#took some liberties with this lol but it is an AU so i feel like its ok

[tranakin-skywalker]

Story Masterlist

Figured I should finally make one of these so y'all know what the fuck I'm talking about when I go on about my silly little au ideas. I'll be updating this list as I publish things/ come up with new ideas. Published fics have a hyperling to their ao3 embedded in their title.

THE BIG BOYS

Singularity:

Half canon re-write, half me going "hey wouldn't it be fucked up if _?" Basically I packed all my favorite little headcanons and tropes into one five-part monster of a series, featuring things like eldritch demigod Anakin, Force deities, fucked up Naboo politics, sentient droids, and a Galactic Civil War that actually feels Galactic and like a war. Somehow ended up with me both trying to make Star Wars more realistic, and leans way more into the mythological side of the story. Also features a ton of my own original concepts. A pantheon of Tatooine gods and slave culture inspired loosely by Fialleril, Sith religion and rituals, clone culture and language built around the idea that they've been dehumanized and un-personed for their entire existence, and a bunch of stuff about the Coruscant underworld. You can find more about it under my fic:singularity tag

Star-Birth:

The first part of Singularity more or less covering the events of TPM with a few... creative liberties taken. Status: Published/ Ongoing Word Count: 92,740

Accretion:

Part II of Singularity covering the years of Anakin's apprenticeship between TPM and AOTC, as well as looks into both the lives of Shmi and Padme. I took inspiration from a bunch of the stories in Legends covering this time period but most of it is my own thing. This is the one that goes the deepest into the functions and every day life of the Jedi, as well as life on Coruscant in general. An exploration of the disconnect between the governing body of the Senate and the wider galaxy, the wealth disparity on Coruscant and just how fucking dystopian it is, and generally how something like the Clone Wars could come about. Status: Unpublished

Asterism:

Part III of Singularity. AOTC if I butchered it's body and reassembled it in the imagine of my own design. Some of the movie's plot points remain but I'm attempting to get from Point A to Point B as originally as I can while still keeping with the heart of Attack of the Clones. Status: Unpublished

Nucleosynthesis:

Part IV of Singularity. The Clone Wars but not the animated version. We are going full Republic comics version baby. Ahsoka is still here tho, because I love her. Basically my idea of what a galactic civil war would actually look like, featuring space battles that last for months on end, widespread disease outbreaks, planets completely wiped out of existence, billions of combatants, and war crimes galore. The size of this war is immense. Like, there's over 1 billion active duty clones at any given time. (Which actually isn't even all that much compared to the population of the Republic at large lol) Probably the most space opera of the series. Status: Unpublished

Event Horizon:

Fifth and final part of Singularity. Essentially it's version of RotS, but with a vastly different ending. And beginning. And middle. Basically it's RotS if you squint. This I think is going to be the one that goes the deepest into the mythological/ fantasy aspects of the story. The Force and all it's weirdness is a huge aspect of this one. This is also the fic that goes the deepest into the Sith and all their awfulness. It features a much beloved headcanon of mine that when a Sith master is killed by their apprentice, part of their consciousness enters into their apprentice as a sort of living holocron. Which means that the current Sith master is essentially possessed by all the Sith that came before them and is constantly having to fight to keep control of their own body. It serves both as a way to pass on all the Sith teachings (since a living master would have a vested interest in keeping knowledge from their apprentice and thus a lot of that knowledge would be lost over time) and as an attempt at immortality. A strong enough spirit can take control of a weak enough vessel. Unfortunately for all those Sith masters, any apprentice who is able to go on and kill their own master isn't going to be in any way weak. A full, proper possession in the Sith lineage has been few and far between. I imagine y'all can guess what this means for Sidious' intentions with Anakin, a living vergence of the Force and for all intents and purposes immortal (even if Anakin won't let himself acknowledge that fact). Status: Unpublished

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Cytokinesis:

What started as me asking myself "what if the start of ANH but Vader/Anakin was trans and the twin's gestating parent and thus, recognized Leia immediately?" which then turned into something much much longer than I intended. Oops. The actual story starts during the Clone Wars when Anakin discovers he's been magically impregnated by the Force just like how his own mother was. Deals a lot with gender, parenthood, generational trauma, and repeating cycles. Also clones. Lots and lots with the clones. Their relationship with Anakin after discovering that he's basically a clone of his mother is a huge part of this fic. This particular version is going to follow along the beats of RotS and what comes after more or less (so, things are going to get a lot worse before they get better. Sorry) with some divergence here and there. This is the fic I find myself going back and rewriting/tweaking the most. Which is partially why it's taking me so long to update. I'm trying to make this next chapter one I'm completely happy with instead of having to go back and redo it in a few weeks lol. (Tho I think that's part of the fun of fanfic, the ability to go back and change things whenever you want). Honestly, this one is getting so long I might end up having to split it into two fics. fic: cytokinesis tag Status: Published/ Ongoing

Unnamed Cytokinesis Spin-off:

While Cyto is going to have a happy ending, it's going to take a lot of hurt to get there. Which is why I came up with an au to my au where the twins come early, Anakin doesn't fall, and things are happy... ish. The Republic is still a trash fire on the brink of collapse and everyone still has so so much trauma. Even when I write a happy au, things still suck lmao. I just can't imagine a RotS fix-it where things aren't still falling apart and Anakin gets off scot-free for murdering the president of the galaxy. Status: Unpublished

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Groundwater:

Ah yes, the fic that is really three differnt aus in a trench coat. 1. In the midst of galactic instability and the seceding of dozens of planets from the Republic, a revolt begins to spread in the Outer Rim. A revolt led by unknown masked force users, and a suspected Sith known only as Vader. The Jedi scramble to uncover the identity of these new enemies, only to discover a plethora of unpleasant truths that make them begin to question themselves and the very Republic instead. 2. After five years with the Jedi Anakin starts to have nightmares about his mother dying and they. just. won't. stop. He asks Obi-Wan for help, begs him for the chance to go to Tatooine and make sure she's alright. He isn't allowed to go. So he takes matters into his own hands. He leaves in the middle of the night, nothing but a note and a cut padawan braid left behind, and he goes to save his mother. Anakin ends up finding more than just his mother. There's a freedom network, one that Shmi is part of. There is a rebellion brewing, stolen weapons and stolen ships. There is a city in the desert, a paradise made by the hands of escaped slaves. And there are things, old things, powerful things, that he never new existed on Tatooine. Like deep ancient caves carved by the planet's mythical groundwater where kyber crystals grow wild and undiscovered. 3. Darth Vader lived, and then he died. In his son's arms he died, but that wasn't the end of it. There is no death, there is only the Force. And the Force was not done with him yet. He returns, four decades in the past, as a ghost haunting his younger self. Forced into the role of a passive observer, no power, no voice, seen only by one little boy and unable to change anything. Cursed to watch history repeat itself. Or at least that's what he thought. fic: groundwater tag Status: Unpublished

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I Wonder Which One Has My Eyes:

There was something achingly familiar about the pair of droids following the young princess around, Pooja thought. Or Pooja Naberrie, junior senator of Naboo, is invited to a senatorial event on Alderaan. There she meets and befriends young Princess Leia Organa. A few things click into place. This one is actually inspired by @keistance fic Uncle Ani, where the Naberries knew about the Anidala marriage. I thought it would be so so fun if Pooja realized that Leia was her baby cousin and secretly tells Leia all about her birth parents. Which means she goes into ANH knowing all about Padme Amidala and Anakin Skywalker, something that completely derails a certain interrogation with a certain Dark Lord when he stumbles over that particular fact. I'm fascinated by the idea of Leia coming from a similar place as Luke in canon, where she knows her father as a good man named Anakin Skywalker before she ever knew him as Vader. I think that change in perspective would give her the same belief and drive to bring her father back to the Light that Luke has. Also I think both twins ganging up on Vader to bully him into redemption is very funny. Status: Unpublished

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Unnamed Togruta AU:

Or Togruta!Skywalkers. Shmi and Anakin are Tatooine togruta, a rare population of togs that were ensalved from Shili dozens of generations ago and slowly grew to adapt to the desert environment. A characteristic of the Tatooine togs is the forward facing montals, which Anakin has. It's a trait coveted for gladiator slaves since they can be used to pin down/gore opponents. Anakin was occasionally entered into matches as a child where he was forced to fight and kill animals. Had he not been taken by the Jedi, he would have eventually been put in death matches against other sentients. (because I'm lazy I'm just copy/pasting this part from an old ask)

A lot of the ideas are coming from the hyena discord, so I can’t claim them as my own. But they are just too good to pass up. Like togruta making infrasound with their montrals and constantly projecting their moods. So when Anakin first gets to the Temple he’s constantly screaming for him mom at a pitch that only other togruta can hear. I’ve decided that that’s actually how he first meets Ahsoka. She hears him making his lost, scared, where’s mom, where’s family sounds and seeks him out to comfort him. Ahsoka would be about four here, and would have left Shili recently enough that she could still remember what those noises mean, even if Tatooine togruta sound different from Shili togruta. (to a Shili tog Anakin’s distressed noises sound like he’s being maimed, but that’s just because of the generational trauma and general awfulness of being a togruta on Tatooine. What they would think of the vocalizations he makes when actually being maimed we will not think about)

So Anakin and Ahsoka end up growing up together right from the start, and the main reason Anakin is so insistent on being knighted early is so that Ahsoka can be his padawan. It’s a private thought he has to himself at first, but as Ahsoka gets older and no masters are showing any interest in taking her on she starts to panic. Anakin tells her that he’ll just have to get knighted before she ages out so that he can be her master. And then the Clone War starts and he realizes that keeping his promise means bringing her onto the battlefield with him where she could die and he’s not sure if he’ll be enough to keep her alive :) Because Shmi is a togruta too she does not get bought by Cleigg Lars. I am just. not dealing with the implications of that. (Listen. I want to read Shmi’s marriage to him as a good thing, but I have a very hard time doing that.) Now, there’s actually a comic (Legands, I think, not Disney canon) where Gardulla goes to Watto and tries to buy Anakin back after he wins the Boonta Eve Classic. So have some fun thoughts about what would have happened to Anakin if he hadn’t gone with Qui-Gon. In the fic, Gardulla goes to buy Anakin but of course he left with the Jedi, so Gardulla decides she’ll take Shmi as payment for Watto’s debts. After all, if Shmi already had one child who turned out to be a talented podracer, well, she might have more. Hence the younger sibling that comes about shortly after Anakin leaves.

When Anakin goes back to Tatooine because of the nightmares about his mom he finds out that Watto sold his mom back to Gardulla and has to go to her to buy his mom’s freedom. Which would be traumatic, on multiple levels. Anakin finds out that a month before he arrived, Shmi tried to escape with the sister Anakin didn’t know he had, and Gardulla had their chips detonated. Gardulla even gives him their triggered remotes as proof. (Of course unbeknownst to Anakin, Shmi and the sister survived and are living with a village of other escaped togruta.) A lot of canon still happens the same, including Anakin’s fall, Order 66, Mustafar, etc. But when Bail Organa sees Ahsoka at Padme’s funeral he tells her that he can take her to a mutual friend of theirs. Ahsoka thinks (hopes) it’s Anakin at first, and is devastated when she realizes it’s Obi-Wan (and then hates herself for feeling disappointment because she should be happy that Obi-Wan is still alive, but he’s not Anakin, and this means that Anakin must be dead). There’s no Lars family and the Organas would have a harder time explaining a non-human daughter, so Ahsoka and Obi-Wan end up taking care of the twins. They eventually find their way to Tatooine because it’s out of the Empire’s notice and, well, because it’s a connection to Anakin (Ahsoka’s trying to hold onto anything she can that connects her to her brother and Obi-Wan is in his self-harming phase.)

And it’s there that they eventually run into a little community of togruta and a woman who looks suspiciously like Anakin who has the last name Skywalker. But hey, Shmi gets to meet her grandkids at least. Even if it happens at the same time that she finds out that son she thought she’d sent away to a better life and hasn’t seen in 13 years is dead. (Obi-Wan sees how much Anakin’s death destroys Shmi and decides to never, ever tell her what he became. Vader will be his burden and it’s a secret he will take to his grave. Anakin Vader is dead, and he’ll save them from ever finding out how it really happened) Of course, 15 years later Ahsoka goes to rescue some rebels from a walking death omen in black when she realizes the infrasound calls he’s shrieking out of his mangled montrals is devastatingly familiar.

togruta au tag or togrutakin tag Status: Unpublished

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Anachromism:

Anakin ends up twenty three years in the future, Vader ends up twenty three years in the past.

So you’ve got Anakin just fresh off the child murder suddenly flung into the Rebellion era and being faced with how much he supremely fucked up. Meanwhile Vader like not even a week after Bespin suddenly back in the Jedi Temple in the middle of the Purge. And because his vision is shit he doesn’t realize at first that it’s a bunch of clone troopers shooting at the big black angry mass that suddenly appeared. Which leads him to accidentally saving a bunch of baby Jedi, who of course imprint on him like orphaned ducklings. Vader figures he must had died at some point and this is a divine punishment for all the atrocities, trapped in a purgatory of reliving all his greatest mistakes. So in a bit of an uncharacteristic move for him, he doesn’t murder to death the gaggle of preschoolers he’s accidentally collected, and instead, in a series of absurd events sort of unintentionally helps to start the Rebel Alliance in a bit of cosmic irony.

Status: Unpublished

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War Machines (title pending):

Jedi are living weapons. Far into the Outer Rim, the Hutts obtain a planet killer. Dystopian au where the sith empire was never wiped out and controls half the galaxy and the Republic is more of an authoritarian dictatorship that uses teh Jedi as living weapons of mass destruction. Force sensitive children are taken from their families and trained as soldiers, raised with a cloned ‘handler’ who was designed specifically to be able to keep their Jedi in line. The Jedi are eldritch, incredibly powerful beings that are forced to wear suppression gear that keeps them confined to their physical form. Only the handler is able to turn it off the gear and allow the jedi the full use of their abilities. Some force sensitives are wired into ships or turned into actual weapons. On Tatooine, Gardulla realizes one of her slaves is a powerful force sensitive and begins having him trained like a jedi to be her own personal one man army. Status: Unpublished

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the thing that lives in dead stars (title pending):

A gambler Watto may have been, but stupid he was not. Anakin Skywalker was too great a prize to risk losing, not when the man betting had the gleam in his eye that told of a winning hand. Not that it mattered in the end. The boy won, and Watto lost, and the hutts got themselves the only human in the entire galaxy that could win a pod race. At least the outlander didn’t leave with the boy as well as his pretty Noobian ship. Or Anakin wins the race but not his freedom. Six years later, the circuit brings him to Coruscant, and the attention of a Sith Lord. My very fucked up Anakin raised as a Sith AU. Status: Unpublished

Shapeshifters AU:

aka space vampire Vader aka sun dragon Skywalkers. So I think we've established by this point that I can't get enough of Eldritch Skywalkers. They are my JAM. So of course I made another eldritch Skywalkers au. There's a few main points to this one. 1. Anakin, and subsequently Luke and Leia, being freaky part-Force abominations, can shapeshift. However, they cannot shapeshift into anything they like. This isn't FMA Envy/ Mystique/ whatever. They can't just look at a person and copy their face. Instead they have to have a deep emotional connection to what they are transforming into, and that transformation is always accessed by strong emotion. While they could theoretically shapeshift into a person they care very close to, the thought of doing so is very unnerving and almost violating, so they don't. Instead, all three Skywalkers have a habit of changing into creatures from Tatooine mythology. 2. Anakin and Beru are half siblings. I love this idea. I cannot express to you how much I love this idea. It just scratches something in my brain so well. Beru is Anakin's younger sister by about a year, and got left on Tatooine with their mother when Anakin was taken by Qui-Gon. She is not a part-Force abomination, but grew up knowing all about Anakin's weirdness. 3. Luke AND Leia are both given to Beru (and Owen) because of said knowledge about Anakin's weirdness. She is probably the best and safest option for raising two baby shapeshifting half-Force abominations. And thus the twins grow up on the same stories Anakin did, with the added knowledge that he could turn into those creatures, and thus, so do they. 4. At some point Anakin found out he could consume the midi-chlorians of other Force sensitives on account of the whole half-Force abomination thing. And since midi-chlorians exist in a persons blood, well. Space vampire. Sidious has a lot of fun feeding Force sensitive people to his pet monster. 5. Speaking of- Vader is more often than not a fuck off huge black hole of a sun dragon. Like, legitimately. In this, sun dragons are essentially living stars in the shape of massive serpents. Vader is what happens when one of those living suns becomes a black hole. 6. Vader is just all around fucked up honestly. He no longer gets to decide what form he takes. His body and everything about it is determined by Sidious' will. His master decides what he turns into, and Vader was always meant to be a monster on a leash. So of course that's what Sidious keeps him as. 7. The twins somehow get roped into the Rebellion. Don't ask me how, I haven't figured out that part just yet. Status: Unpublished

SHORT FICS & ONE-SHOTS

For a Son:

He could not bring her son back to her. Could not even return his body to lay to rest. The least he could do was bring her the grandchild she never even knew she had. He knew it could never forgive what he had taken. Obi-Wan finds out what happened to Shmi Skywalker. Word Count: 4,018 Status: Published

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Lessons the Desert Gave:

No one ever understood how the sand would sink into open wounds. How, no matter how much you scrubbed and washed and clawed, the sand always found its way into your blood. The desert has a way of sticking with you, even long after you left it. (Turns out growing up a slave can really fuck a guy up.) Ficlet/ one-shot collect of character studies looking at all the ways Anakin's childhood would have really messed him up. I'm open to prompts/ requests for this one. Word Count: 1,820 Status: Published / Ongoing

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Dead Letters:

Post RotS. Obi-Wan gets drunk and messages Anakin on his old comm from the war, forgetting that Anakin is dead. For some reason, he keeps on doing it. What could it hurt? Anakin is dead, his comm destroyed on Mustafar just like his body. So he keeps sending messages, because for just a second, it means he can pretend that Anakin is still alive out there somewhere. Then he discovers he doesn't have to pretend. This one could so easily be a crack-fic. Darth Vader gets drunk texts from Obi-Wan telling him all about how awful Tatooine is and that he'll never make fun of Anakin again for hating sand and he keeps getting sunburnt and also Anakin's son is so sweet and cute and just like him until he turned into a surly teenager, why couldn't he just stay an adorable little boy forever? Status: Unpublished

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Jewel Box:

Sidious’ obsession ran deep. What he wanted, he would have- wholly, utterly, and completely. His want for the boy was no different. Sidious POV of Anakin through the years featuring all the horrible messed up things he thinks and does. Big BIG warning for child abuse, grooming, and rape/non-con in addition to Sidious' all around awfulness. This is probably the most awful thing I've ever written. Like holy shit it's fucked up. It's taking me ages to finish because I keep having to take breaks from it. And I'm not even going into any graphic detail. Title comes from that one line in the RotS novel where Sidious calls Vader's suit a jewel box. Status: Unpublished

[kouhsuu]

EMO TREAT AU MASTERPOST

SPOILERS FOR ALTERNATE ENDING

Essentially... What if Treat was EMO?

