#oh yeah mia is dating lana here

[caramelmochacrow]

Alright, my AU.

(im honestly just going to ramble abt it, so it might not make sense lol im sorry if it does in advance....)

it's called the Babysitting Au (smart name i know,) it's abt phoenix babysitting nahyuta, ema, kay, sebastian, klavier, clay, apollo, athena, juniper, and trucy w simon and edgeworth and they get up to many devious plans in a nutshell.

but in a more proper way of explaining it, it's phoenix and everyone -- clay and juniper included,-- meeting a bit earlier than the original and he forms a relationship with them before every single tragedy in the series happens. (except for SL-9 and everything before that.) they all made a promise to meet everyone together one day bc ofc they do, they're silly kids! but all of them were serious about it.

and yes, everything is the same, except for nahyuta being here, apollo knowing trucy is his sister, athena meeting them, and some of them helping in the trials.

im still working on how nahyuta got here (i did have an idea, but i think it needs some fixing idk yet) but the old reasoning is bc he begged dhurke to let him come w apollo and his parents and he can come back anytime he wishes to. (also yes jove lives a little bit longer, trucy is still going to be apollo's half-sister tho so shawdy smith is still here)

ema is going to be buddies w clay bc they both like science, even if it's two different types. also ema finally has someone to talk abt science to! yay! it'd be a shame if she pushes this person away!

clay is friends w athena too bc i know in my heart that athena knows abt space and mythology bc metis would tell her myths from greek and japanese mythology bc greek myths and the stars are quite connected (look at the names of some well-known constellations like cassiopeia, the argo/argonavis, and -- the most obvious one -- orion.), there are also some other japanese myths that r connected to the stars and stuff so u know. (izanagi being the god of space and the star-crossed lovers from what i remember, i don't know much japanese myths abt the stars, only the sun and moon w the yatagarasu, that one time amaterasu stayed in a cave for a few months, etc., etc.)

oh yeah juniper is that kid who makes little handmade gifts for all her friends and everyone cherishes every gift from her. like she would make them paper bracelets for everyone -- even edgeworth, but kay is the one who delivers it to him -- and she would sometimes use plastic, making the bracelets feel extra special (and shiny!)

also, byrne gets to live in this au bc if he's dead kay wouldn't be able to meet the others in the au now would she? (he just got badly injured when callisto stabbed him, badd took care of kay while he was in the hospital and bc of the whole almost getting murdered thing thanks to his job made him not want to work in a job connected to law anymore.) but kay still goes to her relatives after a bit, which causes them to make that promise, this time w byrne!

and yes some of the kids show up in the trilogy except for some flashbacks, not all of them will see each other, only some of them.

im not talking abt anything after the trilogy bc i haven't reached that part w my writing so this all i'll say lol.

[miacostello]

CHERRY BOMB: A MIA COSTELLO PLAYLIST

[ LISTEN HERE ] 

An in depth look below the cut @parabellumrpg​

Cherry Bomb - The Runaways

Hello, daddy. Hello, mom. I’m your ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb! Hello world! I’m your wild girl. I’m your ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb!

Mia’s anthem and inspiration. Her production company is a nod to this song. 

How to Be a Heartbreaker - MARINA

Rule number one, is that you gotta have fun But baby when you’re done, you gotta be the first to run Rule number two, just don’t get attached to Somebody you could lose So le-let me tell you

Mia is the type to not allow herself to fall in love and get too close to that emotion as there are 3 relationship she has grown up with that have either ended in death, heartache or unresolved issues. Thus why she is the Heartbreaker as this song describes. 

You Don’t Own Me (ft. G-Eazy) - SAYGRACE

You don’t own me I’m not just one of your many toys You don’t own me Don’t say I can’t go with other boys Don’t tell me what to do And don’t tell me what to say

The title is self explanatory. This is Mia’s mindset when being in a flirtation (she will never call anything a relationship) and how she will never be anyone’s property. Period. 

Bad Reputation - Joan Jett & The Runaways

I don’t give a damn ‘bout my reputation Living in the past, it’s a new generation A girl can do what she wants to do and that’s what I’m gonna do

Mia’s I don’t give a fuck about my reputation anthem that played endlessly during her years where she made a name for herself in the press. 

Don’t Call Me Angel - Ariana Grande, Miley Cyrus, Lana Del Ray

Boy, don’t call me angel You ain’t got me right Don’t call me angel You can’t pay my price Ain’t from no Heaven Yeah, you heard me right (yeah, you heard me)

Mia is not sugar and spice and everything nice. She wont be the angel that someone wants to her to be or cast in this holy light or turn towards it. That has never been her. She is who she is and people she allows into her life or doesn’t has to take it or leave it. 

