#Guilty Accomplice AU

[dire-kumori]

Even after Mike is executed in the Guilty Accomplice AU, Evan sees his brother wherever he goes. Michael never says anything, never responds when Evan prods him, or tries taunting him, or says anything at all. He just stands there with empty, black eyes spilling out inky black trails down his pale cheeks. Mike follows Evan wherever he goes, though the distance varies. Sometimes he watches from across a crowded intersections. Other times, he looms over Evan’s shoulder, close enough to sap the heat from Evan’s still living body even without touching.

[flightfoot]

Adrien Angst Fics and Series that finished in 2023

So I love some good Adrien angst and hurt/comfort, and I figure a bunch of other people do as well! Hopefully these fics scratch that itch! They're all from the collection I set up earlier for the fics from 2023 that I recommend! I've got 31 fics in here. It's a popular genre that I like a lot, there are a lot of fics for it!

home is where the fight is by @rosie-b

Nadja Chamack’s voice greeted Adrien as he sat up straight, wiping his clammy hands on his pants and ignoring the black kwami floating by his shoulder. “—shocked to see our heroine fall in battle today, taking a direct hit from the akuma just as she detransformed. Parisians are torn between blaming Hawk Moth and Cat Walker for their roles in this tragedy, which ultimately revealed the civilian identity of Ladybug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng.” Adrien turned off the TV and lowered his head as his vision blurred. Written for Ladrien June Day 7: Injured

I adore this fic! Which shouldn’t be a a surprise, it’s no secret that I love Sentiadrien Enemies AU. Adrien’s so worried about Marinette getting hurt, and wishes that he could help keep her safer, could tell her what’s really going on or get rid of the ring or something, but he can’t. Still, he IS able to find clever ways around some of his father’s more problematic orders. Loopholes for the win!

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Guilty by Association by @rosie-b

Marinette respected Adrien’s strength and courage more and more every day. No matter how many times people threw nasty words or literal tomatoes at him; no matter how many companies refused to work with him anymore; no matter how clear it was becoming that he would never be forgiven for his father’s crimes, he chose to greet new people with a smile and hope that this time, someone would recognize the kind heart hidden behind his hated name. She wished she’d had the chance to meet him before she’d accidentally ruined his life. Written for the Ml Writers Guild September event ‘back to school’

I love how Marinette keeps reaching out to Adrien, trying to protect him, even if it doesn’t always work. To let him know that she’s in his corner at least. Hawk Moth had to be taken down, but the consequences for Adrien… she never wanted anyone to get hurt in the process. 

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oh, look now, there you go with hope again by @ladyofthenoodle

After the defeat of Hawkmoth and his accomplice, Chat Noir, Marinette is ready to return to her normal life, but she can’t escape Adrien Agreste, who was sentenced to a fate many consider worse than prison: public school. Specifically, her public school. Still, that doesn’t mean she has to interact with him, does it? Except, if she doesn’t… who will?

I love a good enemies au, and seeing the aftermath of an enemies au… that’s rare. She’s wary of Adrien, but with how he’s being bullied, and how he’s just taking it in the hopes of being accepted, she can’t help but reach out to him.

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Disintegrated Pancakes by @scribeofrhapsody

Adrien had started expecting the family breakfasts. He had NOT been expecting his father to collapse in the middle of one.

I’m shocked I haven’t seen more of this sort of thing, with Adrien finding out his father’s Monarch via seeing the Cataclysm wound. I love that Alya gets involved in this, being the person Adrien runs into after fleeing the room, and then Adrien getting to talk things out with Gabriel and Nathalie. Thankfully Gabriel is at least not completely incapable of being reasoned with here, or things could have gone worse than they did. It’s a nice little read, though with an ambiguous ending (at least at the time when I write this).

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with this ring by @thelibraryloser

She thought “you and me against the world” had sounded like lopsided odds before, when she hadn’t even dreamed “you against me” was a possibility. Or maybe she had dreamed it, but at least in those dreams he’d had cold blue eyes and a stark white mask. The villain she’d fought today had looked at her through her partner’s own bright green eyes. It wasn’t meant to be this way.

Short and sweet Sentiadrien enemies canon divergence fic here! I adored Marinette finding out why her kitty seemed to have “betrayed” her, and the righteous anger on his behalf once she figured out that it wasn’t of his own free will. Her comforting Adrien about it was just… really good. It’s a Hawkmoth Defeat fic too, so the immediate aftermath gets covered as well. Adrien needs a hug.

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Nothing Else Matters by LiquefiedStars

Marinette couldn’t figure out Chat Noir. He was supposed to be her partner, but instead ended up working for Hawk Moth. Still, her heart betrayed her and when a strong connection forms between them, Ladybug goes to Chat looking for answers, finding out more than she bargained for.

Sentiadrien enemies AU fic! He never wanted to fight against her, but Gabriel caught him before he could transform for the first time, and with his father using his Amoks against him, he had no choice. 

I like that there’s a solid explanation for why Fu let Adrien keep his Miraculous even though he’s been working against Ladybug, I don’t often see explanations for that that I’m satisfied with.

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Slowly Fading (from my misery) by @wehadabondingmoment

“You’re looking awfully deep in thought today, minou.” Ladybug’s gloved hand stroked over his hair and Chat Noir closed his eyes with an unstable breath. He got like this sometimes. Lately, it had been getting worse. Or: Gabriel likes using the rings to order his son around. After a while, it starts having effects on Chat Noir as well. (The more often Gabriel commands Adrien to act a certain way, the more it gets ingrained in his mentality. He suffers because of it.)

This is a gorgeous fic. Adrien’s been puppeted around, forced to obey orders for reasons he doesn’t understand, for so long, so often that a lot of times his own body doesn’t even feel like his. A lot of residual orders keep on bubbling up and stopping him from doing what he wants to do, and he just… doesn’t understand why. Considering how Adrien looked in Pretension when Gabriel forced him to go to his room so he could talk to Marinette alone, and how desperately Adrien tried to head back there but couldn’t make himself open the door, how terrified and confused he’d seemed, I think his feelings here, his mindset, is pretty close to canon.

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all of your flaws and all of my flaws (are laid out one-by-one) by @coffeebanana

Ladybug and Marinette have both been acting strangely since Monarch’s defeat, and Chat Noir would give anything to know why—to be able to help them. He just…didn’t expect his answers to come when Ladybug drags him to his father’s statue in the middle of the night along with a bag full of spray paint.

If you felt unsatisfied with Adrien being left in the dark about Monarch, with Ladybug lying about Gabriel being a hero, this is a great fic to read. Marinette’s breaking down keeping this secret, seeing people treat Gabriel as the hero she told people he was, until she finally snaps and has to do SOMETHING, has to tell SOMEONE the truth. 

Which Chat takes pretty well! He knows how persuasive his father could be, and he’s mostly just relieved at finally hearing someone say that Gabriel wasn’t a hero. It’s still a lot to cope with though.

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Falling (sick) with you by @chocoluckchipz

Nothing would be easier than taking a pair of earrings off an unconscious Ladybug. Doing so would bring his mother back and end their decade-long strife. He shouldn’t be hesitating when a chance of a life time presented itself to him. He should not be looking for excuses and reasonings as to why spending another twenty or so years fighting this woman rather than pleasing his father and giving his mother another chance at life was not such a bad idea after all.

Ah, I love a good enemies au! Even when they’re enemies, Chat is unwilling to hurt Ladybug. Though honestly, he makes himself out to be more of a villain than he actually is, it’s pretty obvious to everyone that he’s not trying as hard as he could to get her earrings. There’s very good reason for that.

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adrien agreste and the consequences of tweets making fun of yourself by Anonymous

Well, Adrien thinks, what’s the worst that could come from a few poorly thought-out tweets lightly ribbing his own civilian identity?

I love the focus here on how people just assume what Adrien’s thinking and feeling and act on his behalf, without actually waiting to see what HE wants, and Adrien’s growing frustration. How they create a version of him in their heads, but don’t care to check with reality to see whether he actually wants their “defense”. 

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what makes a human (am I?) by GraceM_TheStoriedLife

Adrien comes to Marinette’s out of nowhere. Usually Chat is her rock. Tonight, it’s her turn. (Or, in which Adrien discovers some secrets he’s not prepared for and Marinette is as Marinette-y as always.

So Adrien discovers he’s a sentimonster and immediately runs to Marinette for support. It’s as cute and angsty as you’d expect. She is, of course, very supportive of him. Also some discussion of Gabriel being abusive, since both she and Nino had been trying to get Adrien to see that. Especially with how, exactly, Adrien found out he’s a sentimonster. He can relate a little better to Felix’s experiences now than is healthy, I’ll just say.

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Vengeance Noire by @phiellydinyia

After a horrific argument with his father, Adrien escaped from the mansion with his heart in pieces. In hindsight, it made sense why an akuma was sent his way. He shouldn’t have let his emotions get the better of him. But he never expected Plagg to be even more upset than he was. He never expected his own kwami to be akumatized. To become the threat of a city he swore to protect. And what’s worse is the fact that Chat Noir can’t jump in to save this one. But Ladybug can. And that’s why he has to find her as quickly as possible, suit or no suit.

I love some good Adrien angst, especially with a delicious side order of Plagg and Adrien’s bond with each other. Even as Adrien’s barely functional, though, he’ll do everything in his power to save Plagg, even if Plagg wishes he wouldn’t go quite that far. 

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This Distance Between Us by @coffeebanana

After defeating Monarch, the search for the Peacock Miraculous brings Ladybug and Chat Noir to a hotel room in London. But it’s hard to enjoy the victory when Ladybug can’t figure out why Chat’s been so quiet, why he seems so sad. How’s she supposed to help if she has no idea what’s wrong?

This is a great Sentiadrien fic, with Chat freaking out about it and feeling like he’s not worthy of Ladybug’s affections, but not telling her what’s actually wrong because he thinks she won’t want him anymore if she knows. Of course, he’s wrong about that.

Also there’s a pretty intense confrontation with Felix, pissing Chat Noir off is a bad idea.

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Rocking the Cat-Eyes by @buggachat

“I like being a girl.” “That’s the alcohol talking,” Marinette snorted. “I’ve always been a li’l jealous,” Adrien admitted. “… Of what?” “That you get to be a girl,” Adrien murmured, “and I don’t.” — When Marinette and Adrien host Girls’ Night at their apartment, Adrien is easily welcomed to attend as “one of the girls”… but has a bit too much to drink. Some drunken confessions are spilt, some assumptions are made, and most of all… Adrien is confused.

This is a great Genderfluid!Adrien fic. Marinette actually figures out that Adrien’s not entirely cis before he does, and tries to let him know she’s supportive… but unfortunately Adrien comes to some incorrect conclusions…

Anyway it’s a lot of fun, and Adrien rocks a dress and makeup!

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Family by @unecoccinellenoire

“You know,” Nino grins, “if you need advice on being a big brother in a year or two I’m sure I could help.” The bottom of Adrien’s stomach dropped out. — Adrien struggles with the concept of his father and Nathalie having children.

So this is a world where Adrien and Marinette managed to defeat Gabriel, taking his Miraculous, with them giving him an ultimatum: they won’t out him as being Hawk Moth so long as he doesn’t cause any more trouble and does right by Adrien. Gabriel does, in fact, move on finally to Nathalie, giving Adrien a lot of mixed feelings to deal with. He still loves them both despite everything, but he’s also angry at them and he definitely does NOT want them to have children, both because he thinks they’d like any biological child they had more (he’s also harboring guilt from indirectly being the cause of his mom’s death), and because frankly, they screwed up too much with Adrien for him to want them to inflict that on another child.

And then there’s also Adrien dealing with the realization that he’s a Senti on top of that and wondering why he and Felix look the way they do, what Emilie’s reasons were.

It’s mostly just Adrien getting to talk things out, navigating this emotionally fraught situation he finds himself in now that the dust is settled.

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When Secrets Come Undone by SortaArtsy

Ladybug promised not to tell Adrien… but she never promised not to confide in Cat Noir. What happens when Ladybug unintentionally vents to the one person who wasn’t meant to know any of it? ****MAJOR SEASON 5 SPOILERS WARNING! **** May not be season 6 compliant when it comes out.

This is a “Adrien finds out what everyone’s been keeping from him post-S5″ fic, and I think it’s handled really well! He feels very hurt, betrayed, and disbelieving initially about being a Senti and his father being Monarch (…mostly being a Senti, it ain’t that hard to believe that Gabriel was a supervillain), and is angry at everyone who kept it secret from him, but he still handles it well, going and talking to the people involved, getting their reasoning and perspective. 

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Wanted: Catnap by SortaArtsy

Adrien Agreste has barely been sleeping, trying to be everything expected of him. What happens when he spreads himself too thin? Sick!Adrien/ Cat Noir

Adrien’s just pushing himself so hard, trying to do his regular duties, until his illness forces him to rest. I love how concerned everyone is over him - even GABRIEL eventually relents and wants him to rest. It’s just cute and nice and fluffy.

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a winter so warm by @rosekasa

winters were hard for even the best of vampires, but at least adrien had marinette to keep him warm with her cuddles. december was going to suck without her. so it was only to be expected to get extra cuddles in before she left, right? (well, not really, considering those heating supplements he was taking, but she didn’t need to know about that).

This one’s mostly just cute cuddly adorableness! It’s basically like all those “Marinette gets the Ladybug trait of needing to cuddle up to someone for warmth”, but with Adrien instead. And of course featuring Marinette being a very talented witch who just wants to help Adrien stay warm when she isn’t there XD.

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and I thought I heard you sing by @into-september

When Hawkmoth has been defeated and unmasked, Marinette is left with two problems and no solutions. First, that Adrien is further out of her reach than ever before, and no-one can tell her how to get to him. Second, that Cat Noir is far more troubled than she knew, and the only thing she can do is wait for him at the place they agreed to meet.

It’s your classic “Hawkmoth’s defeated and taken into custody but that means Adrien’s in for a rough time” sort of fic. Everyone’s worried about Adrien and wants to give him what comfort and support that they can, but he’s being hidden away from everyone (which I mean, honestly that’s a good move), so that’s not really possible. Plus, Ladybug’s noticed that Chat’s having a tough time in his civilian life, which worries her.

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Betrayal by @jennagrinsoverml

MAJOR EPHEMERAL SPOILERS!! Ladybug planned to use Viperion’s power of Second Chance to get Chat’s identity to Su-han without Chat knowing or agreeing. Of course, then the world went crazy, and she didn’t go through with it. But when an akuma exposes Ladybug’s plan to Chat, he doesn’t know that. He just knows that his Lady betrayed him. He deals with his feelings in the best, most mature way he can think of. He disappears.

So I, like a lot of others, wanted more follow-up on Ephemeral, and particularly on the betrayal of trust it was for Marinette to try to trick Chat Noir into giving up his identity to a third party without his knowledge or consent (I wrote my own take on that at the time, called Transcient, that I’m proud of). This fic did a good job of exploring that, with Adrien reacting in a manner that made sense to me (repressing his negative feelings about the situation as much as possible and trying to justify it to himself, but still feeling terrible despite his own best efforts), and how Marinette realized that she messed up, since Luka keeping it secret that he knows hers and Chat’s secret identities caused her to be upset as well. It did a great job of exploring those negative feelings and letting everyone talk things out, explain their viewpoints, and rebuild their relationships afterwards, which is something I really value.

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I��ll give myself a name (something stupid and pretentious) by @bbutterflies

Nino looked at the number and didn’t recognize it. Usually he wouldn’t answer, but he had nothing better to do – and could still really use a distraction – so he did. “Hello?”

“Hey, Nino.”

Nino stood up quickly, chest tightening. He knew that voice. He’d been waiting to hear it again for over two years. “Adrien?” he whispered.

“Yeah. It’s me."

-

When Monarch is defeated (and revealed to be Gabriel Agreste), Chat Noir immediately goes missing. Adrien disappears not long after. When Adrien finally shows up in Paris again, Nino would do anything to make sure he doesn't disappear again.

Ah this is lovely, Adrien’s been in a lot of emotional turmoil since Monarch’s defeat, convinced that everyone would hate him, SHOULD hate him, for not realizing that his father was the villain, and should hate him even more for disappearing like he does. But slowly Marinette and Nino get through to him, convince him that they just want him back. 

And also Adrien and Nino smooch. Multiple times. So that’s a bonus XD.

