#anastasia bsd au

[karmicpunishment]

bsd anastasia (musical) au 

atsushi as anya 

dazai as vlad

akutagawa as a (very different) dmitry 

chuuya as countess lily

still deciding who is the dowager empress and gleb 

[neonganymede]

WIP Wednesday #26

DOA Anastasia AU - Painted Wings Excerpt 2: like a memory from a dream

Excerpt 1: I never should have let them dance

Sigma paused, his feet refusing to carry him past the old, rundown church. His thin body shivered, his breath misting in front of him in crystal clouds of smoke, and hugged his arms tight to his chest. He stood in silence for a moment, listening. Waiting. Maybe I misheard. His brow knitting is disappointment, Sigma huffed another chilly sigh before he began to walk again. The ticket in his pocket was no good, and he’d never make it back to the orphanage by nightfall. If he wanted to survive the cold, then he would need to find a place to— There!

Gasping, Sigma turned toward the church again. He could hear it now, quiet over the din of the city but still loud enough for him to make out a distinct sound coming from within. Sigma stepped closer, turning his head to press his ear to the cold door.

... Music? String music, if Sigma had to guess, coming from inside the church. He took a few steps back, his chest heaving in quiet alarm at the discovery.

Was this the place that Bram had meant he should come? Somebody was inside, somebody who should be able to help him, but now that he was here, Sigma found that his feet stalled. His heart raced, a rapid thud-thud-thud that grew louder the longer he stared at that door.

Sigma couldn’t shake the feeling like he’d… been here before? He’d seen this church. He’d heard this song. But it didn’t strike him as something that he’d actually experienced. More like….

“Like a memory from a dream,” he murmured to himself, startled by the sound of his own voice. He swallowed, but the tight feeling constricting his throat didn’t abate. His mouth felt dry, his lips chapping no matter how many times he wet them in his quest to settle his nerves.

Sigma wanted to find out who he was. He had to know if he had a family, somebody out there as desperate to find him as he was to find them.

A home. A place in this world where he belonged, where he fit in, where he wasn’t just Sigma.

... Would he find that inside? If he went in, would he be taking the first step to finding out who he was?

Fear crawled up Sigma’s spine, his ever-present hopelessness already nipping at his heels again. What if he didn’t find help inside? What if Bram had been wrong? What if Sigma walked in there, drawn forward by nothing but a song his heart thought it knew, and discovered that he didn’t have a home?

No home, no family, no way to ever feel truly complete? Just an ordinary man with a name he gave himself and a train ticket to nowhere?

Sigma thought of the ticket again. Of the word Yokohama written on it. Of the reluctant frown on Bram’s face when he delivered the news that the ticket was expired.

And yet, Sigma kept it. He let it weigh in his pocket like a reminder that there must be somebody out there looking for him, too. There had to be… right? He must belong somewhere, and maybe, just maybe, he’d find a clue to that home if he walked into the church.

Standing outside would get him nowhere but frozen. Sigma gulped, the bob of his throat painful and suffocating, before he reached a trembling hand toward the door handle. A tiny amount of pressure, and the door swung open, inviting him in with nary a creak.

Even if the door had made a sound, Sigma wouldn’t have heard it. The music was louder now, welcoming him in with a familiarity that hurt. His feet moved, unbidden, toward the delicate song that sang through his veins.

The feeling was much stronger now. He knew this song. He knew this place, but the memories danced out of his reach no matter how far he strained his fingers. All things he could almost remember, but he couldn’t get a grasp on any of it. Each vision faded in and out like the flickering of a candle whose teasing light dimmed on this dream from long ago.

Sigma followed the music forward, stepping carefully across broken floorboards that left splinters in his shoes. At some point, a piece of the ceiling had caved in, and the jagged opening allowed the last rays of golden sunlight to shine down over rows of shattered pews, the dusty stained glass windows, and the man sitting on a crate where a podium must have once stood.

The man looked like an angel. He wore a long black coat with a fur collar that looked warm, his outfit underneath white and pristine. A white ushanka covered his head, but Sigma could still see the stark lengths of dark hair spilling out from beneath it. He cradled the cello like a lover, his deft fingers moving over the strings to create the wonderful sound that had so thoroughly captivated Sigma’s attention.

The stranger played without pause, the song building in a way that made Sigma’s lonely heart yearn for things that it used to know. Things he wanted so badly to remember, but his mind remained blank no matter how hard he listened to the dwindling melody. The last note echoed through the mournful chasm of his empty memory, leaving him only with a nagging thought on the tip of his tongue, a new mountain of questions, and a longing for a melody he wished he could remember.

