#verse: human Katherine | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

leahnardo-da-veggie · 8 days ago

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Christmas Special

(5.6k words, wrote this in 24h <3 Merry bloody Christmas, guys! TW murder, I guess. Nothing too detailed, tho)

I woke up with a headache. Not a hangover, mind you. I am above getting such things, and in any case it's unfitting for a man such as I to get drunk. No, I had one of those classical headaches, the likes of which are received after a fine blow to the head.

That naturally implied another assassination attempt. How coarse. I opened my eyes and tested my bonds. There were none. Either my captors were convinced I would not run, or they were remarkably incompetent fools indeed.

The room I was held in was… strange, for lack of a better word. There were bright lights that danced across the ceiling, a roaring fireplace, and a table chock full of meats, vegetables, and grains. Yet, that was not the greatest surprise of all.

There was, for unfathomable reasons, a massive tree. Just— sitting, in the center of the room, dominating the festivities. It was gaudy with glowing lights, glittering twine, and baubles infesting its surface.

Oh, and there were people. Lots of them, in fact, all looking equally confused. We were draped on sofas, sprawled out on armchairs, resting against walls. I was, perhaps, the first of us to wake up, and I swept a watchful eye across the room.

A surprising number of familiar faces caught my eye. Hash, my darling, was there, along with her lowborn friend the vampire. And, would you believe it? There was my old nemesis, the Godhuntress herself, lying blissfully unconscious, just waiting for me to kill her.

By instinct, my hand found its way to my dagger. Some of the bloodlust must have shown on my face, for I caught a mortal boy flinch and hide behind his companion.

I was halfway to her exposed throat when said companion grabbed my wrist. “You don't want to do that,” she murmured, and her tone gave me pause. It was far too weighty to belong to a mortal, the regality in it far more reminiscent of one of us ancients.

I turned to her and showed off my best smile, the one with all my teeth. She didn't so much as blink at it. “Oh, believe me, miss. I really do. Nothing, and I mean nothing, in this world would grant me more pleasure than snuffing out the life of this vile monster. Now, how about you let me go about my business, hmm?”

She remained imperturbed. “Not happening, kid. Now, how about you tell me what's going on? I don't like this one bit.”

I shrugged and withdrew my blade. Under that strangely cold grip of hers, I sensed a power I did not want to mess with. “Damned if I know. Last I remember, I was in bed, sleeping.”

“Your kind sleep?” She sounded skeptical. “Actually, what the hell are you?”

“I could say the same of you, miss,” I replied. “But I suppose I'll go first, shall I? I'm a forest spirit, and you may call me Hans.” I left the last portion of my name unspoken, for no one as versed in inhuman dealings as I would ever give my name freely. A damned shame that mine was so short, however. Two syllables was not a great deal of room to make aliases with.

“Katherine, and I suppose you could quantify me as a demon.” She paused. “You don't look like a spirit to me. How old are you?”

I crinkled my nose at her. “Old enough to handle my own, Miss Katherine. And you're one to talk, wearing the face of a little girl. Don't the humans call that pedophilia?”

“No, you're pedo-bait. I'm jailbait. There's a difference, pipsqueak.” The smile was slipping off her face. “Or maybe your little-boy brain is just too underdeveloped to understand that?”

I didn't take the bait. “Fortunately for us, that's not the case. And if you'll excuse me, I'll go find someone more cordial to chat with.” The Godhuntress was stirring, and much as I wanted her dead, a fair fight with her was not one I would win.

The demoness Katherine let me go, turning back to her mortal boy-toy. I beelined to Hash, the one soul in that room I trusted wholeheartedly. “Wake up, my dear. We've got trouble.”

At that last word, he bolted awake. “Trouble?” He surveyed the room. “Oh.”

“Yeah,” I replied. “Trouble.”

The two of us watched as more and more people got up. The vast majority of them were humans, gangly and pock-marked and over-solid, though I did catch glimpses of spirits and others of our ilk here and there. Katherine was attempting to interrogate the Godhuntress, something I wished her the best of luck with. If I was fortunate enough, perhaps they would get into a fight, and at least one of my problems would be solved.

“We should try to investigate,” Hash whispered. “Someone must know something, yea?”

“If you are so inclined, do it yourself.” I pursed my lips. “I think I shall wait for them to come to me. And sample the food, while I'm at it.”

“Are you crazy? We don't know where it's from. We don't know what it's made of. We don't know jack shit, and you want to play it cool? Have you finally lost your marbles? The only kind of person who would act so casually in this scenario is-” He stopped in his tracks. “Oh. So that's your game. I like it. Dangerous as fuck, but that's life, isn't it?”

“Yes, that is life. Now hop to it, my love. Between the two of us, I think we can get a grip over this crowd in no time.”

Hash gave me a final nod, and strolled off. The first thing I did was grab a glass of wine. Everyone looked more suave like that, and it gave me an excuse to put myself in the center of the room. Several curious eyes followed me as I picked up a plate of venison on the way back, and it was not long before the first of my visitors followed.

She was a young woman, something I sensed would be a common theme in the hours to come, with a spear in hand and an unquenchable rage about her. I swirled my drink in its cup and waited for her to speak.

“Hey! Creepy little boy.” In my own name, was I going to have to be called little boy all evening? “Tell us what's going on, or I'm gonna shish-kebab you with my spear.”

“I have no idea what you mean,” I replied, pretending to be preoccupied with the vortex within my flute of wine. That glorified stick of hers was hardly sharp enough to pierce a slice of bread, let alone me. “Why would you think I know anything at all, dear?”

“Because you're the only person who looks even slightly at home here? Everyone else is freaking out, and you're just sipping a drink. What are you, one of Santa's elves? Krampus' stolen children? Why are we stuck in a Christmas celebration?” She waved her spear around threateningly.

That was interesting. I did not know what Santa or Krampus were, but I did know the elves, and I knew I could not hope to pass for one in my life. “Maybe,” I said, winking. “Or maybe not.” With luck, she would elaborate.

The girl seemed to only grow angrier at my words, leveling her spear at me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Hash watch me with alarm. I shook my head slightly, warning her not to rescue me. It would be for the best if we did not show our hand yet.

“Come on then. Aren't you going to stab me already?” I spread my arms, offering her a clear view of my chest. She narrowed her eyes, and for a moment I felt a genuine flash of fear. Beneath that gaze was something that writhed and fed on rot, something old as time itself and hardly less conquerable.

And then it was gone, as an old man grabbed her weapon and pulled it from her grasp. “Athena! What the hell are you doing?” He was followed by another human boy and… a summoner?

Yes, a summoner, or something akin to it. I had not seen one of her kind in a very long time. The plot thickened. I have the newcomers a lazy smile, and they responded by tensing up.

“What on earth are you?” That was the summoner, pushing angry little Athena behind her. “You're not human, that's for sure.”

“No shit, Sherlock,” Athena snapped, wrestling her spear back. “That thing knows something. I'm sure of it.”

The summoner met my gaze, piercing me right through. “No he doesn't,” she said, before I could recover. “He's bluffing.”

“Excuse me?” I pushed myself out of my chair, going nose to nose (or nose to collar, as the case was) with her in not-so-faux rage. “I know plenty, little mortal. For starters-” Pulling her down by the scruff of her tattered shirt, I whispered in her ear. “I know your little girl is cursed. I know that you are a witch, and a good one at that. And, I know that you really do not want to go back to where you came from, so how about you enjoy the food and leave me be, hmm?”

That last line was nothing more than an educated guess, but it paid off. They were too scruffy and thin to have been living in safe conditions, and I caught sight of more than one open sore on them.

Gears turned in the summoner's brain, wondering if it was worth the cost to call my bluff. Eventually she stepped away from me. “My apologies, sir,” she said, nodding politely. “We'll leave you be.”

