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harringroveobsessed · 3 months ago

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The Steve Harrington Problem

for the @harringrovewinterbingo prompt A2: Oh. oh. (Sorry it's a little late)

Read on AO3 here.

At first, Billy thought being friendly with Harrington would help. Maybe if he was closer to the guy he’d find a flaw, find something deeply unappealing hidden inside the much too pretty package that is Steve Harrington. Billy would try just about anything to help him get over the ridiculous infatuation he has with the other boy.

Billy had only been in town for a week, but he’d heard the gossip, knew Harrington had recently been dumped and lost his friends too; Billy actually felt a bit sorry for the guy watching him mope on his table of one in the cafeteria every day. So, in the end Billy made a plan and reached out. Friends. Billy could be a good friend, a very good, very platonic friend.

Only, Billy very quickly encountered a couple of problems with his plan of being friends with Harrington. See, Harrington is lonely, and Harrington is fucking clingy. All it took was for Billy’s usual glares turning into tentative smiles, his shoves in basketball replaced with more friendly banter and suddenly Billy couldn’t shake the guy if he tried.

At all times of the day Harrington would find him, he’d hang out by Billy’s locker, wait at the door of Billy’s classes, mooch around by the Camaro at final bell and once even turned up at Cherry Lane at 10pm on a fucking Sunday because he was bored.

In a matter of weeks all of Billy’s spare time becomes Harrington’s time and it would be fine, really, but the pesky little crush just isn’t fading as quickly as Billy had planned.

Harrington is just sweet and Billy can’t help but blush when the guy’s face lights up like the damn fourth of July anytime Billy agrees to hang out. Can’t stop his pulse racing at the sight of big, brown eyes shining with tears as apparently Harrington gets giggly when he’s high. Harrington flutters around Billy when they hang, always making sure his drink is topped up, gives Billy the best slices of pizza, he buys him snacks and little trinkets he finds that he thought Billy would like. Harrington made him a mixtape for Christmas which Billy may or may not have listened to far too many times. Billy feels fucking cherished alright?

Harrington is kinda bitchy too, in just the way Billy likes. They can spend hours dicking around in his pool talking shit on everyone they go to high school with. Harrington has the good gossip too, having been the one to grow up here and all and has no qualms in gleefully telling Billy about the time that Hagan got caught fooling around on Carol and the almighty shit storm that followed. He has no problems with giving Billy shit either, gets all haughty and tells him in no uncertain terms to - ‘stop calling me Harrington dickwad, you sound like an asshole.’

Billy soon discovered yet another Har-Steve problem in that Steve is awfully…touchy. It’s like he realised Billy is sticking around and now it seems Steve can’t keep his fucking hands to himself. Steve will sling an arm around Billy’s shoulders in the hallway at school, will nestle up close until their thighs are pressed together on the sofa during movie night and fucking hugs are something they do now apparently. Hello hugs, goodbye hugs, thanks for picking up dinner hugs. Steve will pull Billy into his arms and squeeze for any reason he deems fit, and this is something that Billy is just supposed to be normal about?

So, yeah, plan one. Failure. Billy’s crush has not only faded away, its fucking bursting at the seams, itching for him to do something incredibly stupid like kiss Steve on his stupid plush, kissable lips.

Time starts to morph and shift in a way it didn’t before Billy became friends with Steve, it feels like he blinked and Winter gave way to Spring and he’s been Steve’s friend for months. Best friends, Steve declared one random night in March, pushing Billy into the pool in retaliation to his snarking about friendship bracelets in an effort to hide his crimson face. Billy glared at Steve as he cackled on the deck, not moving a finger to help him of course.

Christ, Billy is in love with an asshole. And wait…Billy blinks as his whole body jolts as if he’s been shocked when he realises… what? He loves him? Oh Jesus Christ of course he does, he’s fucking fallen in love with Steve. Obviously only Billy could end up being this monumentally stupid.

The crush was bad enough but this, this is bad, like yeah Billy has had ‘feelings’ for other guys before but it’s usually more of a lust based thing, not this mushy shit. Billy doesn’t do mushy shit like daydream about holding hands or stroking his fingers through Steve’s famous hair while they cuddle on the sof- and oh god, he HAS been thinking about this hasn’t he? Billy’s lost his goddamn mind over a straight guy in Indi-fuckin-ana.

“Hey, Bill are you alright man?” Steve’s voice pierces the silence, “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Billy opens his mouth to respond but only manages to choke out a strangled sort of noise. His mouth is too dry, he can’t stop his hands from shaking and Steve is just staring at him. He stumbles back when Steve presses forward, Billy can’t quite catch his breath and the pain in his chest is screaming alongside the voice in his head.

Billy takes another step back and gravity goes a little funny for a second until he realises, and oh, he’s falling. His body hits the surface of the water with a smack, and he can’t seem to move a muscle to help himself as he goes under; Billy thinks kind of hysterically that this is a fine way to die, preferable to Neil sniffing out his stupid feelings and finishing the job for him anyway.

Distantly, Billy hears a splash as two strong hands grasp under his arms and start pulling him up towards the surface, he gasps in a breath as he’s hauled up against the side of the pool and now his head is a little clearer he can only feel one thing, pure burning mortification. He used to surf for fuck’ sake and he just nearly drowned in 6ft of water, he was a lifeguard and Billy’s pretty sure not drowning would be rule number one in the handbook if they made one. And all of this in front of Steve, the boy he’s just realised he’s in love with, honestly, the bottom of the pool is looking more inviting by the second.

Billy’s broken out of his morbid musings by hands cupping his cheeks, long fingers brushing his wet curls behind his ears; Billy closes his eyes, he can’t possibly look at Steve right now, but then the nice, gentle hands are suddenly less nice as they deliver a sharp slap to Billy’s cheek.

“Billy, what the fuck was that?” Steve sounds frantic and really, fuck him, this is all his fault anyway in Billy’s opinion, “Are you okay, do I need to like take you to hospital?”

The mention of the hospital has Billy snapping back to reality real fucking fast, he coughs bringing up a mouthful of pool water – which gross, Steve probably pees in there, he’s disgusting like that sometimes – and manages to croak out "No, ‘m fine lemme up,” his voice cracks embarrassingly and for the third time in however many minutes, Billy wishes for the sweet release of death; he needs to get out of here.

Billy pushes Steve’s hands away and pulls himself to his feet, swaying slightly as his head swims but fuck that he needs to leave. He can hear Steve following behind, babbling in the way he does when he’s panicking but Billy ignores him; he knows he looks batshit right now, crazy eyed, bare footed and soaked to the bone in wet denim, barrelling through Steve’s ridiculous mansion like a man on a mission but Billy has thankfully reached acceptance on his mortification journey.

Mourning the lack of seat covers in the Camaro Billy starts mentally preparing his new plan, avoid Steve Harrington at all costs. His first plan was a bust but that’s okay he thinks, not every plans a winner he’s just gotta put all his focus into this new one. He was an idiot anyway it will be so much easier to not be in love with Steve if he doesn’t actually have to see big bambi eyes every second of the da-

“BILLY!” Steve shouts, somehow having managed to manhandle Billy into the door he was trying to escape through, “Fucking talk to me asshole, where the fuck are you going?!”

Steve looks angry now, good Billy thinks, arguing is good. Good first step on his shiny new plan. He shakes his shoulders out, schooling his face into a flat glare he drawls in the most bored voice he can manage, “Hey, St-Harrington. Take your fucking hands off me before I make you, yeah?”

Steve just stares at him in his usual doe eyed, confused way, “Are you really that pissed I pushed you in the pool? It was just a joke Bill, I didn’t know you’d… whatever the fuck happened back there.”

“Are you fucking stupid Harrington?” Billy yells, he’s got to sell this, make it stick, “I’m just sick of pretending to be your friend and tonight was the last straw. Best friends? Fucking bullshit more like!” Billy winces as he watches that last one hit Steve like a truck, he feels like the shittiest person who ever lived, he can feel all the poison Neil helped nurture inside of him, watches as it spills out all over Steve’s beautiful face.

This is for the best Billy thinks, he was never worthy of being Steve’s friend never mind being in love with him for Christ’s sake, he can hurt Steve now and avoid him being consumed by Billy’s poison later down the road when it would only hurt more.

“Okay.” Steve is calm, much too calm. He’s still gripping Billy’s shoulders, his eyes searching Billy’s face with an intensity that makes him squirm, “So, lets put to one side for now the bullshit you just said to me, why the fuck are you lying? Because we both know you’re lying right? So, tell me the truth Billy.”

Billy bristles at the implication that he’s lying (he is) and at the way Steve is talking to him like he’s a toddler having a hissy fit (again, he is). He’s pissed, this is not going the way he planned and he’s floundering for a response now that Steve’s seen past his bullshit, and how the fuck did he do that anyway?

“Anytime today, Bill.” Steve says, stern, like a fucking schoolteacher. “Why are you lying to me?”

Billy has always hated being backed into a corner with no way out, he tears himself out of Steve’s grip, his common sense lost to the red haze that has descended as he hears himself shout, “Because I fucking LOVE you Steve, for fuck sake, I’m an idiot and a fucking queer and I didn’t mean to god, but I just realised that I’m in love with you alright, so fuck off and leave me alone!”

Billy is getting real sick of loaded silences tonight, his heaving breaths the only sound cutting through the fallout of his horrible, awful confession.

“Oh.” Steve breathes, “Oh.”

“Yeah. So, am I free to go now Harrington or did you want to get a hit in first?” Billy sighs, all the bravado he built up long gone, leaving him feeling stupid and ashamed and he just wants to go home. He supposes his plan worked; there’s no way Steve will come anywhere near him now.

Taking Steve’s continued silence as Billy’s request granted, he turns to leave, Billy hasn’t looked at Steve since his outburst so when the guy lunges to grab Billy’s arm he can’t help the full body flinch that rolls through him. Billy clenches his eyes shut at the feeling, he can’t bear to see the look of disgust in Steve’s eyes as he gives him a bruise that Billy will for once, deserve.

“I fucking told you not to call me Harrington dickhead.”

Bracing for pain, Billy’s head reels when instead the hand that touches his cheek is gentle. He refuses to open his eyes, shuts them tighter even; he’s not sure what kind of trick Steve is playing here but he doesn’t have to see it.

Over the sound of the blood roaring in Billy’s ears he hears Steve huff out a fond sounding ’Dumbass.’ and then Steve’s kissing him.

Steve is kissing him and maybe Billy is actually dead at the bottom of the Harrington pool because he can’t possibly be expected to keep his head during whatever is happening here.

“Kiss me back asshole. I’m so fuckin’ pissed at you, Jesus Christ Billy,” Steve murmurs between more soft kisses pressed to Billy’s lips. “Gunna let you drown next time, fuckin’ scaring me like this.”

Despite himself, Billy snorts nervously against Steve’s mouth, “I’m getting some kinda mixed messages here Steve, I don’t really know what’s going on? You’re kissing me?”

Steve pulls back an inch, cups his hands around Billy’s stupid sticky out ears that he always teases him for, “Come on Bill, you’re the smart one here. I’ve been basically throwing myself at you for months. I made you a mixtape idiot.”

“Oh.”

“Oh.” Steve mocks, “So, full disclosure I’m totally going to yell at you later, but I love you too and if you don’t kiss me back right goddamn now, I swear to god Billy I’m going t-”

So he complies, kisses Steve hard just like Billy’s always wanted to, and hearing the way Steve whimpers into the kiss Billy formulates his final plan; Love the fuck out of Steve Harrington.

#harringrove #harringrove winter bingo #hwb2025 #harringrove fic #once again finishing a fic on little sleep so forgive any incoherence

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livwritesstuff · 3 months ago

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finally posted that alternating steve/mike-pov fic i've been teasing for ages (at 10pm last night like a lunatic)

In the Spring of 2002, Steve finally gets an answer to a question that has been floating in the background of his brain, the background of his life and the Party’s life like a distant storm cloud for almost fifteen years.

It’s 2002, and Steve is thirty-five, and, for the record, he really had no idea when he woke up that morning he’d be getting any kind of answers to any kind of questions.

This one (the floating one) is about Mike Wheeler, because Mike has been operating like a living question-mark ever since 1990, when he wrapped his car around a tree one night and skipped town before the next morning’s sun could rise, and then he spent the years that followed popping in and out of the rest of their lives like some kind of traveling ghost.

Honestly, Steve has kind of learned to live with it at this point, which sucks, obviously, but Steve’s also spent many years figuring out how to at least partially unlearn his tendency to dive headfirst into other people’s problems without at least considering what might be at stake for him.

“You know, you’re more than just the guy that shows up and helps people get out of shit, right?” Robin had told him once, “You deserve to, like, chase the things that make you happy, or whatever.”

So he did, and thank fuck for that, because now, years and years later, he gets to spend a lazy Saturday morning at home with Eddie, his partner of almost a decade now, and Moe, their eight-month-old foster placement they’re currently in the process of adopting.

Steve has said it before, but Moe has brought a kind of happiness to his world that he hadn’t known existed, and the fact that he and Ed have already had eight months with her is kind of baffling to him.

Eight months isn’t that long, Steve had thought, but then he looks at photos they’d taken all the way back during that first month of Moe’s life and can’t believe how little she’d been, can’t believe how big she’s gotten. She’s even started crawling over the past few weeks, which is totally bonkers because, hello, wasn’t it just yesterday she was this teeny little being, all fragile bones and pink skin and squawking cries? And now she’s crawling?

(Nancy gave him all sorts of shit when Steve recounted that milestone to her and Robin – “She’s not crawling backwards, though, right?” she’d said, the bastard).

So, yeah, long story short, Steve woke up this morning content with the idea of spending the entire weekend hanging around at home with Ed and Moe.

Now, Moe has just finished breakfast (she’s just started to eat solid(-ish) foods, which has made meals their own kind of adventure), and they’ve all migrated into the living room, Steve working on a puzzle and Ed poking around at the pieces, one eye on the Star Trek rerun playing on the TV, while they decide if there’s enough time before Moe’s nap to go on a walk.

And then the buzzer sounds.

And then the buzzer sounds again and again and again.

“The hell?” Steve mutters, looking towards the door with a perplexed look on his face.

“Robin?” Ed ponders, because she’s the only person he can think of who would find that kind of behavior acceptable.

“No…” Steve says slowly, “She and Nance are up in Montreal right now.”

“Alright…” Eddie replies, and still, their buzzer continues to ring over them unrelentingly, “Well, shit, I guess I’ll go see who it is.”

Ed, as Steve is more than well-aware, used to take the fuck around and find out approach to life more often than not. Eight-and-a-half months ago, Ed probably would have just let whoever’s outside into the building first and asked questions later, but that was eight-and-a-half months ago, and now they have Moe, and while Steve won’t speak for Ed, he’ll say for himself that the world seems a hell of a lot scarier now that it includes Moe. The way Ed leaves their apartment, closes the door firmly behind him as he heads down to see who could possibly be outside, instead of…well, any other course of action, speaks for itself better than Steve could that Ed might be feeling something like that too.

