#but no. she would refuse. and then she becomes an attorney

[oc-cinematic-universe]

literally sat bolt upright in bed in a confused daze because, while my thoughts were wandering while trying to sleep, i remembered dara becomes a lawyer and it surprised me so much i woke up

[acewritesfics]

This is my Fucking Wedding Day | Tommy Shelby

Pairing: Tommy Shelby x Reader

Request: No

Warnings: Swearing. S/N - Sister's Name, S/H - Sister's Husband, E/C - Eye Colour.

Word Count: 1,272

Tommy Shelby Masterlist | Main Masterlist

Standing in a slip and stockings with her makeup freshly applied, Y/N tells her mother, "I need to see Tommy."  

"You're well aware that you cannot see him right now. It is unlucky for the groom to see his bride in her wedding gown before she walks down the aisle," Her mother makes her objections known.  

"Have you forgotten who Tommy is?" She inquires while casting a wary gaze at her mother. "That man creates his own bad luck; he doesn't need a ridiculous superstition to create it for him. And also, I won't be wearing my wedding gown."  

"And you still want to marry him? I thought he was a gypsy. Doesn't he believe in such 'ridiculous' superstitions?"  

"You wouldn't need to ask that question if you actually took the time to get to know him," Y/N scolds her. She stops her seamstress from bringing her gown to her, asking for her silk robe instead.  

Her mother has never been accepting of Tommy, and her entire family disapproves of the Birmingham gangster, who will soon become her husband. Her mother and father have no trouble reminding her that Tommy isn't good enough for her, that all he brings is trouble and death, and that she'll be the next to perish, whether it's by his hands or by an enemy that he's enraged. However, despite what others say and have said, she has continued her relationship with the man she loves so deeply.  

She acknowledges that Thomas Shelby isn't a flawless man, but she also believes that he has wonderful qualities and those qualities have led her to fall so in love with him.  

Her father and siblings despise Tommy so much that they refused to attend her wedding. Its broke Y/N's heart when they couldn't even pretend to be happy for her. At least her mother was trying to try for her. Her mother knew she would feel regret and shame for missing her youngest daughter's most important day. Not to mention, she doesn't want to appear prejudiced. The older woman also wed a man that her family didn't approve.  

She defends Tommy and their relationship by saying, "I know he's not perfect like S/N's husband, but I am in love with Tommy, and he loves me."  

The fact that her sister had become pregnant with Andrew, her oldest nephew, after only knowing her husband for two months made it clear why she had wed him. S/H, her husband, is a renowned attorney who is adored by everyone and well regarded in his legal community. Their marriage was good, and they made it work but the only love they shared was the mutual love they had for their children they had together when they tried to make it work, romantically.  

"Now, could you kindly hand me my robe?" she asks, growing irritated with her mother's constant putting down of her soon-to-be husband. The seamstress brought the silk robe to Y/N's mother who handed it to her with a disapproving glare.  

There are times when Y/N's mother regrets being as headstrong and stubborn as she is since now, she has a daughter who is just like her. As a child, Y/N was always the one who resembled her the most since she was independent, headstrong, outspoken and free-spirited. Y/N carried some of those characteristics into adulthood. Those same characteristics helped her to tame her Peaky Blinder lover.  

Y/N pulls on her robe and ties the sash around her waist.  

"Your hair still has to be done," her mother calls after her as she walks toward the door.  

"I'll be back in a moment," She exits the room with a elegant boldness in her step and makes her way to the section of the church where Tommy, his brothers and the rest of his wedding party will be.  

Y/N is just about to knock on the door when Tommy's voice can be heard quite clearly above the others.  

"This is my fucking wedding day! I want you all to be on your best fucking behavior. My bride deserves to have her special day not ruined by anyone, including you lot. If anyone causes any fucking trouble, you will escort them as discreetly as possible out of the building and off the property. Gentlemen, this is not the day for violence. It is a day for celebration. If any of you start fighting, I'll fucking kill you myself. Do you understand what I am saying?"  

Tommy's speech is followed by a chorus of "yes boss."  

She knocks on the door and stands outside the room until someone opens it. She doesn't want to make a spectacle or grab anybody's attention by just being in her robe and a slip. She beams when she sees Finn, who has a surprised expression on his face when he realizes it's his soon-to-be sister-in-law. The youngest Shelby brother is by far her favourite among her in-laws, but she wouldn't admit it to anybody but Tommy. Though he aspires to be just like his brothers, he has never lost the innocence he's carried right through his childhood.   

"Miss Y/L/N, you're not supposed to be here."  

"I am aware, but I need to speak with Tommy. It won't take long, I swear" she promises the teenager. "Would you kindly get him for me?"  

"I can't say no to you, can I?" He chuckles softly and closes the door.  

A few seconds later, Tommy rushes out the door, a worried look on his handsome face. He stops in front of her and reaches for her waist. "Is everything all right?"  

She responds smiling, placing her hand on his face, softly caressing his cheek with her thumb as she looks into his breathtakingly gorgeous blue eyes, which had captured her interest since she first saw him in London three years ago.   

"Everything is perfect, Thomas, but there is something I need to tell you. I've been trying since yesterday morning, but we haven't had a moment alone to ourselves."  

"We're alone now, so what is it?" His voice is gentle and soothing.  

She takes one of his hands from around her waist and moves it toward her lower abdomen. "I learned that the illness I've been experiencing is not just pre-wedding nerves. I saw the doctor the day before yesterday after Polly made a remark about my body changing. Tommy, I'm pregnant."  

"You're pregnant?" His eyes widen in astonishment, yet his lips have a trace of a smile. "You're pregnant!"  

He continues to smile from ear to ear as he ends the kiss. "It's fortunate that our wedding is today. It's one less thing we have to worry about before the baby arrives."  

She looks at him with such affection in her E/C eyes that she lets out a soft giggle at what he said. "I love you, Mr. Shelby."  

"I love you as well, Mrs. Shelby," He responds leaning in to kiss her again.  

She leans in close to his lips and murmurs, "I'm not Mrs. Shelby quite yet."  

"It's just a matter of time," he replies before pressing his lips against hers and kissing her passionately, wanting nothing more than for their wedding to begin so she may become Mrs. Thomas Shelby.  

"Oi, you two leave it for the honeymoon, yeah?" Arthur's gruff voice broke the almost newlyweds apart. "Now Miss Y/L/N, I don't mean to sound rude, but you best be off to finish getting ready."  

"I'm on my way," she tells the oldest Shelby brother as she steps back from Thomas and leaves to go back to her chamber, leaving the two brothers to finish getting ready themselves. 

[doctorsiren]

So I said this in the tags of my last post, but then I went wacky and doodled up some pages of this other AU idea that stemmed from the idea of that comic I did

In this AU, Miles goes to Diego Armando’s office a few weeks after the Fawles trial. There is no cocky, arrogant, or smug air about him like there was during the trial and instead he seems really shaken and nervous. Diego’s like “hey what’s wrong?” And Miles is quiet but then says that he needs help. He tells Diego that he can’t get the image of Fawles’s suicide out of his head and that he has no one he can talk to about this. Diego asks about Miles’s mentor, but Miles says that there’s absolutely no way he could ever go to his mentor for help with emotional stuff because it would show “weakness” and he also isn’t comfortable with von Karma. To make a long story short (because I’ve thought so much about this), Miles ends up pleading with Diego to protect him from von Karma just in case he goes after him for switching sides to be a defense attorney. He knows that von Karma will see him as weak and a traitor for switching teams after a single case, but Miles can’t be someone he’s not. Diego points out that Miles seems to be trying to be who von Karma wanted him to be. So he asks Miles what he wants to be, and Miles responds by saying he wants to be his dad (just like in my 1985 animatic 😭).

So Miles decides to renounce prosecution. He rips off his cravat and throws it in the garbage in Diego’s office and declares that he’ll become a defense attorney. He also asks Diego is he could be his mentor to help him in both being better at defense law and also just being better with interacting with people.

He joins the Grossberg Law Offices and works alongside Mia and Diego to gather evidence on Dahlia Hawthorne, as he now too believes that she has done terrible things.

After Diego is poisoned, Miles freaks out because people just keep dying or getting hurt around him and it scares him. (Oh…baby boy just wait until Mia dies too-)

He takes the case to defend Phoenix, gets TERRIFIED when Phoenix eats the poison necklace, and then at the end, Phoenix was like “oh wow! You’re a defense attorney now?? Lmao when did that happen??” Bc he had been too busy simping over Dahlia. But Miles tells him that he should still pursue law so that they could work together and also so that Phoenix’s law classes and studying wouldn’t have gone to waste. So Phoenix becomes a lawyer and works with Miles and Mia at the Fey & Co Law Offices until she dies and then it becomes Edgeworth & Co Law Offices because he had been a lawyer for longer.

I like the idea that in this AU, Phoenix and Miles obviously have huge crushes on each other, but these idiots still refuse to acknowledge or admit it <3

Also :((( when Diego wakes up, he still goes on his whole antagonist arc as Godot, and Miles refuses to tell Phoenix the truth about who he is. See, I also like the idea that in this AU, Nick and Miles are still as cagey with their past and truths as they are in normal AA

As you can see, I am perfectly normal !! I think about ace attorney a very normal amount!! 🤭

[iaminsideyourwalls]

Because i have multiple mental illnesses i thought i'd share with you some of my other 10th class/ tf2 character designs concepts.

THE CHARGER (BLU faction)

The BLU counterpart to @gordonfreemanreal 's RED Charger. Name: IJsbrand Class: Offense Pronouns: he/him His whole deal is charging madly at you, getting in your melee to distract you from what you're doing and force you to fight him. Primary is a bayonet rifle. In combat he uses running blades but otherwise uses a wheelchair. This is my first time attempting to draw running blades so i'm sure they're at least a little bad. Reactor's his buddy who knew him before she worked there. Her former neighbor. -angry at fucking everyone -has torn somebody’s throat out with his teeth -has been arrested for throwing billiards balls at teenagers -refuses (justifiably) to speak English -woke up lying on a railroad track without his legs and just crawled to a phone and called a cab

THE MIXOLOGIST

Class: Support Never finished this one. I don't like it anymore! But the idea was you could mix up certain drinks that would give your teammates special abilities at a cost (they would become more drunk with every drink). Health determines alcohol tolerance. Idk i might come back to it but it's still so funny to think about because if tf2 had this mechanic it would fundamentally ruin the game beyond repair.