I grinned. “Thank you very much, little one. Go try the venison, if you feel peckish. I find it delightful.”

Athena opened her mouth to argue some more, but the summoner gave her a warning glance, and she left with naught more than a glare at me. Settling back in my chair, I took another sip of the wine.

“Hey, you're Hash's boyfriend, aren't you?” On the list of things I did not want to be called, that somehow ranked below ‘creepy little boy'. I turned to see Hash's vampire friend, still wearing his Smiley Mart™ shirt. What was his name: Dane? Dale? Dave?

Yeah, Dave sounded about right. “Hello, Dave,” I said, turning back around so I did not have to look at him. “Is there something you want?”

“Hash told me to come find you. She said you could use my help?” He stepped around so I was facing him once more. “I really don't know what to do, honestly.”

I sighed. “Go interrogate someone,” I told him, more to get him off my back than anything else. “Actually, go keep an eye on some people for me.” I pointed out the Godhuntress, who was flapping her wings in an attempt to get a mortal girl to stop poking them.

“Is that who I think that is?” Dave's eyes widened. “You think this was her doing?”

“Hmm? Of course not. I want you to tell me when she looks distracted so I can go kill her.”

“You're crazy,” he said. “That's the Godhuntress. You know, the greatest deity since the Creator herself? Yeah, that Godhuntress. She'll squash you like a bug.”

“Doesn't matter. I will find a way.” I clenched my glass. “She took something very precious from me, and I will take my revenge, one way or another.”

“Alright, alright. It'll be a hell of a story to tell, in any case.” He made to leave, then turned back. “Say, is that wine any good? I'm feeling rather thirsty.”

I considered it. “It is rather dry,” I replied. “But fruity, too. Take that as you will.”

“Cool. Thanks, Hash's boyfriend,” he said, and the glint in his eye told me he was calling me names in insult. Unfortunately, by the time I had registered it, he was long gone.

People were beginning to crowd around the tables, finally encouraged to touch the food. That was when I spotted someone I had thought I would never see again: Merida Ryder. And with another forester at that!

For once, curiosity got the better of me, and I trotted over to talk to her. She would not recognise me, of course. I had taken great pains to disguise myself that time, and I wondered how she would feel seeing my true face for once.

“Well, well. If it isn't miss Merida, all grown up. Remember me?” I tapped her on the shoulder.

She turned around, and it broke my heart to see how she had changed. Her eyes were sunken, the lights gone from them. Merida looked down at me, and there was no spark of recognition. “No,” she said flatly.

The forester turned around, and he let out a little gasp. “You're-” I shushed him.

“Can you not see I am trying to talk to someone here? It is most lovely to see a fellow Ces-ilre, but I must speak to Merida first,” I said. “Are you sure you don't remember me? I passed you that gun, all those fateful years ago.”

She blinked slowly. “Don't. I don't want to remember.” Merida shuddered. “Go away, Hans. Thank you for your help. I absolve you of the favours you owed me.”

I am not and have never been a stranger to suffering, but it hurt to see her crushed like that. “So you do recognise me,” I continued. “What happened, Merin? You used to be so happy.”

“I grew up.”

And that was all she would say on the matter. The forester extracted my hand from her shoulder and led me back to my couch. I let him, of course, something in the hollow cavity where my heart should be aching.

“You're the Spirit Emperor,” he whispered to me, snapping me out of my reverie. “What are you doing here, my lord? And how did you know Merida?”

“Same as you, and that is none of your business,” I whispered back, slipping into forester dialect. “What is your name and clan, sirrah?”

“Kristavla, formerly of the Ko clan. My lord.”

“So you were there when… the Incident happened.” I jerked my chin at the Godhuntress, now attempting to engage a very uncomfortable Dave in conversation. Or perhaps she was interrogating him.

“No. I was attending to my fiance, my lord. The late Kitsy Te-clan.”

“Oh. I killed her, did I not?” I vaguely remembered a foul-mouthed guard who had insulted me the moment I arrived on castle grounds.

“Yes, and I thank you for it.” Kristavla shook his head. “I will not speak ill of the dead, but she was not a good woman.”

“I can imagine that.”

We sat there in silence for a few more moments. “Would you like to help me avenge our people?” I gestured again to the Godhuntress, who was being fawned over by a lich of some kind. “We may not get another chance.”

“I am not one for vengeance,” Kristavla said. “But you are a friend of my friend. And so I will. For you, my lord, and for our people, may their remains soak the earth.”

“Thank you. Be on your way, friend,” I told him. “Speak with the vampire in the demeaning costume—” I had to approximate a word for Dave's Smiley Mart uniform— “and see if you can isolate and weaken her. From there we shall make the kill.”

Kristavla nodded, and slipped away. Taking his place (for it seemed I would have an endless supply of supplicants today), was a lean, sly doctor. Her red hair was pulled back into a low ponytail, and her skin was dry enough to resemble scales.

“Hello, Spirit Emperor,” she hissed. “Fancy seeing you caught up in the Christmas web.”

There was that word again. Christmas. “Care to explain, doctoress?” I offered her a seat. She was about as human as I, with the way she moved, though I could not tell what on earth she was.

“I am an Oracle,” she rasped, as though reading my mind. “And my people arranged this felicitous meeting.”

I froze up. “I see. And why should I believe you?”

She laughed, a sound that had more in common with the death of a small furry animal than anything friendly. “Your name is Hans-el Ko-clan. You killed and ate your parents to save the Goddess of Dreams. Your lover is a shapeshifter who will not tell you its true name, and you hold a grudge against the fallen angel they call the Godhuntress.”

“All very impressive,” I agreed. “ But any old fool could have worked that out with the right background knowledge. Tell me something nobody knows.”

The Oracle grinned, revealing red and raw gums. “Careful what you wish for, little boy.” She shifted closer, and I could smell the blood on her breath. “You claimed the throne by mimicking the magic-thieving spell the Godhuntress used on your dear friend. You helped the renegade Merida start the civil war in Palioden by orchestrating a situation in which she had to kill her sister using a gun you provided. And, as the topping on this pie, your worst fear is-”

“No!” It came out louder than I expected, and more than a few heads turned our way. “I believe that you are an Oracle. Please, do not continue this.”

The Oracle leaned back, victorious. “Good boy,” she murmured, proving that there was, in fact, a nickname I could dislike more than ‘Hash’s Boyfriend'. “Now, I suggest you stop hiding in this little corner and get to moving the plot forward, will you, dear? You ought to be an active protagonist.” She pushed me off my chair. “And be grateful we didn't send you the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present or Future.”

Before I could ask her what the ghosts, or even Christmas, were, she was gone. Not gone like a ghost walker, or like a teleporter. Gone entirely, as though she had never existed in the first place. I shook my head to ward off the strange feeling, and got up. It was unwise to disregard an Oracle's warnings.

I was about to approach a random person, when someone once again came to me. For once, she seemed perfectly normal. “You look like you know what's going on,” she said without preamble. “Care to explain?”

“Unfortunately for you? I do not,” I informed her, pausing to pick up a few jellies and put them onto my plate.

“Well that's not very polite of you, seeing as I know what Christmas is and you don't,” she replied, taking a few jellies of her own. “And I hear you killed your parents too. We've got that in common, at least.”

That gave me pause. She didn't look like a mage of any kind. “And how did you do that, little girl? With a knife? A pillow to the face at night?”

“A death ray, actually. I'm Mara. Nice to meet you, Hans,” she informed me, sticking her hand out. “You're the talk of the party, you know. They say you're an Emperor.”

“And just who might this ‘they’ be?” Blasphemous gods above, did she ever shut up?