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Two Steps Back (One Step Forward) by @buggachat

Sure, Adrien hadn't been texting her as often as he used to. And sure, Nino noticed it too. But just because Adrien had struggled with depression in the past, didn't mean he was struggling now. Surely, he'd tell her if something was wrong. Right?

Marinette just missed him, and she had a tendency to catastrophize. Surely, he was fine.

But if he wasn't... well, she wasn't above hopping on a flight back to Paris to make sure.

—————

Marinette's at an internship in New York, and Adrien has a depression relapse.

Once again buggachat comes out swinging with a fic centered around Adrien being super depressed and his friends charging in to help him, despite him not wanting them to because he feels like a burden. It’s not easy and Marinette goes through a lot of emotional turmoil, especially since his apartment is in bad enough shape that it can’t be changed to something that a human should be living in without also going shopping, but gradually she helps drag Adrien out of the hole he’s gotten himself stuck in. The emotions are on point and just... if you want to read a hurt/comfort fic with Found Family helping one of their own who’s struggling and doesn’t think they deserve it, this is a great fic to read.

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If only I could break free by megetstoread

It started with Adrien being upset about going away, but led to a lot of revelations.  

Another Sentiadrien fic here! After telling Adrien that he’s being sent to London, Gabriel takes advantage of Adrien being distraught to akumatize him. Luckily Ladybug’s right there and deakumatizes him before he can even do anything, but it shakes both her and Chat, leading to her allowing him to tell her a lot more about his home life than usual, and for her and Adrien to investigate to see whether there might be more to Adrien’s inability to stand against his father than just psychological abuse.

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Dr. Walker & Kitty Hyde series by @pearl484-blog

Summary of the first fic, Rain Falls, Everybody Lies:

Chat Noir loves the rain. He loves the danger. He loves the excitement, and he especially loves how much Catwalker hates it. 

Jekyll and Hyde AU

Adrien AUGreste Entry 3: Rain

So like the summary says, and the title indicates, this series is inspired by the popular conception of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - not how the book actually goes, but how it’s portrayed in popular media, with Jekyll splitting himself in two, with a “good” side and a “bad” side. 

During Kuro Neko, instead of just changing his appearance through changing his mindset, Adrien took more extreme measures, sealing off his “undesirable” characteristics, his anger and sadness and all his sharp edges, into the ring so he could assume a more placid, genial persona that’d be more accepted - Cat Walker. 

But Chat Noir’s still there, taking over whenever Adrien gets too testy, and desperately trying not to be pressed out of existence entirely. With embodying Adrien’s sealed anger and snappishness and rebelliousness, he’s not too kind to the other heroes - he already felt looked down upon and ignored before this, and seeing them accept Cat Walker while he’s fighting for his life doesn’t endear them to him either.

The series isn’t unfair to them - this isn’t a case where one party is entirely in the wrong and another’s entirely in the right. Marinette, Zoe, Nino, and all the others - they did wonder about what was going on with Chat, but he wasn’t in a position where he could see it, and he did have legitimate questions about how much Ladybug would budge on things, if he’d told her what he was going through. It’s a series that emphasizes characters hurting and lashing out in some terrible ways, but that hurt still being respected, and working things out, trying to get everything to a better place.

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The Parable of the Caller by @nemaliwrites

A week after Hawk Moth’s identity has been revealed, Adrien finds himself with nowhere to go, nothing he can do, and worst of all, strange gaps in his memory he can’t explain. In a stroke of luck, he stumbles upon a burner phone filled with voicemails from one of the Saviors of Paris: Chat Noir himself, who disappeared following Hawk Moth’s arrest.

But with each new voicemail Adrien listens to, he’s forced to confront the fact that there might be some kind of connection between himself and Chat Noir — and discovering it might leave him more broken than before.

I absolutely adore this fic, it’s a fantastic character study for Adrien! Basically in this universe, Ladybug and Chat Noir talked about who should be Guardian, with Chat eventually convincing her that he should be the one to take it on, primarily due to the whole “the Guardian gets amnesia about Miraculous-related matters” situation, and wanting to protect Ladybug from that. Then he finds out Gabriel is Hawk Moth, they take him down, and he relinquishes the Miracle Box and his guardianship to Su Han - all without having a Reveal with Ladybug, since well, he’s not in the greatest shape mentally at the time.

It’s a real treat to see Adrien’s thoughts and feelings about one of the Heroes of Paris leaving him all these voicemails, treating him like this close friend for reasons he doesn’t understand, and just seeing Chat Noir as this outside person. He’s got a very different viewpoint on Chat when looking from the outside than he would from the inside, with being able to see his heroic and good qualities far more easily when he doesn’t know that he is Chat.

Also Marinette’s struggling in the background of the fic with the loss of her partner and guilt over sending Adrien’s father to prison. It gets touched on at various points, and you can tell that she’s having her own story off to the side that we’re just not entirely privy to, what with this tale being told entirely from Adrien’s perspective.

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call it even by @anna-scribbles and @sha-nwa

After a year of dating, there is one thing Marinette knows for certain: it's her and Adrien against the world. Through it all, Adrien is kind, patient, and endlessly understanding—even as she tries her best to keep her secret superhero identity hidden from him along with the rest of the world.

Nothing could ruin it, not even the supervillains of Paris: Hawkmoth and Chat Noir.

(adrinette dating // ladynoir enemies au)

This is one of those fics where Adrien and Marinette are REALLY going through it emotionally, with them starting off with wildly different perceptions of each other when untransformed, and then reckoning with the person they love the most being someone they think of as a villain, with all the betrayal and doubt that involves. Especially with Adrien having been lied to extensively by his father, and not knowing who or what to believe.

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drowning (in plain sight) by @buggachat

Everybody had expected Monarch's defeat to be a moment of triumph. Nobody had expected Gabriel Agreste, unmasked and mind frayed from continual abuse of the miraculous, crying out to all who would listen and making Paris certain of one thing:

His son, Adrien Agreste, is one of his sentimonsters.

And now he's missing.

Nobody can find him— not even the superheroes, and not even his closest friends. But Marinette, Nino, and Alya aren't ones to give up so easily. They'll find him, no matter what it takes.

(But, geez, would it kill Chat Noir to lend a hand?)

I’m sure everyone saw this one coming. If there’s one thing buggachat’s good at, storywise, it’s capturing raw, tumultuous emotions, frantic breakdowns as the characters desperately try to navigate bad situations. This was a real treat to read, as I’m betting most people reading this will agree, given just how popular the fic has been. It also has a ton of fanart, both by buggachat and by random fans, if you go looking for it (there’s a drowning in plain sight tag which I’d advise perusing). 

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Eventually by @lucid-ao3

Adrien’s life has been dictated by rules, monitored, and controlled for years. He has learned to compartmentalize. It’s not that bad. It always gets better, eventually. Doesn’t it?

Recovery can be an unexpected obstacle when you didn’t realize you were being hurt in the first place.

OR: How Adrien lives and copes with the emotional abuse inflicted on him over the years, and how he ultimately could overcome it.

If you want a good “Adrien doesn’t realize how abusive his father is but slowly buckles more and more under his tyranny, until things come to a head, and he actually gets the HELP HE NEEDS” fic, this is a good one!

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Not a Monster at All by @book-sandwich

Adrien Agreste overhears a conversation he shouldn't, and a revelation sends him falling onto the terrace of the only person he can trust: his good friend (?) Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

Takes place sometime after the first two episodes of season 5!

As you can probably guess from the title, this is a Sentimonster Adrien, Monarch takedown fic. Adrien’s going through a tough time, and Marinette’s just trying to be there for him as his whole world’s collapsing around him. Unfrotunately, they still don’t know what the object is, or how likely Gabriel would be to control Adrien if he hinted that he knew the truth, which leaves Adrien in a precarious position - still not having done an identity reveal doesn’t help matters.

It’s a really solid fic for the genre, though since it started up before the later parts of season 5, there are a few things that don’t match up with the canon information we obtained later on. 

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Awaken by InkyIbis

The previously white butterfly, now oozing black and purple as a conduit of the butterfly miraculous powers, flutters softly within the silvered-gloved hand.

It sits there for a long time.

"Go, my akuma," The soft sigh pushes the butterfly, the akuma, out towards the despair of a love not returned. The same ache within his chest. On a level so great that he's willing to sacrifice the city to mend it.

It's okay if he's the villain for now. He'll force the miraculous of creation and destruction to be revealed, and once he gets his hands on them, none of this pain, none of his loss, will ever happen.

This is essentially a canon rewrite for Miraculous (specifically seasons 1 and 2, with a bunch of the events mixed around) that focuses primarily on Adrien, with his relationship with Nino being the main driving relationship of the fic. (Don’t worry, Marinette’s still treated fine, she’s just not the focus). This is the best “rewrite Miraculous with more of a focus on Adrien” type fic I’ve seen, with it reworking the plots of the episodes so that they’re different enough to be their own distinct thing - it’s not trying to just rewrite the canon episodes but from Adrien’s POV, there’s a lot of lore changes going on as well, and things occur in different orders.

Like lorewise, Chat’s given a more important role in cleaning up the mess the akumas leave, with his power helping to cleanse akuma victims and he and Ladybug needing to use their powers in tandem in order to cast Miraculous Ladybug. There’s also no Miracle Box holding the kwamis. Instead, Chat sometimes surpasses his limits and ends up summoning kwamis, which is dangerous to him, but very useful.

What really makes this fic great though, is its focus on Adrien’s emotions. You really get a feel for Adrien’s insecurities, especially when it comes to not feeling like he’s good enough for Nino, with not wanting to bother him when he absolutely should, with feeling like he’s not a good enough friend to him, and then there’s dealing with all of Gabriel’s usual abuse on top of that.

Speaking of Nino, this is an Adrino fic (though several characters get crushes on Adrien, Nino’s the one who matters most for this), though a slowburn one. Nino’s clearly head-over-heels for Adrien, but Adrien has like, no context for what a romantic crush feels like and is basically viewing Nino the way he viewed Marinette in canon prior to season 5. He clearly cares for him a lot, including romantically, he just... doesn’t get it.

Anyway, if you want an interesting canon rewrite fic from Adrien’s perspective with Adrino as the main pairing, this is a good story to pick up!

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one does not love breathing by @wackus-bonkus-maximus

All of Paris watched as Hawkmoth murdered Chat Noir, taking the Black Cat Miraculous for himself. Ladybug swears revenge, but her enemy—and every miraculous in his possession—disappear without a trace.

Six years later, a new team of villains launches an attack for the last remaining Miraculous: Volpina, armed with new powers; Queen Bee, with questionable loyalty; Argos, the new holder of the Peacock Miraculous; and Cat Walker, who Ladybug hates the most.

Takes place after S4 - Strike Back.

This is a simply phenomenal fic. You get to explore a lot of different perspectives, like Felix, Kagami, Marinette, and Adrien’s, just to name a few, and see their different thought processes and plans and priorities, and how it can cause their plans to collide with each other, even when they all ultimately are aiming for a good outcome for everyone. The characters are pretty complex and can mess up at times, even when they’re doing things (or not doing things, looking at you Luka) with the best of intentions. It was a joy to read and a real nail-biter the whole time, I actually wrote a fic for it halfway through just to resolve some of the tension for myself, One Does Not Love Shadows.

It also features the version of Luka I’ve connected best with to date, as he feels like Luka, but also is a lot more fleshed out, and can make some major errors while simply trying to avoid missteps. It’s helped me get a better handle on a character who I’ve generally had a lot of problems with really understanding.

It is an M-rated fic, though I think Wackus is being overly cautious on that front. There’s no sexual content and I wouldn’t put the violence or gore above a T-rating, so I wouldn’t let the rating scare you off.

[aes70]

POV Rhodes finds out about Peter and Tony, he is not very happy about it (It’s not Irondad btw, def not Irondad 😭😭😭😭😭).

Disclaimer (Is that the right word?): This was originally written in Spanish, so if something doesn’t line up, please tell me😭.

Au no powers /Rhodey is a cop 👮🏾‍♂️.

———————————

“Do you remember my 27th birthday? We traveled to Las Vegas and I kept asking, Are we in heaven or Las Vegas? He feels like that trip James. Being with him is wrong in so many ways, but he feels like fucking heaven at the right times and places.”

“Tony, he can't even go to Las Vegas yet. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?”

“Rhodey…I know it might be complicated but”

I couldn't even let him finish, I knew beforehand what he would say, that it is difficult to understand and that it may not be for everyone, excuses .

“No, Tony, I've been your friend for years, decades, despite your father, despite the alcohol, even after Pepper left you and you locked yourself in your big tower and you pushed us all out of your life, but this?” I feel like I age 20 years with this conversation and even if Peter were the one who aged 20 years, he would still be very young for the man in front of me. “This is beyond the limits. I'm a Cop, the Captain for God's sake! Do you know how many cases I see exactly like this per day? Where the adult says it was all love, that it was all consensual, and that the child came first, because that's what he is, Tony, a child. And this child may love you now, but in a couple of years? In a couple of years he will regret knowing you every day of his life.”

“In August he will turn 17.”

So what?

“He's still a fucking child, Tony, are you drunk?”

“It would be legal, Rhodes, and no, I don't drink anymore.” Another lie, it seems that's all he does now, lie.

“Oh, do you care about the law now? Did you Google that? Will he introduce you to his parents on his birthday? Or even better, are you waiting for him to turn seventeen so you can fuck him without feeling guilty about it?” He didn't even bother to open his mouth.

“I'll still feel guilty.” Oh .

“You already fucked him.” I didn't need to ask, the way he avoided my eyes was answer enough.

“We haven't done anything.” Liar.

“Look me in the eyes and tell me that's the truth.” Again, no contact. “I know it, you can't.”

“Why are you doing this?” What? “I'm finally happy after what happened and now you're trying to ruin this for me. He is the smartest boy you could ever meet, he is so sure of what he wants and he loves me, he loves me Rhodey.”

“Tony, what the fuck? That's exactly what a pedophile would say, I should be reporting this.”

“Are you going to do it?” He asks. “Can you?”

He is right, can I?

“Now who is the one who can't look into the eyes? Uh?”

“I'm not going to be your accomplice.”

“But if you're not going to give me away, what are you then?”

[unnoticedunawarestillhere]

DEAD AND BURIED AU CAST

I highly encourage you to read this or at least try and find your favourite character in this! (I spent four weeks writing all this.) I'm aware I didn't put all BATIM characters in there and if there were certain characters you wanted to see, let me know. A lot of the facts I put in for characters are either funny or tragic. I will now be taking drawing requests and asks for my cast! (Ps: there's a reason why I put random CAPS)

Joey Drew:

Age: 40 

Height: 5'8 1/2

Gender: Male (He/him)

Sexuality: Undecided.

Nationality: American. Was born and raised in New York.

Condition: signs of depression. Tends to zone out and talk to himself (Not really a condition as far as I know, but seems important to just write. About it not being a condition, please correct me if I'm wrong.)

Phobias: Agoraphobia, Athazagoraphobia

Most important relationships to remember:

Henry Stein: very close friend and business partner. (After Henry leaves: TRAITOR D:<)

Sammy Lawrence: "friend" (Joey pretty much just uses Him.) and also accomplicE later on.

Thomas Conner & Nathan Arch: To Joey, both are annoying, but sees that the two have important value. Tolerate them. (Though tbh: Nathan was once considered a close friend as well.)

Bertrum Piedmont: A Work buddy who can actually drEam! Knew Bertrum through NathaN. Can put up a fair argument with Joey. 

Susie Campbell: Does acTually like Susie (not roMantically), but in reality is the worst friend ever to her. He did feel a tad bit guilty when he replaced her with Allison, but oh well! The show must go on!

Grant Cohen: SO VERY ANNOYING (to Joey). "All he thinks about is the numbers! No dreaming whatsoever. "-Joey (Though like Tom and NAthan, Joey tolerates him Due to him being pretty darn important.)

Others: Mostly just see the other workers as puppets with talent. Does have respect for certain people, but not worth mentioning who right now (maybe I'll write about that later, who knows.) Can also be seen making conversation with Norman, Jack and Wally.)

Notes or facts about him:

Joey has actually been in a fist fight with Nathan Arch and lost. Hates when someone brings it up.

Joey has been banned from the bar across the street due to uh..the fight with Nathan.

Loves to scare Wally with a Bendy cardboard cutout. When asked why he does this, he replies, "Oh just for funnies. "

Only has a little bit of guilt for murdering everyone. Also can be very arrogant and selfish at times.

