#I've endeavored to never lose my king again.

[xx-hail2theking-xx]

It has been a long time since I've found myself using this.

It is. A strange feeling.

-Duke Valefar.

[joachimnapoleon]

Doomed to Be Our Bane - Excerpt [Caroline's POV]

(NaNoWriMo 2021 - Day 4)

***

She had naively expected generosity in the terms he proposed; he was her big brother, after all. But Napoleon quickly stamped out that notion with a brutality that left her reeling.

"You and your husband are about to be monarchs," he told her. "And I will treat you accordingly."

"Was the Tsar subjected to such treatment at Tilsit?" she countered. In her heart she knew arguing with Napoleon--about anything--was generally a futile endeavor, and she had witnessed enough of her husband's intransigence towards him to know where it led; Napoleon brooked no defiance of his will. But she could not simply submit to such terms without registering at least some protest.

"Alexander would understand why it is wholly inappropriate for a monarch to hold property in a nation not under his rule." His voice was irritatingly calm, and even slightly condescending, as though he were speaking to a child.

"Alexander will never have to worry about losing his position and being left destitute."

"Indeed. Deposed Tsars don't tend to survive their depositions."

She gave him a stony look.

"Are you already so worried about losing the throne," Napoleon pressed, "before you've even sat upon it?

"There's no way to know what the future will bring," she said. "I would rather have something to fall back, in case the worst should happen." Like their mother, whom Caroline had teased for hoarding money and barely spending anything. You may laugh, Madame Mere had intoned, but I may need to provide for my children again one day.

"You will still have plenty. I've granted you a revenue of 500,000 francs annually."

"And what will our expenses be?"

"There's always taxation."

"It's a poor country already!"

"I'm sure you will find a way to make it all work. Like you did with Berg." There was an iciness that accompanied the word Berg; he was still very displeased with what he regarded as Murat's plundering of the economy of his Grand Duchy.

"You are leaving us with nothing--"

"I am giving you a kingdom," and now there was anger in his voice. "It's a bit early for ingratitude, don't you think?"

She bit back her mounting fury, and merely sat, glowering in silence. Thank God Joachim isn't here for this. She could imagine him boiling over with helpless rage, and undoing whatever progress he had made rehabilitating his shattered health.

By the time it was all concluded, she had agreed to cede to the Emperor all of their properties in France, along with all of their furnishings--even their paintings and statues were to become Napoleon's property as of the first of August, from which date they were to be considered officially King and Queen of Naples.

[superstition13]

Okay, so let's talk about the Organa triplets AU in Star Wars for a minute. The one where Kylo Ren, Ben, and Matt are all triplets instead of seperate characters played by Adam Driver (my 💫King💫)?

Okay, now imagine that type of scenario, with Touya/Dabi.

(Idk if someone, somewhere, has already brought up an AU like this, but I haven't seen it and I need to talk about it.)

AN AU WHERE THEY'RE TWO DIFFERENT PEOPLE

-> But like, half-brothers or something

Like maybe Endeavor cheated on Rei around the same time he got her pregnant with Touya, therefore Dabi's hair is naturally black in this AU because his mum was just some background anime character.

(Look, idk if this is making much sense so far, I came up with this when I'd gotten like 4hrs worth of sleep in 48 hrs, I was running on fumes so plz bear with me. Also, I know that if this was the case in any situation, Touya and Dabi probably wouldn't look alike, but 🌈anime logic🌈, so go with it).

Now, Endeavor didn't ever plan on admitting he had a bastard child, but then Dabi's bio mum dies shortly after child birth (cuz ✨trauma✨). Bio mum doesn't have any living relatives, so when the doctors see Enji Todoroki listed as the boy's father on the medical forms, they figure they at least owe it to baby Dabi to see if Endeavor really is his bio dad.

And at first Endeavor isn't going to admit to shit, and he sure as hell ain't going to risk jeopardising his public image in case it ever gets out that he had another child out of wedlock. Not to mention thay Dabi's black hair isn't an indicator of whether or not he inherited Endeavor's quirk, and if he has the potential to succeed him. But he looks so much like Touya, who was only a few days old at this point, and the possibility of Dabi having a fire quirk like Enji's is still there.

So Enji mans up and takes Dabi in (paying off the doctors to keep quiet of course). This only adds strain to his marriage with Rei, but let me explain why she actually agreed to it:

- This baby just lost his mother

- He wasn't responsible for his father's actions, and she wasn't about to punish an innocent baby for what Endeavor had done

- She kind of expected Endeavor to cheat on her, considering that their marriage was never one out of love but rather a business proposal (it still hurts tho)

- Dabi looked so much like her Touya, who she already loved with every fibre of her being, and there was no way she could turn him away

- Rei Todoroki is just an amazing person

And just like that, Touya Todoroki suddenly has a twin brother. Dabi Himura, keeping Rei's maiden name. It's her one condition of agreeing to take him in, and a subtle 'fuck you' towards Endeavor.

The boys are raised as twins, who eventually manifest the same fire quirks, and their flames both turn blue upon hitting puberty. But when Dabi finds out about his adoption on accident after sneaking around in Endeavor's home study, combined with the raw strength of his new fire power, he loses control and gets burnt by his own flames. (Hence the scars).

Now that's the backstory I've fleshed out for my little AU, but imma leave what happens next ambiguous 😫

Does Dabi fake his own death like he does in the canon? The newly earned scars being more than enough to conceal his identity? It would create so much friction when he joins the LoV and would torment the entire Todoroki family.

Would Touya go on to become a hero in his brother's memory? Calling himself Blue Flame, perhaps? And upon the realisation that his twin is alive, does Touya join with the LoV as well, his hate for Endeavor having finally pushed him over the edge?

Again, this is just an AU I came up with at like 2am. Do with it what you will. Someone probably came up with something similar already, but it was just something I needed to talk about.