Finally, the man looked at him. His violet eyes ignited in the day’s dying light, and his easy smile made goosebumps rise on Sigma’s arms. He smiled as though he’d been waiting for Sigma, but that couldn’t be right. Even Sigma didn’t know that he would find his way here, that his train ticket would be no good, that his only lead would be a dilapidated church and a song.

Atsushi’s warning rang briefly thorugh Sigma’s mind. You’ll have to be careful in the city. The streets are full of rats.

Then the man spoke, his voice chasing away the cryptic advice and replacing it with the sweetest phrase Sigma had ever heard uttered.

“Would you like a home?”

[bungoustraypups]

anastasia dostoevskaya + 👻 !!

a headcanon about supernatural occurrences

this is more of a fact than a headcanon but whatever they're my blorbos so they'll all be like this anyway lmao

Within the BSPverse, it is a well-known fact that ghosts and other supernatural entities exist and coexist with the human/Earthly realm. Canonically, Anastasia owes her survival from the incident which nearly took her life to the ghost of one of her grandmothers. Though she's largely unaware of what actually happened, she has told both Fyodor and Ivan that she felt as though she was "protected by an angel" as she lay bleeding out in the snow after Ironsides stabbed her.

send a bsd fankid/oc & a symbol for a headcanon

[chuuyaslay]

late but chapter 4 of skk anastasia au published !! here’s some sneak peeks and u can read here:

[oceanreveuse]

eek it’s that time agaaain… writing fairies are dawdling around my head and i’d like to tap into one of my current drafts as well as my event requests so… poll !! feel free to reblog for reach.

*kaeya, ganyu, wriothesley, shenhe, layla & freminet // **arlecchino, diluc, thoma, lyney, yoimiya & dehya.

[sskk-ao3feed]

An Ocean of Entitled Motherfuckers

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/GL5tQfa by Anonymous ADA-PM treaty revision time! Akutagawa is suffering from his adoptive siblings, Kunikida is pissing Chuuya off, and there's popcorn. Words: 1512, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Series: Part 2 of BSD AU; Anastasia Fandoms: 文豪ストレイドッグス | Bungou Stray Dogs Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: Gen, M/M Characters: Akutagawa Ryuunosuke (Bungou Stray Dogs), Higuchi Ichiyou (Bungou Stray Dogs), Kunikida Doppo (Bungou Stray Dogs), Nakajima Atsushi (Bungou Stray Dogs), Nakahara Chuuya (Bungou Stray Dogs), Original Female Character(s), Yumeno Kyuusaku | Q (Bungou Stray Dogs), Fukuzawa Yukichi (Bungou Stray Dogs), Oda Sakunosuke (Bungou Stray Dogs), Edogawa Ranpo (Bungou Stray Dogs), Mentioned Nikolai Gogol (Bungou Stray Dogs) - Character, Mentioned Sakaguchi Ango (Bungou Stray Dogs) - Character, Mentioned Mori Ougai (Bungou Stray Dogs) - Character, Mentioned Dazai Osamu (Bungou Stray Dogs) - Character Relationships: Akutagawa Ryuunosuke/Nakajima Atsushi (Bungou Stray Dogs), Implied Nakahara Chuuya/Sakaguchi Ango, Fukuzawa Yukichi/Mori Ougai (Bungou Stray Dogs) Additional Tags: Not mentioned nor implied but, Dazai Osamu/Fyodor Dostoyevsky/Nikolai Gogol/Nakahara Chuuya/Sakaguchi Ango/Sigma, Author wrote this over time span of multiple days, Family Fluff, Asshole-ish Kunikida, Parent Nakahara Chuuya (Bungou Stray Dogs), Oda Sakunosuke Lives (Bungou Stray Dogs), Implied Past Oda Sakunosuke/Sakaguchi Ango (Bungou Stray Dogs), He/She Pronouns for Nakahara Chuuya, questionable writing style, no beta reader we die like canon Oda, written partly in my notes app and partly in google docs, Pining Akutagawa Ryuunosuke (Bungou Stray Dogs), Author should be sleeping, author should be doing homework, Instead author is writing fanfiction read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/GL5tQfa

[qu1nby]

hello! for ffwf: i hear you have many AU ideas? and maybe a skk fic in the works? wanna talk about those?