Develops a limp later on when, in an act of self defence, Tom shoots Joey's leg with a pistol. (Will explain the details soon, probably.)

Henry Stein:

Age: 39 

Height: Due to having a slight hunchback, 5'6 ish

Gender: Male (He/him, but wouldn't care if called a they)

Sexuality: Bisexual (And proud of it!)

Nationality: American/ French (Can actually speak a few words!)

Condition: signs of anxiety, and depression. Insomnia as well.

Phobias: basophobia (Which I find ironic), acrophobia and claustrophobia (Strangely, only with elevators)

Important relationships:

Joey Drew: business partner, close friend. (After he leaves: he considers Joey as just a guy he worked with. Their friendship was lost after he left. When Henry comes back and sees the aftermath, he considers Joey as an enemy.)

Sammy Lawrence: close friend and maybe even love interest? Henry developed mild feelings for Sammy, but didn't act on them before he left the studio. Also didn't say a proper goodbye. (Whoops.)

Norman Polk: a good friend to talk to dUring break! (If Henry can find him.) Norman had been in the first war just like Henry and can relate to his Struggles with coping and healing. Also can count on Norman To save him a cup of coffee.

Wally Franks: ..this guy..is so FREAKING funny! Henry enjoys excHanging jokes with the janitor and can have the most randOm conversations. (Example: "If you could tame a wild wolf to go get your groceries, would you?")

Linda: Ex-wife, but stilL good friends with her. Things weren't working out and in the end both Decided to get a divorce. (DivOrce came just a few moNths after the studio was established.)

Jack Fain: Enjoys his tunes! Henry truly respects Jack's work and is full of pity for him when he finds out he was moved to work in the sewers. A friend!

Grant Cohen: if Henry ever needed to discuss politics and stuff, he looked for Grant. More like colleagues than friends. Also, they both know how difficult Joey can be.

Thomas Conner and Allison Pendle: Isn't too fond of Tom, but does respect him. He meets Tom kind of briefly before he leaves. Meets Allison after he leaves the studio. (A supermarket. The two met at the fucking supermarket.) He does also respect Allison, but hasn't really had the time to really get to know her due to Tom being protective.

Others: When meeting people, Henry is quite polite and friendly; this gains him a good reputation. He didn’t really meet Susie (Since he left), but later on when he comes back, he has a lot of confusion about her. The same goes for Bertrum, Lacie and a few other people. 

Notes or fun facts about him:

Henry was the first one to test out the new elevator in the studio. During testing, the elevator kind of just randomly stopped working  and Henry couldn’t get out for, like, two hours. During those two hours he was worried the elevator would drop. It didn’t, but you never know. 

For the first Valentine's Day, Henry bought Sammy a store bought card (C’mon Henry, really?) Later in the day, he actually wrote a lovish letter to him. Mostly because Jack was giving him a dirty look when he found out. “Really, man? A store bought card? The fuck is wrong with you.”-Jack

Threw Norman a surprise Birthday Party, which scared the shit out of Norman and made Norman point a pocket knife at him (Norman thought he was some sort of mugger) Later that day, Henry was trying to get the cake ready by lighting the candles and uh..almost caused a fire in the kitchen.  Wally was devastated at the loss of a beautiful chocolate cake. 

Henry was an American  soldier  in WW1.  

During the war, Henry had two pet dogs named Axel and Roger! One was a German Shepard while the other was a golden retriever. Unfortunately, Roger was killed in action and Axel died due to old age. 

-Also during the war, Henry loved making little comic strips for his comrades to read! One day, one of his comic strips blew away in the wind and landed in the enemy's trench. Henry was annoyed at this, but didn’t think much until a paper aeroplane hit one of his comrades, Richard, in the head. Richard handed him the paper and it turned out to be a paper full of cartoonish doodles! The paper had a few words in German and with the help of another comrade, it roughly translated to, “I like comics too.”  Henry still has that paper! 

Sammy Lawrence:

 Age: 34 ½  

Height: 5’6 ½ 

Gender: Male (might make him transgender?) (He/them)

Sexuality: Homosexual 

Nationality: American/German 

Conditions:  anger issues, anxiety disorder and signs of depression

Phobias:  Stygiophobia, Athazagoraphobia

Important Relationships:

Joey Drew: boss and considers him as a friend. Later on before he dies, Sammy thinks of himself as Joey's right hand man. 

Henry Stein: Madly in love, but is very hesitant about showing his feelings. Was  very hurt When Henry left. Still is kind of in love when Henry comes back. Their relationship is pretty complicated. 

Susie Campbell: best friends witH Susie! The two have a lot of laughs together and both like teasing each other about their crushes. Susie is always willing to hear SammY's new tune and Sammy is always happy to hear/ give feedback to Susie singing. Sammy was Destroyed when Susie dIed. (Got very angry at Joey..which kind of leD to Sammys demise.) 

Norman Polk: Ah projector head. The two are frenemies. Both will argue, trick and annoY each Other. However, at work, the two make a really good team. Norman Usually arrives early for work while so does Sammy. In grateful silence, Sammy aLlows Norman to hElp him set up chAirs for the band and music stands! Both haVe a dark sensE of humour so..yeah. They’re also both friends with Jack.  

Jack Fain: a good friend! Has known Jack since high school (both were in band) and has deep respect for him. The two caN be seen bouncing ideas off each other for a new song! The twO will always be friends…right? 

Johnny Polk: Sammy deep down has respect for his young assistant (who happens to be Norman's younger brother). He enjoys teaching him how to play the banjo and piano. Even if he doesn't show it, he’s actually pretty impressed by Johnny's quick learning. Can get easily frustrated though if Johnny is doing a task incorrectly or is a bit slow/late. 

Wally Franks: A pain in the neck. Sammy doesn't hate Wally, but he isn’t really too fond of him. Finds him annoying and childish. Instead of making jokes, Sammy feels that he could be cleaning more. Also wasn’t pleased when Wally accidentally knocked down one music stand which caused the rest of them to topple (Twice. Wally has done this twice).

Notes or facts about him:

When Sammy was a young kid, he wanted to be the next beethoven. (His parents laughed at this in amusement.)

When in band at highschool, Sammy met Jack by accidentally whacking him with a trombone.  Had to take Jack to the school nurse (he gave him an actual concussion.) 

Has written love songs for Henry, but never once shared them. (when Henry left, he tore them all up.) 

-Can speak fluently in German 

-When he was 23, and it was the fourth of July, Sammy was in charge of working the fireworks for his family reunion. He set them off outside and one hit his Uncle’s car. His Uncle was more than angry. All his little cousins thought he was the coolest  though (now they just think he’s old).

-Sammy was very close to being sent to fight in the war. 

Sammy once lost his voice while composing the band and kind of just dealt with it. Silently.

Wally Franks: 

Age: 27 

Height: 5’5 

Gender: Male (he/him OR they/them)

Sexuality: pansexual

Nationality:American/Canadian (Cause why not?)

Conditions: Has very mild Autism, but healthy!

Phobias:  Anatidaephobia, thalassophobia,  arachnophobia, forosophobia, Nyctophobia 

Important relationships:

Joey Drew: sees him as a friend! (until the studio goes apeshit.) Despite Joey trying to make him have a heart attack at age 27, Wally respects Joey! Well..did.

Henry Stein: a great artist and work buddy! If Wally ever needed advice, he’d go to Henry! When Henry comes back, the two friendships are reunited! However, Wally wasn’t happy when Henry turned his back on the studio. Still kind of has a grudge because of that. 

Sammy Lawrence: ah yes, the grumpy composer! Wally tries his best to avoid Mister Lawrence, not wanting to cause trouble. Might also be a little bit..terrified of Mister Lawrence.

Johnny Polk: best buddies! Wally loves hanging out with Johnny and humours Johnny with his jokes! Johnny always offers support and comes running to Wally if he needs help cleaning a dark area (due to Wally's Nyctophobia (fear of the dark)). 

Norman Polk: Mister Polk is actually pretty nice! Since Wally hangs out with Johnny, he often sees Norman (due to him being very protective of Johnny). When Henry left, Wally surprisingly came to Norman for advice! The two are good friends. As long as Wally doesn't blabber him with jokes before he has his coffee. 

Shawn Flynn: great friends! Wally may have feelings for the Irish toymaker, but isn’t really quite sure what to do with them. He worries he might not feel the same way, but maybe with some encouragement and insurance, he’ll tell Shawn his true feelings? :) 

Susie Campbell: if Johnny is Wally's first best friend then Susie would be Wally's second. Susie was always kind to Wally..until…she died, BUT yeah! The two, after a dull day at work, would usually get a drink together at the local cafe! 

Thomas Conner:  ….he majorly dislikes this guy. That’s it. Can hardly tolerate his ass and almost always argues with him. 

Others: Wally can mostly tolerate anyone (beside Tom, Sammy and maybe the people who steal the studios supply of toilet paper. Like c’mon guys. Not cool.)Likes talking to Jack here and there.

Notes or facts about him:

-One time, he accidentally left a window open and a pigeon had managed to fly into the studio. It caused fucking mayhem in the Music department and all recordings had to be shut down (cause all you could hear was people yelling and screaming). With Norman's help, the two had to capture it in a cardboard box and rushed it outside before Sammy could have the chance to kill it. 

-While cleaning out the vents, Wally found a dead rat and literally begged Joey to hold a funeral for it. (Joey declined because..well you know.) Wally ended up wrapping it in a towel, putting it in a shoebox and burying it at the local park. The only people that showed up to the funeral was: Johnny (who cried), Norman (who thought it was ridiculous), Susie (who was pretending to grieve), Shawn (who actually sang a fucking song for it), and Wally's mother and his two younger sisters, Mel & Catherine. Also Buddy was there. Only because Norman offered him a ride home. Buddy was just confused the entire time. 

-Has had a history of having food poisoning (especially from eating raw cookie dough.)

-Accidentally caused a pipe to burst and it kind of messed up Jack's office. (Wally plans to never tell anyone (beside Johnny) that he was responsible for this.  It was..pretty bad.

-Once punched Tom in the stomach before getting his ass beaten by him. In Wally’s mind, It was still a victory for him.

Thomas Conner:

Age: 40 

Height: 5’9

Gender: Male (he/him)

Sexuality: heteromantic 

Nationality:American/Africain

Conditions: Mild ptsd, anger issues and signs of insomnia 

Phobias: thanatophobia, atychiphobia, hoplophobia, aquaphobia

Important relationships:

Joey Drew: a major pain in the ass. Even before the studio got into shit, Tom hardly ever liked Mister Drew. Though he did respect him, he didn’t actually trust him. When Joey took his invention and called it his, Tom went ballistic with anger and his respect for Joey went dry. Hates it when Joey calls him “Tommy”. 

Henry Stein: Only met him briefly. When Henry comes back though, Tom does secretly have respect for Henry. And thinks of him as maybe..a friend? He hasn’t made up his mind. Also thinks he’s an idiot for coming back though. 

Allison Pendle: would do anything for her! Tom loves Allison with all his heart even if he doesn't always show it.  Was working relentlessly because he wanted to save up for a wedding ring for Allison (just when he almost had enough money saved up, he and Allison got killed by fucking Dreamer Drew).

Sammy Lawrence: “Ah, the insane music composer, I hate him.” Tom majorly dislikes Sammy from the beginning to the end. When he caught Sammy sneaking around the Ink Machine it led to a major argument between them. He knows it's Sammy that’s been stealing ink, but with so many problems mangled in his mind, he doesn't actually stop him.  

Norman Polk and Johnny Polk:  actually considers Norman as his best friend! The two have the same sarcastic humour and share a lot in common. They also like teaching each other how to do and make things (Example: Norman teaches Tom manners and Tom teaches him how to fix the pipes).  Since Tom hangs out with Norman whenever he can, he also hangs out with Johnny. He and Johnny are friends, but they’ll only hang out if Norman is there.  When Tom comes back as a toon, he thought that Norman and Johnny had gotten out of the studio, but to his dismay, the two died. Was pretty devastated by this. 

Wally Franks: an annoying kid who keeps forgetting his keys. Tom doesn't actually hate Wally, but just can’t tolerate him and his childish antics. Also wasn’t thrilled when he was forced to mentor Wally, which was a nightmare. He didn’t think Wally deserved to die though. 

Susie Campbell: when Susie first got hired, Tom didn’t have a problem with her. She was nice, upbeat and knew how to make Sammy calm down. He also knew that Norman had a massive crush on her, so he would talk to her here and there (trying to make his buddy look good XD). After the studio went to shit and decay, Tom sees Susie as a threat to both him and Allison. He does not trust her at all, regardless of what Norman says. 

Shawn Flynn: doesn't actually mind the toymaker and can actually be seen sharing a drink with him. A work buddy. 

Others: who cares? Tom never really paid much attention to anybody (besides the people above and GENT employees).  As long as no one pissed him off, everyone else was just a part of the background. Though, it’s worth mentioning now that he did not get along with Bertrum. (He did, however, have respect for Lacie)

Facts and notes about him:

-Tom was a combat engineer in WW1 for the US army.  Absolutely hates barbed wire and wants nothing to do with it. 

-Was born in America, but at the age of 4, moved to Canada. 

-When Tom was 12 years old (still in Canada) and it was Christmas, he ventured outside his winter cottage to go check out the woods. His parents were nonchalant about him exploring and told him to be back before supper. Anyway, he found a lake that had frozen over and just started sliding on it. However, the ice beneath wasn’t entirely solid and Tom fell through, almost drowning. To this day, he hates frozen bodies of water and refuses to go skating. No matter how many times Allison begs him to. 

-Welded Allison a necklace, but was too embarrassed by it to show her. Eventually he’d forget all about it until Allison (this is after the studio goes to shit btw) finds it and keeps it. 

-He and Norman love going on hikes. On one hike they encountered a bear and that was the first time Norman saw Tom lose his shit. (Both booked it to Tom’s truck) Speaking of Tom’s truck, Tom once accidentally hit a deer and Norman insisted on dragging the deer’s corpse into the nearest ditch and giving it a proper burial. He also made Tom say a few words for its funeral.  (His words were: "You stained the front of my truck. >:("

Allison Pendle:

Age: 39  

Height: 5’7

Gender: Female (she/her)

Sexuality: Bisexual/Asexual 

Nationality:   American/Dutch

Conditions: insomnia 

Phobias: cleithrophobia, atychiphobia 

Important relationships:

Joey Drew: when first hired, Allison liked and respected Joey! She thought he was a silly dreamer with a good heart. That thought was a mistake. When she slowly noticed how his dreaming was beginning to harm employees, her respect for Joey dimmed. When she found out that Tom had died due to him, she was furious and threatened to do more than to just sue him. Because of this, Joey panicked and killed her.

Henry Stein: Allison didn’t meet Henry when she first got hired. She did meet him before he came back. She thinks he’s a nice man who just worries too much. When they met again, the two seemed relieved to see each other and enjoy each other's company.  Allison considers him an ally!

Thomas Conner: Allison loves Tom, even if he can be rude. Allison makes it her personal job to keep his attitude in check, though of course, it’s almost impossible. Allison met Tom through a friend at a dinner party that Joey threw. Before being hired, Allison worked for a theatre company run by Joey’s sister, Susan. 

Susie Campbell: met Susie at the lobby and had a friendly conversation with her! Allison didn’t bring up that she was hired to be the new voice actress for Alice and Susie didn’t ask. Allison was there when Sammy and Joey broke the news to Susie and Susie looked like she wanted to throw a table at her. 

Sammy Lawrence: has a fair amount of respect for Mister Lawrence, but due to what Tom says about him, Allison isn’t quite sure she likes him as a person. When coming back after death, Allison is definitely NOT a fan of him. At all. 

Norman Polk & Johnny Polk: tolerates Norman only because of Tom. Since Allison works in the Music department, she sees Johnny pretty often and thinks he’s a nice kid. 

Grant Cohen: Sees Grant here and there. It’s only when the studio goes to shit that Allison really gets to know Grant. She thinks he’s pretty weird…

Wally Franks:  a very nice young man who actually appreciates her cooking in the kitchen. Despite what Tom says about him, she doesn't mind Wally and always makes sure to greet him and thank him for his work. 

Others: Allison doesn't really pay attention to anyone, unless they make conversation with her or she’s being introduced. She’s (was) pretty polite and easy going so people don’t have a problem with her. 

Facts about her: 

-Once had a cooking competition with Norman and forced Tom and Johnny to be the judges. 