Now, it may be true that Steve is a worrier by nature, and it may also be true that those tendencies have skyrocketed ever since they met Moe, but right now he’s not actually all that worried. It’s probably Robin, back home from a work trip earlier than expected, or guests of a neighboring condo who’ve found themselves at the wrong building. It’s probably fine, but Steve still scoops up Moe from where she’d been playing on the rug with a plastic cup (surrounded by toys, Steve will add, but why play with colorful baby toys when her Dada’s abandoned dishware is available?).

Moe points to the door Ed had just locked behind him, then looks back at Steve like she’s making sure he’s looking too.

“Did Dada go outside?” he asks her, “Can you say Dada?”

(She can’t. Eight months is a little too early for first words, but it’s worth a shot).

Moe just continues to look back and forth between Steve and the door Ed had just vanished behind.

“He’ll be right back, sweet pea,” he tells her.

Indeed, Steve hears footsteps and voices out in the hall only a minute or two later, and then Ed is letting himself back into the apartment, and when he does, when he steps through the doorway, it’s with a look on his face like he’s just seen a ghost.

And then Ed steps to the side so Steve can see who'd been ringing their buzzer and he understands that Ed sort of has seen a ghost.

Because Mike Wheeler is standing in the doorway.

read the rest on ao3

#steve harrington #eddie munson #steddie #mike wheeler #liv's steddie dads verse #cw: bipolar disorder #-> it's like half diagnosed and wholly untreated

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biahouse · 4 months ago

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i love you, im sorry- Logan Huntzberger

Summary: You love Logan, but maybe he doesn't love you anymore.

Logan was spending a lot of time with Rory.

Too much time.

At first you didn't care, she needed an article about the secret society you both were in, and he wanted to help. To be honest, you talked to Rory a lot that weekend, and it was easy to be friends with her, it was easy to like Rory.

And maybe that was the problem.

As the weeks went by, things got worse.

You and Logan didn't live together, but you practically lived in each other's dorms.

The thing is, ever since Logan met Rory, Logan hadn't visited you in your dorm, not a single damn day.

It was like you were begging for his presence every time you knocked on his dorm door.

Like you were begging him every time you went to the newspaper to see him, or wait for him after a class.

You tried to talk to him about it weeks ago.

You really thought it would work.

"Hey, can we talk?" You smiled crookedly at your boyfriend as he opened the dorm door.

"Sure, babe." He opened the door wider and kissed the top of your head in greeting.

You sat down on the couch awkwardly and placed your hands in your lap.

"Is something wrong?" Logan sat down next to you and rested his hand on top of yours.

"Er...not really." You took a deep breath. "Did I do something wrong?"

"What do you mean, gorgeous?" He frowned in confusion.

"You've been distant." You took your hand from his and played with your hair. "I mean, you've been busy with Finn, Colin, and...Rory."

Logan sighed and leaned back against the couch.

"It's been crazy with the whole newspaper thing, and Finn and Colin, you know, it's Finn and Colin," he reassured you. "It's not you, I promise." He kissed your cheek and looked at the watch on his wrist.

"What's wrong?" You fidgeted with your hands.

"I have to go," he jumped up. "I'm so, so sorry, love," he grabbed his coat from the coat rack.

"Logan..."

"Rory is helping me with an article, because well, my dad complained." Logan shrugged and gave you a peck on the lips. "I promise I'll be back before 6pm and we can have dinner. What do you think?"

"Yeah, great," you smiled fakely as he gave you another peck on the lips and left.

Your face fell and you felt tears on your cheeks.

It was no surprise when Logan arrived at 10pm on the couch sleeping, with makeup done and a nice outfit for a dinner that would never happen.

Things only got worse from there.

Logan wouldn't call you.

Logan wouldn't come to your dorm.

Logan wouldn't wait for you after class.

Logan was never in his dorm.

Logan wouldn't meet you in the cafeteria.

You had never felt so neglected in your entire life.

Things finally came to a head one Tuesday morning.

You were sitting outside on one of the benches near the coffee stand, your phone in your hand and a forgotten book beside you. You dialed Logan's number and hoped he would answer.

That's when you saw him, walking with Rory Gilmore to the stand next to you. They were so distracted that they didn't notice you, but you saw the look Logan gave her. The way he used to look at you.

You saw him reject the call without even seeing the contact name.

You watched as he paid for her coffee and the two of them walked right past you without any acknowledgement.

That's when you realized you couldn't do this anymore.

That afternoon you unlocked Logan's dorm door with your key and found it empty.

You walked to his room and looked at the details carefully, tears already streaming down your face.

You picked up the cardboard box you had and placed it on the floor.

Starting with the clothes you kept there, you folded them and carefully placed them inside the box, taking your time, accepting your grief.

The next thing you did was remove six remains from the nightstand. Hair bows, makeup scattered around, your cell phone charger, small trinkets you owned.

Then the bathroom was cleaned, a toothbrush, your hair products, your colored nail polishes.

Everything stuffed into a large cardboard box. How could 1 year of your life end up in a box?

You analyzed the room one last time before closing the door.

The key he had given you to the dorm room the second month you had been together was left on the coffee table with a simple note that said exactly what you wanted to say to him.

"I can't ruin your happiness anymore. I love you, I'm sorry."

#lorelai gilmore #logan huntzberger x reader #Logan huntzberger #Logan huntzberger imagine #rory gilmore #gilmore girls #emily gilmore #x reader #imagine

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dokries · 11 months ago

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Hello! Lovesick soonyoung anon here again!🤗 I would absolutely take you up on your offer to write more for him! I don’t have any ideas myself sadly as I feel like you’ve covered all the bases with “home,” so all I can ask is: go nuts!!! Hit me with all the wholesome rays you can!💕🫶

10:10pm

pairing: kwon soonyoung (hoshi) x gender neutral reader

genre: fluff, married au, a lil comfort if you squint

word count: 448

warnings: mentions of cooking/food, a knife (cause. cooking.), soonyoung gets in trouble, petname (babe), latte gets blamed for something she didn’t do

author note: hi anon!! you’re so sweet omg 🥹 yeah, i did cover a lot with home but…not cooking! well, it was supposed to be just a cute lil cooking fic but…anyway, i hope it lives up to your expectations 😭 lots of love <3 also i couldn’t think of a title so timestamp it is :D (well kinda, i like to keep my formatting lol)

masterlist

“am i allowed to—”

your husband barely starts before you cut him off, and the tunic of the onion in your hands. “no.”

he pouts, and mutters about how you’re being unfair under his breath until you sigh, looking up from the cutting board in front of you. “kwon soonyoung, we both know you’re not to be trusted around fire.”

you put your knife down to look over at the pot of ramyeon that’s slowly coming to a boil, and nod, satisfied with its progress. it’s your turn to make dinner, as usual, because you can’t trust soonyoung around the kitchen–one way or another, he’ll end up burning the place down, and you really don’t want that to happen.

meanwhile, your husband tries to defend himself, protesting, “hey, i only preheated the kettle one time!”

“if it happened once, it can happen again,” you casually say with a shrug, and he sighs, giving up.

soonyoung moves to grab a drink of water behind you, and looks at you from the side of his eye. “would you at least let me wash the dishes? i feel bad for making you do all the work, so i wanna help in any way i can.”

you coo, turning and reaching over to pinch his cheek. “oh, my soonie’s all grown up now!”

“yup, i am!” he giggles and smiles proudly before biting his lip. “babe, i promise i won’t flood the kitchen again.”

“what?” you pause, and your husband freezes, knowing you’re about to unleash hell on him…right, he didn’t tell you he did it, and instead blamed it on his dog, who’s over at his sister’s for the weekend.

your eye twitches as you try to speak calmly–keyword being try (soonyoung can hear the thinly veiled amusement behind your voice though, so he knows you’re not too mad). “kwon soonyoung, are you kidding me? was this the reason i found weird stains on our old carpet? i thought you said latte did that by accident!”

soonyoung rubs the back of his neck sheepishly before pouting. “wait, so latte gets a pass but i don’t?”

you nod, looking at him as if it should be obvious. “well, duh. that’s my baby.”

“she’s our baby, not just yours!” soonyoung gasps, putting a hand to his mouth.

you raise an eyebrow before sighing, reaching out to grab your husband’s hand. “tell me next time, okay? i will be a little mad but at least we can solve whatever problem there is together, right?”

“i’m here for you. always.” you whisper, placing a kiss on his forehead, and he smiles softly before repeating your words back to you.

“i’m always here for you too.”

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crsssie · 8 months ago

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soul ("are we mates?" "why the hell wouldn't we be?")

leon kennedy x reader || childhood friends / vague college au

wc: 840 || summary: what's the need of a label in the face of stability?

You wonder some days if Leon's grown tired of being friends with you.

You hadn't really gotten close to him until the two of you were in high school — and even then, the two of you didn't attend the same school. He had gone to one of the privates in the area while you had transferred out to a public, and it was strange that the two of you would find yourselves on the giant oak tree between your two homes, talking about your day and catching each other up on news about people you barely knew.

You barely knew your classmates when you had gone to middle school with him.

He didn't know any of your friends. Only a handful of faces from when the neighborhood would gather together to barbeque once a year.

That's how it started, and it was surprising when Leon had gotten accepted into your dream school and you had somehow made it off the waitlist.

You'd never seen Leon so excited over something — and he had begged you to accept even when you mentioned that maybe money would be a problem.

"Pull up. Please."

"I might go insane without you, yeah."

"More the reason to come."

And then you had felt like the two of you had grown apart. Staring at him in the shared club meetings, him no longer willing to drive you alone in his car because of... boundaries, or whatever. You had given him a look when he told you, and you shook your head. It doesn't matter as long as the two of you still talk.

You find a bench in the park at the dorms to chat with him on.

The oak of the tree in your home has become an oak bench.

"Do you tire of me, Leon?"

He blinks at you, laughing.

"Couldn't dream of it."

You cling onto pieces of the two of you in the past when he used to bring you small things when traveling, winking at you as he would present you with silly things he found that he knew you'd like. To be loved is to be known. perhaps. You don't know. You don't know what Leon thinks of you. It's unsurprising that the two of you had lasted so long as friends. You're not into him — at least, he isn't adjacent to your type. A strange exception you'd learned to make. His family never questioned what happened after he locked his door after 10pm.

You'd stayed up til 4 with him on the tree once.

You don't know what you feel for Leon.

An overwhelming affection and happiness, maybe. You just adore him so much it's incredible. You doubt you've ever felt so much affection for someone. But it's not quite romance. No. Not love. It's more... affection. Overwhelming affection that you feel when you have so much security in a relationship that neither of you really need to say anything to the other.

"I love you" You laugh.

"Appreciate you too."

Whether it's romantic or platonic no longer really matters to you, you don't think.

It's plenty to be the only person he texts back when he's arranging rides for the club, eyes lighting up when he spots you in the crowd, waving and flicking his chin up. You learn the sign he holds up with his hand when he's in agreement. You bleed and ooze with his habits the same way he picks yours up, giving you a look instead of saying something he knows he'll regret, your drink order memorized as he chews on the jelly he's pretty sure he'd never have without you, and the single photo you had posted of the absolute joy on your face while laughing saved in his phone (a secret he'd take to the grave).

But it doesn't matter how you feel or look because Leon makes you feel so much stability in your relationship that you can't help but laugh until you can't breathe, head thrown back in glee when it's just the two of you, and you don't feel anything when he asks you to help his cousin — you do not need to know what you are. Friends, something more, soulmates even — because Leon and you know that it's not something that a simple word could even begin to define.

"What are you gonna do without me?"

"Die, probably. Joke."

"I'd die without you too. I'd probably be dead already."

You wonder occasionally if he's tired of you, and sometimes you'll say it, sometimes you don't, but when Leon raises a brow at you after you message him that you're starting to feel tired, he'll just take over the conversation naturally and let you slip off.

So, no.

You doubt you'd ever get tired of being friends with Leon, and, well, you're sure he'd say the same.

"You tired of being friends with me?"

"We are for lifers. We can NOT stop being friends. You have too much blackmail on me."

"And if you get married?"

"That's not a problem of the present. No use thinking of a future that isn't here yet."

"Damn, okay, deep."

"Oh, shut up."

#leon kennedy x reader #leon kennedy #reader insert #☾.drabbles #yes i know no fics this month but i wrote this and want this on here bc this is kinda a nice piece #Leon s Kennedy x reader #leon s kennedy #resident evil #☾.soul

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realityinsuspense · 11 months ago

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one step closer | chapter 2: disrupted

--summary: "me and him? in one apartment? yeah, right. nothing is going to happen." ~~ two strangers living together. not talking and just going about each other’s lives. that was your plan. that’s how you’ve always done things, and you’ve gone far doing so. so when you have to suddenly move into a new apartment with your new roommate, you expect almost nothing. almost.

--pairing: mingi x fem!reader

--genre: strangers to lovers, fluff, a little angst, #mingi is cold and standoffish (? kinda), #eventual mutual pining

--a/n: so i hear tag lists are a thing! if you're interested in being in it please let me know :) and happy reading!

words: 2.8k

chapter 2: disrupted

You stare out blankly from your office window. The sky is clear, and it’s bright and sunny—practically perfect weather. But that doesn’t stop the storm of thoughts brewing inside of your mind.

It’s been almost three weeks since you moved in. Three weeks—that’s practically a month.

Your adjustment to work and the new office has been no problem. In fact, this location might have been even better than the last. You were also relieved to know that two of your coworker friends also transferred to the same building; this made the thought of meeting new people less daunting.

What was actually more daunting was the person you were living with instead.

The past three weeks at the apartment have been peaceful. Maybe even too peaceful. Peaceful to the point where you started to feel unsettled. And with every right so—because amongst that peacefulness, was an unnerving, slightly annoying amount of inconsistent, and undone chores.

Yes. Chores. That’s what roommates agree to do; it’s a shared place, thus becomes a shared responsibility to keep the spaces clean. Yet, there were some habits Mingi does—or doesn’t do—that started to annoy you ever so slightly. Undone dishes. Excessive disposables from the takeout he orders. Doesn’t take out the hair in the drain in the shower (gross, yes I know). Among other things.

At fist, you learned to ignore it. At first, it was fine. Maybe he’s forgotten to make that list he said he was going to make, you thought. And because you were the new girl, you wanted to be respectful—so you made sure the apartment was clean. It is technically his place, you said to yourself in order to justify doing so. You threw out any trash, put away dishes, swept the floor, and cleared out any clutter you found (including the hair). It was a habit of yours. You weren’t necessarily a neat freak, but a clear space meant a clear mind—and that was important to you.

But it’s been three weeks.

Three. With no ‘thank you’s’ either!

What am I? His maid?

