#battle royale in my inbox

[coquelicoq]

the executive dysfunction is not going to win today. i am winning. pay no heed to the fact that i am on tumblr writing this post instead of doing a task. i am winning. i am winning. i am winning.

[froagie]

dumb q but do u know if it was ever confirmed if guizhong and zhongli were actually lovers? itd be hilarious inversion if they were just friends legitimately that historians thought were actually lovers

it was never confirmed and i dont think historians in-game thought they were lovers either? (not sure on that though, i havent read Every Single Piece Of Lore so correct me if im wrong)

guizhong and madam ping are the ones implied to be lovers from this years lantern rite. they broke out the "知音" for them thats how u know its real

[harryandmeghansussex]

Ooft my head hurts, I'm tired 😶

Regardless what people's overall thoughts are about the Netflix docu, the book, the interviews, I think everyone can admit to a level of fatigue of what the last few years have been. Nothing like what Harry and Meghan have faced, but still the emotional journey has been real

I hope he - they - feel like they've spoken their truth and said what they needed to be heard, for them to leave the baggage of it all here, to be able to move forward freely and happily. To be focused on their little family, on work and passion projects, and all that the future holds. Instead of the hurt of the past.

Apologies won't come, the media circle will continue on, I hate to say it but it is what it is. I just hope this has brought them peace or freedom to draw a line, because only they can.

[gxldensxldiers]

Tag dump

[vandal-flower]

The Type of Boyfriend that Will...

Blue Lock boys that will...

Characters: Various.

Notes: Go ahead, interrogate me in my inbox.

Go to war for you

Had it not been for his soccer career, he'll enlist himself in the army just so he can go to war for you.

Other moments are where there is a cockroach in the room and decides to kill it for you. He might be the type to complain about it, but that doesn't stop him from getting the job done.

If you ever have an argument with a girl that might get physical, be prepared to see him put on a cheap wig just to brawl her for you. Or in some cases, there is no wig.

Annoying neighbours next door that won't shut up when you want to go to sleep. Don't worry, he's got you.

He kisses you goodbye as his battle on the pitch is soon to set, and reminds you to take care of the kids while he's gone. Said kids are the house plants and/or pets.

So, yes. He'll go to war for you.

Seishiro Nagi, Shouei Barou, Rensuke Kunigami, Itoshi Bros, Ryusei Shidou, Oliver Aiku... + your favourites.

Sacrifice himself for you

When I mean sacrifice, I mean sacrifice.

When mosquito season rolls in, he'll stay up all night just to prevent them from stinging you. You have to remind him that you bought the latest mosquito repellent, but that won't stop him.

He'll give you his charger, even if his phone is on the verge of dying. He'll give you the warmest blanket, even if he's freezing cold. He's willing to watch the scary scenes, so you don't have to.

You remind him that he does not have to do all these things for you, but he's too stubborn to even listen to you.

His teammates often tease him for his behaviour, but he takes it with the widest smile known to man.

If it means he has to jump in the pool, in winter, fully clothed, just to get your hair tie, he'll do it in a heart beat.

Yoichi Isagi, Meguru Bachira, Rensuke Kunigami, Reo Mikage, Alexis Ness, Oliver Aiku... + your favourites.

Put his all for you

This man, could be the tiredest man on Earth, but he'll give his all to you.

He's too tired to cook, but you're hungry. Expect dinner in a few minutes. The store is closing in 3 minutes, give him 1 minute minimum. Nothing is stopping him.

You wonder how far he'll go to such lengths in order to satisfy your needs. Do remind him that he too should take a break. But do remember, there is a 50% he'll listen.

If you have not noticed, his love language is acts of service. He is your royal knight, your right hand man, the fanfic secretary you'll definitely get with. You know the drill.

He dedicates his goals to you as a way to say "I love you" on the pitch. And also as a way to say he's better than anyone else.

Yoichi Isagi, Hyoma Chigiri, Reo Mikage, Shouei Barou, Rensuke Kunigami, Itoshi Bros, Michael Kaiser... + your favourites.

Stay with you

When times are tough, he's here with you.

If you wish to be held, he'll hold you. If you wish to have space, he'll give you space. If you want someone to rant to, his ears are wide open. You want a shoulder to cry on, have his it's dry.

He may or may not understand what you are going through, but the fact that he stays with you, shows that he cares.

There were times in his life where there was no one for him to run to. An experience he does not wish upon you, his lover.

If it means just gently rubbing your back, giving you something to eat, listening to your soft or loud cries. He'll do it.

As long as it means he's staying with you, so don't have to be alone like he was.

All of them. (For our peace of mind)

Hi.

My inbox is open. Check out my Rules.

[theeoriginals]

I’d love to see your take on an arranged marriage with klaus (like medieval times or some period like that). maybe he’s marrying her to get something from her/her family but there’s something a little off about the reader (hint: she does what giulia tofana did - google her if you’re not familiar!! her story is so fascinating) and when he pieces it together he’s smitten with her 💗💗

aqua tofana | klaus mikaelson

author's note; this has been in my inbox for over a month because i was so inspired by it that I decided a 14k oneshot was necessary I hope I did it justice

klaus mikaelson x reader (no y/n) use of nickname in place of y/n

warnings; arranged marriage, strangers to lovers, klaus is a little shit but so is reader so it's okay, no Y/N, mentions of domestic abuse but not in regards to reader, mentions of poison, fluff, shy!klaus (he is real to me), these two mfers are in LOVE, mikael (a warning in itself), minor violence and bloodshed but nothing too bad. if I missed anything let me know!! this is heavily inspired by ACOTAR bc I just binged the entire series in less than a week so thank you sarah j. maas for your service

The Mikaelsons were said to be a noble family. One with loyalty and strength. 

They were coming to stay in their small kingdom, in their castle. Three of them. Elijah, Rebekah, and Niklaus. Looking for a safe haven, to avoid growing conflicts in surrounding areas. Looking for someplace to call home for a little while longer– at least, until they could no longer pass as mortals.

Riverend was perfect for them. 

The way the people of Riverend saw it, their problems were their own, and the larger, outlying kingdoms could fight their nonsensical battles without any help from a small, useless kingdom built downstream from them, carved right out of the flowing water that traveled through their town square by the calloused hands of the families that still lived there today.

As far as anyone was concerned, Riverend had no monetary value, no natural resources to capitalize off of, no armies worth rallying, and no animals to trade. The only thing it had was its people, and to most, that meant nothing. It meant they went overlooked, and were never considered in territory battles and similar crises. But to the right person–a dangerous person– such a thing could mean everything. 

That is why she was so wary to accept this supposedly noble family into their walls. She had to be wary, to think of the danger they could bring along with them should they stay. How much danger it could put her kingdom in. 

It’s why she had further qualms about marrying the man the king had been corresponding with all these months. Said qualms, of course, outside of the fact that she had no real desire to marry, let alone to a stranger. All familiarity aside, she had a duty to her people to maintain their livelihoods and not leave them stranded for her own selfish desires. Even if it meant marrying some man. 

With her mother’s voice in her head telling her to keep her chin up and her shoulders back, she was determined to keep her wits about her. She didn’t complain when she was asked to wear one of her nicer gowns to greet the family when they arrived that brisk, cloudy afternoon. She let her ladies dress her in a midnight blue gown that swept along the ground, with sleeves that draped over her hands, leaving no skin visible, spare for her neck and face. 

She was escorted by the king to the throne room, where she stood at his shoulder, resting a hand on the embroidered fabric along the muscle hidden beneath the layers. A silent, supportive daughter. A perfect royal family, to anyone who might linger too long while looking in their direction. 

Two of their sentries escorted their new houseguests into the throne room, and she did nothing but raise a brow at their humble appearance. The girl, Rebekah, was young. She’d seen better days, and she silently wondered where they had traveled from that had them end up before her and her father with dirt scuffs on their cheeks, and scruffy, unkempt facial hair marring their jaws. 

“Welcome, Lords and Lady, to our home,” Her father spoke genially, a content smile on his face as if he was unaware of the judgmental look his daughter was fixing them with. “We’re honored to have you here, honored to build a bridge between our families for years to come.” 

One of the long-haired men spoke, his hands clasped neatly behind his back, making him look like he was some proper gentleman and not a random man who had shown up on her doorstep. 

“The honor is all ours, Your Majesty. The opportunities that your generosity has given my family have not gone unnoticed. We thank you and the Princess for your kindness.” 

The King shifted slightly like he’d forgotten his daughter was there. He turned to look at her over his shoulder, and she met his gaze, peering down at him over the bridge of her nose. “Yes, my daughter. Nyxia. She’s a woman of few words, I must warn you all. And when she chooses to speak, it’d do you well to listen closely.” 

All of their eyes shifted to her, but the set of icy blue ones had never left. Not to meet the king’s eyes, or look around at his new home for the foreseeable future of their impending marriage. 

“Your Highness,” Blue eyes, suddenly alight with fire. Flame that burns her from the tips of her toes to the base of her scalp that her very hair grows out of. Flame that ravages civilizations, and wipes out bloodlines. She can feel the darkness in him from two simple words. It’d take a fool to not see it. “I look forward to getting to know you before our prospective arrangement takes place.”

He wasn’t lying, she could tell. But his words seemed to hold as much weight as hers did. A hidden meaning tucked behind every spoken syllable. Dangerous. So dangerous. The King was a fool to not see it, but that was neither here nor there. 

Licking her lips, she chose her first words carefully. It was always important to make a lasting first impression, but with this man– with her future husband, she wanted to be honest from the start. She wanted, for once, to reveal her hand before the game started. Just to see what he’d do. Just to see what he had planned. 

But she didn’t. She knew it would just be chaos. And even though such things were in her blood, she couldn’t risk anything this far into everything.

“Lord Niklaus,” She didn’t move a muscle besides the ones it took to make words form on her tongue. “My kingdom rejoices with your arrival. They will be overjoyed with the announcement of our nuptials.” 

And the man, encased in his flames that felt as if they could burn the whole world down should he please, tilted his head and smirked at her. Like he’d heard every thought she’d had in the moments between words. 

Nothing else was said between them, not verbally, at least, and the king interrupted the rising tension that was so obvious between the Princess and the Mikaelson siblings, oblivious to the people he’d surrounded himself with. 

“Lady Rebekah, my daughter can show you to your rooms in the east wing. You’ll have ladies of your own to help you bathe and dress,” He gestures to the blonde, who looks childishly excited at the thought. “The both of you will be in the west wing, my men can take you to your rooms. We can reconvene tonight at dinner, yes?” 

The three siblings bowed at their waist, easily deferring the power back to the King. 

“In the meantime, feel free to explore. Our home is yours, now. Make yourselves comfortable.” 

She stayed in the throne room long after even her father had left, watching the doors the siblings had been escorted through. She lingered at her place beside the throne, nearly behind it, where her mother once stood behind a man who looked like he belonged on a throne more than any woman would. She laid a hand around the back of the embossed silver and thought to herself that it would look better in gold. 

────── 

Klaus watched his wife-to-be dig into the dinner presented before them moments ago, her fork the first one to move, even before her father’s. She didn’t sit at the head of the table, but just to the right of her father, and Klaus had taken the seat across from her. He did not doubt that she could feel his eyes on her, but she was pointedly ignoring it in favor of talking to his sister at her side. 

Rebekah, ever the people pleaser. Even in their centuries on this earth, Rebekah could never resist the desire to cling to the nearest female in their proximity. He hadn’t said anything to her about it, yet. He figured there was no harm in letting her delude herself into thinking that Princess Nyxia wanted anything to do with any of them. 

Elijah wasn’t even pretending to be friendly like he tended to be in this position. He’d been silent for a majority of the day, perhaps tired from their travels, though Klaus doubted it was anything so simple. If Klaus were to look at himself as a King, it would be Elijah as his second, watching everything and everyone, dutifully reporting back to him about usurpers and battles to come. It would be Elijah ripping hearts out, and Klaus taking responsibility for the blood on his brother’s hands. 

There was a reason it was only the three of them. His other siblings just didn’t understand that you did everything for family. 

He supposes that’s why he’s so curious about the two royals before him. They were the only family they had left, and yet there was something unspoken there, something withheld between them that left a tenuous truce. There was such anger behind Nyxia’s eyes, and Klaus had the urge to push and push at it until it finally shattered. Elijah often compared him to a child for this inane urge, and Klaus couldn’t deny it. 

“This food is lovely, Your Majesty,” 

Rebekah looked at Nyxia’s father with a sweet little smile, and Klaus wondered how she managed to maintain such a degree of humanity inside of her after everything.

“Oh, it’s all my sweet Nyx,” He turns his pleasant, kingly smile to his daughter. Looks like he owes her the world. She doesn’t return an ounce of the fondness, but she still smiles, like she knows it’s expected of her. “She has specific tastes, so I prefer her to pick the menu. Our cooks in the kitchen work to make it all come to life and it never disappoints.” 

It works in the way that it makes Rebekah turn adoring eyes onto Nyxia once again, but it doesn’t do as such for the two brothers. There’s something about this place that drew them to it in the first place and they wanted to figure it out, neither of them did very well when it came to venturing into the unknown, so they devised the plan. It’s set in motion, it’s happening as they sit at this table and eat this food, and yet he still feels wrongfooted. He’s missing something, he’s missing the thing that brought him to this small kingdom in the first place. 

He doesn’t like living in the dark. 

Elijah cuts a thin bite of the lamb chop on the plate in front of him. “Do you cook, then, Princess?”

“If I am feeling particularly inspired, yes,” She grabs her silver chalice, swirling the dark red wine in it before she takes a drink. “I prefer vinification.” 

The King’s face lights up like he’d been waiting for another opportunity to brag on his daughter. “Yes, Nyxia made the wine we’re drinking tonight. She tries to make a personal barrel at least once a year, and it’s always the most unique flavor. She goes out and picks fruits from our trees up near the bluffs, where–”

“I’m sure they aren’t interested to know what fruits our land produces, Father.”

“On the contrary,” Her eyes shot to Elijah at his words. “I think it’d be quite ignorant of us to turn down any knowledge of the land we’re to call… home. It seems to be a very special place.” 

She watches him for a moment, eyes narrowing at his unsuspecting tone. “Yes,” She muses quietly, looking away from Elijah to meet Klaus’s gaze like she can tell Elijah’s speaking on his behalf. “Perhaps I’ll show you what makes it so special.”

None of them acknowledged the fact that it wasn’t so much of an offering of camaraderie, but rather a threat. 

────── 

Months go by. Time passes peacefully, but Klaus is growing restless. 

With the announcement of their joining sent out to the few people they intended to invite outside of their kingdom, they had begun preparing the castle for the celebration and the princess found herself preoccupied with menial tasks, like picking out what flower arrangements to line the aisle with and what color banners should hang from the ceilings above them. 