THE ATTORNEY

Administration The Attorney works with Mann Co to keep the company and its employees out of legal trouble. Her motto is "just listen to me because cops lie and jail sucks"

[mikeysbride]

We Are Not Going Back

The 2024 U.S. presidential election has been anything but typical or boring, especially in the last month. Once President Joe Biden made the decision to remove himself from the race against Donald Trump in favor of endorsing VP Kamala Harris, everything changed. And it changed for the better if you're a Democrat. I was upset when he first withdrew, feeling that he was basically pushed into it by the media's insistence he is too old to run despite the record he's had as President the last 4 years. But then, within minutes, it seemed, my attitude changed to one of a sense of hope I hadn't felt in a while where the election is concerned. In reality, he made the ultimate selfless decision to put the country's interests above his own, and that is a remarkable quality, especially in a politician. It shows he's the real deal.

It appears I am not alone. The surge of excitement in the Democratic Party surrounding Kamala's nomination, which she'll officially accept this week, has been nothing short of amazing to watch. I have not seen anything like this since President Obama, and that says a lot. Her rallies are breaking attendance records, and even longtime Republicans are pledging to vote for her.

Of course, Kamala has already received the predictable criticism from the Trump cult about everything from her heritage to her laugh. Trump also still refuses to pronounce her name correctly, which is blatantly disrespectful but also typical behavior for him. If Kamala ("comma-la") is too hard for him to pronounce, Madame President will do just fine, I'm sure. But none if this should come as news to anyone. They have nothing else to go on, so of course they resort to the lowest rungs on the ladder when in reality, she has a stellar resume and record having served as a prosecuting attorney, District Attorney, Attorney General, Senator, and now Vice President of the United States. She is an actual prosecutor going up against Trump and his 34 felony convictions, and he's allowed to do that for the highest job in the country even though many jobs won't consider you if you have even 1 felony conviction. It's laughable really; it would be hilarious if it weren't also so sad and ridiculous. You can bet anyone of color would not be allowed the same leniency.

A few days before Kamala became the presumptive nominee, my 16-year-old daughter told me she felt apprehensive about her future if there were to be another Trump presidency. I told her that I feel the same way for myself. I actually feel that way about anyone who isn't a rich, straight white male because those are the only people Donald Trump cares about - those who look and think exactly like he does. But then, Joe passed the torch to Kamala, and it seemed the country awakened to a clearly better alternative and someone even the independents could get behind. Suddenly, there was hope that maybe, just maybe, things would be OK after all. That same daughter then came to me, just a few days after our previous conversation, and told me she is no longer fearful the way she was before. My 14-year-old daughter echoes her feelings, and the both of them have taken a greater interest in the election as a result. My teenage daughters are inspired and can see themselves in Kamala, and that is huge for them and for me.

I don't care who you are; this is historic and a big deal. It takes an incredible amount of privilege to see all this unfolding and not appreciate how significant this is in our history. Not only are we on the verge of having our first female U.S. President, but she's also Black. Not only that, but she's smart, successful, personable, and damn qualified. I can't help but think of my grandparents and how thrilled they would have been to live to see Barack Obama become President and now Kamala Harris. We came so close to a female President with Hillary Clinton in 2016, and I pray the election deniers and complacent people don't mess it up for us this time. I honestly don't think we can survive another Trump presidency and come out the same way ever again. He's already promised to be a dictator on his first day back in office and has alluded to doing away with elections...neither of which we need. And we certainly don't need him. He only wants to be President to avoid jail time, point blank. We can't let that happen.

We have a chance this November to save our democracy and keep moving forward - to make a hopeful future available to everyone and not just the rich, straight white males of the country. We can do this, and I have to believe we will. This is a test we absolutely cannot stand to fail. I understand the assignment. Do you?

[its-hai-time]

a huuuuge aspect of my ace attorney headcanons that makes me go fucking batshit insane is the words unsaid. The words no one ever needed to say because there’s a mutual understanding there. A weight in their pasts that they both constantly acknowledge but refuse to say.

The example of this that makes me go absolutely wild is with Phoenix and Trucy. Phoenix was heavily depressed when he took in Trucy, while Trucy had been a child. Trucy already had her perceive ability, she could clearly see Phoenix in pain but whatever she did she couldn’t take the pain away. Yet Phoenix may have felt like a failure of a father being depressed and unable to care for Trucy the way he would have wanted to. Trucy knows Phoenix feels like a failure, and for that she feels like she has failed. Phoenix knows how Trucy feels about failing as a daughter and then he himself feels like even more of a failure. They grow incredibly close despite this, but there’s always that aspect. That mutual understanding that they’ve failed each other but they’ll do their best to make it up to one another. Both of them take the blame onto themselves and if either of them were to bring it up it would make the other feel worse. 

It’s also incredibly evident in the relationship between Phoenix and Edgeworth. The mutual understanding that Edgeworth will never be the same boy that he used to be. The constant wondering how things could have gone differently. This grows after the events of Farewell My Turnabout, where Phoenix is angry with Edgeworth for faking his own death for a year. It created a pattern in Phoenix’s life; as soon as the two of them form some sort of bond Edgeworth disappears. Their relationship with one another becomes stronger over time, but Phoenix works with the assumption and fear that Edgeworth will disappear on him again. They don’t talk about this. Neither of them are really equipped for that kind of conversation.

Reading into relationships like these makes me go insane. There’s so much depth in their understanding of each other and the way they fumble with their communication. They’re so human in these aspects. These relationships are all so poetic and rich and GOD I lose my mind.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

sooooooooooo for the NRC family day interactions, i'm curious to see what would happen if riddle and step-dad ashengrotto met in the wild, because riddle has expressed that recently he's gotten interested in law. it would b cool for him to chat with the canon lawyer who taught azul about laws n contracts.

plus the whole, riddle being unsure actually because his whole life his parents had plans for him and planned for him on becoming a healer like them, but now he's interested in something else. n while i kno he reads about law, it would give him a lot of insight to actually, speak to someone who does this for a living, who maybe even suggests ideas of finding a way to combine both medicine and law, like medical law (branch of law) or medical jurisprudence (branch of medicine).

and other stuff too.

idk i just think a conversation between the two could be interesting, even outside of like, riddle's own interest in law; like another interesting thing would b his whole, family/homelife situation & the fact that riddle hints that his parents don't really get along that well + knowing that step-dad ashengrotto met mama ashengrotto while she was filing for divorce... just lots of ideas in me brain i think.

idk hopefully this isn't unintelligible sdfjsdklfd thank youuuuuuu

Thank you for submitting this really interesting idea ^^ This one is really long compared to the others, so I slapped a cut in to make scrolling by easier. This fic borrows ideas from a theory that I talked about a few days ago?

I don't know if I've ever mentioned this before, but I think it's cool that Azul not only has a stepdad, but actually gets along with him. Rarely do I see divorce portrayed as a positive thing (I mean, how often do we see wicked stepparents or a child that refuses to accept the stepparent), so Azul's family was really refreshing to see.

Not me taking inspiration from the divorce lawyer in Enchanted and various characters from Ace Attorney for stepdaddy Ashengrotto—

Family means Nobody is Left Behind or Forgotten.

The cafeteria was packed, and the ghost chefs were working overtime to feed the influx of hungry guests. Staff, students, and their family members had been coming in and out throughout the day, leaving not many tables open and the food line long. Some had taken to sitting cross-legged on the floor or spilling out into the hallway to make space for new arrivals.

One look at the gaggle of people along the walls and on the ground, and Mrs. Rosehearts had turned up her nose. "I won't have you sitting like a barbarian, Riddle. We'll find you a proper seat. Look, there’s one now. You sit—I’ll see what they have available on the menu and fetch you an appropriate meal.”

“Yes, mother.”

Riddle shifted uncomfortably at a cramped table. He dared not falter in his posture. Back straight, head high, hands neatly folded in his lap. He was a rose among those deemed the weeds called riffraff.

… It’s noisy, Riddle noted.

Indeed, it was. The cafeteria buzzed with activity, students exchanging chatter and laughter with their loved ones. Sharing bites of food and stories, nourishing their bellies and their souls.

A memory clad in flowers filled his mind.

“Riddle!”

He was back in the Heartslabyul gardens, colorful decorations and card soldiers in every direction. Flamingos and hedgehogs at the ready, the roses painted red, a dormouse in the tea pot. Cakes, tarts, and finger sandwiches sliced up and served with tea.

Ace and Deuce were arguing over something silly again. By the sumptuous spread of snacks, Cater was snagging pictures before so much as a bite. In the memory, Riddle made to tell them off, only to be stopped by the vice dorm leader at his side.

“They have so much energy,” Trey had remarked. “It’s livelier than usual today.”

Yes, that was the right word for it. Not noisy, but lively.

How curious that dining at Night Raven College is like this. At home…

There was a lone platter set for him, a sad, limp little square of food in the center. His mother, arms folded, to the right. His father, trembling in his chair, to the lift. Raised voices and scathing remarks.

Some days the dining room was empty altogether, save for himself and stacks of textbooks. When he did crossword puzzles and sudoku, the vocabulary and the numbers kept him company.

His heart twinged. Riddle frowned and curled a hand over his chest, as if trying to soothe the pain.

What is this? Why… do I feel this way?

"Excuse me, young man."

He jolted upright.

An older gentleman in glasses was beside him. His hair, peppered with streaks of white, was neat, and he was dressed in an even neater suit. He smelled like salt wrapped in a sea breeze, faint citrus and sunshine.

The stranger gestured to the spot beside Riddle. “Pardon me if I disturbed your train of thought. I wanted to ask if this seat was taken. I need a quick place to rest my legs, then I’ll be out of your way.”

Riddle took a quick glance at the line—which still snaked around the room, but at least his mother had vanished from view. Relief. “It’s open. Please, sit.”

“Thank you.” The man slipped in next to Riddle. He sighed, just as relieved as the boy was. “Much appreciated. I hope I’m not stealing this seat from one of your parents.”

“Not to worry, sir. Only my mother is with me today, and it seems like it will be quite a while before she returns," Riddle reassured him. “My father is preoccupied with work, so he was unable to attend."

It was partially true. Whenever possible, his parents actively avoided each other. Strategically taking specific hospital shifts just so happened to be a means to that end.

"I'm here with my wife and son myself, they're perusing the food. A shame about your father. Really. Perhaps he'll be able to attend next year."

"Perhaps."

Riddle hoped not.

He looked away, dodging the man's eyes. Fearing that his own would betray him.