It was the constant pile of dirty dishes, the always-almost-full trash bins, and the now small band of fruit flies hanging around the practically black bananas—that weren’t yours by the way. It was also all the expired food in the fridge that you had almost no space for your own groceries. But still you wouldn’t dare say a word. You’re not one to judge in cases like this, since it was technically his place after all. But still, it’s unfair as housemates right? It should be split up equally. You hate to admit it, but you were frustrated; maybe moving with this complete stranger was a mistake.

“Let’s just keep to ourselves, okay?”

Mingi’s words echoed in your ears. You thought that would be easy. And it was initially. You’re up at 6am, he’s up at 10. You’re asleep by 10pm and god knows what time he goes to sleep. But it works out perfectly for you both and your “no contact policy”: no one is fighting over the bathroom, each of you gets to eat your meals in the kitchen by yourselves, and there’s been an unspoken agreement to not use the living room at all for some reason (though that gigantic TV is tempting you). This routine settled in so quickly and easily, it became natural instinct. Even after three weeks, you and Mingi shared no more than a few glances or nods. It’s almost always dead quiet, with no exchange of conversations at all—just to yourselves in your own rooms. That’s what worked. That was easy.

But the mess back home is clearly setting you up. It’s bothering you. It’s unfair. It’s not what roommates do. And you most certainly dread the thought of having to say something—to be the first to disturb that peace.

You look down at the pile of papers on your desk and sigh. Gosh. I am definitely overthinking this.

“Hey y/n,” A familiar voice ripples through your endless thoughts. “You heading to lunch yet or what?”

You turn your head to see two suited figures standing at the edge of your cubicle: the people you needed most in that moment—your beloved work friends, San and Yeosang.

“I brought an extra dish to share today.” Yeosang adds with a small smile and holds up his tupperware.

You smile in return, grab your lunch bag from under your desk, and walk with them towards the cafeteria.

—

“Can I ask you guys something?” You say, breaking the silence. The silence being from the two hungry guys scarfing down their mounds of rice, chicken, and the cucumber salad Yeosang made. You couldn’t blame them though, you were starving too. The three of you are seated at a table next to the opened cafeteria windows, the fresh air wafting in. You are sat across your two closest friends from work, Choi San and Kang Yeosang.

San was bright, outgoing, hardworking—almost always seen with his classic dimpled smile.

Yeosang was gentle, cunning, intelligent—his sweet voice made to cheer you up almost instantly.

The duo had been friends long before—attending the same college—and now working here together as software engineers. Despite being in different departments from them, you instantly clicked after being hired. Both were admirable hard workers, each with their own special qualities. And both devastatingly handsome you might add.

In this moment, you feel so incredibly lucky. So lucky that you are the one that gets to bother these two outstanding individuals on your first world, almost pitiful problems.

“Let me guess,” A grin is almost forming on San’s face. “You’re gonna ask what I’ll be doing for my birthday?”

“Yes, what’s up?” Yeosang asks, completely ignoring San’s guess. You can’t help but smile.

“While I can’t wait for your birthday,” You begin, glancing between the both of them. “Do you guys…do you guys think it’s weird for roommates to not talk to each other?”

Yeosang and San stare at you blankly for a moment. San comically cocks his head to the side and looks off to the side, as if deeply contemplating this scenario.

“Your new roommate, huh?” San questions his gaze locking onto you.

You briefly mentioned to your beloved coworkers where your new apartment complex was. And briefly mentioned you were living with someone completely new. A total stranger. They were totally baffled, just like Hongjoong. But again, you assured them that you were fine. Up until this moment.

“No talking…like at all?” San presses. You shake your head.

“Well,” Yeosang exhales. “I personally think that’s weird.”

“Yeosang! You’re too blunt!” San gently nudges Yeosang’s shoulder. Yeosang chuckles in response. “But sadly…he’s right. Why? What’s wrong?”

You then go onto explain Mingi’s self-made apartment rules. The “keeping to yourself”, the nonexistent chores list, and the mess that’s constantly growing and slowly driving you mad. If you were going to live at this apartment for the next year or so, this was something you really didn’t want to put up with. Something you shouldn’t put up with.

After explaining your situation, both of them are silent again.

“Hmm…” San has his fist to his chin, once again in deep thought. Gosh, he’s so great at expressing hisself. “Is he hot?”

“Huh?!” You ask in shock, completely caught off guard. “What does that have to do anything?!”

“That’s a good point San,” Yeosang has a sly grin on his face, his voice as equally teasing. “Is that why you’re so scared to talk to him y/n?”

“A hot roommate is certainly a lucky problem to have.” San nods eagerly in agreement.

“I don’t know!” You want to avoid looking or even thinking of your own roommate in that way. Sure, you observed that Mingi is quite good looking—especially that first day of meeting him—and to go there is a rabbit hole of thoughts you refuse to explore. But in the end he’s a mystery to you; he’s nothing more than someone you live with. “I don’t think of him or look at him in that way. We are just supposed to be roommates, okay?”

“Okay, okay, we’re only half joking,” San smiles. “But if you guys are really supposed to be roommates then, shouldn’t you feel okay to tell him how you feel? It can’t be that serious.”

“Even for that dumb rule,” Yeosang says. He takes a glance at his watch. “It’s your apartment now too.”

You take a moment to let those words sink in. Even if they do tease you from time to time, the best friend duo always manages to give you solid, practical advice. For some reason, you want to laugh. You can’t help but realize how much you were overthinking. The benefits of an outside perspective, you think.

“Talk to him, okay?” San assures. You nod firmly. At that point, your guys’ lunch was over and it was time to head back. After packing and cleaning up, you guys are walking down the big hallway from the cafeteria and towards the elevators.

“OH! I almost forgot. y/n, July 19th. Save the date,” San says proudly as he dusts off his blazer. “Since I’m working on my actual birthday—gross—I decided to host a big party for another weekend instead.”

“That’s like two months away.” Yeosang murmurs. San nudges him again jokingly, and you laugh at the two’s behavior.

“That’s why I’m letting her know now. Save. the. date.” San breaths in happily. “Practically one. It’s almost June already.”

“Got it. Won’t forget.” You reply with a smile.

—

After a long day at work, the sun is finally at the edge of the horizon. Dusk.

You sigh heavily as you key open your apartment building and sluggishly walk towards the elevator doors. Despite the long day, you feel a pit of dread forming in your stomach—an unsettling knot of anxiety. You get in the elevator and press 5—the top floor.

You got this y/n.

It’s not so much Mingi is someone you don’t want to talk to. You hate to admit it, but Yeosang and San were partially right. You were honestly intimidated by him. And no, not by his good looks. But who he was. Based on the little interaction you two shared, Mingi was still a complete mystery to you. Even if you two do live together, you guys are still just strangers to one another. Who was he? Where did he work? Who was his old roommate? Why is he alone here? These were all questions that popped into your head from time to time.

He was direct, quiet, and always looked so serious. He truly was keeping to himself. And you were slightly scared to disrupt that peace you two shared. But it’s not like you’re looking to befriend him, nor he to you. Three weeks was a long time, and you couldn’t stand it any more. This was supposed to be your home.

You suddenly thought of Yeosang.

“It’s your apartment now too.”

You unlock your apartment door, and enter the space that’s been drilling your mind for the past 48 hours. As you walk in, your eyes scan the flaws in the kitchen and dining area. Once again, there was a pile of unwashed dishes, an overflowing trash bin, and the bowl of bananas with its flies still placed in the center of the dining table. On the kitchen counter, lay an opened plastic bag and soiled takeout boxes—assumingly left there since there was no more space in the trash bin.

You sigh. You weren’t going to clean up after him again. This is your space too.

After setting your work bag down—the adrenaline getting to you—you walk towards his bedroom door. From the other side, you could’ve sworn you heard laughter. But you don’t let it surprise you any moment further. You knock firmly.

The beat of silence, waiting for him to open the door. In that second, you wish you could take it back. But there’s no going back now. Say what you need to say y/n.

“Yes?” Mingi opens the door a crack and leans against the doorway. You almost want to turn away immediately. He’s wearing sweatpants and a black tank, revealing his arms and his upper physique. He’s got his glasses on, with a (what you assume to be) gaming headset resting around his neck on his defined collarbones. His expression remains unimpressed.

You try not to waste more time gazing at all the gauzy details and peering into what his room looks like—which looked quite dark anyway, by the way.

“Uh, can we talk?” You ask him calmly.

“About?” Mingi raises an eyebrow.

“The uh…the mess. Your mess in the kitchen.” You say slightly hesitant at first.

“Excuse me?” His eyes slightly widen, taken aback. The tone of his voice feels almost like a sting.

“Yes. I’m sorry, Mingi, but it’s been so untidy,” Your voice almost falters. You hate that he’s making you feel bad for saying how you feel. Or maybe you hate that you’re letting him make you feel bad. “And for the past-”

“What happened to just keeping to ourselves?” He cuts you off, his voice low and firm. “I can clean up after myself.”

You try to compose yourself, but that was just rude.

“Well, clearly you haven’t been!” You finally exclaim in frustration, gesturing towards the kitchen. “At first, I thought we were going to split the chores. So I waited. When there was a mess, I’d clean it, because I wanted to be respectful. But it’s been three weeks, and it seems like I’m the only one doing so. And I cannot live like this. I’m not some maid!”

Mingi’s expression appeared taken aback, probably shocked at your sudden outburst. This is the first full conversation you guys are having after a while. But in that moment, it felt so good to finally get all those thoughts off your chest. To say what you felt. It overpowered the fear of what he’d say next.

“I live here now too.” You add, this time more calmly.

Mingi sighs, rubbing his face in his hands and then runs them through his dark hair. You glance away briefly.

“Fine, I’m sorry. I just… got a lot going on and…” He begins to trail off. “Anyway, it won’t happen again.” You nod.

“I think I’m just so used to my old roommate doing all the cleaning.” Mingi exhales.

“Well that was totally unfair for them too.” You say.

“I’m sure he didn’t mind,” Mingi wavers, glancing down at you. “But yeah I guess it is…”

“Okay, so…” You look back at the dirty kitchen.

“I’ll clear it all out now,” He assures, removing the headset around his neck. He tosses it behind him (to where you assume his bed is). “And I’ll make the chores list for sure this time. Split. Evenly.”

You nod in satisfaction ready to turn on your heels, and run into your room. But you briefly add, “I think we also should just make it a habit to clean up after ourselves anyway.”

“Yes, fine.” Mingi says.

As he makes his way towards the kitchen, you finally head to your own room. Progress, you think. So he can actually listen to you! Now things can work out all over again. Living at this apartment will continue on as usual, this time cleaner and fairer. You smile at the thought—back to that normal. Back to that peace.

For now.

next chapter >

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gintrinsic-writing · 3 months ago

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for @1-renegade the links are MESSY, there is no cohesion, they're all actually terrible in different ways not-lu there WAS a whole ending to this planned but i ran out of steam and also had too much wine and it's 10pm so. sorry.

Things were going about as well as Link expected—which was to say, poorly. Heroes were people too, after all. There were nine of them in total, and although they hadn’t picked up anyone else in several days, Link was too experienced with the way of the world—well, his world—to know better than to hope. Better to prepare for the worst, because it was usually around the corner. In this case, he figured there was just enough tension to cut a knife with. So, more heroes to come, probably. He didn’t look forward to it.

Tonight’s problem started with the Hero of Legend and three pieces of paper.

“Which of you went through my notebook?” the Hero of Legend asked flatly, holding said notebook up for everyone to see. “There are three pages missing.”

When nobody immediately answered, the Hero of Legend visibly took a deep breath. His shoulders were slightly higher than they were before. “Well?”

There was a crunch. “My bad,” the Hero of the Sky said around a mouthful of apple, “that was me.”

One of the Hero of Legend’s ears twitched—the one with the cool bar piercing and the dangling chains. He seemed to love decorations. “So you just, what, went through my shit?”

“I needed paper for a letter,” the Hero of the Sky answered with a shrug. “ I didn’t think it was that big of a deal.”

It was a big deal, in Link’s opinion. Not that he had a notebook. He didn’t; paper was far too expensive. But what little he did own was his. Maybe the Hero of the Sky needed to lose a finger or two. How awkward.

The Hero of Legend smiled in a way that never reached his eyes. “You could’ve asked.”

The Hero of the Sky huffed around another bite of apple, then smiled back. He glanced around as if gauging the others’ reactions. Link made sure there was absolutely nothing showing on his own face, but the Hero of the Twilight—reclining on his back, fingers interlocked over his stomach, absolutely reeking of dark, foreign magic—made absolutely no effort to control his expression, which was sleepily amused.

The Hero of the Sky seemed to take that as support. Link wasn’t so sure it was. “I’m sorry. May I please have some paper?”

Ooh, maybe there’d be blood after all of this. It’d probably settle things a bit. Or make them worse—but that was its own kind of settling, in Link’s opinion.

The Hero of the Warriors must have had the same thought, because he openly glanced between the two heroes. He wasn’t an easy person to read, but he had a presence that Link recognized as fairy-touched. It was a cloying sort of aura, like leaf litter decomposing far beneath the forest floor. Right now, it was sour with annoyance. “Enough,” the Hero of Warriors said. “We have more important things to worry about. Let’s all agree to stay out of each others’ belongings and hit the sack.”

“You know you’re not in charge, right?” the Hero of the Four Sword suddenly asked. “Like, yeah, their whole argument is petty, but you don’t get to decide what they talk about.”

“I didn’t say I was,” the Hero of Warriors answered flatly.

“Then quit acting like it. You’ve been trying to control this entire fiasco since it started. We’re not some military unit for you to command.”

“Definitely not,” the Hero of Warriors agreed. “If you were, you’d show discipline.”

The Hero of Time snorted, which—whoa. He never reacted with anything other than derision. Maybe it was a derisive snort. Link supposed that was possible. Everyone waited a few seconds to see if anything would come of that. To nobody’s surprise, the Hero of Time went back to ignoring them.

“Do you have a problem with the way I do things?” the Hero of the Four Sword finally asked, as if he hadn’t spent the last twenty minutes obsessively counting his weird little stones again.

“You are pretty disorganized,” the Hero of the Wild pointed out. “It takes you a while to… do anything.”

The Hero of the Four Sword scoffed. “Oh, that’s rich, coming from you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“The only place you can’t seem to get distracted by is the bathtub.”

“Ooh,” the Hero of Winds murmured. “Shots fired.”

Blue, wispy lights flickered around the Hero of the Wild. It wasn’t any magic that Link recognized. “What are you implying?”

“I’m not implying anything,” the Hero of the Four Sword said. “I’m telling you, you stink. Do you ever bathe?”

The Hero of the Wild looked appalled. He glanced around for support and locked eyes with the Hero of Twilight, who grimaced faintly and said, “You do smell pretty bad. You and the Hero of Hyrule both.”

Wait, what?