Throughout it, she’d done her best to avoid the Mikaelsons but maintained a close enough distance so they couldn’t claim she was giving them the cold shoulder. She’d grown quite good at falsifying closeness throughout her years. She was designed to have a connection with her people that displayed generosity but not bias. A relatability, but not a weakness. 

She was sure that Rebekah would call them best friends by now, but she also knew the girl could not even tell a person what the princess’s favorite color was if someone ever bothered to ask her. 

She has always been able to exist in a way that makes her entirely extraordinary, but forgettable the moment she’s out of sight. 

She’s been able to use the wedding as an excuse to avoid isolated interactions with Klaus, but she knew he’d catch her without an excuse one of these days. She would’ve preferred to avoid it for a bit longer, but she wasn’t unprepared when it finally happened.

Standing in the aisle of the throne room where the banners of white and gold were hanging above the place they were to stand in front of her people and all of the guests they’d sent invitations out to and declare an undying bond that didn’t exist, she felt a rage bubble inside of her that she was quick to smother into nothing but cinders and ash when she heard the doors creak open behind her and footsteps slow as he stopped beside her. 

“You’re a hard woman to track down, Princess,” 

“You could have sent for me at any time. It is my duty to serve my subjects,” 

She glances at Klaus out of the corner of her eye and sees an amused look grow on his face. “Is that what I am? One of your subjects?” 

“Until we are bound by law, yes, Lord Mikaelson. You are one of my subjects and I your Princess. Soon enough you’ll be Prince, and you will also owe loyalty to my subjects because this place does not exist without them.” 

“You take such pride in this kingdom, in these lands, yet you did not win it in a battle, have not even fought in one, as far as I’m aware. You have no value to other kingdoms, and yet your father brags of orchards and vineyards with bountiful fruits. He tells tales of heroic civilians, always offering a helping hand to those in need. Sparing what they can, to maintain their peace here. It’s an odd thing, considering I’d never seen or heard of Riverend before that time all those months ago when I first met your father.” 

“And yet, here you stand, within the walls of my kingdom, amongst my people. In my home.” 

There’s no humor in her voice. There isn’t any hatred in it, either, and he can tell she’s got that impenetrable mask on again. Even her momentary anger or irritation was different from this nothingness. 

He can hear her father’s words from that very first day, telling them all that her words are important. He remembers thinking it was such an odd thing to point out at that time. It almost rings like a warning, now, and not a twisted compliment for the woman. 

��It’s curious, is all. I wonder if I’ll understand what inspires such devotion once I am Prince, or if it is a feeling only you experience.” 

She turns, finally, to look at him. “You are interested in learning what makes me love my people and my home?” 

He ducks his head in a nod. “Guilty, I suppose.”

“Then I will show you,” She nods once, firmly. Like she’s just decided it then and there because of his earnest words, and he thinks it’s a ridiculous, rash thing, but when he looks into her eyes there is no hesitation or wariness. “Tonight, we will have dinner and I will answer all of your questions. I will show you why I would spill endless blood for this kingdom, and never ask any of my people to do the same for me in return.” 

He raises his brows, letting a sliver of his suspiciousness show in his icy, blue-gray eyes. “You’re offering such honesty to my family after weeks of pretending like we don’t exist? Forgive me if I’m skeptical of your generosity.” 

“Not your family. You. You and I will have dinner alone, and I will tell you everything you want to know,” She corrects him, earning a more genuine look of shock from him. “You are to be my husband. One day you will be my King, and I your Queen. Is honesty not the place to start?” 

Klaus falls silent, watching her, waiting for a slip-up. For any sign of hesitation or scheming behind her endless eyes. Finding nothing, he bites out a wry laugh and nods in agreement, finally tearing his eyes away from her to look around at the decorated throne room. 

The betrotheds stand silent together for a few minutes, and she offers no insight into whatever it is she’s thinking as she stares at the throne front and center in the room. 

“Is my help needed for our wedding?” Klaus says suddenly as if there isn’t a mounting tension building in the room like a shadow of the night. 

“Not unless you are offering,” She says simply. “I’ve told them white and gold, for our colors. My dress is to be fashioned similarly, as are your garments. I’m sure you’ll be summoned for fittings, but our seamstresses have plenty of work to do before then.” 

The man hummed agreeingly. “Then I shall leave you to it. And I’ll see you at dinner tonight.” 

“Before you go, Lord Mikaelson,” 

“I am certain you can call me Niklaus. Just Klaus if you’re feeling particularly agreeable that day, Princess,” 

She raised a brow like one might raise their lips in humor. “Niklaus.” 

He looks at her indulgently. 

“Even after we are married, outside of our duties to this kingdom, I will never ask you for anything,” She says, her words striking something like a warning bell inside him. “But right now, I have a question for you.” 

“Ask me anything, Princess,” 

“Do you know who you are?” 

Klaus’s eyebrows flexed on his forehead. “Pardon?” 

She turns to face him head-on, standing before him like she did that first day they arrived, only this time there was barely a foot of distance between them. He could almost see her pulse move in the long lines of her throat. “I ask you, as your future wife, do you know who you are? Do you feel the shadow that shields your soul? Do you feel the fire that consumes you?” 

She tilts her head at his suspended silence. “You hide from the light that is still inside of you. You hide from someone. But you won’t hide from me. You can’t. It is because of that unfair advantage that I am offering you honesty. Know that I do this for you as an act of trust. Do not underestimate the weight of such a thing, or you will see just what I am willing to do for this place.” 

She side-steps him and walks past him, leaving him in a stunned silence that quickly turns into rage that they both know he can’t take out on anything within the walls of this castle, and the borders of this kingdom. 

She’s established the high ground. And she has made it clear that it is not Klaus standing up there, looking down at her, but rather the other way around. 

She’s offered to even the playing field, though. He’s curious to see just how much honesty she’ll be parting with tonight. He’s curious to see how it will end. 

────── 

The table is set for two. 

It’s different from the dining table they’ve been occupying for the past three weeks. This is a table made for two, and only for two. 

Candlelight casts shadows around the room, and Klaus does a slight double take as he walks towards the table, escorted quietly by one of the sentries from his quarters to this room. He’s loath to admit he was distracted by thinking about all of the possibilities of this dinner to pay attention to the fact that he was being led to the east wing and not the usual central hall where meals were had. 

But it’s too late for him to question it, as the sentry is walking out and a door across the room opens, revealing the princess. 

She’s changed again– always in different gowns throughout the day. This one is similar to the one she was wearing when they first met. A blue so dark it looks black, that holds color like the night sky. Sleeves that drape over her shoulders and cinch down to her wrist, leaving only her hands bare. With the dim lighting of this private dining room, shadows dance around her face, and he thinks to himself that the shadows cling to her. 

She gestures for him to take a seat, already doing so, and she immediately grabs a corked bottle from the side of the table, popping it open and pouring their golden chalices halfway full before she sets it back down. 

Klaus takes the first drink and has to bite back the pleased noise he starts to make, if only out of spite. 

“I’ve been fermenting this wine for three years,” She informs him, seemingly hearing the noise anyway, if the gleam in her eye is anything to go by. “It’s from my private reserves.” 

“Aren’t they all from your private reserves?” 

“No, I give barrels to the tavern in town,” She swirls it around in her cup, quirking a brow at him. 

“Give, or sell?” 

“Aren’t you the one who said I have undying generosity for this kingdom for no good reason?” She takes a small sip of the wine, holding it in her mouth for a moment before she sets it down. “It’s too bitter for my liking.” 

Klaus hums, taking another drink. “Perhaps you’re just your own biggest critic,” 

“Mm, perhaps,” She concedes, fluttering her eyes in a slight roll. It’s as casual as he’s ever seen her, and she’s still sitting stock-straight in her chair, shoulders back and chin high. As royal as ever. “Are you going to start asking your questions?” 

He smirks, tilting his head in a slight nod. “Maybe I was waiting for your permission. I wouldn’t want to be a rude dinner guest, after all. Not after you’ve brought this lovely meal into this secluded space,” 

“It’s mine. I don’t always prefer to eat in the company of others,” She says. “My bedroom is through that door.” 

She points to the door she’d come through upon his arrival, and his eyes follow the curve of her arm through the fabric shifting along it. 

“How lucky I am, then, hm?” 

“Oh, most people would not call it luck, Niklaus. In fact, I think I heard your brother say to your sister once that it feels like you’re all just sheep in a wolf’s den.”

Klaus makes a dry noise of acknowledgment, mentally cursing his brother for saying such things within earshot of anyone, let alone his soon-to-be wife. “My brother’s desire to protect this family often leads him to paranoia, I’m afraid.” 

“I never said he was wrong.” 

Klaus’s hands flex in his lap, out of view of the princess. “Oh, is that so? Then maybe I am ready to start asking questions,”

She beckons him on with a wave of her hand. Neither of them has touched their meals. He doesn’t think they’ve broken eye contact, either. Locked in this stalemate, tension rising and rising and rising. 

“I have traveled far and wide in my days on this planet, and I have come across some very strange places, I must say. But never have I come across a place that simply… doesn’t exist,”

If Klaus knew any better, he’d think she looked excited at the words coming out of his mouth.

“That is not a question, my Lord,” 

He smirks at her correction. “What is it? What is it that hides this place from the map? How do you keep travelers passing through, yet no one has ever had so much as a–a tall tale, or some monster story to tell about this place? You fight in no wars but you have sentries stationed throughout this castle, on guard every night and day. You trade no goods, but these lands are bountiful in fruits and vegetables, crops as big as this castle grow in people’s yards. So, tell me, Princess Nyxia, how do you do it?” 

She shifts in her chair, leaning her arm onto the armrest, and for the first time since he met her all those months ago, she smiles. 

She smiles widely, and it’s not something wicked or cold, but instead, it’s amusement, through and through. Every bit of that coldness stays in her eyes, though. Darkness still clinging to her like a child and its mother.

“There are stories about things– creatures so dangerous that you cannot even utter their name, for fear of inviting them into your home, your mind,” She starts, undoubtedly aware of the anticipation thrumming in his veins. He’s had to be so careful about feeding since they came here, compelling people, and never taking too much, because he can’t risk her catching on. He thinks he feels more human than ever within these walls, and it’s such an odd thing. 

“My real name has not been spoken in decades. Most people in this kingdom, in this castle, do not know me as anything other than Nyxia. It is the name that my mother held when people started to refuse to say her name as well, and in honor of her great life, I now bear it as my own.”

Klaus lets out a slow breath, a feeling like adrenaline coursing through him. “What are you, Nyxia?” 

“I am the shadows that follow you along the walls, I am the very stars in the sky. I am the end to every day, and I will be the end to it all when I am finally called back home. I am the thing you see every time you blink your eyes, Klaus Mikaelson. I am darkness.” 

He shuffles, leaning his elbows onto the table to examine her closely, in a way that he hasn’t had the chance to do since their arrival. “You keep this place hidden so that people don’t find you and hunt you.” 

“Why do you think you and your siblings found this place? Why do you think you could see and remember what so many others could not?” She raised a brow, pulling her cloth napkin from her lap and dropping it atop her untouched plate. “I know what you are, Niklaus Mikaelson. The Original Hybrid. The divide in you is shadowed in darkness. I am, and have been a part of your very being from the day you took your first breath and were declared a bastard.” 

He flinches minutely, but she sees it anyway. “Why me? Why lure me and my family here? To kill us? I have no doubt you have every means to kill creatures such as ourselves if your claims of power are to be taken as truth.” 

“I have no intention to kill you, Klaus,” She pushes her chair back from the table, standing up. Silently, she gestures for him to do the same. “I have not yet told you why I do what I do here.” 

“You haven’t even told me what you do here, let alone why,” 

She chuckles freely and he ignores the chill that travels down his spine at the sound. It’s like she’s been waiting on him to break this dam between them, and now that her secret is out, she’s alive. 

She’d told him earlier to realize the weight that is behind her trust, her honesty. He will admit to himself that he had underestimated it, even in the wake of her precautions.

“Your family is not expecting you tonight, right?” 

He raises his brows but shakes his head. “I told them I’d be having dinner with you and that I’d be out for the night. Why do you ask?” 

“We’ll be taking a trip. I have things to do,”

It’s all she says before she leads him into her bedroom, shutting the door firmly behind them. 

────── 

Draped in cloaks that covered their faces in shadows she had promised him would keep them hidden while they made their way through muddy alleys and thick groves of trees, Klaus couldn’t help but wonder just what he’d gotten himself into. 

He didn’t often admit that he was in over his head– was rarely in such a position at all– but this. This was something he was utterly in the dark about. The irony wasn’t lost on him, either. 

“Where are we going, Princess?” 

“You may call me Nyxia, you know. You did earlier,” 

“I am nothing if not a gentleman, Princess Nyxia,” 

She rolls her eyes, but there’s an unfamiliar degree of humor in the action. He’s still discombobulated at her complete flip of a switch, but he’s trying to familiarize himself with it. He selfishly hopes that she doesn’t slide that cold mask back on when they return to the castle. 

“They’ll be just through here,” Nyxia led them through another tightly packed thicket of trees, and just as Klaus was about to complain, they broke through into a clearing that nearly took his breath away. 

Though they were undoubtedly still surrounded by the forest she’d traipsed them through for the past hour, at least, this ovaloid clearing was shrouded in a different kind of darkness than the night that encased the rest of the area. 

Light up by the stars glimmering just out of reach above their heads, women mingled about, stopping to talk to one another. A few children ran by, laughing as they chased one another barefoot through the trees, disappearing out of sight and earshot as soon as they left the area, only to reappear before him like a bursting bubble. 

Klaus turned slightly to look at Nyxia, watching her pull her cloak down off her head and smile kindly, genuinely, to the people who had stopped and gathered around them. Klaus took the cue and pulled his own hood off, and his presence immediately earned wary looks. 

Glancing at Nyxia, he fought the urge to jump when her hand landed on his arm, her face contorting into an understanding but reassuring look. “No, no, look,” 

She pulled Klaus closer to her, keeping her hand wrapped around his arm as he looked warily at the sea of faces watching him. Feeling entirely caught off guard, he stayed silent, happily letting Nyxia take the reins.

“This is my betrothed,” Her words immediately earn a variety of reactions. From the children, their hesitance turns into immediate adoration. From the older women, teasing laughs are shared between them, and Nyxia bats a hand out to silence them, though it’s not done out of real offense. 

Friends, he realizes. These are her friends. She’s brought him to meet her friends that she has hidden in this patch of woods, further secluding a place that already doesn’t exist outside of its own bubble. 

An unavoidable arrow of fondness shoots down his spine, and he bats it away as quickly as he can. 

“So our lovely princess has finally brought a prince to meet us,” One of the older women grins tauntingly, and Klaus eyes the wrinkles around her mouth that only come from smiling too much, and the strands of gray hair falling out of the braids she’s got piled atop her head. 

“Klaus,” He says, somewhat shocked by the emotion in his voice. “You may call me Klaus.” 

“Klaus, then,” The woman nods, conveying something to Nyxia that is seemingly translated between the two of them, though Klaus couldn’t even begin to guess what went unsaid. 