Specifically, what if she had stayed with her pack instead of leaving?

That's pretty much what this AU is about! Me and some friends came up with it for fun and it just kept growing lol

It takes a couple of liberties to make some things work though so it can be a bit silly!! xP

How it goes

Rather than Tundra, Timber is the current pack leader and they are both much older. Treat's parents failed to seperate from their pack, Glaze, and Treat suffered the repercussions by Timber using her as an example to her parents.

Treat eventually grows up under Timber, as he teaches her his way of acquiring food for their pack, good food. She struggles, but is forced to swallow it down for the sake of the pack. She distances herself from most everyone, aside from Timber as he is her mentor, and only really bothers with others out of necessity. Lacking empathy and becoming emotionally stunted due to her childhood makes her a near 180 to regular Treat.

Here's how she looks like!!

The way I see it, she dyes her hair with charcoal from fires to represent her deep turmoil!!!! or something like that, I can't think of a reason why outside of "my heart is a deep and vast void"

How are other characters/the world affected?

Starting from the pack members...

Cotton & Candy: There's not much to say, but after getting caught trying to leave the pack they haven't had much to do with everyone. Treat only really comes over to sleep and avoids them, because she somewhat blames them for what happened to her.

Timber: Pack leader and mentor of Treat. He didn't want to have to hurt Treat, but her parents took it too far trying not only to take their daughter with her, but Powder & Fennel too. He took her under his wing so she wouldn't get influenced by her parents anymore and decided to take the opportunity to teach her to be the next generation pack leader... Though no one but his mother knows that yet.

Fennel: She still has a giant crush on Treat, and is the only one that actively goes out of her way to hang out with her! Treat thinks she's a nuisance, but slowly entertains Fennel as she grows curious as to why she keeps trying to get close to her.

Other characters such as Powder and Tundra aren't really all that developed, so feel free to think up something for them!!!

The pack members don't just end there either...

I made up some characters for the AU aswell!! woohoo!!!!

They're in a small little fic I made on Mochi meeting Treat in this AU, but I want to do more with them!! The descriptions will be short though since there's not much with them yet.

Cocoa: The oldest, and the only one in his human form. He's playful, carefree, loves poking fun whenever he can.

Mallow: The middle child. His fur is dark gray and he's the strongest out of the three. He's boisterous, a bit stubborn, and competitive.

Creme: The youngest child. Her fur is white and is sarcastic, confident, a bit self-absorbed. She's also very prissy which annoys her older brothers.

Stuff they all have in common are also sharing admiration for Treat, despite always getting caught causing trouble by her, and the three of them are very close knit.

Characters outside the pack

Moxie: Unlike in the canon, she has lost her confidence due to being forced back to be with her mother in ginseng, following the loss of the Foxy Den. She eventually ran away from her and now hopes to learn how to survive in the wilderness by stalking the wolves around, including Treat.

here's a little concept sketch of her!!

she's pretty dinged up :(

Mochi: Due to Treat never having left Glaze, she never arrived in Frosting to live in the cabin and save Mochi from Moxie. She ends up fearing predators a bit more due to this, and is usually escorted by Juju outside. However, she still wishes to slowly start being more independent again. Overall though, there isn't much changed with her! (including her design)

Trick: Treat's parents never got to form the other pack near their Master's house because they never got to leave. Due to being unable to find any wolf pack settlement nearby, their Master reluctantly brought Trick together into hiding with him. Even if it would cause problems along the way, he didn't want them out fending for themselves. Trick would slowly start the learn the truth behind their Master's identity.

Will Treat, Mochi, and Moxie still get together?

Yes!!!!!!! However, with the way it's going, Fennel will be included too!! I have it somewhat outlined how I want it to go, but you'll have to read my friend's fic on it!!!

Speaking of fics...

Here are ALL the current fics and side stories so far!!

MAIN FIC (collab between me and @blobsicle): LINK

Short Stories:

(these are by me :3)

Fennel x Treat

Treat and Mochi Meeting

HOW TO TAG THE AU

Use either '#Shifted Story' or just '#Emo Treat AU'!!!

that's all for the AU!!! I hope you guys like it so far :3>!! Feel free to add onto any of this, or add a spin!! i'd love to see any of it so feel free to tag me!!

I'll be scheduling some posts with art i've made :)

[another-lost-mc]

Hi, just want you to know I have Michael Brainrot bc of your works with him…. I’m not asking for more or anything, i love everything you do anyway….. but damn your Michael hits different….

Oh, thank you so much! I love Michael. Even in NB he still seems a bit underdeveloped and we don't even know what he looks like yet. (I've talked a lot about my personal headcanons about his appearance and at this point I stubbornly accept the likelihood that he's going to be a tall, long-haired and blue-eyed blonde instead. lol)

When I first started playing OG, he was one of my favourite characters even though we knew next to nothing about him. Some of my first fic ideas were about Michael, if you'd believe it. Maybe that's why I liked him so much? I treated him like an OC before Nightbringer came out because I took quite a few creative liberties exploring different versions of him.

I've mentioned before that I treat angels and demons in this game (and Father and the Demon King) as fantasy races rather than religious beings. To me, Michael is a leader - a flawed leader, sure - but he has so much personality and friendship and affection to give. He loves sweets and he's fashionable and even though his bond with Lucifer is undeniable, I think he genuinely cares about all his celestial brethren too.

Unfortunately for Michael, he seems like the type of angel that wants to be everyone's friend, but the problems arise when he has to stop being a friend and start being leader of the angels. We've seen him make difficult choices and we've seen evidence that he's struggled with the consequences of those choices. I think he has a lot of regret and unresolved trauma/guilt from things he's done, especially when it comes to Lucifer and his brothers.

I have no idea what the original plan for OG was after Season 4. My rough guess (or at least how I hoped it would play out) is that:

Season 5 would involve MC at least talking to Michael directly again (re: Simeon) and visiting the Celestial Realm on his behalf.

Season 6 would be the point when new angels visit the Devildom, including Michael (think of it as a diplomatic visit with higher-ranking angels making the CR's peace with the Devildom "official").

A lot of my Michael x MC/Reader stories assume that he and MC would've met in-person for the first time in Season 5. MC deserves a proper visit to the Celestial Realm (overnight, at least one week but preferably two or three) and a chance to meet Michael and the other important angels that help him run things. So many of my Michael blurbs are just him and MC interacting during that first meeting together because the first meeting trope is one of my favourites.

And as much as I love Michael, visiting the Celestial Realm wouldn't be complete with some more angels to liven things up. We have other established canon angels - Simeon, Luke and Raphael - but Uriel's been mentioned twice I believe, and I doubt he's the only other angel worth meeting. (OC Angels like Metatron and Gabriel help fill in the gaps so that my CR-based writing doesn't feel so empty.) We just need more angels in general - how else will a MC goes to the CR for the exchange program AU play out if there's only like, two angels there? >_>

Anyway. I try not to think about the implications of Michael's involvement in NIghtbringer since it took an odd turn with HM Lesson 20. I did outline some possible story ideas based on that particular plot point but I still prefer to write Michael in the OG setting for obvious reasons.

As a side note - I know I keep talking about it, but the OC story I've been working on features Michael as a major character in Part 1 that takes place in the Celestial Realm. We get to see him interacting with Lucifer (who is still an angel then) and other angels of various ranks, and the two main characters of course. We see Michael who tries to be a friend, who tries to be supportive and balance out Lucifer's different approach to handling things...and we also see Michael who abides by the rules angels are meant to live by and expects everyone else to do the same. I could've made him the "bad guy" in this, but I didn't. He has his good moments and his "omg you're such an asshole" moments, but no more or less than the other characters. It's very exciting.

......................yikes, that was a lot of words to say, "Thank you, fellow Michael fan! I also enjoy his character a lot."

[biffhofosho]

Prisoner to Temptation | Chapter One

Fandoms: Monsta X

Genre: Royal AU, Romance, 19th Century period piece

Pairing: Hyungwon x OC

Chapter Word Count: 9.4k

Tropes: Arranged marriage, strangers to spouses to lovers

The Vibe: Lonely prince meets reluctant princess, the typical royal intrigue, period-appropriate writing style, beautiful costumes and lavish historical settings, friends with benefits-adjacent (though it’s more like royals with obligations), slow burn but also loads and loads of smut (like, I mean it, a lot lol) of every kind in between because arranged marriage, jealousy, angst, misunderstandings, confused feelings, falling in love with your husband, HAPPY ENDING BECAUSE FAIRYTALE DAMNIT

Synopsis: Naran has never fit the mold of a princess. She’s brash, disinterested, and nomadic at heart. It is only unlucky circumstance that has cast her as the sole hope of the Moghulikhan empire. With no brothers to secure the realm’s lineage, shaky borders ringing them from all sides, and a sister too young to understand any of that, peace only seems possible through an alliance, but that hasn’t stopped Naran from scheming up a way out. That is, until a handsome prince charming makes her an offer she simply can’t ignore.

A/N: First things first, happy birthday to my beloved Hyungwon. He’s too special and good for this world. He’s a living muse, and watching him work constantly inspires me (in ways it definitely shouldn’t lol). 

Anyway, I just cobbled this AU together out of lots of bits and bobs because I can. Really went for a style of writing and dialogue that you might find in your Jane Austens or Emily Brontës, so this may or may not be for you.

Let’s set it somewhere in the early 1800s though I took a lot of liberties with bygone kingdoms (all real at one point or another, though that doesn’t mean this is historically or geographically accurate—I’m just fucking around). In this universe, western and eastern cultures mingle freely. You’ll get the drift. I mean, I’m here for the romance, but I’m also a slut for worldbuilding. Please join me, your resident lost cause, on this time-traveling, bodice-ripping adventure.

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Naran felt her head drooping with every second that passed with the Viscount LaCroix. At least she’d been trained well enough to blame it on the stuffiness of the hall or the port she’d just downed, but it was becoming clearer by the second that she needed an escape or she was liable to outright fall asleep standing up, and the last thing she needed was to fall into the red-cheeked buffoon’s arms and have him convinced he’d found his fourth wife.

Desperate, Naran scoped out the ballroom looking for a friend to save her, but servants weren’t allowed in except the wait staff and neither were commoners. Even her sister was too young to attend this meat market, for that was what this was—an excuse to haggle wares, only the wares were noble sons and daughters.

At last, her eyes fell on her mother, who was already scowling at her. That scowl only deepened as Naran turned to the old man next to her and bowed lightly.

“Excuse me, your grace, I see my mother is calling for me. Thank you for the… discourse.”

She should have added “delightful" or some other outwardly false adjective in front of the last word, but Naran wasn’t in the mood to play ballroom politics—not that she ever was.

On the way across the room, she snatched another wine from a waiter and downed it, wishing it was kumis instead. She found her mother, Queen Jigme, crouching like a snow leopard in the corner, cunning eyes always vigilant for prey, only now they were narrowed on a very different obstacle.

Though the princess was taller and slighter, more often than not, she was bent from boredom (a trait her father always said made her more grassland reed than girl), and the queen could loom over her with just a few words.

"That was very rude to leave the Viscount hanging like that, child of mine,” the silver-haired woman scolded from behind her own wine glass.

“Wouldn’t it have been ruder to die of tedium in his presence?” Naran challenged without bothering to keep her own voice down. There was no one else in this corner of the ballroom anyway.

"You know, I knew you were going to be the trial of my life when I almost didn’t survive your labor, and here you are, nearly bringing me to my death again. Your grandfather threw this ball in your honor, I’ll remind you.”

Naran rolled her eyes. “Like I could forget. I only heard it every time the carriage hit a pothole the entire fortnight it took to get here.”

“Yes, well, it took many other guests here just as long or longer to arrive, so I won’t hear any more of your complaining.”

“Mother, it’s not like they came here for me. Deda may have told you this ball was for my benefit, but that’s certainly not what he told all these poor royals.”

Her mother pursed her lips, the wrinkles from the many years of sparring with her daughter etched into her face. “It may not have been on the invitations, but none of these people are fools.”

Naran rolled her eyes again toward the Viscount, and her mother smiled before her well-weathered purse returned.

“Very well, most of them aren’t,” the older woman continued. “They have traveled from all across the continent with the express purpose of sizing up rival empires and aligning themselves with ones that are worthy or tactically advantageous. We are here to do the same, Narangerel. Why do you think I married your father, hm? If it weren’t for your grandfather’s meticulous planning, you wouldn’t be here. No one senses an alliance like he does.”

Dread prickled up Naran’s spine the same way sweat did. “Please tell me not the Viscount…”

“Of course not. The First Princess of Moghulikhan should set her sights on someone of far greater importance than a middling pseudo-royal from Limoges.”

“Mother, we’ve been over this—”

“And we’ll go over it as many times as we need to until you understand your role in protecting our kingdom. We are cunning and strategic, Naran. We are survivors. This is how Moghulikhan has endured for centuries.”

“Off the backs of saleable daughters.”

Queen Jigme glared at her. “You are very tiresome, young lady, but do not think you can break my will with tacky jokes and passive aggression. I know what you’re doing because I’ve done it all myself.”

Her mother meant it as a warning, but it came across as one of an entirely different kind.

If her mother was once as free-spirited as Naran fancied herself, then there was no outrunning her fate. She would marry, and she would do it for country, not for herself.

“I’m here, aren’t I?” grumbled Naran.

“In body, maybe. The spirit must be coaxed,” the queen volleyed back.

Or broken, Naran thought bitterly as she took another long draft of wine.

The women stood side-by-side for a while, appraising the room. There were lots of marriageable prospects among the crowd—the princess’s grandfather had seen to it—but most were decades too old or so feeble that they spent most of the night observing their options from their chairs. On the other hand, there were some so young that Naran suspected their governesses or caretakers were lurking just outside the hall.

Her future was dimming by the second.

“Come now,” added her mother, “it’s not so bad as all that. I did let you wear your deel instead of a Western dress, a decision I am regretting now that I see you’re the only one in a costume of your homeland.”

“Shouldn’t that please you? I stand out.”

“Yes, though I think it remarks more on your stubbornness than anything else. Even those from Goryeo went Western traditional.”

Naran sighed.

“What about Prince Hyungwon?” Queen Jigme continued with a sly voice that betrayed her.

The princess narrowed her eyes at her mother. “What about him?”

“No matter which way you look at it, he's a better prospect for you than anybody here.”

Against her will, Naran’s eyes slid across the lavishly appointed ballroom to the tall, thin man with long charcoal hair, a beardless face, and an inscrutable expression. There was an air in his posture that made him look richer than anyone else in the room, though part of that no doubt came with the fact that his empire was certainly one of the largest. In reality, though, it was down to the way he wore his suit—jacket unbuttoned, dress shirt open two buttons too deep just the same as his cuffs, and cravat unspooled like he was heading to bed at any moment. None of these other stuffed-shirts would dare to look so relaxed.

Not that she was paying attention of course…

“What on earth would possess you to say that?” the princess snapped to her mother as she polished off her port.

“He’s certainly the handsomest man out there,” observed the queen.

“Oh, and he knows it.”

Again, since Naran definitely hadn’t been watching him all night, she hadn’t picked up on the way the prince chatted with every pretty girl in his vicinity... And she definitely hadn't studied the way his face collapsed into perfect apathy the moment he was ready to move on to more fertile grounds, leaving a string of bereft royals in his wake.

“To say nothing of the fact that his kingdom abuts ours,” the queen continued. “We’re already neighbors.”

“Oh, so he’s obligated to choose Moghulikhan just because we share part of a border? Our lands may be vast, Mother, but half of them are empty desert. We’re not resource-rich like Chalukya or Lotharingia nor do we have the breadth of their armies. Why on earth would Prince Hyungwon ever marry me over Princess Bhataki or Princess Flavia when their empires are twice as wealthy and neither of them openly balks at Court obligations? He won't have to settle for anything less than exactly what he wants. It's not like he has a clock ticking.”

“Sometimes I wonder about you,” Jigme said with a gentle shake of her head. “Clearly, I’ve indulged you far too much. You know nothing of politics, Narangerel. Prince Hyungwon may be a man, but he's also the last of his line. With no other heirs, he will need to provide some for his throne lest he throw his realm into chaos.”

“That may be, but unlike us,” the princess objected, “he can have children at any age.”

“My darling child, a throne may sit on solid ground, but it can be overturned at any moment. With no other heirs behind him, his family line is less and less secure every day. The Chae lineage may be storied, but people will talk. They already are talking. The longer Goryeo hesitates on forging a match, the closer things march toward open season on its reign. Nothing is secure in this life, dear, least of all power.”

“So, what? The prince is here tonight to find a bride?”

“Well, he certainly didn’t travel twice as far as we did for just for caviar.”

Naran glared at her mother, but as annoyed as she was, she couldn’t keep her eyes on her now that her interest had been reluctantly piqued. It had nothing to do with the prince’s looks, of course, but intrigue was intrigue, she told herself. It was only natural.

Prince Hyungwon did not look back. He was too busy feigning attention to the Countess de Bourgh, who was prattling on about her new summer villa, no doubt, as she had to any poor fool who had crossed her path that night. But when Naran could convince her eyes to finally stray from his button mushroom nose and jutting, plump upper lip, she found someone else who seemed to have just as much interest in the young prince’s company as she did.