Sparrow! <333

sorry this is so long!

in no particular order, the AUs:

Journey to the Past - BSD, inspired by the Broadway version of Anastasia! In this AU both Oda and Chuuya died during the battle with Mimic (or so Dazai thought) chaos ensues when a man who looks a lot like Chuuya shows up at the ADA

this one does have a couple chapters up on AO3! I might make a some edits here and there when I get back to working on it :)

Beiguang Rival Business Owners - I've talked about this one a couple times! Ningguang owns and manages the Jade Chamber, a classy restaurant in modern-day Liyue. Everything is going well until a bar (The Crux) opens next door. One thing leads to another and Ningguang begins to lose money because her customers don't like how loud and unruly her new neighbors are. She goes to complain to Beidou, the bar's owner, but whoops! They like each other! I have almost everything planned out but still haven't written past the introduction yet 😅

A Tragedy in Two Acts - BSD, loosely based on Hamilton! This one is being worked on by both me and stray-trash. In this AU, Dazai is still an executive and chooses to join the ADA when the Guild shows up. He (as Hamilton) and Ranpo (as Burr) do not get along. There are 5 chapters up on AO3 and we're slowly but surely working on the rest!

VNC Twilight AU - This is exactly what it sounds like! Vanitas and Noé as Bella and Edward, cringe Biology scenes and all. I haven't worked on it in a while but I did watch the entire Twilight saga recently. That counts, right?

Bonnie & Clyde - BSD, inspired by the musical (can you tell I like musicals?) This one does not even have a document yet! I listened to the soundtrack recently and thought huh. I could put my blorbos in this. I'm still trying to decide which characters go where

NOW! skk! I wasn't planning on writing anything longer than a couple hundred words but then I started thinking about early partnership skk. and how Chuuya would react seeing Dazai seriously hurting (both physically and mentally). I should have it up tonight! I hope 😅

[quanxui]

i think u kinda broke my heart with this nyusa - omg andro, no :(

im not in too deep with bsd (i have to catch up :')) but gosh atsushi in an anastasia au just makes me.... feel so sad! angsty story but optimistic characters!!

[nycttophilic-a]