Nyxia finally removes her hand from his arm to reach into her cloak, pulling three small bottles out and passing them off to the older woman, whose face turns somewhat solemn. 

“I know that one is for Merida,” The woman starts, meeting Nyxia’s gaze from beneath her lashes. “But who are the other two?” 

“Reya and Liesl,” 

The woman curses beneath her breath and apologizes when the children nearby gasp. 

“When am I to bring this to them?”

“Within the week. It has only been getting worse lately,” 

As if she were a soldier being told her life was being offered up on the chopping block, the woman nodded and tucked the vials into the deep pockets of the dress she wore. “I will send word once they are here.” 

“Thank you, Theresé,” She grabs Klaus’s arm gently once more, beginning to steer him towards the path they’d taken, but she stops short, looking over her shoulder with a slight smirk. “You are all invited to the wedding, of course. Next month. I will send someone to escort you to the castle.” 

A bout of excited tittering follows them out, and they walk in silence, heading a bit of the way back towards the castle before she leads them off to the left, walking them across one of the runoff creeks that flow with the river through town.

He remains silent until she leaves his side to push open a gate ahead of them, the metal creaking and groaning beneath her force, but giving way eventually. 

This time, when Klaus steps forward, he instantly knows where he is. “The orchard,” 

“Yes,” Nyxia takes a deep breath in, releasing it quietly. “Come, let’s sit.” 

She leads him to a wooden bench down the main aisle in between the trees full of ripe fruit, all looking ready to be harvested and used. 

“That place,” He starts once they’ve been seated for a moment, Klaus watching Nyxia’s profile as she basks beneath shadows and night of her own making. “What is it?” 

“It has no name,” She informs him, her voice unexpectedly soft.

She’s been so different this entire night, he wonders how long she’s been waiting for someone to just ask her these questions. Every person who’s been close enough to do it has been too scared of what wrath they may face if they did ask her about the oddities of her home, but Klaus did it because he can’t help but push people. 

“It has no name, and no one knows of it besides the ones who live there, and myself. Now, you do, too,” 

“What is the purpose of it? Why is it only women and children?” 

She takes a long moment to think about her words, and he can see the way she struggles to verbalize her thoughts because no one had ever thought to ask her before. “Just because I am darkness does not mean that I can control all that exists in this world. I can’t take away what already exists, no matter how much I wish to. That place is what I call a loophole. I have them hidden all around the world. Because I cannot erase what already exists, I must find a way to work around it. To remove the darkness I wish to see gone without violating the laws of my making.” 

“And what exactly have you been working around?” 

“Humanity,” She says simply. “With every passing decade, they tear themselves apart more and more. My loopholes exist to take people out of that chaos, of the darkness. Sometimes it’s a hungry child or a bastard,” 

Klaus glances away for a moment before forcing his gaze back to hers. 

“Sometimes it is a woman that gets sold to the highest bidder. The woman I spoke to, Theresé, was one of the first women I saved from a nearby village. Her husband was an utter brute and had killed his first wife when she had barely seen sixteen name days. Theresé was strong, but there was only so much she could do before the inevitable. So I stepped in and I proposed a hypothetical situation to her, where all she would have to do is make him dinner and serve him wine, and meet me outside of her home later that night.

“I did not think she would do it, but when the moon was high in the sky, I waited outside of her house and barely breathed until she was standing before me in one piece, with tears in her eyes and bruises on her cheek. So I told her who I was and what I wanted to do, and she said she would help me if I continued to save women who had been in her position. So I have. The girls I mentioned, Reya and Liesl. Young girls, friends since childhood. They were married off to the same man, a prince of some second-rate kingdom a few days north that had already gone through 3 wives. They have just found out they’re both pregnant, and fear raising children in the environment they live in.” 

Realization dawns on him. “You give them poison. The wine you make,” 

She hums in assent and silence falls between them once more, the princess dutifully letting Klaus turn the events of the night over and over in his head, finally slotting pieces together where they’d been misaligned for months. 

“Why?” He breathes out, his tone of disbelief earning her attention once more. “Why did you bring me there when you’ve barely spoken to me all these months? When you have known what I am and who my family is, and you knew I was suspicious from the very start, why have you just now shown me the truth?” 

Sighing, Nyxia looks down at her hands folded neatly in her lap. “I fear that my honesty is about to get me in trouble for the first time tonight.” 

“Just tell me,” He shakes his head pleadingly. “Please.” 

“Death consumes your very soul, Klaus,” Her voice takes on a distant tone, one he recognizes more than any fondness or humor she’s shown throughout the night. It’s the way she’d spoken to him since he first arrived, down to that very morning in the throne room, overlooking preparations for their wedding. “It is a fire that burns you from the inside out. And because of that fire, there is a shadow on you. And in that shadow, I exist. I see parts of you that you likely would not share with me, and for good reason.” 

Klaus can’t help the way he flinches, shifting away from her on the bench. She looks unsurprised at this particular reaction, but her fingers twitch like she’s going to reach out for him again. 

She doesn’t. 

“I have known you much longer than you have known me, and for that, I apologize. When you first arrived, I was still hesitant to believe what I had felt, and I– I am much different in the daylight. I am at my weakest when the sun is out, and that has never changed. But– other things have.” 

“Your father–”

“He is not my father,” She cuts him off, voice reverting to that cold indifference for a split second. “Once upon a time, he was a man. A king. But he was not a kind man, let alone a kind king. So I took the darkness in his mind, and I collapsed it from within. I made him hollow with it, and now he is but a puppet. A face to put on our currency, so that I may do as I please without so much attention. My people remember the cruel man, and they remember what I did for them. That is why I have their respect. Their loyalty. Trust breeds trust.” 

Klaus’s jaw clenches. “And when you decide you’re ready to become Queen one day, and I become a King, will you also make me into a puppet? Will I be nothing but a conduit of political jargon made to distract people from your loopholes?” 

Nyxia’s eyes burn, but they are dark. Almost black. 

“I did not bring you here to make you a puppet, Niklaus,” 

“Then why did you bring me here? Tell me, Nyxia. Tell me the truth.” 

“I brought you here because I want to protect you,” 

Klaus’s lip curls in a snarl and he stands up, cloak billowing around him. He turns at the feeling of a slight breeze and finds himself looking at the castle from a high distance, and he wonders if he’d been in such shock that he hadn’t noticed their uphill hike, or if this was another one of her tricks. 

Clenching his jaw, he turns to look down at her. “I do not need protecting, Princess. I have done nothing but protect myself and my family for hundreds of years.” 

“I know that, Klaus,” She spits out, looking as angry as he feels. Both of them are stubborn to a fatal degree. “But I want you to let me do it anyway!” 

Klaus lets out a harsh breath through his nose, turning to look away from her as his chest heaves with frustrated breaths. An overwhelming sense of exhaustion practically slaps him in the face as it settles over him and he finds his racing thoughts finally slowing down, seeming to process in his mind after the eventful night. 

“I understand that this has all been unexpected,” She starts, voice carefully neutral in the wake of both of their tempers. “And I will not blame you for being upset. But trust me when I say that I have your best interests in heart, for you and your family.” 

“I’m to trust you after you’ve shown me only a fraction of the truth?” 

Her soft look has shuttered away when he looks at her again. “I told you,” She whispers, voice quiet but certainly not weak with how thick it was around the emotion clenching around her windpipe. “That I was putting all of my trust into you the moment I told you what I am. The danger that I have thrust upon you and myself just by sharing all of this with you is endless. I have bared my soul to you in a single night, Klaus Mikaelson, and then you spit in my face by asking me if I am trustworthy.” 

“Nyxia,” 

She stands from the bench abruptly, pulling the hood of her cloak back up over her head. “We should go. I don’t want to run into the guards at the shift change.” 

“Nyxia, just–”

“We’re leaving,” She cuts him off, not looking back to see if he’s following after her as she stalks off towards the gates she’d opened for him, just for him, moments ago. “Either join me, or find your own way back.” 

Klaus pulls his own hood up and is quick to fall into step a few paces behind her because he isn’t nearly stupid enough to think that their easygoing atmosphere from earlier is still lingering. All because he couldn’t stop the traitorous beating of his heart and the way his skin crawled at the thought of entrusting the safety of his family to anyone else. 

She is going to be family soon enough, though. If she’ll still have him, that is. 

────── 

The tension in the castle is thick for a few days before it’s suddenly dampened with something painful. 

Rain begins to pour and does not stop for three days straight. Most foot traffic that is in and out of the castle for wedding planning is put on pause at the King’s order. Not worth risking the safety and integrity of any person or thing for one wedding. 

Klaus doesn’t see or hear from Nyxia for those three days, and on the fourth day of heavy downpours, of him being stuck in the library with his brother or listening to his sister drone on about a particularly handsome guard, he breaks. He walks the path the sentry had taken him down into the East Wing of the castle and knocks on the thick wooden door, tilting his head just to hear the heart beating faintly on the other side of it. It’s the only reason he even knows she’s alive, and he can’t stop the relief that soothes his nerves. 

It doesn’t manage to get rid of the cloud of guilt that’s been hanging above his head since that night in the orchard, nor does it make him want to turn around and leave. 

“Princess?” His voice is low, but he knows she’ll hear it if she’s listening. “I was just…” 

He trails off, unsure of what excuse to offer up for his impromptu visit. A lie, a half-truth. The whole truth. 

It’s the least he could do in return, offer her honesty. Since he threw hers right back in her face four nights ago. 

“May I come in, please?” 

Silence follows his question, but when he pushes on the door slightly, it creaks open, and he steps through as quickly as possible, not willing to take the chance that it was a fluke. He’s greeted with darkness broken up by dim firelight, and his eyes take a moment to adjust, that concern inside of him chipping away at his pride. 

“Princess?” He asks again, voice low in the dim room. His brows twitch on his forehead, pulling together. “Nyxia?” 

There’s a shift of fabric from the four-poster bed a few feet in front of him, and he can see the orange glow in the room the moment she turns to face him. 

Even in the poor lighting, he can see the sunken shadows of her face and the way the stars in her eyes have gone dull. 

“Nyxia?” He nearly gasps her name as he rushes to her bedside, dropping to his knees beside it as he takes in her sickly features. “What’s happened to you?” 

She lets out a shaky breath that sounds like it hurts. “Sometimes… sometimes I let them take too much,” 

Confusion passes over him momentarily before a realization hits him. “The loopholes… this place… it drains you, doesn’t it?” 

She nods where her head is pressed into the pillow. 

He lifts a trembling hand to her cheek, brushing invisible dirt off of her cheek. He can feel the clammy sweat tainting her skin, the fever roaring in her veins. How odd it must be to be an immortal creature taken down by something comparable to a cold. 

“Why?” He shakes his head, genuine disbelief coating the word as he watches his betrothed wheeze out a few more breaths. “Why do you let them do this? Why do you do this?” 

She smiles and there's a tired pull to it, and she leans into his touch, eyes fluttering shut for a moment. “People are so scared of me,” Her voice is impossibly soft, so unfamiliar, and yet he feels that ache in his chest, the desire to hear it more. To hear her more. “They are scared of everything. The least I can do is make my darkness feel safer.” 

He thinks it shatters something in him, to hear her grand reasoning behind everything. To hear that underneath that cold exterior, and the soft one, too, the woman before him just wants people to feel safe in her shadows. She wants them to leave behind lives of unhappiness, to not feel fear when the moon rises in the sky and stars hang over their heads. She doesn’t want them to fear the thought of a monster under their bed but rather feel protected by it. By her. 

She wants to do that for him. For his family. And he’d practically laughed in her face. 

A shame buries itself deep in him, and he finds himself lurching forward slightly, face hovering above hers to keep her attention while she loses her lucidity before his eyes. “What can I do? What can I do to make this better?” 

She reaches a hand up from beneath her blankets and rests it atop his. “Stay. Just stay with me, please,” 

He nods and holds back more words he’s simply not ready to say yet. Reluctantly leaves her side for a moment to bring a chair to her bedside, and once again intertwine their hands together. 

He watches her fall asleep and continues watching her well into the night. It doesn’t feel like a chore, or anything of the sort. He thinks he’d be content to spend a few years of his eternity just sitting here with her. 

────── 

It takes another four days for Nyxia to be able to get out of bed without feeling weak. In those days she regains a bit of that life back into her eyes, and Klaus is there to see every speck of it grow. He sees the shadows get darker again, not as faded and murky as they seemed to be when she was in the worst of it. It makes him happy in a way that he wouldn’t have ever expected it to. 

They spend those four days together in a bubble of their own, with small touches shared between each other. Lingering glances and longing looks are shared from across the dining table while they share meals with his family and the king. 

He doesn’t know if all of it means he’s forgiven for his harsh words in the orchard. He doesn’t let himself hope for anything, because he’s not sure if he deserves it after everything. 

It’s a particular train of thought he hasn’t let come to fruition for his own sanity. Instead, he’s relished in the freshly budding relationship between him and his wife-to-be. The partnership that’s being created. The friendship.

He finds himself in the library that remains hidden behind one, nondescript door that opens up to high ceilings, and endless bookshelves. The first time she’d taken him to see it, he’d spent the entire evening looking through the books, getting lost in the history books she had in her collection. 

As the days go by, he finds himself there more and more, and it seems that Nyxia’s in the same boat. 

Hands skimming against the worn spines of the books, Klaus’s mind travels near and far, and he lets his imagination run wild. It’s a rare occurrence, this vulnerability that he’s found within these walls, beneath Nyxia’s care, so he can’t be faulted for being caught off guard when a book slides out from the shelf on the other side and he snaps his gaze up to meet her amused one. 

There’s no doubt she misses the slight intake of breath he does at her sudden presence, but she gives him the grace of not saying anything about it out loud. Her face is framed between the two shelves and she grins widely, unabashedly, in the shadows of the books. “Hiding in the art history books again, Niklaus?” 

He ducks his head, glancing at the lone book he is holding in his hands, a finger shoved between pages to hold his place while he searches through other titles. Lifting his eyes back up to meet hers once more, he shrugs a shoulder, poorly feigning obliviousness. 

“It’s alright, at least I always know where I can find you,” She quickly dismisses his uncharacteristic shyness, and he’s once again grateful for it, even if he’s not sure if she does it for her own sake or his. “I wanted to ask you a question, actually, about the wedding.” 

He raises a brow, not hiding his surprise. She rarely brings the wedding up to him these days, and with the celebration in just five days, the castle staff was bustling about more than ever. Klaus only ever looked at the gold and white decor lining the throne room in passing, usually hurrying through to track Nyxia down somewhere in the castle, or dodging his brother’s increasingly personal questions about the state of his relationship with the Princess.

He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t thinking about the wedding, despite Nyxia rarely saying anything to him about it. He found himself wondering just how the day would transpire as it drew closer, wondered how all of the fittings he did for his garments a while back would look like in the end, and wondered endlessly about just what Nyxia would be walking down the aisle in. 