-  As a child, Allison was really into fashion and making dresses for her little dolls. This interest was sparked because of her Mother, who ran a clothing shop downtown. One day, Allison ran out of scrap fabric and went on a hunt through her house for more. She found an old dusty white dress in the attic and cut it up into pieces. Turns out it was her Mom’s  and her Grandmother’s wedding dress. Whoops.

Actually had a fiance before Tom. His name was William and unfortunately died when his car hit a patch of ice and swerved off the road. Allison is always worried about losing Tom. 

One day, Allison was talking to Johnny and really wanted to make him laugh, so she tried singing like a person at the opera, but kind of made a mockery out of it. She successfully made him laugh, but at the cost of the recording window…

Susie Campbell: 

Age: 35 

Height: 5’5

Gender: Female (she/her)

Sexuality: hetrosexual/demisexual 

Nationality:  Canadian (grew up in Ontario)  

Conditions: healthy until the studio goes to shit  

Phobias:  arachnophobia, agoraphobia, autophobia, harm OCD 

Important relationships: 

Joey Drew: (before) a respectable boss who is quite charming and funny! (After) a self absorbed dick who can drown himself.

Henry Stein: didn’t really meet Henry before, only after. Isn’t exactly sure how to feel about him since Norman paints him as a “good guy”, but is unconvinced. She sees Henry hanging out with Allison and Tom and shows distrust towards him. 

Allison Pendle: When first meeting Allison, Susie wasn’t aware that she was there to replace her, only thought she was just a new employee. Was friendly towards Allison..until Joey and Sammy explained that she was getting replaced. When Susie comes back after death, she shows intense hatred towards Allison and hasn’t forgiven her for stealing her role. 

Sammy Lawrence: best friends with the grumpy composer! Loves teasing him and getting him to laugh. The two mostly hung out when Susie was done recording. But, when Susie noticed how distant Sammy was acting and how he kept having meetings with Joey, she felt hurt, left out and confused. Then when Sammy and Joey announced that she was being replaced, Susie was furious, screaming at Sammy and Joey. Hasn’t forgiven Sammy for that and is majorly still angry at Joey (like everyone else).

Norman Polk: when first meeting him, Susie was a little bit intimidated by him. But when they started talking and getting to know each other, Susie fell hard for Norman. She really wished that he would open up more to people so that they could see how nice he actually is.  When she was replaced, Norman was there to help. Even when she dies and turns into twisted Alice, she’s still very much in love with Norman! 

Johnny Polk: a friend! Loves teaching how to sing and always tries to cheer or encourage Johnny when he’s having a bad day because of Sammy.  If Johnny needs tips or advice for practising an instrument, he comes to Susie.  (Johnny secretly wishes that Joey made Susie his mentor instead of Sammy.)

Wally Franks: a close and dear friend of Susies! Almost always remembers to say thank you to Wally when he cleans up the music department. One time, she saw Wally and randomly asked him if he knew how to dance. He shrugged, then began to freaking dance with his broom, making Susie laugh. When Susie turns into Twisted Alice, she doesn't recognize Wally when he’s a toon and tries to kill him..  

Others: before she was replaced, Susie had no problem with any of her fellow co-workers. She got along fairly well with everybody.  Afterwards, everybody could go apeshit for all she cared. 

Facts about her:

Her father was a taxidermist and liked showing Susie and her siblings the latest animal he’s stuffed.  Susie was horrified by this. 

Loves celebrating Canada Day even if she’s stuck in New York…

Once drank entire bottle of maple syrup because of a dare…then threw up an entire bottle of maple syrup..it was not pretty.. (Fun fact: I’ve done this before as well. Do not do this.)

When Susie was about 10, she loved playing dress up in her Grandma’s old clothes and would speak “grownup” to the adults in the room. One night, she tripped on her long gown and fell down the stairs, breaking her arm. When her arm healed, it was bent the other way and the doctors needed to rebreak it and reposition it. After that, Susie got interested in anatomy.

When she was 6, she loved answering the family phone and would always have a long conversation with the person on the other line. Examples of what she would say: “Do you have a dog? I have a dog. She’s named Macie and she’s really fluffy and really big and-” (etc) Also her Dad would get so confused why no one called him back. 

Norman Polk: 

Age: 37 

Height: 6’1

Gender:  male (he/him)

Sexuality: heterosexual 

Nationality: British/French (yes, I’m aware he’s cannonly South Americain. Look at facts and I’ll explain) 

Conditions:  mild PTSD, social anxiety, signs of depression and insomnia (he’s not okay 🙂) 

Phobias:  pyrophobia, social phobia,  cleithrophobia

Important relationships:  

Joey Drew:  “Who the hell put this guy in charge?” Norman did respect Joey, but when he slowly finds out what Joey has been doing, he fully hates him. He still has a grudge on him in the afterlife. 

Henry Stein:  A good friend and man in general. Norman respects Henry, even when the studio goes to shit. Was disappointed and a hint hurt when Henry quit. When Henry comes back to the studio, Norman holds a bit of a grudge against him. 

“Johnny” Jonathan Polk: will protect him till the end. Norman absolutely loves his younger brother and would do alot for him. Norman and Johnny's mother died shortly after she gave birth to Johnny, but before she died, Norman vowed to take care of him. 

“Harriett” Polk: Norman loves his older sister, but gets into many arguments with her. Hates that he will always be “the child” in her eyes. She has had the habit of not always being there when things got tough, which frustrates Norman. She was the one to report his and Johnny’s disappearance.  She is the mother of Norman’s (and Johnny’s) only niece. (Might actually explain the niece part later on.)

Susie Campbell: if Norman could write a list of what he likes about Susie, that list would turn into a book.  When meeting Susie, Norman fell head over heels for her and when he began getting to really know her, he fell even harder.  Was absolutely destroyed when she died and massively wanted to get revenge.  When he came back as the projectornist, he still loved Susie and would always try to defend her. (even though she’s a hint crazy. Just a hint, guys.) 

Thomas Conner:  Norman considers him as his best friend! The two are pretty close pals! Both can relate to the horrors of the first war while also relating to Joey’s bullshit. When Tom went “missing”, Norman helped Allison plaster a bunch of missing posters and ask people if they knew his whereabouts (which is no easy task for someone who has social anxiety).  When Allison disappeared, rumours began to fly and Norman discovered the horrible truth that Tom had died. When he comes back as an ink creature, his and Tom's friendship resumes. 

Allison Pendle:  Norman and Allison have had their disagreements, but both care for Tom and will only team up if they need to save his ass. Norman wasn’t fond of Allison stealing Susie’s role and actually got in a fight with her because of it.  Norman, deep down, has a tad bit of respect for her. Tolerates her because she brings Tom happiness. 

Sammy Lawrence: Norman respects Sammy, but can get in an argument with the composer very easily. Despite this, Norman is aware that the two actually make a decent team and keeps that in the back of his mind. When Norman found out what Sammy and Joey were doing, he was absolutely pissed.  

Jack Fain: Finally, someone who still has their common sense! The two are friends and when Norman is sneaking around near Jack's office, he pays him a visit. 

Wally Franks: Norman doesn't mind Wally and is happy that Johnny has such a chipper friend. Norman can see why Tom can be frustrated with the young janitor as it’s clear (atleast, to Norman) that Wally isn’t the exactly brightest. Though Norman would agree, he certainly has a good spirit!  

Lacie Benton: Gets to know Lacie better when the studio is beginning to go into financial troubles. Has a lot of respect for Lacie and admires her skills. In truth, Lacie reminds him of his dear dead mother.  A good bond the two share!

Grant Cohen:  this friendship was surprising, but Grant and Norman are actually friends. The two can rant to each other about how fucked up the studio is and then laugh about it. 

Buddy Lewek: Norman has nothing against Buddy, especially since Johnny really likes him. Though, because Johnny really likes him, Norman is protective and makes sure Buddy gets the message NOT to hurt his brother..or else. 

Others: Norman doesn't actually have the best reputation around the studio as people are either a little bit intimidated by him or think he’s just weird.  Norman tries to socialise, but finds it difficult and overwhelming.  To his surprise, he does/did have a lot of friends. 

Facts about him:

-Norman and his siblings were born in Britain and grew up there. Norman was taught French by his mother as she wanted it to be his second language. After the first war ended, Norman and his siblings still lived in Britain, however, money was being put aside to move to America. After they (Norman & siblings) moved, Norman noticed that people would like to mock his accent, or would try to correct him. Tired of this, Norman just thought it would be better just to have an American accent. (He decided on Southern because of a certain movie he watched.) I know, he’s cannonly South Americain, but since this is an AU, I figured I should get creative! (Please don’t hate me for this)

-Norman actually had a twin sister named Abigail, but she tragically died at age 11.  

-Has had multiple injuries before and after the war. Examples: head injury, rabies, bullet wounds, etc) This guy has been through..a lot. 

-Norman was there at the Christmas truce (December 24, 1914). Johnny loves hearing about Norman's time at the Christmas truce. 

-Has been mugged before and now keeps a pocket knife at him at all times. 

Would always get so excited when he got mail during the war. Johnny’s little drawings and photos would keep him going through dark times.  

When the studio was going to shit, it was actually Norman who helped Lacie and Bertrum to start a rebellion against Joey and his followers. He recruited people and spreaded the word.

During the war and having a break, Norman and his friend Archie went to go rock climbing. Archie brought the equipment while Norman drove them to the place. While making their way up, something went wrong and ended up with Archie breaking his neck and dying. 

-Norman was once a boy scout and as a kid, he would always wear his uniform wherever he went.  (A lot of the kids at his school just assumed he didn’t have any other clothes to wear.)

“Johnny” Jonathan Polk

Age: 19 

Height: 5'8 

Gender: Male (He/him)

Sexuality: homosexual

Nationality: British/French

Condition:  war anxiety and signs of social anxiety  

Phobias: thanatophobia, basophobia (or basiphobia), trypanophobia 

Important relationships:

Joey Drew: Mister Drew is someone Johnny looked up to as he admired how calm and professional he always seemed to be. Johnny was also just grateful to have a job and because of that would try to defend Mister Drew if people (like Norman) were saying bad things about him. When Johnny was killed and came back, he was just destroyed at how naive he was.  

Henry Stein:  a good guy! Due to Norman respecting and befriending Henry, Johnny instantly befriends him as well! Johnny would sometimes even go to Henry for advice on drawing!

Norman Polk:  Johnny loves and looks up to Norman. The two can get into a few arguments here and there, but they usually don’t last too long. Johnny lives with Norman and the two split the bills and chores together.  Johnny usually doesn't mind Norman being protective, but can occasionally get tired of it. Always tries to talk Norman into asking out Susie.

Sammy Lawrence: Johnny doesn't hate Sammy, but he does fear him. Johnny tries his best to please his mentor, but sometimes can’t always fill his expectations.  When Johnny began to notice the little odd things that were going on in the music department, he didn’t actually tell anyone right away (which was probably a big fucking mistake)

Susie Campbell: absolutely adores Susie and wishes she were his mentor instead of Mister Lawrence. Likes helping her when she’s doing her recordings and always is always grateful for her advice and support. Johnny was also aware of Norman’s huge crush on Susie so yeah, he always tried to make him look good.  Was crushed when she got replaced. When he comes back, he isn’t quite sure how to feel about Susie now that she’s a twisted version herself.

Thomas Conner:  Johnny doesn't dislike Tom, in fact, Tom will sometimes even teach Johnny how to work with tools. Since Tom is Norman’s best friend, Johnny sees a lot of him and even shares a few inside jokes with him. Though, it’s worth mentioning that Johnny doesn't like when Tom is talking shit about Wally. 

Wally Franks: best buddies! Loves Wally’s jokes! (kind of already talked about this friendship so yeah..)

Shawn Flynn: a nice man who begs Johnny to teach him how to do a British accent. Really adores the toys that Shawn creates and has even begged Shawn to teach how to make a plush!

Buddy Lewek: close friends! Johnny also..sort of..has a crush on Buddy. Johnny always loves hanging out with Buddy and the two can talk about anything. Met Buddy when he was delivering something to Mister Lawrence and Johnny accidently whacked him with the door. 

Others: Johnny doesn't mind other people unless they are either mean to him or Norman. He gets along with a lot of people in the band and art department.  He can be shy at the start though. 

Facts about character:

-Johnny finally learned how to make a Boris plush! He gave it to Buddy as a gift <3 

-As a kid, Johnny would love trying to tackle his brother to the ground. One time, Norman saw Johnny charging at him and getting ready to tackle him again, so he took a step to the side and Johnny hit a wooden fence. (Johnny doesn't actually remember this and gets so confused when Norman still apologises to this day.) 

-Johnny is deadly scared of thunder to this day. He had an Uncle who got struck by lightning and died, so yeah, Johnny will bravely..crawl under his bed and pray for it to be over.

- Johnny never met Abigail, but as a young child, he did have this imaginary friend that looked eerily similar to her. She would always reassure Johnny that Norman was fine in the trenches and would survive. Turns out she was indeed right! 

-After finally getting his drivers licence, Johnny borrowed Norman's car for an errand and accidentally hit a brick wall with it. He was fine, only having a few bruises. Norman was absolutely relieved and pissed.

[hand-picked-star]

The 13th Anniversary Arshi Fiesta

Moodboard : Historical AU

Whispers of the heart | Chapter 24

DISCLAIMER: The story is set in the early 20th century. While I have made efforts to capture the essence of the era, there may be inaccuracies as this is a work of fantasy. I do not own the characters Arnav and Khushi, and this story is purely fictional with no relation to any real individuals, living or dead. Any resemblance to actual persons or events is purely coincidental.

WARNING: 18+, MATURE CONTENT.

Chapter 24

And at last, the day of prosecution finally arrived. The court was brimming with people.

Arnav as a prosecution lawyer started first, "Your Honor, today we stand before you to seek justice for the countless lives that have been devastated by a criminal conspiracy rooted in greed, brutality, and the complete disregard for human dignity. The defendants in this case are not mere opportunistic criminals. They are orchestrators of a scheme that goes beyond mere dacoity. They preyed upon the innocent, massacred entire families, and took lives in cold blood to satisfy their insatiable hunger for power and wealth."

After a brief pause, he started again, "This case goes beyond punishment. It's about restoring justice for the victims. We ask you to affirm that no one is above the law and that justice will prevail. Thank you."

The the defence lawyer stepped forward, "Your Honor, my prosecutor friend paints my client as a heartless criminal, but we must remember the foundation of our justice system: the presumption of innocence. My client, Mr. Rajjani, is a respected individual who was caught in an unfortunate situation. On the day in question, he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. His presence was purely incidental. The prosecution's case against him relies on circumstantial evidence and assumptions. We ask you to carefully consider the facts and recognize that Mr. Rajjani is not guilty of the crimes for which he has been accused. Thank you."

"Nice speech, Mr. Patel," Arnav remarked with a nod as Mr. Patel concluded his opening argument.

Mr. Patel adjusted his spectacles, a subtle smile playing on his lips. "For you to learn from it, my friend," he replied smoothly, his tone both genial and slightly teasing. A slight smirk curled in the corner of Arnav's lips.

Mr. Kishori Lal Patel was a distinguished and seasoned lawyer, a man who carried the weight of decades of experience on his shoulders. However, it was disheartening that his expertise was being applied to the defence of someone implicated in such grave and serious offences.

Then, the court proceedings began. The investigating police officer, the medical examiners, and the Registrar of Deeds of the Land Registry Office all of them involving the Tiwari case gave their testimony. And then, to everyone's surprise, Arnav called Mr. Lallan as the state witness to testify in the witness box. Mr. Lallan identified his accomplices and confirmed that Mr. Rajjani was also a member of the group. He also told the court about the involvement of Mr.Lala. Following his testimony, the defence lawyer commenced cross-examination.

"Mr. Lallan, why should we believe that you're not lying just to avoid the death penalty?" the defence lawyer began.

"Objection, speculation."

"I can ask that question, Your Honour." Mr.Patel protested.

"Overruled . Please continue Mr.Patel."

"Thank you Your Honour. Please answer my question Mr.Lallan."

"I am telling the truth."

"Very well. The other accused had never seen each other's faces before. Are you certain you saw my clients, Mr. Rajjani, and Mr. Lala during these attacks?" the defence lawyer asked.

"We all have a similar tattoo on our thighs. You can check him too," Mr. Lallan said eagerly, causing a ripple of whispers to spread through the crowd. This was precisely what Arnav had hoped for, and Mr. Lallan did not disappoint him.