“Well, Visitor over there, and his buddy Aida. They're from Palioden, which a few little birds tell me is a land in your world. Which, if you can't tell already, I'm not from.”

“What?”

Mara giggled. “You heard me, Mr Spirit Emperor. I'm not from your world. And if I eavesdropped right, they-” she pointed at Athena's crew- “aren't either. The creepy girl who stopped you from killing that goddess too.”

“The Godhuntress isn't a goddess,” I snapped. “She's nothing but a grandiose genocider. And how did you know about me and Katherine? Everyone was asleep.”

“I happen to be really good at pretending to be asleep. Picked up the habit in kindergarten.” I tiptoed to pick a cream puff off the top of its tower, and she helped lift it down for me.

“Thank you. So what do you want, Mara-murderer? A boon? As you have ascertained, I know naught more about this place than you.” Finally, that was a lie. The Oracle had provided me with some excellent information.

“I want to help you kill that bitch. The Godhuntress, or whatever her name was.” Mara's eyes glinted with bloodlust.

“Why?”

“She disrespected me,” Mara snarled, cracking her knuckles. “I was wondering what she was, and I poked her wings, and would you believe it? That fucking bitch slapped me. Me! No fucking warning.”

I was deeply surprised to hear that the Godhuntress had not done worse than a mere slap for the insolence of grabbing her wings. But any aid was welcome aid, especially from someone as adept at spying as Mara appeared to be. “I see. Let's team up, shall we?”

“Excellent.” She rubbed her hands together. “I know that pretty elf girl and the convenience store dude are on your side. Is the other spirit with you too?” I nodded. “Mmkay. I'll tell them everything I know, and report back.”

“Certainly,” I replied. Mara let out another disturbing giggle, and ran off. There was something deeply wrong with that girl, I decided.

I drifted down the table, plucking up more desserts as I went. The talk of the party, was I now? I could certainly see it. More than one person parted way to let me pick out my food, and I saw a distinct wariness in their eyes. Then again, it was but my dues.

I passed by a Luxatian Crusader in full armour, and she nodded at me. “Spirit.”

“Knight.” For once, I was having a normal encounter. For once, nobody was questioning me about Christmas, or Santa, or Krampus, whatever they were. For once-

The knight unsheathed her sword.

I moved to dodge the blow, but it never came. Indeed, she was not so much as looking at me. Her eyes were trained on someone else, instead. A lich.

“You,” the knight snarled. “Iraela Foundling. The Lich-Queen. I swore an oath to defeat you. And now, I shall.” Ah. It seemed I was not the only one with a grudge to satisfy.

The Lich-Queen blinked, and eloquently croaked out, “What?”

“I am going to watch your unlife spill out onto my blade, foul beast. You killed my family, my entire village. I watched your ghouls eat my sisters. They were six years old, Lich-queen. I had to run while they begged me to save them.” Tears sprung to the knight's eyes. “You are a monster of the foulest kind, and a fog shall lift the day you die.”

“A monster? Damn right I am a monster,” the lich announced. “I am the monster humanity made of me. Your kind declared me cursed, broken, unlovable. All I did was listen to their words. You should have known it by now: a child not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth. And all I ever wanted to feel was warm.” She threw her arms wide. “Go on. Slay me. Continue your precious little cycle of hatred. One day, the people I saved, the ones your family scorned, will avenge me.”

A glint in her eye told me she had no plans of going down so easily.

The Crusader spat on the ground. “Spare me your lies, Lich-Queen. Your pretty words will not sway justice.”

I sighed. I knew what kind of woman turned herself into a lich, and it was hardly the sort who a mere knight could defeat. If nobody stopped that fool knight, she was going to get herself killed.

In a flash, I was standing behind the Crusader, barely reaching her underarm. A quick knockout spell later, and she was down, keeling over like a metal doll with its strings cut.

The room had fallen silent. Everyone, even the Godhuntress herself, watched me. I resisted the urge to declare my undying hatred of her, and instead gave a cheery wave to the room.

The Lich-Queen let her arms fall. “Say, might you be the Spirit Emperor?”

I nodded. “The one and only. And a little bird—” I prodded the unconscious knight with my foot— “told me you were the Lich-Queen. Pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

“And I yours.” She offered her forearm, and I took it. “I actually knew your predecessor: Sucsu'anane.”

That name belonged in our history books. Sucsu was old, and infamous. “But that would make you the first Lich-Queen,” I murmured. “You- It was you who started the Runic wars! It was you who caused the shifters to die out!”

I was staring a legend in the face, a woman who had caused horrors long before my time, horrors that echoes for all eternity. “By the false gods, it is good to meet you! What an honour, Lady Iraela. What an inspiration you were to me.”

I might have spread the flattery on too thick, but Iraela lapped it all up. “Why, you're too kind. Let me tell you: ruling is all in the flair. Why, for my coronation…”

I let history's greatest disaster lead me by the arm to a nice corner, where she proceeded to chatter my ear off. For once, I shall spare you the details. Suffice to say, I learnt more about the history of the Deadlands than I ever wished to know.

“Let me tell you something, Hans,” she said, interrupting her own monologue.

“Hmm?”

“I heard you knew a shifter named Hash. Well, I met him too.”

That made me perk right up. I'd known Hash was older than I, but that old? Fascinating. What else was he hiding from me?

“Don't trust him. He betrayed us all. We would have won the war, if that little bastard hadn't run off to the elves and spilled the beans. We could have been great, Hans-el. Our peoples, the vampires and the spirits and the ghouls, could have ruled the world. But Hash was soft. Do not let that softness corrupt you,” she warned. “It will rot you from the inside, and when your enemies scoop your guts out, they will not so much as give you the gift of eating you alive.”

“I know,” I replied. “My mother was soft, and it brought her naught but suffering. Our people revile it.”

“And yet you love him,” Iraela commented wryly. “That alone tells me enough about you.”

I did not dare lie and disagree. “Yes, I do. But Hash can take care of himself, now. He's slippery as hell.”

“Yes, that much I have seen from tonight's festivities. But that is the point, is it not? He will slip your grasp and betray you, just as he did the shifters. One day, you will make a cruel choice, a choice for the greater good, and his soft little heart will push him to betray you. All because you weren't hard enough to cut him off.”

I stood up, suddenly reminded of my conversation with the Oracle. My greatest weakness indeed, I thought. “That may be so, my lady. He may betray me, and leave me dead in the gutter. But that is a risk I am willing to take.” I brushed invisible dust off my skirt. “All you are is a woman who failed to rule the world, Lady Iraela. At the end of the day, all you have is your love's blood on your hands and a heart you wrenched out of your own chest. Even if I lose it all, at least I loved, and was loved in turn. For someone who went on and on about needing to feel warm earlier, you just do not seem to understand that, do you?”

Iraela laughed. “So young,” she whispered. “So young and so foolish. They'll make mincemeat out of you, little Emperor. And I'll laugh at you from my grave.”

I strode away from her, back stiff and fists clenched. I could take insult all day, but this? This firm condemnation? It stung. It stung like my father's whippings. It stung and I wanted to never think of it again.

I was still standing about, willing emotion away from me, when Mara tapped me on the shoulder. “Come on,” she said, grinning. “Buncha tables appeared. I grabbed one for us. Your little vampire friend got dragged off to hang out with the rest of his kind, but it seems I'm free to roam.” She laughed maniacally.

She led me to a table. Hash, my Hash, my brilliant, softhearted friend, grabbed my arms and all but pulled me by his side. “Check this out: That vampire's got a tan!” He pointed a woman in work clothes, conversing animatedly with Dave. “Apparently, she's a field researcher. Can you believe it?”

“Yes, I can,” I agreed numbly.