“It’s about the guest list,”

Her voice pulls him from the frequent thought and he bites the tip of his tongue in silent reprimand. Clearing his throat quietly, he looked at her. “What of it? I thought invitations were sent out months ago,” 

“They were,” She confirms, nodding once. Her voice takes on a hint of that diplomatic lilt she likes to pull out of thin air with him when she feels she’s approaching a difficult subject. It instantly puts his nerves on edge, but he tries not to get defensive. If there’s anything he’s learned with her, it’s that he’ll do nothing but regret his knee-jerk reaction to bare his teeth and snarl at the first feeling of danger coming his way. He knows just as well that Nyxia would never put him in danger on purpose. 

“I was just wondering if there was anyone you wanted to invite,” She continued, glancing away from him. “I know Rebekah and Elijah will be there, of course, but is there anyone else you want to come?” 

He’s quick to respond, barely even thinking about it. “I’ve become familiar enough with your subjects that they’re plenty for me, I think. Especially the women coming from the loophole. I’m looking forward to seeing them,” 

Her face softens with an endless fondness he’s not quite sure what to do with. Any time she offers it up to him, he does his best to just hold it gently in between them, like it was a cloud threatening to seep through his fingers and dissipate into nothingness. 

“I am as well,” She smiles briefly before her face falls back into a placating look. “But you’re sure you don’t have any friends you might not have thought of? Or any more family? I’m sure you’ve… outlived… most of your ancestors, but perhaps there’s a distant cousin that was never turned? Or your… your parents, perhaps?” 

Klaus instantly realizes the true nature of her question, and once again has to fight off the urge to snap at her and make her go away. It’s an easier path to take than explaining just why his parents won’t be in attendance at their wedding or part of their futures at all, and why he wouldn’t want them to in the first place, but he finds himself wanting to try. It’s the least he could do for her.

“No, my– my parents are no longer– an option,” He says carefully, brows furrowing as he revisits centuries-old aches and stabs of pain laced with a childish hurt. “I wouldn’t want them here even if they were.” 

Her face twists with concern before she disappears from the side of the shelf, and Klaus’s eyes widen momentarily before he hears the click of her shoes growing closer. She rounds the corner of the bookshelf swiftly, coming to stand before him with a practiced look of understanding on her face meant to convey her state of heeding. 

“You know by now that I’m a bastard,” She nods. “Even though my father was already unhappy with how I came about, it worsened when he learned my father was the leader of the werewolf pack in our village. I wasn’t just a bastard, but a monster, then, too. I faced abuse from my father my entire life, and my mother always let it happen, or encouraged it, if only to save herself from facing his wrath for her own mistakes.” 

Silently, she reaches out and grabs the book from his hand, setting it flat on the shelf in favor of grabbing his hands in hers. 

“When my youngest brother Henrik was killed by the pack my true father was a part of, my mother was overcome with the grief of losing a child and that’s when she turned us. When she made the spell to make us into these undying creatures who survive off of blood. She and Mikael killed us all and we were forced to transition when we woke.” 

Squeezing his hands, Nyxia shakes her head. “You don’t have to go on, Klaus.” 

He shakes his head, waving off her apology. “It’s alright. I want you to know the truth,” Her already soft face opens more and she takes another minute step towards him, closing the distance between them a bit more. “With everything heightened after my transition, I was so overcome with my anger that I lost control and I– I killed her. I killed my mother.”

“Nik,” 

“I regretted it as soon as I did it. And I buried her body where no one would find it, and I told my family that she was killed by our father. Because in my head, she was. She let him abuse me, she let him turn even a fraction of that hatred onto Rebekah and Elijah, and the rest of them, and I– I truly hated her for it. What good of a mother was she if she could just watch that happen to her children?” 

He clenches his jaw and tilts his head slightly, biting down the bitterness that still swims in his veins all these years later. “Mikael knew what I did, though. I don’t know how, but he always knew. And I– I don’t know what’s happened to him, I don’t know if he’s dead or alive, like us or something else, but I– I do not want him here. I wouldn’t want him here, no matter the situation. I never want someone like Mikael to find this place, because a single touch from him would destroy it all.” 

Nyxia shakes her head immediately, eyes wide and full of something that transcends simple fondness. “He wouldn’t, Niklaus. I wouldn’t let him ruin it. This is my home– this is our home. I won’t let him ruin it for you.” 

Klaus wished he could believe her. And he knows she knows that. And he knows they both know it’s truly got nothing to do with her, and everything to do with the fact that his father has ruined his life at every turn since the day he was born. It’s just what he does. He could so easily take this beautiful thing Klaus has been given and tarnish it with a single touch. 

“I had to inherit these shadows, you know?” She says suddenly, taking him off guard. “I wasn’t born with them, not really. I was born with power, I was made of this power. But in order to have them at the capacity at which they exist now, I had to wait for my mother to die. She was my best friend. But I think that made it all the worse when I had to watch her wither away through each century, until one day, she became nothing more than the night sky we came from. Afterward, I was so overcome with grief that I didn’t even acknowledge the shadows. I wanted no part of it, not without her,” 

She huffs out a small, wry laugh and shakes her head. “But they are very stubborn. They persisted, and one day, they brought me into the shadows and showed me the light that exists within them. And after that day, I started doing things differently. It’s been a long time since then, but I still remember all of those feelings like it was yesterday. And I know that because you have been given the gift and the curse of eternity just as I have, that you understand it like no one else does. So you must believe me when I say this, husband, but it will not be like this forever. And I am making you a promise now that your– that Mikael will not ever make his mark in my kingdom. You and I will live in peace for the rest of our days, with our people and no one can take that from us. Do you hear me? Do you hear me, Niklaus?” 

He nods, clenching his teeth together as he swallows around the concrete lump in his throat. “Of course. Of course I do,” 

“Good,” She nods once. “You can trust me. I swear it on my life.” 

He nods again and she offers him a small smile, like she’s wary to shift the graveness that had settled over them into something else. He jostles their conjoined hands, and her eyebrows tick together, silently coaxing his words out. 

“How did you do it?” He asks quietly. “How did you find the light when you were surrounded by the darkness?” 

Her eyes suddenly burned with ferocity, an ancient thing that had roots buried deep inside of her. A small fraction of her power. “I carved it out of the shadows with my bare hands and I did not stop until my fingers bled. Until my nails were cracked and my body screamed for me to stop. And I would do it again if it meant I kept you and your family safe. Understand that, Klaus. If nothing else, understand that I’ll bleed for you.” 

Klaus isn’t sure what to do in the face of her devotion. He feels as if it should be the other way around– him worshiping her, instead of this blood-promise she’s made to him. He isn’t sure what to do or say, but he is sure of one thing; he loves her. And he would bleed for her just as well. 

────── 

The morning of their wedding, a low hum of activity overtakes the calm of the castle and does not falter, well into the early hours of afternoon. Klaus was summoned from his rooms just minutes after the sun was up and brought to the seamstresses that he’d seen increasingly over the months and put into the intricate suit made specifically for him. 

His trousers were plain, simple, and tucked carefully into shoes that almost felt like armor. His surcoat was donned with intricate, weaving lines of gold that gleamed in the sunlight, woven into the fabric like they were the very veins in his body. Like it was a showcase of the life that flowed through him, scorching like the sun for all eternity. When he was draped with a mantle of white fur and more golden details along the draped fabric, he looked in the lone mirror before him and felt, for the first time, that he was truly a king. And just after that thought, he couldn’t help but wonder what his queen looked like. 

When he is escorted to the throne room, he can hear the dozens of heartbeats waiting on the other side of the doors before him and he only has a moment to breathe before the doors are swung open and the guests are standing, turning to face him. 

His blue eyes immediately shoot to the front of the room, where the king awaits his presence at the end of the aisle, where his brother and sister stand on either side of the large arbor, looking at him with an odd pride gleaming in their eyes. 

Bracing himself, he lifts his chin slightly and walks forward, his hands clasped in front of him as he meets the eyes of strangers, all watching him like they’re waiting for him to show his true colors. When he nears the end of the aisle, he looks over to his left and sees Theresé standing there, with a row of familiar faces lined up beside her, and he can’t stop the small twitch of his lips when she meets his gaze head-on with a smile that radiates pure excitement. 

He tears his gaze away from the women and children of the loophole and meets the king’s eyes, exchanging a nod with the man as he takes his place at the center of the room. He turns his head towards the doors he’d come through moments ago, and finds himself holding his breath as he waits for them to open once more, and reveal his bride. 

He prepares himself for the sight of her, but when the doors swing open, guards standing on either side of her, he thinks himself a fool for ever thinking he’d be prepared for the sight of her dressed in a white gown that trails behind her in a sea of golden embroidery that gleams just as his does. Like the life that burns in him also burns in her, despite the way her shadows carve out the angles of her face, the bridge of her nose. 

He knew her dress would compliment him, of course, but he hadn’t anticipated just how much it would take his breath away, to see himself standing before a kingdom, waiting for her slow, graceful steps to come to a stop as she neared him. 

Her own fur-lined mantle was just as carefully draped over her, and it went down the length of her train, the fabric moving along with her as if it were just water rippling along rocks. Slow, elegant, natural. Like she was born to be this. 

For the first time, her arms are bare before him, and the skin below her jaw is as well. Her unexpected bareness exposes things he hadn’t known were hiding beneath her long sleeves and high collars. The shadows that run in her blood wrap around her arms, weaving like vines up across her chest and down into unknown territory, still hidden from his sight and touch. He swallows roughly at the sight of the image she creates before him, her head tilted back ever so slightly just to maintain his gaze as she steps up before him, her hands immediately reaching to lay in his proffered palms. 

He can’t find his voice in time to tell her that she looks beautiful. To make vows to her before they’ve even started. 

The king clears his throat quietly, raising his hand in a silent gesture that has the guests taking their seats once more. 

“People of Riverend, we gather here to witness the joining of two souls. To celebrate a love that withstands life, death, and everything in between. A love forged in shadows and cradled by the moon, that blossoms beneath the sun. It is my honor to stand before you all and mark the start of our future here in these cherished lands beneath their incoming rule.” 

The king shifts, turning slightly to look at Klaus directly. “Lord Mikaelson, repeat after me: I offer my soul to you in exchange for yours, and vow to love and cherish you long after we return to the stars,” 

Klaus swallows and wets his lips, meeting Nyxia’s gleaming eyes. “I offer my soul to you in exchange for yours,” His voice trembles slightly, and her fingers press into his wrist, squeezing reassuringly. “And vow to love and cherish you long after we return to the stars.” 

Nyxia mirrors his swallow, seemingly biting back her own emotion. “I offer my soul to you in exchange for yours,” Her pulse stutters beneath his fingertips, and his blood burns with it. “And vow to love and cherish you long after we return to the stars.” 

“As witnessed by your people, do you both promise to serve them to the best of your abilities? To bleed with them, or for them, shall it one day be necessary? To feed and clothe them, and wash the dirt off of their feet, should they ever ask you to?” 

They both nod once. “We do,” 

The King mirrors their nod and continues. “May this marriage be protected by the powers that be. May it never bend or break, or waver in even the strongest of storms. May you both know one another’s love like no other. May the darkness protect you as it has protected others since the dawn of time,” 

The king takes in a short breath and shifts, holding his hands up for his palms to face the sunlight gleaming in through the stained glass windows. “By the power entrusted unto me, I bless this marriage for the years to come. I now pronounce you husband and wife. Lord Mikaelson, you may kiss–” 

“Stop this nonsense!” 

Gasps echo throughout the throne room and Klaus’s blood freezes as his head snaps over, his gaze locking onto his father’s immediately. 

The man at the end of the aisle takes a step forward, a mean smirk on his face. “Is it not utter blasphemy to make a king out of a bastard?” 

Klaus breathes out a breath that shudders in his lungs painfully, and he looks past Nyxia to find Rebekah standing frozen in her place, tears bubbling in her eyes at the sight of Mikael. He doesn’t need to look at Elijah to know that the man is likely boiling with barely stifled rage. 

Mikael takes another step forward and Klaus flinches back instinctively, despite the distance that stretches between them. 

The man laughs at the sight, and Klaus finally looks at Nyxia, only to find her glaring at his father like her very gaze could burn him into ash. 

“You have no business being here, Mikael,” Elijah’s voice bites out the words from behind him and he hears his brother take a step down, quick to be a buffer between him and Klaus. “Leave now, and you will not face any consequences.” 

Mikael laughs again. “And from whom would these consequences be dealt? You? Or perhaps Rebekah?” The girl flinches, tears skittering down her flushed cheeks at his ridicule. “Certainly not Klaus. He’s not capable of it.” 

“It will be me,” Nyxia’s voice rings out, firm and cold in a way that Klaus hasn’t heard it before, not even in their worst moments. “You will not speak of my husband in that manner. I’ll have your head for treason if you’re not careful.” 

“You’d take my head for him?” Mikael’s brows raise like he’s actually surprised at the prospect. “I hate to break it to you, girl, but he is nothing. He comes from no high standing, he has no riches and nothing to give you in exchange for all that you give him. Whatever he has told you in those regards is a filthy lie. That’s all he is– a liar.” 

Hot tears burn at the back of Klaus’s eyes and he struggles to find his voice again. 

Nyxia drops his hands and Klaus fronts at the loss of her touch, only to reach for her as she turns and steps towards Mikael, unwavering beneath his hateful glare. “Don’t,” He gets out, pulling her back by her arm. “Do not go near him.” 

She wrenches her arm from his hold, looking at him apologetically before she hardens her gaze once more and faces his father. “You come to my kingdom and interrupt my wedding to spew nonsense. You have the looks of a crazed man, Mikael. I should have my sentries imprison you until I find it worth my time to sentence you.” 

He grins like her words are a challenge. “I’d like to see you try, Princess,” He spits her title out and before anyone can blink, he holds the tip of a dagger beneath her chin. 

Gasps of fear ring out through the room and Klaus stumbles forward, stopped only by Elijah holding him just out of their father’s reach. “Do not touch her!” He growls out the words, black veins crawling beneath his eyes, earning a mocking chuckle from the man. 

“Don’t tell me you actually love her, Niklaus,” 

Klaus says nothing, which is answer enough, and it earns another round of derisive laughter from the man. 

“What a ridiculous thing, love,” He tsks his tongue, shaking his head as if scolding his bastard son. “Nothing but a weakness to someone like you who is already softened by his childish emotions. It’s nice to know that you’re still such a disappointment, Niklaus.” 

Klaus lunges for the man but is once again stopped by his brother. 

“Klaus,” It’s Nyxia who says his name, which calms the racing of his heart in his ears, and he looks at her desperately. “Do you trust me?” 

His brows furrow deeply, lines twisting onto his pale skin. “What?” 

She gives him another look that conveys an apology he doesn’t need, and he feels his stomach swoop with fear. 

“Nyx,” He breathes out, eyes wide as he starts to shake his head. 