As the judge ordered everyone to expose their thighs and reveal their identical tattoos, the case seemed to be nearing its conclusion. However, Arnav requested one more witness to be brought to the stand. He detailed the pattern of the previous cases and the documents collected from the Land Registry Office to link the cases together, a proof that these events were not purely coincidental. Then he asked the sole survivor to testify. Madumati Ji took her place in the witness box and took her oath.

"Madumati Ji, please tell us what happened that night," Arnav asked, his voice steady and commanding.

"Objection, Relevance."

"Didn't I submit the evidences to link these cases together? " Arnav retorted.

"Overruled, witnesses may answer the question."

"Thank you, your honour. So tell us about the night, Madhumati ji."

"Hayree Nand Kishor, That was a horrible night,''Madumati Ji began, her voice trembling. "I heard Khushi, I mean, Sashi Gupta's daughter screaming in her room, so I rushed to see what was happening. What I saw there.." She took a deep breathbstruggling to continue, "Garima Ji was being assaulted by a man."

"Please be clear, Madumati Ji," Arnav urged, his tone firm but gentle.

"He was forcing himself on her,'' Madumati Ji whispered. ''And another man was approaching Khushi. That man was near the door. They didn't see me. So I grabbed the door bolt and struck him with all my strength. When he fell, I took Khushi and hid with her in a crevice in the kitchen. I don't know how long we stayed there until I heard Mahindar Ji's voice."

"Thank you, Madumati ji. Did you see any of their faces?" Arnav asked softly.

"No, Nand Kishor, their faces were covered with a gamcha, but both had a mark shaped like a star on their thigh."

"Did you inform the police at that time?"

"Yes."

"Anything else, Madhumati ji?"

"Yes, the man who assaulted Garima ji was naked. He had a large black mark on his back, kind of a birthmark. I reported it to the police as well."

"Thank you, Madhumati ji."

"Your Honor, this is a copy of the drawing of the tattoo and Madumati ji's statement from 12 years ago." Arnav handed the documents to the court clerk, who passed them to the judge. The picture displayed a pentagonal star-shaped tattoo."The same tattoo our state witness, Mr.Lallan talked about and also present on our defendants' bodies."

"The court acknowledges the evidence. Defence, you may cross-examine," the judge remarked, indicating the defence lawyer to proceed.

"Madumati Ji, let me ask you a few questions. You mentioned that you didn't see the men's faces because they were covered, correct?" the defence lawyer asked, stepping forward.

"Yes, that's right." eyeing him suspiciously. Her voice was steady despite the tension.

"And this incident happened 12 years ago, is that correct?"

"Are you weak in math, Nand Kishor?"

A ripple of laughter swept through the crowd. Arnav ducked his head to conceal a smile, accustomed to Buaji's antics.

"Silence, please. Madhumati Ji, please answer the question."

"Yes."

"You see, Madhumati Ji, memory can be a tricky thing, especially after such a long time," the defence lawyer said, pausing before continuing. "Are you absolutely certain those marks were star-shaped tattoos and not something else? It was dark, and you were clearly scared. Maybe you saw something else. How can you be so sure?" The defence lawyer pressed, trying to sow doubt.

"Objection, leading question, Your Honor."

"Sustained. Counsel, please refrain from asking leading questions."

"I want to answer that question, Judge shaheeb," Madumati Ji stated firmly, her voice unwavering. "Yes, I was scared that night, but those marks are burned into my memory. And that picture in your hand, I drew it, not today, but 12 years ago. I know what I saw."

"Your Honor, while we respect Madumati Ji's testimony, we ask the court to consider the potential fallibility of her memory due to the traumatic nature of the event and the significant passage of time. Thank you. No more questions," the defence lawyer addressed the judge.

"Thank you, Counselor. We will take that into consideration. Madumati Ji, you may step down," the judge said.

Addressing Arnav, the judge added, "Mr. Raizada, proceed with your next witness."

"Thank you, Your Honor. I request that Madhumati Ji be allowed to remain on the stand a little longer to identify a crucial mark for me."

With the court's permission granted, he continued, ''Your Honor, I now ask permission to question Mr. Shyam Manohar Lala.'' Arnav had previously obtained a court order to bring Mr. Lala to the witness box and to restrict him from leaving the province or the country.

As Arnav approached Mr.Lala, the tension between them became evident. He posed a single question, "Lalaji, how do you respond to the evidence implicating you in this case?"

"I am completely innocent, Your Honor," Mr. Lala retorted. "Ramprasad is lying. They sold their lands to me willingly. They are trying to defame me."

"Why would he do that? Do you have any animosity with him?"

"I don't know. Perhaps you coerced him into lying," Mr.Lala seethed at Arnav.

"Objection, Your Honour, Argumentative." The defence lawyer stated firmly.

"Sustained, Mr.Raizada, please rephrase your question."

But Arnav's eyes twinkled with satisfaction, seeing Mr. Lala growing agitated with each passing second. He leaned forward, a smirk curling on his lips. "It is highly inappropriate to accuse a lawyer of misconduct, especially in court," he said, his tone cool and composed. "However, for the sake of clarity, could you please show us your left thigh?"

"Objection, Your Honor. Unnecessary invasion of privacy and improper line of questioning," the defence lawyer interjected, standing up.

"What kind of insult is this, Your Honor? I have no involvement in this," Mr. Lala insisted, stressing his innocence.

"Then why the hesitation?" Arnav pressed. "We only have a doubt. Lalaji, please assist us in clearing it up."

"Objection overruled. Please show us your thigh, Mr. Lala, and help resolve our doubts," the judge ruled.

Upon the judge's order, Mr.Lala reluctantly exposed his thigh, revealing the pentagonal tattoo. This sight sent a wave of gasps through the courtroom.

"I wish I could stop there, Lalaji," Arnav said with a steely resolve, "but could you please also show us your back?"

As Mr.Lala turned and exposed his back, revealing the distinctive birthmark, Arnav's smirk deepened.

"Madhumati ji, have you seen mark before?" Arnav asked Madhumati ji without turning toward her. His eyes fixed on Mr.Lala.

"YES, YES, that's the mark Judge shaheeb. I will never forget this mark."

Arnav turned to face the judge and said, "That's all, Your Honor."

Khushi sat idly at her office desk, her gaze drifting toward the gloomy sky outside. Today, she felt a deep sense of melancholy that seemed to engulf her. For the past few days, she had been experiencing these sudden bouts of sadness, a feeling of wanting to cry that she couldn't quite explain. With a sigh, she picked up the newspaper for the day.

Shyam Manohar Lala, Mohan Rajjani and 7 others Sentenced to Death for Heinous Crimes in Landmark Verdict

The headline stirred a bittersweet feeling within her. She was present in the courtroom yesterday. It was her first time attending one of Arnav's proceedings, and she couldn't help but think she should have chosen a different case for her debut. She would have relished seeing him in his element under happier circumstances than witnessing this particular trial. But perhaps, she mused, it was simply her destiny to see him fighting for her and her family.

She was undoubtedly relieved that her parents' murderers had been brought to justice, but the resurgence of painful memories cast a sombre shadow over her. She knew she needed to go home and rest. The past few months had been difficult for both her and Arnav. It was a relief that the nightmares had eased down a little bit. Despite this, she felt persistently exhausted. She just felt tired all the time. They would stay in the Rajput Haveli for a few days more, as Dewali was this week. Then they would return back to their home.

But suddenly, after few days, Khushi fell ill and caught a severe case of stomach flu. Amma, Babuji, Bua Ji, and Arnav all scolded her for indulging in too many jalebis, rabri, and golgappas the previous day. Despite their concerns, her condition worsened over the next ten days, showing no signs of improvement. The doctor visited today, diagnosing her as dehydrated and advised them to give her more fluid. How could she keep herself rehydrated when the mere sight of food made her sick?

Suddenly, Buaji's shriek startled everyone. "Arey, Manoroma, have we all lost our marbles, Nand Kishor? Payaliya, go ask Hariprakash to fetch Ganga Tai!"

Upon hearing Buaji's words, everyone suddenly turned their gaze towards Khushi. She felt like a deer caught in headlights and managed a nervous smile. In return, they all smiled back at her as well. Though their smiles were well-natured, but they seemed menacing to her. Khushi pursed her lips, feeling her heart pounding loudly. Out of everyone's sight, she tenderly placed her hand on her stomach. And somehow, she knew. She didn't need Ganga Tai, the local midwife, to tell her what was happening.

"Arnav, uthiye na," Khushi whined, gently shaking Arnav from a deep slumber. Her voice was filled with a mix of desperation and impatience.

"What happened?" Arnav mumbled, his voice muffled as he buried his face deeper into the pillow.

"I want to eat jalebis," her voice rising with a hint of excitement.

Arnav slowly raised his head, squinting at the bedside clock. "It's three in the morning, Khushi. Go back to sleep."

"I can't sleep. The baby wants jalebis."

Arnav sighed deeply, propping himself up on one elbow. "Alright, only on one condition."

Khushi's eyes brightened with hope. "Kya?"

"You have to drink a glass of milk too."

Khushi scrunched up her nose. "But milk is yucky."

Arnav gave her a stern look. "Then I'm going back to sleep."

Khushi's eyes widened in alarm. "No, no, no! Okay, I'll drink the milk. Now please, let's go."

Arnav got up lazily from the bed and turned on the light. Khushi, with a playful pout, spread her arms as if she were a child wanting to be picked up. Chuckling, Arnav gathered her into his arms.

Him, being a father hadn't fully settled in yet. Perhaps it was a gradual process, and with time, he would gain the momentum to fully embrace parenthood.

They had returned from the Rajput Haveli two weeks ago. Though Chachu and Chachi had wanted them to stay at the haveli, it was no longer fitting to live there for an extended period after their marriage. Staying there long-term now seemed inappropriate. Instead, they had brought Buaji to live with them in their house.

As Arnav walked through the corridor with Khushi in his arms, this was the third time that week they were embarking on a midnight mission for jalebis. Soon after her sickness subsided, her cravings for jalebis reared their head. The first time, her craving had been for hot jalebis without chasni. The next, she demanded them with chasni and added countless conditions. They couldn't disturb Gauri ji or Buaji, as the thought of waking them up made Khushi tear up out of guilt. So, the only person left to make the jalebis was him. It felt as though she had no affection for him anymore, only her love for the sweet treat prevailed at that moment.

Khushi had meticulously guided him through the process of making jalebis this past week, and now he had become a pro. His once hesitant hands now moved with precision, swirling the dough in the hot oil with confidence, ensuring each jalebi was crisp and golden and then dipped them in the perfectly sticky, sweet chasni.

They settled on the balcony with a small plate of hot jalebis and a glass of milk. She savoured each piece of jalebis with evident delight.

"Wow, these are sooo good, you've learned to make such delicious jalebis," Khushi praised Arnav in between bites.

"Yeah, if I ever fail as a lawyer, I might just start a stall in the market."

"At least you'd have one loyal customer," Khushi winked, offering him a piece of the sweet delicacy.

Arnav caught Khushi's hand, taking a bite of the offered jalebi. His tongue lightly swept over the tips of her fingers, sending a ripple through her skin. One by one, without breaking eye contact, he polished off all the sweet chasni from her fingers.

"Yeah, you were right. Today's jalebis are extra delicious," he said, winking at her. A lovely redness tinted her flawless skin, which looked radiant under the moonlight.

"Are you trying to correct a past mistake?" Arnav laughed, remembering their childhood moment.

"Maybe."

"Or are you trying to seduce your wife, Mr. Raizada?"

"I can't help it. You're just so irresistible," he leaned in to kiss her lips, enveloping her smile with his own. "And so, so, so sweet." He punctuated each word with a press of his lips against hers.

He kissed her some more. At least he could do that, since the doctors had banned any physical intimacy until her fourth month of pregnancy. Releasing her lips, he said, "Alas, all my seducing will go to waste."

"Serves you right. How shameful it is. Now that I'm pregnant, everyone will know what we do...what we did," she whispered, pursing her lips.

Arnav burst out laughing. She swatted his shoulder lightly, then joined in his laughter as well.

Arnav's birthday was approaching next week, and Khushi wanted to do something special for him, despite his dislike for celebrations. Last year, she had cooked his favourite dishes, but this year she wanted to make a more significant impact. After discovering her influence over him physically, she was determined to come up with something that would truly blow his mind.

However, since she couldn't be intimate with him due to the doctor's restrictions, that plan was off the table. She pondered other ways to make him feel special and happy. Her mind raced with ideas throughout the day. She decided she needed to explore the secluded spots of the library and gather inspiration, so she planned to visit the library to search for ideas and find the perfect setting to surprise him.

She wished for a magical box where she could write, "What is another way to make your husband happy physically when you're pregnant?" and have all the answers appear before her. Life would be so much simpler if someone could provide a straightforward solution.

After a discreet search, Khushi finally found a book that seemed to promise answers. However, as she leafed through it, the content was convoluted and confusing, leaving her more perplexed than enlightened. But she was determined to decode those confusing texts.

It was five minutes to midnight on Arnav's birthday. He had a crucial hearing the next day and was working late in his study. Khushi timidly knocked on the door, causing him to look up from his file.

"What are you doing still staying up?" he asked.

"I wanted to wish you a happy birthday," Khushi said shyly.

He crossed his arms over his chest and smiled at her, an amused glint dancing in his eyes as he observed his suddenly shy wife. He raised an eyebrow.

"Happy birthday, Arnav," she said, growing nervous under his silent gaze.

"Why are you so shy all of a sudden?"

"I didn't bring a gift."

He extended his hand toward her. She took it, allowing him to pull her close until she stood in front of him, where he sat. He placed a hand gently over her belly.

"You've already given me the best gift in the world," he said softly.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his head on her stomach after placing a tender kiss there. Khushi's fingers tangled in his hair as she smiled.

"I want to try something. Promise me you won't laugh," Khushi whispered, nervously playing with his hair.

"What?" Arnav asked, intrigued.

"Close your eyes."

Instead of following her request, Arnav frowned, his curiosity piqued. Taking a deep breath, Khushi settled on his lap, surprising him. Her legs straddled him as she lowered herself on his body. He instinctively grabbed her waist.

"What are you doing?" he asked, a mix of curiosity and concern in his voice.

"Kuch nehi," she replied softly, her eyes locked onto his. "I just want to kiss you."

And she kissed him once, twice, three times, her lips soft against his. She trailed kisses along his chin, his jaw, his neck. His stubble tickled her sensitive lips. She gently rubbed the back of his neck, massaging his scalp with her fingers. The soothing touch and tender kisses felt nice to him, too nice actually. Her kisses, he could take, but what was becoming unbearable was the way her body moved against him. He grabbed her hips to still her and pressed his forehead against hers.

"You're doing it on purpose." he whispered, his voice strained. "Don't start something you can't finish."

Khushi bit her lip to hide her smile, her face flushing slightly. "But I intend to finish,'' she whispered back, kissing him again.

Arnav squinted slightly, trying to gauge her intentions as she slowly slid down his body, kneeling between his legs. Her hands rested on his thighs, then moved a little higher, grazing the growing bulge in his pants. Before she could go further, Arnav caught her hands.

"You don't have to," he murmured, his voice thick, his breathing ragged.

"But you want me to," Khushi replied, her gaze meeting his. Eyes sparkled with mirth.

"How do you know?"

"I can see it in your eyes," she whispered. She pressed her lips together, a ghost of a smile dancing on her face.

"Damn it,'' Arnav exhaled, a small smile tugging at his lips. "I've got the best wife ever. Let's go to our room."

She giggled as he pulled her up by her shoulders and scooped her into his arms. He carried her towards their bedroom, determined to finish what they had started.

At the end of next month, La and NK got married. The way they clicked together from the very beginning, it was inevitable that they would end up together. Khushi couldn’t attend their wedding for obvious reasons, but La and NK assured her that they would visit soon. In fact, they planned to enjoy their honeymoon in India. Khushi was over the moon to have her two best friends with her. Over time, NK and La fell in love with India and its people so much that they decided to stay for an extended period to help Khushi with the foundation.

As her dream regarding the foundation slowly came to fruition, she found herself yearning to focus on her other dreams. Khushi had always dreamed of becoming a writer, but whenever she sat down to write, her ideas felt scattered, elusive, like pieces of a puzzle that just wouldn't fit together. Despite having the time, she struggled to find the focus and direction she needed before. Her thoughts seemed to drift aimlessly, and her creative energy, though abundant, was unfocused.