A glint of gold snagged his sight, and Riddle's heart leapt. Pinned to the stranger's lapel was a small pin depicting the scales of justice.

The man took notice. "I see you've spotted my bar association badge."

"You're a lawyer, sir?" Riddle's question came out small.

"That's right." He tilted his head to one side. His smile was slight, yet encouraging. "Might you have an interest in law, young man?"

"Ah, well..." Riddle instinctively looked to the line again before his gaze darted back to his conversational partner. "Y-Yes, I suppose you could say that. However, I'm aware that it is a big commitment, and I have already resolved to pursue magical medicine."

"A career like that can be fulfilling as well," the man said kindly. "I have colleagues that specialize in medical malpractice and negligence. We also sometimes work with forensic scientists for certain cases.

"There is most certainly crossover between the legal and healthcare sectors. You could consider looking into those fields as a middle ground between your two interests."

Riddle blinked.

"Did I overstep my bounds?"

"No, I just..." Hesitation. "I'm not used to speaking like this."

"About your future?"

No, Riddle wanted to correct him, it's being given advice and suggestions, rather than expectations and orders.

"About straying from the path," he said, a quick half-truth. "It's difficult to compromise, even if the options exist out there."

"Hmm." The man nodded understandingly. "Changing course can be scary, yes. I don't fault you for thinking that way. If it would help in any way, you are free to ask me questions about my own experience. I'm no medical lawyer, but hearing it from the horse's mouth has helped some of my clients before."

"You would offer such a thing...?"

The man's eyes shone with the trace of a contained laugh. "I don't charge for the first consultation," he joked.

"Then..." Hope crept into Riddle's voice. "Could you tell me about your own specialization?"

"My firm mainly deals with cases of divorce."

Divorce.

The word was bitter on Riddle's tongue as he swallowed it. But the lawyer spoke it with such ease, like it was nothing more than the weather forecast for the day.

Divorce, divorce.

It had always been an option for Riddle's parents since the first problems had started between them, but never seriously considered, never discussed. His mother would sooner die than confess she was anything but right, that she had made the mistake of choosing the wrong man. And what would the community think? What would they say?

As a child most foolish, Riddle had prayed to the Queen of Hearts to share her secret to a successful marriage. No answer ever came, and it was then that he realized: divorce was never in the cards for his parents.

The man carefully took in Riddle's frozen expression. "It happens. I see it a lot in my line of work—and it is one hundred percent normal. People are like castles in the sand, you see. They change, their feelings change. They fall out of love. Part of my job is to ensure that the separation occurs smoothly.

"There is stigma attached to the concept of divorce, that it ruins families and brings them great shame. But sometimes a family is better apart than together, and they can find new happiness once they've picked up the pieces. Cutting ties can be the most liberating feeling in the entire world.

"I speak from experience myself. I met a lovely, bright-minded woman while she was going through her own divorce proceedings. Now that woman is my wife, and her son, my own."

Riddle's brows knitted. Disbelief and confusion crowned his features. "It almost sounds like a fairy tale. Can such a drastic change truly lead to happiness?"

"For me, it did. It may not be the case for you, because you and I are different people."

"Th-Then tell me!!" Riddle stood, slamming his hands on the table. Food and silverware rattled, people stared. He didn't care, his volume spiking. "How? How do I do that...? Please tell me. I don't... I don't know how to do it myself."

"That, I cannot say."

"Why not?! You... You said you would help me!"

"I did say that, didn't I? I said I would help you by talking about my own experiences. Tricky thing, wording. It's easy to overlook the fine print." The man pointed at him. "The rest is in your hands."

"I can't do a single thing," Riddle protested. It felt like roses were choking him. "My hands are tied. My path was determined a long time ago. Change is absolutely unacceptable."

The lawyer regarded him coolly. "Let me tell you something, young man. The law is the law because there is a human element to it, no matter how impartial, how black and white, we try to be. We write the laws, act on them, and interpret them. Likewise, you, too, are responsible for that interpretation.

"What is right, what is wrong, and what role you must play therein... these are things you alone determine, whether that be in career, in love, or in life. You are your own judge, and the decider of your own destiny. It is something only you are capable of, and no one else but you."

Riddle reeled his head, reacting as though he'd just been decked.

Right and wrong... The role I must play... Something only I can do?

Someone had told him something similar not too long ago. The words harsher then, and paired with a sound punch to the face.

"Is that all you are?!" Ace had demanded, fist clenched, still raw from making contact with his dorm leader's cheek. "An extension of your mom? Can't you think for yourself?"

The twinge to his chest had returned. Stronger, sharper. Like thorns tearing into his skin.

"... I see," Riddle said slowly. "I think I understand it a little better now."

"I'm glad to hear it." The man's smile broadened. He looked at something beyond Riddle, then rose from his seat. "Well, if you'll excuse me... It seems my family has finished their business. We should get going now."

"Of course. Thank you very much for speaking with me, sir." He humbly lowered his head to the man,

A voice came from behind the redhead. "Oya, what a surprise. If it isn't Riddle-san."

He immediately bolted up in horror. The dorm leader of Octavinelle stood before him, lips cocked into a smirk. A woman with the same silvery hair was next to him, cut in a sleek black gown and with seashells in her jewelry.

"Wha--?! Azul...?! What are you..." Riddle faltered with both his words and his calm.

"Oh? Is it a crime to come collect one's stepfather?" The merman sighed dramatically. "I was going to come over sooner, you know—but it looked as though you two were having quite the engaging conversation. I thought it rude to interrupt and cut it short."

Riddle's head whipped back to the lawyer. "Th-This is your stepfather?!"

"Azul, I didn't realize this lad was your friend. We were just having a nice talk about career goals."

"Career goals, you say? My, that sounds so interesting." There was something unsavory, slimy even, about the way Azul emphasized his interest. "I'm jealous, Riddle-san. We've shared our dreams with one another before, but never on such an intimate level."

"And just who in their right mind do you think would willingly divulge that information to you? Don't act as though we're friends."

Azul smiled wryly. "Aren't we? After all, we've been through both hell and high water together."

"It sounds to me like you boys are good chums," Mr. Ashengrotto remarked, exchanging raised eyebrows with his wife, "though you certainly have a strange way of showing it."

"Why haven't you told us about him, Azul?" his mother asked. "I'd love to have him over for dinner."

"Riddle-san can be surprisingly shy. I wouldn't wish to cast a spotlight on him."

"Who's shy here?! All you've been doing since you showed up is put me on the spot!"

Mrs. Ashengrotto put a hand over her mouth, stifling a chuckle. “If you visit us, Azul could invite his other friends—do you know them? The Leech twins. You could all get to know each other, and that could help you get out of your shell.”

“N-No thank you, ma’am!!” Riddle said (perhaps a little too loudly, and too quickly). The farther away I stay from those sketchy brothers, the better!! I wouldn’t be caught dead trying to cozy up to them!

“No? Maybe another time then. The offer is always there. Come to us when you're comfortable with it, dear.

"I guarantee you won't regret it," Mr. Ashengrotto chimed in. "She makes the best food I've ever had under the sea. Azul could pack away an entire bucket of her fried..."

Azul loudly cleared his throat. "While this chat has been amusing, I believe it's time we stopped hounding the poor, unfortunate soul and moved to the next item on our itinerary. I'm sure that Riddle-san is busy with his own matters as well."

"Yes, my mother will be back soon with lunch."

"That so? We'll be on our way then. Wouldn't want to disrupt your time together." Mr. Ashengrotto tenderly squeezed his wife's arm. His other hand found its way onto Azul's shoulder. "Have a happy Family Day, Riddle."

"Happy family day to you too."

With that, Azul and his parents departed. Their mouths moved, their expressions changed, playing off of one another. Saying things Riddle couldn't hear, nor understand even if he could hear.

The rose-red ruler, entrenched in a sea of people, was left with many thoughts racing through his head. Those gathered in the cafeteria, Heartslabyul, the Ashengrottos...

One question lingered like the last vestiges of sunlight on a lazy summer day.

Are these... what families are meant to be like?

[hfdgjyrf]

An Ace Attorney AU, where Zoro is a prosecutor prodigy of the infamous Dracule Mihawk, who has not lost a single case. Mihawk has already retired and Zoro planned on following his footsteps and to become as successful as his mentor.

For a few years he had been victorious, getting all of his defendants declared guilty. But this caused a rift between him and his friends, claiming that what he was doing was wrong. Case after case the tension built up, until everything blew over, when Zoro got Reiju declared guilty of a crime that she didn't commit. After that case with a heavy heart the crew cut contact with Zoro.

Zoro continued on his path as a prosecutor, but after every case he started to feel empty and the victories had lost their meaning. And after winning his 40th trial, he quit.

Zoro spent the next few months of his life contemplating and going over some of his trials once more, he noticed a lot of inconsistencies and holes in the crimes. To his horror he discovered that many of tge defendants were indeed innocent and had they had a better defense attorney.

That's when Zoro decided to right the wrongs he had committed and started on hus path as a defense attorney. He acquired his badge not too long after.

His first case as a defense attorney was more difficult than he had realized. Defense attorneys didn't have access to the same resources as the prosecutors and the judges always favored on a guilty verdict.

Good thing Zoro loves a good challenge.

After winning his first case the media jumped on it big time.

'After a long absence "The Demon Prosecutor" makes a flashy comeback on the opposite side.'

'The feared prosecutor Roronoa Zoro pleaded not guilty?'

'Dracule Mihawk's prodigy switching sides!'

Despite the media's attention Zoro didn't lose his focus and continued to win more cases. Eventually the news of his career change reached his friends. Luffy was immediately ready to welcome Zoro back in, but the rest were still apprehensive about him. Especially Sanji.

They didn't contact him and kept to themselves, until Nami was arrested for theft from a well known loan shark, Arlong. The news of her arrest reached Zoro and he was shocked. At first he didn't know what to do, whether or not he deserved forgiveness from his old friends. But ultimately he couldn't let Nami get a shitty defense. So he made his decision and paid Nami a visit.

They talked for a long time about his actions and ultimately Nami agreed to give Zoro a chance for redemption as her defense.The trial ended up being Zoro's most difficult one. With very little decisive evidence and reluctant witnesses, he was at a loss. So he decided to ask help from hus oldest friend, Luffy. Luffy was more than willing to help and with his unorthodox ways of looking for evidence, they managed to find enough to get Arlong convicted and Nami declared not guilty.