She rolls her eyes away from him like it pains her to do so, and looks to his father, uncaring of the tip of the dagger digging into her chin. “I told you I would bleed for you, Klaus. And I shall.” 

She takes one long step forward and latches her hand around the handle of the dagger and digs her nails into Mikael’s skin, earning a grunt of annoyance from the man. In the blink of an eye, a cloud of black consumes them, and the last thing Nyxia hears is Klaus’s yell for her to stop. 

Her hold on Mikael falters and they fall away from each other, thrown into shadows and thrown apart in the same breath. 

It’s been centuries since she’s been here. Encased in nothingness, something that cannot even be considered night because it is so dark it does nothing but swallow the life that enters it. 

She hears Mikael’s breathing through the darkness and hears him struggle to find footing as she does the same. 

“You,” She speaks out, voice echoing into the void. Swarming around them like a crow’s call. “You have tarnished his soul. You are the darkness that exists inside of him, and I am going to rip every inch of life out of you even if it kills me.” 

“Such meaningful threats,” The man speaks back, voice tinged in that smugness that sets her nerves alight with rage. “To think that you have fallen in love with a man like Niklaus. You could have such potential if you weren’t clinging to frivolous emotions.” 

“You underestimate me, Mikael. You mock me, even now, when you are surrounded by something that does not exist without me and my power. It is your arrogance that will kill you, and I will offer your heart on a platter to my husband as a wedding gift.” 

She lunges for the sound of him in the void, grunting as they blindly swing for each other, slamming fists and swinging daggers over and over with no sign of stopping. 

She doesn’t know how long she was in this place the last time. Doesn’t know how long they’ve been here now. It could be mere seconds, it could be years. Nothing exists in this place, especially not time. 

Blood from a cut that is already healed trails down her cheek, she can feel the wetness as she brushes her fingers along her skin. She can hear Mikael’s ragged breaths, her endless onslaught of pain catching up to him. 

“He’s an abomination,” Mikael spits out. “Not just in name, but as a creature. It is not enough that he has no soul as this undead thing, but he has that mutt inside of him, waiting to be unleashed. He doesn’t deserve to live.” 

“You don’t get to decide that,” She bites back, lips curling in a snarl. “But I do. And he will live with me until the Earth takes its last breath. And you will never take anything from him again, so long as I am at his side. You will never hurt your children again. I am taking back the darkness that is inside of you. I am taking the very air from your lungs,”

She tackles him blindly, knees pinning him down as she presses her hands roughly down onto his chest, her fingertips itching with heat as she does exactly that. “You will know pain like you’ve never known before where you are going. And with everything in me, I swear that I will not let there be a day that goes by that you do not suffer.” 

The shadows that warm her skin crawl as she takes his life little by little, and she can feel his breaths begin to shallow with every word she speaks. 

“Let your last thought on this Earth be the knowledge that I love your son, Mikael. And not even you can take that from him.” 

A scream tears from her throat as she lifts her hands off of his chest and slams them back down, his body disappearing beneath her as if it had never existed. A burst of energy explodes from her and she nearly falls onto her face, catching herself on her hands and knees as it blows around her like a gust of wind. 

She grits her teeth, trying to catch her breath as the void grows smaller around her, trying to swallow her whole as it had Mikael. But she had let it have Mikael. She would not let it have her. Not when she had something to go back to. Someone. 

“No,” She bites out, jaw clenched tight enough that her bones creak. “You will let me go back.” 

She digs her nails into the nothingness beneath her hands, skin scraping off at the fight it puts back. She lifts her hands from the void and brings them back down, clawing at it like a rabid animal. 

“Let me out,” She says. Demands. “Let me out!” 

Her voice echoes on a yell and she feels a scream build deep in her chest as she clenches her hands into fists and brings them down onto the ground, and she can feel it begin to crack beneath her force. 

The ache in her hands grows with each hit but she doesn’t stop, doesn’t let up, not even as the first cracks of light bleed through. 

With just that sliver of light, she can see the broken skin of her hands and it’s such a guttural reminder of her past that she raises her hands once more and brings them down onto the shattering void with a strength she did not know she possessed. 

All at once she is thrown out of the darkness and she flinches at the burst of brightness that encases her so suddenly. The sound of startled gasps and fearful noises makes her stumble and she tries and subsequently fails to get to her feet, her bloodied hands smearing along the pristine white aisle she had walked down. 

Arms encase her and she turns her head to meet Klaus’s gaze as he pulls her into his chest, eyes wide in fear at the sight of her blood, no doubt mixed with some of Mikael’s that likely splattered onto her at some point in their tussle. 

“Where did you go? What did you do?” He breathes out, eyes brimming with tears. “Where is Mikael?” 

She lets out a shuddering noise as she clings to him, staining his surcoat with blood. “I took it back,” She grits her teeth, fire burning in her eyes for a split second before her exhaustion wipes it out. “I took my darkness back from him, and I turned him into nothing.” 

Klaus makes a noise of grief that she knows is not for his father, but for the thought of her doing something he knows weakens her. 

“I’m alright,” She assures him, finally looking past him at her kingdom that watches on warily. “I’m alright, I promise.” 

Klaus holds onto her tighter like he’s scared she’ll disappear again, and she lets him as exhaustion weighs her down. 

She smiles suddenly, breathless and hopeful. “We aren’t finished here,” Her eyes shift to the king, who hurries towards them, kneeling slightly. “We were interrupted.” 

Klaus mirrors her smile, much more reserved even as his fear dissolves. “We were, weren’t we?”

“Finish it,” She looks up at the king from her place in Klaus’s lap in the aisle. “Please, finish it.” 

The king barely takes a moment before he lets his voice carry like he had before, unwavering as if nothing had happened at all. “Without further ado, Lord Mikaelson, you may kiss your bride.” 

Klaus barely lets him finish speaking before he kisses her, stealing the breath from her lungs as she gasps into it. Starlight burns in her and she raises her hand to gently cup his cheek, pulling him into her for one hard press of their lips before she pulls away, letting her hand fall from his cheek to rest against his heart. 

She turns her face into his neck and whispers into his skin, her breath making goosebumps grow in its wake. “My name,” She says. “I want you to have it.” 

He echoes it back to her softly, like he’s cradling it in his hands, and she looks up at him with stars in her eyes. 

The king speaks from above them, an excitement laced in his voice as he lifts his hands above his hand. “It is my honor to introduce to you for the first time, the Prince and Princess of Riverend!” 

Cheers burst around them, and Klaus dips his head down to hide his smile in her hair, and she clings to him just a bit tighter, her eyes fluttering. 

“Let us celebrate!” The king exclaims, another round of cheers echoing after his words. 

She pulls back slightly to look at Klaus, smiling. “I love you, Klaus,” 

He lets out a breath like she’s knocked it out of him. “I love you,” He hesitates before saying her name like he’s worried she’ll take it back from him. “I'll love you until the end of time. Never doubt that." 

"I won't." 

[shiny-jr]

DAMNNN, congratulations on 5k followers!! You FULLY deserve it, your work is ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!! (≧▽≦)

I was thinking for your event, FEAR - "I don't scare you, do I..?" with Riddle Rosehearts would work so well! I'm obsessed with how you write him!

Have a great day!! ( ꈍᴗꈍ)

– Warning: Yes, this is a yandere thing. Gender-neutral reader.

– Prompt: Fear. "I don't scare you, do I...?"

– Character: Riddle Rosehearts.

– Note: First prompt in a week. Sorry, guys. The reason I got so many out last time was because I knew this would happen, I knew I would get busy and distracted. But don't worry. I still have over 60 in the inbox right now. That'll be enough to last for a while. I just wanted to answer at least one right now. But I'll be honest, I think I may want to work on the damnation project right now so I'll try to write for that before I'm off to bed. Also, I took some creative liberties here and based this prompt kind of off the damnation au. So yeah.

Red. Red was the royal’s favorite color. It was everywhere. On the roses, on the walls, on the strawberry tarts, even most of the soldiers he commanded wore armor that shined like crimson rubies. Riddle’s robes were red, his crown had red, his axe was red, even his hair was red. As if that wasn’t enough, it wasn’t unusual to see him with a splash of red across his flesh, and you were certain it wasn’t some red beverage. 

“My dear, is something the matter? You look awfully pale.” You avoided his gaze, staring at the ground so you wouldn’t see the red on his hands. The same hands that wielded his oversized battle axe, the same hands that just executed the protagonist. You sat rigidly as Riddle carefully approached you, dropping his axe before wiping his hands clean. His voice was soft, quiet, unlike earlier when he was proclaiming a raving speech in front of the onlookers at the public execution you were forced to attend as the royal’s consort. “You’re not frightened of me, are you? You do realize that I would never lift my weapon against you, don’t you? As much as I loathe to admit it, you’re my weakness. All you have to do is blink your pretty little eyes at me and I’ll melt. Because, whether you like it or not, you had willingly chosen to take the place of my partner, and now you have to stay here to finish what you started.”

[odditycircus-2002]

Request: Hello, this was translated with Google so sorry if there are errors, it's my first time making a request too so I'm very nervous. Well, I was wondering, if it's not a bother, if you could agree to write some headcanon about Syzoth and the reader is a shapeshifter (she can be a woman and a wild fighter just like the animal she transforms into, also her diet is based on raw meat just for the convenience of the story, I would greatly appreciate it) shapeshifter that is preferably a Jaguar? I love these big cats. With the following situation: she was captured by Shang Tsung for his experiments, it turns out that she also came to where Syzoth was (whom she initially considered evil because he was practically the sorcerer's servant) but they only saw each other a couple of times, until they moved her to another place (where she would meet Syzoth's family) and would continue the experiments causing her to have a condition where while she was in her human form she would have traces of Jaguar fur scattered over her body and face (similar to vitiligo but instead of spots would have a feline coat). After a while, she, along with other experimental subjects would try to escape, including Syzoth's wife and son, but only she and the small reptile could escape together since the mother of the small reptile would sacrifice herself to save her son from an attack, both would end up injured after escaping, which would make Shang Tsung think that they are dead. A couple of months after Syzoth learned that her family was "murdered" and Shang Tsung's plot against the empress, she would meet the reader and her son, whom he would quickly recognize, but she is on the defensive because she believes that he is a subordinate of Shang Tsung and tries to attack him (at this point the boy and the shapeshifter reader should already be like a family because she took care of the little boy as if he were her baby) the little boy stops her and then reunites with his father, She wants to go with him but she doesn't want to leave the girl and so she follows them to take care of the child. Then simply how does the relationship with Syzoth and reader develop? Sorry if it was too long, I just wish I could read something like that and I really like how you write, I hope you can accept my request.

A/N: Alright, dang, this is a long one. I hope I did this justice. Next time, @destructor-mk, just use my inbox, please.

The Lizard and Jaguar

You are a proud Osh-tekk warrior and a born warrior through and through, proudly serving the Royal House to bring you, your people, and your family great honor. You have set your sights on climbing the ranks through Outworld’s military to serve as equals with General Shao, his second-in-command Reiko, and your King Kotal. Yet, for all your knowledge, your eagerness for any task, and your rare ability to turn into a Jaguar, you always seemed to fall short.

No matter what you do or how many hours you spend trying to practice harnessing the sun’s power, you can never seem good enough to be promoted. It seemed you had hit a wall and may spend the rest of your days as just an ordinary guard at the Royal palace. Never to see a real battle or taste the glory that came with it. Your frustration would often lead you to wander the edges of Sun Do in its seedier alleyways, looking for someone to fight to blow off steam and hopefully grow stronger.

This is how you met Shang Tsung, one of Sindel’s newly appointed Sorcerers. He watched as you entered another street fight, blending among the gathered crowd as they placed bets on who would win. Shang Tsung watched first to see if you and your opponent would make adequate test subjects. Yet, his attention was caught when, just as it seemed you were beaten, you made a comeback by transforming into a giant jaguar to make the winning blow. You let a roar in victory as the crowd cheered before transforming back, taking your winnings.

Shang Tsung intercepted you as you returned to the palace, hoping to make it before sunrise. He first complimented you on your tenacity and fighting abilities before inquiring why, for all your skill, he does not recognize you from General Shao's army. You bitterly explained that you can't maintain your jaguar form for long; otherwise, you know you would be a general by now. You mutter to yourself how you'd give anything to become stronger.

You didn't notice the devious smirk the Sorcerer gave before making you an offer you couldn't refuse. Shang Tsung told you that since he's a Sorcerer, he could make you stronger, faster and make your secondary form last longer and more powerful. All you had to do was meet him in the alley he met you in and at the same time. You accepted but didn't stop and think about how Shang Tsung's offer sounded too good to be true. If you did, you could've avoided what happened in that alleyway.

You arrived just as Shang Tsung instructed, only to find no sign of the Sorcerer. Instead, you were surrounded by a thick fog that made your head spin with each inhale you took. You let out a growl and demanded to know what is the meaning of this since, as a member of Outworld's military, you won't take this lying down. That's when a green figure blindsided you and knocked you to the ground. You rolled with the hit before returning to your feet, coming face to face with a masked figure. He held up his hands before speaking.

"Please stop; you'll make this more difficult for us both."

You growled before charging towards the masked figure to exchange blows. But as much as you were determined not to, you eventually faltered, allowing Syzoth to finally knock you out. You didn't hear his whispered apology as your eyes rolled into the back of your head. When you awoke again you were restrained on a metal table with Shang Tsung above you, with the most devious smile on his face.

"I assure you, I will give you all you want. Although, whether or not you will survive will remain to be seen."

You only knew pain from there. Shang Tsung would pump your veins full of a blue elixir for the first few days, setting your blood ablaze. You would scream and roar as you struggled against your restraints, which dug into your arms and legs. Then, just as the pain gets to a point that it's nothing but a dull throb. You would be released and then dragged to your cell before being tossed onto its unforgiving stone floors. After a while, you'd pull yourself into a corner of the cell and curl up there.

Each night, you would be left there with the only sounds from your cell: your bones shifting and cracking, teeth hitting stone, and low growls mixed in with pained heaves. You often scratched at your skin as the fur underneath grew in patches. The fur pattern matches the texture and pattern of your jaguar form, leaving you with a messed-up version of vitiligo. Your teeth eventually grew back, but they all sharpened and resembled your jaguar form.

The only positive, which is a very low bar at that point, of this torment was that every night, the same man that you fought before your capture would stop by your cell and slip in a heaping pile of meat through a small hatch. You just dug in and devoured it like the wild beast you now resembled. Teeth quickly dug into the meat like it was warm butter. However, you did care to learn the name of one of your captors after overhearing Shang Tsung reprimanding him for the close call with you earlier. Syzoth was his name, a name you would come to loathe for the part he would take in your torture.