Bubblegum Bitch - MARINA

I’ll chew you up and I’ll spit you out 'Cause that’s what young love is all about So pull me closer and kiss me hard I’m gonna pop your bubblegum heart

As I stated before, this goes along with not allowing anyone to get too close to the territory that involves feelings or love so she goes through people like a pack of gum and she doesn’t care. 

Mama (ft. Ellie Goulding) - Clean Bandit

Oh mama, oh la, oh la, oh la Don’t know what this is What do I do now, do now, do now? Do with all of this? All of these new emotions I let them out in the open Oh mama, oh la, oh la, oh la Oh, what do I do now?

I liked this song because of its beat and as I listened to the lyrics of it I pictured in my head Mia asking her mother what she should if she ever develops the emotion that she has long suppressed since her mother died. This song would be Mia’s way of asking her dearly departed mother for help navigating the emotion or getting rid of it. How can she love another when one of the person’s she loved with all of her heart was ripped from her life in such a brutal and bloody way. 

Hate Me (w/ Juice WRLD) - Ellie Goulding

Hate me, hate me, still tryna replace me Chase me, chase me, tell me how you hate me Erase me, 'rase me, wish you never dated me Lies, tell me lies, baby, tell me how you hate me

This song is Mia’s reaction to past flirtations telling themselves and others that they hate her and how she doesn’t care. 

Rebel Girl - Bikini Kill

Rebel girl, rebel girl Rebel girl you are the queen of my world Rebel girl, rebel girl I know I wanna take you home I wanna try on your clothes

Another song to describe the person that Mia is and her characteristics. Mia in this song is both the Rebel Girl and the woman singing the song to the Rebel Girl. 

S.L.U.T. - Bea Miller

I love myself, I wanna see it When I turn around, look in the mirror And if you don’t like it, you can leave it 'Cause it’s my own and I’ll keep owning it If you don’t like what I’m wearing Well, you’re only bothered 'cause you’re staring And you’ll never talk me into caring 'Cause it’s my own and I’ll keep owning it

All about owning her sexuality, herself, the way she looks, feels, etc and how once again if someone doesn’t like what Mia does, looks or produces they can fuck off. 

Salute - Little Mix

Ladies all across the world Listen up, we’re looking for recruits If you with me, lemme see your hands Stand up and salute Get your killer heels, sneakers, pumps or lace up your boots Representing all the women, salute, salute

Mia supports women and everything that they do. This is all about building up her fellow ladies, especially in the adult film industry where they are looked down upon, belittle and can be put into uncomfortable or compromising positions they did not consent to. This song goes out to them. Mia has their back and it is time to band together. 

Feeling Myself - Nicki Minaj, Beyonce

I’m feelin’ myself, I’m feelin’ myself

That song she sings to the mirror when she is feelin’ herself. 

Take It Off - The Donnas

Go on and take it off Take it off! Shake it off baby, for me C'mon and break me off Break me off! Cause I get what I want and I like what I see

“Cause I get what I want and I like what I see“ that is why I chose this song. Mia sees something she will go after it and get it. There is no holding back for her. 

Edge of Seventeen - Stevie Nicks

And the days go by Like a strand in the wind In the web that is my own I begin again

A transitional song for her new beginning after she started to straighten out the road she had been on. 

Woman Like Me (ft. Nicki Minaj) - Little Mix

I always say what I’m feeling I was born without a zip on my mouth Sometimes I don’t even mean it It takes a little while to figure me out

Read the lyrics and that is why I chose this song. She says what she is feelings, doesn’t hold back, blunt, truthful and does not beat around the bush. Mia is all of these things and it can make her seem prickly, abrasive, perhaps a bitch, rude or mean but if she lets someone into her life or someone takes the time to actually get to know her and not what has been printed about her they’ll see more sides to her. It takes a little while to figure her out. 

Chandelier - Twisted Measure (cover)

Party girls don’t get hurt Can’t feel anything, when will I learn I push it down, push it downI’m the one “for a good time call” Phone’s blowin’ up, they’re ringin’ my doorbell I feel the love, feel the love One, two, three, one, two, three, drink One, two, three, one, two, three, drink One, two, three, one, two, three, drink Throw em back, till I lose count

I ended the playlist on this song because this is the side of Mia that no one knows or sees. Of course she has emotions and feels things deeply but she represses them and as the song says, she shoves them down and throws back drinks to keep those feelings down. This song is also me holding up a mirror to Mia and having her see herself in it and everything she did in her youth. The side described in the song about the number of drinks drunk till she loses count was Mia before the woman she is now and maybe if she had let others in she might not have had to shove it all down. This cover gives me chills every time I hear it and while Sia is the original artist I believe this group’s take is more true to Mia.  