The friend group celebrated for Nami's freedom. Turns out Nami has been working for Arlong against her will and nobody had noticed. She had lost hope in getting free from his grasp. With tears in her eyes she forgave Zoro and thanked him and Luffy for setting her free.

Zoro managed to repair his relationship with everyone. Well, nearly everyone. Sanji still couldn't forgive Zoro for sending Reiju to prison. They kept to themselves mostly, with a few glares from Sanji for the next year.

And then Sanji was accused of murder and arrested. And worse yet he admitted to doing it. The crew was horrified and couldn't believe he would kill anybody. One after the other they tried to get Sanji to tell them the truth, but hus story didn't change.

Until Zoro offered to be his defense attorney. Sanji refused right away, saying that he shouldn't bother, it's not like he hasn't sent a Vinsmoke into prison before. Zoro kept on insisting to defend him, until Sanji snapped and he was forcibly removed from the room.

Out of options Zoro went back to Reiju's case and looked it over once more. After referencing that case to this new case, a lot of similarities could be found. And there were many holes in the witnesses testimonies and a few pieces of evidence, that didn't seem to fit.

With a new plan Zoro went back to Sanji and told him of his findings. Sanji paled and stared at Zoro in silence. After some more pushing from the whole crew, he finally caved and told them the truth.

According to Sanji it was indeed not him that commited the murder, but his father, Vinsmoke Judge, who also happens to be the prosecutor for the trial. Judge after committing the murder used Sanji as a scapegoat and forced Sanji into compliance by threatening to eradicate the Baratie and Zeff. After he was done he agreed to Zoro becoming his attorney.

With new information in his disposal Zoro set out to gather as much evidence and he could with the whole crew and once the trial day arrived every one was there to support Zoro from the audience.

Vinsmoke Judge was relentless in his accusations and he kept presenting pieces of evidence that were clearly against Sanji. But after closer and careful examination Zoro managed to point out that the majority of them were forged and planted by the real killer.

With drawing parallels with the case with Reiju, Zoro managed to drive Judge into a corner. Zoro declared that Judge was indeed the true criminal in both cases. After a grueling battle of wits, Judge was declared guilty of multiple accounts of murder, blackmail and extortion.

In the lobby the crew embraced each other and congratulated on the victory. Finally Sanji could look at Zoro with a smile, but he was still angry that Reiju was wrongly convicted. Zoro promised Sanji to take Reiju's case back into count for a re-evaluation on the account of him using forged evidence.

A few months later Reiju was declared innocent and Sanji could truly forgive him.

And then later, when it was Zoro's turn to sit in the defendants chair, Sanji was leading the defense.

[melonflavoredbread]

Mr. Lawyer Sir (Part 1)

Hiromi Higuruma x fem! reader

Disclaimers/notes: a bit angsty, Higuruma being an overworked, tired man, stubborn reader, SFW.

• This is my first post on Tumblr! I hope you enjoy this story. This is just the first part of the story and plan to write the next one soon! Keep in mind that I am not a professional writer and that I just do this for fun and let my ideas run freely with creativity. By doing so, I also want to share my ideas with everyone else who would like it! Thank you so much in advance <3

*****

‘I’m just so tired…’ Hiromi thought to himself as he sighed softly and started to leave the courthouse after defending one of his clients in the courtroom.

Hiromi Higuruma was known as one of the most incomparable lawyers there was in town. As a defense attorney, he always sought to fight for justice in those individuals who were wrongly accused of a crime. Although he looked like a standoffish, detached man, his true passion was to help others in need.

However, with that great talent he has also comes exhaustion. Exhaustion from work, exhaustion from having too many clients, but most importantly, the exhaustion of seeing his clients lose the trail after all the work he put in to fight for justice. It wasn’t fair to him or his client. Those countless nights of overtime, putting in the work to make sure they’d win this case, skipping out on sleep schedules…just to lose the case.

He started heading towards his car in the courthouse parking lot while almost dragging his feet due to the disdain he felt within himself. Feeling as if he failed his client and needed to do better. He rubbed his eyes as they felt heavy with the lack of sleep.

As he left the courthouse, it was already nighttime and the sky became pitch black. Not as many cars out on the road since it was getting late. As he walked along the sidewalk towards the parking lot, lost in his own dismay of thoughts, he didn’t notice a girl bumping into him, causing her to fall to the ground. The moment she fell, Hiromi snapped away from his thoughts and came back to reality. He grunted in frustration as he closed his eyes and rubbed his temple while thinking, ‘this was the last thing that needed to happen right now…’ he felt annoyed at the situation he currently got himself into but, nonetheless, he quickly made his way over to the girl laying on the ground.

“Ugh…I’m sorry…are you alright?” Hiromi spoke as he came over and tried to help the girl up but noticed she had blood dripping down her knee.

“I’m fine…” the girl winced in pain as she spoke and tried to gently stand up but also noticed her ankle was sore to move. “Ouch…”

“You should be more careful,” Hiromi crouched down to look at the injury closer and realized she was bleeding pretty terribly. “Clearly you’re not fine…your knee is bleeding and you can’t move your ankle.”

The girl winced once again as she realized how painful the scrape was on her knee. She was oozing lots of blood from the injury and appears to have sprained her ankle from the fall. Hiromi noticed the shoes she was wearing, black business-casual high heels.

“I wouldn’t wear those if I were you. They look like a pain in the ass to walk in.” Hiromi commented casually as he carefully held out his hand to lift her up but instead, the girl looked at him questioningly and refused his hand.

“I appreciate your concern mister but I am free to wear whatever I want…” The girl sounded calm but Hiromi could tell she was responding rather passive aggressively.

Hiromi huffs and becomes slightly annoyed but tries not to let it get to him. “Be free as you’d like, but be aware of your surroundings. You’re being careless.” He spoke sternly to her as he tried to not let his frustration get to him. All he wanted to do was get home and get the well-deserved rest he needed but instead he was here in a situation he didn’t expect to happen.

The girl scoffed and seemed noticeably annoyed in return. “You don’t know who I am to say I’m careless…” she says.

‘Here we go…as if it couldn’t get any worse, she seems to be bratty and stubborn. I’ll never hear the end of it.’ Hiromi thought to himself as he closed his eyes to compose himself and not let his frustration get to him.

“That is irrelevant, miss. I don’t need to know who you are to see that you were being careless,” Hiromi glares at her as he speaks. “If I hadn’t been watching where I was going, this could’ve been a lot worse and we would’ve both fallen and gotten hurt.”

Hiromi didn’t want to touch the girl without her permission but he saw the bad state she was in with her bleeding knee and sprained ankle that he had no choice but to help her up walk towards a nearby bus stop bench just a few feet away so she could sit. He delicately placed his arm around her waist as he supported her body weight so that she can lift up and stand with ease.

Once she was standing, she winced once more as the weight on her ankle felt pressure and made it feel extremely sore.

“Thank you for helping me up but you can leave now.” She rolled her eyes and huffed as she tried walking on her own, but immediately felt pain in her leg and ankle.

“You’re clearly limping…I’ve had it.” Hiromi looks at her in displeasure. He quickly walks her to the bench and sets her down softly. He takes out his phone and starts searching for ‘hospitals near me.’ “Sit here while I find a nearby hospital you can go to.”

The girl grunts in annoyance and becomes visibly agitated at Hiromi, who is standing in front of her. Letting her pride get the best of her, she tries to stand up, all wobbly and in pain, as she speaks to Hiromi again.

“Like I said the first time, I’m fine…I don’t even know you and you’re sitting me down on this bench like I’m a child!” The girl hisses at Hiromi as she tries to stand up on her own, but quickly sat back down as her leg was too painful to stand.

“You’re limping as you walk. That’s not what ‘fine’ looks like. Your logic is flawed and it makes me wonder if you’re just plain stupid.” Hiromi crosses his arms as he watches the girl’s attempted at standing up. He was unusually harsh, even to his demeanor. Maybe it was just all the overworked tension he had inside of him.

“If you’re “fine” as you say, then why are you limping and bleeding your whole leg out? You are proof of your incompetence.”

The girl became stunned as she did not expect him to reply the way he did. She stayed quiet as she couldn’t speak due to her surprise. Even Hiromi himself became surprised at his sudden harshness. Nonetheless, he was annoyed at this moment and didn’t realize the extent of his harshness towards her.

Realizing she was not fighting back with words, Hiromi just sighed and felt his composure come back. “So why don’t you just try think logically and push your own pride aside for five seconds? I’m trying to help you.”

“I just don’t understand how all I did was bump into you on accident and you’re treating this like I’ve just committed the world’s biggest crime.” She retaliates to him exasperatedly. “Also, I told you to leave. If I want to bleed out here on this bench, let me…but I don’t need your help, stranger.”

Hiromi gives her a stern look as he looks away from his phone. “All I said was you need to be more careful and you got mad. Now, you’re limping and bleeding and still trying to walk and act like it’s fine. You’re in no shape to keep moving.” He continued as he looked at her. “It’s a matter of a safety, not an inconvenience. I need to help you because I’m the one you bumped into. I’ll leave after you get help. Think about it.” He sounded annoyed.

“Since when does a stranger who knows nothing about me care so much?” She snaps back at him with some apparent attitude in her expression.

“I don’t need to know you to know that you will continue to get hurt if you keep walking in the state you’re in.” Hiromi responded as he stopped to think why he really was so concerned for her.

‘I could’ve just let her go as she wished but I keep insisting…maybe it’s because I feel bad she fell and I happened to be the one she bumped into..’ Hiromi thought this to himself.

Hiromi found a nearby hospital just five minutes away by car and started to look for a cab to take her. Considering it was too late at night, he had a hard time finding and ordering one and without wasting time, he wanted to get her checked quickly before her injury got worse.

“I’m taking you to the hospital,” he quickly said as he held out his hand so she could stand up. “I can’t wait for a cab to get here just so you could keep bleeding out.”

The girl took his hand softly and lifted herself up slowly. “Bold of you to assume I can afford a hospital visit! You don’t even know me and you’re taking me to the hospital?!”

Hiromi looks at her with disbelief. He couldn’t believe she was arguing now about getting the help she needed. “You could have a broken bone for all I know! You should at least have a check up. “ he raises his voice in annoyance. “I’ll pay for it.”

“Okay, okay! Fine. Whatever it takes for you to leave me alone.” The girl snapped back and Hiromi just shakes his head in frustration as they both walk towards his car.

“Just saying, do you know how dangerous it sounds for a young woman like me to be getting into a complete stranger’s car who I don’t even know?” The girl began to speak to Hiromi as he softly held her waist to support her walking. He sighed as he heard this and rolled his eyes as far back as his frustration let him.