After 12 days, you shockingly survived the transformation and all the elixirs Shang Tsung pumped into you. Unfortunately, that didn't mean the end of your torment or seeing your captors. Seeing as your condition stabilized, they immediately put you through more arduous tests. If you didn't willingly comply, Shang Tsung would punish you using electric shock in hopes of breaking you. When Shang Tsung finally decides he's done with you for the day and you're too exhausted or beaten to fight, he'd have his other minions take you back to your cell.

You received a new cell after surviving the initial experimentation. However, you had to share that cell with at least three other people, fellow experiments like you, plus two Zaterrans being held prisoner. A mother and her young son. You didn't speak much with the latter, often minding your business as you knew you must be horrifying to the two who never asked to be there. However, you would occasionally step in whenever a fellow experiment got too rowdy with the two, which mostly ended in you having to brutally kill them. Afterward, you'd return to your part of the cell to lick the blood off your fur and remaining skin.

But, unlike before, you weren't huddled in one spot to whimper like some newborn cub. This time, you were slowly digging an escape tunnel; you hid under your cot. The dirt you would get rid of by secretly dumping them out of your pockets either in a chamber pot or when being led to another round of testing. At one point, the Zaterran woman noticed your hole late at night, but she stared at you for a few tense moments before going back to sleep. She never said anything out loud, which did relieve you.

one night, during lights out, Shang Tsung flicked on the lights and opened all the cell doors. He announced that he would be pouring in toxic gas that would kill everyone. However, he would spare any of those who could kill another experiment and cease the gas. The Sorcerer explained that he was running out of room in his cells and wanted only the strongest experiments pandemonium broke out.

You aided the Zaterran woman and her son by ripping off the cloth from your cot to have them tie around their snouts so they don't breathe in so much of the toxic gas. You and the Zaterran woman fought side by side as you ripped and tore through many Tarkatan hybrids, all to protect the young boy behind both of you. However, the Zaterran couldn't fight for long, her stamina began to give, subjecting her to more deadly blows. Noticing this, you led her and her son back to your shared cell before closing the cell door, with the Zaterran tying it closed with her makeshift mask.

You ripped off a piece of your tunic to try and stop the bleeding in Zaterran's stomach, only for her to brush you off. Instead, she asks you if you'll take her son with you. When you tried to press her again, she only asked if you'd take her son out of this hellhole, so you acquiesced. You then watched the mother and son exchange their final words, with the son crying as he hugged his mother tightly and begging that she come with him. However, the mother reasons that she'll only slow him and you down. She tells the boy that he must live for both their sakes before pressing their foreheads against one another and parting. The Zaterran woman then rips away your cot before leading her son into it. You briefly stop to assure the woman.

The woman gives you a toothy smile before placing the cot back in place. You heard the woman give out a roar before the sound of wet tearing followed shortly after. You then took Jaguar form and started moving the tunnel as a huge section collapsed behind you. You only had a few feet left to dig before freedom, but you weren't sure you could dig it away in time. Luckily, you didn't, as the distraught Zaterran boy vomited acid at the wall in front of you, leading you to your freedom. After escaping, you and the boy were quick to limp away from Shang Tsung's horrid laboratory just as rain began to pour down on you both.

Afterward, you two made your way to the jungles of Zatera, where you both remained hidden for months. You knew the Royal Guard was out as you had overheard General Shao speaking at one point. He did nothing to help you or the people who were captured and experimented on, which just broke your heart.

During this time, you helped the boy learn how to hunt and stalk his prey, with or without his camouflage, which he was still trying to master. Sometimes, the boy will tell you about his life before Shang Tsung's laboratory, including his mother and father. Although the father wasn't captured with the boy and his mother, the boy assumed his father to be either missing or dead based on what the "Bad Man" would tell him and his mother.

You swore to the Boy that you will train him in the ways of the Osh-week so he may take his vengeance upon that vile Sorcerer for what he did to him and his family. The boy hugged you in return, which you reciprocated with a purr, much to your surprise. You would often let him sleep against you while you're in panther form to keep him warm and stay awake as long as you need to when he's inevitably awakened by his night terrors, unable to forget the horrors he's seen.

Meanwhile, a now-freed Syzoth would eventually catch word of a "Jaguar Woman" around the jungles of Zaterra just outside Zikandar. Thinking he knew who it was, as your body was never recovered, he made his way into said jungles, hoping to redeem himself for what he was complacent in.

After a long search and many close calls with some traps that included a Tygore trap, Syzoth did find the Jaguar Woman, you. You were not happy about it. In fact, so much so that when you decided you were done playing cat and mouse with Syzoth, you made yourself known to him. You cared nothing for the shapeshifter’s apologies and excuses, as you just wanted him DEAD. For the lives he helped taken and the pain he has caused, which Syzoth takes full accountability for.

He’ll also admit that you’ve gotten far stronger than the last time you two fought. You made quick and brutal work out of him, however just as you were about to deal the killing blow, your young charge appears before you, begging you not to kill his daddy.

You hesitated, torn between your love for the boy and your rage, but ultimately, your love won out and you spared Syzoth. The boy embraced his father, both crying as they held each other tight. The boy explaining how you have been protecting him this whole time, and Syzoth for how he thought he died alongside his mother.

Knowing this and hearing Syzoth’s side of the story, you two decided to return to civilization to co-parent his son. However, that didn’t mean you forgave Syzoth. And to say your relationship with him was rocky would be putting it mildly. Still, you two can at least agree on wanting the best for the boy, and bond over the horrors Shang Tsung inflicted on to you both.

[multifandoms27-blog]

if you’re still taking yugioh requests do you think i could get atem and kaiba comforting an s/o who’s afraid of storms (especially thunder and lightning)? thank you!! 🩷

OMGOMGOMG YES HI I just saw this in my inbox!!! I am absolutely still taking Yugioh quests!!!

Content: Atem x gn!Reader; Seto Kaiba x gn!Reader

Warnings: None

Notes: You didn't specify if Atem was in modern or ancient times, so I just went with ancient times......I'm a history/mythology nerd so I took the chance lol sorry. I also slipped in a small YGOTAS reference at the end of Atem's part lol

• ───────────────── •

❥ Pharaoh Atem

Normally, it was custom for the Pharaoh and his spouse to sleep in separate bedrooms. This allowed them both down time after being in the public eye all day. As much as you loved your husband, you needed this time away, even if it was to just rest.

After your servants helped you undress and get ready for bed, you were left alone with your thoughts. Although, you were so exhausted you just wanted to sleep. You'd be up and at 'em again in the morning.

You hadn't even realized you fell asleep until a loud boom woke you, practically shaking your room. Sitting up immediately, your heart beginning to thump rapidly in your chest, you opened your mouth to yell for anyone who was still awake.

"Guards! Guards!"

Almost immediately, a couple of the many palace guards entered the room, all three being armed. "Your majesty, are you alright? Are you hurt?"

"I'm-" You were interrupted by another loud boom. You screamed and shut your eyes. "Fetch my husband! Please!"

"Right away, your majesty!" The three left the room to get their king from his room.

Soon, Atem strode in swiftly, and the sight before him broke his heart. His spouse, curled up in a tight ball on their bed, scared out of their mind. He quickly approached them, and gathered his (Y/n) into his arms. "There, there...I'm here, my love. What's gotten you so afraid?"

Clinging onto him almost immediately, you answered, "The storm...I wasn't expecting it..."

"Oh, my love..." Atem gently moved a strand of hair out of your face. "It is only a storm, it will pass."

"No, Atem...I have always been afraid of them. Since I was a child." You shook your head, moving away slightly to look at him.

"Is there any way I can help you with this fear?" He asks, voice soft and kind, as always, and his hand gently rubbing your arm. "I can try to cover your ears, but I'm afraid my hands do nothing compared to the might of Set."

Atem adds a small giggle to the end of his last remark, showing you that he was kidding. It makes you giggle too. "Oh, Atem...how I love you so."

Another boom flows through the sky outside, making you jump and scream, scaring Atem for a moment. He tightens his hold to try and calm you. "My (Y/n), it's okay. As long as I am here, I will protect you. Set will not harm us."

"How can you say for sure?" Your voice shook with fear. "Set is a fearsome God, Atem...have you forgotten all of his stories?"

"Set would not harm the royal family, he protected my father during his reign, and his father before him, and his father, and so on." Atem then gave his spouse a smile. "We are safe. But, if you still feel scared, I can stay with you throughout the night."

You nod. "I...would like that very much."

Atem nods, then moves your head rest out of the way so you both lay on the bed, your face in his chest. "Is this okay?"

You nod again, then yelp and jump closer when another boom rings in the room. Atem thought for a moment. "There is one story that comes to mind about Set. You recall how Anubis killed him, yes?"

You nod. Atem carries on.

"Well, after going into the afterlife, Set had begun to do good things. My father once told me a story about how Set travels with Ra on his nightly trip to the underworld, and Set helps him battle the fearsome Apophis."

You focus in on what your husband is saying. The warmth of his arms around you and his body being pressed to yours, the softness of his voice as he tells a story passed down through generations, and suddenly you find yourself falling asleep once more.

"...and now, when people hear thunder, they are reminded that Ra is engaging in an epic battle, with Set by his side." Atem finishes not too long after, waiting for a response. When he doesn't get one, he looks down to see you've finally fallen back asleep, and the thunder seems to have gotten quieter. Set was moving away, possibly sensing the Pharaoh's spouses discomfort.

Sighing softly to himself, Atem placed a kiss on your forehead and taking in the peaceful look on your face, before finally falling asleep himself. Screw the rules, he's the Pharaoh.

• ───────────────── •

❥ Seto Kaiba

It was after hours at KaibaCorp, and Seto was still at his desk like usual. You, having finished work three hours ago, stopped by to try to coax him back to the house so that he could get some sleep. Of course, he didn't budge. Like usual. Knowing you were going to be sitting here for hours, you opted to order some dinner for the two of you.

"What about Mokuba? Where is he?" You asked Seto before ordering the food.

"He's with Yugi, he wanted to attend one of his game nights." Seto spoke without moving his eyes away from the screen.

After getting said food, you had noticed dark clouds rolling across the sky, with flashes of light in between the angry clouds. Clenching your jaw as your anxiety spikes, you quickly move back to your car and sped (as legally as you could) back to KaibaCorp.

When you got back to Seto's office with the food, he hadn't noticed your anxiety yet, or the rapidly approaching thunderstorm. You plopped the food down and curled up on the couch. Reaching over, you took out your food and begin to numbly eat it while scrolling through your phone, tensing as you start to prepare for the first sound of thunder.

Soon the storm begins, first with a flash of lightning, and then a loud boom soon after. You jump, dropping your fork. That gets Seto to look up as it makes a muffled thump against the ground. "...you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." You nod, going to pick up the fork from under the table. Another flash and boom sounded, making you jump and hit your head on the table.

Reeling back, you grimaced and held your head, and Seto moved over to you. "Are you sure?"

“I…” You sighed. “No. It’s the storm, I’m…scared.”

Seto didn’t do anything for a moment before sighing and pulling you back up on the couch. “I suppose I can stop for the day.”

“What? No, Seto, your work is important. Don’t-“

“Hush.” Seto tapped some more on his keyboard before shutting it, and moving over to you. “Mind if I sit here?”

He gave you a small smirk that makes your heart stutter. You nod and he sits down. Thunder sounds around you both, and you jump into Seto’s side. His heart warmed as you came to him for protection. He put a hand around you.

“It’s okay. No storm will hurt you with me here.”

You resisted the urge to cringe slightly. You loved your boyfriend, but sometimes he can say the weirdest things. “Thanks, hon…”

Seto’s grip tightened, then he leaned over to grab his food, and then grabbed your fork from the ground. “You can share my fork.”

“Thank you.”

Seto ate with one hand, his other hand around you. You watched him eat for a moment before he wordlessly offered a bite to you. You took the bite, then looked to the windows as rain began to pour down.

“It’s okay, we’re inside. Nothing can harm us.” Seto reassured.

“I know, just…” You sigh. “I’m sorry, I know this is probably childish…”

“Is that why you never told me about this before?" Seto asks, taking another bite of his food.

"...kind of." You then jump as lightning flashes and thunder rolls loudly in the sky. "Although, I guess you would've found out one way or another..."

Seto nods, setting the fork down. "Well, I don't think it's childish. People have fears, always have and always will. It isn't something childish or new."

You nod, sinking into his side a little, jumping and yelping a little when thunder sounded again. Seto leaned back into the couch and moved you into his lap, one hand on your head as he cradled it against his chest. His other hand rested on your thigh.

"Is there anything I could do to help?" Seto asks, his hand that's on your thigh begins to massage it, and the hand on your head gently scratches your scalp.

You begin to relax, but tense up again as you see lightning light up the room again. Seto's repeated movements are accompanied by a kiss on the forehead. You focus back on him.

"This is fine...thank you." You move your face slightly, so that it's in his chest.

Seto hums, and you can feel the reverb. It feels nice. It feels warm, and safe. You still tense and jump at thunder and lightning, but Seto's hands help you settle down enough. He occasionally plants kisses on your forehead or cheek, and makes small talk to try and distract you. Before you know it, the storm clears and the thunder begins to sound distant, the lightning becoming less frequent.

"Seems the storm is going away. Should we get ready to go home?" Seto asks, looking out of the many big windows, then back to you.

"In a minute." You mumble, snuggling into Seto's chest. "Right now I'm enjoying myself."

Seto cracks a smile. "Was this your plan?"

"No, but I'll take the outcome." You smile, making Seto let out a small chuckle before tightening his hold on you.

• ───────────────── •

Here is my Masterlist in case you want to request, or look for more of your favorite character!

[itsphoenix0724]

I love your writing. I'm excited your asks are open and I hope you like this idea. I really love Leander and Reader. I was wondering if you could do one where he's asking Rhys for her hand. Eris and Feyre are there because of the intercourt implications, but Leander knows the one he really needs to impress and convince is Rhys because Reader had told him many times how sad Rhys has been getting about the kids growing up and he won't be so happy to let his baby girl go. Especially since she'll have to go to Autumn since Leander is the heir. A second part with their mating ceremony, because of course they're mates, would be so sweet.

Forever After All~(Leander Vanserra x Reader)

Word Count: 2.2k

Warnings: tooth-rotting fluff

A/N: Hi love! Thank you for visiting my inbox! I loved this request, and I hope you love it just as much <3 I combined it all into one fic instead of two separate parts I hope that's okay. Enjoy and please feel free to visit again!

Leander Vanserra often considered himself a brave male. He was the heir to the Autumn Court, a decorated general, and he regularly faced down his explosive sister which is a feat in and of itself. But here, sitting across from the High Lord and High Lady of the night court he felt like a child caught sneaking sweets before dinner. He didn’t tell you he was coming, and he thinks maybe that had been his first mistake as the bond pulls curiously in his chest. He almost keels over with the rush of emotions. You’ve been together for a few years now, but the mating bond is still relatively new. He tries to lock down the bursts of anxiety as he meets Rhysand’s violet gaze. Thankfully his father is there too, offering his quiet support as he battles the snakes coiling in his gut. He’s here to ask for your hand, he’s made his intentions clear from the beginning, but Night’s High Lord doesn’t seem to want to budge. 