“Oh, and this Christmas thing! Mara told me all about it. Apparently, they eat turkey and give gifts and celebrate this saint of theirs. I don't have a gift for you, but I figured this might do!” He pointed at the Godhuntress and lowered his voice. “I cut a sleeping rune onto her piece of turkey while I was carving it. She doesn't know know to use the cutlery, so when she bites into it, the spell will activate, and it'll be your chance! Whaddya think?”

He really was sly. “Brilliant, my love,” I whispered, my mind still on the Lich-Queen. “What else did you find?”

He scrunched his nose up and thought. “Um, the God of Evil's here, and he's a pretty chill guy. The Godhuntress' daughter's here too, and she's got an axe to grind with dear old mum, too, but I convinced her not to do anything drastic. There's some poor blue fellow in the corner, and he's got some kind of curse. I didn't go too close, but he seems… different from the rest of us. When we're done, we should go investigate.”

Beside me, a man in a strange vest sat down. “Hello there, lad,” he began, only to fall silent when he met my eyes. “You're no child. You're a monster.” He stumbled back, clutching his hand to his chest. “Maya? Let's find another table.”

Hash barely hid back laughter as he all but fled the scene, the girl he called Maya giving me a wry smile and nod as she followed. “Now, where was I? Oh, yes. The others. Look over there. No, not at the demon-girl. The blondie and the redhead next to her.”

“I recognise the others at that table,” I told him. “Kristavla and Merida.”

“Yeah, Kris was helping us out earlier. The redhead? Apparently an infamous mind-mage. She fuckin conquered an entire city, all on her own. And the blond girl's a spell-snapper. Ugly combo, if you ask me. They're from the same era as us, but Nyctomachian.”

“And them?” I pointed at Athena and the one-eyes summoner. “They damn near called my bluff.”

“Yeah, they bothered Dave real bad too. Something tells me they're not gonna harass us again, though.” He grinned at me. “A certain someone may have implied that he was the reason they even ended up here.”

I wanted to facepalm. “Damnit, Hash. That was exactly what I told them too.” I looked over at them, deep in discussion. The old man met my gaze, and held it with the kind of defiance that promised trouble. “Ah, what the hell. We can deal with them later. For now, let us celebrate.”

I drank more wine, this time watered down (for no man of my stature should ever get drunk), gossiped with Hash and Mara, and bided my time.

The Godhuntress took her spare time sipping drinks and eating appetisers. For a moment I suspected she knew of our devious plan, for she avoided her turkey for far too long. Then she lifted the fateful piece of poultry with more grace than it deserved, and bit down.

I was by her side before her head hit the table. My reputation preceded me, for the others at her table, a rather foolish spirit and his mortal friend, scrambled back. Gasps of shock and horror resounded as I readied my blade.

It was quite a shock to realise those noises were not for me. I glanced up from my goal for one fateful minute, perhaps compelled by the strings of Fate that the Oracles pulled, and caught sight of what could only be described as a cryptid.

He came from the chimney, white and red despite the soot. A full white beard hung limply from his chin, and his deep voice resounded throughout the room. “Ho, ho, ho! Merry bloody Christmas, fools!” He pulled out a massive sack and grinned at the room. “You're all bad apples, the lot of you! Coal for everyone!”

Everyone except me dodged the sudden hail of coal that followed the opening of his sack. “Well, what are you waiting for?” He leered at me, icy blue eyes piercing me like the fangs of the last Oracle I met.

I lifted my knife, aiming it at the dazed Godhuntress' throat. A glimmer of recognition dawned upon her face, but I did not let her recover fully. Down went my blade, swift, brutal and twice as just as any executioner's axe.

And what a merry, bloody Christmas it was.

#writing #writeblr #my writing #writerscommunity #creative writing #asks #fantasy #spilled ink #short story #Christmas Special #I think I did a better job of it than last year

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malka-lisitsa · 2 months ago

Note

"Let's go home."

Send "Let's go home." to find my muse out in the rain, alone and freezing

Being human is a weakness that doesn't sit well with Katherine. Relying on other people. She hates it. Still her pride has never been a factor when it came to survival. Some hate her for it, some think she's smarter for it.

But as she stood out in the rain, tucked under a small bus stop shelter, with no phone, no protection and no where to go? She found she felt helpless in a way she hadn't for a very long time.

It wasn't till a car pulled up and the window rolled down that she managed to get out of her own head long enough to understand the real risk here of being human and exposed like this.

Hackles raised at the stranger as the window rolled down she snapped "What do you want?"

It's only after she sees a familiar face that she feels any sort of comfort.

Rachel.

Let's go home.

Katherine fights the smile tugging at her features as she hears those words. All of mystic falls would be emotionally if not physically abusing her right now, but then there's Rachel.... who used the word home in relation to Katherine.

She hadn't even had to ask.

"You've come a long way from the girl I knew at the start."

Katherine's way of acknowledging how her sire has grown, which is ironic given her vampiric nature.

"But I always knew you would."

Katherine doesn't turn just anyone after all...

#Answered #riprachel #verse: human Katherine #HELP FEELINGS

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malka-lisitsa · 18 days ago

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This was stupid. This whole concept was stupid. It's been five hundred years and shes been FINE. She hasn't. The minute Stefan found out about a supernatural counselor Katherine knew it was coming. The 'you should talk to her' bullshit. Honestly if she wasn't trying to get on his good side she's of jumped out the window already- but she did promise to at least give it a TRY.... for him. He's lucky she loves him more than anything.

However she never promised to behave, which was evident in the way she did what any little fox does best- snoop. Nothing in particular that she was looking for when she set out. She just likes to be nosey. The snacks were a bonus though. Since turning human Katherine had almost an insatiable apatite for things that delivered dopamine... a.k.a junk food.

Being human also came with duller senses, which she was reminded of when she didn't hear the therapist enter till she spoke. Caught off guard, Katherine spun around and tried to look innocent before deciding the evidence was already damning and it was worse to pretend.

"I was making sure your confidential files were kept well hidden. I'm not talking to someone bad at keeping secrets." Sure. Go with that.

"Are you finding anything interesting?" Nettie tilted her head looking at who, she presumed, was her newest patient. Well, maybe a new patient. She had some questions about the form she filled out. But now she just saw a young woman who seemed...like she was trying very hard to look like an adult with bold makeup and very flattering clothing, but she'd seen quite a few teenagers do similar things. She raised her mug of tea to her lips and took a sip, not dwelling on it.

For the moment. Instead focusing on Ms. Petrova as she went through her desk like she was trying to find something. Luckily, she didn't keep her paperwork or anything incriminating in this office. Except for her mid-day snacks. Which were strewn across her desk now. Along with a new sketchbook for patient notes that didn't really have anything in it.

@malka-lisitsa is a new patient, maybe.

#verse: human katherine #yea gooooood luck Nettie LMFAO

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thesinglesjukebox · 6 months ago

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CHARLI XCX FT. LORDE - "THE GIRL, SO CONFUSING VERSION"

youtube

We opened July by giving you a Charli remix; we now close July by giving you a Charli remix. Let's work it out in the blurbs, then see you next month!

