Angst And Longing And Sadness Aside, The Fact That At Least 85% Of My Outlander Twins Personality Headcanons/analysis/hypotheses

Idk if/how this will be extended but when I played through Rafayel's Your Fragrance card, I near-instantly imagined being Ranwan so here's a written snippet ! Aka, MR's obession with haitang -- “Shizun,” Mo Ran murmurs, running his nose along the line of Chu Wanning’s wrist. He inhales, his lips brushing lightly against the skin, and voices a name on the exhale, the syllables layered in honey. “Chu Wanning.”

“….! Mo Ran!” Chu Wanning instinctively pulls his arm back, but the attempt is weak in his surprise and Mo Ran tightens his grip enough to almost be painful.

Despite the grip, Mo Ran huffs a sheepish laugh. “Sorry, Shizun.” He presses his mouth to Chu Wanning’s wrist in a long, lingering kiss. When he pulls away, he presses his cheek against Chu Wanning’s palm. “You just smell so…” he sighs, licking his lips and looking through half-lidded eyes. “…Sweet.”

His eyes fall to Chu Wanning’s neck and his smile is like syrup, sugary slow. He drifts closer as though unconsciously, stretching his hand outwards. Chu Wanning watches it with wide eyes, unable to understand what’s going on. Mo Ran’s hand is hot against his skin, firm as he tugs Chu Wanning closer, ticklish as he rubs his fingers against the nape. “Baobei,” Mo Ran calls, hushed. Chu Wanning can feel Mo Ran’s breath against his neck, the soft sound of an inhale, a slight brush of pressure from— from—!

Chu Wanning’s instincts kick in and he moves without thinking, hitting Mo Ran’s pressure point in a swift and clinical palm strike. Neither of them expect it. Mo Ran is unconscious before he realizes it, and Chu Wanning is left to stumble with the entirety of Mo Ran’s deadweight.

Lee Hakhyun my boi Q-Q

major spoilers for orv novel and side story 5! (760s)

I’m not fully up to date on the side stories but I’m a major chunk of the way in (the Zodiac Ball arc). Im someone who always finds myself rooting for the side/mob characters that appear for 2 chapters and never again. And Lee Hakhyun, with all his compassion, his regrets, his failures, his concerns, his insecurities, feels so uniquely human and relatable in a way that not even Kim Dokja had felt. ORV I started because of the premise and story telling and I got attached to the characters along the way. Lee Hakhyun…I got attached a few chapters in Anyway, the crazy thing is that I’m kind of mourning Lee Hakhyun more and more as the story pass. He’s still alive!!! And I’m grieving for him!!! He’s changed over time and maybe it’s character development, or confidence, but it feels more like the loss of an identity. Especially because in the current arc I’m on and the ones before it, he takes on Kim Dokja’s identity again and again, over and over and over. And at first, it’s so apparent what the differences are!! It’s really amazing, and full props to the author for being able to distinguish and write their characters so well. It’s also because of this that I feel like Lee Hakhyun is becoming Kim Dokja, and if so, that’s so…sad. Not in a bad way or anything fully negative. Change is inevitable, change happens. It’s not always bad, but thinking of what was is always…sad. (Also all of this is fully intentionally on the author’s part I believe, LOL). If it an identity change, it’s one thats almost coerced onto him, and that makes it sadder. The company calls him Kim Dokja and want him to be Kim Dokja, his current group calls him Kim Dokja because of context, his stories are telling him to be Kim Dokja. In truth, in one of the earlier chapters, I was so relieved and happy when the cast shared their true names and our MC said ‘Lee Hakhyun.” He wanted a new identity, and he got it; he has lived a whole life full of successes and failures that are entirely his own. But in the end, it’s cyclical. He was a person (kdj), but just a part, such that people appreciate but are not satisfied. He is an author compelled to write someone else’s story, such that readers admire that story but not his writing. (An author who got popular off a work that you wrote but that isnt your own, how scary is that?? As a writer, that sounds terrifying) He is himself, trying to be whole, but is made to be someone who he didn’t/doesnt want to be (49%), and the more he is made to play that role, the more his boundaries get lost. Lee Hakhyun, the more the story goes on, the more I can’t tell what actions/thoughts are yours, perhaps made with more confidence, and what actions/thoughts are Kim Dokja, whether acting as him or slowly becoming him. I want the story to have a happy ending, but is that even possible, with my perceptions of it? What would it entail? Can he be two different people at the same time? He has people around him to remind him who he is as Lee Hakhyun, but the knowledge that they’re all fragments of Kim Dokja add a level of instability and mind fuckery that makes it less reassuring than it should be. How much has he changed from the 560s to the 760s? Is it character development, or character transition? What is the core of his identity, considering everything? Lee Hakhyun of the beginning is someone I’ll remember fondly for how human he is, and I’ll have to do some rereads to define him more concretely, but I’ll miss him, if he’s not there anymore In context of this post and the whole story, honestly rip our MC for constantly being in an identity limbo and rip me because I didn’t expect the side story to include so much existential crisis. Regardless, i really truly hope he’s happy and content and confident in/by the end