“What.”

“Sorry,” the Hero of Twilight said, not sounding very sorry. “It’s true. Could smell ya both a mile away.”

“Leave the kids alone,” the Hero of Legend grumbled. “They don’t know any better.”

Well, that was patronizing.

“Don’t lump me in with them,” the Hero of Winds complained. “Age has nothing to do with it.”

“The Hero of the Four Sword brings up a good point,” the Hero of Warriors began. “You’ve both been relatively isolated, so it’s no surprise that you haven’t been instructed on proper hygiene, but you really should be bathing more often. Or at all.”

“I have an extra bar of soap,” the Hero of the Sky said.

“Sure you didn’t steal it?” the Hero of Legend asked.

“I swear to Hylia, you’re so annoying. Do you want me to pay you back for the paper? I can give you some rupees. Would that make you feel better?”

“You swear to a lake?”

“The goddess Hylia. Is your timeline cultureless?”

“I’ll give you culture, you bratty piece of shit—”

“Enough!” the Hero of Warriors snapped, again. “Everyone, just shut up.”

That went over well. While the others yelled, Link leaned over to sniff at his armpits. He didn’t notice anything particularly funky. The others were probably just used to their strange perfumes. Whatever.

#idk what to tag this as #other than nonsense

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theemporium · 4 months ago

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i have so much time! i’m so bored at work 🙈

boy, oh boy, strap in🤠here is the annoying roommate tea

so basically i have known him since day one of uni. we were put in the same flat in first year and we were genuinely quite good friends. he kinda felt like a wee brother, in a way? he came from a very sheltered life and was just a bit naive and it felt almost natural to be like an older sister to him

he has always had a bit of an issue with boundaries. like this boy would be knocking on my dorm door at 4am the day before i had an exam just to hang out or he would spend hours spiralling in my room about boy troubles, just to ignore my advice and do the same thing the next week. it was a bit annoying but i was mostly letting it slide because i did genuinely think we were friends

the problems started happening in second year. we were a massive group of 10 but we couldn't get a house together so we split into two groups and he wasn't in our house. he used to just constant complain and whine about his house, come over to ours at 10pm without notice and just once again have no boundaries at the way he would go into everyone's rooms

one of our roommates was doing a year abroad so we had a space free in our house for third year and he asked if he could take the space. but he caused a bunch of shit and just kept fucking us around on whether or not he wanted to be in a house with us. also at this point, we are at christmas in second year of uni and he has been an absolute prick to all of us (like this man straight up left the room when i was crying my eyes out over something that happened to my family and acted like it was an inconvenience to him) so things were strained

somehow, through it all, he managed to just fully put the blame of me? and said it was my fault? and he was just a dick. and i was pissed at him but we had a whole long ass heart-to-heart conversation after christmas and i thought everything was fine

but he just started acting like i didn't exist and would blank my existence which is weird because he literally signed on to live with us in third year but i thought "oh well, we can at least be civil"

i was wrong!

he has been an absolute asshole since the start of third year. he has tried to isolate me and exclude me from so many house activities and try to pull the other roommates away from me. he acts like a toddler and basically throws a tantrum when the attention is not on him. he had to be told by one of the others to say 'thank you' to me after i gave everyone christmas gifts. and most recently, he waited until my sister and brother-in-law were visiting to put up a bunch of photos in our kitchen and made sure i was in none of them (and got defensive and said 'she's in enough photos elsewhere' when a roommate called him out on the way he left me out)

and then today (on my birthday, mind you), he managed to splash me with murky gutter water whilst i was just trying to read in the sun so i had to go change, then caused a scene and sobbed in his room so the others would comfort him. and then caused a whole scene when we went out for dinner and drinks and literally tried to make everyone leave me in the pub so he didn't have to go home alone because he got kicked out for not having his id🤠

so yeah! he is truly something!

#cece answers #there is probably more but that is the basics of the roommate situation #but hopefully he is graduating this year and i am living alone for my last year so we wont have a repeat of this

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kfkr1ze · 1 year ago

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[002-A07] Unbreakable Boys

Summary — ✈︎ The day before the study trip, Kaede decided to research the origins of the explosion at Asu High. He comes to realize that Akuta and the others are at the age where they may not be considered children anymore.

Characters— ✈︎ Nayuki, Daniel, Sakujiro, Akuta, Kiroku, Muneuji, Nanaki, Ushio

Location: HAMA Tours Office Floor

Nayuki: Here, coffee.

Kaede: Ah… Sorry. Thank you very much.

Nayuki: You’re not pushing yourself too much, are you?

Doesn't the Noon Squad’s study trip start tomorrow?

Kaede: Yeah… But, I still have some stuff that I really need to finish before I leave.

Nayuki: If you’ll have me, I could help. You have to be prepared for tomorrow.

Kaede: No no, I couldn’t ask that of you…

Nayuki: … Are you even aware of what time it is right now?

At the rate that you’re going, you won’t have time to sleep.

Kaede: Ehーー It’s 10PM!? I-I’m in big trouble…

Nayuki: So, where should I begin?

Kaede: I’m really sorry…! Umm… Thenーー

Location: HAMA House

Daniel: Oh, welcome baーー... Uh, that’s a lotta luggage you got there.

Kaede: I’m back. These are just some things I’m gonna need for tomorrow’s tripーー

Excuse me, sir[1]. They’re about to slip, so if you don’t mind, could you please hold onto it for a minute…!

Daniel: No waay, I don’t like working overtime. I’ll go ahead and wait on the sofa so hurry up and get over here.

Aahh I feel so light〜 Both of my hands are completely free��.

Kaede: Gh…!

Nayuki: You can lean on me for some help. Here.

Kaede: No, you’re barely more balanced than I am Nayuki-kun, so it’s okay. I wouldn’t want to cause you any more trouble.

Thank you so much for all of your help today. You helped me out with my work and even went shopping with me.

Nayuki: It’s no problem. I’m glad I could be of help.

Location: HAMA House Living Room

Daniel: Insect repellent, sunscreen, cooling gel sheet, body wipes, bandages, fever reducers, motion sickness medicine…

I was expecting you to buy some good stuff but… All of this is just really boring.

Where’s the sake? The snacks? Other shit you get when you're shopping?

Kaede: There’s none of that stuff. Everyone going on the trip are 16 year old children. They can’t even take certain medicines

Daniel: They don’t need it. But, I mean, wouldn’t the adult stuff be fine for kids that age?

Kaede: Ehh?

Nayuki: I searched it up. It seems the adult version of those medicines is appropriate for people that age to use.

Kaede: Wow, quick! Thank you.

I see, it’s good that they can take the adult ones…

Nayuki: I’m sorry, I didn’t think to look it up while we were shopping together.

Daniel: Well, isn't it fine since they’re able to take it? Better than letting young kids take adult doses.

Location: HAMA House Private Room

Kaede: (Alright. Now that I’ve conquered the list of things to buy…)

(In the meantime, I managed to find more entertaining things that are aimed for adults. Now, I just have to wait until tomorrow. )

Ah, now that I think about it…

( “Hama Asunaro High School”... “Incident”... and search.)

Ummm, let’s see, let's see…

One day in June, at midnight.

At Hama Asunaro High School in the HAMA 5 ward, there was a sudden explosion in the old building.

The building collapsed, but fortunately, none of the students nor teachers were caught in the accident. There were no injuries.

The cause of the explosion remains unknown, and is currently under investigation

Kaede: (Come to think of it, I’m sure I remember seeing something about an explosion on the news…)

(Th-The old building looks so damaged…!

I’m surprised everyone’s safe, since they were all here…)

(I’m really glad no one was injured… But it’s really hard to believe a child could damage something to this scaleーー Wait no.)

Daniel: But, I mean, wouldn’t the adult stuff be fine for kids that age?

Kaede: (Like Daniel-san said earlier, they’re at that age where they wouldn’t be considered “children” exactly anymore.)

(Umm… What else is there…)

I heard this from my friend who lives in HAMA, but apparently the sound was super loud www. Like a big BOOM www.

It’s so annoying that there’s so many students there already, but because of that incident, outsiders who were curious started wandering around the school gates. It’s super troublesome. But, come to think of it, wasn’t there a student who disappeared from Asu High recently? They’re definitely related to each other.

Are there any signs of a conspiracy?

Asu High has to reveal the truth immediately!

Kaede: (Ahh… The opinions on Dazzle are also pretty rough…)

(A student’s disappearance… So something like that happened.)

……

Akuta: I’ll get them to go on that study tour thingy!

Leave it to me!

Kaede: (Earlier, I got a reply on PeChat saying “it’s all good!”, butーー)

(I wonder if the study tour will go smoothly the whole week…)

Location: Tokyo Metropolis International Airport Lobby

Akuta: Sensei, over here over here!

Muneuji: Good morning.

Sakujiro: Good morning. The weather is good today, isn’t it?

Kaede: Yes! Good morningーー……

Nanaki: ……

Kiroku: ……

Ushio: … Yawwnn…… Tired.

Kaede: ……

Ushio: What. Is it so rare for a person to yawn?

Kaede: Ah, sorry. That’s not why I was looking…

(The mood is pretty low, but everyone really showed up….

I’m so glad.)

(Akuta-kun managed to persuade everyone… Thank you…!)

Akuta: ……

Kaede: (Ahaha. I’ll have to thank him again later.)

Muneuji: Sensei, here are everyone’s parental consent forms.

Kaede: Thank you. It helps a lot that you collected them all.

By the way, you don’t have to call me “Sensei”.

I mean, I’m not even an official teacher.

Muneuji: I see. Then, what would you like us to call you?

Kaede: Hmmm… “Chief” is okay.

Muneuji: I got it. I’ll call you that then. ーーSee you later.

Sakujiro: … As I thought, he is familiar with organizing students. As expected of the Anthroposophical Astronomy Club head and the vice president of the student council.

Kaede: The An…?

Sakujiro: The Anthroposophical Astronomy Club.

Kaede: I see. So that’s why he’s able to hold himself up well.

(I feel as if everyone is a bit more cooperative than before, but I wonder what Akuta-kun said to convince them to come…)

Sakujiro: The Anthroposophical Astronomy Club.

Kaede: Ah, yes, I got it…

(Hm…?)

Akuta: Hey, Muneuji… It’s your turn next.

Muneuji: Okay, put it in here.

Kaede: ( … They put something in a cute pink drawstring bag. Is he returning something he borrowed?)

Sakujiro: Then… I’m leaving by car, so I will be leaving now. Excuse me.

Kaede: Okay. We’ll see you when we get out there. Please be careful.

Sakujiro: Yes, you as well.

By driving safely, I should arrive earlier than the plane does.

Kaede: Alright, everyone. We should also be going.

Akuta: YAAY! My heart is all prepared! Everything’s OK here, Sensei!

Ushio: Speaking of going somewhere, where are we supposed to be going? You didn’t write it down in the proposal…

Kaede: Y-Yeah… I thought it’d be nice to keep it a surprise.

(In reality, I was trying so hard to quickly write a good proposal that I just forgot to write it down…!)

Ushio: …Hmmm. That seemed like it was a lie, but I’ll pretend like I believe it.

Kaede: Thank you.. … Ahem.

Well, the place we are heading to isーー

Shodoshima!

Previous — ✈︎ Masterlist — ✈︎ Next

Notes — ✈︎

Chief here (部長) is different than the Chief (主任) that Kaede is called. In order to not cause any confusion, I put sir since I'm pretty sure Kaede is just trying to be like >_< please help me sir..! rather than trying to actually call him something out of respect.

#18trip #18trip translation #chapter 002 #bitter sweet sixteen #kfkr1ze #kinugawa kiroku #muneuji kaguya #nanaki nanamegi #ushio kurama #akuta isotake #iwabuchi hiroshi daniel #nayuki kitakata #sakujiro karigane

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ladykailitha · 2 years ago

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All My Roads Lead Back to You Part 16

Hello! Sorry I missed posting yesterday but I had a horrible tension headache from sleeping on my neck wrong and I was pretty much out from the moment I got home until I went to bed at 10pm.

I forgot to link it on the last chapter, but this is the song that I listened to nonstop while writing part 15. Somebody New by The Struts.

Steve is on the road to recovery but I think I’ve got a couple more chapters to go before we reach the end.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15

***

Monday morning came and the kids were back at school.

“Damn it,” Kenny said. “I was so sure that was going to work.” He poked at his food with a growl.

Mandy put her arm around him. “I’m not so sure it didn’t.”

Three pairs of eyes turned her direction in interest.

“Now,” she started, hands in the air, “most of what I got is from snippets of conversation that I happened to hear because my dad is H-man’s and Miss Thing’s dads confidant.”

They all nodded.

“But from what it sounded like,” she said, playing with her hands as she fought for the right words, “is that they admitted having romantic feelings for each other, but that Mr Harrington didn’t feel ready to commit to a new relationship having been physically and emotional destroyed by the last one.”

All the eyes turned to Edie. She gulped.

“We really don’t talk about it,” she murmured. “But yeah, after my dad’s last break up, he got really low. I–I don’t know how low, I was only ten and he hid a lot from me because I was just a kid, but I know he had to spend a couple months in a special hospital afterwards.”

“I’m sorry, love,” Mandy said putting an arm around her friend and rubbing her shoulder. “Was this when you had to spend a couple months at our house.”

Edie nodded. “I just want Dad to be happy. Whatever that looks like. But I really think that looks like Mr Munson.”

Harri nodded. “But I appreciate your dad having the foresight to stop and say not yet. Not no. Not never. Not even let’s trying knowing I’m not in a good space. That takes a lot of strength. I admire him for that.”

Everyone nodded.

“So you’re idea worked,” Edie said. “After a fashion. We know they love each other. We know they want to be together. It’s just going to take time. And that’s better than the sword of Damocles hanging over our heads.”

She grabbed her soda. “Three cheers to Kenny!”

Mandy and Harri raised their sodas too. “Three cheers to Kenny!”

Eddie’s choice for lunch that week was his place. He shrugged when Steve asked.

“I didn’t feel like going out this week,” was his only explanation.

As they sat at the small breakfast table Steve could feel himself relax.

Eddie smiled at him slyly as he chewed on a bit of food.

Steve looked up at him in confusion. “What?”

“I got to thinking about it after you told me about your troubles with eating that you never relaxed when we went out to eat.”

Steve frowned and looked down at his plate. He had nearly finished it without thinking. “I didn’t realize that.”

“You’re always worried about being judged about what you’re eating and how much,” Eddie explained further. “You even did it at that big celebration dinner with Jeff and them. And when Harri and I would eat over there, Edie was always scrutinizing everything you ate. Were you counting the amount of bites you were taking?”

Steve blushed but he nodded. “I know how many bites it takes for me to feel full and eat exactly that many.”

Eddie raised his chin at him. “How many bites did you take today?” He nodded to Steve’s plate.

Steve opened his mouth to answer, but closed it when he realized he didn’t know. “How?”