“They’re too young.” Rhys rumbles glaring at Leander from across the sitting room. Feyre shoots him an incredulous look as his father rubs out the crease between his eyes. 

“They’re mated.” Feyre offers, staring at the Autumn family with an apologetic smile. Rhysand scoffs and paces in front of the roaring fireplace. You warned Leander something like this might happen. You’ve been complaining to him for weeks about your father being “an overbearing illyrian baby” and that he’s been hovering around you. Leander had laughed you off, it had been funny at the time, but now that he’s sitting across from Rhysand that overprotectiveness seemed much more threatening. 

“They’re barely into their fifties, Feyre darling,” he replies and Feyre rolls her eyes. The High Lord of Autumn finishes his wine before refilling his glass, patting his son on the back sympathetically. 

“Need I remind you, Rhysand, that Feyre was barely 20 when you mated.” Eris offers, and Rhysand turns that fury-filled gaze onto his father, but Eris doesn’t balk he simply just tilts his head and sips his wine. Rhys snarls a terrible thing, night-kissed powers rushing through the room. Leander’s father just sighs again. “We’re too old for showboating, come now, enough with the bullshit power waves.” Feyre looks like she’s trying to choke back laughter. 

“Darling,” Rhys tries again again. “Our baby girl will no longer be a citizen of the Night Court as soon as she’s married off. Are you ready for that?” It’s Feyre’s turn to shoot out of her chair, looking accusatorily between the two High Lords 

“No longer a citizen of this court?!” She prods angrily. “She is our daughter. She will always be a citizen of this court.” Her blue eyes glare at her mate to further explain, but Rhysand remains tight-lipped with a white-knuckled grip against the mantle. Leander mainly wants to disappear, he feels like a child listening to his parents' hushed arguments from the top of the stairwell. He averts his gaze from the silent argument of Night’s Royal family. His eyes dart around the study, and when he sees the portrait of your smiling face hanging above the hearth he remembers what he’s here for. Eris clears his throat making Feyre turn her icy fury onto him. 

“She’s marrying my heir. It’s customary that she would become a citizen of the Autumn Court. That way there can be no biases. She would become my son’s responsibility, where she would take on whatever role she desires.” Eris rumbles, and Leander wants to shrink in his seat. 

His father could have put things more delicately. It made it sound like he owned you and the prospect of that makes his skin crawl. He talked to his grandmother enough to know that he never wanted to be anything like the man who sired his father. 

“Why?” Feyre spits. “Why can they not be citizens of both courts?” She turns her gaze back to her mate. 

“It’s just not how it’s done,” Rhys responds. 

“Well, I seem to recall that there was no such thing as High Lady either,” Feyre replies. “Yet here we are.” Rhysand starts to reply again, but Leander cuts in. 

“If I may. Lord and Lady, I love my mate with everything in my soul. She is my light, and I don’t care what I have to do to marry her officially, but I would never want to take her away from her family.” Leander directs this part specifically at Rhys who gives him a respectful nod. Rhys and Feyre’s eyes go glassy in a way that lets him know they’re having a conversation. He’s seen you and your siblings have that look, and he’s reminded of your smooth voice purring into his mind whenever you feel like causing mischief. 

“It’s settled then,” Feyre says after a short while. “You have our full permission to marry, but both of you will be full citizens of both the Night and Autumn Courts.” She holds her chin high, there is no room for arguments as the High Lady’s eyes drift to his father who smiles in agreement. 

“Well then,” Rhys claps his hands together, “I guess this calls for me to open a bottle of my good wine.”

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

You could tell Leo was nervous. You’re wandering down the streets of the Autumn Court pressed close to his side, he seems like the picture of a male at perfect ease, but the flames in the lanterns keep flickering with waves of the power that’s radiating off of him. The stars are winking brightly as he leads you to the top of a hill where he had set up a picnic blanket with enchanted stained glass orbs floating and glimmering with warm candlelight. You almost keel over at the sight as you gasp, your hands shooting to your heart as the bond in your chest thrums with joy. 

“Is this why you’ve been so jumpy today?” You question as you hook your arms around his neck. His cheeks flood a delightful shade of pink that you want to drink down, but you settle for pressing your lips to his allowing that pleasant dizzy feeling to flood your veins like slow-moving honey. With some effort, you break apart from the kiss and look over at the spread of food he has laid out for the two of you. Plates of fruit and cheese, decadent chocolate, and a bottle of mulled wine rest atop the blanket. You turn back to Leander, “This is making me think you’re apologizing for something?” You raise a brow and he looks alarmed for a second before laughing and shaking his head. 

“No Fawn, I’m not apologizing for anything.”  He leads you over to the blanket and allows you to dig into the mountains of different foods, eyes softening as he contentedly watches you fill your plate. You have your fill, sipping on the mulled wine and admiring Leander as the candlelight bounces off his copper hair, you notice he’s barely picked at his own food as your stomach gives an awful twist. 

“Something is the matter. Why aren’t you eating?” Your brows furrow as you cross the picnic blanket to settle into his side. Leo’s eyes dart nervously to the basket, and you follow his eyes before attempting to reach for it. His hands grab your hips and you stare at him with wide eyes. 

There’s something in that picnic basket. 

“Nothing’s wrong. Why don’t you go back to your chocolate cake my love it’s your favorite.” Leander attempts to sway you, reaching out for your plate and offering it back to you, but you lunge for the basket again. “You’re a mad woman, stop it!” He’s laughing, as he tries to wrangle you back in his lap. 

“What’s in the basket?” You question. He rolls his eyes, but you can feel his fondness radiating down the thread connecting your hearts. 

“You couldn’t just be patient,” he laughs and shakes his head, pulling a small velvet box from inside the picnic basket. He guides you to your feet before dropping down to one knee infront of you. “Fawn, my mate, my heart, will you make me the luckiest man in Prythian and do me the honor of marrying me?” He looks nervous, your confident proud mate looks as if you might actually say no. That thought makes you laugh around the budding tears that flood your eyes, as you frantically nod your head throat clogging around unsaid words. 

“Yes! Yes of course I’ll marry you!” You yank him to his feet, hauling your mouth to his in a fervent kiss before he slips the ring on your finger. It fits perfectly, a delicate gold band circles your finger and you admire the massive sparkling ruby that sits in the center framed by delicate golden leaves. It takes your breath away as you watch it sparkle under the moonlight. Warm hands wipe away the tears that flooded your eyes before pulling you into a kiss again. 

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆. ───

The silk of your dress glides against your skin as your mother laces the ties of the ribbons in the back. Your sister and cousins are fussing with their own hair and makeup as you try to calm your racing heart. 

You’re a bit worried that the anxiety might make you hurl your guts out before you make it down the aisle.

“You look beautiful,” your mother promises as she threads the pins into the intricate style of your updo. They resemble stars and moons, the glimmering diamonds scattering constellations across the crown of your head. “Don’t stress.” Her lips press into your cheek as she admires you in the mirror. 

“I’m not nervous,” you promise, even though her blue eyes lock with yours with that motherly look that says she can see right through you. Your bridesmaids all leave their compliments to you as they leave your suite to walk to the altar. There’s a knock on the door and Eris announces his presence before your mother calls him into the room. 

“There’s my beautiful daughter-in-law.” He presses a kiss to your cheek before pressing a kiss to your mother’s hand. “Leander won’t know what to do with himself when he sees you.” That sends a herd of wild horses stampeding through your heart at the thought of your mate waiting for you. A bell rings somewhere in the chapel, signaling from the priestess that the ceremony is about to start. Eris links arms with your mother, leading her to the ceremony. Your father enters the room a moment later, looking the picture of night-dark royalty. His violet eyes well with tears as he takes you in. 

“I can’t believe you’re all grown up.” He sighs, wiping his eyes. “I remember when you were barely taller than my knee, and now look at you.” You blush as he wraps you in his arms, trying not to cry yourself. “Just one more finishing touch.” He winks and with a wave of his hand a sheer cape of shimmering starlight drapes off your shoulders. “Your mother wore it on her wedding day, and my mother wore it on hers, so it’s only right that you wear it today.” You do start crying then, big crocodile tears like the day he first dropped you off at school. “Come now, no tears.” He produces a handkerchief and dabs at your eyes. “Let’s go get you married.” 

You loop arms with your father as he leads you into the chapel and every nervous melancholy thought drains out of your head when you see Leander standing next to the priestess. He’s a vision in his burgundy waistcoat, auburn hair pulled back and styled. You walk to him slowly, your friends and family gasping as you pass them in the pews. Tears well in Leo’s eyes as you reach him and your father presses a kiss on your forehead before sitting down next to your mother. 

“Hello Fawn,” he whispers, reaching to grasp your hands between his. 

“Hello Lion,” you whisper in return, a warm steady feeling falls over you as your stomach flips. You both turn to the priestess and she begins the ceremony, but you’re not even listening. You’re too busy staring at the male standing across from you. You only zone back in as the priestess ties your hands together with the ceremonial ribbon, the symbol binding you together for the rest of your lives. 

“You may now kiss the bride,” the priestess proclaims and cheers pound against the stone, echoing to tenfold the volume. Your mother sends a beam of light that causes the stained glass to send a myriad of colors. Leander hauls you to him dipping you low as he finally draws your lips to his. You all head to the reception, where a feast big enough to feed both your courts awaits. Finally, after dancing into the early hours of the morning you head back into your room and you collapse into the bed. 

“How does it feel to be officially married, My Lady?” Leo purrs, pressing kisses into the crook of your neck trailing your bound hands to rest between your hearts. 

“Perfect My Lord” You mumble into his mouth and that warm comforting feeling settles into your chest, permanently.

[royalthorned]

hi royal.. i cant believe this is the first time im sliding into ur inbox . and it's to ask about daddy (?) jegulus ..

hiii laurie

this is my first dabble in jegulus and im terrified of mischaracterising them but! its my modern AU fic with an older regulus and younger James. regulus is a "starving artist" (he's a journalist in a very loose sense) in his 30's who is just so incredibly pretentious and James is this finance bro in his 20's who works at his parents law firm (everyones favourite nepo baby) James is arrogant, confident and so full of himself.

the fic is basically then battling it out for who's the "daddy" (not in those words but eventually in those words..) and its lovely and full of banter and reg being up his own ass. I love them sm <333

[whetstonefires]

29 and 51 for the ask game?

ah, thank you! love an ask game. these both give me so many options, hah. also ty for not being a spammer! last time i replied to an ask i got six go fund me scams in my inbox overnight. three of them were the same message exactly and two used some of the same pictures with different names, they are not even trying to be plausible anymore ffs.

29) give us a spoiler for one of your stories.

mmmm okay so if I ever manage to go back to the Cirque de Triomphe Earth-3 DC series, there's a segment that's one of the latest points in the timeline that got developed, working title 'Battle Royale with Cheese' where Dick and his Outlaws (Roy and Kori), Slade and Joe Wilson, Owlman and Ultraboy (Kon), Tim Drake, the Gotham Circus, and the up-and-coming evil mercenary trio the Transhumanists (Raven, Vic Stone, and Garfield Logan) all wind up in the same random small town in the middle of the night having a six-way super battle.

Dick and Tim both have Talon healing in this timeline, so the only normal humans on the field are Roy and some clowns. Poor roy. 😆

51) share the synopsis of a story you work on that you haven’t published yet

I think my most fun and active unpublished wip is the 'jin ling's gay uncles go roadtripping' one, currently at 70k, which is a canon divergence AU from Mo Xuanyu's pov where, because reasons, Wei Wuxian winds up in Mo Ziyuan's body, instead, and Mo Xuanyu survives.

This allows me to put both of them in the same place and do character study stuff for both, while prodding the main plot for which parts are causally linked in what ways and where it has joints. So far Jiang Cheng is the most difficult character to wrangle along, less because he won't do what I want than because Mo Xuanyu's perspective on him is so different from Wei Wuxian's that hitting the thematic beats I want takes careful thought.

[whoishotteranimepolls]

Pride month Battle Royals

I've gotten a question about what I will do for pride month next month. Well, I still have a gigantic backlog of requests so probably the only thing I will do is a bunch of themed Six-Way Battle Royale polls. Does that count as an event?

Now because I don't watch near as much anime as I'm pretty sure everyone thinks I do if you have a character or Duo/ship or trio that you think needs to be included in those polls. Please put them in the comments or reblogs of this post. Remember I do need character names and shows so I can look them up later

The characters have to follow the regular rolls and I honestly, I don't care if they're Canon or Fanon or just coded LGBTQ+. Now it would be nice to know the difference between the two so I could make separate polls for actual Canon characters. But that is the only requirement for this event and that includes the duos or trios because I'm assuming that's going to be a lot of ships.

Now, depending on the state of my inbox and how many characters I have for this event. I may actually open up my inbox in 3 weeks specifically for this event. However, I'm trying to keep things organized so I can work through the inbox as quickly as possible

I hope this makes sense. So start thinking of characters that would work for this event and please put them in the comments and reblogs for now

[yellowmagicalgirl]

If you're still doing the pair/title thingy, maybe "I could never let you go" with Krel/Douxie

Hey, thanks for the patience w/the wait; this got lost in my inbox.

Soulmate AU where Douxie doesn't come back to life at the end of Wizards, but his ghost lingers, haunting Krel. They both think that it's because they met so recently shh Battle of the Bands doesn't count before his death. After all, they're the first human wizard and akiridion royal to be soulmates, so surely that accounts for the oddness. And yet, as time passes and Krel feels himself drawn towards Gaylen's core, they wonder if there's another reason behind the haunting.

I could see this ending one of four ways, none of them happy.

Gaylen!Krel creates a new body for Douxie's soul, but Douxie can tell that Gaylen!Krel is not the boy he fell in love with. The last scene would be Gaylen!Krel promising to never leave Douxie, while Douxie stares on in fear.

Gaylen!Krel creates a new body for Douxie's soul, but the corruption affects them both (maybe like in the demon!Douxie art?)

The only way to defeat the Arcane Order once and for all is for Krel to merge with Gaylen's core, but the only way for Krel to not be corrupted by it like Morando was and/or fully utilize its power is for him to sacrifice the soul of his soulmate in the process.

Krel kills himself to avoid being Gaylen's vessel. He and Douxie share their first and last kiss between Krel's death and the two of them passing on to the afterlife.

Bonus: Zoe is the one to go on the run w/Nari because her place of business got trashed, anyways, and Arcadia Oaks without her best friend just isn't Arcadia Oaks anymore.

Send me a title and a pairing and I will give you the summary of a fic I will never write. No longer accepting prompts for this ask meme.

[coffeewithcutcaffeine]

hello my darling lin 💞 i'm afraid i can't keep it to myself any longer, i must know all about your character tags, they're simply too intriguing 👀.