[7.62]

Julian Axelrod: The girls are fighting. The girls have always been fighting. Sometimes with each other, sometimes with their labels, usually with themselves. But even in a year dominated by petty beef, the girls are rarely fighting on record. Leave it to Charli to realize pop music is all wrestling and execute a perfect reverse heel turn. The week BRAT dropped, pulling back the coke-stained rug to reveal a trap door of professional insecurity, fans and critics clung to "Girl, so confusing" as the last vestige of the carefree club romp we were promised, spawning a million think pieces about which curly-haired brunette started the beef. Bringing Lorde into the mix one week later was at once an escalation and denouement, negating the feud narrative and digging down to the real emotions buried beneath its glossy sheen. Charli resents Lorde's success, her flakiness, and her critical acclaim. Lorde sees Charli as a 365 party girl too cool to acknowledge her, let alone invite her to collab. It's all so insular and meta and self-obsessed and earnest and honest and real, to the point where it's almost too intimate to witness. But it's a testament to Charli and Lorde that the whole thing doesn't topple under its own weight, and hearing them write to each other's style makes you realize they have more in common than just hair. The girls are talking. The girls are collaborating. The girls are working it out on the remix. [9]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: Iconic! Culture-changing! This could have been a podcast! [5]

Andrew Karpan: Upon release, it was funny to hear the speculation that this record was about Lorde, in that way that it is always funny to know something that feels intimate and real about a roving symbol of pop phenomenology. At any rate, it was satisfying to hear that we were right. Turning this from subtext to text feels like a decisively modern gesture, a living and breathing genius dot com annotation, something one could easily confuse for Taylor Swift’s 1989 rollout or any other kind of “this phony fake friends fake girl power shit” -- but I’m less inclined to be cynical, even in the meme economy of it all. The fiction of these two people with their relatable problems is played so straight that I practically cried at the end. She rides for Charli! Charli rides for her! Hang it in the Louvre, but down in the back. [8]

TA Inskeep: I've traditionally not been a fan of Charli XCX, for various reasons not worth getting into here. That's relevant because I am thoroughly knocked the fuck out by the next-level-meta "girl talk" dialogue of this meeting-of-the-minds remix. Lorde responds to Charli's verse with a lacerating one of her own, spilling her guts and getting very real; talk about "work[ing] it out on the remix," goddamn. Charli, of course, is expert at riding producer A.G. Cook's hyperpop rhythms, but to hear Lorde matching her as the track heaves and bumps is a shock. This is profoundly soul-baring pop, what with Lorde candidly talking about eating disorders and Charli admitting on her opening verse "I don't know if you like me / Sometimes I think you might hate me." That they're doing this so publicly is frankly stunning. This feels like -- this is -- a true pop moment. [10]

Alfred Soto: They're having fun, and for once one of these interrogations sounds lived-in. The beats pop harder. Listening to Lorde and Charli ribbit around the cheerful electro-frogs is a visceral pleasure. Few of the problems they describe code as "girl," though, so I'll be the spoilsport. [7]

Katherine St. Asaph: The original "Girl" had three problems, none of which got worked out on the remix. Problem the first: As with hot girl walks and girl math, this stuff is not especially girl-coded. Social anxiety and fake friendships are the human condition! Problem the second: I know it's a fandom joke, so apologies for bringing reality into your memes, but it must be said that basically no one is out here seriously comparing Charli XCX to Lorde, at least that I recall. I did a quick search to prove that I hadn't gaslit myself for a decade, and all I could find was this interview; which was almost definitely a bit; this anecdote about a taxi driver, which is mostly telling about the tastes of taxi drivers; and this Vox piece, which is... not good (or if you want to be charitable, maybe also a bit). In a music world where half the girls are regularly compared to half the other girls, that's an honestly impressive display of how much something hasn't happened. I know that none of us are privy to the actual lived history of Charli and Lorde's friendship, and I can certainly admire Charli stoking a grudge for 10+ years. But the emotional stakes just don't feel as dramatic as they've been hyped to, and thus the Internet inside my heart remains unbroken. Problem the third: There's also a song beneath the parasocial moment-making, and it sounds like "Take My Hand" but not as fun. [6]

Will Adams: Will I be sent to the gallows if I admit that this pairing had about the same emotional impact on me as when Taylor and Katy reunited in the "You Need To Calm Down" video? [6]

Hannah Jocelyn: I got thrown into the fire when it comes to female friendship, and honestly I still don't get it. There are entire movies about how nobody gets it, men just assuming women disappear into each other without a man to anchor them. I feel like cis women have the same bafflement, and they've been women for longer than I have. The questions are the same: do you like me? What do you need from me? Do you desire my company? What can I be, and what do I look like from this particular angle? Am I the one you tell your fears to? Do we have the same hair? Do you want to be me? I don’t think it’s a coincidence that this is in the tracklist right after the SOPHIE tribute of “So I”; it’s the same push-pull dynamic, the fascination and the fear of getting too close. Lorde’s devastating verse reveals the insecurities underpinning her decade of coolness, but she manages to add another quotable to her pantheon at the same time: “let’s work it out on the remix” is as sweet as “you buy me orange juice” and “down the back, but who cares, it’s the Louvre." I don’t care much about the rivalry (if there really is one) and don't need to, and that lack of care for extraneous knowledge is why I don’t quite love Brat like the rest of the internet. The juxtaposition between electroclash and Real Feelings occasionally feels like a gimmick, but the best songs make the melancholic subtext into text. This one, with its flanged chorus and cyclical chord progression, gets across the angst underneath the blurry JPEGs and silly memes. [8]

Taylor Alatorre: It's unfortunate that the zero-sum economy of the pop remix led to the excising of the song's most crucial lyric: "Think you should come to my party / And put your hands up." Apart from its now-obsolete function as a barely veiled clue, it encapsulates the nervous mixture of resentment and admiration that bleeds through both versions and that is so hard to portray sympathetically, let alone with such an impish wink. Charli, as someone who attended more warehouse raves than I did in the early 2010s, had more of a reason to puzzle over that particular line from "Team," to shake her head and wonder whether this post-twee moralizing was really what the kids were into – "the kids," of course, being those three to four years younger than her. Like, it just seems so childish to be genuinely bothered by the chorus to a Flo Rida hit, doesn't it? And yet Charli XCX still goes by the MSN screen name she had when she was 14. The "girl" in the title is as much an age signifier as it is about gender, and the humanizing awkwardness of the remix is a product of its function as an intermural high school reunion, the kind of event that's "confusing" by necessity even if it goes well, which this one does. Your Pop Class of 2013, 'til infinity. [7]

Jonathan Bradley: In 2011, an eternity ago, Drake offered Kendrick Lamar an entire track on his Take Care album, giving the then up-and-coming Lamar space to talk over his worries about fame and the professional anxieties he felt regarding his more successful host. "React like an infant whenever you're mentioned," Lamar recalled of the Canadian. "He said that he was the same age as myself, and it didn't help cause it made me even more rude and impatient." Having worked it all out on the remix, surely no trouble between the two would ever rise again. So confusing! In 2024, Lorde and Charli XCX connect to puzzle out some feelings, and it works better as an event than a single. Lorde is a savvier writer than Charli and works away at old wounds and insecurities with a sense of intimacy that only appears artless. Unfortunately, the production runs her through filters and bleeps that mold her presence into simply another type of Charli, dispelling the tension created by bringing these two women together. Blame it on Ms. XCX. [5]

Jackie Powell: The beauty of this remix is how it shines a light on how women in pop in 2024 deal with "diss tracks" -- although, to be honest, the remix makes me question whether "Girl, so confusing" really was one in the first place. Diss tracks often don't reveal complex emotions but just function in a universe filled with envy and pettiness, but this remix reveals the chaos that resulted from poor communication, fear, body issues, anxiety and depression. Both Charli and Lorde admit that the confusion of being a girl is a result of comparing your insides to someone else's outsides, a mental exercise that's often destructive but difficult to stop. "It's you and me on the coin/The industry loves to spend" is their acknowledgment of what came across as transparent and icky on Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us." Also, Lorde sounds the most compelling she has since 2017's "Melodrama"; while I always prefer less Auto-Tune than more, her talk-singing with audio distortion behind her vocals reminds me why she was so beloved. Her messaging is focused: Lorde at her best. Her vocals are dark: also Lorde at her best. What I find most fascinating here is the choice of words during the final pre-chorus. Charli and Lorde sing that they "ride for each other" after working this out, which sounds more sincere than singing that they now magically love each other. It's not an artificial "love ya," but the more sincere "I see you and I know now what you've been through." I'm actually quite jealous of how seamless this appears. Charli and Lorde are somehow giving me some hope that maybe my own friendship breakups could have been resolved by something like this. [8]