[wardencommanderrodimiss]

Miscellany about Mia in the Fae AU, simultaneously making myself sad and laughing. Who wants nearly 2000 words of assorted thoughts about Mia Fae, because you can get them here.

So at this point, we obviously know Mia to be a semi-omniscient (I know that’s kind of an oxymoron) presence lingering over the office, stopping Phoenix’s stupid ass from getting killed, and doing classic poltergeist things like breaking mirrors and throwing things but in a way that provides guidance to her people when they need a push. She is the Wise Dead Mentor, as in canon, but kicking around long past when she stops being an active figure in canon. 

But we don’t know her when she was alive. We get those snippets of dialogue of her and Phoenix to bookend his flashback chapters, and we get Phoenix telling Apollo and Vera about her. And the latter, at least, is definitely unreliable -- Phoenix isn’t trying to actually be unreliable in that moment, but his memory is colored with nostalgia and grief and loss, so the information he gives the kids is basically “she was perfect and unique and infallible and stronger than anyone”.... which I mean.... there’s a reason Vera follows up with the question that she does, because that sounds so romanticized to her, especially since the only fae she knows are herself (naive and unwitting criminal) and Kristoph (bastard). 

Mia was very very strong. But Dahlia was about her equal, I think -- which Phoenix does not want to think about -- and Mia still died and obviously was neither perfect nor immortal.

And -- this is some psuedo-canon that I’m not quite sure if I’ll ever put into the text directly, because I feel like if I say it I’ve got to work out the exact logistics of how it works, and in case you haven’t noticed, I am not worldbuilding with a hard rule-defined magic system, here. The lines are all blurry, except I am also an obsessive perfectionist, so even though I keep saying “I fudge a lot of the terms of what magic can and can’t do, I’m standardizing a few things, but most of it is whatever causes the most problems for our protagonists” I am also driven with this horrible desire that even if it never becomes relevant in-text, I need to know for my own purposes. But anyway --

Part of what I’ve got in my head is that, Dahlia was horribly strong, clearly. Vera survives being cursed -- Phoenix was dying within seconds of Dahlia’s curse. And in my head, Mia’s blessing is more than that -- it was part of her own life force. That’s why White killed her relatively easily (though she didn’t properly die); because she had already weakened herself, because she had given that up to Phoenix. She wanted to foil Dahlia, desperately, but it was also a reaction of her guilt at not having saved Diego from Dahlia. She couldn’t save him, but she can save Phoenix, and she pays a high price to do so.

And Phoenix knows this, or thinks of it in this way: Chapter 8, he says “He’s a dead man, living on time borrowed – no, stolen – from someone else.” He thinks he’s the reason that Mia is gone, and he’s not sure if he was worth her life.

(On this topic, sort of, about the one thing that Vera asks him in Chapter 15, I don’t and I never have shipped Mia and Phoenix, but I do believe that he was definitely in love with her, kind of in a “puppy love he knows is unattainable and is at least partially just loving the concept of her” way, from maybe soon after his trial until sometime after she died. Like canonically, he shifts from calling her “Chief” to calling her “Mia” at some point after her death, when they’re working together, and I see that shift as him moving on from carrying such a torch for her and them standing on equal footing. Anyway. Characterization things that don’t really have much bearing here! Now you know.)

This is all to say that Phoenix’s idealization of her when he talks about her as pretty much the strongest and best of all the fae, is a little bit of a tilted perspective.

Because when she was alive and trying to be human, she was really, really fucking weird.

Like. The fae are weird. Maya is a terrifying goblin girl who likes cheap fast food and samurai shows and contains about a hundred teeth and the entire void inside of her mouth. Mia leaned closer to human in terms of her morals -- eg if she was still alive and able to help with the Kristoph situation, Phoenix would have asked for her help instead of pushing Maya away because he knows he can’t tell her anything or else she’ll kill people -- but she still was not good at being a human being.

This is because of the two people she learned how to be human from: Lana and Diego.