Anne Phantomhive~

=BASIC INFO= FULL NAME: Angelina Phantomhive NICKNAME(S)/ALIAS(ES): Anne, Anastasia, Ana, the Flame Reaper, Demonspawn PRONUNCIATION(S): Ann-gel-ee-na AGE: verse dependent  GENDER: female SPECIES: Reaper BIRTH DATE: January 15th SEXUALITY: Homosexual =PERSONALITY= PERSONALITY: Fiery, warm hearted, strong willed, stubborn, prideful, determined, outspoken, tough, hotheaded EMBODYING QUALITY/IDEA: A fiery young woman with a fighting spirit and a flame in her eyes LIKES: Watching fire, her twin brother, her mother, fighting, reading, playing outside, music, being herself, freedom DISLIKES: Her father, social standards, jerks, people who try to control her, feeling trapped in a situation FEARS: Losing her brother for good, being trapped for the rest of her life WEAKNESSES: She’s very hot headed and stubborn, so she’ll fight anyone who tries to tell her what to do. She also can be very selfish.  STRENGTHS: She’s very warm hearted to those she cares about, and she will protect them at all costs. She also can manipulate fire (explained later) and has a very high body heat, so she’s always warm and can warm other people. SPECIAL/SIGNIFICANT BELONGINGS: She can usually be found wearing a reaper trainee suit (a literal black suit and tie), just because she never changed her attire when becoming a full blown reaper. She doesn’t have reaper glasses, instead the new reaper contact lenses. Also, she has a red motorcycle =PHYSICAL AND HEALTH INFO= HEIGHT: 5’6 feet WEIGHT: 153 pounds BODY TYPE: She’s of average height and kinda curvy, but she’s mostly extremely muscular, especially for a woman. Not quite bodybuilder like, but she clearly works out tons. JEWELRY: She doesn’t care for jewelry PIERCINGS/TATTOOS: None SCARS/DISTINGUISHING MARKS: On her right hand is a long scar that cuts across her entire palm. She got this as a child from saving her brother, Leic, from one of her mother’s swords. =RELATIONSHIP INFO= RELATIONSHIP STATUS: Verse dependent PARENTS: Elizabeth Midford Phantomhive (Mother), Ciel Phantomhive (Father) SIBLING(S): Leic Phantomhive (younger twin brother) – BEST FRIEND(S): verse dependent FRIENDS: Victor Riley, verse dependent ACQUAINTANCES: verse dependent ASSISTANTS: verse dependent GUARDS: N/A ALLIES: verse dependent PETS/SPECIAL ANIMALS: verse dependent – ENEMIES: verse dependent MAIN ENEMY(IES): (maybe Ciel), in some cases Leic, herself, verse dependent MOST HATED: verse dependent =STORY INFO= STORIES THAT THIS CHARACTER APPEARS IN: Black Butler/Kuroshitsuji STATUS: Alive (well, dead, but kinda alive lol) BACKSTORY: (TRIGGER WARNING: SUICIDE) Anne was the first born of twins, and as the eldest, she believed that one day she would be her father’s heir. Since their father was a demon, Leic and Anne were hardly normal children; for one thing they grew much faster than humans. By three months old—all while their father was away, fighting in a war—the twins had the appearance of three year olds with the minds of nine year olds. When Ciel came back, Anne was eager to please him and show him why she should be his heir. However, those dreams were crushed after learning that she couldn’t be the heir since she was a girl. She remembered hearing from her mother of reapers and demons from the stories of Anne’s parents when they were children, and that being a reaper was punishment for taking your own life. Still, it was a whole different world where someone could be whoever they wanted to be, Anne decided. And she wanted a way out to be her own person and not some man’s wife. So, she hung herself to become a reaper.  As a reaper, Anne—or Anastasia, as she went by then—was a prodigy among reapers. Graduating the Academy in a record three years, she was both respected and feared by her fellow reapers. She was administered to the Discipline Branch where she used her extraordinary fighting skills to bring back wayward reapers and admit them to the punishment they deserve. Grelle saw Anne’s potential and, in a way, took her in as her own. Anne sees Grelle like a motherly/sisterly figure, but still refuses to forget about the family she left behind.  – PLACE OF BIRTH: Phantomhive Manor, England PAST LIVING QUARTERS: Phantomhive Manor, the Reaper World CURRENT AND FUTURE HOMES: the Reaper World, verse dependent  – NATIVE LANGUAGE(S): English LANGUAGES SPOKEN: English, French, German, some Russian, some Japanese =TALENTS/OCCUPATION/EDUCATION= OCCUPATION/JOB: grim reaper BOSS: reaper council TALENTS: And excellent fighter and a skilled leader YEARS OF EDUCATION: no formal education, 3 years in the reaper academy LEVEL OF EDUCATION: Grim reaper =COMBAT= SKILLS/TECHNIQUES: She will use her heavy death scythe to her advantage in combat, as well as use her flames. Think of Maka from Soul Eater, but with fire. SPECIAL POWERS: Anne can manipulate and create fire. The oils on her body are flammable and combustible, so if her hormones are activated then she can combust into flames. She sometimes can’t control this if she’s angry, but the older and more experienced she gets the more she can control the flame. She’s also immune to burns as a result. Also, she can control preexisting flames, but not as easily as her own. WEAPON(S) OF CHOICE: Her death scythe is an actual scythe, a mechanical one that transforms into her belt. Also, her scythe can excrete gasoline for her to ignite. STRENGTHS: Can’t get burned by fire, is incredibly strong, determined to win, inhumanly fast, super agile, and has enhanced healing speed. Unaffected by cold temperatures WEAKNESSES: Her weapon is large and needs two hands to wield, leaving her vulnerable mid-attack. =VERSES= ~hσld чσur вrєαth αnd cσunt thє dαчѕ; wє‘rє grαduαtíng ѕσσn~ [High School Verse]—Anne is a rebellious human teen who had been sent to study abroad at an all girls school by her rich father. Now, she’s back with her twin brother, and they both want to give public high school a shot.

~ѕσund σf mч hєαrt; thє вєαt gσєѕ σn αnd σn~ [Band Verse]—Anne is a human who is currently learning to play the bass guitar with her best friend, Lia. With her cousin’s skills with the drums and pleasant voice, as well as her rich father’s admiration for the piano, she was kind of raised around music. Now, she wants to spread her wings. However, that is hardly as easy as it seems.

Queen’s Watchdog Verse TBA—In this Verse, everything is the same…except Anne never became a reaper!! Her entire world is shifted; Leic grows up to become a doctor, Anne is the one who clung to her twin as children, Anne became Ciel’s heiress and pawn, and the fiery woman’s fire extinguished, replaced by a cold heart of stone. She became the next Earl of Phantomhive while her father and mother remain in the Underworld. Now, she is the aristocrat of evil, and she fits the role her father left behind perfectly…sickeningly so.