MariClaw AUs

AU thinking let's go. Bad boy x sunshine is a classic dynamic and I saw MariClaw (marinette x claw noir) and the possibilities are endless. Since I'm a love square shipper this is going to be MariClaw and Marinette x Emo!Adrien! Highkey I headcanon that Adrien became emo because Marinette did it first so I'm not going to dive into mechanics of why Adrien is emo but Marinette isn't. I would say 'maybe he watched too much anime' but the brand of claw noir feels a bit more more wattpad bad boy (back in 2016) than shoujo bad boy, depending on the shoujo. He's been pining for literal years AU

maybe she once gave him a bandaid, maybe he's always seen her from afar and curiousity became love, who knows! Point is, he's liked her for SO long and when he's given the chance to go to school, he's super excited because that's the school she goes to!! Cue manga cliches and the title is probably something like "The New Delinquent is Actually a Softie at Heart and He's is in Love With Me???" It could be so cliche, with very lighthearted and cute romcom moments. maybe a secret admirer AU!!

It could also be super angst/fluff. Marinette thinks the whole thing is a prank, or doesn't think he actually likes her, and it's the slowest burn or the most comedy romcom. OR it's the first person who appreciates her slash doesnt bully her (the standards are low here, kids, cause i'm going on the assumption she's heavily bullied), and it's a story of self-acceptance! All of these ideas assume that Adrien has the bravery to approach her and talk to her though :> (not quite romantically, thats up to you. Personally, I think he's too shy to be able to blatantly flirt) Integration of Claw Noir is possible is so many ways that I'm not going to go into it. He joined the Supreme to get back at her bullies + protect her AU I once read a villain!chat blanc fic where he and her are soulmates and he does questionable things like follow her around and is kind of wary but also curious. This would have the same vibes! Could also be more wholesome/pining where he stays in the shadows. Plus hurt/comfort when she realizes, plus the fact that his powers are corroding him! Sick fic potential Can also be a lovesquare enemies to lovers (+ mistaken/secret identity), if Ladybug is part of the Resistance and Claw Noir is with the Supreme ;) The Balcony cliche AU

Marinette has mixed feelings on the Supreme but there's one hero who she sees a lot (potential for pining on Claw's part) and it bothers her so much that one day she meets him on the balcony and gives him food and it becomes a Thing! Traditional Marichat vibes but with a more kuu/tsun-dere Noir

Reverse crush AU There's a certain brand of danmei where the MC is really really shy and it's a lot of angst until the ML realizes that the stoic MC is just shy and is actually the cutest, kindest person ever. This! Is! EmoAdrien x Marinette!! One of the potentials, anyway. Marinette thinks Adrien hates her because he keeps glaring/staring at her (and all the stares she's used to are judgemental ones), only talks to her in clipped sentences, and never goes near her. Then, something happens!! Maybe he gives his umbrella to an abandoned cat or something, idk. Point is, she gets more interested and it's a slow burn-ish progressive romance :) Now the above [she thinks he hates her] except he keeps partnering her with projects and events and everything and she's really confused by the mixed signals so can he please stop. I think everyone collectively died when EmoAdrien realized + quietly blushed in the movie so flirting would be SO fun here because both of them would get really embarrassed.

Secret Identity AU Maybe the secret is that he's Claw Noir or the secret is that he's Adrien Agreste but either way it'll be fun :> Maybe she hates his alt persona so he dies a little inside everytime she makes a comment or a jab and this can be either very comedic or very angsty or both Dengeki Daisy AU, same scenario, enough said. Would probably be more interesting if its Claw Noir + OG Adrien / Chat Noir + EmoAdrien, just to have more of a switch. (In Dengeki Daisy, MC has online friend A who she's never met, and a classmate B who she kind of hates. She talks to A about B, where she rants about B and A comforts her. A and B are the same people).