Then came the unexpected news of her pregnancy, which brought a sense of calm and clarity that she hadn't anticipated. Though the first few weeks were overwhelming, filled with a mix of excitement and anxiety. As her body changed, so did her perspective. The life growing inside her gave her a new sense of purpose and a grounding she hadn't felt before. The scattered thoughts that once filled her mind began to settle, like leaves gently falling into place.

The quiet moments, especially in the early mornings when the world was still asleep, became her sanctuary. The ideas that had once been disjointed started to come together.

As her pregnancy progressed, Khushi found inspiration in the smallest of things-the gentle flutter of the baby's movements, the warm sunlight streaming through the window, the quiet moments of reflection. Each day, she would write a little more, her words a reflection of her journey, filled with the raw emotions of impending motherhood. There were days when the physical toll of pregnancy would slow her down, but she pressed on, driven by the idea that she was creating something lasting, something she could share with her child one day.

Writing became a form of therapy for Khushi, a way to process the changes happening in her life. The book she was crafting wasn't just a story; it was a reflection of her own experiences, fears, hopes, and dreams. Every chapter was infused with the emotions she was feeling-the joy, the uncertainty, the love that was growing each day for the little one she had yet to meet.

As her due date approached, Khushi found herself writing the final chapter, feeling a deep sense of accomplishment. The book was a journey, much like her pregnancy, filled with unexpected twists, moments of doubt, and overwhelming joy. When she finally held her first draft in her hand, she realized that the time she had spent writing had not only brought her closer to her dream of being an author but had also prepared her for the beautiful, challenging journey of motherhood.

Her book, once a distant dream, was now a testament to the strength and resilience she had discovered within herself during those nine months. Khushi knew that this was just the beginning of her story-both as a mother and as a writer.

<previous> | <next>

@featheredclover @arshifiesta @phuljari @chutkiandchotte @jalebi-weds-bluetooth @msbhagirathi

[hearts401]

Weird Thoughts and Bad Things

Michael makes a! Choice! And drags Evan down with him. OR Silly au scene ive had in my head. Evan's about 17, Mike is 20-22

Evan was on his laptop when he heard a knock on the doorway to his room. He turned to see Michael, who was leaning on the doorframe with a rather aloof expression. Almost aloof, actually. He was fidgeting and looking side to side occasionally, like he was nervous.

That was never a good sign.

“What do you need?” Evan said hesitantly, “Did something happen?”

“I need your help,” Michael said.

“My… Help? Why?”

“I just do, come with me,” He pressed.

“Get Elizabeth to do it, Mike, I’m busy,” Evan said. He didn’t like this, and especially not how Michael kept pausing to look around, like someone was after him.

He took a deep breath, “Ev, come on, just help me out, okay?”

Evan gave him an unamused look at the nickname, and Michael rolled his eyes.

“Just help me! Get off your ass and come with me!” Michael grabbed Evan’s arm and pulled him halfway out of his chair before he could catch himself.

“Dude!” Evan hissed.

“Now! It’s important and I… I can’t tell Liz.” He said the last bit in a hushed voice, before looking around again. Now Evan was really uncomfortable. Now he was concerned.

“What happened?”

“Just come on!” Michael snapped.

They walked down the hall in silence. Michael was wringing his hands, something Evan recognized as a nervous stim of sorts. Michael used to do that a lot more when they were kids. He was also being slow, slower than he normally was. If Michael wasn’t rushing everyone in the house, he was either tired…

Or he was scared.

Michael led him to their father’s office—a place they weren’t allowed in, Evan noted suspiciously—and paused at the door.

“You can’t freak out,” He said.

“Why? What’s in there?”

“Promise me you won’t freak out.”

“You know I can’t do that.”

Michael grabbed Evan’s shoulders, “Promise,” He said harshly.

Evan stared at him. He knew Michael, despite how much his brother would like to pretend he didn’t. He knew that something was wrong. Very wrong. Actually, the past month has been weird for Michael. He wasn’t even really being a dick, he just seemed… Tired. It was a weird kind of tired, more that he’d avoided everyone and been a lot quieter. Unless it was to their father, who almost always had something to argue with him about.

Evan felt a bit guilty for not trying to reach out to Michael, but he could imagine what Gregory would say.

“It’s not your job to fix whatever he’s got going on, especially not before you’ve fixed whatever you’ve got going on,”

The thought made him feel a bit better, actually. Maybe Gregory was a stronger influence than he’d thought.

“...I promise,” He finally said.

Michael slowly opened the door and the first thing Evan noticed was that everything on their father’s desk was strewn about. Oh and also there was blood everywhere. And their father on the floor, covered in it…

Oh.

Oh.

Oh, he felt like he was gonna be sick. When he turned to Michael he’d lost the calm collected look and now had a mixture of discomfort and a bit of remorse plastered on his face.

“What the hell happened?” Evan hissed, “Why- We need to call somebody Michael what the he-”

Michael grabbed him again, “NO,” He snarled, “We are NOT calling somebody, are you insane!?”

Evan’s brain took a moment to catch up, so he stared dumbly at Michael trying to understand.

“I killed him, dipshit!” Michael said in a hushed voice.

Oh. Joy.

“And you need to help me clean this up!”

Even better!

“What!? Why?” Evan gasped, “No! No way! No way in hell no nope never nuh uh no way no how never!”

Michael didn’t let go of him, instead tightening his grip, “Listen, Dad was an asshole, I’m helping all of us,” He said, “you wanna snitch to the cops? Fine. But I hope you know it’s not worth it for our dad, Evan. And if you don’t, you’re already an accomplice because you KNOW I did it and you’re not telling them, so you might as well help me clean it up. Nobody has to know, nobody will miss him, listen to me Ev!”

Evan stared at him, then at the body on the floor, then back at him. “But you can’t… you can’t just kill people, Mike, please, please listen to me, Mike we need to tell someone we can’t just-”

Michael grabbed his wrist, “I’m not above killing you too if it shuts you up!”

Evan’s mouth snapped closed with a click and he stared at Michael in disbelief. His brother just handed him a bottle of disinfectant, “Let’s clean this up now.”

And so he did. They cleaned in silence, and then took the body and buried it in the woods behind their house.

While Michael dug the hole, Evan stood off to the side anxiously. He hadn’t said anything since Michael threatened him, but now that he thought about it, he didn’t think he’d actually go through with it. At least, he was pretty sure. 90% sure. 50% sure… He was pretty sure! He knew Michael sucked but he seemed at least a bit shaken up about this and… And Evan hadn’t done anything wrong, right? Nothing worth killing him over… Right?

“Put it in,” Michael said, and Evan did. It felt wrong, very wrong, for whatever reason. Evan didn’t like his father. He hated his father, in fact! But even so… Something wasn’t right. But at this point he wasn’t sure if that was about his father… or if it was about Michael…

And then they went home, and Evan sat back down in his chair and continued using his laptop. But his chest was tight and he felt sick and everything felt wrong all of a sudden.

But Michael was so weirdly calm about it, if not a bit freaked out at the idea of getting caught, and he was shaken sure, but not as much as he should be. As if this was nothing! As if he didn’t just kill someone, and threaten to kill Evan and…

He needed to call Gregory, he didn’t wanna be here tonight. He certainly didn’t feel like sleeping here.

[tacticalhimbo]

Agent of Change: A Post-Canon Hitman World of Assassination Ficlet

Ever since the initial reversal of the conditioning Agent 47 had undergone at the hands of the Institute, he has struggled with the cost of remembering. All the lives he's taken. All the lives he's ruined. Even that of his closest accomplice, who has given him so much without the expectation of anything return; he hates it. He feels guilty. And, unknowingly on the date of her family's death, he apologizes to Diana for everything.

WORDS: 1.3k

FANDOMS: Hitman

This was a spur of the moment piece inspired by my partner and I developing our own little roleplay AU. Written in one shot with little to no looking over or beta reading.

'The gun never wonders whether it is on the side of good or not, son. It merely acts.'

'The gun doesn't remember, doctor.'

'Nor should you. That's not your job. While you're remembering things? Remember what happens when you let them affect you. Remember Minulescu. What happened there because of you.'

—

Flashes of decades' old violence came to 47 in turbulent waves. Would consume him briefly; overtake his senses until he found himself fixated on whatever happened to be before him. Muscles wound tight every time, fists idly clenching and unclenching as he lost himself in the coursing sensations. Lost himself in the increasing frequency of these moments. Ever since 6—Lucas. Ever since Lucas had helped him remember the depths of Providence's reign of terror, he'd been unstable. Emotional.

He was no longer a gun. He was human.

And sharing this new safehouse with Diana certainly did little to help ease him into this new skin of his. There were so many with her alone. All the times their work has pushed and pulled one to their extreme. Her faking his death through a spur of the moment betrayal. Him fulfilling the contract put on her life when she'd saved Victoria from the ICA's clutches—from a fate akin to his own. Her turning on him once more to get him close to the Constant. They had their own secret language, and none of it was a betrayal in the true sense. They always knew. But it was never any of those moments that stuck with 47; that haunted him. Instead, it was the moment neither had control over. A contract both him and Lucas fulfilled; the hit on her parents. The impromptu construction of a remotely detonated bomb, secured comfortably amidst the vehicle's engine. The combustion alone would have set it off, surely, though it was much simpler—much more fun, according to the older of the duo—to press the button themselves. And so they had. Left her behind in a flaming pile of ashen rubble and broken sobs.

Sunshine settled upon rich, reddened strands as the woman found herself working from the comfort of the couch, laptop secured on the nearby end table as she idly typed away. Shone upon her just as it had through the thickets that hung over the rows of gravestones. It caused the agent's breath to catch in his chest. Created pause as he tried to task himself with his usual routine whilst his handler tasked away at whatever it was she found herself up to. The swift unlocking of the door. Silent footsteps traversing down to the basement. Gloved hands finding themselves cusping his weapon of choice as he'd practiced. He didn't need to practice. He was a master of his craft—had been for a long time. It was simply the only way he knew how to pass the time, and time had passed. One hour, then two, then several. When he'd finally found himself wandering back upstairs, the safehouse was quiet as it was prior.

Diana was still at the couch, though it was clear she had found herself occupied with many things. Her laptop was set aside on the table. The common room smelt of toasted bread and sweet jam. The air was humid as he'd passed by the stove to retrieve a glass from the cupboard, then he saw the kettle set aside with discarded tea packs. As he turned to fill the glass from the sink, he saw the handler flipping through… a book? No, it was too big to be one of her normal reads. Soft brows knitted as he studied the glossed pages as they turned. Slender fingers paused as he'd silently entered her peripheral. Sat his glass upon the coffee table before sitting on the cushions just beside her. The album's cover closed with a soft sound, concealing the well-preserved photographs of a family long lost.

"Everything alright, 47? You seem to be deep in thought." Her voice was steady, though quieter than usual. Softened.

And she was right. He had been deep in thought. He was; no amount of distractions could press down the heavy guilt weighing on his conscience. His lips pressed together in a terse frown, vibrant blue eyes unable to lift themselves from the deep grain flooring.

"… I'm sorry, Diana."

The apology did little to dissuade the bubbling feelings that had begun to rise as she reminisced over the photographs. It had been an impromptu inspection, spurred by a quick glance to her weekly calendar and realizing what the date had been. Days had often found themselves blurring together in this line of work, though this time of year had always lulled to a grinding halt. It had been decades now, but it didn't sting any less. Especially upon learning the truth behind that fateful day. So she simply shook her head, attempting to force down those feelings with a little humor.

"For what, 47? You've nothing to apologize for." A coy smile that didn't quite reach her eyes appeared. "Unless you've gotten up to something without my knowing."

"I… remembered an old job. One before the ICA." Hesitation. An odd thing to see from 47. "… Your parents."

Right. She had assumed that was where this conversation was going, even if she desperately wished it weren't true. A part of her always wondered if he remembered what he'd done. Wondered if he'd felt anything if he had recalled the day. Did he regard it as any other job? A simple mission; nothing more, nothing less? Did he view her differently upon realizing that it was her family? Her hands unconsciously moved, filling the silenced air with the subtle shifting of fabric as they slid the album closer. Her arms compensated for the movement, almost cradling the object as if it were living. To her, in a weird way, it were. The last remnants of a past long lost to her. She sighed.

"47, I don't—I don't blame you for that. You were just… it… that was Providence's work. Their contract. Whatever information they fed you, it surely wasn't enough to make a judgment call—"

Covered arms were careful in the way they moved to close the space between them. A calloused hand rested on the other's arm, giving the opportunity for her to withdraw if she'd wished. Yet she didn't. Instead, a gentle hand came to rest on his, inviting the affections. Coaxing him into a slow, warm hug in which he was briefly hesitant to return. Afraid to, as deep down he wasn't quite so sure he wouldn't hurt her. There was no reason for him to, but considering the things he's remembered… He was afraid it was instinct. His nature. Yet, as she always seemed to be, she was not afraid. She welcomed whatever outcome would come to her. Should he end things once and for all, she would not blame him. Should he choose not to, she would not blame him. Still, though, she couldn't help the waterworks as she'd eased against him. As she leaned into his timid hold and allowed her face to rest against his shoulder as emotions came to overtake her, too.

She couldn't help the breathy laugh that revealed her cracking facade. "Damn it, 47. I had no intentions of crying today, you know."

A small smirk. The upward tilt of his tone. "I know."

The moments that passed felt so minuscule in the grand scheme of things. Yet, to them, they were momentous. A sign of the better future that would come; a closing chapter that neither knew they had still needed to see the end of. 47 had began to rub Diana's back as she cried, slow and rhythmically. Soothing.

'This is your gift. Your gift and your curse: Touching lives, only by ending them.' The echoing voice of the Warden breached 47's thoughts. No. That wasn't true. Not anymore. Not in the way he intended it to be.

"47?"

Curious blues found themselves trained on his handler. He didn't say anything, but she knew he was paying attention as she withdrew from their embrace. Brought her own hand to reach and gently touch at his cheek.

"Thank you. I… I forgive you."

[gingermintpepper]

Writer’s ask game ♡ 4, 13, and 17 if you’d be so kind☆

Bestie beam,,,

4: How long was the longest work you've written?

The longest work I've ever written sits at a cool 130+k and is an au a very good friend and I made of a Pokemon/BnHA AU that we worked on together for years without ever posting any content for it LMFAO. The premise was a dimensional switcharoo brought on by Palkia and the google doc name (which, to this day, remains one of my favourites) is 'Strawberry Milk and Spatial Issues (I'm not looking up Einsteinian theories mom, I have limits)'! I never shared the document with my writing partner, but it's still in my gdrive somewhere,,,

13: How many WIPs do you have open?

OUGH Hitting me right in the weak spot! Damn!! Mm, that I'm actively working on? About 5. Manent and Like the Dawn are the big ones but inbetween those I'm working on an Apollo-During-Persephone's-Abduction thing, my Fields of Mistria Hyapollo AU and a 5+1 thing I started earlier today based on a concept I had before I fell asleep a while ago. In general though? It's constantly shifting - I'm constantly adding to the Greenhouse Floor and I'm also always collecting notes and research for concepts I plan to write later down when I have time/energy. Recently, I've been throwing around the idea of writing something for Aristaeus and Maera for example...

17: Could you or could you not successfully pull of a murder (at least in theory)?

Absolutely! I'd be able to get away with it too for about four-five years before the guilt and paranoia make me have a minor psychotic break during which I confess to a dozen other things that aren't the murder but were also weighing on my mind enough to trick my brain into thinking that I'd confessed. Of course, based on who I killed and why, I mightn't feel guilty at all but if it's murder, I'm assuming I'd feel guilty.

Why? Need an accomplice? :3c

[dire-kumori]

I wanted to write tonight but my brain is full of bees so I’m daydreaming about killer crying child AUs instead. Okay, so this is actually mainly sparked by me reading some of @lonelyfreddles‘s posts (which are angst-filled masterpieces by the way) and having some self-indulgent daydreams.

Basically, I’ve got a blob of a daydream about Michael becoming a reluctant accomplice to his little brother after Evan takes up serial killing. Not doing any of the killing himself, but cleaning up the bodies, hiding evidence, providing alibis, and misdirecting the police as needed. Driven by guilt for ‘forcing’ Evan into this, he does everything he can to protect his little brother while also trying to convince him to stop. Michael’s still heavily attached to the mental image of Evan as a timid and gentle child, and is in deep denial that he can still be ‘saved.’