Seated at the most prominent table in the center of the room was the Emperor of Goryeo himself, the prince’s father, Emperor Gongmin. He was a much smaller man than his son, with a round, flat face and perceptive eyes. It was clear the prince favored his mother’s elegant looks as well as her attention span, as she was lost in her wine glass while the Empress of Wu yammered on beside her.

Queen Jigme smiled and said shrewdly, “You see now, don't you?”

Naran shrugged a shoulder. “They seem like they're having a nice time.”

“Perhaps the empress is enjoying herself, but you know the emperor hasn't eaten so much of a grain of rice tonight. He has eyes on everything.”

“Very well, Mother, I will play your silly games. On whom does the emperor have eyes?”

“I would say there are two frontrunners. The Princess of Champa and the Princess of Dai Viet. Princess Binh is plenty young enough to bear many heirs and from to an exotic kingdom without an heir apparent while Princess Tham is newly widowed, still young, and has only borne two daughters. The Fates would say she is due for a boy. And I have heard the Dai Viet palace is covered in gold while their mountains are said to be filled with precious stones. It would be a good alliance to make.”

“I suppose either one would make a suitable match if it weren't for one problem,” Naran said with an eyebrow raised.

“Oh, and what is that?”

“The prince isn’t interested in either one of them.”

The queen hummed. “What makes you say that, my sun?”

“Princess Binh is far too talkative and he cares little for conversation, and Princess Tham flatters him far too much. It makes him uncomfortable.”

The corner of the queen’s mouth twitched. “Does it now?”

“Not that I've been watching,” Naran added. “It’s just what I’ve heard other guests saying over their wine goblets.”

“Hm. Well, in the end, we both know that doesn't matter, does it, my child? The prince will marry whomever the emperor tells him to marry.”

“I suppose you're right about that, as you’ve been right about nearly everything tonight.”

Queen Jigme nodded, an odd light illuminating the dark wells of her eyes. “How pleased I am to hear you say that because I should like to return to the discussion about the third and best option for the prince’s marriage.”

There was a long pause as understanding simmered between mother and daughter, and slowly, a red aura crept above the collar of Naran’s deel.

“Mother, you cannot be serious!” she snapped, loud enough that a few other nearby royals glanced their way.

The queen hushed her daughter with a pinch to her side and a heavy sneer. Despite the Court decorum her mother otherwise fought to uphold, she gripped both of the princess’s arms and squared her daughter to face her. Jigme’s voice was low but firm as she said, “Naran, this is our one chance at protection from Goryeo’s might. Especially with your father still ill, we are doomed without this union.”

The princess tried to shake the older woman’s grip, but it was relentless. Though she tried to sound cavalier, Naran’s voice wavered as she said, “You’re being dramatic again, Mother.”

“Hardly. Goryeo has been overthrowing kingdom after kingdom. Perhaps you’re too young to remember Ladakh, but no doubt you learned about it in your schooling.”

“I did.”

“So you know what happened to them, to my people,” said the queen. Her voice was clipped and her eyes were tight. “Goryeo took them over in a week. A week, Naran. And they were Moghulikhan’s direct neighbor, the only kingdom left between Goryeo’s might and ours. Now that our lands share a border, I’m sure it won’t be long before that irks Emperor Gongmin. Moghulikhan might be large, but as you pointed out, we don’t have the population Goryeo does. It’s been but thirty years since that takeover, and no doubt the Emperor's hunger for power and country has only amplified.

“Still, he’s a tactician at heart. He knows our army might not be as large as his, but we are fierce and brutal, and our kingdom is like four in one. It would be devastating to the unfamiliar army once they hit, say, the Gobi. But that need never come to pass if our kingdoms unite peacefully.”

The princess rolled her whole head with her eyes. “And I’m supposed to fix that how?”

“Don’t be obtuse, Narangerel. You were raised in a court. You know that alliances are the only way to secure one’s self and one’s vassals, and there’s no alliance stronger than a blood alliance. If Prince Hyungwon selects you as his princess before other arrangements are made, then there’s nothing to worry about any longer. No one would dare trifle with our kingdom with the strength of Goryeo behind us.”

“You’ve just described the worst kind of bully. Why on earth would I want to marry someone like that for all the good looks in the realms? Do you know your daughter at all?”

Jigme rubbed the princess’s arms before she squeezed Naran’s hands. “Indeed, I do, my love. You think I would propose Saran to such a family? Your sister could never conquer them. She’s too sweet and gentle. She’d be swallowed up. But you, my sun, my strength… You have the wit and the courage and the cleverness to make men fear you.”

“So why don’t I just make them so afraid of me they leave us alone entirely?”

“And there’s the wit. Naran, you must learn to look beyond what your eyes can observe the way you trust Altantsetseg on the steppe. Let me be your eagle in this hunt, my love. I know the battlefields better than you do; I’ve lived my entire life on them. Emperor Gongmin may be a shrewd monarch, but Prince Hyungwon is malleable. He is his own man, a man who will one day be king. In the right hands, he will be merciful and kind. In the wrong ones, he will be a foolish puppet. What would you have, child?”

“I would have you talk sense,” Naran quipped. “Through a twist of fate, I may have been born into this world, but it is not my world, Mother. I could never be ‘the right hands.’ I care nothing for the games of idle men. I care only for an open sky and a wind-swept bluff.”

Jigme looked softly at her daughter. She brushed a stray tendril of mahogany hair behind the princess’s ear and said, “Be that as it may, the choice is not yours to make. You will make your way to the prince, and you will introduce yourself with a smile. Once he sees that, everything will fall into place, I’m sure of it. You are very beautiful tonight, my daughter, as always, and never more so when you offer up one of those rare smiles.”

“And what happens when he ignores me as he has every other woman tonight? What of all your schemes?”

The older woman quirked one of her silver brows. “That is an outcome I cannot accept. I am confident I have read the omens right.”

“Mother—”

“Shall I make the introduction?”

“Don’t bother. It will be over before you finish it. Let me embarrass myself alone.”

It went against tradition, but the queen knew better than to argue when she’d already won. “Go now, Naran. The prince is waiting for you.”

With that, Queen Jigme plucked the wine glass from her daughter’s hand and folded back into the ring of elder monarchs surveying the hall from stations along murals of bygone conquests. Even in the perfect silence of the vast grasslands, Naran had never felt so alone.

She was stunned to the point of paralysis. There it was, her future laid out with horrifying clarity. She was expected to pair up and breed like a mare only with far less freedom. It didn’t matter if the stud they’d chosen for her was significantly younger and more agreeable-looking than the rest of the stable—the fences were closing in all around her until, slowly but surely, she would be broken.

From his vantage point across the room at one of the many white-clothed tables, Naran’s grandfather smiled at her as though it was all going according to plan. As if to underscore this, his eyes slid further down the dance floor to the corner, where Chae Hyungwon, Crown Prince of the Goryeo Empire, watched the ruby port inside his goblet twirl like a skirt.

Naran was trembling. She’d faced off with packs of wolves the same as packs of thieves and lived through them, and while the rush of adrenaline coursing through her veins was identical, the anxiety swelling her throat was something new, something she’d never felt before.

With a heavy breath, she shuffled inelegantly in her kitten heels across the ballroom floor and tried to call forth her eagle’s fearless spirit.

“Give me strength, Altantsetseg,” she whispered, and she swore she felt the beat of its wings in her gut.

The prince had his back to Naran, which was a thousand times more terrifying than if he’d seen her coming, for now she had to beg for his attention, and the princess hadn’t begged for a thing since she’d been a petulant runt at their chef’s knees, whining for treats after a day out in the grasslands. This was as far as she could get from such whimsies.

Though Naran was tall for a woman, taller even than many of the men here tonight, Hyungwon was a whole head taller than she. His jacket strained against shoulders so broad, they looked like they could rival her eagle’s wingspan, and again, she felt that unusual flutter inside her. The princess had to remind herself quickly that she was in charge of her fate, not her mother and not some handsome stranger who embodied everything she hated about Court.

Naran cleared her throat, but the prince did not turn. She had to get this over with quickly, like landing the mercy blow to wild game, and the simplicity and familiarity of the image spurred her tongue to action. She defaulted to English as she had all night, but if Prince Hyungwon didn’t speak it, all the better. Since she didn’t know a word of his language, she could be gone with a cordial bow and her duty would end.

“It appears I may be the only lady in this ballroom with whom you have not spoken tonight, my lord.”

Prince Hyungwon turned on his heel, and the air rushed out of her lungs. This close, he was arresting. Gone was the aloof gaze he had sported much of the night, replaced instead by keen eyes the color of roasted pine nuts that were just as warm and comforting. The baubles of his cheeks were high with a half-smile, and for a second, Naran thought she was the only person in the room with him.

“Are you jealous?” he said in perfect English and an unexpected flavor of cockiness, and that, more than anything, returned her senses to her.

“Hardly,” the princess retorted. “But others expect an interaction, so I’m obliged to give one for show.”

Hyungwon recoiled, genuine horror in his eyes. “I’m sorry, my lady. I fear the wine has loosened my lips. I meant no offense.”

“And I take none, sire. I am merely telling you that I am here as an emissary of my mother, Queen Consort of the Kingdom of Moghulikhan. She bade me greet you on behalf of our country. I am Princess Narangerel.”

Naran bowed, which Hyungwon echoed with one of his own, and when he came back up, his ears were pink and his grin was sheepish.

“It seems I have not made as good of an impression on the princess as I have on the queen. Will you forgive me?”

“There’s nothing to forgive, my lord.”

Hyungwon cocked his head to the side as he studied her. “Really? Because it seems like you’re already looking for a way out of this conversation.”

“Don’t take it personally. I look for a way out of most conversations.”

“Perhaps I should though,” he persisted. “You conversed with the Viscount LaCroix for quite a while.”

Naran’s jaw dropped. He’d noticed that?

“It wasn’t for lack of trying, my lord, I assure you.”

Hyungwon smirked. “Very well then. I am satisfied.”

“I’m so pleased,” she deadpanned before she could stop herself. Thankfully, instead of affronted, the prince looked surprised with the vaguest hint of amusement. As far as torture went, things could have been much worse.

And then they were.

Out of the corner of her eye, Naran caught her mother, who only ever had clear vision when it came to her daughters and what they weren’t doing, edging discreetly closer. Panic set in. If the queen overheard any of this absurd and impolite conversation, she would be mortified and the princess would probably be permanently chaperoned. Who knew what untold horrors would be foisted on her? A shiver ran through Naran at the thought of all the potential obligations she couldn’t escape, and before the bile could rise in her throat, she doubled down on the lesser of two evils.

“Just go along with this, my lord, and everything will be over faster, yes?” she whispered to a very confused prince before she proclaimed much louder, “How handsome His Highness looks this evening! And how well you converse! I’ve never seen such happy manners on a prince before.”

Hyungwon blinked. “What on earth are you—”

Still louder, Naran said, “Your kingdom is very lucky to have such a genial lord at its helm. I see your long travels haven’t fatigued you at all. I trust the palace is to your liking?”

The prince was stunned into silence for a moment before those full lips tightened. “Listen, my lady, I’m not in the mood for—”

“Oh, shut up, and just agree with anything I said, so we can move on,” she hissed.

“Wait, you don’t want to be here?”

“Of course not. And neither do you. Thanks to that scowl, I could tell that from across the ballroom.”

“I thought this sort of thing is what all maidens wanted?”

“‘Maidens,’ huh? Please. To be paraded like ponies at auction in hopes of a high bid? I think not. And what of the other twenty maidens who go home with disappointed hopes of proving valuable to families that only care for their male heirs? We maidens must sit in our rooms wondering what we did wrong and how we could have done better because if we’re not bearing heirs, then we’re just a waste of resources, aren’t we? So tell me again how odious this party is for you—and how elegant your suit looks, my prince! Did you have it custom-tailored or is it a family heirloom?” Naran’s voice switched into a strained soprano as she caught her mother leaning in closer.

Hyungwon stared at the princess in utter confusion, and exasperation was setting in. As low and as sharply as she could manage, she grumbled, "Say something, please."

His eyes flicked to Queen Jigme only to find his father now beside the gray-haired woman, and, at last, he nodded. “Ah, um, yes, it was tailored just for tonight. I’m glad it is to your liking, my lady.”

“Oh, thank God,” the princess mumbled. If she could have wiped her brow, she would have.

“Would you like to dance, Princess Narangerel?”

What! No, no, no!

Her heart was in her throat and her eyes zipped back and forth for a way out though there was none. Hyungwon’s offer had been overheard by the ears that mattered most, and there was no way to refute him without the greatest offense.

“I guess I have to say yes now,” she answered quietly enough that the prince could hear her and her mother could not.

Hyungwon blinked his big brown eyes before he narrowed them. “Did I misunderstand something? That wasn’t what you wanted?”

“No! Now they’ll think you have some sort of interest in me. You haven’t asked anyone else to dance all night. You must fix this, sire.”

“And how am I to do that?”

Naran growled. “Have you never been to a ball before? And my mother thinks I’m clueless! Obviously, you’ll have to ask a few other ladies to dance to throw them off the scent or we’ll be associated with one another from here on out. Is that what you want?”

“I don’t know what’s going on,” Hyungwon admitted, the pinkness back on his ears. “You have me completely bewildered, my lady. All I wanted was to retire to my room for the night.”

“Well, now you can’t. We must dance and you must then dance with others. There’s no getting around it. How can you know so little of Court when you are prince of one of the realms’ greatest empires? Honestly, who raised you?”

Gone were any pretenses for civility, and Naran knew she had overstepped about a hundred rules of polite society, but she was feeling anything but polite.

Unlike her carelessness, the prince raised his glass to his lips, took a long drink, and said coolly, “You’re awfully brash for a woman.”

“And you’re precisely as thick for a man. Now, walk me to the dance floor so we can get this over with.”

The prince offered his hand, and Naran took it because she had no choice. Even so, she jolted at the feel of his hot skin under hers. His hands were smooth and babied and perhaps had never seen a day’s labor, where hers were rough and calloused from handling a bow and knives. She wished she’d worn gloves as her mother had urged.

Together, they waited at the edge of the dance floor alongside a dozen other couples, some married, some courting, but all staring at the unlikely pair. Naran held her head high and straight and tried not to collapse under the weight of so much perception. Neither said a word to the other as they waited awkwardly, hand-in-hand for want of any other option, while the previous dance concluded. The moment it did, Prince Hyungwon gestured for her to take to the floor, and they parted, her hand throbbing as she buried it in the folds of her skirt to dry it off.

Naran didn’t dare look back to her mother, especially knowing the Emperor of Goryeo waited right by her side. She focused, instead, on the billowing folds of the prince’s shirt and the flashes of his glossy chest that peeked through when the tie at his collar pulled taut.

As the orchestra reset for the next dance, the room fell silent save for a babble of whispers as rhythmic as the wind through the reeds. Her grandfather’s ballroom was large and magnificent, yet Naran felt the walls closing in around her, especially when she spied the old man’s sun-beaten, smiling face leaving the conductor’s side.

At last, the music swelled, and much to her horror, she recognized it as a waltz. Naran wasn’t good at the waltz. It had come over from the West, and she had only practiced it a few times before tonight at her grandfather’s behest in the hopes she might impress a Western lord. She didn’t expect it to be familiar to Prince Hyungwon either, but if he was uncomfortable, he masked it well.

She took the first steps toward her partner as he met her half-way. His hand opened, and hers filled it again as required. They met and parted a few times to the gentle melody before joining more permanently side-by-side for the next few bars. Once she’d gotten the flow down well enough that she could keep her feet under her without constant coaxing, the princess’s painful awareness of her predicament returned to her.

“Curse him,” Naran whispered under her breath, but since the prince was at her side, he caught her words.

“Are you cursing me?”

“Soon enough, no doubt,” she said boldly, but he didn’t take her bait. As they split across from each other for a series of inelegant hops that Naran had to meticulously count in her head, she grumbled, “I’m going to embarrass you, sire. I’m not very good at this.”

“You’re lovely.”

“I feel like a fish tossed on land. This is nothing like our traditional dances.”

Hyungwon hummed as his hand lifted hers aloft for her to spin under it. “What are those like?”

“Lively,” she said. “Noisy. Fun. Elegance and restraint have no place in Moghul dances. It’s a celebration, not a funeral.”

“You're a very singular woman, Princess Narangerel.”

She scoffed. “And there's yet another falsehood. There are many women like me, but few who have the luxury having of such a mouth or a mind. If you think all women long to sit at home all day nursing babies and picking out garlands for the next gala, you are well and truly misinformed, my prince, just as not all men think of conquering every surrounding kingdom to increase the size of their manhoods.”

The prince’s hand squeezed a little tighter around her shoulder before they parted for a fresh orbit around one another. “That feels like a very thinly-veiled opinion of someone I might know.”

“I have no idea what you mean, my lord. My god, will this song ever end?”

Hyungwon laughed. “It just started.”

Why wasn’t her brazenness putting him off? This was torture.

Naran growled and kept her focus hard and fast to her feet, which were supposed to be light and fluttery, but that heavy sensation stayed rooted to her stomach. “Is everybody still watching us?”

“I’m afraid so. You can look at me, too, you know,” the prince informed with a smile evident in his voice.

“It’s not a good idea,” the princess insisted. “I don’t want people to get any more of the wrong impression.”

Their toes met and then their hands as they completed the next turn in the dance.

“Which is?”

“That you’re interested in me,” she answered. Naran risked a glance up at his face and instantly regretted it. “It would be helpful if you stopped smiling, sire.”

Another turn, another kiss of their fingertips.

“I can’t help it,” Hyungwon said. “You’re the first entertaining person all night.”

“How can I convince you otherwise?”

The prince’s smile only broadened, and as soon as she caught a glimpse of it, she had no hope of looking at anything else.

“You know, I do know who you are, Princess Narangerel. Your reputation as a spirit-crusher precedes you."

"Ah, is that what they say about me? How delightful. That should be warning enough for you then, yes?”

“No.”

Naran scowled. “Then would you like to know your reputation, my prince?”

“I doubt I’ll like it as much as you like yours.”

“Oh, very true, but since I’m a spirit-crusher, I'll tell you anyway. You, sire, don’t speak until spoken to unless it’s a pretty serving lass with an ample bosom.”