“I’m a lawyer. I’m not some random guy.” Hiromi explains as he continues to help her walk as she limps. “Do I look like a kidnapper to you or something?”

Hiromi notices the girl blush slightly as if she was thinking of what to say next. “Well…no…” she pauses for a second. “but haven’t you heard of those stories on what happens to girls when bad guys lure them somewhere, right? You wouldn’t even understand…you’re just a man.”

“Yes, unfortunately, I see those stories all the time,” Hiromi sighs. “but I am not a kidnapper. I wouldn’t risk my life or occupation to be doing those disgusting things. I know it sounds hard to believe but I can assure you that I am not a creep.”

The girl listened to him and felt that he was being honest. She didn’t feel as if his helping to her was with bad intentions. She started to realize that he wanted to make sure she was safe, especially it being late at night and having an injured leg where anything could’ve happened. She would’ve never gotten into a stranger’s car, much less a man’s car, but she was in a vulnerable state and had no choice at this point.

As they got into his car, Hiromi started to drive her to the hospital that was nearby.

——

After some time, Hiromi is in the waiting area of the hospital waiting for the girl to be finished being seen by the medical staff. After a few more minutes go by, he sees the girl walk out with crutches and her leg all bandaged up, preventing any more blood from spilling out. He hears the doctor who helped her speak out to her.

“Alright miss (Y/N), you’re all good to go. Make sure to rest well so you can recover faster.” The doctor gave her a small smile as she said her thank you’s and goodbyes to them.

As Hiromi listened, he realized he had never gotten her name. When the doctor said it, he felt his heart skip a beat for a moment.

‘(Y/N)…what a pretty name for a stubborn girl.’ He thought to himself as he saw her make her way towards him.

“Oh, you’re still here,” (Y/N) sounded disappointed. “Why didn’t you leave?”

“As if I didn’t say I’d pay,” Hiromi retaliated, feeling his annoyance come back as he listened to her. “Let me pay your hospital visit and I’ll help you get home.”

(Y/N)’s eyes widened as she hears him say he’ll take her home. “Y-you don’t have to do that…” she says. “I can take myself home.”

“It’s late at night and god knows how long it will take to get a cab during these hours. Not to mention, as you said, creeps can be out there,” Hiromi retaliated in a frustrating way. “You’re lucky I’m not one of them and I’m trying to make sure you’re safe.”

Why was Hiromi so adamant about caring for this girl he never knew before? He didn’t plan to spend his night like this: Taking this girl to the hospital, paying her bill, and now offering to take her home. He himself didn’t know why he felt this way, but wanted to continue helping her. Maybe it was just how he is. In connection to helping others, especially when they’re in need, he wants to make sure he does his best. He may look and sometimes react hard-headed, but he really does have a good heart deep down.

(Y/N) was too tired and injured at this point to keep arguing back. She had no reason to mistrust this man, so she finally agreed. “Okay.”

Hiromi huffed in relief and felt calm after hearing her give in to his offer. After finishing paying the hospital bill, he helped walk her out back to his car, making sure she didn’t fall or trip while using the crutches.

(Y/N) didn’t want to admit it, but she did keep in mind how caring he was being with her. Although he doesn’t have a way with words, his actions were speaking louder than them. It was the little things that made her think this way. The way he refused to touch her unless he had gotten her permission, the way he softly helped her walk, even just opening the door for her and making sure her seat was adjusted so that her leg can rest comfortably in his car seat was enough for (Y/N) to blush softly and appreciate his gratitude. Nonetheless, she didn’t want to give in so easily. She still didn’t know this man completely and held up a strong shield with her pride.

Once (Y/N) directed him to drive towards her apartment, Hiromi began driving and the car was silent. As (Y/N) admired how clean and organized he kept his car, Hiromi took it as an opportunity to break the ice and stop the awkward silence.

“Do you like the car?” He asks while driving.

“It’s nice.” (Y/N) says blankly as she looks out the window, even though it’s hard to see when it’s dark out.

“Thank you,” Hiromi says as he thinks of something else to say. “By the way, I never got your name. I heard the doctor say it was (Y/N), right?” He asks her politely, trying to remain calm and start over and on a better note than earlier.

“Am I required to tell you? I don’t think so…” (Y/N) snaps at him and looks down. “You’re so frustrating. Just get me home.”

Hiromi is taken aback by her sudden response and felt a little offended by it. “It’s common courtesy to introduce yourself, is it not?” He says with a slightly annoyed tone to his voice.

‘Who does she think she is? A queen?’ He thinks to himself as he keeps driving, becoming annoyed once more.

“You’re acting like you’re some ‘perfect guy’. You didn’t introduce yourself either other than you’re a lawyer!” (Y/N) responds back as he can clearly see she sounds more annoyed as she speaks.

“Honestly, you’re being very rude! Do you not see how rude you’re being to someone who’s just trying to help you? Are you that immature?” Hiromi speaks with a sharp tone to his voice and is little by little increasing his frustration.

“I’m not being fucking rude!! What part of that don’t you understand?” (Y/N) yells at him and this caught Hiromi off guard that it causes him to flinch for a moment. His eyes widened as he did not expect for her to yell like this. This snapped something inside of him. There was no holding back now.

“Look at you…can’t even talk in a decent volume? Can you really not control your yells? Especially when we’re in a car?” Hiromi glares at her and raises his voice slightly.

“I can’t wait to drop you off...” Hiromi was being harsh due to her attitude, but somehow started to feel bad for speaking to her like this.

(Y/N)’s eyes widened as he spoke. She looked down at her lap and felt herself get teary-eyed. She didn’t make it obvious to him but maybe she took it too far. She didn’t mean to be acting this way, she was just going through a hard time. “I’m sorry…just please take me home…” (Y/N) said in a quiet, trembling voice.

Hiromi glances over and sees a tear run down her cheek even though she tried to hide it. He sighs and immediately feels his frustration and annoyance turn into guilt. He never meant to make her cry. He was only upset at the way she was acting towards him but he knew that he had to listen to her rather than respond to her harshly.

“I’m…sorry,” he calmly apologized sincerely and kept his eyes on the road. ‘I don’t know why a stranger’s tears has such an effect on me…I don’t know why I care so much’ he thinks to himself.

After a moment of silence, Hiromi decides to speak again. “Do you have any family you could call to tell about your injury, (Y/N)?” He asked as he was genuinely concerned.

“No…” (Y/N) responded quietly as she wiped a tear from her cheek. She seemed defeated and he realized that she wasn’t trying to argue anymore.

Hiromi felt his heart hurt after hearing her say ‘no’. Did she not have any family? He would ask her about it but it’s not the time right now to do so. She needs time and space.

“I see…” is all he manages to get out. While there is still an awkward space of silence between them, Hiromi still tries his best to speak with her even if it’s a small, pointless conversation.

“If you don’t mind me asking, how old are you? (Y/N)?” Hiromi looks at her for second, giving her a small smile to lighten up the mood.

In this moment, he sees her face look at him slightly. Her eyes are watered up and red from wanting to cry, but something about her seems precious, seems genuine.

The minute (Y/N) looks at him, she felt her heart beat out of her chest. She saw this man smile for the first time tonight and she felt comfortable.

“…I’m (your age).” (Y/N) speaks quietly as he she sees him genuinely interested in speaking with her. It makes her heart flutter in a way she couldn’t describe.

‘I should just give him a chance…he really has been generous towards me ever since I bumped into him.’ (Y/N) thinks to herself.

Now, as there was silence, it wasn’t as uncomfortable as before. As he was nearing her apartment, he got out of the car first and came to the passenger side of the door to open it and help her out.

As she stood up, (Y/N) began to speak.

“Mr. Lawyer sir,” (Y/N) cringed at the name she gave him as she still didn’t know this man’s name. “I’m sorry…if I’ve sounded like a complete bitch this whole night. I’m just going through a lot right now and…I’m feeling scared of my emotions at the moment.” She felt a tear drop as she continued.

“I’m grateful for everything you’ve done today…taking me to a hospital, paying for my visit, even driving me home even though you don’t know who I am…no stranger would ever go this far…”

“I’m just…in a really self-destructive place in my life right now and all I can do is detach from anyone and anything at the moment because…I have no one to turn to.” (Y/N) breaks down in tears as she finishes the last sentence.

Hiromi’s heart shatters in guilt and sorrow as she hears her speak. He feels just as bad for taking out his bad attitude on her even if he was just defending himself. Now that he knows the real reason why she’s been acting this way, he lets all his frustration and annoyance from earlier subside and feels sympathy and care for her. It gives him heart ache to hear that she has no one to turn to.

“I understand if you hate me…I wasn’t being kind to you.”

“I don’t hate you, (Y/N)…” Hiromi starts to speak.

“You know what? Let’s just start over,” Hiromi says as he sighs in content. “We both met on bad terms. I think we both were too sensitive in our emotions when we first encountered each other. Why not start over and get to know each other the proper way this time?”

(Y/N) wipes her tears off as she nods in agreement.

“Thank you, Mr. Lawyer sir…” Hiromi blushes at his nickname. He thinks it’s cute of her to call him that. “I don’t even know your name but I don’t think I deserve to after the way I’ve treated you. I wish you the best, thank you for helping me.”

(Y/N) turns around to start walking towards her apartment when all of a sudden, Hiromi speaks behind her.

“My name’s Hiromi Higuruma, but you can call me Hiromi. but I was kind of liking the “Mr. Lawyer sir” name you had going for me.” Hiromi chuckled a bit as he stopped her on her tracks.

As Hiromi looks at (Y/N), he thinks about wanting to be there for her. He doesn’t know why he feels this way. Maybe it’s because he’s feeling bad about her and wants to help her? Or maybe it’s guilt from how he acted earlier? Whatever the reason is, he feels something in his heart that’s making him feel that he should be the one to show her care and how much she’s worth.

“(Y/N), only if you’d let me, I’d like to get to know you more.”

“You would? But…wouldn’t you rather get to know someone who is actually worth your time? Someone better than me…a girl without a stank attitude like me.” (Y/N) spoke softly to him.

Yes, this is what it’s about. Self worth.

‘She probably doesn’t see how valuable she truly is. That’s the problem.’ He thinks to himself as he looks at her.

Hiromi thinks of what he wants to do. He wants to be able to show her a side of herself that she does not possibly see often. He suddenly has to motivation to want to help her and be there for her. Even if he were to give words of affirmation everyday, he feels as if she won’t believe him…

He’d have to show her. Show her I care and that she is worth caring for.