Lana she met in law school, was attracted to because of her intelligence, her determination, and also the fact that she’s very very pretty. In Chapter 8, Ema and Phoenix have that conversation about souls, referencing back to Lana, and Ema clearly knows that Mia was one of the fae and knew it before she ever met Phoenix, and this is because Mia at that point was bad at pretending to be human. Lana spent time with her, Lana realizes, “oh, hey, you did not grow up here, as in here, the world as I know it”. And Mia tries to learn from Lana how people act, but she cannot learn from Lana what normal human dedication to something is, because Lana is highly driven at everything she does. Lana throws herself into everything knowing she will get it done, Lana comes out the other side of an all-nighter still pretty sharp and ready to go with the next thing, and Mia is like “ah, yes, this are ordinary human limitations” and they are not. She does realize that Lana has a more formal, restrained manner of speaking, and she does look around for other people to observe to figure out how to talk.

This, unfortunately, lands her with Diego, who’s much much more casual with everyone, except he’s still in love with bullshit metaphors and being vague as hell, and Mia is like “ah, perfect, I know how to talk like this” except nobody but them talks like this. You two are why Grossberg has a flask in his desk, you know. He day-drinks because you two are master-class at bullshitting and saying meaningful meaningless things. Diego is also not a good litmus for human caffeine consumption, but again, Mia is like “yeah, okay, this is how people are” and they aren’t. 

Also you know how there’s some incredibly hot concept art of Mia as a biker? Some time after poisoning Diego and then spiriting him into a pocket dimension (Dahlia doesn’t do things in halves, Dahlia does the human method of getting rid of someone and then the fae one, leaves the trail cold in two directions), Dahlia sends Iris to get the necklace back and flees the city, and Mia buys a motorcycle and goes chasing her down, and that’s what Mia’s absence from court in that time is about. (Mia is very confused when she catches up to Dahlia in LA again and Dahlia has apparently been there the whole time dating this college kid, because she knows Dahlia was not in LA but apparently was.) And while doing that, Mia doesn’t really need to bother too much with being a human person, she can just roll in to roadside diners and truck stops and be that weird nameless biker chick who no one will ever see again, so when she gets back and takes Phoenix under her wing, she is still, just, weird. 

She never figures out how to give direct advice, she never figures out what healthy caffeine consumption for humans is, she never figures out lots of little things that if you’re around someone long-term will make you say “hey what the fuck is wrong with you”, but since she’s associating really only with Phoenix at this point, who knows what she is, it doesn’t matter. And Phoenix, conversely, doesn’t care, because she saved his life, because she is helping him on his path to save his friend, and later, he doesn’t care because he’s mourning her and misses her and all the most important things about her to him overshadow the weirdness.

(”Mr Wright, can you ask her to stop getting my attention by throwing things at me?” Apollo says and Phoenix is like “I don’t understand the question, that’s how she is, what’s the problem?”)

The one thing Mia does learn, most importantly, and mostly from Lana, is about how humans love. The Winter Court is a place of backstabbing and deceit, among family as much as anywhere else. Misty loved her daughters and did not see them as a threat and that was odd and that is partially why Misty left; Mia and Maya loved each other and that was odd and that is partially why Mia left; Iris loved Dahlia and that was odd (Dahlia used her more as a pawn in return, which is typical). Morgan loved her daughter as a pawn but as a pawn to get Pearl power for herself, not for Morgan, which is odd. These two generations of the Winter Royals were just odd, more human in sentiment than those prior, the start of a shift, but -- Mia meets Lana, a young woman who has lost her parents, who loves her younger sister with her whole heart and is raising her and taking care of her and doing her best for her, and Mia sees this, and something fully, entirely, clicks for Mia. And she wishes she and Maya could be like that in the Court without fearing the politicking around them, without fearing others trying to play them against each other, without fear, in general. 

(You know, when Ema first meets Phoenix, she asks if he’s Mia, which is like, haha, silly girl, and we forget it because Ema obviously knows who Mia is because Mia and Lana obviously were girlfriends in school. But in this universe, Ema asks, tentatively, if he is Mia, because she does not know how much the fae cannot change forms, does not know if Mia has taken a new shape and name since Ema last saw her.)

Phoenix, meeting Ema, though, he is reminded of Mia, and Maya, and that is because Mia started patterning herself after them. And in that, Mia did succeed at seeming very, very human.

(Maya loves her sister just as much, has always, did always, knew that wasn’t normal among the fae but didn’t know it was possible for humans to just be without fighting each other for title and throne, and this Maya learns from Phoenix, and this she brings back to the Court. This is how she takes to Pearl, the way Mia was with her, and she tries to build a loving family out of them, to change the entire backstabbing culture of the Court her own damn self. And that informs how she deals with Iris, later -- she doesn’t kill Iris, doesn’t strip her of power and exile her, doesn’t lock her up in a pocket dimension or in iron. She extends an olive branch, because Phoenix forgives, because Mia loves, and because they are family, and because Iris’ greatest sin was Mia’s greatest strength, which was loving her sister.)