Hyungwon pressed his lips together as his brow knitted. “Is that really what they say?”

“Indeed. Do you disagree with it?”

“I probably should.”

Naran smiled despite her better judgment.

“At least there’s no shortage of bosom on display for you tonight,” she added.

“Unfortunately, it comes with expectations. The serving lasses have none.”

“You’re as frank as I am, my lord.”

Hyungwon looked down at the princess, and there was a fondness in his gaze that she really didn’t trust.

“What a pair we make,” he said softly.

But what Naran lacked in decorum, she made up for with a hunter’s perceptions. Before her, Hyungwon had played the part of a respectful suitor until the amusement of the moment wore off and his true indifferent colors shown through. Granted, he had taken it up to the next level with this dance, but there was no reason to expect any other outcome. At least she could cling to that.

Hyungwon lifted his hand, and again, Naran was obliged to twirl once beneath it. The skirt of her deel flared around her ankles, stirring a breeze up her legs.

“You dance very well, Princess.”

“Your usual company is serving lasses, so I'll take that compliment with a grain of salt.”

The prince laughed, and the sound was so buoyant, her chest leapt with it. And then resentment immediately crept back in.

“I’m glad one of us is enjoying ourselves tonight.”

“You couldn’t be more wrong, you know,” Hyungwon replied. “This party is just as much torture for me as it is for you. You don’t know what it’s like to support the weight of an entire kingdom on your shoulders.”

“Shows what His Highness knows. I have no brothers, hence no heirs. I’m Moghulikan’s only hope for stability. If I do not marry well, our line could be overthrown before my sister even comes of age to do what I can not.”

“Then, you are right. I am wrong. We are in the same boat.”

Naran narrowed her eyes at him. “I appreciate your concession, my prince, but perhaps it’s time we stop looking so familiar with one another.”

“Now, that will be difficult.”

Naran cocked her head. “Why is that?”

“Because this is the part where the tempo slows.”

Just then, the music dipped and the dance shifted from arm’s length fleeting touches to a fixed hold. They lined up, hip to hip, the princess facing one way and the prince facing the other. It would have been the best outcome were it not for Hyungwon’s hand curling across her stomach around her waist in a way that hers had to mirror on him, and as he tugged their sides flush, their free hands met overhead to lock them into a pirouette.

Together, they spun like tops across the floor as the final movement wound on for what felt like eternity. Around her, faces blurred, but one thing was clear—everyone in the hall was watching them.

“I’m going to be sick,” Naran confessed.

Hyungwon held her tighter as he assured, “It’s almost over. Just look into my eyes, Princess. It will steady you.”

It did and it didn’t.

Those dark orbs stared down at her, framed by the soft pillows of his lids as he smiled lightly, and it was more dizzying than the constant spinning.

At last, the music concluded to a polite round of applause from the assembly. The other couples had separated to bow to one another, but Hyungwon still held her waist. Naran wriggled her hand free to hold her temples and slow the spinning in her brain.

None of this should have happened. It was just supposed to be a rushed introduction to get her mother off her back and the prince out of the running for Savior of Moghulikhan, yet here Naran was, breathless and antsy and side-by-side with any other princess’s dream catch.

“What do you say to another dance, please, your grace?” asked Prince Hyungwon, his hand hanging mid-air in offer.

“Out of the question,” Naran hissed, her eyes darting to the shadowy faces gawking from the sidelines.

Undeterred, he said, “Would you rather take this discussion into the hall?”

Her stomach dropped. As suggestive as it was dancing two songs back-to-back with the same partner, sneaking away was outright confirmation of an understanding or worse, an illicit relationship, and there was no way Naran could risk that, just as she couldn’t risk abandoning him slack-jawed on the dance floor for the gossipmongers and her very angry mother.

“Fine, but it ends after this. I feel like I’m suffocating.” The princess tugged at the collar of her deel, but it may as well have been a noose tightening around her throat.

The music kicked up, and once again, Naran spotted her grandfather leaving the band’s station. Instead of a rather suggestive waltz, it was a smooth and patient minuet that left far too much time for conversation in between the languid notes.

“Damn it all to hell,” Naran whispered as they circled each other. “You’ll have to dance with at least four other ladies now.”

Her partner stared back at her with a perfectly blank face. “I have no intentions of doing so.”

“Really, Prince Hyungwon, why must you be so obstinate? If you do not, then everyone will presume an understanding has been made between us, which will obligate us to marry. Is that what you really want?”

The prince shrugged. “It’s less loathsome than the thought of marrying any of these other royals.”

Shock took a backseat to outrage as Naran’s eyes bolted to his blank stare. “No, no, no, no, no. Did you ever consider that I do not wish to marry?”

“Am I that repulsive of an option?” he asked, and Naran could hear a hint of hurt in his husky voice that made even her feel a little guilty.

“My prince, it’s not a matter of marrying you. Perhaps I do not wish to marry at all. There’s no glamor in that, contrary to what the fairytales promise. It’s tedious obligation after tedious obligation, and excepting weddings and births, you’re always bound to your stupid castle. If I do not become queen, then I am free to exist as I wish. I can sleep until midday or bathe under a waterfall or stargaze on the open plain if I so desire.”

“And what if I offer you that same freedom with this marriage?”

Naran laughed. “You’re serious? Why on earth would you ever wish for a wife who cares so little for court or you?”

“Maybe because I have no wish to marry either, but as the sole heir to Goryeo, I have no choice. If I don’t decide, things will be decided for me. At least with you, I know I’d have my own freedoms.”

“But I’d still be expected to bear your heirs, sire.”

The implication was inescapable, and they both stiffened in each other’s arms.

Hyungwon nibbled on his bottom lip before he finally nodded. "There’s no getting around that, I suppose.”

“There is not.”

“I take it you never had any desire for children?”

“On the contrary,” Naran replied, “I’d love them, which is why I would never wish for the responsibilities of this life to fall on them.”

Hyungwon hung his head, laden with his own understanding. “We could raise them differently. Just as our marriage would be unconventional and without expectations, we could choose to raise any children we had as such.”

“You surprise me, my prince, and, if I’m honest, it’s more than a little tempting all things considered, but I think we both know that would be impossible. We may be at the height of our realms, but we answer to everyone instead of no one.”

Thin as he was, the prince looked heavy again under the weight of his tremendous burden.

“If I may,” Naran continued as she dipped under his hand for another twirl, “why don’t you dance with Princess Ophelia? She’s a quiet sort of girl from a robust kingdom and would likely leave you your peace while acting like a true queen when the time comes. My mother also thinks Princess Binh might be a good match for you.”

“You’ve talked about me?” Hyungwon said rather hopefully, and Naran swallowed hard. His charms were too pervasive.

“My mother did,” she corrected. “And speaking of, I should get back to her…”

Naran broke her hand from his and started toward the now-aghast Queen Jigme when the prince grabbed her wrist and jerked her back to him. She landed with an oomph in his arms, the sticks pinning up her hair clattering somewhere behind her. Her face was lost in the folds of his shirt and the smell of intoxicating oils like yuja and clove beneath it. She wondered if he’d rubbed them on his own chest or if someone else had had the duty of anointing him.

Her heart hammered though her lungs caught as she hoped against hope that she would fade into him like a shadow until no one in the room noticed her at all. But it was for nothing. The music still played, but it became background noise beneath the murmur of royal bystanders.

Suddenly, Hyungwon’s cheek was in her hair, his mouth finding her ear through her unraveling black tresses.

“Princess Narangerel, my father intends to invade Moghulikhan. Marry me and we can prevent this.”

It was just as Queen Jigme feared, and Hyungwon knew it. Naran was faced now with turning her back on her family and her entire kingdom with full knowledge and selfishness or falling in league with a handsome prince who promised to give her the life she sought anyway. It was no doubt an empty promise, but even if it were, the threat was now real. Knowing what she knew, could she really turn him down?

“Damn you,” she whispered back, her nails digging in through the thin silk of his shirt.

“Is that a yes, princess?”

“Yes,” she seethed.

“Then I will go to my father at once and arrange everything. We shall make the announcement tonight.”

Hyungwon released her and stalked over to his father, ushering him out of the ballroom and leaving the princess red-faced and shaking in a sea of jealous and shocked gawkers. The room whirled, and her stomach lurched. Everything Naran had ever known had just been undone in the span of two songs.

Her mother was at her side in an instant, smoothing her hair and thumbing at the rosy bloom in her daughter’s cheeks.

“Oh, my sun, you’ve made the right decision! I knew you would!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Mother,” Naran insisted, hoping that her denial would alter reality.

“Did the prince not propose? Did you not say yes?”

“It was a dance. Just a dance.”

“A dance? When Prince Hyungwon has danced with no one but family in years? When his lips were in your hair? Surely, you jest, my child. No, this means everything. You have saved your homeland. Our people will adore you for it. Saran will adore you for it. When she comes of age, there won’t be a royal in all the realms who won’t seek to woo her. She will have her choice of kingdom thanks to your enviable match. It will silence at last the issue of heirs amongst our own people, for Goryeo’s backing will be incentive enough to dissuade usurpers until your sister can bear the next king.”

Naran’s throat was drier than the Gobi. She pinched her eyes shut against the onslaught of cold knowledge relentlessly bombarding her. “That’s just what I want—my little sister having to endure this nonsense.”

“She will not have to, darling! Suitors will come to her. She can marry for love or country.”

“She can have everything I cannot.”

Queen Jigme took her daughter’s face in hand and smiled warmly at her. “Who is to say that you cannot? Duty may bind you, but it doesn’t have to unmake you, dearest. There is something to your prince. When you’ve survived as long as I have in the world, you can see it. Only someone special like you, my Narangerel, can awaken it. Is Prince Hyungwon not handsome?”

Reluctantly, the princess nodded.

“Is he not charming?”

“When he wants to be.”

The queen’s voice dropped hard and low as her grip tightened. “Did he give you a reason to fear him?”

Naran pictured Hyungwon’s soft cinnamon eyes studying her as they twirled across the dance floor, and though her chest tightened at the memory, it wasn’t founded in the same kind of fear she felt when she squared off with a pack of wolves. The princess shook her head. “No, nothing like that.”

The queen let out a relieved sigh. “Good, because I would not part with you for all the alliances in the realms in trade for your safety. So, it is only your pride that holds you back?”

“Not pride, Mother. Freedom.”

“Do you respect the prince?”

“I hardly know him.”

Jigme glowered at her. “That has never stopped my daughter from making a snap judgment before.”

Naran didn’t want to say yes. That was the same thing as condoning the whole preposterous arrangement. And yet… It was hard to forget the gentleness in his cheeks and the calmness in his voice as he promised things she knew she shouldn’t dream of any longer.

“I suppose more than I do these other preening fools.”

“Then take heart, my sun. If there is respect, there can be love. You will want for nothing. There will be peace further than your eagle can soar. You have already done more for your kingdom than most rulers can ever hope to do.”

Strangely, Naran felt her heart in her throat. It was yet another promise that seemed impossible to deliver. “That presumes Emperor Gongmin will approve the match…”

Before her mother could even open her mouth to answer, Prince Hyungwon sped across the ballroom faster than she had imagined such a cavalier man ever moving. The entire party was watching as he bowed deeply to Queen Jigme before extending his hand to the princess.

Naran had no choice, she had to take it, and instead of simply holding her hand, he laced his fingers through hers so she had no way to pull away. His skin was hot and sweaty, but so was hers, and at least she could take comfort in the fact that he was as uncomfortable with this unbearable spotlight as she was.

“What’s going on?” she whispered. “Did your father not approve our arrangement?”

Even if the match had never been something she had wanted for herself, it would be even more humiliating to be turned down.

Worryingly, Hyungwon did not answer though he also did not stop pulling her to the head of the hall. There, beneath a fresco of a khan and his warrior bride surveying a battle from a mountain ledge, the prince stopped and tugged Naran close to his side. His hand tightened in hers, and it felt almost like he was using her to keep upright. She didn’t bother to balk because she needed the same.

Heavy footsteps approached from the side, and Naran lifted her eyes. Emperor Gongmin seemed to fill the room like a great balloon, puffing mightier and mightier with each passing second. All eyes had already turned to the front of the hall in anticipation of what the greatest ruler in the East had to say.

The emperor raised his glass to the party and grinned with a hollowness that Naran had yet to find in his son. His voice boomed across the room, even vibrating in the glassware on the tables. “First, I would like to extend my gratitude and appreciation to the mighty Toqu Khan for hosting us all at his beautiful palace this week. For many of us, this may be the only time we visit Kipchak, but it will remain forever in our hearts. It has been many long years since I have had the privilege of visiting, but I am happy to report this time has added a fondness for this charming land that I might never have anticipated, because it is thanks to the great Khan’s generosity that I can announce to all the realms that my son, Crown Prince Hyungwon of Goryeo, has finally found his future bride.”

A collective gasp filled the hall to its rafters, and Naran fought to hide her embarrassing tremble. As the spectators tightened ranks, she scanned the rainbow of faces to find her mother and grandfather watching with proud smiles. If they were happy, so too must she try to be. While she couldn’t bear to look at the man beside her, the princess worked hard to cobble some kind of smile together for them.

Emperor Gongmin continued, “Today, I am pleased to announce the joyful union of the Empire of Goryeo to the Kingdom of Moghulikhan. Henceforth, Princess Narangerel will move to Namgyeong to be with her new family, where the happy couple will marry before the whole empire. Please join me in wishing them all possible happiness.”

Applause thundered around them. For as many sycophants and saccharine grins as there were, there were just as many barely concealed scowls and glares, particularly a few other princesses Naran had spied talking up the prince earlier.

“To their many heirs!” shouted someone in the crowd, which was followed by cheers and more applause.

Her grandfather signaled for the band to kick back up as small glasses of clear liquor made their way suspiciously quickly through the ballroom, almost as though they’d been waiting for just such an announcement. The moment the tray appeared to her, Naran shook off Hyungwon’s hand to grab two glasses and down them with lightning speed before the burn of the alcohol could even sear her tongue. Beside her, her husband-to-be eyed her as he nursed his lone glass.

No sooner were the glasses emptied than the emperor had extended his hand to his future daughter-in-law. “Would you honor your new father with a dance, Princess?”

Without so much as the bliss of drunkenness, her body churned and her mind swam as Emperor Gongmin led Naran to the edge of the dance floor and dove right in mid-promenade. She could barely keep her feet under her as they waltzed through the line of raucous partygoers.

“What an enviable match you have made for yourself, Princess Naran,” the emperor observed as they ducked through a tunnel of hands.

“Yes, Your Highness,” she said tightly.

They emerged at the end of the tunnel only to add to it by joining their hands above them for the next dancers. Naran tried to keep her attention on the dance, but the beady eyes of the emperor were relentlessly demanding, and she knew in her bones she needed to rise to his challenge. She met his gaze head on, and the corner of his mouth quirked, pulling a crow’s foot at the edge of his cheek.

“I confess I have never seen my son so interested in his future,” Gongmin added, “which is why I approved the match without first meeting you. He appears genuinely pleased.”

“I am happy to hear so.”

They paired off again for a series of turns about the dance floor, which gave the emperor a chance to soften his voice further. “But I do not have the luxury of being so easy. My son has always been as prone to whimsy as he is to idleness, and this is all very sudden.”

Now, the alcohol was kicking in, mercifully giving Naran the strength she needed in the face of the Lord of the East. “Is that not how most matches are made, Your Highness?”

“Indeed they are, but I’m sure you can appreciate my desire to protect my empire.”

“Excuse my candor, sire, but I don’t believe anyone worries about the future of Goryeo.”

Emperor Gongmin’s hand squeezed hers unexpectedly tightly. “I do, Princess Narangerel, I do. So long as you commit to your new homeland and deliver the promised heirs, we will get along perfectly well. Now, I suggest you two revel in tonight’s festivities for as long as they’re offered. Goryeo always remembers to show its deep appreciation to its hosts, especially when they’re now family.”

The soon-to-be in-laws finished out the last few bars of the dance before they bowed to one another. As the emperor came up, he added with a softer, if disingenuous, smile, “You will make some very pretty children.”

With nothing else to say, Naran bowed again.

As Gongmin stepped aside for his son, he looked at the pair and said, “Enjoy your party, you two.”

Prince Hyungwon joined Naran’s side and offered her the next dance, but she shook her head. “I’m too dizzy. I mean it.”

“Would you like to sit down?”

“I would like to shoot you with an arrow,” she snapped though she took a chair along the wall and let her head rest against the tapestry there as she steadied her heart. “I hope you're happy.”

Hyungwon raised an eyebrow, “About the arrow? Not so much, but otherwise, I am, and so should you be.”

“You just blackmailed me into marriage. Happiness is the last thing from my mind.”

“You’re not the least bit glad to have settled on someone who will at least respect your independence, princess?”

Under the swell of the violin, Naran scoffed. “If you respected my independence, you would have left me to my plan of faking a deadly illness until my sister came of age. Then I could miraculously recover only to live my life as a spinster roaming the plains and hunting with my eagle.”

“You have a very elaborate imagination, my lady,” he said teasingly.

“It’s hardly imagination, my lord. I was set to contract dropsy this very evening.”

Hyungwon laughed. “You don’t contract dropsy; you develop it. Do not worry, the libraries in Changdeokgung are second to none, and they will all be at the princess’s disposal. You can pretend to contract all the illnesses you want when we arrive.”

Naran seethed. Thankfully, the folds of her dress concealed her fists.

“For all that’s just occurred, I am glad I met you, Princess,” said the prince as the orchestra wound down, and the tension left her hands at once. There was a tenderness in his voice that Naran almost let herself mistake as genuine affection, but either way, it made her breath catch. “This is the first time in my whole life I haven’t dreaded my future.”

He was being kind, and maybe it was even working were it not for the fact that it was the first time in Naran’s life that she did dread hers.

“I meant what I said,” Hyungwon continued. “I mean to give you every independence I can in our marriage. We don’t have to love each other so long as we respect each other, and if we can do that, maybe we can be something great for our people—and maybe even each other.”