Manhwa style

Sweet, strong, feminine, girlboss MC? With a the stoic, rich, powerful, smitten ML? say less. He might be more of a tsundere than stoic, though. Gabriel Agreste is definitely the hidden boss. Could be the above but also a villainess/reincarnation/transmigation AU. Reincarnated into a game like an RPG or Stardew or something could also be fun, and bonus points if Mari liked him (as a character) before transmigation!

Gaming AU! Gaming AU. Maybe they meet in a game, on Discord, or because they're always playing at the same time and get matched? This is so beautifully canonical. Especially when Adrien is home schooled, he probably gets really attached to his online friend. And if they're both bullied?? they're each other's comfort (be careful to not let this be co-dependent, unless you're going for that). Can have secret identity AU. But, in my personal opinion, the super cute option is to also have them realize on their own! Maybe they've been doing discord calls for ages and recognize each other's voice. Maybe he's been telling her about the school and they realize they're going to attend the same one! Tbh this doesnt have to be mariclaw but the vibes are cute

Extra notes

Yeah Claw Noir doesn't have to have superpowers in all/most of the AUs

Marinette is a loner/bullied in most of these AUs because otherwise it feels a bit too much like a Mary Sue/self-insert (cute competent popular girl meets famous pretty emo boy who hates everyone except her). Can it be done if she's friends with Nino and Alya? Yep. Heavier themes on friendship where Alya (and maybe Nino) are more wary at first but grow to like him and help him be more self-confident. Less romance focus, more character development/trauma healing

If we're going with canon then for all of these, a true happy ending would involve the Supreme being dealt with, but I don't want to deal with that (plus I don't think we know who he is, anyway)

I realize a lot of these are a flavor of Chat Blanc but I had already written it all anyway

Personally, I am a sucker for smitten x insecure and EmoAdrien x OGMari fit that to a tee. Emo x Sunshine I have mixed feelings on because boi have I read a lot of that, but if it's done well it's super cute and MariClaw does that really well!! I could probably think of more AUs but I've already spent at least half an hour purely typing I pretty highly doubt I'll write any of these since they feel like longer fics + I don't have enough canon info on Claw Noir to comfortably characterize him; if anyone wants to write or draw something based on these then feel free to!

my questionably fatal flaw is having like 20 small scale writing ideas that aren't enough to make a fic so i mash things together and create a fic using 2-4 initially separate ideas

this this this this

i feel like their journeys and character arcs change drastically depending on who the traveller is. Lumine as a reserved girl who becomes a villain? Stereotypical. Lumine as a reserved girl who has a coming of age arc underscored by grief and loss and insecurity? amazing Also if Aether is the abyss sibling then it's like, wtf happened for the sunshine guy who cares so much about his sister to become so cold? He talked SO MUCH in that dream flashback and when he meets his sister again, he says like 2 sentences?? Maybe it's the passage of time or whatever but the extreme change in his character creates so much interest

I love Aether as the traveler and Lumine as the Abyss princess I think that makes a lot of sense and is really fitting for the story. Plus abyss Lumine is hot af 🫶

But

I much prefer Lumine as the traveler and Aether as the abyss prince. I’m probably biased as I picked Lumine but I just find it really interesting. It’s a bit generic having the sunshine boy the good guy and the cold mean girl the bad. If you reverse it and make it the sunshine boy turned bad and the cold mean girl forced to be the hero, it becomes a much more compelling story.

Just imagine, the man who’s too kind for his own good, always helping people, friendly and social, has gone through that much trauma and pain that he wants to get revenge on the very people he once stood for. On the brink of insanity from all of the hatred he feels.

Now imagine Lumine. Cold, distant, calculating. Someone who’s never been in the hero role before and has suddenly just been thrust into it out of nowhere. She’s in her brothers place. This is a scenario her brother would thrive in. Not her. To make matters worse, she still has absolutely no idea where he is. She doesn’t know what to do. She’s absolutely trapped.

She has to learn to adapt over time. Learn more empathy. Be able to make friends more. Feel like she can truly trust people. It’s a learning curve for both of them. Lumine learning that she can trust people other than her brother, Aether learning that he can trust a lot less people than he originally thought.

Though, with everyone new Lumine meets she becomes more and more agitated and even more angry over time. She wants her brother. She doesn’t want to save nations. She doesn’t want to save people.

Her and Aether are two halves of one whole. They are what the other isn’t. They can’t cope properly without each other. All she wants is him. Imagine her desperation when she learns he’s missing. Her frustration and anger as no one properly helping her or taking her seriously. Knowing he’s alive but where the hell could he be!? Her utter relief and joy when seeing him again. Thinking they are going to go back home.