“I keep you interested by talking,” Eddie said. “You tend to forget to count and eat more when I ramble. So I weaponized it.”

Steve looked down at his plate and then up at Eddie. “Thank you.”

Eddie smiled sweetly at him. “This is a bandaid for the real problem, but it’s a start. You need to start making a diary of when you get intrusive thoughts about your eating and then share that with your therapist. Or hell get a new one. One you can trust with your eating because to me it looks like you don’t.”

Steve furrowed his brow. He trusted Dr Rushing, didn’t he? But the more he thought about it the more he realized that he didn’t. He had been there when Steve had his breakdown and Steve never quite trusted the doctor not use that against him.

“Oh.” He looked up at Eddie, his lips quivering. “How did you know?”

Eddie tilted his head and leaned forward. “It was something you said on Saturday that tipped me off.”

Steve thought back but he couldn’t land on anything that would have told him that he didn’t trust his therapist.

“You had been with this doctor for five years,” Eddie said softly. “And while grief and illness aren’t linear, you weren’t better, Stevie.”

Steve’s head reared back. “Oh my god. You’re right. It’s not about getting over what Andy did. It’s about not having the tools to form new relationships. And you’re right, I don’t have those.”

Eddie nodded. “I don’t know enough about eating disorders or any of that shit, but I do know something about therapy. Having been taking it for the last twenty years.”

“Twenty years?” Steve asked, his eyes almost bulging out of his head. “That’s a long time.”

Eddie nodded. “Jay wanted me to get it before Harri was born. Screaming yourself awake after just putting a baby down for bed isn’t conducive to a happy life. For anyone involved.”

“I couldn’t trust the therapists Dr Owens sent us to,” Steve admitted. “I always thought that they would report anything and everything right back to him. I guess that’s why I never really trusted Dr Rushing, my current therapist, I mean.” He looked down at the table as he fought to control his breathing. “I just don’t trust any of them. What if they decided that the Upside Down was a delusion and they put me away? They’d give Edie back to Addison. I couldn’t do that. I can’t.”

Eddie put his fork down and really looked at Steve. He leaned down and tilted his head so he could Steve to look back at him. “How long have you been holding that in, sweetheart?”

Steve jerked back like he even forgot that Eddie was there. “I don’t know. Too long, I guess.”

Eddie pulled out his wallet and got out a small card. “I don’t know if Dr Kegler does eating disorders or whatever, but give her a call. She can at least refer you to someone who can help you.”

Steve took the card from Eddie and looked at it. “Dr Olivia Kegler, licensed therapist and psychologist?”

“She’s really helped me,” Eddie explained. “Not just with the Upside Down but with Jay’s death too.”

“Is she–is she read in?” Steve asked timidly, looking back down at the card.

Eddie nodded. “But Owens hates her, and that’s says a lot, I think.”

Steve looked up and murmured, “Because she doesn’t tell him anything?”

Eddie shrugged. “No idea, but I really like her, Stevie. Just give her a try, okay?”

Steve nodded. What was there to lose, really?

When Steve got home he made some phone calls and set up an appointment with Dr Kegler.

It wasn’t until after his first appointment with her that he made a decision. He talked it over with Eddie and he agreed. It was time.

Steve made dinner for the four of them like what was becoming their norm. Eddie made dessert.

Which was when the two teenagers cottoned on that this wasn’t a regular dinner.

“After talking to my new therapist and discussing it with Eddie,” Steve began, “it’s time we told you the truth about what happened in Hawkins twenty years ago.”

Eddie slammed a great big manila folder on the table between them. “I wasn’t there for the first few years, but I noticed things before then.”

Steve took a deep breath and then began to tell his story, the whole time Eddie would show them document after picture after statement showing them proof that Steve wasn’t lying to them.

And then they got to Chrissy’s death and Steve let Eddie take over. He even let him fill the kids in with stuff he wasn’t there for, but was told about later in the hospital.

“So the feral dogs and crazy bats story was a lie?” Edie asked after they were done.

Steve shook his head. “No. They were feral and they were dogs. Just not the kind you were familiar with. Same with the crazy bats. We didn’t know what else to call them. Uncle Dusty named most of them, tying them to their D&D game. But I would never lie to you.”

“Hence all the times you said you couldn’t tell us, huh?” Harri asked quietly. “You would rather have us mad at you for not being able to tell us then to lie and have it hurt us later.”

Steve and Eddie nodded.

“The hardest thing was making sure not to talk about it when you were around,” Steve murmured to Edie. “I hated not being able to tell you, but it was properly scary stuff.”

“You could have told me sooner,” Harri protested. “Dustin and them were all eleven or twelve when this started. You could have told me years ago.”

Steve laughed. “Yeah? You tell that to his face then,” he said harshly. “Tell him he was old enough to brave nightmares and phobias for years due to the Upside Down. Tell Will or Lucas or even Jane that they were old enough for the horrors they faced. If they’re feeling nice, they might just laugh in your face.”

Harri looked down at his hands and hunched his shoulders. Eddie stood up and came around to where Harri was seated.

“You weren’t mature enough to handle Papa passing away, Harri-bear,” he said gently. “I know you’re only saying this because you feel I deliberately kept this from you, but that’s not it at all. Okay?”

Steve closed his eyes and opened them slowly. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped at you. I was your age when I faced my first real horror and I wouldn’t wish that on either of you.”

Harri nodded.

Steve looked over at his daughter, tilting his head. “What’s on your mind, Miss Thing?”

“Just piecing together little things you’ve said over the years, I guess.”

Steve nodded. “What’s the picture like in your head?”

Edie straightened up and said with a smile. “You are far too normal for what you went through, Jesus Christ!”

Steve and Eddie laughed. Just threw their heads back and laughed.

“I’m really not,” Steve said once he caught his breath. “My neuroses have neuroses, honey.”

Eddie chuckled. “He is the most down to earth of the Party, but in no way is your dad normal.”

“Does Uncle Jeff know?” Harri asked.

Eddie shook his head. “Neither does Uncle Gareth.”

“We’ve both made and kept friends that don’t know about the Upside Down,” Steve explained. “But most the people we’re closest to do, though.”

Harri nodded. “I’m sorry about my comment about Dustin, that wasn’t fair.”

“This wasn’t something we wanted,” Steve said gently. “In fact if we could have had adults we trusted, we wouldn’t have had to do it at all. But we kept being dragged back in over and over again against our will. I think out of all of us, the three that suffered the most was Will, Jane, and your dad.”

“Because of the town freaking out, right?” Edie asked. “For Mr Munson?”

Steve nodded. “He was the only one to faced actual persecution for this shit. And I got tortured by fucking Russians.”

“Yeah...” Eddie said, “I’m still pissed off at the government for not going to war over the torture of kids.”

“Their justification was that technically I was an adult because I was eighteen.”

“Robin wasn’t,” Eddie bit out. “And you can’t tell they wouldn’t have tried to torture Dustin or Erica if they had managed to catch them.”

They talked a little bit more about what they had gone through and how they thought that now that their kids were going to be going into their senior year of school that it would be a good time to finally come clean.

It was a lot of things to process and they were so proud of them for understanding.

It wasn’t going to be an easy road, but Steve smiled at the thought of sharing the burden with them all.

***

Part 17 Part 18 Epilogue

Tag List: @spectrum-spectre @estrellami-1 @zerokrox-blog @artiststarme @swimmingbirdrunningrock @gregre369 @pyrohonk @trashpocket @goodolefashionedloverboi @chaoticlovingdreamer @maya-custodios-dionach @messrs-weasley @val-from-lawrence @plyerice27 @mightbeasleep @thedragonsaunt @chaoticlovingdreamer @trashpocket @sapphirecobalt-1 @a-little-unsteddie @i-must-potato @danili666 @carlyv @rozzieroos @wonderland-girl143-blog @itsall-taken @steddie-as-they-go @lillemilly @callas-shitshow @bisexualdisastersworld @renaissan-vvitch @immortal-iratze @bookbinderbitch @cardigangoth @lilacrobin @nightmareglitter @nerdsconquerall @stxrcrossed186

#ladykailitha writes #stranger things #steddie #reconnecting years later AU

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lokigodofaces · 3 months ago

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Genuinely wish there were more resources for mediation. Like I don't want to call the cops for a noise complaint, but I'll admit there were times I considered it. I used to have a roommate with very severe migraines and the people living on the floor above us were very loud. And I told them multiple times to quiet down politely and I told them about a roommate with migraines. They would always be clearly unhappy with me but quiet down, then an hour later they'd be loud again. Which I'll admit I doubt they had bad intent I'm sure it happened without them noticing because they were excited or whatever. Also they weren't like walls vibrating loud but they were loud enough to aggravate my roommate's migraines. And looking back I admit it probably wasn't as bad as I thought. I was 19 and horribly stressed and thus probably more irritable than normal (idk if anyone remembers, but in 2023 around this time of year I was posting vents about a horrible roommate situation where the other roommates treated me and the roommate with migraines like crap. Not specifically in regards to migraines but they weren't helpful on that front either. Well we had the loud neighbors at the same time as bad roommates so I'm sure I didn't react the best to either group because I was constantly dealing with problems). But I remember going to the housing management about it and asking what steps besides asking them to quiet down I could take. And well they did actually start texting all the time about being respectful and quieting down after 10pm and all & said I'm not the only person to complain. But they told me to call the cops if it happened again because they had talked to the complex as a whole and individual apartments but nothing changed. And they aren't around at 2am. And like. I understand that management has limited control in this situation. They aren't going to evict someone mid semester for this. And given the specifics of the contract there's not much they could have done other than ask. And I can understand why they'd say to call the cops because that's the next line of authority and that apartment was already not responding well to anything else plus the whole management not being there at 2am thing. I just wish there was an in between. Because yeah we can say that noise complaints are dumb and stuff but there comes a point when neighbors need to respect each other. Like an agreement needs to be made at some point. For example, if someone is actively having a migraine the floor below, maybe you can try to be quiet. And obviously I'm not going to be pissed off first time, I'll ask politely. And I do think most people do work this stuff out. But I think calling the cops is excessive if there's a problem. I just wish there was another person that could come and help us sort through this type of problem. And it could work in other situations too, like a car crash (assuming both parties are being nonviolent/doesn't seem to have a crime involved because obviously in those cases makes sense to have a cop). But if it's just that you're having someone mediate and help exchange insurances and all I don't think a cop is needed. Cops do file reports which is important because that information is used by the federal government but again someone else can do that. Idk if I'm making sense but it would be nice for a mediator. Is there any sort of option for this in the US I haven't heard of?

#liv won't shut up

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silentangel00 · 2 years ago

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The Batman

(Reader Insert)

Chapter 1: https://www.tumblr.com/silentangel00/731630688641662976/the-batman

Chapter 2 Drive

Your first night as a consultant was a long and rough one. Much more mentally taxing than you had initially prepared for. You knew it would be bad but this, this was something different. You returned back to your penthouse at around 3 AM that day and went straight to bed and passed out in the deepest, stone-like slumber you have ever had. You woke up late in the afternoon, extremely groggy and disoriented. You went to the kitchen and chugged down two whole glasses of water and decided a shower would be best before you head out again.

You left at around 6 heading to the morgue since you were asked to perform the official autopsy on the late Mayor, making sure there was nothing more hidden for you to discover further about our killer. Unfortunately, you came up empty-handed after hours of careful searching. You were about to close Mitchell back into the mortuary cooler but had gotten interrupted by Gordon coming in with a plastic bag. He and Batman had found Mitchell's missing thumb that night. You took it out of the bag to assess it, you saw something metal dangling off of it, attached to the end looked like a USB. You look curiously at it before Gordon bitterly scoffs.

"Thumb...Drive...." He says simply. Your confusion drops and you look back at him with a look of 'Are you serious?' He puts his hands up in surrender and nods in agreement of just how ridiculous this is.

"Must think he's hilarious" You say with a disapproving shake of your head.

"Yeah, think you can separate the thumb from the drive without damaging it and then send it back to evidence for me?"

"Yep, no problem."

Gordon leaves, leaving you alone yet again to try to reattach this thumb to where it belongs. You really wish you could have someone to talk to right now. It would make the hours go by so much faster instead of having to focus in silence on a dead body the entire time. Gordon seemed to be in a rush to get out of there so you didn't bother with trying to strike up to deep of a conversation with him earlier. You looked down at your phone and looked at the time. It was almost 10PM, you scrolled through your list of phone numbers. There was no one there you would feel comfortable bothering this late. You had tried reaching out a few times when you got to Gotham to an old friend of yours, but he didn't return any of your messages. You sighed as you finished what you were doing and locked up. You had a sudden craving for something chocolate. Nothing could convince you to not indulge in this craving and you pulled up your GPS to search for the nearest diner. There was one not too far away, just a 20 or so minute walk, which was very much needed to clear your head and get some fresh air. You started walking taking in the scenery and architecture Gotham had to offer. So Gothic and historical with a splash of modernity shoved in here and there. Its ambiance always consisted of police or ambulance sirens that seemed to echo through the city on an endless loop. What you would give to hear the peace of a bird song, or the whisper of rustling leaves as the wind glides through. You pass by what seems to be a club "The Iceberg Lounge" you read as you pick up the pace. Whatever is going on in that place you don't know, but you definitely don't vibe with the energy it's giving off. You turn a corner and the diner is right there, you smile to yourself as you start to imagine the Chocolate cake you are about to devour with zero guilt.

You head inside pleasantly greeted by a nearly empty diner. A man sits hunched over in the middle seat of the counter scribbling on a piece of paper while sipping a small cup of coffee; he is the only one in here. The waitress greets you and tells you to sit anywhere. You take a seat just a few seats away from the man, closer to the door, and grab a menu searching immediately for the dessert options. The waitress a few moments later takes your order of a chocolate cake and bottled water and leaves. You pull out your phone and start scrolling through news articles til you finally give in and send your father a quick text message, 'How's mom?' since you haven't contacted him in a few weeks. You sigh and go back to reading a research article that piqued your interest. You hear the bell to the diners door ding as a new person entered. To engrossed in what you were reading, you didn't bother to look up. You didn't bother to look up as you heard the voices of the waitress and the new person start talking. In fact, you didn't even bother to look up as the voices started to get into a heated conversation. It wasn't until you felt something pressed to your head that you finally bothered to look up and meet eye-to-eye with the end of a gun barrel.

"Put the money in the bag or I will blow her head off." The masked man said in a trembling voice to the waitress. You couldn't move a single muscle. You looked at the waitress as she shook in fear shaking her head and crying.

"Please I need this money for my family, please please" She tried to plead with the man but he wasn't having it. He forcefully pressed the gun even further into your head forcing you to painfully bend your neck to the side.