The prince looked down at her, that beautiful smile showcasing brilliant teeth and lush lips. Naran longed to trust such beauty, but she knew those things were fleeting. Once the chandeliers had been snuffed, the silverware put away, and the spectators dispatched, only cold reality would encroach on them, and she wondered what kind of man her husband would truly be then.

[johaerys-writes]

Hey! I see you sometimes talking about your Achilles being neurodivergent (and I think I saw you mention Patroclus being nd too) and I was wondering if you have any specific headcanon? And, for example, if the headcanons vary depending on the universe of each fic or if they are somewhat fixed.

Hi! My answer is going to be about Achilles, because he is the one I talk the most about being ND.

I personally find that Iliad Achilles has some character traits that are widely recognised now as being on the spectrum: he is very direct and often very blunt; he is quite set in his opinions and has a rigil moral code; he means exactly what he says, often without bothering with societal niceties, and hates when others don't do the same; in the iliad he feels his emotions to the max and has extreme outbursts of anger, frustation, grief etc. So I like to joke about Achilles being on the spectrum and thinking of all the different ways this affects his behaviour.

But the truth is that I don't take all this very seriously, at least when we're talking about canon Achilles, Achilles in general. I'm not a big fan of diagnosing fictional characters with real world conditions, especially when they weren't intended to be perceived this way. When we talk about Achilles, we're talking about an ancient folk hero who appears in a work that was written thousands of years ago, during a time that autism wasn't even a thing-- our very definition of autism that we have today, and being "neurodivergent" in general, is very recent, and until a few years ago someone being on the spectrum meant something completely different, for the most part, than it does now. Achilles is also a demigod and is intentionally written differently from every other character in the Iliad; in that case, perhaps it's his divine ancestry that makes him behave in such ways, like his extreme anger or his bluntness. We can’t really know for sure.

Some people might say "but ASD/ADHD has always existed, we just have a name for it now!" That is true, but the most important thing to keep in mind when saying "oh, x character in autistic/has adhd/some other disorder" is that this isn’t a real person, but the creation of a real person (or real people, in the case of folk heroes). So even if unconsciously, let's say, Homer wrote a character that has autistic traits because it's something he saw in the real world, that would be his own interpretation and his own biases when it comes to this specific group of people. This example is kind of silly because we don't really know who Homer is, if he was one person or many, or what sort of artistic liberties he took when he transplanted Achilles from greek mythos into the Iliad, but I feel like it's something to keep in mind in general when we perceive a certain character to be neurodivergent: that they are only some other person's interpretation of what e.g. autism is, and not what autism actually is.

When it comes to my own personal headcanons, I mostly talk about Achilles being ND in my own works, and specifically in my Disasters AU. His traits are intentionally more pronounced there than in canon or other AUs of mine, because this is how I imagined him and it's the sort of story I wanted to tell. I never spell it out in so many words in the fic itself, and it isn’t even in the tags anywhere, because it isn’t what the story is about. And Achilles' ND traits are mild for the most part I think, and we don't even see a lot of the struggles that he has off screen because, again, it isn’t the focus of the story and also he isn’t a real person lol. He is just someone I wrote and I think it would be kind of unfair and maybe misguided to equate his struggles to those of an actual person living with this disorder because, again, he is my interpretation of what ASD is and looks like and might not correspond to how others experience ASD, and in any case it should all be taken with a grain of salt. But at the same time, I'm glad when someone reads my work and finds a lot of what Achilles does relatable, I think that's one of the coolest things about stories and literature, that we see some of ourselves in there.

I hope this answered your question somewhat! I don’t know if this was what you had in mind when you asked me, but I just felt like I had to put it all out there lol.

[streaminn]

Whew, okie Stream! I have had a real shit day ngl and I need to get it out lol. So, instead of just ranting and raving, I offer my interpretation of the latest update of the Ortegaverse! (I hope y'all don't mind, but I've stolen some ideas that were given here, but most of this is all me)

So, without further ado!! I present,,, Enid after losing Mabel during childbirth. (Note: please forgive any mistakes or inconsistencies with the rest of the AU, I had to take some creative liberties)

Oh god, this doesn't feel real. It feels like just yesterday, Enid was speaking her vows, and now... Now she's all alone again.

Well, she's not alone exactly. No, somehow this is so much worse. Now, Enid has a kid, a daughter.

And she looks just like her

Why? Why? Why does this keep happening? Is Enid just cursed? It sure does feel like it right now. Every time Enid thinks she's found it, found happiness, it gets torn away from her and every time it hurts so much more.

This must be some cruel joke by the universe at this point, some higher beings getting some sort of sick pleasure by seeing Enid suffer. The very process that brought the brightest light to Enid also took away the one person she felt the happiest with. Enid's not sure how much more she can take. Not sure how much more she wants to take.

No.

No, she's not gonna think like that. There's no point in that line of thinking.

And besides, she could never do that to their daughter. Mabel would never forgive her. Enid would never forgive herself.

No, Enid will raise this tiny human and give her the life and love she deserves. Enid is going to be the mom that Esther could never even hope to be. Enid swears with every fiber of herself that this little girl won't go a single day knowing an empty stomach or the icy cold of an unforgiving, unloving mother.

Mabel may not be here physically anymore, but Enid will carry her in her heart and she will gladly give her heart to this girl. Their daughter will know who her mother was and how much she would've loved her if she was here.

This world may be cruel, but Enid won't be. Enid will bear the brunt of all the world's hatred just to ensure her baby never has to know it.

Probably the hardest part of all this is that she doesn't even have a name yet. They both had wanted to wait to choose the baby's name until they saw her, knew that when they did, they'd know just what to call her. But now, Mabel is gone and Enid has to do this on her own. How is she supposed to make this choice?

"Miss Sinclair? Ma'am, did you hear me? Do you have a name yet?"

Enid can barely make out what the doctor's saying as she stares endlessly at her child in her arms. Enid watches every movement carefully, every one of her senses centered solely on the tiny girl. She looks into the baby's eyes, chocolate brown looking back at her and suddenly, Enid is taken back years into the past. Strikingly similar brown eyes swirl through her mind and Enid knows. These eyes so unfairly resemble those emotionless ones from so long ago. The very first pair of eyes Enid ever fell in love with. And as the little girl giggles brightly, Enid smiles just as brightly in return.

"Willa."

(Next part is just my silly little addition)

7 Years later

"C'MON MAMA!! I wanna go on the swings! HURRY!!" Willa shouts, dragging her mother with impressive strength. The last few times they've been to the park, Willa has had to wait hours just to play on the swings. Today, they finally managed to get out of the house at a reasonable time. For some reason, Enid felt lighter today. Getting out of bed this morning was remarkably easy plus last night was the first in years that she slept without any nightmares. It was as if her mind and body had finally synchronized into a mood that wasn't pure depression. Needless to say, Enid was shocked to find that her watch said it was only 8 in the morning when they left home.

Now, Enid was struggling to keep up with her rambunctious daughter as she dashed across the playground area of the park, one hand solidly wrapped around Enid's wrist. Enid laughed at the dark-haired girl's excitement, "Okay, okay! Willa, slow down or you're gonna pop Mama's arm off!"

As the pair ran towards the swingset, Enid caught a glimpse of long, dark hair in signature double braids. Was that? Enid shakes her head. No, of course not. Why would she be here? She wouldn't. That's the point, Enid thinks.

Enid shakes the thought from her head, unwilling to let some trick of the light distract her from a day as bright as this. No, today is all about Enid and Willa.

Thankfully, they make it to the swings just in time, there's only one swing left and Willa jumps on it without hesitation, leaving her mom in the dust, literally. Enid walks around the set and stands behind her daughter, ready to push her.

They go at it for a while. Until Enid hears someone walk up from behind her. Whoever it is, their footsteps are so light that it leads the blonde to believe that they're trying to sneak up on her. It sets Enid on edge, waiting for this idiot to try and attack a mother in broad daylight. She's unable to stop the protective growl that emanates from deep inside her chest. The person behind her stops suddenly at the sound and Enid extends her nails preemptively and speaks without turning, "Don't mess with me. This kitty's got claws and I'm not afraid to use them."

It's barely audible but Enid's sensitive ears catch the sharp inhale from behind her. With her body in full defense mode, Enid turns to face the potential threat only for her own breath to catch at the sight.

"Enid."

"Wednesday?"

And! Scene!!

Okie, I'm gonna go to bed and cry now lol

OKAY

OKAY

You didn't gotta do my heart like that bud but GODSAMN

Personally, I wouldn't think Enid would call her kid Willa, probably too consumed with Mabel's death to think of anyone else. Maybe a second name but not the first

Hope you get better soon mate, I'm sure things will go good eventually

[annymation]

How did the King and Queen change Aster's wish in Swap au?

Been a while since I've answered an ask about the swap AU.

Then again been a while since I've answered asks in general lol

But this gives me an opportunity to imagine an interaction between Swap!Magnifico and Swap!Amaya, and I won't let that pass because I kinda love them.

So here's how that same scenario from Kingdom of Wishes, when Asha was peeking through the door and sees the villains change her wish, would play out in the swap! AU.

Aster questioned everything he had ever known as he listened to the queen and king, changing the wishes from their people, laughing at their misery like this is just a normal routine for them. They've been doing this for years... And now the boy can only watch in horror and wonder... What will they do with his wish?

"Now darling" The queen chimed in, snapping Aster out of his thoughts "What shall our little birthday boy's fate be?" She asked, holding a wish bubble.

Aster's wish bubble.

Amaya took a closer look at it and scoffed "Ugh I should've guessed" she rolls her eyes as she shows the wish to her husband "He wishes to "Make others happy". How pitiful, a wish so vague after all that effort to squeeze it out of him"

She seemed quite frustrated with Aster's wish, to which he didn't know if that was a good or bad thing, maybe she might leave his wish alone and unchanged?

But her husband had other plans.

Aster felt his blood run cold as the king, whose usually so calm and reserved, now has a twisted smile painted on his face, as he clutched the bubble to ponder what to do with it

"Hmmmm the brat's wish certainly is quite vague, alright..." He agreed... But unlike her, he sees this as a golden opportunity "Which gives us a lot of creative liberty to mold it to our liking"

Amaya grins upon seeing his enthusiasm "I see you've got an idea, well then, don't keep me in the dark"

(See- see what I did there? In the original story Mag says "Enlighten me" but here in the swap AU Amaya says "Don't keep me in the dark"... I think that was neat)

"We want to keep that little birdie under our control, do we not?" the king refers to Aster as a bird, since he's an aspiring singer "What better way to do so than to... Cage him up?"

Aster doesn't like the sound of that at all. The boy feels his heart beating faster in fear.

"Ah if only we could lock him in the dungeon, but unfortunately, that'd raise suspicion" The queen lamented dramatically "I'm afraid we can't arrest a child that has committed no crimes"

"Oh but he has committed a crime my queen, the worse one of all" Magnifico said as he gently held his wife's hands, bowing his head devotedly "He raised his voice to you, and for that, I say we take that petulant voice away from him, along with everything he holds dear. I say we make him follow our every whim. I say... We make him a prince."

Aster's eyes widened... What?

"What?" The queen was suddenly unenthused, but she kept her composure "I'm not quite sure I follow, sweetie" She said calmly while caressing her husband's beard

"It's quite simple really. A prince would indeed bring happiness to our people, therefore, you can change his wish to that easily" He explained as he tapped his fingers on the orb with a menacing gleam in his eyes "Poor little Aster will have no clue, but his personality will be fully re-written to fit his new role, as our loyal heir"

Aster could not believe what he heard. He felt his legs shaking as he held on tightly to Valentino in his arms

(Yeah forgot to mention, Aster does have Valentino in this AU)

"And there's where my problem lies, dear..." Amaya felt a shiver run down her spine just by the thought "He'd be the heir to MY throne"

"Ooooh yeah, he would huh?" The king spoke more sarcastically, as he already had a plan to remedy that "It would be such a shame then if the boy, oh I don't know, chocked on some deeefnitely not poisoned piece of food, or maybe fell deathly ill, or perhaps simply fell, period." Magnifico was unhinged as he imagined all the ways he could get hid of Aster. But his face melts into a gentle and warm smile as he turns to his wife, who now seems more on board with his plan "You have nothing to worry yourself with, my goddess. I'll make sure he's out of sight and out of mind in the west wing tower, for as long as he lives... Which won't be that long at all heheeh"

The king chuckled darkly at that. While Aster feels a scream in the back of his throat.

The queen wasn't fully convinced yet, although she did like where this was going "Don't you think the people would find odd if the boy died right after being put under our care?"

"They never found odd when your sister passed all those years ago, I'm sure it'll be no different now" he shrugged dismissively, the wickedness of his smile only growing more and more as he handed the bubble to his wife "If anything, the "tragedy" will give us even more sympathy points"

The queen held the wish, with her mind made up "Your cunning little mind never fails to impress, mi rey" she praised him gently, as he gazed upon her with eyes full of love and devotion.

And with her magic, the queen proceeded to twist Aster's simple wish of fitting in Rosas, to the desire of being their loyal prince, much to Aster's horror as they could only watch from behind that large door, holding in tears.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Bruh this is how I know my writing improved cause' like, I just conveyed the same thing from the original scene, but with the dialogue shorter.

[ahgastae]

paper tiger (part one) – min yoongi x f!reader

➥ word count: 3.7k | college!au | bullet points | fluff | e2f2l | angst (later)

➥ m.list

➥ a/n:  this was originally gonna be a fully written fic but i’m turning it into bullet points and using it as a springboard to (hopefully) escape my writing block. there will be a part two to this!! and probably more depending on how far i go with it! my schedule’s just been,, pretty crazy lol. anyway, feedback is appreciated, as always, and i hope you enjoy ♡

truth be told, you never would have imagined your path would cross with that of the infamous campus “bad boy,” min yoongi. you thought you two were—for lack of better phrasing—complete polar opposites. but then an introductory poetry class forces you both together for a semester-long project, and you learn how to read between more than just the written lines.

it’s move-in day for the new year at your university

you and your friends all made a deal to get there around the same time to help each other get settled bc unpacking can be a bit of a bitch

you normally share a dorm with one of them, but there’s an odd number of you guys this year since nayeon graduated last semester

so you—being the amazing friend you are—took one for the team and accepted the random placement

you’re the first of your group to arrive when you get to campus, so you decide you may as well start taking things up to your room while you wait

fighting your way through the chaos in the main room is a bit of a struggle, but you finally manage to may your way to the elevators

luckily, there’s already one waiting when you get there and with only one other person standing inside

he looks like he must be another student, but for some reason you can’t shake the feeling there’s something familiar about him

maybe you’ve seen him at one of those parties nayeon liked to drag you along to??

the elevator doors start closing before you can dwell on it for too long

your eyes widen and you break into a small jog, clutching onto your box of belongings for dear life as you hurry to make it in time

“wait!” you call out to the guy already in the elevator. “hold the doors, please!”

he doesn’t even look up from his phone.

the elevator doors shut right as you reach them

you slow to a stop with a small huff, trying not to be too frustrated at the fact that that guy just completely blew you off

pretended like he didn’t even notice you sprinting towards him like a mad woman

alright, maybe that’s an exaggeration, but it was still rude

what kind of asshole lets the doors close right in someone’s face just so they can get to their floor a few seconds earlier??

you roll your eyes, pressing the button to call for another elevator and pushing mr. “i’m too impatient to hold the door for two seconds” out of your mind

your friends will be there any minute and you guys have lunch planned after you’re finished unpacking, so you’ve got plenty of other things to focus on

no use getting all worked up over some random guy you’ll probably never see again anyway, even if he was a dick

after spending more time than you’d like to admit lost in the halls, you finally reach your dorm

only to find that your dormmate—whomever they may be—has already taken the liberty to unpack all of their things

and you mean all of their things

the place is already completely cluttered despite it being the very first day and your dormmate being nowhere in sight

you decide figuring that out will just have to be later y/n’s problem, though, bc it’s not long before you get a text from jihyo asking where your dorm is

it’s accompanied by a selfie with all the girls crowded behind her, bright smiles on their faces

you feel a smile of your own coming on as you type out a response

maybe today will go back to looking up after all

later that day, you’re at lunch with all your friends, sharing what you guys did over the summer while you weren’t together

you were pleasantly surprised to find nayeon tagged along, happy to see your old dormie even if you couldn’t live together anymore

you’re in the middle of telling her about a mishap with the bookcase in your new dorm—let’s just say you were not expecting to find a collection of...“adult” novels while putting your textbooks away—when something across the restaurant catches your eye

sitting there, at a booth secluded in the corner, is the asshole guy from the elevator this morning

you kinda panic a bit upon seeing him, hitting your knee on the bottom of the table and catching the attention of the other girls

“everything okay?” jeongyeon asks

you vaguely gesture to the stranger sitting at the table in the corner, briefly explaining what happened w the elevator this morning

you ask nayeon if he was at one of those parties like you thought

“oh, yeah, i know him! that’s min yoongi!” she exclaims. “but i don’t really think he’s the type who would be at one of jackson’s parties.”

this prompts a conversation on just what “type” min yoongi is

which, of course, is the “bad boy”

your friends then take turns speculating about him and the kind of person he is, some even sharing rumors they’ve heard about the infamous min yoongi around campus

jihyo says he used to be the star of the university’s basketball team until he got kicked off for some mysterious reason

“everyone thinks it was fighting or drugs or maybe even something worse, but no one really knows what happened,” she shrugs.