~í’m α crєαturє whσ‘ѕ up tσ nσ gσσd; í‘ll lσvє чσu líkє α vαmpírє wσuld~ [Vampire Verse]—This verse is very simple and the same for all of the muses that have it: the character is a vampire. This verse is very flexible, so if you have ideas please let me know so we can incorporate it into the thread!! But it’s nothing major, I just love vampires lol

~tαkє mє thrσugh thє níght; fαll íntσ thє dαrk ѕídє~ [Villain! Verse]—A verse for My Hero Academia. Anne is the co-leader of a secret enemy organization that keeps tabs on villains from all over the world, working alongside her twin brother, Leic. She has quirk called Pyromaniac, where she can control flames and set herself aflame, and is also immune to fire and has an elevated body temperature.

~í cαn вє hαppч wíth чσu; вut í cαn‘t вє hαppч íf í‘m dєαd~ [Simulation Verse]—Do you want to ship your muse with one of my four girls? Then this is the verse for you!! That is, if you’re prepared for some REALLY messed up shit and triggers like suicide, abuse, murder, blood, and many others. This verse is not at all for the faint of heart, and it’s best if you don’t really know what you’re in for. If you want to learn a bit more about this verse, you can find it here.

~gσd dαmn ríght; чσu ѕhσuld вє ѕcαrєd σf mє~ [Tokyo Ghoul Verse]—A verse that takes place in the world of Tokyo Ghoul. Here, Anne and Leic are the children of a human aristocrat that found himself with too much power: the knowledge of how to create half ghouls. He used this knowledge to turn himself and his two children into one eyed ghouls to make them strong, having to sacrifice his wife in the process. Now Anne must live with being a monster and having to eat her own kind, as well as struggle to be there for her younger brother through the worst of the worst.

~íf í tσld чσu whαt í wαѕ wσuld чσu turn чσur вαck σn mє?~ [Monster! Verse]—An AU where the world is humans/monster hunters vs. monsters. Here, Anne is an ifrit. She was alive at one point but was murdered by a monster hunter, who mistook the human girl for a monster. Now she despises the human monster hunters and takes joy in murdering them, and ESPECIALLY setting fire to their homes and loved ones.

~wє‘vє вєєn ѕpєndíng mσѕt σf σur lívєѕ lívíng ín thє gαngѕtα‘ѕ pαrαdíѕє~ [BSD! Verse]—Taking place in Bungou Stray Dogs, Anne is the leader of an organization that studies abilities called the Underworld Reapers. Find more info here.

like this post if you have read it and agree to it, please.

[neonganymede]

WIP Wednesday #12

DOA Anastasia Au - Painted Wings Excerpt 1: I never should have let them dance

“Now that you are dressed for a ball,” began Fyodor, the predatory curl of his lips setting off the warning bells in Sigma’s mind, “you will learn to dance for one as well. Kolya?” Oh. Oh, no. Sigma gulped, what little confidence he’d managed to dig up draining away at the thought of dancing. With Nikolai.

“Well?” Sigma turned around slowly, arms spread out to show off the long white coat’s movement. It swayed about his legs, and the swirling galaxies that decorated the underside sparkled with the setting sun’s glowing light. He could feel the weight of both their gazes, and he tried to swallow his nerves before he faced them again.

Sigma couldn’t explain why their opinions mattered so much to him, but he practically craved their approval. Maybe because he considered Fyodor and Nikolai to be the experts. Maybe he thought that if they believed he looked the part of a young nobleman, then he would believe it himself.

Swallowing, Sigma lifted his gaze to find Fyodor’s, his heart racing at the gleam he found within those violet eyes. Fyodor stood up, abandoning his game of chess and approaching Sigma with single-minded purpose. With a smile, he brushed a cold thumb along the underside of his eye, casually blending away the uneven spots where Sigma’s unsteady hand had ruined his eyeliner.

Sigma’s blood raced. Maybe he wanted their approval for an entirely different reason, one that he didn’t dare voice. Not with an end to their journey together in sight, not when they would inevitably have to part ways.

“Perfection,” Fyodor praised, and Sigma’s traitorous heart thumped against his chest, threatening to burst through his skin and present itself to Fyodor right there. “When we plan to meet your uncle, we will have Nikolai do your makeup.”

Sigma nodded, uncertain what to say. He began to peer around Fyodor, curious about Nikolai’s reaction, but Fyodor’s voice drew his attention back to the man now sweeping his fingers through Sigma’s lilac bangs.

“Now that you are dressed for a ball,” began Fyodor, the predatory curl of his lips setting off the warning bells in Sigma’s mind, “you will learn to dance for one as well. Kolya?”