"I'm not playing lady! You've got 30 seconds to give me what I want or I will shoot!" He screams at her. You look her dead in the eyes and she looks back at you. She says nothing, does nothing, and just cries harder as he starts to count down. As he realizes that she isn't making any moves to comply he stops counting. "I guess you still don't get it huh," He says darkly and clicks the safety off.

'Oh,' is all you can think as a tear escapes your eye. You suddenly feel a forceful weight launch you to the ground causing you to let out a shocked scream as you hear the gunshot ring through the tiny diner. Your ears are ringing but you can still make out a commotion going on. Screaming, the ground vibrating, the bell of the door, the weight still holding you down. Is this what it feels like to be shot in the head? You wonder as you stare up at the ceiling. Wait...no.

A face comes into view suddenly peering down at you through clear-framed glasses. You look back at him and regain your bearings, lifting yourself up onto your elbows slightly. You're fine, you're not shot! You suddenly realized the weight still on you was him, the man that was sitting at the diner counter just a few seats away from you had pushed you out of the way of the bullet. You both just stared heavily breathing for just a few moments, processing the situation. He finally made a slow movement off of you standing, and you soon followed gripping the counter as you steady yourself on your feet.

"Are you ok?" He asks looking down at the ground. You hear police sirens making their way toward, what you would hope, was your location.

"Yeah, I think so. Thank you..."

He just silently nods. The cops soon enter causing the waitress to crawl off the ground and run into the arms of one of the cops sobbing and incoherently explaining the situation. One of the cops comes up to you. "Ms. Y/L/N? Are you alright?"

You nod in surprise, not expecting him to recognize you. You were about to give him your statement before you were cut off by a quiet voice beside you.

"Y/L/N? As in Y/L/N Laboratories?"

You look over at the man that had saved you. He was looking you in the eyes this time and it made you feel uneasy but you still answered with a simple "Yes."

"Didn't know you were back in Gotham..." His tone had taken a shift that you couldn't quite understand, it felt...dark.

"Yeah..." You reply sounding guilty, thrown off by his sudden shift in demeanor. The cop quickly goes through the standard in a situation like this and then they soon let you know you're free to go. You walk out of the diner feeling too shaken up to walk back to your car. You start to dial to call a driver to pick you up and take you home but you see the man that saved you walk out of the diner sparing you a quick glance before he starts to walk away from you. "Hey wait!" you call out to him and walk a bit towards him, he turns facing you fully "I wanted to say thank you, again."

He just nods saying nothing as he stares you down, is he....angry? He turns to leave again.

"I'm sorry do I know you?" You quickly ask. He stops dead in his tracks but doesn't turn around this time.

"No... but I think soon you will." He leaves you with that as he disappears into the darkness of the night. A chill runs through you like ice through your veins. You quickly make a call to get picked up by a driver and with very little shame ask them to stay on the phone with you til they get here.

Chapter3: https://www.tumblr.com/silentangel00/732612665548161024/the-batman

#bruce wayne x y/n #batman x y/n #bruce wayne x reader #batman x reader #the batman #bruce wayne #robert battinson #batman 2022 #batman #the riddler #gotham #y/n #reader insert #x reader

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pitter-patt-art · 10 months ago

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Ace Attorney AU August oops-august-has-been-over-for-a-week Update!!

Hiiiii well okay first and most importantly of all! Happy investigations collection day everyone!!!! My copy is supposed to arrive by 10pm although I'm not sure I'll be playing it right away, but, hey, once it arrives I'll have in my possession at least one physical copy of every game in the series (2 for aai1, woohoo)!!! *Coughs* uh except all of the OG Trilogy which instead I own like 2 times over digitally (3 in T&T's case, thanks Wii) lmao. Ah well.

NOW the actual post. Yeah it's not August anymore but I've been recuperating or w/e so shhh, better late than never!

Overall I wrote over 50k words (actually in August itself) and posted 5 fics (with many more in progress), which is honestly just, wild???? That is so cool. Apparently the way to overcome writer's block is just overcommit to a month-long prompt list, who knew!

Here is my post about the first 17 days/AUs! And over here's my Ao3 series for these! Below the cut I'll wrap up the last 14 days of AUs, some thoughts, etc!

I am setting the goal for myself to actually finish writing these before the end of the year even if they're not technically "AU-gust" qualified anymore by the time I get to them sooo ...wish me luck!! In the meantime I am proud of myself for (tbh completely unnecessarily and to my detriment lmao) coming up with actually a full 31 solid AUs based on the prompts that I feel inspired by.

This post is gonna be a bit more rambly than the last one because I definitely did more of my writing last month the first 2 weeks rather than the last 2, but nevertheless--

Onto the remaining AUs!

18 - Space Travel

So, I actually started a draft at the airport before my vacation where I got wayyyy too sidetracked getting detailed about this one and thus ended up not being able to finish the post before takeoff lmao. I'm not sure whether it's annoying or interesting to include all of that here, but it's my post so fuck it, here's August 21st patt to tell you aaall about it so I don't have to: The Martian AU (I've only seen the movie and not read the book but i *did* literally just re-watch it because this thought crossed my mind lol. (Hello! It's future me popping in to say: fun fact, rewatching this movie literally ended up being the reason I knew a bar trivia answer last week lmao. Huzzah for the powers of Ace Attorney refreshing my movie quote knowledge.) Be glad this one occurred to me because my first inclination was to lean into the dark past of my vld phase (I'm super joking I had a lot of fun with it before the last few seasons haha sorry idk what to tell you friends) and see how much I'd retained if i tried to make that work but the martian sounded more fun in the end). Apparently my Thing™ is a) poisoning Phoenix and b) putting Apollo in an insane situation in which he's completely on his own--which all things considered is probably far meaner lol. I think Phoenix is to blame for creating his own problem here for choosing to eat the stupid necklace but I fully blame Capcom for all the BS Apollo has gone through after AA4 (bc...the stuff IN that game is. coincidentally also Phoenix's blame to claim. lol). That said I'm part of the problem teehee. Apollo can be Some Guy from the real world who gets isekai'ed and he can also be Mark Watney :P (sorry bud I love you but you have just the Worst case of unavoidable main character syndrome). ((Which is QUITE funny actually because I'll never get over Capcom calling 4,5,6 the """"Apollo Justice Trilogy"""" (it's really not and it's frankly insulting they're trying to say it is.) Like he's. Y’know. The main character in exactly one of those games...... so.)) What was I talking about? Lmao oh yeah so Apollo is left on Mars (not sure he actually has much in the way of Botanist™ vibes but the indomitable, never-say-die, highly sarcastic vibes.... ye haha that's my boy right there). Omg wait sorry I'm writing this and realizing this whole thing actually fits the 18th AND yesterday's (the 20th) prompt as well. Whoops.

Clay as the captain (let him do something, says I)

Trucy as I think the pilot ONLY because I am literally constantly on the lookout to make a Wright Flying Brothers joke, sorry

Klavier aaaas. Uh. So the German astronaut in the film is the chemist and navigator and I know Klav's not necessarily supposed to be actually German canonically but there IS something funny about it

Athena as the flight surgeon and EVA specialist (for a couple reasons but mostly so she can be a doctor lol. I imagine she also can be there for psych stuff too, like, it's a long ass space voyage, that does shit to your brain)

Kay as the SysOp and reactor tech, tbh mostly because for some reason i really have a thing for hacker/programmer Kay, i guess?

Ema I want to be there also lol so that would be exceeding the actual number of OG astronauts but eh it's my AU. The rest of these I'm just directly comparing to a crew member from the martian but I think some of the titles and tasks could be redistributed a little to allow an extra person as a treat for me.

Originally i kind of wanted Sebastian (....SIGH. or...Eustace. (I fear even though it's AAIC release day today, I truly may die on this hill forever, falling on my sword of devotion and gratitude to the fan translation team... That said, while I think Eustace is, like, a Deeply Fine name, I have to say that Excelsius is a fucking knockout name lmfao, that one took me out. Anyway, ahem: "I wanted Seb/Eustace...")) to be there too but I think that's getting into too many cooks territory just specifically bc I'd have too many voices to play with lmfao. So instead I think he's the operator who works the satellite and realizes Apollo is alive, I think he'd fit that well. NOT THAT that needs to be. Included. In the AU. I have...so much self control.

Anyway I have too many thoughts about it, it's a problem, ironically I think I would prefer to focus on the crew and not Apollo himself, so that would at least make it more than just a rehashing of the movie/book. (Or, the movie at least. Does the book spend more time with them? I should read the book.) ...I did, Of Course, also came up with a funny, pseudo-future-science-y way to do a Sibling Reveal in this one, so there's that, too, haha. OKAY AND, SCENE. Snatching my mic back from myself. I'm actually so devoted to the Martian AU now hahaha, I really didn't think I'd let that happen to myself but here we are... You'll see in a bit, but I for-better-or-worse do truly have an extended universe going on for it now, eheh... (Help.)

19 - Spies

Franmaya?? Franziska POV??? Here's the deal: I cannot BELIEVE I got this many days into the month and STILL hadn't come up with a franmaya-centric AU, it's terrible. Also I need a Maya POV if I want to hit my self-set, self-indulgent goal of having POV of every "main" character I can (did I exactly accomplish this no but that's perfectly fine obviously haha it was just a side achievement I had my eye on). So to that end, I ended up with something here that I'm not COMPLETELY sure I won't end up changing when I sit down to actually work on it, but in short: semi The Princess Bride vibes but with spies instead of pirates! Or uh! So um okay full disclosure lol I got all excited about an AU of this kind and then like an hour into daydreaming it into existence I realized I was heavily relying on / leaning into ASSASSIN territory rather than SPY. Which are notably different things. (Wait lol should I blame Spy x Family?? Totally Endo-sensei's fault and not at all mine, boom, take that.) ...And not to go even harder into sxf territory, whoops, but my idea was something along the lines of like, since Kurain School Channeling changes spirit mediums' appearance entirely, I was going to have Maya be something of an expert in disguise, and Franziska I was almost more or less going to let retain her actual position of international prosecutor with Interpol, although perhaps I'd lean more into a James Bond-esque intelligence agency sort of thing than what we see them do in-game, I'm not sure. Maya gets "killed" for real in 2-4 except she actually just becomes an international assassin(?) apprentice. Does this make sense? Probably not lol. But is it a little funny and a little sad? Yes, yes it is, and that's always my sweet spot as a writer. The only problem with this premise is I can't stop myself from considering what Phoenix would do / be doing in the background, because the problem with Maya "dying"-only-being-secretly-alive leaves at least twofold problems in justifying why Nick hasn't gone full conspiracy theory board stop-at-nothing-to-find-her, in that a) If she's not dead, Pearl can't channel her, and knowing Pearl I have to imagine that would be her first move to try tbh, and b) even if that weren't an issue, if the police were never able to track down Maya's body at all, I fully believe Nick would still throw himself at the problem until he's able to find answers irregardless, so. This ain't about him though!! So we'll just all have to deal with knowing he's taking reaaally really bad care of himself while he single-mindedly tries to figure out what's going on ahaha...ha. He's most absolutely the drowning child in the facebook post meme. Don't worry about him.

20 - Crossover/Fusion

Soooo. Okay. First may I say, I'm not the most crossover-fic-y person in the world neither as a reader nor writer. HOWEVER. Unfortunately. My one undying weakness has proven to be Ace Attorney x Legally Blonde (and more specifically Legally Blonde the Musical, the best version, though I do love Reese Witherspoon's performance ofc it's iconic but the musical is just MWAH ugh. One of my all-time favorite musicals and definitely the one I've listened to the most esp the past couple years hahaha.) The problem is, I've joked about so many slight variations / one very Long Intensive specific AA/LBtM crossover AU ideas, that trying to limit myself to a one-shot I could conceivably finish within a day proved too much for my decision paralysis and I didn't end up writing any of them lmao. Alas. Mostly, I just think it would be funny to see the characters interact in something of a vacuum just for fun, the problem is just that I happen to be uniquely terrible at not thinking through a Crack AU until I can, ahem, "crack" it, so to speak, to make it actually justifiably function. So in theory all I want to write for this day is some combination of like, Elle and Phoenix interacting and Miles and Emmett interacting, or the four of them having a conversation that goes something like "omg wait me too!! i also went from a creative undergrad degree directly into law to chase after some guy!! what are the odds teehee" while Emmett and Miles watch in horror, and also alternatively Emmett and Phoenix mostly bemusedly watching Elle and Miles geek out over like, fancy ass high class (pink) clothing like "uh yeah i have no idea what any of those words mean. she bought me this suit and i honestly wouldn't even be able to find the store again. oh no way he bought you yours too?? man, wild." Etc. (If anyone's interested in really watching me suffer and spiral: my longer and more intensive idea for an AU with them is to have them be tackling parallel cases where either of them (Elle and Phoenix) has specific knowledge that is helpful to defending the others' client, and they get like place-swapped through dimensional shenanigans somehow also related to the cases. And Phoenix has to abide by, like, nominally-accurate US trial law (I know he wouldn't really be licensed shhhh) -- by which I mean Emmett is sitting as his co-council and exercising the most restraint possible to keep from bashing his head into the table every two seconds. And Elle has to abide by guilty-until-proven-innocent Japanifornia trial law ("wait WHAT omg what do you MEAN the prosecution can just, like, not submit their evidence before the trial???? wait what do you MEAN we should just TAKE THAT that is EVIDENCE AT A CRIME SCENE--"). On the bright side, Elle gets to experience being one of the most normally-dressed people in a courtroom and not at all being looked down upon for her general vibes and wardrobe (like tell me she wouldn't fit right in in the ace attorney universe and seem completely ordinary), and Phoenix gets to experience a real jury (take that jurist system trial that Capcom would like to never ever talk about again) and also the judge going "so, Prospective Juror No. 103, do you understand that the defense in this criminal trial does not need to say a single word in order to be doing their job? the burden of proof lies entirely on the prosecution the entire time and the defense and defendant could choose to remain silent every day of trial and that would be completely within their rights, do you understand that? are you okay with that?" etc etc, shout out to my jury service a couple month ago and the kinds of questions a real life California judge asks jurors that would seriously blow the minds of every single character in Ace Attorney lmfao can you imagine? Anyway.) So yeah idk. Also something something, spirit mediums and the whole Greek Chorus bit from the musical... "School Spirit"... much to think about in crack AU land hahaha.)