you just kinda nod along, eyes drifting back to the black-haired boy sitting with his small group of friends

you briefly wonder if he’s really all that bad when his eyes suddenly flash up to meet yours

and while you think he’s absolutely beautiful

his glare intimidates you to your very core

and you can’t help but think that maybe the stories are true

the next time you see min yoongi is on the first official day of classes

and you’re running late to your first one bc your dormmate—whom you still have not seen, let alone met—somehow moved your toiletry bag before you could take a shower

you’re on the verge of a breakdown, absolutely refusing to walk in late on the very first day and sprinting across campus with your still-damp hair flailing around behind you

you (unceremoniously) burst into the classroom two minutes before class is scheduled to start, drawing everyone’s attention to you as you stand in the doorway catching your breath

obviously embarrassed but glad not to be late, you sheepishly slink to one of the last available seats in the back of the room

everyone’s eyes are thankfully pulled off of you when the professor starts talking seconds later and you take a moment to actually collect yourself

the professor rattles on about beginning of the semester stuff, attendance and syllabi and all that crap

you kinda let yourself go into daydream mode while he talks

it’s an introductory english class focused solely on poetry and you’re really only taking it to fulfill a liberal arts requirement for your degree

pretty much expected to be your fluff class for this semester tbh

the sound of the classroom door slamming jolts you out of your thoughts, and you jump when you hear a deep voice next to you

you look up to find, lo and behold, none other than min fucking yoongi asking if the seat next to you is available

admittedly, your first reaction is to look around and make sure he’s talking to you, and then see if there’s any other empty seats that are not right next to you

unfortunately (for you, that is), there aren’t, so you have no choice but to nervously nod your head

yoongi doesn’t say anything else as he sits down and you wonder if he recognizes you from the elevator the other day

somewhat hoping he’ll apologize or something so you’ll at least be a little less intimated

but he doesn’t

he doesn’t say anything else for the rest of the class period, doesn’t even look in your general direction at all, and gets up as soon as the professor releases the class

you try not to think too much about it or let it bother you

you take a minute to pack up your thinks since your next class isn’t for a while, standing up from your chair and getting ready to leave when you notice something underneath the desk

you kneel down to pick up the worn, bound notebook and look around to see if any of the students left in the classroom claim it

but no one seems to bat an eye

the next class is already starting to filter in and you don’t want to linger, so you just decide to take it with you for now

you head to the library for a quiet lunch, where you had planned on getting a head start actually reading the syllabi for some of your classes

at least, until that notebook spills out of your bag

it falls open on the floor, giving you a good view of what looks like a poem scribbled on its page

you know you have no business reading it since it’s not yours and is probably fairly personal stuff from your initial skimming

but, soon enough, your curiosity eventually takes over and you’re scanning through the pages and reading the words heartfully scrawled within them

and honestly... your heart kinda breaks for whoever this person is

“the moment i’m flying high as i wished / my shadow grows in that blasting stark light / please don’t let me shine / don’t let me down, don’t let me fly”

their pain is evident in their words, bleeding off the page and right into your sympathetic heart

you have to push those feelings away, though, when you realize there’s about ten minutes left before your next class starts

and that what you just did is a huge invasion of privacy

but... as you sit down in your next lecture...

you can’t help but wonder who the journal’s owner is

and just who came up with all those beautiful words

that night, you and your friends (minus nayeon :( ) are all collected in momo and sana’s dorm room to recount how your first day of the semester has gone

dahyun’s halfway through a story about a girl who took off her shirt to wipe up some coffee she spilled (a real thing that i actually  experienced btw) when you remember the journal

jeongyeon, noticing your lack of attention, asks what’s up

you start with the journal—even guiltily admitting that you may have read a page or two—which then reminds you of your first class that morning

including your experience sitting next to a certain min yoongi

surprisingly, your friends seem to gloss over the fact that you snooped into some stranger’s personal thoughts and feelings and jump to hear about the infamous bad boy who chose to sit next to you of all people

(you pretend to only take a little bit of offense to that)

they ask what he was like and if he said anything to you and if he’s really as scary as people say he is

and you?? don’t really have anything to say?

yeah, he intimidates you to hell and back, but it’s not like he actively did anything to make you afraid of him in any way

you... would maybe even go as far as to say he was kinda cute, even with the seemingly permanent scowl on his face

your friends definitely don’t miss that part

they all start teasing you—in good faith—about having a crush on the “bad boy,” and after only one day of class, no les

you’re adamant that it’s not like that and that you wouldn’t want to get yourself involved with someone “like him” anyway

(even though you really have no idea what that means)

thankfully, your friends let it go pretty fast and move onto some other piece of drama that managed to occur that day

but not before jeongyeon says something, albeit jokingly, that sticks in the back of your mind

“who knows? maybe that mystery journal actually belongs to mr. bad boy himself.”

could it...?

no, that’s probably not it

you decide that can’t be true

what are the chances of min yoongi being able to write like that??

the rest of the night goes by pretty much without incident and you return back to your dorm fairly late

your dormmate is still m.i.a., or at least they are to you

you’re honestly starting to think you’re living with some kind of ghost

how is it possible that you still haven’t run into each other??

but anyway

now that you’re finally alone again...

your mind wanders back to the journal

and its owner

yoongi definitely doesn’t strike you as the type to write something like that

you’re not an expert on poetry or anything (actually quite the opposite), but you just don’t see how it could be him

still, the thought lingers in the back of your mind as you fall asleep

along with the stark image of two dark, clouded eyes

a couple days later, you once again find yourself walking into the lecture hall for your (and yoongi’s) poetry class

with a full day between the last time you’ve seen yoongi, you’ve kinda been able to push him and the journal from your thoughts

you only had a few classes yesterday and spent the rest of your time either waiting for your elusive dormmate to finally reveal themselves or reorganizing your class folders while listening to some music

you never really thought of yourself as a “creative” person, but music was one of the few arts that you could actually find yourself getting lost in

but between school and grades and just growing up in general you found yourself unable to express that passion more and more

and now here you are, an emotionally constipated perfectionist who would sooner keel over than be able to write anything like what was in that journal

and there you go, thinking about it again

at least this time it’s a good thing, since you’re sitting in your poetry class eyeing all the students who walk in

you got there early this time in the hopes of finding the journal’s owner, but so far none of the people who have walked in strike you as the person behind the poems you haven’t been able to shake

then your professor arrives and starts his lecture, and you can’t help but feel a little disappointed as you solemnly resort to taking notes

min yoongi walks in late, again, and you’re surprised when he still sits next to you despite the various empty seats in other parts of the room

you begrudgingly notice that he seems kinda nervous or on edge

you debate asking him if the journal belongs to him when the professor announces the first big “project” of the semester

wow, second day and you’re already getting into the real shit

they really do move quick, don’t they??

he clarifies that yes, it is a big project and a big part of your final grade but that’s why he’s letting you know about it this early

the project is something that’ll take place over the entire semester and will require you to work with at least one other student

already, you’re like “oh fuck” because you don’t know anyone else in the class and you hate group projects as is

why should you have to put your grade in the hands of some other students when you have no idea what kinda work ethic they have??

and especially when you can do it just as well all by yourself???

but before you can mentally rant anymore, your professor goes on to explain what the project actually is

everyone is tasked with writing a series of poems throughout the semester. a portfolio of sorts

they can be as long as you want or in any poetic form you want, as long as they come from the heart and mean something to the person writing them

everyone else seems pretty excited about it but you’re just sitting there confused as hell bc “wtf does that mean??”

but you don’t even get the chance to think about that before someone—a boy in the front row with an?? australian? accent—asks, “then what do we have to work with someone else on?”

and your professor goes on to explain

whoever you work with is basically going to be who you’re bouncing your ideas off of

he wants you to share your poems and ideas back and forth for the entire semester and get your partner’s opinion on your writing before it makes its way to him

see if they can tell if it’s coming from your heart before it gets to the real deal

and then, at the end of the semester, when you (supposedly) have a better understanding of each other due to “connecting” over your poems for four months

you have to write one final poem together and turn it in to him with the rest of your “portfolio”

uhh... what?

he’s expecting you to not only communicate and share your “deepest thoughts” with some stranger in this random fluff class that you basically only took for the easy grade

but he wants you to actually sit down and talk about theirs, too??

the professor finishes up by telling the class they can start splitting off into duos/group now if they want, as long as everyone’s found someone to work with and let him know by next week

he doesn’t “want you guy to waste any time when you could be reflecting!” and people are already starting to flock together inside the classroom

you sit there kinda slack-jawed for a few minutes, watching how most of the class is already finding their groups and declaring themselves partners for the weeks to come

the first thing you think about is how the hell you’re going to find someone adequate to work with by next week

the next is whether you should try and find the journal owner to be your partner

you already know they have a pretty good idea of what they’re doing when it comes to poetry

and, honestly, that’s what you’re going to need since you haven’t been much of a creative yourself for a while now

but how are you going to do that when you have no idea who the journal owner even is??

yoongi, who has also made no attempt to find a partner of his own, rises from his seat, the chair loudly dragging across the tile floor

you’re pulled from your thought yet again, just in time to watch his back as he walks through the classroom door

something in the back of your mind nags at you to go after him as he walks away, but you force it down with a shake of your head

even if he was the journal’s author, there’s no way in hell you’re sticking yourself with min yoongi for the rest of the semester

a week later, you’re just about at your wit’s end

you spent all of the time your professor allocated to you trying to find a partner but it seems like pretty much everyone has already found someone to work with

and you’re too much of a coward to ask if you can join any of the other existing groups

(that and you really want to keep the amount of people you have to interact with to a minimum)

and on top of that, you still don’t know who the journal’s owner is

the two class periods you had in between were just as helpful as the first one you spent looking

meaning not at all

and on top of that

you’re quickly finding that you can’t write poems for shit

everything you’ve tried to write so far has some out sounding forced and cliche

how is it so easy for agust d to do it?

oh, yeah, you also found some kind of nickname or something scribbled into the back cover of the journal, which is what you started calling the owner from then on

at least, what you’ve been calling them in your head

your friends kind of lost interest in the “mysterious journal” story shortly after jihyo started going out with one of the captain on the rival school’s dance team

so you’ve pretty much been left to figure things out on your own

anyway, you walk into class ready to ask your professor if he would be willing to make an exception and let you work by yourself when you receive an odd surprise

min yoongi, who has continued to sit next to you over the past week, is not only back in his “usual” set, but he’s actually there early

you’ve grown so used to him walking in late that it’s a bit of a shock and you forget all about why you wanted to talk to your professor and sit down

and before you know it, class is started and he’s calling for everyone who hasn’t already confirmed their partners with him to come down and do it now

you almost feel like your heart’s going to jump out of your chest

you still don’t have a partner and you really don’t think there’s anymore time to find one now

maybe there’ll be an odd number of people in the class and he’ll just let you go solo anyway?

or will he make you join another group since he technically said it doesn’t have to be just two people?

you’re about to overthink yourself into a panic attack when someone—pretty aggressively—poke your shoulder

you turn to ask them to leave you alone when you realize it’s none other than min yoongi himself

he’s sitting there staring at you with this bored look on his face and you’re about to ask what he wants when he says,

“do you wanna work together?”

and you blink

“w-what?”

“do you want to work together?” he repeats. “or do you already have a partner?”

well, you can’t really say no now, can you?

not when your professor’s getting closer to your name on the roster and yoongi’s staring at you expectantly with those shrouded eyes and you really don’t have a part and he’ll find out that you lied if you say you do and—

“...do you already have one?”

you inwardly cringe as soon as the question leaves your mouth

min yoongi, however, raises a brow

“would i be asking you if i did?”

“...”

you stay silent for a moment

“okay, yeah. we can work together”

and that’s how you ended up stuck with min yoongi for the semester

[spiteless-xo]

hola tiff 👋

i was a frequent commenter on ao3 intending to come back and finish your magnum opus (tbaw) in one sitting bc the week to week format was stressing me out. i somehow spoiled myself on the ending before reading it and i’m lowkey disappointed our girl didn’t ride off into the sunset alone or with her friends, that would’ve been so subversive and unexpected.

a few questions:

- who/what inspired your versions of the aot characters? jean specifically, his personality and values seem completely opposite to his canon counterpart. as for eren, you probably wrote him with way more complexity and emotion than isayama did. if it wasn’t for the borderline revenge porn subplot, i’d say you almost made me love a character i previously hated. your writing is really that great 🤩

- how did you feel about how the mange/anime ended and would you have changed anything about it?

- are you still planning on writing the reiner spin-off?

you definitely earned yourself a break from all this. hope life’s been treating your well otherwise!

hello and welcome back!!! omg what a lovely question, thank you so much for asking!! literally, i saw your message in my inbox and i was like 🥺 and it gave me the energy to respond to a few other messages that i've been hoarding in my inbox for the past like......... month lol

i actually very seriously considered having her end up with nobody or have be it more open-ended but i figured that after all of the pain, the characters deserved a happy ending.

long response under cut

who/what inspired your versions of the aot characters?

jean was inspired by the school castes version of jean where he is a bully lol i've also seen readers describe him as "jean if he never met marco", which is very accurate. in my opinion, even canon jean is not a very good person, in the sense that being "good" or doing the "right thing" doesn't come naturally. we see him struggle through difficult decisions a lot in canon but he always CHOOSES to do the right thing because he doesn't want to disappoint the jean that marco thought he was. since there's nobody to disappoint in tbaw, it's easier for him to be selfish. and you guys all know i love jean, so this isn't even a criticism of his canon character. i LOVE the fact that he's someone who actively works to be a better person because in real life, it's not that easy to always be the hero, so i think that's so cool and realistic and i could probably talk about this all day but I'll stop 🤚 eren i tried to mostly base off of canon, with the exception that his relationship with zeke is flipped. where zeke is desperate for family and eren is the manipulative one in canon, in tbaw it's the opposite. au's are hard, because as much as i want to try to be faithful to canon, when you take away a major part of it (in tbaw's case, the literal TITANS), it can really impact the character. so, now that eren doesn't have his insane desire to kill titans after the death of his mom, in a modern au he has to channel that energy into something else. in tbaw's case it was holding that resentment for his father and trying to find the family that he missed out on, which turned him into this horrible person in hopes of getting validation from the child that his father chose over him. but at the end of the day, he's still super passionate and caring about his friends and is willing to do almost anything for them... but he's honestly just a little stupid and could've definitely talked to his friends about what he was going through instead of going completely nuclear. for the other characters, i tried to stick to what i thought their modern au!personality would be, but i also wanted to tell a certain story so i took some little liberties.

how did you feel about how the mange/anime ended and would you have changed anything about it?

i think it's really difficult to successfully nail the ending of anything. especially something that generates so much discussion, character study, and attention. i feel like we're going to see a similar thing happen with the jjk series. while i don't think the ending to the manga/anime was perfect, i still liked it. i still love attack on titan and rewatch it and engage with the fandom pretty regularly, which is more than i can say about some other shows i liked that have ended. i don't think i'd change anything about the ending if i had the power to do so

are you still planning on writing the reiner spin-off?

yes, hopefully 😭 i haven't been able to write anything for months because i think i'm just overthinking things. but i've been trying really hard these past few days to just get SOMETHING down, so i'm slowly getting back into the swing of things?? maybe?? fingers crossed for me.

[dontwritemeoff]

Soulmate AU with June; pt 1

This is based on a post by @lifesanenigma about a soulmate au where you can feel your soulmate’s emotions and ‘reach out’ to them and such. (Go read their post abt a damon version of this bc its super good and explains the concept better!)

TW: crying, mentions of death but it’s not described

I couldn’t remember the exact age gap between traveler and June so I just took a guess lol, I also took some creative liberties with June’s adolescence since we know almost nothing, enjoy your pain!

June has never understood why sometimes “his” emotions overtake him, and Jules’ don’t. He’ll be in a resting period after experimentation when he’s suddenly overtaken by an intense feeling of disappointment and neglect. While those feelings aren’t exactly unfamiliar to him, he doesn’t understand where they’re coming from and why. 

As a child of only 8, he doesn’t have much contact with the other experiments (other than his own twin brother), his parents claiming that with the circumstances of their birth they need to be isolated for “statistical significance.” Or something like that. Either way, once he gets Jules and himself out of there he was never going to learn any science or take part in any more experiments.

...

Then he’s fourteen and allowed more contact with the others in captivity while Jules is allowed less. He knows that his brother is sick, he’d always had more trouble with the orionite, but he can’t get himself to accept the fact that his brother is dying. He feels deep and intense despair with each day that passes where he has to watch Jules fade away before his very eyes. While he does nothing, can do nothing. 

Meanwhile, the youngest child of King Fenris is finishing their general studies, having just turned twelve. Each day you feel more and more despondent and you know that it’s your soulmate. As a royal child and ostensibly one of the most educated people in the system, you’re aware of your connection to your soulmate. Have known for years in fact, and with every ounce of your being have tried to send comfort back to whoever was on the other side. It was a hard skill to learn, but Nerissa had helped as much as she could with explaining in a way that wouldn’t overwhelm you. But she was busy, and often not available to work through the difficult times. You’d cry in your room as quietly as possible, in order not to draw the attention or ire of the palace staff or god forbid your siblings. The intensity of your soulmates emotions had grown stronger over the years and you felt like you might be ripped apart from both the guilt of being as powerful as you were and yet unable to help them and the isolation you felt while processing them on your own. 

June is talking to another experiment one day, an older man who was reacting to the orionite much like Jules, his skin becoming more taught to his face by the day, the sickly green of his veins pulsing just beneath pale skin. 

“I can’t keep watching Jules die, we need to get out of here. We always said we would. At least at night I can manage to feel some sort of comfort. I don’t really understand it, but if I try to quiet my mind enough I can feel some warmth just under my skin. I always have been able to feel things that don’t really feel like my own. Jules’ hasn’t though. I wish I could give that skill to him.”

“That’s the power of a soulmate,” the old man says, wistfully smiling at June as if remembering a similar feeling from his past.

“What do you mean by that?” June asks, eyebrows narrowing in confusion and skepticism. Maybe the old man had devolved into insanity more than he thought.

“Your soulmate of course- ah. You’ve lived in this lab your whole life, I suppose your parents wouldn’t have told you about them.”

“Told me about what??” June asks more impatiently, waiting for the man to get to his point. 

“There’s a wonderous phenomenon that occurs, between soulmates. One is able to feel their emotions, and if strong enough intentionally send emotions along. Though some find it invasive and try to block either sending or receiving emotions. I always enjoyed it though.”

“Wait-” June says, mind racing with seemingly thousands of thoughts, “Does that mean my soulmate can feel my sadness, and they’re intentionally sending me that comfort?”

“I would say so, yes.”

“Oh god, no, I can’t have them go through that. They don’t deserve a soulmate like me.”

The man looks sadly at June, trying to find the right words to say.

“You have so much kindness in your heart, anyone would be lucky to have you as their soulmate.”

“But I’m so destructive, I can’t control myself sometimes. I would never want to hurt them. They deserve someone like Jules.” His eyes widen when he remembers something.