Now imagine her distraught when that same brother chooses the abyss over her.

mlb Adrienette wattpad story AU with emo!marinette as the “bad boy”

It fits so well and I find that absolutely hilarious in the best way??

New kid Adrien, who is good looking and smart but isn’t sure how to fit in and feels awkward + doesn’t really make any close friends anytime soon

Delinquent Marinette, who everyone avoids like the plague. She’s always asleep during class (sleep deprived) and doesn’t really respond when people approach her

The seat he’s assigned is the one next to her :) is this wattpad or shoujo cliche? I no longer know

they start interacting more one way or another, via circumstance (because Adrien wouldn’t persistently approach someone who’s made it clear they’re not comfy with that). Maybe it’s a group project. Maybe he’s told to be her tutor because she’s failing physics. Maybe she saves him from bullies (unlikely; who would bully Adrien??) and he’s trying to thank her. Maybe it’s because they’re seatmates

regardless, their quiet acquaintanceship becomes a tense friendship. How close of friends they are can honestly vary pretty wildly!

and then marinette stands up for Adrien in front of his father, and Adrien falls. *hard.* he had a good impression of her before due to friendship, but in one fell swoop it went from platonic attraction to romantic

either marinette liked him pretty early on, or she falls very slowly as he started to pursue her! Personally I prefer the latter since demi representation is pretty rare, but either is cute

this process takes place over the course of multiple months :)

That’s the basics but additional possible fun details are

Adrien using shoujo anime as a reference for how to flirt

marinette has zero immunity so she’s confused and embarrassed but it’s working??

night time ride on her scooter! Adrien has so much fun

all the cliches of “stoic to everyone else but smiles when they see their loved one (Adrien).” Marinette is naturally affectionate so the gap between how she treats everyone else versus her friends is huge.

the whole standard process of mc seeing bad boy as “delinquent to be careful of” to a “sweet, kind person who’s kind of adorable at times”

maybe marinette hijacks one of the parties because Adrien told her he was tired/bored/not feeling well, and she kidnaps him (with his consent)

marinette doing his nails/eyeliner/other

its technically the sunshine x ice prince ship pairing with sunshine Adrien and ice princess Marinette >v< and then it becomes sunshine x sunshine when she becomes more comfortable

also marinette is def wary of Adrien from the start because she’s not used to people being friendly + his friendship with Chloe

wholesome study + gaming hangouts!

standard cliche of whenever marinette looks cool for any reason whatsoever, Adrien has to take a minute to reboot

both of them learning how to navigate their first relationship

adrien is the one who confesses + convinces because marinette is scared of losing one of her rare friendships (maybe some trial dates?)

The animated short inspired me to go back to my 2022, 4k words with categories analysis on the twins that maybe one day hopefully I'll finish, but here's some of the quick-edited twins I made from cutting and pasting hangout images! Some headcanons I had that seem a bit confirmed

People are more easily drawn to Aether while Lumine pays more attention to people

Aether as talkative and sociable (why people are drawn to him) while Lumine is more quiet/reserved

but, she's really affectionate to the people she loves!!

Lumine appreciates beauty more, and points beauty out to Aether (sharing food, sharing kite, taking the time to step into a lake)

Things I didn't guess but i really love

lumine is playful!! She's actually a bit more childish than I had expected but I love how that follows the way she's the younger sister

Aether and Lumine switch off quite a lot in who's being chatty that day (among themselves). In the quest, Aether was the one excitedly chatting as they walked along the beach, here, Lumine seems more upbeat/playful.

Anyway here's the quick edits I spent WAY too much time on

A lot of these fit really well which made me happy TvT

Disclaimer that a few of these are horizontally flipped for the duo effect but since I made most of them in 2022, I'm not sure which are. These are taken from hangouts!

crack au where Kim Dokja finds an abandoned toddler/smol child by the garbage and takes her(?) in (it’s biyoo). Years later, he finds a handsome man lying passed out on top of the garbage and, against his better rationality, also brings him home (it’s Yoo Joonghyuk). yes it’s crack because while finding passed out pretty boys in sketchy areas is a very real cliche, deciding to take home a stranger is b o l d.

"A gun that shoots cards? What for?"

sasamiya working adults au

is so cute!!! We’re fed so well??? It’s also so nice seeing how they’d look like as adults and also how sasamiya meeting each other kind of changed their trajectory. Also in this AU they remember each other even after a decade???

author-sama knows the audience so well TvT I was seriously fangirling so hard at so many of the scenes and I’m glad that it didn’t end with them being together because sasamiya is a slowburn and that’s one of the things I love about them