Wayne Weizhen Zhang: Too many friends, not enough time to keep up. Too much life. Too much work, too many health issues, too much doomscrolling. Too much fun and connection and joy had together, but then rewinding it back, wondering whether everyone else felt the same way. Too much anxiety, becoming paralysis, becoming withdrawal. Too much wondering, "Did people notice I was missing? Should I reach out? Is this made up in my head, and if so, why?" Too many panics, trying to find the exact date of their birthday. Too much energy spent internalizing the loss—or even the potential loss—of friends as my own fault, not enough time spent understanding circumstance and accepting change. (Coincidentally, too much “Bad Friend” on repeat, god bless.) Too much time wasted not reciprocating the love of others, when they easily and excitedly extended the grace that I didn’t extend to myself. Too much adulthood, so confusing. But in this song? Just enough. Just enough sweat, enough mess, enough of the internet going crazy. Just enough payoff for being terminally online. Just enough intrapersonal catharsis, brought by talking it out, and making it clear that you do indeed ride for each other and will always “work it out on the remix.” Just enough tears shed, understanding that others, including the ones I idolize, can feel the way that I sometimes do. Just enough possibility of redemption. Just enough hope for salvation. [10]

Nortey Dowuona: Two things I learned today. 1. Lorde is still her. 2. We need to re-evaluate Solar Power. [10]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox]

#charli xcx #lorde #music #pop #pop music #brat #music writing #music reviews #music criticism #the singles jukebox #Youtube

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splatooshy · 1 month ago

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winner from the au poll: 🦇🔮

it’s the least developed au of the lot, so. you guys chose wrong. ANYwho—

🦇🔮

aka, “the promise.” (working title).

denzo are bonnie’s fairy godmothers (and the rest of the bennett line’s) due to damon’s promise to emily. kol’s there too, at some point. it’s basically the step sister of the eternal teenager verse. just with more witchy shenanigans & denzo getting themselves into trouble in the name of helping bonnie learn magic. damon gets turned into a cat at one point, and is one for over a week. it only takes a day to figure out the counterspell, he just likes being a cat. only turns back on accident, mopes about it for a while.

seriously this au is underdeveloped as fuck why would you guys choose this option.

there’s two diverging storylines because i have never made a decision in my life. one is where denzo escape augustine together, the other is where they don’t. the second one is more angsty but the first is really fun.

storyline 1 general outline:

denzo escape together, damon’s like “hey i’m supposed to be babysitting these witchies but i sort of neglected them the last five years. sure hope they haven’t gotten themselves into any trouble.” cue teenage sheila in the background running amok and using her magic to trip people over. enzo instantly takes a liking to her & joins in. damon and amelia are severely unimpressed. amelia is a witch doctor / therapist & helps denzo readjust to life, sheila is a menace and should not be left unsupervised lest she overthrow the government and give the president an aneurysm.

damon’s like “oh you were such a sweet child. so polite and shy. the loveliest ten year old.” and now sheila’s the loveliest sixteen year old and she’s angry at the world.

anyways, haven’t decided on what happens with the abby situation — maybe she spells denzo inside the house while she goes to confront mikael?? no way they’re letting her go alone, and no way she’s letting them come with (the bennetts keep getting more stubborn by the generation).

little baby bonnie is the cutest cutie to exist. she loves being carried around at vamp speed & thrown up in the air. she has a habit of accidentally turning people into frogs - turns enzo into one & goes to find some more frogs. lines them up in a little row and makes damon guess which one is enzo. he guesses it first try (one of them looks far more smug than the others.) and has to kiss frog!enzo to turn him back. bonnie thinks she’s hilarious & runs off to tell grams about her new spell. she has a sparkly purple diary grimoire (with a voice activated passcode) and writes in it with her smiggle gel pens.

when bonnie’s ten, someone’s picking on her at school, so she tells denzo. it goes a little something like this:

denzo: right let’s go beat up a ten year old.

bonnie: NO! you can’t do that!

denzo: fine. we’ll compel them to stop?

bonnie: no. that’s not fair.

denzo: what if we compelled them to embarrass themselves, completely unrelated to your predicament?

bonnie: …perhaps…

also also also! grams won’t let denzo into her house. mostly for the lols. it’s become a running joke by this point. they have dinner on her patio once a month, but aren’t invited in because they’d get into everything and touch the wrong spelled object and blow the house up. she has a ward up to keep pests out, claims that’s why they can’t get in.

i haven’t figured out canon yet, but it’ll probs be similar to etv (just with bonnie also knowing denzo. she finds them hilarious, stefan disagrees.)

storyline 2 general outline:

damon escapes alone, next few decades occur a la canon. sheila hates damon because he wasn’t there to save abby. damon… doesn’t care.

damon goes out of his way to get the tomb opened only to discover that katherine isn't there, becomes disillusioned with her, and by extension, elena. his humanity comes back around this time, decides he might as well keep his promise to emily, even if she didn’t keep her end. mostly because he needs something to live for & it’ll annoy stefan.

damon and stefan still butt heads, causing elena (and stefan, and isobel, and pretty much everyone because elena makes a Big Deal about it) to think he's romantically interested in her, when in reality damon is just looking out for stefan and bonnie in his own way (the typical, hardcore damon way). bonnie starts to withdraw from her friends, damon swoops in (literally. he keeps his powers) to save the day / piss off his brother even more. she doesn’t trust him & makes that very clear, but eventually they come to some sort of mutual ground. damon probably shares stories about emily, brings bonnie spells that he thinks would be fun. there are… a Lot of spells. he probably writes down some harry potter ones to see if they’d work. bonnie just raises an eyebrow at him. they start to form a bestiehood. cue stefan and elena’s meddling.

bonnie goes on a college tour of whitmore?? something seems off, so she tells damon. who in turn scopes the college out to just… check what’s going on. finds enzo. brain stops functioning, somehow he gets enzo out & back to the boarding house. calls bonnie in the middle of the night and actually BEGS for her help. she and damon get enzo back up and at ‘em, denzo cautiously reform their friendship & eventual romance. they probably hook up multiple times by accident before they’re actually on good terms. more stefan and elena (and caroline) meddling.

instead of college, because the whitmore thing really freaked her out, denzo take her on a trip to NOLA. klaus is there, frenemies with damon & begrudgingly on decent terms with enzo (nobody knows how that happened). bonnie and rebekah end up together, she also becomes good friends with davina. kol is having a wonderful time, reunited with his old pals (iykyk) and tormenting his siblings. elijah sighs more often than usual. freya misses her coffin. finn misses his. but sage shows up and she and freya are BFFS (finn is not displeased with this, but he does wish they would refrain from teasing him). marcel keeps trying to ban damon from the quarter (again), but it doesn’t stick. idk.

elena dies, either in some ritual or because she stuck her nose into someplace she shouldn’t have. stefan shows up in new orleans, rebefriends klaus, bonds with damon. stefan/hayley/klaus love triangle??? it’s not quite clear.

and yeah. that’s what it is so far.

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thatslayer · 8 months ago

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Always and Forever. That was the promise made, and yet the Mikaelsons have gone their separate ways. Klaus is rumored to have remained in New Orleans, but he so rarely leaves The Abattoir that no one knows for certain. The city thrives under the heavy hand of Marcel Gerard, and all is humming along smoothly until the ground starts to rumble beneath St. Anne's church. A new mouth of hell bubbling up power like a beacon, attracting vampires, demons and the forces of darkness.