Oh. Oh, no. Sigma gulped, what little confidence he’d managed to dig up draining away at the thought of dancing. With Nikolai.

Fyodor stepped off to the side, and Nikolai appeared in front of Sigma instantly, almost as if materializing out of thin air. He grinned, his fingers wiggling eagerly as he reached for Sigma, who couldn’t even find a moment to protest before he’d been swept up in Nikolai’s arms. Despite the heels he wore, Nikolai was still taller than him, and even his hands were big as they clasped around Sigma’s dainty fingers. His second hand slipped under Sigma’s coat to playfully squeeze his waist before his fingers smoothed out into a firm grip.

“Aw, don’t be nervous!” Nikolai cooed, and the sound alone made Sigma think that he definitely should be nervous. “I’m sure you’ll do fine!”

Sigma peeked up at Nikolai’s grey-blue eye, sparkling bright with mischief even as the sky darkened into a dim orange around them. He really hoped that Nikolai didn’t lead him right off the boat and into the water, already imagining his companion’s tittering laugh as they hoisted a waterlogged Sigma back onto the boat. He’d probably look like a drenched cat, and that would only amuse Nikolai even more.

Unaware of Sigma’s inner plight, Fyodor began to count: “One-two-three, one-two-three—”

Nikolai moved them, easily directing Sigma into a simple waltz. Sigma’s eyes shot downwards, watching their feet as Nikolai moved with the practice and grace of somebody who’d trained to dance his whole life. He led Sigma effortlessly, each motion fluid and precise, and even Sigma felt skilled in his arms.

Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad? Maybe he could coast through this waltz and convince Fyodor that he had some sort of natural skill when it came to dancing?

“No, no, Kolya. You should not lead. Let him.”

Dammit, Fyodor. Sigma froze, nearly tripping over his own feet at Fyodor’s words. He wanted Sigma to lead Nikolai? Was he insane? Sigma couldn’t lead anybody in a waltz, let alone somebody as flighty as Nikolai.

“Hmm~?” Nikolai’s grin broadened, as if he’d expected this all along and had only wanted to lure Sigma into a false sense of accomplishment. Sigma wouldn’t put it past him. “Come on, what’s the big deal? You were paying attention to the steps, weren’t you, Sigma~?”

Sigma swallowed around the lump in his throat. He glared, not about to let himself be teased like this. “Of course I was.”

“Good! No stepping on my feet now! Oooh! You’ll be able to lift me up and spin me, right?” Nikolai edged closer, as if about to leap into Sigma’s arms to test that theory.

“I—” Sigma put his hands up to stop him, as if that would stop him, and looked to Fyodor for assistance.

“Kolya,” said Fyodor fondly. He tilted his head into a slow nod, his smile mysterious and sharp. He stepped back to give them more space, almost as if he feared that Sigma would somehow trod on his toes as well. “Teaching him the standard dance steps should suffice. Sigma can learn lifts once he has found a more permant partner.”

Right. The sobering thought washed over Sigma like a cold splash of water, almost as if he’d been twirled off the side of the boat after all. Right, this would probably be the only time that he would ever dance with Nikolai. He should enjoy himself… shouldn’t he?

They adjusted their hand positions, Sigma now grasping Nikolai’s waist and Nikolai’s arm bent perfectly to hold Sigma’s shoulder. Fyodor began counting again, and Sigma stumbled his way into a clumsy waltz. Overall, he didn’t think he liked dancing, and he kept glancing down to their feet to make sure he didn’t step on Nikolai’s toes.

“Quiz time, Sigma!” came Nikolai’s next giddy taunt. “When you’re dancing with someone, where do you think your eyes should be?”

“Oh!” Sigma lifted his gaze, his shoulders shrinking upward as he realized he’d been caught. He tripped forward immediately, his cheeks burning with shame at the sound of Nikolai’s amused snicker. He glared at him, trying not to pout even as Nikolai smirked right back. “You could be a little more cooperative, you know!”

“Are you saying I’m a bad dance partner, Sigma? That’s funny!” Nikolai bent closer, scant space separating them. “That’s not what your eyes are saying.”

“My—my eyes?” Sigma’s mouth felt dry. He tried to keep up with the fluid motions of the waltz, but he could barely concentrate with Nikolai so close. He felt drunk off the other’s presence, so wholly focused on him that he couldn’t even hear Fyodor counting anymore.

“A dance is a conversation, Sigma!” Nikolai moved suddenly, ducking under Sigma’s arm to spin himself outward. Catching the hint, Sigma pulled him back in, and Nikolai giggled happily. “A little chat between two people. Like right now! I can read every little thing going on in that pretty head of yours, all thanks to your body language and your eyes.”