“Give me your phone number, please,” Hiromi asked bravely, making (Y/N) blush.

“How come?” (Y/N) asks questioningly as she tilts her head.

“Just…please. I want to help you.” He hands his phone over to her so she could input her number in his contacts. Once doing so, he saved it under her name.

“Thank you, (Y/N). I want to hear from you again, okay?” Hiromi gave her a soft heart-warming smile as he was preparing to leave for the night.

(Y/N) finally started to feel at ease with this man and let herself trust him little by little. She let him help her walk up towards her apartment door so she wouldn’t fall or trip with her crutches. Once she went inside, he said his goodbyes and repeated his sentence.

“Goodnight, (Y/N). I hope you feel better. And, don’t forget, I really do want to hear from you again, okay? I just want to know how you’re doing.”

(Y/N) smiled softly at his sentence, making his heart flutter for the first time tonight. He felt something inside of him feel warm once he saw her smile. “Thank you, Mr. Lawyer—oh, sorry, Hiromi.”

‘Such a gorgeous smile.’ He thinks to himself.

“Mr. lawyer sir, Hiromi, higuruma, I’m okay with anything.” He laughs.

“See you later, (Y/N). Get some rest.” As he says this sentence, he waves her goodbye and heads back to his car to drive home.

If only they both knew this would be the start of something beautiful.

***

end of part one.

[cornertheculprit]

actually i am deadass so so serious about this headcanon i think the magatama that maya gives phoenix used to belong to misty fey and i think maya giving it to him was the first signal that she was starting to view him as family because. okay. listen

the context for maya giving phoenix the magatama in the first place was because phoenix refused to let her admit she was guilty even to herself:

Phoenix: I'll be back later, Maya. In the meantime, please make sure you prepare it, OK?

Maya: Huh? "It"? What is "it"?

Phoenix: The document requesting me to be your attorney, of course.

Maya: …! But…

Phoenix: What's wrong?

Maya: Are you sure? I mean, I'm guilty! I'm a murderer!

Phoenix: No one's decided that yet.

Maya: But I did! I killed that person… with these… two hands…!

Phoenix: That's enough, Maya.

Maya: It's hopeless! If you defend me, you'll lose, I'm sure…

Phoenix: Stop it!

Maya: … …Help me… Nick, help me… I'm scared…

Phoenix: Don't worry, I will. When is the trial?

and then, of course, phoenix goes to leave and maya stops him:

Phoenix: Alright. I'm going now.

Maya: Wait.

Phoenix: ...?

Maya: This jewel... This is called a Magatama. It's a magical charm and it's always protected me. Give this to Pearly... And I'm sure she'll lend you her spiritual powers.

and you have to kind of think about the gravity of this. this is maya "...i've been abandoned, haven't i?" fey. this is a person who's used to being left behind, over and over. her father's dead. misty walked out on her. even mia, in her own way, left her behind, and maya says as such ("several years later, my sister announced she would "become a lawyer" and left the mountain." maya even mentions how she lives alone, because at this point morgan is still doing her best to keep pearl as separate from others as she can). more than that, pearl is not the only person who's grown up seeing the fallouts of bad marriages in kurain village—maya grew up there as well. if there's one thing the fey women seem to be used to, it's men walking out on them. and this is a different situation but from maya's perspective i think it can be read kind of similarly—this is phoenix, her semi-new friend who she was just reunited with, who has just seen what seemed like, at the time, the potential horrors of channeling: a spirit going berserk and killing someone using maya's body. it would have been very easy for phoenix to get freaked out by it and turn away, if nothing else, but he doesn't! and more than that, this is the second time he's looked maya in the eye and promised with all of his heart not to leave her behind. even when she tries to push him away because she's got a self-sacrificing streak a mile long.

and when she gives him the magatama...she mentions how it's always protected her, which implies that before the magatama "died" and needed to be recharged (by pearl, this time) whoever had charged it had done so with the intent to "protect" in whatever manner that may have been (maya doesn't know about psyche-locks because that's something spiritually unique to pearl, something which is slightly expanded upon in aa3). and there are two people in her past who would have wanted to see her protected: mia is one, and misty is another. and since no mention of mia is made (what with mia already have her own magatama[s]), it's safer to assume that whoever had charged the magatama previously with the intent to protect would've been none other than her mother. now! the reason i think an argument could be made that it was misty's magatama in the first place!

SO! we see from the kurain master's scroll that misty USED to wear a magatama, though the color of it isn't shown. she also isn't wearing a magatama when met at hazakura temple, and though this could be written off as her just having it somewhere else on her person, i don't think so because of two things: one, the kurain master's talisman (pictured above) that she had kept on her until the day she died, like she was supposed to. it would stand to reason that if she DID still carry her magatama on her person, it would have been dropped alongside the talisman when she died, but there was no magatama in sight and only the talisman to be found. the second reason is because of her final words before she vanished, detailed in mia's files in aa1:

"'I have tarnished the Fey name.' Leaving only these words, my mother vanished."

the fey name meant everything to misty, enough for her to leave her children behind and go into hiding to attempt to spare the village the embarrassment of housing a laughingstock. though she kept the master's talisman (because, at the time, there would have been no other option for someone to be the master in misty's place except morgan, who was not as spiritually powerful as misty, and misty was clearly not about to let that happen) it isn't a stretch to think that she would have abandoned her magatama—charging it with spiritual intent and leaving it behind in the hands of her youngest daughter as a final farewell. it would explain why she carried no magatama on her person when we meet her for the first time at hazakura temple, and explain why maya, who already has her own orange magatama, placed special weight on this green magatama that had supposedly always protected her in some way, shape or form.

so. if the green magatama was once misty's. and if maya had an inkling that it used to belong to misty (given that she doesn't even recognize her face anymore by aa3 and that she doesn't mention her mother when she gives it to phoenix in aa2, she might not have questioned where, exactly, it came from, but i don't think it's too far of a stretch to assume that she might've had an idea). and maya still gave it to phoenix ANYWAY, with the hope that it would gain him the loyalty and aid of her little cousin (who maya KNOWS [given aa3's conversation about the whole thing] will get attached to phoenix the moment pearl starts thinking about phoenix in terms of "mystic maya's special someone"—i.e. a man who won't ditch maya without a second thought like so many men in the village have done before). COMBINED with the fact that later, in aa3, when maya refers to herself as phoenix's "big sister" to phoenix on two separate occasions and tells him flat-out at the end of bridge to the turnabout that phoenix is one of the feys now. it really really all points to the fact that that moment in 2-2 when maya gave phoenix the magatama was the first instance that maya, who gets attached to people so so quickly, looked at phoenix and started thinking of him as family instead of just a friend, even if phoenix hadn't quite reached that point on his side yet (more on that here). i just. think about it a lot

[science-lings]

I think Tumblr ate my last one so here.

Tis your sign to ramble to thine hearts content

I've been saving these until I have thought about something in particular to ramble about so get ready,

I am obsessed with the vibe of the Wright's being born performers. Before choosing to pursue law, Phoenix was an art student, implied to either be pursuing illustration or Shakespearian theater. I like to think that part of the appeal of criminal law for him was how dramatized everything was. It's more about weaving a story that connects all the dots provided for the evidence and witness statements than about, you know, knowledge of the law. It's about plot twists and last-minute saves and becoming the sturdy pillar for your client. Phoenix only chooses cases that are so wacky and hopeless that make for excellent stories. What I'm saying is that Phoenix lives for the drama and how the courtroom turns into a stage where he has to convince everyone else of the story he's piecing together that very moment. There's just something so theatric about yelling 'objection' and slamming the desk and making some improvised quips to taunt the guy you're arguing against.

I'm also of the opinion that the whole Beanix persona was originally intended to be more of a character that Phoenix put up to get Kristoph to believe that he had given up. It's clear that it was all about hiding his true thoughts and his identity from anyone who would recognize his spikey hair and wiggly eyebrows. He deliberately stopped wearing his iconic blue and general business casual getup and you cannot tell me that there wasn't so much thought into how he started to present himself. He's known for being highly saturated and spikey and generally pretty emotionally open so this character he built is the exact opposite of all those things and it's totally on purpose.

And just like Trucy, this character performance is a coping mechanism to keep themselves safe and seemingly confident. They both smile so convincingly and refuse to let anyone know if something is wrong. They're both manipulative but not out of malice, out of need for survival. They've both been on the wrong side of public opinion and in some capacity are aware that they're in the crosshairs of someone incredibly dangerous. They can only try to keep each other safe by playing into the act that they've worked on for years.

So sure they have to hide their true feelings under a quirky guise, but also I think they would join a community theater and be so good at it. They're in musicals together, I think Phoenix can sing, and he can sing well. He was in all his school plays and got so good at projecting his voice that they didn't even need to give him a mic (me core). That's what made him so good at objecting. I think that the ace attorney stage plays should be canon in the aa universe and Phoenix should play himself and he gets Trucy to play Pearl. He accidentally has so much homoerotic tension with the guy who plays Edgeworth that the real Edgeworth gets jealous.

Phoenix should also know about a lot of technical stuff that comes with theater, so he does a lot of the setup for lights and audio for Trucy's magic shows, he helps her move props around and should be so involved because I think that would be fun.

I also think he should know enough magic that she sometimes incorporates him into the act around their friends, so she makes a card disappear and Phoenix pulls the same one out of Edgeworth's ear. I love it when they're concerningly in sync and they can basically read each other's minds. They stare at each other and have fully silent conversations.

[brightlotusmoon]

"25 years ago today, a jury in New Mexico announced its verdict in one of the most infamous and misunderstood cases in recent memory: Liebeck v. McDonald's, also known as the "hot coffee lawsuit."

This case is held up as one of most egregious examples of frivolous lawsuits. The story goes that a woman bought coffee from McDonald's, drove with it between her legs, spilled it on herself, sued McDonald's because it was hot, and took a cool $1 to $5 million (depending on who's telling the story) off of them. "Wait, she sued because coffee was hot? And she was driving with it between her legs? What did she expect? Anyone can sue for anything these days."

Guess what? That story is almost completely false. I mean, Stella Liebeck did have hot coffee spill on her. That part is true. But here's what's not. Liebeck wasn't driving. The 79 year old was in the passenger seat of her grandson's car. He pulled into a parking spot, where she was trying to add cream and sugar to her coffee. The car didn't have cupholders, so she put it between her legs, and when she pulled the lid off, it spilled all over her.

