HUNGRY IS THE WOLF. a girl is born and subsequently abandoned in the smothering arms of st. anthony's home for children (a catholic-led foster home) near helena, montana. they name her thalia, hoping it will bring her fortune in her life ahead. she is a quiet girl, and strongly compassionate -- with an unpredictable and destructive rage they try to punish out of her. it doesn't work, and no matter how hard she tries, it isn't something she can learn to shove down: it is like some ancient hunger opens a chasm in her, yearning to devour all before her until her anger sputters itself out. it is a wretched thing, a horrible feeling, and her tantrums are a blur of memory. sometimes things end up broken, and the nuns begin to look at her in contempt, and then fear. she doesn't understand it. she tries in every other way to be worthy of a family. stays up late to get good grades, offers to take up chores around the household and run errands when she's old enough to drive, but the insatiable thing within her is always her downfall. she always ends up back at st. anthony's, loath as they are to take her. (there is one incident where she's dumped back on their steps by a family when she's fifteen, and they claim she acted like a rabid animal, leaving claw marks in her bedroom door when they tried to ground her there. she doesn't remember it.) counseling and therapy do nothing, because she is already aware of the problem but unable to do anything to contain it, and medication doesn't seem to do anything but make it worse. eventually, they all decide it's best to leave her alone until she ages out of the system. for a while, the lack of eyes on her and persistance of religious guilt seems to help. her outbursts are few and far between, and she's able to get a handle on most of them before they turn destructive. for the first time it seems like she might actually move on from the place scot free. until the incident. there's a boy in her senior class that isn't troubled, but likes to cause it and be a thorn in everyone's ass. there's one particular freshman boy he's been picking on all year and it comes to a head at the last cross country meet of the season. he pokes and hollers at the kid at every pass, and finally when the adults aren't caught up yet, he trips him right at a muddy pathway. while multiple people tried to get him to stop, thalia is the first one to physically intevene and push him away. as the freshman is hauled to his feet, nose dripping blood, thalia endures her classmate's amused jeering until he turns it on her. i know you're crazy, they all say there's something wrong with you, you can't hide it, and that thing in her snaps. she doesn't even know what's happening until he's rolling down the hill, smacking his head on a rock before smashing into the creek below. nobody saw. she was defending herself, it was an accident, and he fell. he's alive, but in a coma for two months and spurting nonsense when he comes out of it. something about that graves girl ain't right, she's a beast. it strikes an unpleasant nerve in her and the haziness of the memory makes it all the stranger, something about it tells her it is blatantly her fault, so she tries not to think about it too much. but the guilt residue is sticky.still, thalia manages to graduate and with enough savings scraped together from summer jobs and restaurant shifts after school, moves a little deeper into the city with a roommate for half the rent. the fresh start brings clarity and she finds that without the toxic environment of st. anthony's or her smalltown school, she feels calmer and generally sane. she starts working at a ma and pa - type antique shop and befriends her roommate and her group of friends. things are good. so good, in fact, that when her friends present her with a night of natural hallucinogens, she doesn't give it anymore thought than that sounds like a good time. and it is, for most of the night. they watch horrible movies and laugh until they begin to doze off, one by one. thalia is the last to fall asleep after making a comfortable nest of pillows on the living room floor. all at once, the blackness behind her eyelids bursts into an aurora of color. she floats aimlessly amongst the sky, and gazes into the face of a giant wolf. brilliant silver eyes, age greying the fur of his muzzle. for some reason, it doesn't scare her. they seem to regard each other for an eternity before the great wolf bends closer, his voice a resonating like a thunderclap, sweet child. daughter of mine. you will not run from me any longer. and when his snout touches her chest, it all comes flooding back with such astounding force that she snaps awake stone cold sober. the wolf. it has always been the wolf within her that has been aching to break free, this monstrous, ever-hungry thing that reared its head behind every violent outburst and instinct to protect herself. she remembers seeing herself with yellow eyes in the reflection of the glass behind the nun who was too afraid to stitch her hands, watching herself rake claws down a mahogany door with a frantic need to be free. she sees herself, eyes burning gold as she pushes her senior classmate down the hill with such strength that sends him spiraling, a piece of his flannel caught in her hands where her claws had sunk in. she remembers having these wolf dreams before, as a child and all throughout her time at st. anthony's. after the first time, when she sobbed in sister marie's arms throughout the night, they would always fizzle from her memory when she woke. it frightens her so bad that she runs all the way to the end of town at the crack of dawn and throws up on a railroad. but gradually, it starts to make a little sense. at least she knows what the it inside of her is, now. somewhat. and what she doesn't understand, she begins to research. hours of reading myth and folklore until something clicks, until she reads about fenrir and his children and remembers the reflection of the moon in the great wolf's eyes. she tries to travel and speak to people with more input than written histories allow, but most things lead to a dead end. she can't even find her parents, the ones who presumably condoned her to this fate alone. and alone she remains, working to support her traveling part of the time, obsessively pouring over books and articles another, and mostly just afraid to let anyone see or get close to the strange creature inside of her. struggling to accept that it is her.

CONNECTIONS.

.MAIN VERSE..

follows thalia's primary lore within several fandoms, keeping background details & abilities, etc, mostly the same throughout crossovers unless plotted otherwise. due to her habit of bouncing around locations and never staying anywhere for long, she is pretty flexible per thread.

.HUNGER GAMES..

victor of the 73rd hunger games. in progress.

.RIORDANVERSE..

in progress.