In the end, he’s never able to convince Evan to stop, and when the police close in Michael confesses to the murders, accepting the death penalty without a fight and allowing Evan to go free to skip town and continue his murder spree until he eventually meets the same fate.

[afterthegreatunknown]

asoue au where gregor anwhistle is alive and the stepfather of fernald and fiona, part two:

all while hector and widdershins are living together in the hinterlands in peace (peaceful as it can be until a certain event), the organization is in disarray. a family is in disarray.

the organization knows ishmael is alive given gregor's testimony, but no one knows where he could be. all that they know from gregor is that he's out there in the ocean in a bathyscaphe. some speculate ishmael eventually died for one can't travel too far and too long in a bathyscaphe (it's not a submarine, after all), while other speculate given the man's character, found a way to survive.

gregor other's brother ike, and his wife josephine, are ridden with guilty for partly causing the death of frigga, and widdershins. never would they assume their warning would have lead to the frigga getting shot. they never thought gregor's volatility would have him killing widdershins without any hesitation. the two deaths had ike and josephine entering retirement in the organization, limiting their contact with gregor to letters, until they died by leeches. not together, but leeches did killed them both.

kit snicket, while not losing her reputation in the organization (as with the others involve), slowly loses her other relationships as a result of the fire, especially with regards to widdershins' death. she loses ike and josephine, for like the couple themselves, holds them partly responsible for widdershins' death. kit loses betrand and beatrice, for their involvement in the volatile fungus deportation project has her seeing them as accomplices. kit loses her twin, after he writes an article that blames the boy widdershins loved as his own, as the one who destroyed anwhistle aquatic, and as widdershins' killer.

gregor himself goes through the ringer. he is unable to regain funding for a second attempt of the volatile fungus deportation project. the organization doesn't want to deal with another schism within schism. while gregor was offered by the organization to work in other less deadly projects, he instead decided to take over as captain of the queequeg, for the organization plan to turn it into scrap metal.

gregor doesn't mourn the lost of his project. he only mourns his wife, and widdershins. especially widdershins. it's why gregor become a captain, to save the queequeg, the one thing left of widdershins.

everyone mourns over frigga, but not many mourn over widdershins. much of the organization pretends he never existed, partly due to his violent death is something they don't want to think about again, but mostly because they're finally able to remove the 'leech outsider' who 'wormed' his way into the organization.

and fernald is disguised by them all, especially by gregor.

fernald always respected gregor, but never liked him. gregor never did anything to earn the teenager's ire though, which is why he didn't make complaints or objected to his mother's decision to date him. but now though, fernald has every reason to spite the man.

gregor allowed mom to transform into a different woman, and let her die. she became a woman who cared for work, and only work. not her family, her two children. gregor killed widdershins, the man who took care of fernald as a child, who tutored fernald like a chaperone. fernald lost the man he saw as a brother, as family.

the lost of his mother and widdershins has fernald one night lashing out at gregor. fernald yells at gregor for everything, and without any interruptions. fernald was able to let his feelings out at long last. and at the end...gregor told fernald to get out. that to take his things, and to never come back. and fernald does so without hesitation, crying his eyes out a week later, realizing he doomed fiona, and himself. he cries in anger as he read a newspaper article that brought back widdershins into the world, at the cost of everything he holds dear.

and it's fernald's anger at gregor does he make the decision to switch sides. it came to be after kit went to fernald in hopes to calm him down from reading her brother's article. and she did so, sort of. fernald stop his crying, but he was still angry, and told kit he wanted to get back at gregor by doing the one thing that would make him upset.

kit in horror, reminded fernald that he ought to be careful in how to spite his stepfather, for the one person who would be disappointed by fernald's actions, would be widdershins. and fernald told kit that he's doing it because of widdershins, that if the man was alive, fernald wouldn't thinking it in the first place.

and kit, despite knowing it's the wrong decision, lets fernald go. kit recognizes she is unable to change the path he's going, but accepts it. all she can do is wish him good luck and tells him that the next time they meet, they will be enemies. and fernald tells kit thank you, and makes her promise to watch his sister, if she can. fernald fears fiona's life will not be easy under gregor's care.

fernald's fears while not correct, also isn't wrong. gregor takes care of fiona; he feeds her, provides her clothes, and make sure she gets the best education possible, but he makes no attempts to emotionally connect with her. gregor refers to fiona as his daughter, but one can tell he doesn't view her as such. they can tell by his voice, how hollow it is, how dull his eyes are as he speaks the word.

once fiona gets old enough, she learns of her mother. she learns from her father that her mother died in a fire, and he failed to save here. it was a fire that her brother fernald blames gregor for, and ran away from home because the grief overtook him, for seeing fiona had the boy being painfully reminded of that night.

fiona also learns, all by herself, that her father is hiding something. some things are more obvious than others. her father's attempt to hide his...disconnection with her, is one she noticed at five, after he didn't appear on her birthday, only sending a gift from the mail. from that day onward, fiona knows her father is a father in everything but spirit, acting the motions of a father, but not letting himself be one. fiona wishes he could call him anything but that, but she feels oblige. he is the only family she has left. she doesn't want to lose him.

another thing fiona learns over time, is that her father is lying about being a submarine captain. fiona after visiting a few submarines with kit snicket -kit is the only volunteer willing to take fiona to other organization submarines- sees how her father isn't as skilled at the controls, which has fiona deciding to learn how to be a captain. it's something fiona can see kit is happy about, knowing the queequeg is in good hands at long last.

fiona learns how her father was very likely a scientist, after one day at the bookstore, when he buys three expensive trace fossils books, and she buys her first mycology book. her father upon seeing her book, has a light in his eyes, and spirit in his voice as he tells fiona about mycology, and how it's a dangerous field to study in, and to take caution, almost as if he was speaking from experience.

most importantly, fiona after some digging of the library, learns of the person who was very likely, the true captain of the queequeg. she finds the hidden poetry books, improper and proper dieting books, and the works of herman melville. one work in particular, moby dick, looks like it was read many times. pages are ready to fall out, and there are light pencil underlines in certain passages and of certain names.

one name in particular stands out to fiona. queequeg. fiona, after finally finishing her reading of moby dick, sees why the reader like queequeg, enough to name a submarine after him.

and it's moby dick does fiona sees how her father was once truly happy. inside the book is a photograph tuck away. it's a photograph of her father smiling, alongside her uncle ike and aunt josephine, and two men she doesn't recognized. one man had the luck of being in the middle, and the photo was crease so many times, his face is now gone. the other man's face is clear as day, but there's nothing that gives away who he is. the only standout is that the man has a mustache, and it curls upward almost like a parenthesis.

fiona keeps that photograph on her, knowing well that her father will never look through the book again. it's hiding away for a reason, like another photograph that is of her family at lake lachrymose. fiona would like to give the photo to kit in hopes the woman would identity the unknown men, but kit was soon assigned to libraries, taxis, and the hotel denouement.

fiona never told anyone about the photo. not even as the baudelaires came aboard the queequeg, fiona couldn't find it in herself to tell her third cousins of it. third cousins who didn't know of her existence until now, and of her father. and fiona isn't shock that aunt josephine never talked about her extended family (uncle ike and aunt josephine stop communicating with her father when fiona was a toddler, for reasons she still doesn't understand).

fiona kept it to herself as they were in the grotto, discussing a letter by kit to her father, who is now confirm a scientist, and not a submarine captain at all. fiona kept it to herself as the children came back aboard to an empty submarine, with only a note from her father, her stepfather, that he must depart on a vfd escort mission, entrusting fiona to be the new captain.

fiona kept it to herself as she struggles between trying to get the queequeg moving or to go find a cure for sunny, who when inside the grotto, got infected by the mycelium. fiona kept the photograph hidden as she and the baudelaires were thrown into the brig by count olaf, and as fiona reunited with her brother. fiona didn't dare show fernald the photo right then and there, even after learning of the deceased captain widdershins, the true owner of the queequeg who fernald was blame for killing upon setting the anwhistle aquatic fire, even though fernald wasn't there at all.

everything she learned in the brig was too much to show the photo. fiona eventually showed the photo to the baudelaires, after they showed her the photo of her family. seeing that photo had fiona snapping, telling them that her stepfather never cared about her and her brother, that he was never happy with her, that he was happy when single, when the true captain of the queequeg was alive.

and showing the photo at last to the baudelaires gave a reaction fiona wasn't expecting. the baudelaires told her the man in the photograph, the one with the mustache, is still alive. that his name is veasna heng, and that he's in a self-sustaining hot air mobile home with hector, the village of fowl devotee's handyman, taking care of duncan and isadora quagmire.

hearing those words gave fiona pause. it was a pause that granted the baudelaires the chance to convince fiona to let them go, as well as giving her the fungus inside sunny's helmet. and fiona agreed, thanking them for everything, the good and the bad.

fiona, upon reuniting with fernald, shows him the photograph, and what the baudelaires told her. and with a smile on his face, fernald asked her if she would be okay with a change of plan; instead of finding gregor, they should find the man in the photo, widdershins.

and fiona, without any hesitation, agrees to the change. while the change plan still oddly enough, lead to them finding gregor, it was not him who they ran towards though.

they instead ran towards widdershins.

(funny thing is, fiona feel it's how it's supposed to be)

[anrasparadise]

Sooo, I’ve been thinking...

GONTA MASTERMIND/ KOKICHI FORCED ACCOMPLICE AU

"It’s not surprising you caught me out of all of them, after all" He looks at Kokichi, who seems to be forcing his tears to not come out " I wrote you that way, like a lie detector "

"But what it is surprising is that, well, it's waaay to early. "

"Ah, you thought you were that good of an actor." Kokichi forces out the insult, but it comes out with way less force than he intended to.

"Mmm, no, I thought you were way more stupid." Gonta smiles -grimaces- and puts his hands behind his back, upright posture.

"Fuck you."

"Yeah, you might not want to waste the chance of a deal, you know. "

"What do you mean, a deal? I don't wanna have anything to do with you, bastard. " Kokichi's face was hard, but not hard enough to hide away from Gonta the hint of pain that his words caused him. After all, his brain was still trying to digest the fact that sweet old Gonta was, in fact, a cruel, cold, psychotic prick.

"Ah, look, it'll be way more easy and less of a headache for me to just, kill you " He moved his hands around as he explained, not missing the way the boy shiver at that "But ugh, I can't a afford to do so, you see, I've got people to please, and they won't be pleased if you died."

Kokichi gripped the fabric of his trousers, containing his rage. "That's my own fault, though. I shouldn't have written you so damn interesting. " he whispered.

Ouma scoffs "What does it have to do with me? From what I undertand that's a you problem, I do NOT fucking care if you kill me, I'd rather die than anything you might propose for me to not tell the others"

"Ah, Ouma, Ouma, you are way more naive than I remember writing you as" he didn't waste time trying to tell the other that the rest of the cast would not believe him, he wanted to get over this problem fast even though he would love to mess with him " I don’t plan on doing anything to you" he leans closer "Oh but to your beloved Saihara-chan..." The boy hardens his expression. "Oh to him, the things I could do to him, " he smiled as the other looked away from his eyes.

"I could easily think of thousands of ways to kill him! The Ultimate detective... tragically killed, oh dear, what a good plot!"

"you wouldn't dare..." Kokichi whispered, trying to convice himself "he's... he's the--"

"And in a hundred of those ideas, you are found guilty." That silenced the short boy, who was now looking down to his shoes.

"But, maybe I could keep your dear, dear detective safe, if you work for me. I could use a little assistance. Being the mastermind is more work than people think"

"For you? Don't even dream about it. " Kokichi's face demonstrated his fatigue, but he didn’t give in.

"What's you other choice? Tell the others? Who would believe you? After all..." He smiled, the sweet, fake smile he putted on everyday" I'm good old, innocent Gonta."

"If I don't accept--"

"Shuichi Saihara will be found dead tomorrow" his smiled was erased as fast as light and a blank uncharacteristic expression was left on his face" And don't think of killing yourself off, I will know, also, that's very not fun"

"Fuck you."

"You said it twice already, c'mon, your insults should be better " he rolled his eyes.

"... I won't kill anyone " he whispered, not looking at his face.

"I won't ask you to, don't worry, you'll have other duty. But besides that, you can have you high school love with Saihara all you want" Kokichi's shoulders relaxed just a bit, oh, he couldn’t allow that "Or well, all you can afford"

"I wrote him so he wouldn't fall in love with you." Kokichi's shoulders tensed again, but he didn’t show any expression on his face, lips tight in a line. "But you? Ha! Eventually, you will be bewitched by him if you aren't already, and even if you try not to, unrequited love is by far more interesting than a real romance. Oh, people eat that up!"

" I hate you " for the first time, Kokichi's voice sounded shaky. That wasn't supposed to happen, so it caught Gonta of guard. Though he didn't overthink it, the joy of hearing the despair in his voice was worth the technical issue. He didn't wighted the consequences of it.

"I know." Satisfaction ran through his body as he lifted a hand, and Kokichi shaked it, agreeing to their little alliance. He felt even more overjoyed when he thought that his hand was the only one Ouma was going to grab even if someone else -- Shuichi Saihara-- offered his to him.

After all, he wrote them that way, hadn't he?

*

*

That's it, it would do a good fic, I think

[beantothemax]

This au is a parasite on my noggin....

What a small girl. She looked weaker than any kid Godot had ever seen. Dark bags under her eyes and she was a mess. Her hair was supposedly straight but after days of hiding in bushes and hardly surviving at all, he didn't blame her for her hair resembling a rat's nest.

And gods, she shouldn't even have been there. She should have been with a family member being cared for by loving hands, not at her papa's trial. Such a young child, she had done nothing to deserve that.

Of everyone in the office, the girl seemed to fear Godot most. Again, he couldn't blame her. His mask was odd and he wasn't the most friendly looking man out there.

Still, it was important she trusted him. Hesitantly, he removed his mask and lay it aside. The world was a horribly dark blur without it, but he could tolerate not seeing for just a little bit, just long enough to talk to her.

He knelt in front of her chair, carefully grabbing one of her hands.

"Are you ready, Elena?" he asked as carefully as he could.

"No," her tiny voice squeaked.

"It will be okay, lady Clarissa will hold your hand and she'll stand next to you. No one can hurt you up there."

"What about Harvey?"

"There's twenty guards and Clarissa is just as good at magic as your papa, they'll all protect you and you won't even get scratched!" Godot smiled as he said it.

He could only hope his words had calmed her for he could not see her face. He sat beside her and she asked every question she could think of about the trial.

Will they listen to me? What about papa? Would they take papa away? Can I hug papa?

"Why do you have a scar on your face?" she finally asked.

Oh. That.

Godot never done much to hide it for he never saw it himself, but it was still there. Just under his left eye, going diagonally up and ending at his hairline above his brow. He could only imagine it made him look scarier, but it wasn't as bad as that accursed mask.

"I knew a girl called Maya. She was very special, a lot like you. Someone tried to hurt her, but I protected her," he explained.

"So they hurt you instead?" Elena muttered.

Not because it was him specifically, but she wasn't wrong.

"Yes, they did. But I survived and I'm fine now, and what's more important is that Maya is too!" he smiled.

Elena stayed silent for too long. He wanted so desperately to now if he had said something wrong but the accursed poison that ruined his eyes couldn't make an exception just this once. He was left wondering.

"Will they hurt lady Clarissa?" she whispered.

Who knows. It was anyone's guess really. She might get hurt shielding Elena or Harvey might try to kill her for being so close to Osvald. Perhaps even the townspeople might hurt her, thinking she was an accomplice to the crime, whatever it was. There were so many ways lady Clarissa could get hurt.

"They won't. I'll make sure you both come out unscathed, I promise," he said firmly.

...

...

...

Again, that dammed unreadable silence. How he cursed Dahlia, cursed the day she took not only his years of his life but his appearance. He once looked normal, he once had eyes that didn't need a mask to see. Once, what felt like a lifetime ago, he did not scare people by merely existing.

...

"You're right. No one will hurt us if they know how strong you are!" Elena said, an odd sound at the end of her sentence.

A chuckle.

She wasn't scared.

The door opened and a guard ushered them inside the courtroom. Dozens of spectators watched their every move as they entered. Godot took his place, and with his mask back on, he could see Elena and Clarissa wait by the entrance. She held her head up high and tightly clutched Clarissa's hand. What a brave young girl she was, not daring to show how scared she was in a court of law.

...