The spilled coffee wasn't just unpleasant; it was served at nearly 190 degrees, which caused 3rd degree burns over 6% of her body, required multiple skin grafts, necessitated further care after she left the hospital, and left her permanently disfigured. She originally tried to settle with McDonald's and asked for $20,000; they responded with an offer of $800.

At that point, she hired an attorney who discovered that 1) McDonald's required franchisees to serve coffee between 180-190 degrees 2) no other coffee in the city was served at more than 160 degrees 3) 190 degree liquid causes third degree burns in less than 3 seconds and would burn the mouth if consumed at that temperature 4) 160 degree liquid takes over 20 seconds to cause third degree burns and 5) McDonald's had been sued over SEVEN HUNDRED times in the prior decade for coffee being too hot and had settled up to $500,000 in cases and been told to lower the temperature.

Ultimately, McDonald's refused an arbitrator's suggestion of a $225,000 settlement and the case went to trial, where a jury ultimately awarded Liebeck $200,000 in compensatory damages, and $2.7 million in punitive damages. "A ha!," you sa, "so she still got millions! That's still frivolous!" Well...no.

First, the jury found Liebeck was 20% at fault, so the compensatory damages were reduced by that amount, to $160,000. Then the judge reduced the punitive damages to three times the compensatory, or $480,000, for a total of $640,000. We don't know how much Liebeck got because they eventually settled for less than $600,000, but between medical expenses and legal fees, it's a FAR cry from the millions she got for a slightly warmed leg in the well-known story.

So how did this become so legendary? Simple. McDonald's knew the case was going poorly, so it looked to the one thing it had that Liebeck didn't: a bully pulpit. They started a massive PR effort that was basically a smear campaign, painting Liebeck as some irresponsible scofflaw trying to take their hard-earned money. And it worked, to the point that the annual "awards" for frivolous lawsuits are known as "The Stellas."

As for Liebeck? The then 81 year old didn't have the money, platform, or desire to fight back, and used the money to pay for a live-in nurse. She watched company after company use her case as an excuse for tort reform, to stop the big bad consumers from hurting the poor, poor multinational billion dollar corporations, before passing in 2004 at age 91."

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid021Lfd937eiZt1XprMuMMjjDEaUwG8qC97ENcgpoGfCd2rhczgPjW7RSDybjDU3iZ2l&id=5708003

[satansaidnottoday]

Obey Me! Human AU.

I've been working on this AU for some time. I have a lot of writing for it that I want to publish here, so I thought I should write a guide to it!

I've decided to keep their names the same, as it makes for less confusion.

Warnings: Child death. Mentions of child neglect and abuse.

Brothers age and occupation:

More info about each of them here.

Lucifer: 34 years old, Lawyer.

Mammon: 28 years old, Bartender/Aspiring model.

Leviathan: 26 years old, Streamer/Retail worker at a manga shop.

Satan: 24 years old, Librarian.

Asmodeus: 23 years old, Full time student.

Beelzebub: 22 years old, Full time student.

Belphegor: 22 years old, Student/Part-time worker at a café.

Side characters age and occupation:

Diavolo: 35 years old, Lawyer.

Barbatos: unknown, Diavolo's personal assistant.

Simeon: 30 years old, Writer.

Luke: 12 years ago, Kid.

Solomon: 25 years old, Owner of a Holistic shop (he absolutely does NOT sell any kind of illegal substance, stop asking. Who are you? The police?).

Main Mc: is around Lucifer's age, Owner of a cat Café.

The brothers story:

Note: the term foster home is the nearest translation I could find. It's more of a permanent place of living for kids on the system, like an individually owned orphanage.

They grew up together in a foster home. The owners were in it for the money and didn't care about them. They did the bare minimum to keep them, like buying them food and sending them to school.

The parental duties fell on the older siblings. Mostly Lucifer, who was significantly older than the rest. The twins and Lilith were babies when they arrived, Lucifer and Mammon basically raised them.

They met Simeon there. He lived with them for a few months before his parents regained custody over him.

Lucifer managed to get a retail job before aging out of the system. It allowed him to rent a room in a student residence and enroll in law school, where he met Diavolo.

They instantly became friends, mostly through Diavolo's efforts. Lucifer was reluctant at first, but found that he enjoyed his company.

Diavolo convinced him to be his roommate. He didn't really need one, as his dad owned the apartment, but he really liked the idea of living with a friend. It was a bonus that it got Lucifer out of paying an exorbitant rent just to bunk with 4 other people.

Lucifer wouldn't sleep or eat much during that time, putting all of his time and energy into studying.

He kept a close relationship with his siblings, visiting every weekend and bringing them gifts when he was able to afford them.

He started to notice obvious signs of neglect on their younger sister, Lilith. He ended up fighting with his foster parents. He was banned from the house after that.

Lucifer made a legal complaint, but nothing was done about it.

From then on, Mammon and sometimes Levi, would make secret visits to Lucifer's place to tell him all the news and smuggle groceries and gifts back into the house.

He graduated with Diavolo's class, a full year ahead and with honors.

After graduation, Diavolo offered Lucifer a position on his dad's law firm, but he wanted to become a family defence attorney.

It was a few days after that Mammon came crying at their door.

Lilith had died. She had a lung infection their caretakers refused to treat.

Lucifer felt he was drowning. Tears wouldn't stop falling from his eyes, and he couldn't breathe. But Mammon was there, crying too. All of his brother's were probably crying too, trapped inside of that house. He needed to take them out. He couldn't let them there.

And so he didn't grieve, he held Mammon in his arms until he fell asleep crying. And then he got to work.

With the help of Diavolo's family, he started a case against the home, and a claim for his brother's custody.

He needed to prove he was able to care for all of them, and that included a place to live in. Diavolo lent him the money to buy a house big enough for all of them. It was run down and on the outskirts of the city, but it passed all security checks.

He could give it back when he wanted, no interest rate or pressure. The only condition was to work for him. Lucifer accepted without thinking.

Levi and Mammon helped gather evidence of the neglect they were subject to in the house.

With that and Lilith's death (and the help of a very well regarded judge who was friends with Diavolo's family) he was able to win the case in a year.

It was the happiest day of his life, and also the most exhausting.

He took all of them out for dinner, some of his brothers he hadn't had a direct conversation with since he was banned from the house.

It was the first time he saw them all happy in a long time.

They had a lot of hardships to overcome, but they were together at last.

About Mc.

The main Mc in this story is the owner of a Cat Café in the brother's neighborhood. Their café was the only decent place to eat at when they moved, so it became a regular spot for them. They develop a romantic relationship with Lucifer.

All of the brothers have different MC's that play roles in their stories, but this MC is the most present through the whole AU.

That's all for this post! The specifics of what the brothers did after that is in my other post. It goes more in depth about each of them.

All of the content for this AU will be under the tag #OB!HumanAu

Thanks for reading!

[inafieldofdaisies]

WIP Whenever (since I'm a few hours late for Wednesday) | Tagged by @simonxriley @socially-awkward-skeleton @corvosattano @direwombat @the-silver-chronicles @marivenah @shellibisshe

We're returning to John and Sabrina's AU this midweek and jumping into quite the scene with no other but Candice after John runs into her at his their hotel lobby. Miss Donovan absolutely insisted on this being from her POV, she can't be refused.

"Reginald, we will be making a stop on the way. Where are you headed, Mr. Duncan?" Candice couldn't help but smirk at the obvious discomfort the man next to her was exhibiting upon climbing in after her and putting as much distance between them as humanly possible. The fact he wasn't quick to give out an address to her driver only further confirmed he might be having seconds thoughts about accepting her offer. A little too late. This is bound to be fun. Her plan was back in motion from the moment she had spotted him in the lobby, refusing to let such a perfect opportunity pass by despite the fact she had prior engagements that demanded her attention. Keeping taps on Mooney's defense strategy had become a personal hobby, making his life in prison while he awaited the inevitable even more so. You're about to regret the day you crossed a Donovan, Nathaniel. Deeply. She doubted getting information out of someone like John Duncan and perhaps even steering him in the direction she wanted would be that much of a challenge, quite the opposite: she could already foresee each step she needed to take to a point she felt somewhat… bored. Nostalgic over a past long gone. Over the only person that used to have her heart racing and knew her better than she knew herself.

Yet she had no time to dwell on any of it, not when her current target had finally figured out that with the car speeding down the street he had no choice but to reveal the destination he was in such a rush to get to. I will be damned. "…Brentwood St.", John finished casually reciting the address, seeming completely unaware of how with a couple of words he had given her enough ammo to not only have his freshly-acquired title as Partner stripped away but have him potentially disbarred altogether. Luckily enough, she had other uses for him before things would get to the stage where he'd be contemplating a new career path. The triumph at the idea Mooney's new attorney was making far from an innocent late night visit to a person that without shadow of a doubt be on the witness list and important to the prosecution was short-lived. Curiosity swooped in its place upon realizing her own daughter was on the receiving end of whatever risqué plans John had in mind and the sole reason he was breaking a golden rule. Reginald's gaze met hers in the rearview mirror and she could tell he had come to the same conclusion about the stop they would be making, same place he'd driven her to one too many times. Her quick nod had him raising the privacy screen without uttering a word before she shifted until her body was aligned with the man next to her and she crossed her legs, not missing the way his eyes darted down to the sliver of skin her dress offered, "I heard your client got in quite the trouble at his new home, darling."

"I'm not at liberty-" "To discuss it?", she let out a laugh, "All work and no play isn't that much fun, Mr. Duncan. You eventually come to realize that." She didn't let the fact her remark was met by silence from his side discourage her- his instincts might have been screaming he was walking into a minefield, but dropping down his guard was inevitable. "Are you worried how it might look at the trial? So unfortunate of him to keep misbehaving like that while still insisting on his innocence and facing the danger of rotting in a cell for the rest of his life." Her smile was sickly-sweet as she let her expression brim with compassion for the task bestowed upon him, yet deep down all the misteps Mooney had made during his incarceration- the fork incident being one of many the prosecutors could pick from, brough her utmost joy. "I see no love has been lost here.", John retorted, attempting to sound nonchalant in hope she'd reveal her cards before he had to address his client. All she offered him was another loaded look as she swooped her hair off her shoulder and changed the subject, "How's the hotel been treating you, Mr. Duncan? Or better yet, Portland?" "I've had less eventful work trips." "Ah, way to make me curious. Is this your first time in town?" "Yes.", he paused, "Is this where you offer to show me the sights?" She quirked up an eyebrow, "Are you asking?" His blue gaze narrowed at her flirtatious tone, "Answering my question with a question. Shouldn't have expected anything else."