“You can?” Sigma could feel his cheeks beginning to burn again. His mouth twitched, a tiny smile forming unbidden as he and Nikolai spun and spun, lost to the steps. “Then, what am I thinking?”

Nikolai snickered again. “About how bad you are at dancing!”

Sigma glared, his shy smile twisting into a disgruntled pout. “You really needed to point that out, didn’t you?”

Another laugh, both manic and melodic. “Time for another question! What am I thinking, hm?”

Sigma squinted at Nikolai’s face. He’d said that dancing was a conversation, but Sigma couldn’t read anything from Nikolai’s expression or his body language. No clear emotion, not one, and Sigma could only purse his lips and shake his head in defeat.

“I’m thinking about how handsome you look in the new coat Fedya got you! It looked nice on the hanger, but it looks even better on you. You should wear it!”

Sigma pursed his lips, terribly charmed. His hoped the fading sunlight hid the warm blush spreading along his cheeks. “I am wearing it.”

Nikolai’s smile shifted, reminding Sigma of the white furs lining Fyodor’s coat. Soft and warm but fake. He didn’t know if he could trust it, feared that he couldn’t, but his heart didn’t get the memo, fluttering like a baby bird desperate to feel the rush of flying for the first time.

It was either fly or fall, and Sigma feared he might be doing both.

The two of them relaxed into the dance. Sigma still stumbled through the motions, but he didn’t mind so much when it was Nikolai chuckling at his clumsiness. Nikolai correcting his posture. Nikolai stopping him from falling despite Sigma’s former reservations that he’d somehow end up flung off the side of the boat. He didn’t dare take his eyes off Nikolai’s face, the world around them muddled like fresh ink smeared across a page, and he feared that he might stumble once he needed to stand on his own again.

Sigma never wanted this dance to end. He wanted to stay in this moment forever, wanted to belong here like nowhere else. Unfortunately—

“I’m feeling a little dizzy,” Sigma confessed, queasy, unsteady.

Nikolai hummed, distracted. He took the reins back easily, slowing their pace until they simply stood there, hands still holding onto each other in the perfect pantomime of a waltz. “Probably from all the spinning. We should stop.”

“We—we have stopped,” came Sigma’s breathless reply, but he was wrong.

They hadn’t stopped. He still felt as though they were spinning, spinning, but were they the ones in motion? Or did the ground move beneath them? Everything around them rocked and tilted so turbulently that Sigma knew his knees would buckle the moment he let go of Nikolai.

Because they were still spinning, spinning—and then Nikolai bent closer, his head angled just so. His breath felt warm and intoxicating as it blanketed Sigma’s cheeks. Shuddering, Sigma sucked in a breath of his own, his eyes beginning to drift shut as Nikolai came closer, terribly close, the world spiraling even faster around them until—

Fyodor cleared his throat, deliberate. Sigma’s eyes flew open, and he took a quick step back, still holding onto Nikolai while he gathered his bearings. He lowered his gaze, unable to look either of them in the eye after he almost—

Had they been about to kiss? Right in front of Fyodor? The idea seemed unfathomable, but Sigma could still feel the ghost of Nikolai’s lips about to press against his. They’d almost kissed, and something foreign and petulant within him wished that they had.

Sigma shakily let go and took another step back, putting a safe distance between them. He glanced over to Fyodor and found his expression unreadable. Cold, almost, and reality crashed down around Sigma in the form of a distinct reminder, one that he kept forgetting.

Sigma didn’t belong with them. They were only helping him get to Yokohama, teaching him the things that he should already know, helping him on his path to find out where he really belonged. They were home to each other but not to him. Sigma’s home was out there, and once he found it, he’d never see them again.

For some reason, thoughts of his true home only made Sigma feel worse.

“I—” He cleared his throat, managing a wobbly smile. “I should go change. Wouldn’t want my new clothes to get dirty.”

Without waiting for a response, Sigma turned on his heel and escaped back toward the cabin. His heels clicked against the wooden planks beneath his feet, steadier than the rampant beat of his heart as he tried to gain his footing, alone, in a world that hadn’t stopped spinning.

~

“Kolya.”

Nikolai’s shoulders hiked up, much like a child caught spoiling his dinner with pirozhki. He spun around to face him, his grin guilty, and bound back to Fyodor’s side. “Was showing him all that really necessary? Once we hand him over, it won’t matter how well he can dance.”