He absolutely could not get the guilty verdict, no matter what it cost. Elena didn't need to be strong, she needed her papa.

TURNABOUT SCHOLARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

elena being so brave entering the courtroom…godot taking off his mask when he talks to elena so she isn’t scared…….. weh,,,,,,,,,, pie the power you now hold with being able to write about godot now……

[reccyls]

Clavis's first meeting with the MC in the phantom thief AU is really sweet. The whole thing is very sweet actually

She was taking care of the bookstore for the owner who had left to go traveling. However, the store was broken into and ransacked, and she was robbed of a very rare book that the owner had acquired. As she's trying to clean things up following the robbery, Clavis enters the store and offers to help her tidy up, introducing himself as Rhodolite's third prince.

When she protests that she can't make him clean up, especially because he's a prince, he points out that she was crying. And as a gentleman, he would never leave someone crying to fend for themself. Eventually the MC breaks down about how the owner left her in charge but she feels terribly guilty that couldn't keep the store or his books safe, while Clavis is reassuring her that she didn't do anything wrong and she doesn't have to pretend like she wasn't scared or that she doesn't need any help.

Their friendship develops from there. He keeps visiting the bookstore afterwards, bringing her his trademark weird foods and pranks to cheer her up and give her a headache brighten up her day.

Until the events of the story event happen, and she realizes that he is the mysterious Phantom Thief L that has been stealing treasures away from the rich to return them to their rightful owners. Due to circumstances, she ends up agreeing to go with him to a party that he was planning on hitting up (during which the dress convo happens) as his accomplice.

Her mission? Distract everyone while Clavis steals the treasure. After introducing her as his fiancee and ensuring that all eyes are on her, he tells her to stall while he goes to work his phantom thief magic. People didn't quite believe that Clavis of all people would take her as a fiancee, so knowing how she's a bad liar, the MC talks about their first meeting and how they got to know each other, and by the end of the story nobody doubts that it's a story of true love.

And it turns out? The treasure that Clavis wanted to steal at this party was the very book that was once taken from the MC.

[darsynia]

I Know No Other Way Than This | Ch 4

(Bruce Banner/OFC, Tony Stark & Bruce Banner Friendship, post-Avengers 1 Soulmate AU multichapter)

image found on @multifandomfix

MCU Masterlist | Tony Stark Masterlist | Prev | Next

Summary: Bruce tried to forget he had soulmate words entirely, but on the day of the Chitauri attack, he returned from his stint as the Hulk to find that his black words had turned silver. His soulmate must have watched him shift from the Other Guy into himself and said them while he was unconscious…

Length: 1,953

Tags: @starryeyes2000 @arrthurpendragon @ronearoundblindly @themaradaniels

Excerpt:

“It would be better if I had never met her at all.” Saying that didn’t have the ring of truth it had days ago.

“You’re going to run out of those by-rote responses and have to think up something original eventually, you know.”

“That will take a while. I’ve been writing them for years, Tony.”

Tony stood up and made a face. “I was trying to work the name ‘Bruce’ into ‘Benedictine Monk’ somewhere but it is just not working.”

Bruce smiled. “You went with the wrong name. ‘Bannerdictine Monk’ would have worked just fine.”

“Listen to you! I’ll have to relinquish my crown.” 

Chapter Four: Breaking the Fourth Wall

Bruce didn’t wait until twenty-four hours had passed to tell Tony that he’d broken down and looked at the folder of videos of Cicely.

“Okay, you’re right. Someone’s following her. What do we do about it?” he asked the second he walked into the lab (late, with coffee for once instead of tea, and one for Tony, too, in case Stark decided to crow about that instead of the fact that his stupid plan might be working).

“So, interesting thing to note before you go all Blitz Hansen, To Catch a Predator on this guy, she seems to have caught on,” Tony said, snagging a rolling chair with his foot and collapsing onto it in a move that was equal parts smooth and frightening. “This was from yesterday morning.”

Bruce didn’t really like that the folder Tony opened was on his desktop, but then he looked more closely at Tony’s desktop. The cluster of folders kept rearranging themselves about every ten seconds or so. Tony looked over his shoulder at Bruce and then maximized the folder as if self-conscious.

“Yes, okay, I’m trying a new thing where JARVIS moves the files I’m most likely to mess with at any given point into a more prominent view. Honestly, it’s a compromise, because I used to just tell him what to open but Pepper thinks I’m relying a little too much on the automation.”

“That’s… more automation, though?”

“Cool the Butlerian Jihad.” Tony double clicked on the video he was looking for, and Bruce felt instantly guilty for recognizing Cicely’s apartment complex. “Here,” Tony said, pointing. Bruce watched as a few people left the building, but he didn’t see Cicely’s recognizable scrubs or black hair. “Missed her,” Tony said. “So did I, the first time.” He rewound the footage a bit and hit play again. “Right there.”

The woman Tony was pointing at had blonde hair, not black. She was also wearing jogging clothes, and had earbuds in, with a backpack. However, it was definitely Cicely, Bruce realized, when Tony rewound it a third time and hit pause.

“She dyed her hair and changed her typical outfit.” He was stating the obvious, but it was important.

“Your girl is smart,” Tony said, spinning his chair around to face him. 

Bruce didn’t object verbally, but he frowned. She wasn’t his, that was the whole point! As he thought the words, some part of him wanted to change the word ‘point’ to ‘problem,’ which was new and concerning. He shoved the thought away, because Tony was still speaking.

“--to find out whether the guy has a secondary spy/accomplice at the hospital. Presumably when he doesn’t see her, Celery-boy here will have to assume she missed work. If he calls to find out she’s at work, she might hear about it and that’s confirmation right there. If he spots her right away tomorrow, that’s another kind of confirmation.” His grin at Bruce was more than a little teasing. “She’s your soulmate and even you had trouble recognizing her.”

“It would be better if I had never met her at all.” Saying that didn’t have the ring of truth it had days ago.

“You’re going to run out of those by-rote responses and have to think up something original eventually, you know.”

“That will take a while. I’ve been writing them for years, Tony.”

Tony stood up and made a face. “I was trying to work the name ‘Bruce’ into ‘Benedictine Monk’ somewhere but it is just not working.”

Bruce smiled. “You went with the wrong name. ‘Bannerdictine Monk’ would have worked just fine.”

“Listen to you! I’ll have to relinquish my crown.” 

As with everything, Tony put all of himself into his look of admiration, and Bruce couldn’t help but feel proud, even if it was a bit of wordplay. He liked that about this man. Sure, he was narcissistic and selfish, but he was thorough, and when he liked you, he was thorough in his friendship, at least he had been so far. Even if so far, 40% of it was trying to get Bruce to accept a concept he’d painfully turned his back on after the accident. Today, that kind of thoroughness might be helpful to keep Cicely safe.

“So that video was yesterday, you said? What about today?” he reminded Tony.

“I don’t typically get them in until the evening. JARVIS, do you have the Hathaway building’s surveillance footage gathered yet?”

“Creating a new file in the Soulvengers folder for you, Sir.”

Tony cleared his throat and sat back down at the desk, as if he were avoiding Bruce’s gaze.

“Soulvengers?” Bruce asked.

“You aren’t the only lost soul in need of reconciliation,” Tony said loftily.

Just as Tony had predicted, the tall, skinny man with the thin mustache spotted Cicely right away. In the video, Bruce could see her noticing the man by holding her phone up as she approached the cross street. He could tell that she recognized the stalker, because instead of crossing the street, Cicely turned on her heel, pushed brusquely past him, and called for a taxi.

The stalker lurked against the facade of the building and watched until it drove away.

Bruce felt the Other Guy lift his head and take notice. “What time does she get off of work?”

“Woah, toss some sand on those coals, doc. Flattening the guy isn’t going to help things.”

“JARVIS?” Bruce tried instead.

“Cicely Besnard’s shift at Children’s ends this evening at 8 PM. She’s usually seen leaving the building between twenty-five and forty minutes later.”

“What are you going to do, tell the guy you were stalking her first?” Tony asked. It was a reasonable question, but Bruce’s blood ran hot in his veins.

“Not at all,” Bruce said, loosening the button at his throat. “I doubt I’ll have to do much more than encourage him to find a new target, one with fewer friends in high places.” He rolled his shoulders, loosening his body. If things went the way he planned them to, he’d be more calm, more persuasive, by that evening. “JARVIS, if you’ve got some sort of process set up to track her, can you track him? Can we find out if he does find a new target, and gather evidence to present to that new target in as minimal and helpful way as possible?”

“Yes, Dr. Banner. Might I suggest a more professional-sounding name for that folder? Though, dare I say it, ‘soulvenger’ would likely be more applicable to that venture, in the end.”

“And here I thought you’d chucked your morals,” Tony laughed, a bit nervously.

“Hmm? Oh, the comment about finding a new target. No, I just don’t want Cicely to have to deal with the court nonsense. If this guy makes a habit of stalking, he’ll dig himself into a new case soon enough,” Bruce said. 

Bruce wore jeans, a baseball cap, and a nondescript jacket to stand outside the hospital waiting for Cicely to emerge. Of course, he wasn’t really waiting for her, he was waiting for the stalker, if he was around. He’d indeed calmed a little, but not much. There was a non-zero chance that he might lose control tonight. A part of him was screaming that he had no right to reject this woman but also act like a bulldog snapping at anyone else who showed interest, but Bruce felt pretty confident that the other man was not a potential love interest. The barge pole of a man had bad intentions, and Bruce would set him straight.

Hopefully without her noticing that it was happening at all.

That was why he’d come to her workplace, strangely enough. Cicely Besnard knew that someone was following her in the mornings. She’d changed her appearance to throw the guy, and had reacted in an appropriately freaked-out manner when she’d seen it hadn’t worked for very long. She’d be ready to see the guy tomorrow, or whenever her next work day was. Would she be as on edge leaving work? Bruce’s gut instinct said no. That made it the best place for him to confront the guy.

He used his years of experience having seen people standing outside hospitals to blend in. There was always one guy who looked deeply concerned, checked his phone all the time, and sometimes stood and just watched the entrance, as if hoping like hell his ex would come walking out and he could tell her he was sorry. With his attire so different from his normal clothing, Bruce didn’t think he was recognizable as Bruce Banner at all, particularly not to Cicely, if she saw him.

Then, he caught sight of the stalker guy. He was in a suit, one that had clearly been bought off-rack at a resale store by the fit. Bruce made his way over to him over the course of five minutes, focused on anything but the man himself. Cicely herself would probably not appear for another ten minutes.

“You here waiting for your girl too?” Bruce asked sheepishly, not looking at the guy.

“Fuck off.”

“What a coincidence, because that’s my message for you. From myself and a few friends.”

The Other Guy was lurking, waiting, watching. Bruce could feel his presence in the tightness of his skin, the heaviness in his chest, the heat in his veins. He was holding steady without concern of transforming, at least for now, but the odd thing about it was that Bruce could feel the interest, the investment that the Hulk had in what he was doing. It mirrored his own vested interest, which he hadn’t clearly understood was so deep until that very moment. 

“Friends, sure. Thanks for your time, weirdo.”

Bruce shot a glance over to see the guy tapping out a cigarette into his hand, unconcerned and unmoving. “Find a new obsession. This young lady has friends in high places.”

“I can’t believe you assholes are checking up on me after not paying me for yesterday,” the guy said in a hoarse, furious whisper. “If you want multiple eyes on this bitch you’re going to have to pay for the ones you have, or I’m going to bounce.”

Bruce sucked in a deep, desperate breath and gritted out, “I’ll pass it along,” before turning and running in the direction of Central Park. His only thought was to get as far away from his soulmate before leaning into his absolute rage.

This went beyond stalking. This went beyond a single man’s obsession-- whether that man was himself, or the thin criminal haunting Cicely Besnard on behalf of some other, more powerful figures.

Bruce hoped to hell it wasn’t about him. He’d never forgive himself.

At the last minute, when he was leaning with both hands on a mailbox and watching them turn green, knowing that his neck has already done so despite desperately fighting against it, Bruce saw a blur of red and gold land beside him.

“Hold on for three more minutes and I’ll get you to the room,” Tony said, grabbing him with arms strong enough to lift twice his weight, thanks to his Iron Man suit. “If you Hulk out in midair, though, we’re going to have to try it the fun way.”

“Get going,” Bruce growled at him.

Tony took off, streaking toward the tower. “You might not be the only one with a vitamin deficiency. I should never have let you do this.”

Bruce couldn’t tell him it was worth it thanks to what he’d learned, but Tony would find out soon enough. Just that thought was enough to break his fragile grasp on sanity. After that, all he saw was green.

Next chapter, Bruce wakes up in containment, and has to figure out whether he is the most dangerous person in Cicely's life at the moment.

[beardedhandstoadshark]

May I ask for a few of your favorite tropes in fic?

Sure!

Found family

Sickfics

Stuck together in a place (generally, not specifically the only one bed trope)

modern and coffee shop AU

Enemies to [not enemies of any kind] but still rivals

And for reasons:

Found family my beloved

They’re a family not because they‘re forced by blood but because they have no one to call home until they meet and feel like home and they’re a family and have found it and aaaaaa <3

Sickfics

Especially if the character getting taken care of is one of the stronger ones, the no-nonsense/colder ones, or the ones usually looking after everyone else. Reversal of dynamics! Fluff! (…and/or whump =) )

Whatever the "oh no there’s not enough rooms/space/whatever left, guess we‘ll have to share! Whoops! :)" is called

I Don’t Like reading about pure romance unless it’s cute and not dramatic (ironic considering we‘re talking about fics here, ik) and this one has lots of cute potential. Though granted I can never find them. Probably because the trope almost exclusively revolves around beds, and I don’t like really reading those in most cases due to the rating (ironic, ik.)

"oh no the safety system/door/whatever is locked, guess we’re stuck together! Whoops! D:“ trope is called

The previous tropes‘ more potentially dramatic or pre-found family cousin. Drama as in "oh something horrible‘s gonna go down“ if it goes into angst/horror amogus , or characters who usually wouldn’t interact/can’t stand each other being forced to do just that. (Though granted, in the latter case it’s often just used as a shortcut by writers to quickly sort out problems they‘ve backed themselves into). Or it’s lighthearted, in which case it gives off similar vibes as road-trip stories to me, for some reason? Basically a honorable mention because I almost exclusively see it being used in actual media as a trope rather than fics, even though it’s giving off major fic vibes. Also probably a bad trope from an objective standpoint but eeehhhh. Call it a guilty pleasure.

modern and/or Coffee Shop AU

Especially if the source material is high fantasy/sci fi and that aspect is still incorporated into the fic instead of completely disregarded/degraded to funny store/street names only. It’s cool to see what the writer comes up with! Plus coffee shops in fics are just so cozy. (Also I once read a coffee shop modern AU that started out normal but went completely off the rails, it was wild)

Enemies to friends/lovers/accomplices/tbh any kind of not enemies anymore but definitely still rivals

I just think it’s neat (when done right.) Plus they don’t lose all their precious personality and dynamics if they’re still rivals, while otherwise they tend to go full uwu mode once they’re together. Good natured banter my beloved

[dire-kumori]

Quickly I am new here explain your blog and your au!!!

Honestly, there's not too much to explain. I use this sideblog mainly to reblog things relating to whatever fandom I'm currently in, and sometimes to share my fanfics or just ideas I wanna talk about.

I have a couple different AUs actually. The one I've posted about most recently is the Evbear AU, premise of which is that Michael discovers Evan's ghost haunting Fredbear shortly after the Bite of '83. He sneaks Evbear out of the diner and into their house, and the two of them try to hide this huge secret from their Father.

Another of my AUs is the Paradoxical Reaper AU. This is a time travel AU, only instead of just waking up as his younger self, adult Michael goes physically back in time and kills his younger self in order to prevent all the tragedies would follow. Since that creates a paradox, the day resets and the Mikes retain only a vague sense of deja vu.

Then I've got my own killer crying child AU, which I call Guilty Accomplice. In this one, Evan is groomed by William into being a child killer after the bite and Michael, out of guilt for nearly killing Evan and blaming himself for Evan's new homicidal tendencies, tries to protect Evan from the authorities best he can while also trying to convince Evan to stop killing.

And then of course there are a few AUs I didn't actually create but that I added a little onto. I recommend checking out @lonelyfreddles , @honey-bunnysaurus , @crumbleclub , @serenefig , @cloudwhisper23 and @catwithacupofcoffee bc they've all come up with some really amazing ideas.