

As mentioned, they have the best hearing/smelling of any creature--this can cause sensory overload fairly easily. Where loud noises/really bad smells are physically painful to them and can briefly stun them.

They have, relatively speaking, low defense especially against blunt trauma--that is to say, they can very easily be tossed around, they can be stunned, winded, knocked unconscious, and the like by blunt force blows. Rocks, clubs, fists, you name it. They'll still take considerably more than a normal human would to be affected by this, but it is incredibly easy for anything with remotely high levels of peak-human-or-higher level strength to just...grab them and ragdoll them, tossing them about. They can't really counter that except by dodging.

In other words, while against projectiles and cutting and piercing weapons they have plenty of defenses, against blunt force weapons, they are "fragile speedsters".

They are wearing full fur coats--this can leave them vulnerable to overheating.

And they are fully carnivorous in this form; they cannot stomach anything except for meat in it, and thus, if taking this form and requiring sustenance, must eat meat from somewhere or another.

Their half-wolf forms come with their own advantages and disadvantages.
They can be bipedal or quadrupedal, switching between the two freely.
They are still incredibly fast and agile, with inhuman abilities to sprint, burst, leap, etc.
While even in wolf form they have incredible inhuman strength, in half wolf form this is amplified to levels which're high even by supernatural beast standards.
They have their already monstrous toughness raised to be literally like hard steel armor plating--they are basically a brick wall, immovable, hitting like a freight train moving at full speed, and indomitable.
They can actually speak.
They have both claws and teeth, but still have opposable thumbs, so have full human dexterity.
They are omnivorous, able to digest just about anything. Things even humans might not be able to.
They still have heightened senses of hearing and smelling--not as high as their full wolf forms, but still supernatural levels beyond what any human is capable of.
They still have fur to give them a second armor level and natural protection from the cold.

All in all, an awesome form which has almost all the strengths of both but almost none of the weaknesses beyond the universal ones.

But it's not without its flaws.
A half-werewolf form is obviously monstrous. It can take some convincing that, yeah, you're not there to eat the townsfolk if you stride in when wearing this form.

It can destroy clothing when transforming--this is why werewolves who care to preserve their clothing tend to wear a bunch of loose clothing with gaps in certain areas and elasticity to them, such that when they transform to and from this form, their clothing remains unscathed. Wear the wrong type of clothing though, and if you don't remove it before transforming, you shred it.

It has low maneuverability. It's fast. It's strong. It's a tank. But while it is capable of those acts of extreme athleticism. Those movements are largely linear. Straight up, straight forward, straight back, or at very slight angles. There isn't the same ability to turn on a dime that the full wolf form has, and even peak humans can do better than them (and thus, they can do better in their full human form).

Yeah, their maneuverability is still about at average human level, but considering their maneuverability in both other forms, this is a massive step down.

On a similar note: their sight is at human levels, lacking the enhancement of supernatural creatures.

And they still can suffer from overheating in this form.

There are a few things universal throughout all forms.
High regeneration.
Immortality.
Immunity to all diseases, even supernatural ones.

But also, weakness to silver--silver in this case causes their supernatural regeneration to be lowered for any wound made by a silver weapon to human levels. That is to say, a normal cut would heal instantly; a cut with a silver weapon wouldn't be permanent, but would still take weeks to heal, just as it would with any given human. This makes it much easier to kill a werewolf using silver weapons.

They also have a weakness towards wolfsbane. When you're not a birth werewolf, you can't transform at all when exposed to it. Even as a birth werewolf, while you can transform freely, you're brought down in strength/speed/etc. in those forms to more human levels.

Hmm...there might be more, but that's all I can think of.

Anyway, this did take me more than enough time and I am dead tired so I'll be going to bed once I do the action I was stalling time for.