21 - Absurd Tragedy

To be honest with you, this is the entire series lmao, so much so that I had trouble even thinking of an AU to be "alternate" in any way here, hahaha. What I sort-of landed on and have vague outline notes about in my doc is (not to make another excellent-musical-adaptation-of-an-already-top-tier-movie-which-is-itself-a-highly-unfaithful-adaptation-of-a-fairly-obscure-book reference) a Shrek the Musical "I Think I Got You Beat"-style debate about whose canonical absurd tragic circumstances are the worst, lmfao. Granted, this then turned into a "wait what if I use said argument as an absurd way in which to make Apollo and Trucy have a siblings realization completely on their own, which both compounds the fact they've both already lived such tragedy to begin with but also could touch on Phoenix knowing about it and not telling them about it", and uhhhhh lmfao a debate specifically between them is OBVIOUSLY not the romantic flirting banter of the song between Shrek and Fiona lmfao but like still, the general premise, just in a sibling bickering coat of paint instead. Also was toying with it being an Athena POV just to sell home / for the additional absurdity of the experience of "you've gone over to your friend's house to hang out and suddenly they're obnoxiously arguing with their sibling and their parents are nowhere to be seen and you're not exactly sure what you're supposed to do with yourself except awkwardly wait for them to be done" lmfao. Which I've most absolutely experienced from both ends multiple times hahaha. The alternative option for this prompt is just for me to write an excessively long essay debating and attempting to personally rank the main cast's level of absurd tragedy compared to each other, lol.

22 - Orphan

I wrote 324 words (slash one physical lined page in my actual notebook) of this while I was on vacation, lol. AU where Miles invites Phoenix to go watch one of Gregory's trials (or Phoenix invites himself, or Gregory invites him while Miles tries to hold the landline phone away from him, lol) and I mean of course the trial he goes to is The Trial (like, Jeffre... AW CRAP wait I don't actually know what Jeff Master's or Kate Hall's official names are lmfao uhhh. Well you know what don't worry about that. Happy AAIC day once again..? Lol. Anyway, the concluding day of Gregory's last trial, obviously, ignore the defendant's name.) Like, basically, here's my thought. AU where Phoenix is also there, and not only does that mean he knows what happened to Miles and Gregory but also, like, it's Phoenix. Tell me even at 9 he wouldn't be insisting on taking care of the poor kid who just lost everything and has nowhere in the world to go. Tell me he's not like, begging his parents they need to help him, lol. I think really this is just sort of an AU to explore one of my several personal headcanons for what Phoenix's parents are like, because I've spent a lot of time on a different version of them (coughs for the last AU on this list...coughs) but I also have a version of them which I find fun / funny where they're like, kinda hippy-dippy and like very hands-off (tbh almost all of my hc's about the Greater Wrights is they're very hands off, just in different ways) but in more of a "we want our child to experience the beauty and wonder of the world on his own time and not influence him or set rigid standards to conform to" kind of philosophy. Anyway my point is they like adopt/foster Miles somehow before Manfred can actually get his hands on him (he's still too busy dealing with the fresh bullet wound I guess?) This is just a gen au of course, not only because they're 9 lol but also the logistics of being adoptive/foster siblings gets weird quick lmao, but mostly I just find it interesting to think about what might have happened if Miles was in an environment where people paid more attention and cared more (and weren't explicitly influencing and manipulating him to exasperate the problem on purpose), because I have to imagine examining his nightmares a little more closely a little more quickly might have led someone (say, Phoenix who was also there in this AU) to find something slightly off about it or like start putting pieces together quicker, idk. I, uh, I'm not gonna lie to you, I don't actually remember how I intended to end this one hahaha ;; I started it but I was on vacation and neglected to outline / summarize the rest of my ideas the day of, so I guess I'll just have to see where my mind takes me when I get back to it.

23 - Musician

So my FIRST thought for this day was to use it as an excuse to finish my First Ever Ace Attorney Fic, which has been in WIP stasis for...uh.... 6. Years. i--SIX????? Shit. lmfao. yeah uh. I guess I created the first version of the doc (on my OneNote, god) back in 2018. So. Yeah. Hm. Omfg. This fic has partially existed since before Phoenix Disbarment Day. That is so. Wow. Damn. Y'all we're so close to aa4 time (2026) what the hell??? Ahem. Pianist Phoenix. That's. My point lmao. I know the original thing that sparked me loving this concept was actually some tumblr post I saw apparently a LONG long time ago, hahaha, and I know there's no way I'll find it with tumblr's abysmal search function, but just know it was not a completely original idea of mine when I say i fucking LOVE the headcanon that, you know what actually Phoenix CAN play the piano, he just chooses to do it as shittily as possible because that's kind of what he's like post-disbarment and he'd absolutely get a kick out of fucking with people like that even if they have no way to know they're being fucked with. It's like, he's no virtuoso or anything, but he can passably play the piano! He's just being an ass on purpose! It kills me every time lol. I won't say I think that's necessarily true in canon so ofc it's not like an end-all-be-all hc for me or anything but it's just sooooo funny to me that I like to break it out any time I possibly can. Look me in the eyes and tell me he wouldn't. Honestly, look me in the eyes and tell me if he actually put his mind to it in any meaningful way he wouldn't be able to get decent quickly regardless, considering the fact he became an accomplished lawyer on more-or-less a total whim. This to say: that was my intention, to finish this fic I've had brewing that was about Phoenix actually being able to play the piano and hiding it for a really long time but eventually being found out by Miles by chance. Except then I sat down on the plane and started writing a Pearl POV instead? In which she finds out about more or less the same exact concept but from Iris--also by chance, but less actually catching him playing and more being asked, "Oh, does he still play? He was always good at that." And then bc it's Pearl (Pearl I love you), of COURSE she goes and confronts him about it. Pearl might be the single most confrontational character in these games tbh which is SO FUNNY to me. Like I'm kind of exaggerating obviously but also am I? I know she has psyche-locks you have to break through multiple times throughout the series but stiiiill. Everyone else is so repressed and weird about anything remotely vulnerable, I stg. Props to Maya for making sure Pearl turned out pretty okay I guess, lmao. Anyhow yeah that's sort of the AU I ended up with. Pearl POV where she and Iris know they're sisters (don't get me started on this I have so many thoughts about the amount of information I'm positive Maya and Pearl are NEVER given skjflj) and Pearl visits Iris in prison regularly and on one such visit maybe she mentions Nick's job at Borscht and Iris makes a totally innocuous comment to the effect that Pearl learns he actually knows how to play the piano and she goes to get mad at him about it because he's definitely been pretending he can't and Pearl's pretty sure he's told neither Maya nor Trucy the truth and that cannot be left to stand.

24 - Pretend Hate

Okay, this exists in a similar realm to the Orphan prompt, except instead of Phoenix being there for the trial or the Wrights taking Miles in before Manfred can, it's more just AU where Miles doesn't actually cut all contact and he and Phoenix successfully end up exchanging correspondence (in semi-secret) during the time they're separated (i.e. they remain friends and close during the 15 years they're separated in canon). "Semi-secret" because they--esp Miles--somehow hide who exactly it is they're talking / writing to all the time but don't necessarily hide the fact they are doing that. Like, a fake cultural / language exchange program or something? I feel like there could be a world where Manfred really doesn't give a shit what Miles is up to as long as he's being molded into "someone Gregory Edgeworth would hate" (I don't think he would lol but that's another AU) and becoming a model von Karma protege prosecutor and such. He obviously goes to lengths to cut Miles off from everything he's familiar with in that he takes him to Germany, but I've always thought it's way more on Miles feeling guilty and blaming himself and thinking he's unworthy / pushing people away being the reason why they never talked before aa1 despite Phoenix's "attempts to contact him," whatever those may be specifically. And, yeah, I've watched that one episode of the anime but tbh I don't really use anime canon for almost anything besides maybe some of the fun visuals, haha, so I'm kind of disregarding that anyway. ANYWAY. My point is. The "pretend hate" part is that--sometime over the course of exchanging correspondence, Phoenix starts thinking something's weird and gets it in his head to "investigate" himself, since he's still in LA / has access to the scene of the crime and stuff, and then as a combo of him just plugging away at it until he has enough (circumstantial) evidence to be like "Miles I think you're wrong about this" and also a younger, slightly less repressed, slightly less in Manfred's pocket Miles actually being somehow willing to consider alternatives a little--they're able to put their heads together and eventually come to the (correct) conclusion ahead of time, before the 15-year statute of limitations, that it was almost certainly Manfred who did it. And then they work together to figure out how they can possibly PROVE that but they haven't thought of anything foolproof by the time aa1 events start rolling around (or at the very least, the 5-years-ago sections of aa3? It might make more sense if it's as soon as Miles returns to Japanifornia, and also I think Phoenix has way less reason to fall for Dahlia/Iris so hard if Miles is around and *coughs* available lmfao. Anyhow). So, in the hopes it'll keep Manfred from getting suspicious of Miles, they publicly pretend to hate each other, putting on a show of more of the canon attitude Miles esp. has before 1-4, but behind the scenes they're actually working together trying to think of a way they can definitely get a conviction to stick that Manfred won't be able to worm out of. And that's the AU! Idk, in terms of additional thoughts, I couldn't decide what to do / what would happen to Mia in this AU either, which doesn't super matter but did give me pause. So she might live, idk, depends the exact timeline. I do also think a scene where--Dahlia still hits on Phoenix in the reading room/courthouse library but he's like, actively there waiting for one of Miles' trials to conclude for a covert meeting, so when Miles gets there and is like "What are you messing with over there?" Phoenix is like "Oh, hey, check out this weird bottle some girl just gave me because apparently she fell in love at first sight, haha, isn't that so funny--" and then Miles recognizes it from the Fawles trial and they catch Dahlia earlier or something, idk. Or alternatively Phoenix was AT that trial so HE recognizes it. Or maybe it's funniest if he was there but doesn't recognize it until Miles does lmao, this is not the point of this AU but I can't stop myself from considering this part of it.

25 - Scientists

So THIS is the day I sort of alluded to earlier, many many words of post ago, where I got so invested in my The Martian AU that I started accidentally worldbuilding about it. What I've started and have about 400 words of (slash one notebook page, again from the plane after my vacation), is like, AU where it's NASA instead of law and I can make Phoenix go "What, like it's hard?" only it's about literally rocket science this time hahaha. Basically for this fic I just thought, well what if Phoenix just shows up as a flight tech or engineer or something (idk I don't really know that much about real life astronautics) as Miles is preparing for some space mission or something and he's just like WHAT are YOU doing HERE. I know I know I made Apollo literally be the titular martian and yes he ALSO has a (or tbh probably has a WORSE) canonical debilitating fear of heights, so, shhh, but I do like the idea that Phoenix is like, oh, who, me? In the flying metal death trap? No fucking thank you, I will be down here watching and talking directly to you through a headset or something. You cannot escape me however i can at least escape the building I'm in. No interest in seeing the Earth from above, thanks. Actually iirc Miles also doesn't love heights but meh whatever I'm fairly certain Phoenix talks about it the earliest in the series so there you go. Anyway, this would all be a mission prior to whatever mission it is that Apollo & Co. go on to Mars for the first part of the AU, so I guess you could consider it a prequel? And probably a fairly shippy one. I have other reasons for which it's fun for me if wrightworth is at least together if not outright married before the events of the "The Martian" part of the AU, so this one would be, like, about how exactly that went down.

26 - Victorian Era

Okay, once again, this just. IS. Literally. Dai Gyakuten Saiban / The Great Ace Attorney. Lol. That said, I've always loved the fanart I've seen of like Ryuunosuke and Phoenix (and respective Co.'s) interacting, or like, one or the other ending up in the other time period somehow, so I thought it'd probably be fun to try my hat at that. I feel like I've neglected the tgaa characters anyway, considering I actually somehow managed to reference PLvPW already, which is obviously significantly more of a spinoff and also just largely non-canonical, lmao. Also tgaa is just SO GOOD, augh. I'd love to have the multi-witness cross examinations from both of those games back sometime again, and I had so much fun with the jury in tgaa too, excellent mechanic. What was I talking about? So, I never completely decided on a concrete direction to take this, but even before AU-gust had started I'd already been toying with the idea of an AU where maybe Maya or Pearl channels a character from tgaa specifically because some documentary or special or something comes out talking about the real-life Herlock Sholmes (as opposed to the Totally Fictional "Sherlock Holmes" who Phoenix references in that one trilogy line, because I really think that's the funniest possible explanation for the discrepancy) and they're arguing over how that cannot possibly be a real person and no one was named that and etc etc and then to prove once and for all one way or the other Hurley is channeled and also for bonus joke content "recognizes" Phoenix at first (idk pretend his eyesight got worse in his older age, I know Phoenix and Ryuunosuke look, tbh, less alike than Ryuu and Apollo do, lmao, but again that's another AU) and then I get to play with Phoenix's mom's maiden name is Naruhodou and his middle name is Ryuuichi or such to that effect, because that is also a favorite headcanon of mine (not in small part because I can project my own life onto him by making him half-Japanese from SoCal, lol). So that's an idea I'd had that was already decently fleshed out and the ONLY problem is that if I'm having characters actually be channeled then there's a very real limiting factor of how many spirit mediums exist, and also that means Maya and/or Pearl don't get to interact with them, which for the sake of not overwriting would be good but for the sake of my love of a chaotic group conversation would be bad. But, uh, hopefully I do manage to hold myself to a less broad cast of characters, ideally, instead of bringing a bunch of them over to the other time period to see how they'd deal with that and interact en masse. Ha. Haha.

27. Younger / De-Aged

So here's another AU I'd already had idle thoughts about before AU-gust had even started! I...will get into this later, TRUST I will, lmfao, but I do have an extremely involved AU already in which Time Travel of the "regression" type is involved, i.e., they have their memories of the "future" but are thrown back into the past including their own younger bodies however-many-years-ago. So I've got that type of thing covered, I promise I do, haha. And additionally, I've actually already written them "younger" for my colorless AU way back on day 2, so I did think perhaps I'd just continue that one and say it was for this prompt (a smart person thing to do. this is the objectively correct option). On the other hand. I find pre-DL6 Phoenix and Miles reacting to how their lives actually turned out in the end HILARIOUS. Tell me it's not funny. And tell me it's not, like, some sort of depressing-yet-ultimately-hopeful for the older/current them to look at their child selves and be like Kid, Oh, You're Going To Go Through Some Shit, but also reflect on how they did make it and things turned out okay and life goes on etc etc. My problem with this kind of thing is that it's hard to come up with a justification for and that's not a problem in itself but it is a problem in me not knowing how i'm going to end a fic, which often gets me decision-paralysis-ed into not being able to start it in the first place, which did in fact happen to me here, haha. I think ideally I'd just do a quick "wait, was that a dream?" kind of thing where they (Miles and Nick) have a short conversation with themselves, but... Uh-oh, what, did you think that was all I had? You clearly don't know me at all. OTHER au option where young Phoenix is in the future/present and rather than himself and Miles it's the Wright Anything Agency who like, idk, find him roaming the streets of LA (fun fact! I actually came up with this AU one day while I was quite literally roaming the streets of LA myself at like 3am-ish. Do with that what you will). He is of course wearing a hat or beanie or something at first because come on, that's way more fun, and no matter how much Trucy, Apollo, and Athena are like "hm idk something about this kid seems familiar" I just don't think my first thought upon seeing some vaguely familiar kid alone on the street would be, like, "Oh, that's obviously a child version of my father/coworker/boss!" So. I'm not really sure that one has an end point either, though, so the same problem still stands, haha. The bad, someone get a spray bottle to spritz me, option of this is, obviously, to combine the two, so it's like the WAA find him first and then are like UHHHHH we need an adult (never mind actual adult-age-ness between them) and somehow end up getting Miles there too, but idk. I... should not. Overcomplicate. I shouldn't. Even, even if...august is over...so theoretically there's no longer any sort of On-Time component since it's late either way........ definitely not.

28 - Caretaker

Here are my exact notes / entire doc for this day. Ahem. And I quote: i brought up the lighthouse keeper thing but i dont know where that would be going exactly maybe this is a thing i could do franmaya for??? since i still havent gotten there? actually lol that as a lighthouse thing is funny. ghost romance? my three tropes rattle End quote. Anyway, shout-out to my friend hailstorm for being the one there to brainstorm "lighthouse keeper" with at the self-same bar trivia that I mentioned previously, lmao. I actually think that was even the same exact day as the The Martian quote was a relevant answer to a question. So yeah, even though I already kind of have franmaya planned for the spies day, that's both kind of sort of a darker AU overall and--WELP well, okay, so, i do, you know, recognize maybe a ghost romance isn't, uh, necessarily the fluffiest kind of AU lmao. Don't mind that. My point is, I love the vibes of a lighthouse keeper AU, and I generally like ghost romance as a trope, so that does feel like a viable option. Honestly, I kind of separately wanted an excuse to practice writing miego also, so maybe the Feys are just all chillin' in this lighthouse for...Some Reason, and that's side-plot relevant somehow, idk. I know Franziska and Godot exist in the same place for a minute in 3-5, but I honestly can't really remember them interacting? I think she'd fucking HATE him though lmfao. He'd think she's funny but I actually think she'd be too reactive for his most preferred teasing/fucking-with-people dynamics, haha. Regardless, if he is there at all, it's a very minor B plot, I think, 'cause this ain't about him, lol.

29 - Forced into Hiding

Achtung, baby, 2566 words of this are written! Lol. So uh, yeah. In short, AU where Klavier gets hounded by fans on the street while he's also having just a bad personal day, and the closest and best place he can think to hide from them is at the WAA. I, um, actually hadn't realized I'd written quite this much of this, haha, it was supposed to be short and fairly silly but then it turned into Klavier having a little bit of a panic attack maybe and getting consoled by Apollo, sure, of course, but then also having to deal with and experience some amount of closure / reach some kind of understanding with the Wrights, also. It's kind of part Klav character study, kind of part complaint against freaking Capcom for neglecting him (boo, I love him, stop ignoring him, or, yknow, worse, whatever the heck turnabout academy was supposed to do for him, which honestly almost felt like a step back to be quite honest). Okay, also, taking a slightly closer look at what I've already written, the REASON I'd thought I'd written way less than this is definitely because he hasn't even GOTTEN to the Agency yet, never mind spoken with any of its members, lmao. That would do it. In any case, I like the idea of Klavier having a bit of a vulnerable moment, and I also like the idea of him and Phoenix actually, like, talking for real, instead of, once again, whatever Turnabout Academy and DD was meant to tell me, which seems to be less than nothing. I kind of like the fact that it gave him a law mentor? I mean, she was very dead, but I have a very meaningful Use for her in later-to-be-announced-AUs-I-keep-teasing, haha. I of course considered other people and times when people in AA might be forced into hiding, but this felt like a silly but also meaningful way to do that without it just being an exploration of Miles and his not-suicide note (which wasn't exactly "forced" anyhow, he did that all on his own) or like, Zak Gramarye (who also completely did that to himself but w/e). Making it about Klavier completely escapes the bounds of canon, because canon is a weenie about talking about any of his actual feelings EVER, so screw you Capcom, I'm doing it for you. Don't worry about it. Trucy commiserating with him about still Loving someone, perhaps the very closest person biologically related to you you've ever known and depended on in your life, who not only did you very big harm personally but explicitly used you in a very real and participatory way to perpetuate the harm elsewhere and all the complexities about Feelings For And About Them Therein, and Phoenix somehow having enough self-awareness to recognize that shutting down completely and isolating yourself away doesn't actually do you any good even when you're at your lowest, and recognizing that Klavier doesn't exactly have a "Trucy" to be a focal point to draw him out of that, and that therefore he needs to be a bit more open to his peers. (Insert joke about "Well, I'm really definitely not suggesting you go adopt an entire child, that's really probably, uh, not the way to go, actually, but, you know. Everyone needs people, that just makes us human." Etc.)

30 - The Beginning of the World

So, hm, as it turns out, I got extremely sidetracked this day thinking about the next day on the docket. Whoops! Unfortunately this ultimately means my ideas for this day as of now are relatively uninspired: I had the thought that I could explore the beginning of Troupe Gramarye, which is its own sort of world, or else, maybe something about the beginning of the series itself but from the somewhat unconventional POV of a one Mr. Larry Butz. Yes, that's a bit self-serving in that it lends toward trying to complete a list of "main, recurring characters' POVs" that I've had as a sidequest all month, but, still. That said, just exploring actual canon through Larry's POV isn't exactly what I'd classify as an "AU" necessarily, so I feel like something would need to be different here. Okay, wait--not to draw inspiration a dang week late to the party, BUT. Now that I'm typing this up, I'm thinking, okay, maybe, what if. The "Beginning" of the series, technically speaking, is basically the fact that Phoenix gets put on (class) trial for stealing Miles' lunch money--which notably only happened because Larry himself picked it up when it fell on the floor. So, perhaps, what about an AU where he doesn't do that? I mean, I guess it would just turn the entire world of AA into something of a terrible series of tragedies with no real closure about them, lol, rip, but it could possibly be interesting? I dunno! (And, yes, I know DL-6 itself is more or less the basis of the series, if we're being ticky-tacky, but Phoenix wouldn't have been involved without meeting Miles, and that somewhat necessitates the class trial, and without him none of canon would get resolved, so. I will say, I do love going back to the earliest points to see how and how much you can make canon deviate or stay the same--reasonably speaking--via minor tweaks and butterfly effect and all that, so this could be interesting, although I once again must say I think it really just means a bunch of innocent people, Miles included, are going to be put away and possibly executed over murders that weren't their faults, lol. Hm. Much to consider.)

31 - Two(+) of the Above:

Beginning of the World + Younger/De-Aged + Canon Divergence (+ Feat. Jokers: Guardian, Everybody Lives)

With all of this, the ONLY prompts I've actually missed on this list become Animagus which I swapped for the Wings joker, and the last joker of the four, Thriller, which was never exactly a priority of mine because I'm not sure I'd write that sort of thing particularly well, so! Wild! Completionists everywhere almost rejoice, haha. SOOOOO. For the eagle-eyed readers out there, I'll bet you're just dying to know what this one AU I've been teasing all post could Possibly be to warrant such a build-up, right? (...Right?) The answer is the at-ow! (Phonetically, lol. I've been calling it that instead of out loud saying all the letters in AATTAU out loud every time.) My friend Ben can attest to the fact that this behemoth AU (her word which I'm stealing) has been in the works for, uhhhh... months?

MONTHS. AHAHA. Ha. That. Sure says March! It sure does! And it is not lying. Lmfao. (Ignore the time, I was working overnight then--my beloved work schedule whomst I miss dearly--so that's a perfectly reasonable discord-ing hour for March-me.) Also, once again, I'm choosing to blame Ben for my extensive AU problems, she sent me a very cute time loop AA fic that utterly destroyed my entire mind because it got the mere idea of "Time-based AU" caught in my endless void-idea-hole. So. Here's the real rub. The literal reason I started doing this AU-gust challenge in the freaking first place was that I was absolutely Desperate to find a way to overcome my writer's block. And one of the (admittedly many) reasons I wanted to do this was because I have been ITCHING to write this stupid behemoth AU for real. I have a massive outline doc already, I have a whole slew of scenes planned, I have lots of character archage, I have sooo many things I want to say and explore about them all you have No Idea. It's extremely self-indulgent and absolutely my personal magnum opus for all my very specific favorite AA headcanons and ideas and thoughts. And obviously, it worked! I did indeed overcome my writer's block! And I had so much fun doing it!! And I'll admit, from the very beginning, I had been eyeing that "Everybody Lives" joker prompt, because...that's it! That's basically the point of the AATTAU (Ace Attorney Time Travel Alternate Universe, if that wasn't clear, haha). I don't want to let myself get TOO into it, because Oh Boy, I sure will! If you let me! Haha. But basically the premise is EXACTLY what I stated in that very first discord message I could find about it. Maybe not so much "time travel" technically speaking than it is "gaining memories of everything that happened in canon right as the DL-6 earthquake happens", so it's more regression than actual time travel since they're in their own younger bodies and everything, but still. It's basically my excuse to treat canon like it did happen and YET allow for everybody to survive and for the very fun cocktail of traumas and joys that come from remembering what happened but having the chance for something different (and all the effort that goes into making something different happen in the first place).

Now, as far as AU-gust goes. I was obviously not about to even pretend I could remotely start this during August itself or justify connecting any of it to the series and the prompts I'd already written for it, lol, but I also couldn't get the idea out of my head, so I got it in my head I really wanted to end the month with SOMETHING that somehow tied into my AATTAU, if only to motivate myself to actually get on it and start writing out instead of solely outlining everything that's been in the works all these months. So to that end, I saw the "Everybody Lives" and the "Beginning of the World" prompts, and an idea came to me. I'd been dancing around the justification aspect of this AU for most of the time I've had it because let's be honest, it's just a very self-indulgent idea and it does not NEED "justification" to serve the purpose I want it to serve and be what I want it to be. But the AU-gust prompts gave me some actual inspiration and an Idea as to a way to solidify my unnecessary "justification" but in a way that it doesn't need to be directly part of the final product of the AATTAU (like, I could make it a separate one-shot and either just link it to and from the AATTAU fic itself, or if it all ends up being a series, then I could just include it in the series but it wouldn't be necessary to read to understand what's going on. And so, I present! The Ami Fey one-shot special I came up with just to fit these prompts :3 ...And by "i present" i mean, uh, I wrote 4k words of it on the 31st and didn't even come close to what I wanted to cover, because I suck at being concise. Lmfao. (Shocker.) Basically, I used Ami Fey as a semi-self-insert kind of godlike figure to reason out a semi-plausible way to make the concept I want to explore happen, happen. And I had a lot of fun, but I do still have a bunch to finish, but either way, I'm very pleased to have a (somewhat silly but ultimately fun for me) reasoning as to the gears ticking behind the scenes of my idea! To be somewhat less vague, the whole AU is predicated on the idea that, Phoenix and/or Miles (who remember from the beginning / from December 28th, 2001) meeting the other characters at-or-after the time they originally met in canon are able to recall their memories of the "original" (i.e. canon) timeline. I've used some magatama shenanigans to have some fun with this, and I'm now using Ami Fey and magatama shenanigans to explain how and why this is A Thing, even if it isn't necessarily the objectively most logically sound argument I've ever made. It's still a good one, in my book, and more importantly I like it, so that's all that really matters.

To briefly explain the "two" (by which I mean 5?) of the "above" I'm using here:

Beginning of the World: This fic specifically would show the beginning of the "world" of this AU specifically! Woohoo! Go Ami Fey, creating a whole new set of problems for our beloved little Guys to go through, hahaha. I think I may have based her character a little too much on Maya mischievousness, but, oh well. Let's just say that's where she gets it from.

Younger/De-Aged: As I've already kind of expressed, the premise of this AU is mostly just them being their own younger selves except they also have the memories of all of canon (and maybe a year or two after the fact, I need to confirm a couple dates).

Canon Divergence: I feel like this is decently self-explanatory, but then again maybe it's a bit cheesy to include this here, since it basically diverges from nearly the first major event of canon (DL-6), but that's not the only time things go almost-canonically but diverge a bit in some way, so I think it really does fit here.

Guardian: This one is a bit multi-fold. It somewhat refers to the way I'm making Gregory Edgeworth the de facto guardian (as in, legal guardian) of mostly everyone I possibly can because I love him and he would be great at it. But also, guardian in that, Mr. Savior Complex Phoenix Wright himself has literally all of the information at his disposal to try to "save" the potential Happy Lives of literally every person he loves, and, well. He does a pretty good job about it; not without cost, haha, but I feel like I can definitely call him a "guardian" of others in this AU. And, as for specifically the one-shot Ami fic, she is essentially the guardian of the entire Fey lineage, in this AU at least, so that also totally fits and is most immediately relevant.

Everybody Lives: I think this one is pretty self-explanatory at this point, lol. But for the one-shot: Ami is essentially trying to secure an "everybody lives" scenario, even if it hasn't been achieved yet, so it's more an aspiration at that point, but ultimately it is indeed successful. Now, "living" does not mean, like, "totally healthy" (mentally or physically), so there's lots more to it, but in short, yes, they live.

And......that's basically a wrap on that!

I mean, it isn't actually at all, since I still have to finish 26/31 fics, lmfao, but as far as the idea generation stage goes, and the use of the AU-gust prompts, that's what's up in my world! Somewhere out there maybe there's an AU of my actual real life where i finished more of these on time, but i'm still pretty pumped by all the work that's already been made on making so many AA fics a reality for me. I've come a long way since starting that first AA fic in 2018...!!

I still have all the aforementioned 26 fics to finish obviously, and I also have AU continuations planned for at the very least, day 2's colorless prompt and day 3's dark academia prompt (let alone day 31's, lol, but that's its own monster entirely), but I'm optimistic!

Thankfully I actually finished using nano to word track for me before they, you know, doubled down on AI and called everyone "abelist" (???) for not supporting it, which, uh. Well. But for my own posterity and if anyone's curious, here's what my word counts looked like throughout the month of AU-gust--admittedly including some planning and outlining:

It ended up being 51,377 words total in August on these AU prompts alone!

I feel like I wanted to say something poignant and meaningful at the end here, but it's almost 9:30 and I work at 4am tomorrow, so I'm going to go ahead and wrap this post up here, haha. If you read all of this, thank you very much for joining me on my little journey!

Once again, here is the Ao3 series where I'll post anything more that gets done, so if you'd like to see how any of these AUs turn out, feel free to keep an eye on that!

And here is the previous post with the 1st half+ of the AUs if you missed it and are interested now!

My copy arrived literally as I was writing this up so I've spent the last several prompts of this post listening to the AAIC soundtrack in the music collection, and, oh man, it's seriously so surreal this exists??? I might be an old fogey who has and will for an indeterminate amount of time continue to have trouble letting go of the fan translation names I've lived with for the past decade or whatever, but it's seriously so awesome the entire series is finally available internationally!! Let's hope for my sake AA7 doesn't come out before I finish any of my AATTAU, because that would really throw a bit of a wrench in my decision-making process, lol.

Bye for now!

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