Immortal Beloved is a casual panfandom group verse and discord server spanning The Vampire Diaries, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Teen Wolf, Supernatural (other like-fandoms welcome) and is vaguely set in the first two-ish seasons of The Originals. Plot-heavy group. Accepting canons and OCs are welcome and encouraged to join! Note: OCs must not have pre-established relationships with canon characters without prior discussion. Group is friendly and supportive! Contact @thatslayer or @phdinrage for info, or just add faithlehane on discord!

THE CAST

The Originals/The Vampire Diaries

Klaus Mikaelson ; @thisbloodlust Elijah Mikaelson ; @enduringlystoic Rebekah Mikaelson ; Discord Muse Kol Mikaelson ; @worthbeinggoodfor Finn Mikaelson ; @astormymind Stefan Salvatore ; @destroyedbyguilt Damon Salvatore ; @damonstevedore Bonnie Bennett ; @littlebennettbitch Katherine Pierce ; @bourbonandheels Marcel Gerard ; @onegativeandtequila Davina Claire ; ---looking--- Hayley Marshall-Kenner ; Discord Muse Jackson Kenner ; Discord Muse Kai Parker ; @sociopathicryanreynolds

Aya Al-Rashid ; Discord Muse

Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel

Buffy Summers ; @insufferablemonsters Angel ; @shanshu Faith Lehane ; @thatslayer Willow Rosenberg ; Discord Muse Xander Harris ; @strangeandoffputting Rupert Giles ; Pending Spike ; Discord Muse Whistler ; Discord Muse

Teen Wolf

N/A

Supernatural

Dean Winchester ; @pulledfromhell Sam Winchester ; @samattheend Rowena MacLeod ; Discord Muse

Grave Encounters

Lance Preston ; @demcnsinmymind

Percy Jackson

Lou Ellen Blackstone ; @nosestealer

Interview with a Vampire (AMC)

Lestat de Lioncourt ; Discord Muse Louis de Pointe du Lac ; Discord Muse

The OCs

Maria Gonzales (Vampire Slayer) ; Discord Muse Robin Clark (Human) ; Discord Muse Jedi Collins (Witch) ; @jedicollins Chase Preciado (Werewolf) ; Discord Muse Gael Morrow (Psychic Medium); @misfitpuzzlepieces Irina Rybar (Feral Revenant) ; @misfitpuzzlepieces

#{ ------------time out. ( ooc )#v ; immortal beloved #Find me here on discord!

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malka-lisitsa · 1 year ago

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"..... Then compel him after we drain the vervain from his system. You really are small brain for survival aren't you? We have to compel the information out of him anyway- might as well make him more.... cooperative in general for us."

well, when she put it like that.

"listen, I just don't want whatever WE do, to come back around and bite ME on the butt later on. I still have to go here for another two years. I don't need an even bigger target on my back"

#verse: Human Katherine

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manyfandomocs · 7 months ago

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Descendants OC Introductions

because I had an idea for a big plot and universe and here we are. This is No One Mourns The Wicked, my Wizard of Oz focused Descendants verse. In this universe, Oz lost contact with the rest of the world years and years ago and by the time Descendants rolls around, is thought to be a genuine fairytale and not true. Until a tornado blows through and brings 10 children to Auradon and the Isle of the Lost

so much of Oz lore is gonna be pulled from various sources and some just made up by me but Wicked (book and musical) is a large part of the inspo, especially for names

and thanks to @randomestfandoms-ocs for helping me go with Descendants

Orion Diggs (Mike Faist FC), Audrey and Chad ship. Son of Oscar Diggs, otherwise known as the Wizard, he is the main reason they were whisked to the Isle and Auradon as Orion artificially created the tornado with the help of Lilliana. He lands in Auradon

Eden Thropp (Brittany O'Grady FC), Jay ship. Daughter of Elphaba Thropp, otherwise known as the Wicked Witch of the West, she is one of the most skilled sorceresses of her age. She lands in the Isle and struggles with the lack of magic.

Nadia Thropp (Logan Browning FC), Uma ship. Daughter of Nessarose Thropp, otherwise known as the Wicked Witch of the East, she has little interest in big magic and is more interested in science. She lands in Auradon and hates being separated from her cousin Eden.

Lilliana Taylor (Maia Mitchell FC), Mal and Evie ship. Daughter of Locasta Taylor, otherwise known as the Good Witch of the North, she is not the strongest sorceress but she is the best at planning, and she loves to plan for herself, which is why she used her powers to help Orion create the tornado. She lands in Auradon

Garrett Upland (Evan Mock FC), Jane and Carlos ship. Son of Glinda Upland, otherwise known as the Good Witch of the South, he is close to Nadia and had the least desire to leave Oz so he's not enjoying being forced out but he's trying to make the best of it. He lands in the Isle

Donovan Gale (Milo Manheim FC), Gil and Harry ship. Son of Dorothy Gale, he always wondered what it was like being around other humans besides Orion, who seems to have the opposite desire. He's relatively lonely aside from Opal and desperate for friends, and lands in the Isle

Bennett Chopper (Jonathan Daviss FC), Faye Tigelaar ship. Son of Boq Chopper, otherwise known as the Tin Man, he is always here for a good time. He always likes to gain interest in people though it doesn't really last and he lands in Auradon

Faye Tigelaar (Katherine Langford FC), Bennett Chopper ship. Daughter of Fiyero Tigelaar, otherwise known as the Scarecrow, she prides herself on her smarts, even being known as a know-it-all which makes it hard for her to connect with others. She lands in the Isle

Landon Lahr (Drew Ray Tanner FC), Lonnie ship. Son of the Cowardly Lion, he proves that he's not like his dad was and is very reckless and unafraid to do absolutely anything. He lands in the Isle and is very excited to roam somewhere new

Opal Baum (Abigail Cowen FC), Ben ship. Daughter of Princess Ozma, she is the rightful future ruler of Oz, a job that she takes seriously. She loves meeting others and finding out what they're like, she's long had a crush on Donovan and lands in Auradon

#new oc #new ocs #oc ideas #orion diggs #eden thropp #nadia thropp #lilliana taylor #garrett upland #donovan gale #bennett chopper #faye tigelaar #landon lahr #opal baum

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silkfyre · 2 years ago

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W.I.D

The following content does not limit the type of requests I accept. If there is a topic or character that is not listed, but you wish to have included feel free to ask! If I’m ever uncomfortable with something I will simply deny the request.

HIGHLIGHTED names are my personal favorite characters.

WRITING

Fluff

Smut

Angst

Yandere

Violence

Dub-Con

Polyamory

OTHER

Fancasts

Writing Tips

Script Creation

Character Building

CHARACTERS

HORROR

The Boy

Brahms Heelshire

The Quarry

Abigail Blyg

Emma Mountebank

Jacob Custos

Laura Kearney

Max Brinley

Ryan Erzahler

Travis Hackett

The Lost Boys

David

Dwayne

Marko

Michael

Paul

House of Wax

Bo Sinclair

Lester Sinclair

Vincent Sinclair

Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Thomas Hewitt (Leatherface)

Halloween

Michael Myers

Scream

Billy Loomis

Randy Meeks

Stu Macher

American Horror Story

James Patrick March

Jimmy Darling

Yellowjackets

Lottie Matthews

Misty Quigley

Natalie Scatorccio

Shauna Sadecki

Taissa Turner

Van Palmer

SCI-FI

The Boys

A-Train

Billy Butcher

Black Noir

Frenchie

Homelander

Hughie Campbell

Kimiko Miyashiro

Mother's Milk

Queen Maeve

Soldier Boy

Starlight

Detroit: Become Human

Chloe

Conner

Gavin Reed

Hank Anderson

Josh

Kara

Luther

Markus

North

Ralph

Rk600 (Sixty)

RK900 (Nines)

Simon

Fallout

Fallout 4

Deacon

John Hancock

Nick Valentine

Paladin Danse

Piper Shaw

Preston Garvey

Robert MacCready

Fallout (series)

Aspirant Dane

Chet

Cooper Howard (The Ghoul)

Knight Maximus

Lucy MacClean

Norm MacLean

Alien vs Predator

coming soon!