“Wait, Jules was never able to feel like I did. What does that mean?” His voice shaking like he already knew.

“That means he doesn’t have a soulmate.”

June sobs into his palms, knowing that his brother was going to die in that facility.

Across the system, on Goldis, you feel your heart nearly break in two and fall to your knees in tears in the middle of the library, drawing the surprise of your siblings. You knew that something terrible had just happened to your soulmate.

--

End of part 1!! Stay tuned for part 2 :)

[harmonictechnicality]

My dear Harmony, I hope you’re having an absolutely wonderful, restful, recharging evening as you chuckle over the wailing and gnashing of teeth in the memory log tags ✨ I’m the Sleepless-in-Seattle-Christmas-movie truther from AO3 who still owes you like 1000 comments on “Gumption” (aka a fic that lights my heart on fire, I have A Lot of thoughts on the first Ronance chapter that have been in my notes app all week). Getting to read your responses about your writing process are Literally the highlight of my day, the way you interweave all the clever references and wordplay and jokes with your brilliant sense of character voice and just some of the loveliest descriptions I’ve ever read!!! Like, I hope you realize you’re amazing- the kind of talent you’ve got (and the way your love of these characters illuminates all your stories!) does not come along all the time, um, so I for one would like to say thank you to Joe Keery and also Joe Quinn and their palpable chemistry for inspiring you to write, and a huge thank you to you for doing the hard/courageous work of taking words out of brain space and putting them on a screen for us all to share like an absolute hero! ANYWAY, gushing adjourned (for now) but I saw the lil ask game you reblogged, and I’d literally like to read your thoughts on writing and inspo and ships like a book, so if You’d like to share, I’m very curious about #3, 9, 13, and 14 for “Gumption” (my now and forever fave, but clearly only the first of many faves when it comes to your writing) Ok Ok with much affection, imagine I’m heaping Eddie style junk food faves and Steve style power breakfasts on your table 💕 Asters

You are such a DOLL!!! 💕 This absolutely makes my dayyyy that you got so much out of this fic!! I really just ran with it and didn't look back (hence all the errors in it, which I delusionally think adds to the charm lol). 3. What’s your favorite line of narration?

"Carve instruments out of his bones." - this might be my favorite line I've ever written, actually. 9: Were there any alternate versions of this fic? I wrote this fic in 17 days... so no. there was really no time for anything else to even cross my mind 😅 BUT, the title was originally going to be "paper snowflakes, cardboard reindeer" just to play off of all the decorations that Eddie finds tacky. 13. What music did you listen to, if any, to get in the mood for writing this story? Or if you didn’t listen to anything, what do you think readers should listen to to accompany us while reading? This was my first time writing Ronance. I felt comfy writing the Steddie parts, but I was so nervous that I might get the dynamic wrong for Ronance. So the song that helped me through this was She by dodie. It's so bubbly and achy and exactly the energy that I wanted Nancy to have as her feelings develop further. 14. Is there anything you wanted readers to learn from reading this fic? Since this is a The Holiday au, I wanted to stay true to the film in a lot of ways. But I also took TONS of creative liberties as well. The biggest rewrite I did was the ending. All of the characters have a plan for their long distance relationships. This felt more concrete. And as someone who did *cough* five years *cough* of on again/off again ldr - I found it to be helpful to have finite plans. So that's exactly what I gave these characters. Plans and goals and sheer drive to continue the relationships, even when miles are between them.

Thank you SO MUCH for asking these!! Please have an absolutely wonderful day! xx 💕💖

[skateamini]

i was thinking about villa di bestiarii (again) and i think sean would hate what taehyung did to him and i was sad

does the story take place in europe? i thought it was set in north america (i need to remember that north america is not the center of the universe (they wish it were, lol))

Yeah. What Taehyung did to Sean is pretty messed up. Sean absolutely hates it, both in his previous state as "human" and in his current state as "undead". His final ending is something I could also never put a finger on, which is why I left it so ambiguous. Even though he's more "conscious" than the other zombies, and may even improve, he will never be himself again and is entirely dependent on the control of Taehyung (+Hoseok), the necromancer. He is a zombie, a rotting corpse, and looks like it. He will not grow old, but at the same time, his entire existence is defined by the control of a necromancer keeping him alive. He also needs to eat the raw flesh of living creatures to sustain such energy. While he is "alive", he is like a puppet with a limited grasp on his own physicality and consciousness. It's definitely dehumanizing what happened, however, I also understand Taehyung's reasonings for doing it in the first place. First - he CAN raise the dead, so why not? Second, he genuinely believed that it would make Hoseok happy, and in a way it did. It's sad and disturbing, but was also how I always planned for him to turn out :(

The story does take place in Europe! I felt that "historical vampire AU's" always took place in a sort of "old timey" universe that didn't have a defined history, country or space. They usually don't feel like either South Korea, or anywhere in Europe. So, I wanted to have a story that felt like it could take place in the real world.

I chose Italy, for the simple reason that I like the culture and beauty of the landscape. I even chose a real location - Villa de Vecchi! You might notice some similar placenames I took liberty with around the area of this old villa. It doesn't exactly fit the description of the house in the story, but casts the same vibe I wanted.

Also, I was inspired by some gothic literature and realistically felt that it was a good midway point of the old (Ancient Rome), the western world, and the east. Honestly, North America would have been a better location from the point of South Korea to sail to, but there wouldn't have been any old houses at that time, especially on the west coast. While I did a lot of research to make the characters and setting somewhat realistic, I did take a lot of creative liberties in having Koreans in Europe in the 1800's 😭 Honestly at time point in time, most East Asians were living in port cities like Liverpool in the UK and the majority were Chinese

[charmed-henry]

Back to the Drawing Board | Henrose (10 Years Later)

Back to the Future Thread: Write either a flashback or a flashforward thread with another mun! (This could be an existing connection or a connection that could possibly happen 10 years in the future! Should be 10+/- years in the past/future.)

Per the terms of Henry’s parole, he couldn’t leave the UK. The inconvenient thing about that was that he couldn’t see any of his family, because they had fled the country as soon as the Order’s secrets started coming out (except for Augusta who had told the authorities everything she knew from the start, giving her immunity, but Augusta still wasn’t speaking to Henry). Henry didn’t even know what country his parents and Jacqueline were in now. They hadn’t written.

Nobody had written, actually, the entire nine years Henry was in prison, because the people who had helped take down the Order thought Henry was still loyal to the Order, and the people who were still loyal to the Order thought he was a traitor for cooperating with the investigation. But Henry had long-ago learned that trying to be in everyone’s good graces at the same time was what had landed him in this mess to begin with. He didn’t blame them. Henry had betrayed a lot of people at various times, and in the end, he didn’t know if he even felt good about his actions. He just had to live with them. But nine years in prison gave you a lot of time for self-reflection. 

There was one exception: Rose. She was occasionally in touch, the only person Henry had told the entire truth to about everything, and who somehow still wanted to speak to him. Maybe it was because she had a few of her own regrets, too. So when Henry needed somewhere to stay upon his early release, she was the only person he could think of. 

“Hi,” Henry said awkwardly, when Rose arrived at the bus station to pick him up. He didn’t know if he should hug her or not. He wanted to. “Er, how was the drive?”

@thehuntress-rose​

[i-need-air]

Hybrid!AU Wolf!Bakugou Katsuki HCs Part 2.

Summary: Part 2 is here! While in part 1 it was mostly adoption and how he'd behave with you as a roommate, part two is him ✨ realizing things ✨ followed by how he'd be in a romantic relationship.

Word Count: 2k words [ oops, I did it again ]

Notes: So I said it'll be out in a few days but three [3] people asked me for part 2 and I'm a sucker soooooooo!! I could've just written a long ass fic but whatever, I thought I'd make it shorter in headcanons... hah lol right. Enjoy!

Part 1 here!

× he's a wild wolf so he's very active; like you need to understand he needs to go outside if not he'd get impatient, more aggressive, snappy, so once you took him on an easy hiking trail near your house and he loved it so once or twice a month you both go together to different places [ he demands it ]

× it's hard to keep up with him bc he's literally genetically engineered to be better than any very fit human being but he slows down for you

× morning runs at 5 a.m. bc he's insane

× is also a grandpa

× watched all documentaries on any streaming platform you could provide to him, also loves reading

× as months pass and you start to have your routine in order, word comes to you that an acquaintance is looking for a security guard at his mechanical shop two streets away from your house

× you casually mentioned it to Bakugou because he was starting to act anxious whenever you'd leave the house, so you assumed he was extra bored

× seriously, the house was spotlessly cleaned, he cooked amazingly and was occupied with your old laptop and going around the city to explore, but you guessed he wanted more independence?

× little did you know you were right but so wrong lol

× so Bakugou stared at you intensely and asked "Where?"

× it was as easy as telling him the location, him nodding and you thought he'd consider it; you didn't put any pressure on him because he already did so much to help around anyway

× well guess what bitch, next day he comes up to you saying you gotta co-sign his contract [cuz fuck society] meaning he got the job

× he was perfect for it because tall, intimidating, muscular wolf guy? who'd even mess with him? do they have a death wish?

× well, even before this he started to be... soft

× but once you really did show him you support whatever he wants to do, you give him his freedom and liberty of choice, he just reaaally changes, man

× he gets touchy, like his hands stay one second longer on your skin, he uses any excuse to have them on you, even his eyes follow you everywhere

× like c'mon, it's obvious but you didn't wanna put too much thought into it because we're respectful here

× not like you had a big fat crush on him and slowly started to realize it too

× sike bitch he knows

× you think his super-hearing didn't catch the way your heartbeat spikes up every single time he touches you? *please*

× i think he knows before you know

× meanwhile he is working to discover his feelings too

× so your relationship slowly turns into a couple's like relationship but without anything official and of course no kissing or such [ sadly ]

× would get jealous easily

× basically because nothing is talked between you two and deep down is insecure

× why the hell do you smell like other people? was it just a hug or something else? hell, why would you even hug people when he's right there??? just ask and don't touch some extras????

× another thing he does is getting very close to you while you talk to somebody else; scoffs and glares at them too

× ok so!! gifts! he really appreciates any gift you give him but scolds you if you do because you genuinely don't need to do that

× of course he just scolds you and calls you an idiot so I do hope you already learned his language

× it basically means that you shouldn't have done it, he's really grateful but seriously you shouldn't have

× like that one time you saved up money to get him a good computer and he forgot how to speak for like an hour

× the softest thank you ever afterwards

× still sounded rough but he was shocked as fuck

× one thing that remained in your brain were his friends, as sometimes he'd mention them

× so you took it upon yourself to find them, of course with his permission

× gets genuinely overwhelmed and plays it off saying he wouldn't mind knowing where those idiots ended but you didn't miss the way his voice trembled

× for you to find them you needed names and any information he could provide so that's when he, after a long silence and a mesmerized look on his face, started really talking about his life

× which was fucked; won't get much into detail but he was indeed in a fighting ring, people came and bet on whoever was stronger, he even had to fight his friends, everything was filled with abuse and their conditions were subhuman...

× just overall awful

× you couldn't help but hug him tight, feeling him shake in your arms

× with a hesitant voice he asked if you really did think there was a chance to find them

× just couldn't believe how amazing he felt in your arms

× or how your determination that night made his heart clench and took a big weight off his shoulders

× anywho;;;; after his first paycheck he takes you out on cute dates

× never calls them that, just demands you dress up [helps you out cuz boy got style] and takes you to a nice coffee shop or something

× AND on your fifth not date cuz you're not official but there's this weird tension between you date he finally kinda s n a p s

× you honestly didn't expect the waiter to flirt with you, he came out as very pushy and even if you were a lil uncomfortable you smiled and brushed it off

× when the waiter suggested giving you his number the sandy blond hybrid growled

× which i shit you not made the whole coffee shop freeze

× and you froze too

× but neither of you could say anything because the oblivious fuck kept talking

× basically joking about how you should keep your pet in a leash, to which you got up, threw some money on the table, grabbed Bakugou by the hand and leave before he'd rip someone's head off

× it only took you to touch Bakugou's arm to calm him down as he followed behind you wordlessly

× so you stood outside, angry, deep red eyes on your figure

× and silence

× his hand still in yours

× it was warm and amazing and you felt angry but your heart was beating loudly; angry at the waiter that you wanted to go full Karen on and get fired but excited because that growl shook you to the core, as if you could tell it was territorial and it was because of that pig flirting with you and did Bakugou Katsuki just lace his fingers with you?!

× "Oi." he interrupted your thoughts

× he turned your frame towards him and pulled you [kinda harshly] into him

× you'd make a comment about it but brain empty, just Bakugou Katsuki blushing

× "You're mine, you get it?"

× skdjflglykshs

× it sounded like he asked but it was a demand so oops you're his now ok bye

× like I said, boy isn't dumb so he lowkey knew you felt something too

× legit from there on he's just soft as fuck

× has a hard time opening up but visibly tries for you

× still continues to be a pain in the ass, Bakugou Style, but with a loving teasing attitude behind it

× his eyes give him away all the time

× they shine whenever you're in his field of view so congrats because, and this is the best part:

× WOLVES MATE FOREVER 💕💓💞💗💝💟

× oh yeah, he's yours, no takebacks

× he isn't one to half-ass the relationship; you're his now and he'll do anything for you

× big time touch starved it hurts

× because he is shy

× so whenever you introduce him to hand holding and cuddles, he can't get enough

× not big on PDA [ and not recommended since human-hybrid relationships are kiiiinda frowned upon but it's getting better ]

× although at home it's another deal

× seriously cuddle him; he's big into the protector vibe so he's a big spoon almost exclusively unless it's to sleep on top of you

× speaking of! accept that even if your relationship isn't that intimate, he'd still hint about sleeping together in the same bed

× so you better catch on when he does because he'll just click his tongue and call you needy

× while dragging you to bed

× sleeps holding you, his nose in your hair or in the crook of your neck

× unless it's summer then stay on your side 💅

× you know those kisses that just scream "I can't get enough of you"? that's his whole kissing vibe in a sentence

× hell, even the gentlest kiss gives that vibe away and it'll 100% leave you breathless

× doesn't have experience but is a very fast learner

× pays very close attention to your body language

× really into biting your skin enough to leave marks

× wear his hoodies

× no, I'm fucking serious, wear them now

× his chest puffs and he turns into a blushing mess when you do it the first times because his scent is on you

× scenting is a big thing for him so of course he's gonna love it

× 10x more territorial because now he has a mate to protect

× jealous but trusts you

× still very jealous though

× let's all pretend he is definitely not scenting you before you go out because it's in his nature and it is embarrassing

× the first time he tells you he loves you it's when he's feeling vulnerable

× the search for his friends is still on-going, he feels less than adequate as a providing mate, is pissed at the world for treating him like an inferior animal when they created him, everything is piled on his shoulders and whenever than happens he closes off

× you notice immediately

× will not tell you at first

× it's only when you go to bed and he turns his back to you when you really know it's bad

× even if you fought before, he'd angrily snuggle you at night-time

× now it's so different

× hug him, whisper sweet nothings in his ear, pull a blanket all over you both and big spoon him, he'd start shaking and talking in no time

× will hide his tears from you but you'd know

× "You're the best fucking thing that happened to me, [Y/N]... I—... Shit... I love you so much."

× neither of you slept that night

× excuse you? drink some water and pray to jesus;;; you talked about feelings, ok? communication is key in a relationship, puh-lease

× [ i have this whole nsfw hcs post already cookin in my brain so maybe I'll make it happen cuz y'all know he has a mating season and all that comes with it 👀 ]

× back to being children of jesus here

× thanks the moon, the heavens and all the gods for putting you in his life; boy didn't believe in destiny but deep down he thinks you were meant to be

× you still better wash the dishes or you'll get your ass kicked.

Extra:

× you did find some of his friends, little by little, and even if he acted nonchalant, like k das cool, it was obvious he was extremely happy

× so they did get adopted too

× you got in contact with them on social media and they were all very excited about meeting

× so it was a chaotic meeting with a dog hybrid called Kirishima and a mouse like vibrat yellow guy called Kaminari

× they all were looking for Bakugou too since they were very worried about where he ended

× Kirishima shed manly tears when seeing Bakugou

× as they instantly welcomed you in their small group, they informed you both that the majority of the squad was adopted and they're in contact, while they're still actively looking for the others

× cue to the softest expression you've seen on Bakugou in public followed by "That's good"

× silence

× shock and silence

× Kaminari turning to you and whispering "You did this" with a hand on his heart, lips trembling as he wiped an imaginary tear

× insert instantly snappy Bakugou

× when everyone laughed and continued to make plans to meet up with the others, he just looked at you conversing with them, soft expression again on his features and his chest warming

× "Oh! Look, he's doing it again! Quick, take a pictur—"

× "SHINE!"

[a-wildemusing]

I will See You Around || Itadori Yuji

word count: 3223~

genre: Itadori Yuji x reader, fluff and humor, but also there is a little angst in the mix. its also might be a soulmates AU kind of thing somewhat. lol

summary: Y/n and  Itadori Yuji met by chance. Y/n busy doing errands for their mentor, sensed an intense cursed energy close by and gets distracted.  But Y/n didn’t expect to find something that wasn’t a cursed spirit, but a boy with pink hair. 

warnings: Mentions of death, fighting, sadness, and some mistakes. 

a/n: So in this Y/n is a sorcerer, but didn’t get the education like the others. They got a different education from a mysterious mentor that they talk about briefly in this. Also, may have took some liberties and make some stuff up. lol But anyways! hope you enjoy.~

It was a pleasant stroll around the city. You were just leisurely walking around looking at the different stores and businesses. You were running errands and shopping for your mentor. Your mentor was always making you do certain tasks, but then again, they took you in and raised you and well taught you all you knew. Basically, your parent. Hence, you could not complain--well at least not in front of them. 

At least you weren’t also in charge of tonight's dinner. It was only these errands and you could rest when you got home. So there was relief with knowing that.

“Why do I always have to do grunt work?” You huffed. You decided that a break was needed even though you just made it to the city. You walked and found a good spot on the grass to lay down by the river. This was taking you back to summer nights. Just relaxing and acting like things were somewhat normal.