"Indeed, darling. And what about 310?" "Excuse me?" The confusion that met the number won another hearty laugh out of her, "Room 310 has been giving you trouble, as Julie put it. I couldn't help but overhear." "Giving me trouble? I'm afraid you misheard her, Ms. Donovan. She said 510." Her marriage to a detective and years spent in court dealing with both the guilty and innocent had taught her to read people to a point it had become an instinct. Everyone had a tell when lying, their body language always offered more than their careful answers, and she had been observing his since their first 'accidental' meeting. No matter how small his tells were, she didn't miss the way his lips pursed as he parroted back her question, how his eyes darted before focusing on hers once more- John was doing his hardest to deceive her again, convince her she had heard wrong instead of caught him in a lie. "Is that so?", she cocked her head to the side, "Shame, would have meant we're neighbors." They were in fact neighbors- one call to the front desk was all it had taken to figure out his room number and confirm the hunch she had about him avoiding her while also providing an insight into the source of the frustrated noises and curses carrying over in the middle of the night from the room next to hers.

She leaned in closer, close enough she could whisper in his ear as her hand landed on his knee, "510 sounds a lot like my 309 neighbor… keeping me up at late hours and not in the way I like it." His bated breath urged her hand to travel upward, her test put in motion while actual seduction was nowhere on her agenda for the evening, yet the fact he was headed to see Sabrina left her with no choice. She had to know, to figure out what mess her daughter had found herself in, if she was wasting time on someone whose loyalty was as fleeting as his code of conduct. "Next time you find yourself unable to sleep…", her words drifted off just as she made it to his zipper. ...You won't be visiting my Sabrina, that's for certain. It was then that his fingers snaked around her wrist to stop her advance, "I'm not interested." "Hmm? No?", she let the question hang in the air between them, giving him a chance to change his mind and prove her right, "An honorable man, Mr. Duncan. Nothing I respect more." Candice backed away with that, resuming her previous position like nothing had happened, smirking at the small sigh of relief that escaped him. Her hand rose and gently knocked on the glass separating them from her driver, "Reginald, how far are we from Mr. Duncan's destination?" The emphasis she put on the last part flew over John's head as he matched her small smile that didn't stay on his face long, "Not too far, Miss, but traffic is moving slower than usual, seems there was an accident of sort. Could be a while longer." Her smirk only widened when he whispered under his breath, "My fucking luck." Your unlucky night is quite lucky for me, Mr. Duncan. What a better way to find out more about the person trying to charm my eldest daughter and no doubt use her to free a guilty man...

Tagging, @strangefable @florbelles @unholymilf @purplehairsecretlair @aceghosts @onehornedbeast @thesingularityseries @cassietrn @theelderhazelnut @voidika @nightbloodbix @macs-babies @finding-comfort-in-rain @carlosoliveiraa @josephslittledeputy @josephseedismyfather @vampireninjabunnies-blog @trench-rot @la-grosse-patate @wrathfulrook @fourlittleseedlings @jackiesarch and anyone with something to share this week <3

[kp777]

By Robert Reich

Common Dreams

April 11, 2023

I hate to say this, but America no longer has two parties devoted to a democratic system of self-government. We have a Democratic Party, which — notwithstanding a few glaring counter-examples such as what the Democratic National Committee did to Bernie in 2016 — is still largely committed to democracy. And we have a Republican Party, which is careening at high-velocity toward authoritarianism. Okay, fascism.

What occurred in Nashville last week is a frightening reminder of the fragility of American democracy when Republicans obtain supermajorities and no longer need to work with Democratic lawmakers.

The two Tennessee Democrats expelled from the Tennessee House were not accused of criminal wrongdoing or even immoral conduct. Their putative offense was to protest Tennessee’s failure to enact stronger gun controls after a shooting at a Christian school in Nashville left three 9-year-old students and three adults dead.

They were technically in violation of House rules, but the state legislature has never before imposed so severe a penalty for rules violations. In fact, over the past few years, a number of Tennessee legislators have kept their posts even after being charged with serious sexual misconduct. And the two who were expelled last week are Black people, while a third legislator who demonstrated in the same manner but was not expelled is white.

***

We are witnessing the logical culmination of win-at-any-cost Trump Republican politics — scorched-earth tactics used by Republicans to entrench their power, with no justification other than that they can.

Democracy is about means. Under it, citizens don’t have to agree on ends (abortion, health care, guns, or whatever else we disagree about) as long as we agree on democratic means for handling our disagreements.

But for Trump Republicans, the ends justify whatever means they choose —including expelling lawmakers, rigging elections through gerrymandering, refusing to raise the debt ceiling, and denying the outcome of a legitimate presidential election.

My friends, the Republican Party is no longer committed to democracy. It is rapidly becoming the American fascist party.

***

Wisconsin may soon offer an even more chilling example. While liberals celebrated the election on Tuesday of Janet Protasiewicz to the Wisconsin Supreme Court because she’ll tip the court against the state’s extreme gerrymandering (the most extreme in the nation) and its fierce laws against abortion (among the most stringent in America), something else occurred in Wisconsin on election day that may well negate Protasiewicz’s victory. Voters in Wisconsin’s 8th senatorial district decided (by a small margin) to send Republican Dan Knodl to the state Senate.

This gives the Wisconsin Republican Party a supermajority — and with it, the power to remove key state officials, including judges, through impeachment. Several weeks ago, Knodl said he would “certainly consider” impeaching Protasiewicz. Although he was then talking about her role as a county judge, his interest in impeaching her presumably has increased now that she’s able to tip the state’s highest court.

As in Tennessee, this could be done without any necessity for a public justification. Under Republican authoritarianism, power is its own justification. Recall that in 2018, after Wisconsin voters elected a Democratic governor and attorney general, the Republican legislature and the lame duck Republican governor responded by significantly cutting back the power of both offices.

North Carolina is another state where a supermajority of GOP legislators has cut deeply into the power of the executive branch, after Democrats won those posts. The GOP now has veto-proof majorities in both of the state’s legislative chambers, which enable Republicans to enact conservative policies over the opposition of Gov. Roy Cooper, including even more extreme gerrymandered districts. Although North Carolina’s constitution bans mid-decade legislative redistricting absent a court order, Republicans just announced they plan to do it anyway.

Meanwhile, a newly installed Republican supermajority in Florida has given Ron DeSantis unbridled control over the state — granting him total authority of the board governing Disney, the theme park giant he has fought over his anti-LGBTQ+ “don’t say gay” law; permission to fly migrants from anywhere in the U.S. to destinations of his own choosing, for political purposes, and then send the bill to Florida’s taxpayers; and unprecedented prosecutorial power in the form of his newly created, hand-picked office of election “integrity,” pursuing supposed cases of voter fraud.Florida has now effectively silenced even Florida residents from speaking out in opposition to Republican proposals. A new rule prohibits rallies at the state house. Those testifying against Republican bills are often allowed to speak for no more than 30 seconds.

***

Without two parties committed to democratic means to resolve differences in ends, the one remaining (small-d) democratic party is at a disadvantage in seeking ends it deems worthy. The inevitable result: Eventually it, too, sacrifices democratic means to its own ends.

When a political party sacrifices democratic means to its own ends, partisanship turns to enmity, and political divisions morph into hatred. In warfare there are no principles, only wins and losses. One hundred sixty years ago, our system of self-government fell apart because Southern states refused to recognize the inherent equality of Black people. What occurred in Tennessee last week is a throwback to that shameful era. I don’t believe Trump alone is responsible for the birth of modern Republican fascism, but he has legitimized and encouraged the vicious rancor that has led much of the GOP into election-denying authoritarianism.

[kvetchlandia]

William Gottlieb     Sarah Vaughan Performing at Café Society, West Village, New York City     1946

Barney Josephson opened Café Society at Sheridan Square in the West Village in 1938.  When he opened the club, a small, basement room, he wanted it to be fully integrated, both on stage and in the audience.  In 1938, that was unheard of in the United States, even in as cosmopolitan and sophisticated a city as New York.  Josephson had gotten the idea while visiting Paris and seeing the integrated jazz clubs that were flourishing there.  He chose the name “Café Society” to mock the snooty Clare Booth Luce, who wrote puff pieces about the habitués of the upscale nightclubs uptown, which she called “cafe society.”  Josephson’s slogan for Café Society was “The Wrong Place to the Right People.”  He booked many of the great jazz and blues acts of his era, as well as comedians, and he ensured that black customers were as welcome as whites.  Among the acts featured at Café Society were Billie Holiday, Lena Horne, Big Joe Turner, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Josh White, Teddy Wilson, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, Hazel Scott, May Lou Williams, Count Basie, Lester Young, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Leadbelly, Big Bill Broonzy and many others.  It was at Café Society that Abel Meeropol showed his poem abut the lynching of Black people, “Strange Fruit,” to Josephson, who had him show it to Billie Holiday.  It became a part of her set for the rest of her life.  Josephson insisted she use the song as the last piece of her set, so people would be left thinking about its powerful lyrics.  The club also was a performance place for comedians, most of whom were leftists and did political humor, like Jack Gilford, Zero Mostel, Imogene Coca and a troupe called “The Revuers” that featured Betty Comden, Adolph Green and a young Judy Tuvim, soon to become known as Judy Holliday.

In 1947, the anti-communist witch hunt was in full swing.  The progressive politics of Café Society, its integrated scene and the artists who worked there all came to the attention of the House Un-American Activities Committee.  Barney Josephson’s brother, Leon, one of the founders of Café Society although not actively involved in running it, was a long time member of the Communist Party as well as being the attorney for his brother and the club, was summonsed to appear before HUAC.  He was an unfriendly witness, who refused to name names or to answer questions.  He was convicted of Contempt of Congress and spent a year in jail.  After his conviction, reactionary columnists like Walter Winchell began attacking Barney Josephson and Café Society as a notorious nest of communists.  Customers rapidly fell away and within a year, Barney Jospehson had to close the club.  

Most of the artists who performed there remembered there remembered Café Society fondly.   John Chilton, author of “Billie’s Blues,” wrote, “Café Society was probably the happiest booking of Billie’s life. It did wonders for her confidence onstage, enabling her to project a more sophisticated act. Barney Josephson encouraged and advised Billie; later he was to do the same thing for Lena Horne.”  Horne said Café Society was “the sweetest job I ever got in my life.”