Stranger Things

Steve Harrington

The Walking Dead

Daryl Dixon

Eugene Porter

James Cameron’s Avatar

Eetu

Lyle Wainfleet

Mansk

Miles Quaritch

Nor

So’lek

Teylan

Tsu’tey te Rongloa Ateyitan

SUPERNATURAL

TVD Verse

Bonnie Bennett

Caroline Forbes

Damon Salvatore

Elena Gilbert

Elijah Mikaelson

Finn Mikaelson

Jeremy Gilbert

Katherine Pierce

Kol Mikaelson

Niklaus Mikaelson

Rebekah Mikaelson

Stefan Salvatore

FANTASY

Baldur’s Gate 3

Astarion Ancunín

Dammon

Gale Dekarios

Halsin

Karlach Cliffgate

Lae’zel

Raphael

Rolan

Shadowheart

Wyll Ravengard

Zevlor

REALISM

Red Dead Redemption II

Albert Mason

Arthur Morgan

Charles Smith

Dutch Van Der Linde

Flaco Hernández

Javier Escuella

John Marston

Kieran Duffy

Sadie Adler

Call of Duty

John Price

John “Soap” MacTavish

Kyle “Gaz” Garrick

Simon “Ghost” Riley

Grand Theft Auto

Franklin Clinton

Michael De Santa

Trevor Philips

Outer Banks

Pope Heyward

Rafe Cameron

Sarah Cameron

Topper Thornton

W.I.D.D

Notes :: There may be some things on these lists that are debatable. If they are something I’m willing to write under certain circumstances then it will be ITALICEZED.

WRITING

Racism

Ableism

Ageplay

Underage

Homophobia

Transphobia

Character x Character (w/o reader)

CHARACTERS

Bubba Sawyer

Freddy Krueger

Pennywise

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slghtr · 7 months ago

Text

#PSA, PORTRAYAL NOTES.

since my canon for klaus is a mix of book and show (and my added creative flair), i'm going to pull all of the thoughts running around in my head here, in this one post for easy access. i will be adding to this as i think of things, and in some cases, there will be more detailed info to come!

my klaus is a haphazard mixture of canon. he is primarily book-based with minor details of show canon and my added creative flair thrown in; he is heavily canon divergent and unaffiliated with the vampire diaries/the originals show canon by default in his main verse. the details below will be the most important points to read and any other information can be given through plotting and character development. as always, if you have any questions, please feel free to shoot me a message!

i will often refer to the "old ones" as purebloods. they are capable of passing down their vampire genetics through birth, and niklaus was born the product of an affair. his pureblood mother, esther, held a steady affair with a pureblood werewolf, and the result nine months later was klaus.

concerning canon ships: my main love interest for klaus is katerina/katherine (see this post). all other ships need to be plotted due to the canon differences here (and klaus' serious toxicity), but i do ship caroline/klaus as well. hayley/klaus only when it concerns the vampire diaries show canon as i do not acknowledge the legacies canon or the events leading up to it (re: hayley's pregnancy and hope's birth). in his main verse, klaus is childless. — i will have a heavily divergent verse up for the originals/the legacies show canon acknowledging hayley's pregnancy and hope's birth because i don't want to give them up entirely and i do love them, but interactions in this verse will need at least some basic plotting due to canon divergencies here—or at the very least, open communication. i'm super flexible with it, of course, and i will have separate verses for more show canon-aligned threads and aus.

depending on what character i’m writing against, i’ll change some things up or throw you a show canon-esque verse vs my default one! it just depends on what works best for us both and we can plot the details out! if there’s ever a canon divergence point i have strong feelings about or feel is more of a concrete thing for my portrayal, i’ll tell you!

klaus is the one to turn katherine, and she's considered as formidable as he is. as a child she was always sick and when a doctor of human sciences told her she would die soon, her maid sought klaus out because she knew he was in the same village at the same time, and he saw something in her that made him want to turn her... because he certainly didn't do it out of the kindness of his own heart.

as far as klaus' siblings are concerned, i take a lot of inspiration from the originals show canon there. i love them too much to throw them away, and their bonds will stay relatively the same except that they parted ways nearly a millennia ago and they have more long distance type relationships presently, with klaus typically only visiting them if he needs something or he finds he misses them too much *in my default verse. he used to send them postcards and trinkets from his travels (especially elijah, rebekah and freya), and in modern times, he stays in contact consistently over the phone. — when they flee from their father sometime in the first millennia, they stick together for awhile as old ones, traveling and running from mikael, a pureblood vampire turned hunter when he found he couldn't cope with what he was—what his family was. in earlier years, they often pose as royalty, most notably lords and ladies of a wealthy, aristocratic family.

as far as his father is concerned, klaus is unaware of his birth father ansel, who had been a pureblood werewolf. mikael, who esther attempted to pass off as klaus' father, somehow always knew. a lot of this is taken from show canon in the sense that klaus still grew up with a shitty, abusive father who hated him for being different. for being the product of an affair his mother had—solid proof of her infidelity staring him in the face every single day. a lot of these feelings contributed to mikael's eventual breakdown and becoming a hunter. he grew to hate what he was, what his family was, but the hatred for klaus was even stronger. when his children fled after mikael's first attempt at killing them, he trails after them for quite some time until they finally put him down with the aid of klaus' witches.

presently, klaus has sired numerous successful hybrids using the blood of doppelgangers and continues to search for werewolves to turn, although they are often scarcely found. in his main verse, he has a small army of them at his disposal, but the sire bond doesn't exist in these cases unless plotted.

speaking of his army, it doesn't consist of only hybrids. klaus is a master at networking and has cultivated an "army" of those loyal to him, including powerful witches working on his side and in his trusted inner circle. something something slater contacting elijah through a fucking craigslist ad something something. it's the same with klaus. odds are, somebody who knows somebody who knows somebody... knows how to initiate contact with klaus or those in his circle, but it's never direct. "how do i find klaus? you don't find klaus... klaus finds you."

a key point: there is no hybrid curse in klaus’ canon. he comes to fell's church/mystic falls in the early 90s to avenge katherine's death at the hands of elena and her friends. the ending is changed, with klaus never dying—because how are we supposed to believe that humans who just learned of supernaturals like 6 months ago have the power to take him down? no, thanks. they do drive him out of the town, however, and he goes on to remain nomadic, but not before making his mark on the humans of fell's church. — when it comes to interactions with show characters in klaus' main verse, i often take inspiration from the vampire diaries show canon for his antics against elena and her friends and their consequences, however due to canon divergencies here, we might have to have some basic plotting.

continued ...

klaus and his brothers and sisters are the progenitors of the vampire race, but klaus is the sole progenitor of vampire/werewolf hybrids. he is the very first. — as the progenitor of the vampire/werewolf hybrids, klaus is able to create hybrids by feeding a werewolf his blood, snapping their necks or killing them in some way, and then having them drink the blood of a doppelganger or principal guardian descendant, but he can also create them by passing down his genes through genetics, but only with werewolf women capable of bearing children, as vampires are typically unable to change their bodies to accommodate a growing baby. *he could, in theory, have children with other purebloods and pass down his hybrid genetics this way, but if we're including that his family was the original vampires, that'd be gross, you know?

verses available. (full details coming soon, but for now we've got plotting)

the vampire diaries / the originals *canon divergent.

more coming soon.

#psa: portrayal notes.

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