Ahhh, my loveliest Lizzie! Thank you so much for sending this ask my way, it was such a lovely and generous surprise to find in my inbox today! 🥹❤️ I have a lot of different tags for five separate works so, please, bear with me as I briefly try to elaborate on all of them skdskfjsksfjsk. I apologise beforehand for my seemingly endless rambles, though I hope it will turn out to be interesting nonetheless! 🥰✨️

VOIEVOD:

The majority of my tags come from my medieval magnum opus sksksk because numerous distinct characters are already detailed and elaborate in my mind — let’s dig into them! I do have to confess that some of these tags have yet to make a proper appearance, but I have prepared them in advance, just in case.

( oc: if i cannot move heaven i will raise hell ) — Vlad Dracula. This phrase is a well-known quote from Virgil’s Aeneid: “Flectere si nequeo superos, Acheronta movebo.” I have always felt that it perfectly encapsulates Vlad’s entire life — he is quite the prototype of a Machiavellian ruler willing to resort to more violent methods if needed (which we know very well from history, after all). Throughout the works, he repeatedly acknowledges his belief that he is destined for hell and expresses his willingness to sacrifice his soul for the greater good of his people. And he is also a very strong-willed and stubborn person who will always find a way to achieve his goals, whatever it costs him.

( oc: sanctuary ) — Cătălina. At first, I greatly hesitated to use this symbolism as I truly believe this remarkable woman is defined by much more than her role as the royal mistress and the mother of the voivode’s sons, and I try to depict that individuality of her character. However, this role does significantly influence her life and defines many of the decisions she makes. Throughout their relationship, Vlad sees Cătălina as his sanctuary because she accepts him as he is, loves him despite his perceived defects, and offers him a sense of belonging and peace. Sure, he loves that she keeps him on his toes, but this acceptance and the notion of having a kindred spirit give him the feeling of healing and safety. He can take off the many masks and let himself be exposed as he is, deep down. She also serves as a sanctuary for their sons, acting as the family’s anchor since they spend most of their time with her.

( oc: golden child; lion boy ) — Mehmed the Conqueror. His tag comes from the beautiful poem written by madzieloss on Tumblr, with the whole quote going, “Golden child, Lion boy; Tell me what it’s like to conquer.” I initially tried to use one of Mehmed’s poems from his diwan to make it a bit more personal, but this particular poem works perfectly because it encapsulates Mehmed’s whole essence — the Sultan of the Empire, the gifted child, the great conqueror. I also love using the recurring theme of gold and sun for his character. Gold represents the splendour of the Ottoman Empire, as well as his personal visuals (a lot of rich clothes and jewellery, the gilded Ottoman armour, his ginger hair and beard). Sun is the lovely little dichotomy seen in his character as it is both radiant and invigorating (his manners, generosity, education, intellect, aspects of rule), and merciless and blazing (his cruelty and the destructive sides of his politics towards other countries). Like the sun, he can either help grow or burn everything down.

( oc: the dragon ) — Vlad Dracul. I hate admitting that I could not come up with anything even remotely unique for Vlad’s dad as his moniker Dracul literally means “the Dragon” skdhskfskdks. However, the nickname was used for a reason, and we do not fix what isn’t broken in this house. The dragon’s role in medieval symbolism reflects a complex interplay between themes of heroism, morality, and the battle between light and darkness — on the one hand, the creature is seen as a protector and symbol of power, strength, and courage, but on the other hand, a dragon also represents a cunning and dangerous figure. He is called “the Dragon” both by people who admire him and despise him, so it shows the double meaning and the complexity of a ruler’s nature. At the same time, the meaning also spills over to his private life as he is both a figure of protection and (unwilling and unintentional) destruction to his family.

( oc: of burning martyrdom ) — Mircea Dracula. The eldest sibling is without a doubt the most tragic figure in the entire story, and I wanted his tag to reflect the tragedy and inevitability of his fate. He was killed at nineteen at the hands of his father’s enemies and in the cruellest way imaginable, and the “burning” part hints at some of the circumstances of his death. In his own way, he dies as a martyr because he dies refusing to give up his beliefs — and he is a martyr figure because the majority of his short life is marked with great struggles.

( oc: keeper of secrets ) — Alexandra. This tag is supposed to represent all the inner turmoil and complexities fighting one another inside Vlad’s younger sister. Because the two siblings share most of their personality and physical traits and are also close in age (there is a three-year gap between them), Vlad has always had a fond spot for his little sister and always considered her his little confidante — hence the meaning of keeping secrets. In return, Vlad has always been the brother who has granted Alexandra the most freedom and experience. She also keeps many secrets because there is a lot of her she has to repeatedly suppress inside of her — as I have mentioned, Vlad and Alexandra are quite alike, but Vlad’s personality tends to be accepted more while the same traits in Alexandra are often frowned upon.

( oc: cel frumos ) — Radu Dracula. My laziness shows here once again as that is Radu’s moniker, meaning “the handsome” or “the beautiful”. Radu has been given a fair share of horrible portrayals in media over the years, so I aim to further develop his character and show the varied aspects of his personality that are frequently overlooked. I initially tried to find something that would suit his complicated character but eventually settled on the nickname itself as it nicely shows the irony of his life and the most defining issue of his life — always being disregarded and reduced to only a sliver of his being.

( oc: cel mare ) — Ștefan the Great. (Or, as I like to call him, Fane.) There is no possible tag that would fit the famous Voivode of Moldavia and Vlad’s cousin (Vlad’s mother was a Moldavian princess) more than his own nickname, “the Great”. He is considered a national hero in both Romania and Moldova and undoubtedly earned his monicker through his actions.

OPEN HEART:

( c: i rise with my red hair and i eat men like air ) — Laura Levchenko. Her tag comes from Sylvia Plath’s poem called Lady Lazarus and, although I wanted to find a fitting quote from Lesya Ukrainka to represent Laura’s roots (that form a great part of her being), this one has the right amount of sharpness and edge fitting for my darling spitfire. Her fiery hair is undoubtedly one of her trademarks, and the quote also represents an independent spirit that will not be pushed down by being seemingly “inferior”. It also shows her own stance towards men, beginning with the painful experience with her dad and marking her whole life, as well as people who look down upon her.

( c: veni vidi vici ) — E.R. This is incredibly embarrassing because I was desperate to find something better for Ethan, something more fitting for his character… but there it is skdksfksldls. I do not think this quote even needs any introduction, so I will mention instead that “I came, I saw, I conquered” expresses the way Ethan achieves everything he sets his mind to, as well as the ferocity with which he pursues all his goals. When we compare his character to Laura’s, it might also imply the briskness with which he achieves certain things in life as a straight white American man — as opposed to Laura who is not only looked down upon for being a woman but also has to face a lot of xenophobia in her life. (You also want to re-enact the Ides of March on him sometimes but… I digress sksksk.)

CRIMES OF PASSION:

( c: this ghost sitting year after year upon my heart ) — Milena Rosa. This quote comes from Federico García Lorca’s play Yerma, in Spanish being, “este fantasma sentado año tras año encima de mi corazón”. I have to admit that I have yet to get myself familiar with Milena and craft her character in detail the way she deserves, but we know from canon that Jimmy’s tragic death greatly defines not only her own inner life (because she battles with all the demons his loss has inflicted upon her) but also the trajectory of her future career and the purpose she finds in her mission.

( c: bleeding sun ) — T.T. Trystan’s tag is from Lucie Thésée’s Poem, and the full quote goes, “Handsome as life and poison. Sun-blood handsome. Bleeding sun.” This was an instant fit because Trystan is undoubtedly the product of the environment he grew up in — Drakovia is both a place of beauty and vibrance, but we know its regime is bloody and deadly. Trystan will also never suppress the essence of who he is, and his character is both full of life and somewhat fierce (sometimes even violent) in nature. A lot of my worldbuilding for the story comes from my own experience as an Eastern European, and this little corner of the world is brimming with endless contradictions, so I tried to come up with something that would evoke that as closely as possible.

THE WAYHAVEN CHRONICLES:

( c: i am the sea and nobody owns me ) — Kimberley Cunningham. Kimble is my TWC newborn that I have only recently crafted into a character she should have been from the very beginning. Her tag is actually the legendary quote uttered by Pippi Longstocking which, apart from its fierceness, also fits Kimberley’s playfulness and carefree approach to life. She is a rebel through and through in every aspect of her life, which stems from the disastrous nature of her relationship with Rebecca. Her main objective in life is to do the exact opposite of what she is told, and she enjoys shocking people around her. But, just like the sea, she can be tempestuous and unpredictable, and some of her decisions can be quite destructive. Kimble ends up in the love triangle which kind of mirrors the rest of her life — initially harmless fun turns complicated and messy.

( c: a ribbon of loneliness ) — Sydney Brannagan. My poor baby Syd has been characterised through his melancholy since the very first moment, so I needed to find this little nugget that would instantly evoke his inner world. Then I found this quote by Jenny Slate that goes, “I think I’ve come to terms with the fact that there will always be a ribbon of loneliness running through who I am.” Loneliness runs through Sydney not only in the sense that he is such a sorrowful soul, but also because a part of him always feels so detached from others. All his life, he has felt like he has to prove his worth to his mother to feel accepted, and he also unconsciously builds a wall around him as the time goes by. In the professional setting, his personality does not stand out in any particular way — he is diligent and polite, some might even consider him a bit bland.

BLEEDING HEART:

I do feel like I need to give a bit more context for this interactive fiction beforehand, especially because there is only Chapter 1 out so far. The story is a retelling of Bram Stoker’s Dracula through the point of view of Mina Murray, and the first chapter already explores several wonderful themes I cannot wait to get my grubby little hands on! I have a very clear idea of who I want Mina to be, how she struggles in the setting and society she lives in, and how her personality drives her emotions and decisions. I do not know if my personal HCs will align with the story as it progresses, but there is nothing this user cannot tweak to her liking skdhskfjfksks.

( c: growing fruit around cyanide ) — Wilhelmina Murray-Harker. Mina’s tag is a part of a poem from a collection called Swallowtail by Brenna Twohy and goes, “Peach pits are poisonous. This is not a mistake. Girlhood is growing fruit around cyanide. It will never be your for swallowing.” Essentially, it encapsulates the conflict between who Mina seems to be on the outside and who she truly is on the inside. I have always felt like the Victorian times were one of the most suffocating periods for a woman to live in, and Mina always has to suppress a huge part of herself to somehow “fit the mould”, hence how she grows fruit around cyanide. Just like the society, her relationship with Jonathan also suffocates her — her engagement is a choice made out of reason, but she does not feel fulfilled with him in practically any way, which ultimately drives her into the arms of Dracula.

( c: the master of the night ) — Count Dracula. His tag is just the tweak of the quote from Bram Stoker’s Dracula: “Listen to them, the children of the night. What music they make!” Since he commands all the creatures and phenomena of the night, I have changed the bit to the “master”. I wish I had anything interesting to add to his character but, so far, I am waiting to see what he turns out to be like in Bleeding Heart — I know we are able to make him be the big villain or give him redeeming qualities, so I will wait and see which route will seem more fitting to me though I do play around with the idea of making Dracula more redeemable and a different character more villainous). Also, Count Dracula the Vampire has absolutely nothing to do with Vlad Dracula the Voivode in my fictional world — I know merging the two into one character is very popular, there is even one novel that did this that I absolutely love, but… not happening here lmao.

[ciaossu-imagines]

Hello, hello, my lovelies! Since I've gotten zero bites for asks for my other non-KHR/K fandoms, I'm going to host a little special event before my box reopens (after I finish writing fic and have posts done for all my fandoms) and I have another big event! So, this is how it's going to work!

I have exactly 42 fandoms, if I'm counting right. Below you'll find all 42 fandoms listed. Under those fandoms, you'll find a list of 42 AU's. I'll accept 1 request per fandom and one request per AU. For example, if someone requests KHR and mermaids, for example, I'll cross out both KHR and Mermaids and neither the fandom nor the AU can be requested for anymore. It's first come, first serve and I'll do my best to keep the lists up-to-date with requests. This event will close when all prompts and fandoms are taken. You can just request a fandom or you can request a specific character or group of characters from the fandom and you can request a reader insert character as well. YOU CANNOT REQUEST SCENARIO OR HEADCANONS OR HOW EXACTLY THE PROMPT WILL BE WRITTEN OR INTERPRETED, UNLESS STATED. That will be left up to the admin and what ideas I have, honestly. Any questions, feel free to inbox me! Without further ado!

FANDOMS

KHR

K PROJECT

NANBAKA

WELCOME TO DEMON SCHOOL, IRUMA-KUN!

BUNGOU STRAY DOGS

SERVAMP

SAIYUKI

MYSTIC MESSENGER

IKEREV

EYESHIELD 21

THE OUTSIDERS

RONIN WARRIORS

KEKKAISHI

GETBACKERS

BLUSH BLUSH

CLASS OF THE TITANS

DISNEY'S ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN

DOGS: BULLETS & CARNAGE

BLACK CAT

HUNTER X HUNTER

KARNEVAL

THE ROYAL TUTOR

GANGSTA.

PSYCHO-PASS

THE MIGHTY DUCKS

THE COVENANT

DATE WARP

SEDUCE ME THE OTOME

POWER RANGERS MYSTIC FORCE

POWER RANGERS JUNGLE FURY

POWER RANGER NINJA STORM

BLEACH

NARUTO

HARRY POTTER

AO NO EXORCIST

OURAN HIGH SCHOOL HOST CLUB

DEADMAN WONDERLAND

DURARARA!!!

SKY HIGH

HOLES

YU YU HAKUSHO

GINTAMA

AU'S

ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE

COFFEE SHOP

ROYALTY

BOARDING SCHOOL

HOGWARTS

SOULMATE (YOUR CHOICE OR LEAVE IT TO ADMIN)

VAMPIRE

WEREWOLVES

AMNESIA

ANGELS & DEMONS

ANIMAL SHELTER

DETECTIVES/BUDDY COPS

SUPERNATURAL DETECTIVE

PARANORMAL

ARRANGED MARRIAGE

RETAIL WORKERS

PARAMEDICS/DOCTORS/NURSES

MODERN DAY

SENT TO THE PAST/SET IN ANOTHER DECADE (YOUR CHOICE OR LEAVE IT TO ADMIN)

ASSASSINS/NINJAS

SUPER SPIES

AVATAR THE LAST AIRBENDER

CHILDHOOD/ELEMENTARY SCHOOL (YOUR CHOICE)

HIGH SCHOOL

OLD AGE HOME/RETIREMENT COMMUNITY

PERCY JACKSON

BABYSITTER

BATTLE ROYALE/HUNGER GAMES

PRISON

PIRATE

CIRCUS/FREAKSHOW

DELIVERY PERSON

FAIRY TALES

PRETEND DATING

HAUNTED HOUSE

HAREM/REVERSE HAREM

MERMAID

MASTER/SLAVE

HOST CLUB

MAFIA

MAGICAL GIRL/BOY

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS