#i originally wanted them to be in the same chronology so im glad they work well together

[good-beanswrites]

Normal lunch break behavior: printing out the two drabbles, annotating them, and figuring out how to draw them

I'll need more than just a lunch break to process my thoughts, but (1) thank you for the treat! (2) I imagine that these drabbles coexist in the same AU. (3) "Can we be good together?" / They could be good together. (4) I'm this close to writing fanfic in this area myself.

I am normal about your normal lunch break behavior 👍

[thegeminisage]

it IS tng update time. saturday we watched "relics" and "schisms" and last night* we did "true q" and "rascals."

*times altered bc as usual im typing this up late at night

relics:

oh boy. ohhh my god

so like, i'd like to preface this with: i am not a scotty stan or anything. don't get me wrong i love the guy and i'm fascinated by the way he tricked me into thinking he had all ten fingers. like he's v fun and all. but im not like Extremely Emotionally Invested In Scotty. all right. that said

I CRIED. LIKE A BABY. no one was more shocked than i was. actually i'm sure catherine was not shocked at all

i didn't cry when he first showed up which is what i suaully do when i see spock. no, no, no, no. it was when he went to the holodeck and created the fucking BRIDGE OF THE ENTERPRISE. and they played the main theme!!! the sound effects were even the same!!!!!!! and like all his friends are dead now except spock and bones and bones frankly has one foot in the grave and another on a banana peel!!!!!!!! I'VE NEVER BEEN SO UPSET IN MY ENTIRE LIFE.

chronologically, this is also the last time we'll ever see a tos cast member coming back to reprise their role except for aos spock and um. an appearance which i do not wish to discuss now or ever. anyway it's definitely the last time in tng proper. and like yeah we have aos and snw and everything but those guys arent the OGs. AUGH.

also wah him saying the doctors are prettier on this enterprise. thats SO MEAN TO BONES………………….i miss him so bad and he's WAY prettier than beverly sorry beverly

i definitely wanted to kill geordi for yelling at scotty when he tried to tell his old man stories. im glad they hung out for the rest of the episode and that geordi treated him really niceys but it still felt a teensy bit patronizing of him at first like he was just doing it because picard told him to make scotty feel useful

THAT SAID. for once, i am pro picard, because picard is a giant nerd and he wanted to listen to scotty's old man stories as much as i did. not that i got to enjoy them while being blinded by tears. i'm actually genuinely tearing up right now while typing this just thinking about it. i think it was genuinely compassionate for picard to want to give scotty something he could genuinely help with in a way that WASN'T patronizing. like old people are just regular people you know. we all get old one day if we're lucky

spotted scotty's missing finger twice, which is two more times than i spotted it in my original watch of tos.

he remembered how to hide the missing finger (mostly) but forgot how to do his fake scottish accent. in his defense it's been ages and he was old but it was still funny

synthehol is wack. it's just another way in which there's no work-life boundary in tng. you're always on call, so you can never get drunk. you will NEVER have personal time aboard this ship. they can call you in your son's parent-teacher meeting. they can call you during birthday parties. you cannot raise your children here. but they do. anyway.

IT'S GREEN!!! i remember seeing a gifset of data floating around saying that to somebody, and then later i saw a gifset of scotty saying it in tos, but i didn't realize data was talking TO SOCTTY i thought it was just a reference!!!!!!! there were actually sooo many tos references in this episode, i was so pleased to hav caught them all <3

looooooved the dyson sphere. that was genuinely so fucking fascinating and it was the b plot!!!!! why can't it be the a plot!!!! it was so cool looking

i thot for a sec they were gonna kill scotty at the end and got REALLY worried but they didn't and he decided not to retire after all and good for him <3

anyway. that cry felt like a full-body workout. horrific.

schisms:

OFF GOES RIKER TO THE COFFEE SHOP

i waited so long to see the episode that gifset is from and it did NOT disappoint

my one sour note re: this ep was the beginning with data's poetry. can we please be nice to him and not loudly fall asleep in the front row. i know the circumstances are highly extenuating. i of all people understand sleep deprivation, which i am currently experiencing even as i type. but that was just rude!!! could he not have simply explained he was unwell and unable to attend!!!!!!! the crowd being restless was terrible. if you simply tell him that he has to have a limit on his poems he would understand. i'm glad geordi was an honest critic when data asked later but i would have liked to see data's results after incorporating his feedback. ok anyway

firstly, i loved when a little guy is sleep deprived. it was great when sam winchester did it and also great when riker does it

SECONDLY, that whole sequence with the table was fucking insane. everything getting darker and darker both literally and metaphorically and deanna starting to look uneasy near the end and riker's eyes being ABSOLUTELY HAUNTED and that table was basically like a chair, anyway

when they were like "yeah the aliens cut off your arm and reattached it" READER I HOLLERED. you can't just put a guy on a chair and tear his arm off and then make him forget stuff. please. it's been nearly 10 years.

when he's like theyre gonna take me again whether i want them to or not. yeah man they sure are. this isn't quite riker roulette but it is definitely adjacent

i think the best cure for insomnia is to be absolutely terrified of going to bed because you're still in uniform and have a tracking device on you because you are about to get abducted by fucking aliens. who could resist sleep after that.

i did wonder why he laid on the table so long before attempting his escape when time was precious but i doubt i could have done any better in his shoes. i sure did love the way that knife thing hung right above his neck though. i'm pretty sure we spent that entire scene hollering DISMEMBER HIM. TRAUMATIZE HIM!! and then they didn't <3 but i'm not even mad about it

anyway. 10/10 episode they need more space horror in star trek bc it's always fun. i remember reading that tos was originally meant to be space horror-y, but i found the pacing of those earliest episodes waaaay too slow. i want a star trek show with more dismemberment though.

true q:

mistakenly thot this episode was named qpid (got it mixed up) and was hoping for more of q wanting to fuck picard to so bad it makes him look stupid but all we got was one little arm around his shoulder. which was REALLLY funny because picard instantly made a face like he'd eaten sour lemon but we deserved more. to reiterate i do NOT want them to fuck i think the dynamic of q wanting to fuck and picard preferring to die first is the funniest possible set of circumstances

instead, q constantly displays predatory body language towards this EIGHTEEN YEAR OLD GIRL. he leans really close to her and whispers in her ear and all that stuff and i did Not like it

i kept waiting for this girl to secretly be his child, or for her parents to have once been friends with him, but they literally were just randos to each other. disappointing, especially after he vanished while she was having her emotional moment on seeing their faces

where do the puppies go when she vanishes them? do they cease to exist?? did she just kill 12 puppies on screen???? too horrible to contemplate. i wish i could make kittens out of thin air though. actually that would be a terrible power the world is overpopulated with kittens as it is but STILL.

i want to know more about the weather altering net. we could have an entire episode about that alone. you just...got rid of tornadoes? and forest fires? did you fix climate change??

riker almost being killed by an empty barrel sent me into fits. they didn't strap them down after what happened to worf? this spaceship gets jostled horrifically EVERY EPISODE. what are they thinking!!!!!!!!!

RIKER ROULETTE STRIKES AGAIN. her bringing him to the alternate dimension and trying to lay on the moves was bad enough but using her powers to MAKE HIM START KISSING HER? HELLO???? i'm still mad they wrote an episode about rape and just used it for deanna fetish fuel instead of actually discussing what this poor guy goes through. why is it somehow ok/not noteworthy when it's men. come on now

it was kind of silly to have this girl go "no way im a human forever" and then immediately solve climate change on this other planet because her lil crush (/VICTIM???) was down there. like that was so rushed and weird

ultimately not a very good episode. i only like one thing about q and they did NOT deliver. he was also a misogynist to beverly once...like, die

rascals:

this got a 1 on letswatchstartrek.com and i simply disagree. i would have given it a 2 or mmmaybe 3. well no probably a 2 but STILL. first of all, tng's children are ALWAYS charming, and these guys were no exception, save possibly the kid who was playing picard, who was fine until the tantrum scene/riker's son bit, at which point i wanted to die

i never want to hear riker say daddy again.

i HAAAATE the ferengi theyre racist theyre misogynist i HATE THEM.

i felt like there was a missed opportunity with obrien and keiko to have him be cool about it, instead of awkward like everyone else. like i obviously dont think they should be canoodling or anything, gross, but there's nothing wrong with a little platonic compassion. he got there in the end ig but idk it would've made a nice contrast

how old is their fucking baby??? i just looked it up and she was born at the beginning of season 5...her ass is NOT old enough to be talking yet let alone full complete clear sentences??????

anyway speaking of compassion............GUINAN AND RO

i actually unironically loved ro's little arc here. anyone who had a shitty childhood will tell you they'd cut off their arm before going back, but she had to go back anyway, and guinan neither pitied her nor minimized anything she'd gone through. instead she got to occupy that space in a totally harmless way and receive a little closure. while the rest of this episode was okay-ish to maybe less than okayish (i NEVER want to hear riker say daddy EVER again) ro's little bit was so so so good.

re: ro...i love that we don't constantly bring her past and situation up as if it's the only thing about her but nor do we shy away from it and how it's shaped her and the narrative has never once suggested she's too harsh or too angry or whatever. of course with a season and a half left there's still time to ruin it but so far her whole thing has been one of the very few instances where tng is doing everything wonderfully.

NEXT TIME: "a fistful of datas" (noooo it's a holodeck episode) and "the quality of life."

[empyreansmoon]

Title: Promising Petals

Character(s): Lee Eunjae. Seo Yeonjin. 

Summary: Eunjae’s thoughts had decided to play a never-ending game of tug and war on his brain, leaving the boy feeling immensely tired even if all he did was stay on the couch the whole day. However, when Seo Yeonjin is a part of your life, being confronted about your feelings isn’t that rare of an occurrence.

Warning(s): Internalized homophobia, mentions of homophobia, talk about bad mental health, unhealthy behavior (?) (im pretty sure that’s it!)

Note(s): I kinda recommend reading Moonlit Tendencies and Drunken Heart prior to these since this is chronologically like the third part of Eunjae’s plot! The song associated with this on Deoksu’s soundcloud!

Eunjae’s best friend in the past week had seemingly become the couch in the Empyrean dorms. The boy had found himself occupying his-now designated-corner of the couch from morning till night, not finding any motivation or incentive to move an inch. And with Deoksu monitoring the boys and making sure they all had their meals, and going to the extent of bringing it to Eunjae, it wasn’t like he had to move. 

Unless he had to use the bathroom, especially when Chan found the smart idea to play waterfall noises in the background whenever he wanted Eunjae to stop hogging the remote and leave the room for a moment or so. 

The lethargic feeling seemed to find itself wrapping its roots around Eunjae ever since his meltdown in the practice room not even more than two or so weeks ago. Originally, it was simply present in his mind here and there, almost like a dull pain that refused to leave him alone. However, it began to bloom, allowing the feeling to intensify, the breakdown on the roof seemingly nourishing it’s roots to grow. 

And now? 

The feeling had blossomed into a full-grown flower, allowing for its petals to droop down into Eunjae’s heart and litter him with its emotions. Which is why he couldn’t bring himself to get up and do something aside from laying on the couch, channel surfing until he found something that could potentially even take his mind off things for a few moments. 

A part of him was thankful for the unspoken rule amongst the boys; the rule of how whenever a  boy had a problem and didn’t approach the other three first, they’d take the hint that the boy wasn’t feeling up to talk about their problems. 

Another part of him was wondering if it would be better to talk to someone about this. He was so close to mentioning it to Deoksu that night in the practice room, but the thought of speaking out about his problems made it feel even more real, and Eunjae wasn’t sure if he would be able to handle another thorn pricking at his chest. 

Eunjae raised his finger to his mouth, idly biting on his nails as he eyed the TV, trying to follow along to the movie that had been playing for a little while but whose title Eunjae had far forgotten about. It had become almost a habit for him to do his best in trying to distract himself from his own thoughts by clinging onto something else to pay attention, only for his mind to rest for moments before it reared its suffocating thoughts into the foreground once again. 

Suddenly feeling a harm rest on his shoulder made Eunjae jump ever so slightly, his head craning around quickly to see who it was only to be met with the warm brown eyes he had grown fond of since he was a trainee. 

“I’m heading to Neostar to garden.” Yeonjin often had the same tone lingering in his words, it was almost like he expected for the meaning behind his words to click in everyone’s brain the moment he let the words out, the smile on his face always proving that his intentions were the furthest from trying to be bothersome or malice. 

“Drive safe?” 

“Well, yeah, of course I’ll have to drive extra safe if you’re coming along.”

“I’m coming along?”

“I’m glad you agree!” It was always another experience talking to Yeonjin, for Eunjae. There was something about the younger that was different from everyone else Eunjae knew, he had a way with his words and his antics that made it impossible to become bothered or annoyed with what he’s doing. It was simultaneously the feeling of talking to an excited child in a toy-store and the feeling of being wrapped in a warm hug.

“I”m not following.”

“Well, you kind of have to if you’re coming with me.”

“I didn’t mean physically.”

“Oh...ok now I’m not following.”

“Why would I be coming with you to the garden?” Eunjae questioned with a slightly raised eyebrow, watching as a small frown formed on the youngest’s face, either from the confusion that just sparked in his mind or because of Eunjae not showing interest in his garden. “No offense, buddy, but that’s usually your thing.”

“Yeah, it is, isn't it?” the smile reappeared on Yeonjin’s face once again, this time beaming with pride as Eunjae shook his head gently, wondering how he took it as him praising Yeonjin’s garden as opposed to simply saying he never had any interest in coming along. “I’ve done pretty well by myself, huh? Taehui said he’d build me a greenhouse because of how nice it’s been looking!” 

“Did he say that or did you say that and he didn’t know how to say no again?” 

“Isn’t it the same thing?” Yeonjin titled his head with furrowed boys, his smile almost sly as a few chuckles fell from his lips. “Not the point though. Come with me to the garden.”

“Why?” Eunjae almost groaned, the prospect of leaving his comforting seat on the couch not being enticing in the slightest. 

“You need to go out.” Yeonjin’s tone was blunt and it only took one glance in his eyes to note how his warm eyes had suddenly been invaded with an almost concerned gloss smeared across them now. 

Eunjae knew it would be Yeonjin to confront him about moping on the couch, because of course it would’ve been him. Yeonjin had a knack for not showing the slightest interest in beating around the bush, or dancing around a topic that’s right in front of him. Whenever there was an issue any of the boys had attempted to avoid, Yeonjin was the one to call all of the boys out and the issue at hand out as well. 

It resulted in a few arguments rising here and there, but it didn’t stop Yeonjin and in Eunjae’s eyes it didn’t diminish how his presence was needed in the slightest. Yeonjin was the type of friend who didn’t believe in suffering in silence when it was avoidable, and the younger had no problem making it obvious. 

“You don’t even have to do anything with me.” Yeonjin’s smile had shrunk in size but the warmth and comfort that emitted from him hadn’t waivered in the slightest. “Just come out with me. Get some sun, breathe in some fresh air. That’s it.”

Eunjae wanted to argue with that request and effortlessly go back to lying back on the couch, retreating back into a mind that was nothing but the same silent suffering that Yeonjin despised. But in the few moments they had been talking for, it had been the first time when Eunjae’s mind felt less heavy; more tolerable. 

He didn’t have enough of a reason to reject his friend’s request. Hell, the young boy deserved to hear some praise about his ever-growing garden, at least. 

----

“I can’t believe you stopped for McDonald’s the moment we stepped out.” 

“Hey,” Yeonjin spoke through a mouth full of fries, which Eunjae usually would’ve grimaced at the sight but could only find himself smiling ever so slightly at how much his cheeks had protruded because of how much were in them. “You can’t expect me to work on an empty stomach. It’s just not ethical.” 

The younger opened the door to the rooftop, slipping the keys into his pocket before motioning for Eunjae to head toward a specific direction as he went his own way. 

The older of the two walked to where he saw the few chairs, before he let his eyes take in the rooftop garden. 

Yeonjin’s passion for gardening was something Eunjae had learnt of prior to their debut, specifically when Eunjae first visited the Seo household in Busan. It was where Yeonjin proudly showed off his (albeit slightly smaller) rooftop garden on top of the Seo family restaurant, where he grew the vegetables that used in the kitchen all by himself. 

“Do you like it? I have so many now that I managed to separate them by purpose! There’s a little row for the ones I send back home, and then there’s…” 

Eunjae’s mind trailed off into its own space as Yeonjin continued to speak, slipping in a stream of thoughts that were more than uncomfortable. Watching his best friend aimlessly talk about his garden with the largest smile he could possibly muster on his face sparked, and rather than smiling as his friend’s smile as he usually did, Eunjae found himself raising his eyebrows as he noticed something. 

“Where’s your gardening tools?”

Silence sidestepped into the air between the two friends, allowing for Yeonjin’s smile to almost physically decrease in it’s brightness as he looked away from his garden and met with Eunjae’s eyes again. 

“Don’t need the tools for today.” not wanting to give Yeonjin the excuse to continue whatever he was planning to say, Eunjae opting to fall back onto the wooden chair, distracting himself with the bag of food in front of him. “Just need you here.”

“Yeonjin-”

“Eunjae.” the younger was quick to bit back, not wanting Eunjae to get in a word as he made his way over to him, pulling one of the folded chairs out and placing it right next to his friend. 

“I’m not in the mood for whatever you have planned.” “Yeah, you haven’t been in the mood for a good amount of time, huh?”

There was a lot about Yeonjin that Eunjae had grown to love and adore, and throughout their friendship that was close to hitting a decade, the older couldn’t quite grasp this side of Yeonjin. 

It didn’t take much for Yeonjin to get serious and when he did, it was almost like he was a completely different person and the happy-go-lucky kid that ran through the halls of Neostar vanished without a trace. 

But that wasn’t the part that made Eunjae contemplate wanting to flee the scene each and every time. It was the part where Yeonjin didn’t mind holding back his tongue when it came to expressing what he wanted, and how he always seemed to know what the problem was before anyone ever told him. 

Eunjae had always joked it was because Yeonjin was an angel amongst men, but now that he was in the hot seat, the well of jokes had run dry. 

“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong or do I have to start guessing?” 

“Yeonjin-“

“Is it Eunsoo?” the mere mention of his brother’s name sent a shiver down Eunjae’s back, his eyes quickly darting away from his friend’s. 

“Why would you assume him?”

“Because I know you, Eunjae, maybe sometimes better than you know yourself.” it didn’t take Eunjae glancing at his friend to know that there was the tiniest smile seeping from his face into his words, his hands grabbing the bag of food from Eunjae’s and finding itself interlocking with the older’s. “And I know that aside from our members, he’s one of the few people you love the most. Meaning, he’s one of the few people who would make you react this way. Is it about what I think it is?”

“How am I supposed to know what you’re thinking, Jin?” 

“Well, okay yeah, maybe that wasn’t the smartest thing to say.” Yeonjin spoke sheepishly, finally looking away from Eunjae for the first time since they stepped foot onto the roof. 

“What I meant is...is it the same issue from before?”

It didn’t take longer than a beat of silence for Yeonjin to nod his head, his answer being given in the way Eunjae’s eyes lowered to his feet. 

“You know, when I was younger, I was really desperate to be accepted by people.” a warm sadness coiled itself around Yeonjin’s words, the smile still present on the younger’s face, yet his tone lacked the same joy. “Like really desperate, like...I used to let everyone at school treat me however they wanted as long as I could be with them. I could tell not a lot of people liked me for who I was at the beginning, so instead I changed myself to be someone who could make people laugh, even if I was being laughed at.” 

“And it took a lot for me to realize that...wanting to be accepted by people didn’t make me a better person, even if it made me feel good for a while. I had to learn to accept who I was, so I would be comfortable with who I was. Originally, I thought I would only have to deal with that at school, but I kind of had the same problem at home...my brother didn’t understand when I came out.”

“Daehyeon?”

“No, no. Daehyeon came out before I did.” Yeonjin didn’t look up from his shoes in the slightest, now just barely moving his feet back and forth in a slow rhythm. “I thought it would be a bit easier like that. When Dae came out, it was felt...well, it didn’t feel like it was him that wanted to announce it but something else. He didn’t look comfortable enough in himself to be coming out, especially when he didn’t have a clue if our family was accepting since they never spoke outside of the heteronormative square we were stuck in. But, when he did, the house was uncomfortable for a bit. I think my parents were just trying their best to understand it all, and they did. Told him he wasn’t a different Daehyeon in any sense, and that he’d be their son no matter who he loved.” 

“Yeonu was different. With the way he reacted and stayed completely distant those few days, you’d think he was the one who announced his sexuality like that.” there was a smile on Yeonjin’s face once again, yet this time it lacked the same warmth it always had on his face, the smile almost seeming as if it had to be there. “He got it after a bit, and has been supportive obviously. But, when I told him how I felt about people he laughed at it and thought it was a joke.” 

“He told me it didn’t make sense that I would be attracted to anyone without caring about gender, and that there were two categories. Those who were heterosexual, and those who were homosexual.”

“Yeonu said that?” Eunjae’s eyebrows furrowed at the thought of the same man who always made his way to the local homeless shelter after his shift at the family restaurant, to feed those less fortunate being the same who would laugh at his little brother coming out. 

“Yeah, and obviously it felt like…”

“Shit.”

“Maybe.” Yeonjin finally looked up from his feet to meet Eunjae’s eyes with the lightest smile to have dance on his lips. “He’s obviously understood it and everything now, but that’s not the point. Eunjae, if I were seeking acceptance from him at that moment and I got laughed at, how do you think that would’ve gone? I would’ve been heartbroken, maybe even worse. That one rejection could’ve just...completely messed up how I felt about myself. There’s a chance I wouldn’t be comfortable with myself even now if I felt like I wouldn’t even be able to be accepted by my family.”

Yeonjin took a second to move his body, inching his chair closer, before he reached to ever so gently wrap his hands around Eunjae’s, trying to comfort the boy physically if he happened to fail verbally. 

“When you see others do you think someone is better, or has higher importance, than someone else based on their sexuality?”

Eunaje was quick to snap his head back to facing his friend, finally meeting his eyes with his brows furrowed in confusion of where the question came from. “God, no.”

“Then doesn’t that cancel out the need for acceptance? If we’re all the same in that sense, what’s the point of asking for someone to accept who you are as a person? Why would your attraction to men make you lower than if you were attracted to women?” 

“But, Yeonjin-“

“You should want him to understand you and who you are. But it wasn’t like he was asking for acceptance when he started dating girls, right?”

“No.”

Eunjae felt his Yeonjin’s other hand carefully find its way onto the side of his face, gently moving his head so he could stare directly into the older’s eyes. 

“You shouldn’t feel forced to come out to him or to hide yourself. You are who you are Eunjae, there’s nothing wrong with that at all.” 

“But he shares everything with me.”

“Because you make him feel safe enough that he can tell you everything,” there were the smallest of tears pricking in the corner of Yeonjin’s eyes, the smile still prominent in his face in an attempt to make sure his friend knew it would be okay. “If he doesn’t make you feel safe, that’s not your fault.” 

The silence danced back into the atmosphere of the two boys, this time it didn’t feel as if it slithered in before coiling around them, creating an unbearable feeling. It was a gentle silence, that both boys were evidently comfortable in. 

Eunjae nodded in response to his friend, this time reaching up to wipe at any of the tears that dared to peer over and fall, even if his own began free-falling making them both let out the tiniest of laughs. 

Truth be told, he didn’t know if everything was going to be ok. He didn’t even know if he could understand everything Yeonjin said to him in that split second, or if it would matter to his mental-state in the days to come.

But Yeonjin was right: for Eunjae, he needed to accept and understand himself, before he could possibly ask others to understand him.

And if he was lucky, the same self-love he had decided to work towards in that same moment, may be reflected in how his brother treated him in the future. 

Because that’s how much trust Eunjae was willing to put in his bond with his brother. Even if he wasn’t waiting underneath him with a safety net, he was willing to take the risk of leaping forwards. 

[honeymoonjin]

Chapter Eleven

Summary: When you hear that your recently deceased grandmother left you her property in her will, at first you think that a dinky old cottage in the middle of nowhere isn’t going to mean much for you. But after spending a night there, you discover something far more valuable than the house itself: a hidden door that leads to another time, the same place but over 200 years in the past. In the late 18th Century, there is a king who will die before his 21st birthday unless you can save him. Will you help him, even if it means leaving your own life behind?

A/N: This chapter is a little different, it’s in Yoongi’s point of view. I was going to make it Chapter 10.5 since it kind of occurs alongside Chapter 10 chronologically, but I didn’t want anyone thinking it wasn’t necessary to the plot, because it definitely is. Let me know what you think!

--

"Can't you just let me go with you, hyung? I'll be good!"

This kid. Yoongi shakes his head firmly, hurriedly grinding some herbs together for a last-minute clarity charm. "You mess up enough here as it is. I can't leave something like this up to you. Besides, Y/n specifically asked for me to go, didn't she?"

The shaman tries to ignore the way Taehyung fixes his puppy dog eyes on his elder. "But what will I do when you're gone? I'll be all bored and alone."

Tipping the ground herbs into a small vial, Yoongi's voice is flat as he makes sure the vaguely green dust makes its way into the vessel. "Then go back to the palace and keep Y/n company. Make sure she doesn't do anything stupid. Alright, I need to leave. Be sure to leave the portal door open, but lock the front door with the hex charm; do you remember it?"

Taehyung seems affronted at the suggestion. "Of course I can do a hex charm, Yoongi. I'm not incompetent, you know..."

Yoongi straightens up and stares at the boy who's pouting in the kitchen. Feeling a sliver of guilt, he sighs and runs a hand through his hair. "Listen," Yoongi says, voice gruff but apologetic, "I'm just making sure. I'm trying to keep you safe."

"Forget about it," Taehyung mutters under his breath, studiously ignoring his elder as he grabs an apple for the road and shrugs on a coat. "I'm going, like you wanted."

Yoongi winces when the heavy wooden door slams behind his assistant, and he stands in silence, listening to the the light scrape of Taehyung’s fingernail against the door, paired with the muttering of an ancient Chinese spell. Most of the magic Yoongi used nowadays were more modern Korean methods, but for the more basic enchantments, it was common to use the original spells.

Finally, all was quiet again. Yoongi cleared his throat to try and break the melancholic gloom he had slipped into, and double-checked the minimal belongings on his person before he left. He was not going to be in the modern world long, would not even have to leave the confines of the house itself, but Yoongi never went anywhere without a small leather pouch of basic ingredients tucked into his belt, the glass vial of a clarity charm dangling on a cord around his neck, and a small blade in his boot. All things proceeding as planned, he wouldn’t need them.

The first thing Min Yoongi noticed about the future was how clean and bright everything was. Gone were his heavy curtains, dark walls and sooty hearth. He emerged out into a hallway (something only palaces were large enough to have in his time, but he was familiar with them nonetheless) with a strange spongy fabric floor and impossibly straight, flat walls that appeared painted uniformly. He couldn’t imagine the finesse it would take a painter to manage to evenly coat this expansive surface without leaving streaks. Perhaps magic was more commonplace in this day.

Yoongi had been here once before, to lure Y/n back to his time, but he had transformed into a cat, then, and it was the middle of the night, rather than the break of day. Unsure which direction to go, he followed the hallway left, until he made it to the very end. “She said the communication device was in her sleeping quarters. Here, she wrote down some instructions for its use.” Yoongi felt for the note again in his pocket, comforted by the crisp edge of the thick paper. He had read that note to the point of rote-memory, but was glad it was there anyway. All Yoongi had to do was locate a bedroom, and then the ‘phone’ would be on a wooden stand beside it. He was actually feeling some excitement unfurl within him to find this device; from Y/n’s description, it sounded like a very complexly enchanted item.

As Yoongi made his way from room to room methodically, ignoring everything that wasn’t a bed (even though he was desperately curious to try out the bath – something he recognised from his time, but seemed far more refined) he thought over his previous encounter with Taehyung.

Was there really such a need for Taehyung to take everything to heart all the time? That boy was too sensitive for his own good. It would get him hurt one day.

When Taehyung and Yoongi met, almost three years ago, the shaman wasn’t looking for anyone. In fact, he had sworn off ever taking an assistant again after… what had happened with the last one, but Taehyung was insistent. His parents didn’t want him working on their farm anymore, he had said, and the King’s Guard wouldn’t take him in. He would have nowhere else to go. Perhaps Yoongi should’ve seen that as a sign that the boy wasn’t a particularly capable worker, but instead he had opened his arms and welcomed him in. He never had been able to say no to a pretty face. Yoongi thought maybe that was his biggest flaw yet.

Behind the fourth or fifth door, past the small door in the wall from whence he came, Yoongi found a bed, wider and more lushly decorated than the modest shelf-and-blanket combination he had. Letting out a gasp of relief at the chance to distract himself from the memories of his assistants, he rushed forward into the room, scanning it for a wooden stand.

Directly to the right of the bed is a short, squarish cabinet. On top is a small metal box with glowing red numbers, a very glossy and crisp book, and a small black device. Yoongi consults with the slip of paper, and tentatively touches the tip of his finger to a protruding button. Gasping with wonder as the surface lights up, Yoongi realizes there are words on the screen, all gathered in small boxes. He takes the time to read some of them, having to re-press that button as the screen keeps going dark after a few moments.

   Jimin, 8:21pm: r you still busy at the house? can u please just text me back baby, if ur busy thats okay, im just a little worried out u, thats all… it’s getting late…

   Jimin, 10:49am: okay, im heading off to work, flick me a text when u get this xxx

   Jimin, yesterday 5:11pm:  we dont have to if you don’t want to

   Jimin, yesterday 4:28pm: date night tonight? xxx i feel like i havent seen you in ages baby xxx

There are more, but they disappear out the bottom. Yoongi frowns. He thinks he remembers this Jimin; if memory serves, it was the sleeping male curling up to Y/n when he briefly visited her dreamscape. Yoongi had been so caught up in making sure she fulfilled her end of the deal that he had almost forgotten she had a life outside of their time. Those messages were a sobering reminder of how much Yoongi was asking from her. How much she was giving up. He didn’t like that feeling.

Clearing his throat noisily in the early evening silence, he picks up the device delicately and places it on the bed, flattening out the note beside it. Y/n’s instructions make sense as he follows along, although it takes him a while to work out what she means by ‘text bubble icon’.

Once he reaches that screen, and clicks on the name ‘Jimin’, those same messages appear, but in a different format. “I’ve already seen these,” he tells the device. The device does not respond. “I seek to create one of my own.” He sighs. The magic on this glass apparently cannot react to voice, only touch. He reaches out and clicks on the small white box that says ‘iMessage’ in grey. “Yes, I do want to message,” he mumbles distractedly. A large array of small letters appears below. Y/n wrote down to tap each square to write the letter. It seems an awfully impersonal way of writing, and it takes Yoongi quite a long time to tap out what Y/n has asked him to write, as well as pressing a small blue arrow to the right, which pushes the message upwards, resting directly below those from the Jimin.

   omg im so sorry i missed these jiminie ㅠ ㅠ i hope ur not too worried.

   im ok, just not been feeling great so ive been sleeping a lot! im not sure yet if its contagious so pls dont come out, i know uve got that show coming up and i dont want u to get sick ok!

   love you lots baby!

Yoongi sighs once he finishes, resting back on the bed, but soon three bouncing dots appear in a box. He watches them dance, fascinated, wondering what this could mean, until they change into words. Y/n did tell him that Jimin would be likely to reply and had simply written on the bottom of the note, ‘no apostrophes, or capital letters, call him baby or jiminie, and make sure he doesn’t come out to the house!’

   Jimin: omg thank god ur safe i was worried!!! i can bring u round some fresh soup and we can have a night in xxx ive already had my flu jab so i wont get sick i promise lol xx

Yoongi swears, trying to speed up his reply, double-checking Y/n’s rules as he goes.

   thank you, baby, thats very kind of you. but please dont come out, im just going to go to sleep and hope that this sickness passes in time. i will notify you once

But before he can finish crudely dictating a message, a series of three hard raps echoes through the house. Yoongi stands up ramrod stiff. Surely the Jimin boy hadn’t arrived so soon? Although, Yoongi supposes transport must be more efficient in this time. He bites his lip nervously. Surely, it would be best to go ask him to leave. It was Y/n’s intention that Jimin did not come to the house, since she herself was absent, and Yoongi could not have the boy roaming around and discovering the portal’s entrance.

“Y/n?” a deep voice calls out, muffled through the walls. Yoongi swears under his breath and pockets the small device and the note, getting off the bed to go find the front door. “Are you there?” Hurrying faster, the shaman eventually locates a door with a clouded glass panel revealing a tall shadow. He fumbles with the doorknob, having to twist a key (thank God that technology hasn’t changed) to unlock it, and throws it open with a nervous huff. The man blinks once, furrowing his eyebrows. “Uh…hi?”

“Yes, hello,” Yoongi blurts out hastily, eyes roaming over the tall man. Although he saw Jimin in very dim lighting, it’s easy to tell that this is not the same man. “Who are you?”

The man is wearing rough-looking blue pants with a belt, and a tunic that’s cut at his hips instead of his legs. He holds a hand out to Yoongi. Yoongi stares at it until the man coughs and lowers it. “My name’s Namjoon. I didn’t mean to interrupt, I’m just here to speak to Y/n.”

“What-” Yoongi’s words catch in his throat when he lifts his gaze from the man’s odd attire to his face. It can’t be. A bolt of deeply-repressed hurt cuts through him. He recognizes those dimples, that smile, even the name is the same as his. It was a face he never thought he’d see again. But, no. It isn’t him. The more Yoongi looks at him closely, the man going a little red in the cheeks under the sudden scrutiny, Yoongi can see the finer details aren’t right. His Namjoon had a narrow nose, more delicate face. His Namjoon wasn’t as tall and was skinnier too. This man in front of him bore shocking resemblance, but it wasn’t him. It wasn’t his Namjoon. Sensing he had been silent too long, Yoongi blinks away the tears that threaten to well. “What for?”

“Oh, uh, it’s kind of private business, dude. Sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”

“Y/n’s sick,” Yoongi says instead, “so I’m afraid you can’t come in. I’m more than happy to pass on a message.”

The man who looks so much like his former assistant furrows his brows. “I’m sorry, who are you? I’d like to speak with her. I’ve been doing some more research for her, you see, really cool stuff on-”

“I’m her doctor,” Yoongi says instead, “I’m concerned she may be contagious, so I’ve advised her not to have guests. If you have the research with you, perhaps I can bring it inside. I’m sure she’d appreciate you coming.”

The guy laughs awkwardly, then digs into a bag at his side for a stack of pieces of paper bound in some floppy, slippery pink material. “I didn’t have time to pick up a ringbinder, so the photocopies are loose, but I managed to dig up quite a bit of the history on the Jeon reign, as well as all the following generations. It’s interesting! Hopefully she’ll get some use out of it.” The man hands the research over, craning his neck to try and glance down the hallway. “Can you tell her hi for me? And that I’m sorry for stopping by without texting ahead.”

Yoongi nods, half in a daze. He doesn’t know this strange feeling in his chest; does he want this Namjoon-not-Namjoon man to leave and never think about him again, or does he wish he would stay so that Yoongi can see just how much similarity there was? The thought comes too late, as the man turns and skips down the gravel path, getting into his car and pulling away without a second look back.

The shaman shuts the door, returning the key to its previous position, and sinks down on the floor. First Taehyung acting up, reminding him of his last assistant, and now this. The fates were being cruel today.

Forgetting about the small device still in his herbs pouch, Yoongi quickly returns to the hallway and crawls through the doorway and back into his own time, trying to ignore the hot tears that gather under his chin.

--

TAGLIST Message me or send an ask to be added to the taglist for Sovereign, and never miss a new chapter!

@sonyeonsideupsmile  @sweetcheeksdna (I can’t seem to tag you!)  @hoodiebangtan @mntchcchp @shay-the-turtle @under-dah-sea

[simkjrs]

msa asks (chap. 4  & onwards)

masterpost of msa asks that have been piling up, starting from when chapter 4 was published. thanks for your patience everyone...

answered in chronological order (first sent to most recently sent). i might have missed a couple, sorry about that

Anonymous said: IT'S OUT IT'S OUT IT'S OUT IT'S OUT IT'S OUT IT'S OUT IT'S OUT IT'S OUT

Anonymous said: *INCOHERENT SCREECHING AND FLAILING*

ah, the halcyon days of innocence, before everyone finished reading the chapter

Anonymous said: *just finished chp4* uh Yeah about that what the fuck? simk whAT THE HELL DID YOU POUR GUNPOWDER ON YOUR PC? LOAD 14 BULLETS ON EVERY KEY ON YOUR KEYBOARD? SEND KILLER ZAPS TO ANYONE WHO SCROLLS UNTIL THE END OF THE CHAPTER? I WAS SO EXCITED ABT THE UPDATE THAT I COMPLETELY FORGOT THAT U WERE ACTUALLY A MURDERER IN DISGUISE? ANOTHER BEGINNERS MISTAKE, BECAUSE EVERYTHING U WRITE FUCKS ME UP ON EVERY FUCKING LEVEL? SO YEah what i wanted to say is that i love you

to date this is still one of the funniest asks i’ve ever gotten and it’s going in my testimonials

Anonymous said: me @ the new msa chapter:👌👀👌👀👌👀👌👀👌👀 good shit go౦ԁ sHit👌 thats ✔ some good👌👌shit right👌👌there👌👌👌 right✔there ✔✔if i do ƽaү so my self 💯 i say so 💯 thats what im talking about right there right there (chorus: ʳᶦᵍʰᵗ ᵗʰᵉʳᵉ) mMMMMᎷМ💯 👌👌 👌НO0ОଠOOOOOОଠଠOoooᵒᵒᵒᵒᵒᵒᵒᵒᵒ👌 👌👌 👌 💯 👌 👀 👀 👀 👌👌Good shit

thank you, i do my best

Anonymous said: OH MY GOD! YOU REALLY PUT THE SNAKE FASHION THING!! :DDD :OOO

it was too good to pass up!! if you want to message me w/ ur name or url so i can credit you for inspo/the prompt, feel free :p

Anonymous said: I actually thought in the middle of the chapter that temple-dog would help Izuku escape so he would get captured by the other side of the coin and now i'm just crying

fjdlfkjsldf im sorry im like this. i do this 

Anonymous said: in just a few hours the comments went from 5 to flipping 23 25

yeah im very lucky to have so many people follow & support my writing!! im grateful to everyone who comments.

Anonymous said: I wonder how being sick works for MSA Izuku. In that odd state of not being as aware as usual and your mind being foggy, would he hear that star song easier or any other odd spirit shenanigans?

he’d just be kind of out of it and more susceptible to... things 

Anonymous said: SCREAMS?? I LOVE YOUR WRITING SO MUCH AND THIS CHAPTER WAS ABSOLUTELY STELLAR, THANK YOU FOR IMMEDIATELY BRIGHTENING MY NIGHT! I HOPE YOU HAVE A FANTASTIC TIME!!

ahh im really glad you enjoyed chapter four that much!! thank you!!!

Anonymous said: IM HOLLERIN THE NEW CHAPTER WAS SO GOOD WTF??

fjldkfsldf thank you.... 

Anonymous said: When I first commented on Ao3 I felt like looking at the other comments and I noticed all of them (at the time) had a line along the lines of "he needs a break" so I ended up imagining him just sunbathing on some tropical beach (read deserted island) sipping coconut Juice and sighing happily with noone to bother him.

that would be ideal. i think izuku also would not know what to do with himself

Anonymous said: MSA Izuku ch.4 summary: Kirishima: Hey are you ok? Izuku, literally on fire: Why, what's wrong?

GHFLKDFJLSDF IM LAUGHING!!! YOURE NOT WRONG

Anonymous said: I just finished msa ch4 and im?? Its 0 dark 00 and I have a 7 hour shift later Toda but I had to put it down and gnash my teeth over how GORGEOUS and HEARTBREAKING this chapter was before picking it up and finishing it. God im so stoked that it came out. Alright my pal, I hope you have a good time period of indeterminate length; take care of yourself yo!!

thank you im so glad you enjoyed it!! and i hope things have been good for you!

Anonymous said: ffuuuUUUUCK THAT TEMPLE-DOG YO WHAT AN AWFUL ICKY THING TO DO

correct, although in its defense, if izuku had just been another spirit, their connection would not have had that kind of effect 

Anonymous said: Uh, sorry if this bothering you, this has something to do with Msa Izuku, but not the new chapter (love it BTW, poor Izuku got captured by Overhaul. The cat is a new bar.).So, I would like to ask, just for fun, what would Izuku sees if he meets C/astiel face to face and how would the spirits react?

i think my worldbuilding and spn worldbuilding would conflict in so many terrible ways, but... izuku would prob be able to see c/astiel’s wings and true form? only for a bit before his eyes started getting itchy, and then started bleeding... dont think the spirits would like angels very much. spirits are a very prideful and arrogant bunch who don’t like to be intruded upon or interfered with

Anonymous said: who is Senshajou other than an amazing creature which I love already

senshajou is plato’s ideal cat. they are not exactly a spirit. they just are

Anonymous said: I'm suuuper curious about what the One for All spirit looks like in MSA, because my first thought is that it'd have to be this massive chimeric mutant due to the nature of it's creation and the fact it's been bonded to eight separate people.

coming back and reading this is incredibly funny because like. yeah. ofa is a chimera. not quite for the reasons you think, but yeah

Anonymous said: You know what I'm thinking right now? What of kiri and deku met in public after The Arrest™. The sheer chaos it would bring. The Confusion ™. I'm sure deku would just take one look at kiri and just. Book it. Also ch4 helped inspire me in my endavour to write about my etheral starlight dragon god for a original story i've been thinking up. You're really good at describing creatures beyond Imagination, you know.

you have correctly predicted this scenario. 

also im glad ch4 was able to help you in your writing endeavors!! best of luck!!

Anonymous said: whenever i read msa i always picture izuku wearing like, some kind of grey cloak, with the hood always up and shadowing his eyes no matter the context/location/surrounding temperature. It doesn't make any sense given the general fashion in bnha but I can't help it- msa!izuku is a cloak kinda guy imo

you’re right but msa izuku would also hate the attention that would come with wearing a cloak. he is definitely a hood-up kind of guy

Anonymous said: msa au in which Deku escapes the villain alliance, breaks into Kirishima's home, and just, fucking collapses on the couch. Kirishima gets up the next morning to see the fucking cryptid he'd hunted for days just, sleeping on his couch like a giant cat. What the fuck. What the fuck.

hold that thought

Anonymous said: So I'm reading ch 4 and listening to "I appear missing" by queens of the stone age and it works ridiculously well ngl (also like gd this chapter is so good the hype is real👍👍)

thank you!! this is a p cool song

Anonymous said: In MSA does everyone have a spirit? Have people always had spirits? Do you know how quirks started? Do even quirkless people have spirits? Why don't they have quirks? Could Izuku open their channel, or is the quirk canceling bullets different from quirkless people? So many questions!

most everyone has a spirit but not everyone, people have not always had guardian spirits, i do know how quirks started, quirkless people have spirits, they don’t have quirks because their bodies have not adapted to channel their spirit’s energy adequately, and izuku can try something with unlocking quirks, but it depends on what there is to work with already. quirk cancelling bullets rewind the bond between spirit and human but they don’t erase the adaptations to the body. quirkless people dont have that adaptation in the first place... hope that makes sense 

Anonymous said: dunno if this's been mentioned/acknowledged or asked about before, but wheres izuku's guardian spirit?

he ain’t got one. but why... 

Anonymous said: CHOO CHOO IT'S THE UNRESOLVED EMOTIONAL ISSUES TRAIN COMING IN AT 242379 MILES AN HOUR THERE ARE NO STOPS THERE ARE NO BRAKES WE DIE LIKE MEN ON THE HELL EXPRESS ~bakugous spirit

this is a joke but actually, yes. actually, this is very applicable to msa izuku himself, and so many characters i write, actually. this is an icnredibly funny ask and i love the phrases you use  and i would not be surprised if i subconsciously absorb this phrase and accidentally use it in the future. thank you for this

Anonymous said: question: if msa izuku and kirishima were in a dangerous situation and izuku almost got hurt very badly/died but he managed to escape. BUT kirishima didnt see him escape and didnt know he was okay. how would kirishima react

in typical kirishima fashion he would be very worried about izuku and would probably try to figure out a way to rescue him

Anonymous said: im ppl have been talkig abt izu's guardian spirit lately, but wht abt allm's? i like to imagine that when shimura died, she became toshi's guardian spirit

shes not allm’s guardian spirit but shes Around

Anonymous said: ok but the part where msa izuku says release it rly reminded me of cardcaptor sakura just sayin

never watched cardcaptor sakura but thats p cool 

Anonymous said: I'd like to think if MSA. Izu/ku got hit with a quirk erasing bullet it wouldn't kill him, just like knock him out for a good day or so until he wakes back up through spite and the universe just hating him and being like "man thanks for the nap gun guys gotta get me one of those"

Anonymous said: I had a dream that msa!izu/ku was standing in his cell and staring at a nearby guard and the guard is wondering wtf why is he staring like that but actually he was just really tired and fell asleep. Standing up. W/eyes open.

HEY THIS IS INCREDIBLE AND INCREDIBLY FUNNY AND IF SOMEONE WROTE A SNIPPET WITH IZUKU DOING THIS I WOULD ABSOLUTELY BELIEVE IT

Anonymous said: I'm sorry but I have to tell you “Would you like to sit?” “No.” is the funniest interaction I have ever experienced in my life I woke up my grandmother at 3 am cause I was laughing so hard and she's doesn't even live on the same floor as me

im so glad that izuku being a bullheaded and troubled teenager can bring some amusement and laughter to your day

Anonymous said: i guess you could say that in the lastest chapter, msa izuku is kicking ass... /and taking names/ BA DUM TSHHHHHHH

HGJDFKJSDLGSDF IM LAUGHING!!!! STOP THIS

Anonymous said: In the MSA verse when someone doesn't like their quirk for example like your OC Mitoki and they don't use their quirk how does that affect their spirit?

doesn’t really affect their spirit except like, psychologically or emotionally, because they would Like for their charge to be able to use their powers in order to defend themselves, but their charge Is Not

Anonymous said: What would Mitoki think of MSA Izuku?

msa izuku: says Anything msa izuku: pulls Those Stunts msa izuku: does stuff of gray legality without bothering to explain himself, ever msa izuku: also is grudgingly a good person mitoki: this guy is hilarious and a fucking RIOT, i have to adopt him immediately

Anonymous said: i imagine after hearing the music of the universe msa izuku doesn't like human music anymore, huh?

i think he isn’t very fond of any music that reminds him of that experience, and how he nearly lost sight of his sense of self. normal, mundane music with absolutely nothing out of the ordinary is probably a relief

Anonymous said: Just wanted to drop in and say that I really love MSA!!! It's a super refreshing read, and I LOVE how you write everyone. I'm so hooked, you have no idea. Thank you so much for all the work you put into it!!

thank you for dropping in and letting me know!! i love feedback like this, makes me happy to keep writing and sharing stuff. i hope you enjoy the next chapter!

Anonymous said: someone: *gives izuku positive attention* izuku: you come into MY HOUSE

yeah that’s pretty much exactly it

Anonymous said: This might be a little weird and specific, but how would MSA Izuku react to someone who does similar stuff to him? Meaning, constantly does weird eldritch shit while sassing away any attempts to figure it out. And also assuming that they keep crossing paths no matter how either party feels about it.

probably kind of uncomfortable, but if this person is reacting to said eldritch stuff the way msa izuku reacts to spirit stuff, i think he’d just recognize this person as someone else who’s going through a lot of stuff and just wants to be left alone, and then msa izuku would proceed to leave them alone. maybe quietly give them a coffee if they look like they need it, then leave.

if this person was enjoying eldritch stuff, i think msa izuku would be kind of envious of them, and resentful, because hey, this person gets a way better deal than me in terms of eldritch mysteries, why do i get stuck with all the bad stuff? 

either way i don’t think msa izuku would spend a lot of time with them, he has a lot of his own stuff to deal with.

Anonymous said: Holy hell. Did Izuku, like, frickin ABSORB afo or some shit??

Anonymous said: Did izu/ku discover afo's spirit's name? And then proceed to destroy afo

Anonymous said: If I was Aizawa, or any other clever member of the hero crew, my assumption would probably be that Izuku is the product of a quirk that makes physical manifestations of other people's quirks. The person with said quirk probably used it on themselves, thus Izuku. It would reasonably explain why he's so dodgy about his identity, can fix/alter quirks, talks strangely to nothing, and is so effected by the eraser quirk. (It's fun manufacturing wrong but reasonable theories!)

oh thats a really interesting theory!! hmm yeah... it could work, but if i was aizawa i would wonder why izuku didn’t just disappear if he was just a temporary manifestation of a quirk. i’ll deffo consider this though and if it proves useful to the story i hope you won’t mind if i use it? 

thank you for writing in!

Anonymous said: Goodness, I love your work. A part of me silently lives for the day when MSA!Izu and All Might spend time together and AM's just?? Immune to all of Izu's snark, while still being such a dad. Like "Deku my boy, where's the hoodie I gave you? It's getting cold out."/"Based on the trajectory of the moon and sun, in a garbage bin somewhere."/"Oh! Well it *was* my old highschool hoodie. It was probably getting too old to wear anyway"/*Cue frustrated-mortified screams of the little cryptid child*

frankly i don’t think msa izuku would be able to handle someone knowing About Him and genuinely looking after him at the same time, he’s only ever had one or the other at a time, if all might did this msa izuku would short circuit and have a minor crisis because he doesn’t know how to accept affection from someone who accepts him for who he is. this thought hurts me and i regret thinking about this. really good ask, thanks for sending it in

Anonymous said: Your fic ‘know what i’ve made by the marks on my hands’ is a power move in of itself.

fndlfksldkf THANKS, im putting this in my testimonials

Anonymous said: Ever since the beggining of MSA I can't get rid of a certain though. Bakugou's Quirk something horibly adorable and comepletely enamored with Izuku. Like, the moment it sees him, it just jumps at him with hugs and kisses, possibly some purrs. Izuku avoiding the duo because he's so done and tired of the vilent love and explosive heatred mixture.

izuku hates it because both of them are giving him some form of attention and he just wants them to forget about him and be done with it

Anonymous said: Idk whether this was asked but how do names come across in the second intonation?? Like if izuku was saying senshajou (?) would the name come out in japanese or does the second intonation have a way of saying names without actually saying them? Basically would listening in on their conversation reveal a bunch of static and then just "carwash" in the middle of the sentence??

intonations aren’t a new language, just a manner of speaking, where the fourth intonation takes the most energy and the first intonation (normal speech) takes the least. effectively, izuku and all the spirits are speaking japanese, but the intonation they speak in will take their words to a different energy level. if that makes sense. so, no, ‘carwash’ would not show up in the middle of a sentence

Anonymous said: SIMK IM CHOKING!!!!!! YOUR ART LEFT ME SPEECHLESS ITS SO GOOOOD!!!!

thank you so much!!! this is very flattering, and makes me very happy as well

Anonymous said: Hey have you ever played OFF?? Idk the first pic you drew for MSA rly reminds me of it

i have not! but i love the art i’ve seen for it

Anonymous said: so are the guardian spirits in msa bound to their humans in a distance sense? like can they just wander off to somewhere far away from their human or would they hit a boundary somewhere?

yes, spirits are basically bound by proximity! they can leave their charges behind and go gallivanting to another continent but it’s Not A Good Idea for a few reasons and becomes very unpractical. they can travel pretty far from their charges if the necessity arises, though.

Anonymous said: there is a lot of things i could say about your my spirit academia art but the first thing that i thought of was "wow izuku looks good with nail polish"

fjdlkfjsldf

everyone looks great with nail polish!

Anonymous said: msa!izuku's flirting: you're slightly less terrible than everything else happening in this situation right now

izuku says this stiffly and without looking at the other person because expressing emotion and vulnerability is difficult for him

Anonymous said: Honestly msa!izuku is the most relatable au Izuku. I too wish I could just fade from everyone’s collective knowledge and become the local ghost story middle schoolers dare each other to test. *izuku gets ding-dong-ditched but only because local children are too terrified to stay to see the beast that lives in that apartment*

Wait what does Izuku do for halloween anyways?

i accidentally deleted the second half of your question so that’s just a paraphrase sorry!! but yeah, i’ve infused msa izuku with some of my more cryptid-longing tendencies, i find it hilarious that this has carried through. i love the proposed scenario. it’s incredibly funny and absolutely something that would happen to izuku 

i dont think halloween is very widely celebrated in japan? but if it was, izuku would probably just shut himself in his room for the night because he doesn’t want to deal with any aspect of the holiday

Anonymous said: heya!! i just read your msa fic and i absolutely adore it! the whole idea is just awesome in the every sense of the word and ive found myself already completely immersed in it! your writing of izu/ku is very relatable for me and it only makes me love the fic more?? ahh im just head over heels for it!!!!

ahhh im really glad to hear that!!! i hope you continue to enjoy future chapters, as we explore more of izuku’s character, and possibly, his past :^)

Anonymous said: u have probs already gotten this question before, but was msa izuku (or his soul) merged with his guardian spirit at birth? Cause izuku basically says that something went terribly wrong at his birth... so I'm thinking he somehow merged with his spirit????

something like that! there was spirit fuckery involved.

Anonymous said: I cant help but think prototype!izu/ku's hair would match msa izu/ku v well

im laughing because ive actually drawn msa izuku with a hairstyle DISTRESSINGLY similar to prototype izuku’s hair. msa izuku has got that unhappy, emo vibe about him that just naturally attracts the kinds of vibes that prototype izuku’s hair gives off

Anonymous said: is izu/ku's guardian spirit like nessie or bigfoot or something? cause i swear to fuck he's such a cryptid omg

HRNGLDFLKSDF IM LAUGHING

nah, izuku doesn’t have a guardian spirit. only... himself

Anonymous said: Did All Might give Mirio One For All in MSA?

no idea, haven’t thought about it, won’t figure it out until i actually need to address it

Anonymous said: I just wanna say that I love msa and kirishima is trying

kirishima *is* trying and we are all loving and supporting him for the amazing work he does

Anonymous said: Say, would Shinsou’s quirk work on MSA!Izuku?

you will find that out in, sports festival msa au, wherein msa izuku accidentally takes his canon counterpart’s place right after he’s finished the obstacle course event in the sports festival. i need to get through the end of the sports festival before im satisfied with publishing it... but i’ve finished the shinsou fight. so! you’ll see :p

Anonymous said: Hey I sent you an ask a while ago but idk if you saw it or not, but I just wanted to say that I really liked your latest chapter of msa! The music that you described in the chapter was really amazing and it made me think of this song called “the heaven’s flock” sang by the Texas all state choir. Obviously it won’t be anything close to the ethereal other-worldly music that you describe in the chapter, but it’s what came to mind while I was reading it. You can find it on YouTube, hope you like it!

hey im super glad!! i spent a lot of time editing those paragraphs for Maximum Spiritness, it’s always gratifying to know someone enjoyed them. and yes, i checked out the song on youtube, and it’s pretty cool! choral pieces usually don’t interest me a lot but this one was fun. thanks for telling me about it!

Anonymous said: i just found your ff and I love them! Tired(tm) Midoriya is great and I love him.

thank you!! izuku who is tired of this bullshit and calls it out when he sees it is definitely very fun. 

Anonymous said: where is msa!izuku's physique in comparison to the cannon timeline? is he closer to how he was at the very start of series, or while he was training with All Might before he got One for All?

he’s pretty lean and wiry with plenty of stamina, so i’d say he’s about on par with canon izuku after training with all might pre-yuuei. he probably doesn’t have as much raw strength but i think he has more stamina

Anonymous said: Msa izu/ku escapes from the Precepts' clutches and starts booking it around the tunnels and just. Stumbles upon Eri. Stops and takes the time to fuckin wrangle her spirit to stop it from unexisting him and just books it with her "I'm taking her now bye"

this is hilariously close

Anonymous said: you used a lyric from meet me in the woods for the 4th chapter of msa and god thinking about it that song fits the au?? at least as much as i've seen about it.

thank you!! and yeah, i’ve actually got that song on my msa playlist. specifically, my msa kiri/deku playlist, because it fits so well. [sips that heart hurting juice] im happy someone caught the reference!

Anonymous said: just read the quote from Morrison 'she utilised violence in a purely feminine way' by chucking hot pokers at people and all I can think of is msa!izu/ku being so done with everything and being violent 'in a purely deadpan way', chucking his collection of spray paint cans/ art supplies/ occasional chair at the spirits because he's just so done and LET HIM SLEEP OR AT LEAST TURN UP WITH COFFEE GODDAMIT.

you are not, wrong 

thats what his scripts are for!

Anonymous said: Msa! Izu/ku's laugh sounding like a dead rustling/ raspy monotone that is simultaneously eerie and extremely concerning to the point you want to wrap him in marshmallows.

msa izuku’s laugh sounds very, very tired, which is arguably the same thing

@iamlikecain​ said: Hi ! I juste wanted to say that I love your fic My spirit academia and sassy Izuku is what I now live for. Btw, he doesn’t deserve to suffer omg that poor baby and uuugg I hope he’ll be happy ;—-;

haha thank you!! i’m glad you like msa izuku’s shenanigans!! and yeah. he really doesn’t deserve any of this. things will, hopefully, look up for him soon! i am not setting out to write a pessimistic story, eventually things will get better

Anonymous said: Your my hero academia spirit AU is super frigging interesting??? Im dying to read more :DDD

thank you! im super glad you enjoyed it

Anonymous said: What are your favorite msu!izuku headcannons?

just the fact of him existing in this unrestrained, unintentionally chaotic state of being wherein he does what he needs to and may even do what you want him to, but in a way that makes him and you and everyone else involved feel like you’re all just a bunch of clowns. heres a couple more facts about him though

his goal in life is to become a famous reclusive calligrapher who has retired to the isolated countryside to do calligraphy, where no one can bother him

secretly still really passionate about heroics but kind of embarrassed about it so if you find out or bring it up he WILL try to kill you

messy and not very good at cooking, but doing his best

knows some kind of weird trivia that you wouldn’t really expect

Anonymous said: b r u h what would inko's quirk spirit creature look like?? soft and playful and curious about all sorts of smol trinkets/objects??? would they be combative w izuku too??? ;-; or reach some sort of grudging acceptance of their presence??? smol green abomination belongs to my beloved human, so no fighting little abomination

honestly i haven’t given a lot of thought to inko’s guardian spirit, other than that it’s probably pretty small and not one of the most powerful spirits out there. it’s kind of distant from izuku, bc izuku makes it uneasy, but it cares about izuku in its own way. 

[brentrogers]

Is Self-Quarantining an Act of Love or Fear?

As a follow-up to the previously published article entitled We’re All In This Together: Facing the Coronavirus Crisis, I am offering additional ideas that have emerged since I wrote the original piece. I have chosen to remain at home, not because I am symptomatic, although I am in a medical and chronological high risk group, as a 61-year-old with asthma and a cardiac condition, but so that I can assist in what is now called “flattening the curve.” A simple explanation is that the fewer people out and about, interacting in close enough proximity to spread the disease, the lighter the load on the health care system.

Consider that hospitals typically treat people with acute and chronic conditions and ERs see those who pass through the doors with heart attacks, strokes, gunshot wounds, and other injuries, which in and of itself call for medical professionals to be at the top of their game. Add to that a steady influx of patients with symptoms of COVID-19 and it is a recipe for disaster. 

Except for going to my job as a psychotherapist, where I keep my distance from patients and co-workers, using handwashing and cleaning of surfaces, being conscientious of coughing or sneezing, and then spending a bit of time with my son, daughter-in-law and seven week old grandson, I am ensconced in my safe cocoon at home. The same protocol I use at work, is what I engage in behind those closed doors.

I miss socializing in person with friends but have come to accept that it is not worth the risk. I am an extrovert who has learned how to experience solitude, without it becoming isolation. I call, text, email and IM on Facebook with kindred spirits who I would have seen up close and personal. I have heard from those who consider themselves introverts as being in their happy place knowing that they have encouragement to stay home.

I am heartened to see that even though it is a financial hardship, many businesses in my community and in the expansive world, have temporarily closed their doors. They are putting the wellbeing of their customers/clients before any potential profit. In my circles are professional musicians whose gigs have gotten canceled. There is little margin for loss of income so some of them are live-streaming concerts and requesting donations. 

The uncertainty of the growth and spread of the virus and the toll it will take when counted in lives and livelihood is immeasurable at the moment. Some fear the worst. Others attempt to discredit what they consider media hype and have a cavalier attitude toward it. Everyone, regardless of which side of the political spectrum they stand, are impacted by the choices made by the administration.

I was watching a Facebook Live hosted by motivational talk show host Mel Robbins ,who along with her family has chosen to self-quarantine. They have what they need by way of food and supplies. She, her husband, two daughters and a son (all teens) will be sequestered under one roof for the first time in a while. One daughter, whose college classes were cancelled, was not happy about the edict from her parents that they were to stay home, and she walked out near the end of the broadcast to get together with friends.

Their 14-ear-old son sat with mom and talked about how he and his friends were handling the extended break from school. They were finding creative ways to have fun as they communicated via games and social media. He pointed out that his generation was more familiar with that means of staying in touch. Mel asked him if he was glad that his parents explained the nature of the situation and he acknowledged that he was, rather than remaining in the dark. A suggestion is to explain to your children at the level of their comprehension. By the end of the broadcast, I felt somewhat comforted and reassured that I was doing the right thing by remaining self-contained for a bit.

Fear can be viral, too. When I feel it beginning to rise, like water in a bathtub with the plug still in, I take a deep breath and up the amps on my relaxation skills. I remind myself that we, as a world and I as an individual, have gotten through severe conditions and trying times. Although not everyone has a connection to a spiritual faith, I find that it helps me to tap into it. I have what I call ‘God-versations,’ with what in 12-step parlance is The God of My Understanding. I ask for guidance when I feel stymied and comfort when anxiety and uncertainty raise their intimidating heads. I think about the statement “Fear knocked on the door. Faith answered. There was no one there.”  – Author unknown

I write (as I am doing here) about the experiences, allowing it to be real and still manageable. Denial of the reality of the situation will not benefit anyone. Having the kind of intimate and heartfelt conversations I am accustomed to having in person have simply gone online or via the telephone. We encourage each other with the reminders that we have the resilience to get through this. So far, blessedly, no one I know has it.

As in any time of crisis, we are called on to be at our best, but sometimes fall into being at our worst, with hoarding items, and ignoring the needs of others. Certainly we want to take care of our families, but at a time like this, all differences fade away and we all have the same need for health and survival. We are all members of the human family. There is no room for selfishness.

We can, to the best of our ability, help neighbors by dropping off what they need at their door. We can send email messages to nursing homes who are not permitting visitors. We can use this time to clean, organize and purge in our homes. We can remain as calm as possible and be mindful of what energy we are putting into the collective soup pot before stirring.

Is Self-Quarantining an Act of Love or Fear? syndicated from