Feeling the cool air on your face, you close your eyes. A river's sound fills the air. People are passing by, every now and then a bike passes through. 

Everything was nice until you sensed it. You perked up straight up. There was intense, cursed energy nearby. You jolted up fast and went where you felt the cursed energy was coming from. 

With your cursed energy, you were able to sense anyone or thing that was concealing or not concealing their cursed energy. Even the slightest amount from regular people was felt. A constant feeling of everyone’s presence. It helped you be able to track people, and even be able to be stealthy when it comes to it. 

The senses led you until you were about to cross an overpass walkway. You decided to take the higher ground rather than go straight under the overpass. You turned the corner, hand on the handle of your weapon that hung on your back, and you were met with a surprise. 

A cute, pink-haired boy was sitting down looking over the river, and that wasn't something you were expecting. You expected to face a cursed spirit. You were ready for anything ready for a fight but instead, you were faced with confusion. 

There was such strong cursed energy coming from the boy. 

“You know when I got here and with all this cursed energy. I was expecting this big ugly curse, but you are kind of cute...” You leaned on the stone wall. The boy turns around slightly blushing. 

“Wha-Wait, you know about cursed spirits, you can see them?” The boy was surprised when the realization finally hit him but still stayed guarded. He wasn’t too sure how he hadn't noticed you until now. How long have you been standing there? He thought.

“Yeah, for a while now. I guess a couple of years.” You tell him. “Do you mind if I sit near you? I was resting before I sensed you.” 

“Oh yeah!-sure.” the boy said. You stepped forward and sat near him. You lay down and closed your eyes. You could feel him staring at you. 

His cursed energy felt different. You couldn’t pinpoint it, but oddly enough it felt familiar and you were sure you would have remembered cursed energy like this. 

“What do you mean sensed you?”

“It’s part of my cursed energy…I was a couple of yards away when I sensed your presence.” 

“Wow, that’s something.” 

“You go to Jujutsu Tech?” You opened one eye and looked at his uniform. 

“I do. I’m a first-year student there. Do you go to Jujutsu Tech? The sister school in Kyoto? Are there other schools out there?” 

“Oh yeah no. My mentor hates Jujutsu Tech.” You chuckled. 

“What!” 

“Long story, but speaking of my mentor. I still have errands to do.” You sigh and prop yourself up and stretch your arms. You give him a side-eye, “Would you like to join me?” 

“If that’s okay. I would like to.”

Itadori Yuji. You were accompanied by him while you shopped and got what you needed. You told him how your mentor didn't like Jujutsu Tech, and how he home-schooled you. Just enough information you would tell a stranger.  

He was very lively and kind, the first thing you noticed about him. However, the feeling of familiarity lingered as well. However, there was one thing you noticed when you were chatting with him. His eyes would often linger behind you. 

He looked over behind you again–you looked back even though you knew there wasn’t anything following you. And you were right, but you had a feeling. 

Can he see it?

“Do you always carry that weapon with you everywhere, even in public?” Itadori asked as he walked alongside you carrying some of your bags. Your answer was confirmed. Both of you stopped walking. People walking past both of you. 

You took a few seconds to register what he just said. He can see it. You glanced over to him.

Your frown turned into a fake smile. 

“I mean people don’t notice it much. So yeah usually.” 

“Huh? It’s pretty noticeable to me.” 

“It’s kind of complicated. No one can see it when it's with me. When others are holding it, it is visible. Something about family, blah blah blah. Gives me advance. It’s more noticeable when it seems like I’m in danger…” You said, “Am I in danger Itadori?” You said the second part slightly more teasingly. 

“No.” Itadori blushed and stood up straighter. He looked like he was holding something back. But he didn’t say anything.

You slightly nudged him and smiled at him. “It’s just how my cursed tool works. It goes with my cursed energy. It was something passed down from my family.” You started walking away. That is where you ended the conversation. 

“Come on, I got a few more places to go.” You stopped working. “Then I can treat you to a snack, courtesy of my mentor. For you know helping me.” You posed with your mentor’s credit card. 

(back at home, your mentor sneezes) 

Both of you started walking again. In all honesty, you really did know this was a much bigger deal than your portrayal. Even though you knew what this meant, you never thought it would be someone like Itadori. Very kind and sweet. You expected someone more sinister or more vindictive. He wasn't like that. 

There was a sense of dread that followed this new information, even if you tried to play it cool. It was clear what you had to do, but were you going to do it?  

This sword was given to you by your mentor. The last thing that your family ever gave you was this sword. It was given to you because you had a duty to fulfill. The one that would be able to ease the generational trauma that grips your family so tightly. 

Itadori and you stayed together for a while and you knew it was time to go. 

“Well, I’m heading this way.” Itadori and you were standing back by the river first met each other. You took the bags that he held for you. His hands lingered when it was close to yours. 

“Are you sure you don’t want me to help you and just walk you home?” 

“I’m good. Don’t worry about it. Thanks again.” 

“Uhh, is it possible if I can get your contact info? I enjoyed talking to you.”

“I did too, but I don’t have a phone.” You felt a little embarrassed. This was something that you needed to talk to your mentor about. You started to sway a little. 

“Oh, that’s okay. Maybe-

“But I’m here in the city every day. I stop here by the river. So…” You looked at Itadori. He had a warm smile on his face. “I will see you around.” 

“What took you so long?” Your mentor said as you walked in with bags. “I was going to eat your half of the food.” 

“I got your stuff duh!--and as if you would let me starve.” You placed all the bags on the kitchen table.  

“Hmm.” Your mentor was fixing you and himself plates of the food he made. You sat down. 

“There were a lot of things on the list this time.” You slightly lied. 

“Sure…” He places the plate in front of you. “Ya probably did stuff you were supposed to be doing without my supervision.”

“Ha no.” You dug into the food. 

“I got some news to tell you. Remember when I told you about that Sukuna?" 

You slowly nodded.

“Well, some kid became his vessel.” 

---

Several days have passed since that encounter with Yuji, and you wonder what he's up to now. It would have been better to wait by the river a little longer, but he didn't show up. 

And deep down with the conversation, you had with your mentor those few days ago. You kind of were hoping you didn’t see him. 

He was the one. He was the vessel. For generations, your family has waited for the day Sukuna comes back. To protect the people and end Sukuna before he can gain his power but also for redemption. Your family helped defeat Sukuna but also helped Sukuna become as powerful as he was. 

Your family becomes blacklisted as a result. So many clans see you as traitors. There was so much hatred for your family that there were only a few left. As the only one with cursed energy, you were chosen to complete the mission.    

A generational trauma haunted your family, one of the biggest regrets. But after your family and sorcerers defeated him the first time thousands of years ago, your family vowed that if he ever returned, they would end it for good.

And being the one that would have to end Sukuna, even with the years of preparations and training. You were anxious. You never wanted this life, but it was the life given to you. A child getting ready for war. 

You walked to the city again. Another evening of buying things for your mentor. It was a little later this time. The sun was setting slowly. As you walked around, you saw a lot of people hanging out. Maybe if you lived a normal life you would have been in that group laughing, joking around, and having a good time. 

You continued to walk. The faint sounds of laughter faded. As a result of your distractibility, you found yourself in a different area from where you were supposed to be. After searching both directions of the street, you realized that you had no idea where you were. You felt a bit uneasy. The street seemed too quiet to you.  

Then it appeared. It moved rapidly. Immediately, you sensed it was a cursed spirit. You followed it into an old school building. There was so much cursed energy radiating from the structure. A curtain began to appear. As you approached, you tried to figure out what was going on.

You knew this was way beyond what you were used to and that you should get hold of your mentor. But there was a possibility there were still people in the school–there was no time and you needed to help.  

 As you were running you sensed something else. Then you heard crashing and things breaking. The cursed energy you were sensing was closed together. You followed the noise and that’s when you realized the other cursed energy was slightly familiar. 

Turning the final corner. Someone was hanging on the edge of a walkway between the buildings, a cursed spirit clutching at their ankles. And the cursed spirit that you were following appeared coming from above.  

From behind, you grabbed your sword and ran to help the person that you had a feeling you knew. Fortunately, you were able to knock the cursed spirit off just in time. 

You placed your sword on the floor and kneeled over to grab the arm of the person hanging and it was Yuji. 

“Y/n?” Itadori said, still struggling because there was still a cursed spirit hanging by his ankle.

I will See You Around was what you told him. But you weren’t expecting to meet him again like this. You held onto his arm. 

“I’m going to swing you up– then go behind me. Okay!” You said. 

“Wait, Y/n?” Itadori slightly tilted his head. “What are you doing here? It’s dangerous.”

“Well… you know. I didn’t expect to be here either. But let me help you first and I will explain!” You tried to act cool and collected, but you were extremely anxious. “So causal of you, when there is still a cursed spirit hanging on to you…ready?” 

“Ready!” 

You swung Itadori and the cursed back onto the walkway using all of your strength. As they both fly towards you, you grab your sword and swiftly fend off the cursed spirit right when Yuji lands behind you. 

As you dealt with the cursed spirit. Before turning, you brushed your clothes and combed your hair before stepping up from your stands. 

You turned with a smile on your face–but quickly you frowned.

Before you can even say a word, you push Itadori back because another spirit appeared from nowhere, but you were able to sense it. As you fall to the first floor with the cursed spirit, your hands unclench.  

“Y/n!” Itadori yelled as he jumped down to help you out. You land on your back. The cursed spirit on top of you grabs you and tosses you further away. You bounced off the wall you were thrown at and coughed gasping for air. The wind was knocked out of you.  

The cursed spirit was defeated by Itadori first and before it could reach you again. He was able to get rid of the cursed spirit. As he walked towards you, he took a deep breath. As you lay on your back, you were trying to regain your strength. 

His hand hovered next to you, and you took it. “Are you okay?” Yuji said as he helped you up.

“Yeah… I think I will survive,” You gave him a reassuring smile. Even though your whole body was aching. You felt a little dizzy, you were pretty sure you hit your head on something when landing. Your hand goes up to feel the side of your head. “Thanks.” 

“Y/n, what are you doing here?” Itadori looks at your head. You were bleeding. He had hesitated to touch your head. His hand lingers on your cheek. The idea of cuddling up with it appealed to you, but you restrained yourself. He was the vessel. You felt it developing within, conflicted on how to feel. There wasn't much time for you to lose yourself in your thoughts right now. You sensed something, but it was still far away. 

You grabbed his hand and placed it down away from your face. Both your hand and his were still together. 

“When I said ‘I will see you around.’ I didn’t mean it like this.” Blood dripped from your face. You turned your head in a certain direction. “There is another one coming this way.” You let go of his hand. 

“Why are there so many cursed spirits here?” Itadori said getting ready to fight again. “I wonder how Megumi and Nobara are doing.”

“Don’t worry about this one. I got this. It’s just the one. I sense–if I’m corrected-they are in that building and it seems like they need help. I sense they are not alone.”

“No, I will help you-

“Trust me Yuji, I’m fine. Just go. I prom-I will catch up with you.” You looked at him. His mouth opened but he closed it again. 

You sigh in relief when Itadori finally leaves. He looks back one more time. 

"I'll see you around!" You smiled somewhat reassuringly. He gives you a faltering smile and gives you a thumbs up before turning around. Then you watched him run further to find his friends, running even further away from you.

He was the vessel.

He was Sukuna. 

He is just Yuji. 

And from the moment you weren’t feeling conflicted. You made the decision and everything fell into place.  

You were going to help Yuji, even if that meant you were going to be helping Sukuna. Itadori was someone that was kind to you and reminded you how it felt to just be normal for a moment. 

You turn to give your attention to the incoming cursed spirit.  

“I’m not going to lie. I was starting to like that guy. But you gotta come and ruin it…” You get back into a stance. “Oh well, what can you do? Let's do this. I’m not really in the mood to deal with you.” The cursed spirit targeting you, rushing to get to you.

You place your hand behind your back, but you flinch. It was gone. Your sword. 

You smile to yourself once you remember, you dropped it when you saved Itadori after bumping into him. It was quite a distance away from you. Your shoulders slumped. There was silence. You glanced around to see if Yuji was still there. The situation with his friends was more important. There was no time to call him back. Nevertheless, you were confident that you could handle the situation. You had faith in yourself–that you could handle this without your sword. 

You dodged the cursed spirit as it lunged towards you. You were brought back from your thoughts. There is no time to get distracted. That’s why you sensed another one coming--stronger than the one you were dealing with now. 

Fighting with the cursed spirit and trying to make your way back to your sword was going to be a breeze, but now with this other curst spirit coming. You were starting to become unsure. 

“I know something like this would happen.” You chuckled slightly. Everything was going in slow motion, but your thoughts raced. Your mentor always warned you had to not always rely on your sword. On the other hand, you have never been in this kind of situation before. You are dealing with a lot of cursed spirits all at once. A single tear falls from your eyes. You touched your face and even more, tears were slowly falling. 

You dodged again and got a few hits in with the cursed spirit, but the other one was getting closer and closer. There was no going back. You know that you wouldn’t be able to handle both without your sword, but you had to try. 

You had to help. There were a lot of cursed spirits around. They needed time. And if I can handle these, then Yuji can help his friends. 

You sensed another one coming your way. They seem like they are being controlled. 

But there wasn’t any time to ponder on why there were so many cursed spirits in this area. 

You inched closer and closer to your sword, but you were still far away from it. 

You slip up and are getting tossed again. You tried to get back up but it was getting harder. 

The other cursed spirit arrived and the two were rushing towards you. 

You closed your eyes. 

I will see you around, Itadori. 

--

end notes~ 

-this was a long one lol 

-It was also all over the best, but I felt like I was working on this for so long, that I just needed to post it. 

tip jar?

[remosdeerica]

Batshit AU Part #1: The Bio Kids

(Yes I have actually decided to call this the Batshit AU. I already have a series of one shots [there is only one so far, lol.] called Assorted Batshit on Ao3 so I figured I'd just keep going with the name.)

I have been posting a lot of stuff to do with "my Batfamily" or "my version of events" so I figured I'd go ahead and make some long ass posts about what I would love to see in the Batfam's future but know I will never get (but that's why fanfic exists so I guess I'll live)

Now there isn't going to be any clear timeline to this because I plan to write different fics in regards to these particular chain of events and when or how things happen might change depending on the plot. But it starts with the question asked by Random Joe many posts ago:

How many kids do you have, Mr. Wayne?

Well to answer that question:

Legally: 7

Biologically: 5

Emotionally: Anyone under the age of 25 that is within a 50ft radius (I'm mostly kidding but lets be honest, it's kinda true).

Now if that math doesn't make sense to you (as most math doesn't make sense to me), fear not! I shall explain!

So Legally we have as follows: Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Cassandra Cain, Tim Drake, Duke Thomas, Damian Wayne and Helena Wayne.

These are the obvious few.

Now we get into Biologically and things get a bit more complicated. For this category we have: Damian Wayne, Terrance McGinnis, Athanasia al Ghul, Matthew McGinnis, and Helena Wayne (I put them in order of their ages and added colours if you wanna skip my ranting and get to the goods).

Now for those of you who may not be as obsessed with Batfam lore as I am; yes all of these characters are canon (in some timeline anyway) and you are welcome to google them. But just be warned that I take canon and make it my bitch so almost nothing you read about them on their wiki-pages or wherever you look for your info will really matter (besides Damian but even then I take creative liberties). But I love Easter eggs so there will be plenty of those.

Damian and Helena are pretty straightforward. We know where Damian came from and Helena is just the result of Selina and Bruce finally getting their shit together.

Terry, Matt and Athanasia are a bit more complicated.

Terry & Matt: These two cuties were the unfortunate victims of an experiment called the Batman Beyond project. A project that was put into motion by A.R.G.U.S. after Bruce "died" (was lost in time) as a way to make sure that the Batman legacy lived on (as if he doesn't already have a million children for that).

Warren and Mary Singer were lead scientists on the project but after finding out what exactly it was that A.R.G.U.S. was doing with the "failed attempts" (they were killing them) the couple stole the toddler subject BN9-12 (Terry) and infant AC7-30 (Matthew) and fled (I made the numbers up on the spot don't read too much into them). They changed their names to McGinnis and raised the boys in Gotham City (cause that was a good choice...).

Unfortunately, their old lives eventually caught up with them and Mary and Warren were killed. Terry (around 10-11yrs old) took Mattie (around 7-8yrs old) and ran, his parents having taught him some skills in case something like this ever happened. The boys lived on the streets for many months before running into Tim Drake (i.e. Batman) who later adopted them (because when faced with black haired blue eyed orphans there is only one thing for a Batman to do).

[Side note: Tim doesn't know the boy's origins at this point.]

Athanasia: After Damian's death at the hands of the Heretic, Thalia went insane (more insane?) with grief and as a result decided to have another child with the left over.... substance.... shall we call it.... that she had acquired from Bruce all those years ago. However this time she intended to keep the child safe where they couldn't be hurt by either the League or Bruce (as if Thalia wasn't the main reason Damian was dead... but whatever. I have mixed feelings about Thalia).

When Athanasia was "born" (taken from her birthing pod, as one is) Thalia locked her away Rapunzel style in a secure location. Never allowing her outside for fear that she would be discovered by Ra's spies and killed.

For 8 years Athanasia grew up in relative luxury inside her bedroom, learning history, politics math, writing, and anything else Thalia thought she needed to learn. But Thalia never taught her how to fight (haven't quite decided her reasoning for this so just go with it) and as a result Athanasia is a very quiet, gentle child (basically the opposite of what Damian was like at her age).

Thalia never told Athanasia about Bruce. Since she wasn't created with the intent of being the heir to anything, Thalia saw Athanasia as only hers and therefore deemed it unnecessary for Bruce to know of her existence.

But she did tell her of her older brother; Damian (what Thalia told her is still undecided and will probably depend on overarching plots).

The rest of Athanasia's story is still in the works but essentially Damian eventually finds her and brings her back to Gotham with him. But although she acknowledges Bruce as her father, she lives with and defers to Damian (and Jon depending on the situation) as her caretaker.

So here is Part #1 of the Batshit AU!

Next Part will probably be about Dick and Jason's child situation that I've hinted at. I'll link it once it's done. :)