“He needs to believe that we are teaching him how to behave in high society. Small things help maintain the ruse.” Fyodor held out his hands in offering, and Nikolai perked up instantly.

They took their positions, Fyodor leading, Nikolai content to follow. Nikolai didn’t try to tip the dance in his favor while Fyodor directed them, didn’t try to inject any surprises into the routine that they knew so well. A dance of mutual understanding, no secrets between them to be found.

“But no. It won’t matter, not in the end.”

Nikolai beamed at him, and there was no hesitation. No concern for Sigma or what had just happened, what might have happened had Fyodor not intervened; and yet, Fyodor couldn’t help but wonder.

A dance was a conversation, Nikolai had said, and so Fyodor listened to what Nikolai’s body told him as he led his perfect partner through this private waltz of their own. He could clearly read Nikolai’s yearning for freedom, his near violent obsession with Fyodor, and the moment Nikolai turned his head to gaze briefly in the direction that Sigma had fled—

His reluctance.

Ah, Fyodor realized much too late, I never should have let them dance.

[neonganymede]

WIP Ask Game

I was tagged by @xlillyle and @sensitiveheartless! Thank you both so much <3

RULES: make a new post with the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! and then tag as many people as you have WIPs.

I have an utterly ridiculous amount of WIPs, so I'll only include the things that are either fully plotted or partially written. Also not including any of the requests that I have yet to finish. These aren't in any particular order~

WIPS:

Fukumori vet au chapter 3

Painted Wings (Fyosiglai Anastasia AU)

Fyodor ship week 1 (Fyosiglai and a stray cat)

BSD fluff week 1 (Soukoku sleepover)

BSD fluff week 2 (Soukoku caught in the rain)

BSD fluff week 3 (Sigskk and cooking together)

Fyodor ship week 5 (Fyosiglai and vampires)

BSD Fluff week 5 (Domestic Soukoku)

Fyodor ship week 7 (Fyolai fake dating. or fyozai fake dating. Still undecided)

Fyosiglai modeling au

Unfinished SKK holiday fic

Fyolai sickfic

I never really know who to tag, and that's entirely too many people anyways ><;;;; so I'm tagging @fyodorkitkat @frankenjoly and anybody else who sees this and might want to do it!

[chuuyaslay]

some gorgeous fanart of my skk anastasia au done by @/the_eastern_siren on ig. you can read here !!

[qu1nby]

1, 3, 13 and 20 for the writer questions? :)

Thank you so much for asking! (Meta Asks)

1. Tell us about your current project(s)  – what’s it about, how’s progress, what do you love most about it?

I'm so glad you asked! My biggest project, Journey to the Past, is loosely based on the Broadway version of Anastasia. In this world, the mafia lost their fight against Mimic - resulting in the deaths of both Oda and Chuuya. At least, that's what Dazai thought. It's the perfect cross between BSD and my old musical theater obsession. I'm also working on what will (hopefully) be a multi-chapter Genshin AU centered around Ningguang and Beidou. It's still very much in the planning stage, but I do have a small summary posted! Last but not least is the small drabble I've been imagining for the past few weeks. It's really simple, just a bit of Archon angst, but I haven't had the time to actually write it. Writing has been hard recently (probably because I'm starting school soon) but I promise I'm still getting things done!

3. What is that one scene that you’ve always wanted to write but can’t be arsed to write all of the set-up and context it would need? (consider this permission to write it and/or share it anyway)

God, there are too many ideas to count. I'm very excited to write the scene in Journey to the Past where Nanashi (Chuuya) finally learns who he used to be. Or the scene where Ningguang meets the owner of the business that has been causing her so much trouble. My all-time favorite scenes to write are the ones where the characters finally realize how they feel and all the pieces fall into place. Think about the classic "Oh."

13. Do you share your writing online? (Drop a link!) Do you have projects you’ve kept just for yourself?

I do! You can find me on AO3 at Walking_Meme. I also want to start writing some drabbles and head cannons to make my blog feel a bit more lively. I do have a few small scenes and ideas that I've kept to myself - purely because they are not really fandom related. Sometimes it's fun to just write a scene without going through the trouble of making it in character, you know? Maybe I'll make a side blog for those.

20. Tell us the meta about your writing that you really want to ramble to people about (symbolism you’ve included, character or relationship development that you love, hidden references, callbacks or clues for future scenes?)

Man, I wish I had a clear meta! I haven't been writing for very long, so I know my fics probably don't feel very fleshed-out. I do love a good bit of foreshadowing, though!