[magewardensurana]

For your writing prompts! Ema/Maya, chocolate?

Sorry this took awhile!

Ema knocked on the door to the Wright Anything Agency, but didn’t wait for an answer before she pushed it open.  It was business hours, after all.

“Mr Wright?” she said, not looking up from the folder she was absorbed in reading.  "I was wondering if you could take a look at - Oh.“  She stopped when she did look up, and saw that the person in the office was not Phoenix Wright, or his daughter, or Athena Cykes.

“Heya, Ema!” The woman greeted her with a bright smile and a wave.

Maya Fey.  It was always a slightly awkward moment running into a highly attractive old friend.  Even more awkward when the last few interactions had involved murders, arrests, testimonies and cross examinations.

“Maya, hello.  I wasn’t expecting -” The folder got transferred to under her right arm and her left hand automatically went for the bag of snackadoos.  "Have you been in LA long?“  That seemed like a safe topic choose.

“Just a few days.  Probably be here a few more.  With Trucy in her senior year and Apollo in Khura'in, Nick’s a little short staffed.  So I said I’d help out for a bit.”

“What about Miss Cykes?”  Ema’s mind had gone blank of anything except the most inane of small talk.  She suddenly wished she had a crime scene to examine (not that she wanted the Agency to be the scene of yet another crime.  It was more a desire for a general crime scene) or a testimony to give. Forensics would give her something to talk about, and distract her from the fact that she hadn’t washed her hair in several days and her lab coat still had that stain on it from last week.

“Thena’s running way more trials now, and Nick’s taking the whole mentor thing really seriously.”  Maya grinned, “Doesn’t really like me reminding him of the days when he couldn’t get through one trial without yelling for Sis to help.  So, it’s time for the real head of Wright and Co. to take her rightful place in the office again.”

Ema untucked the folder from under her arm.  "I’ll just leave this here, then,“ she said, slipping the folder on the desk.  "If you could ask Mr Wright to look at it.  It’s not important, just something I thought he’d find interesting.”

She turned to go.

“Ema, wait.”  Maya was leaning over her desk, her hand on Ema’s arm.  "It’s been ages since we spoke properly.  And arrests and cross examinations don’t count as a proper reunion.“

Ema blushed, and Maya sighed.  "Is that why you’re acting so weird?  Look, if I held a grudge against everyone who accused me of murder or testified against me I’d have no friends except Nick.”

Ema managed to smile in return. 

“I am sorry about that.  I could’ve got you and Mr Wright killed.”

“It’s no problem.  Happens all the time.  Come on, I was about to make hot chocolate.”

The kitchen at the Wright Anything Agency was still well stocked despite the fact that the Wrights no longer lived there.  Maya found milk and a saucepan, measured out the milk and put it on the stove to boil.

“Milk?”  Ema asked, surprised.

“Yeah.  What else would I use?  Water?” Maya slipped a glass disk into the pan.  She caught sight of Ema’s guilty expression.

“Oh, Ema…”

“What?  It’s quick and less work.  That efficiency is necessary for the busy working woman.”

“If you want to kill all the taste.  Also, that’s coco.”

“What’s the difference? In scientific terms, please.”

“S-scientific, huh?”  Maya frowned, thinking.

Ema rolled her eyes.  "Look at the basic nature of things, Maya”

They stared at each other for a moment, then Maya shook her head.  "This is all sounding way too familiar.  Besides, if I used water then I think Sis would channel herself into me and throw it all out.“

It was still strange to hear Maya so casually talk about spirit channelling, despite everything Ema knew of the Feys and had seen in Khura'in.

“Do you speak to your sister often?”

“Not as much as I used to,” Maya replied, rummaging through the cupboard to find the chocolate flakes.  "We spoke loads before I went to Khura'in, though.“

"How… exactly do you talk?”

“Is this your scientific curiosity?” Maya asked, a tub of chocolate flakes in her hand.  She added a generous amount to each mug and stirred in some cold milk.  "And it’s not that difficult.  Either we write notes to each other, or Pearly channels Sis and we talk face to face.“

Ema considered this.  Scientifically she knew spirit channelling was impossible, but empirical evidence said otherwise.

"It must be nice,” was what she managed.  She thought about her own parents, a man and a woman she barely remembered, and wondered what it would be like to see them again.

“I guess.  We haven’t talked since I turned twenty seven.  It just -” Maya shrugged, and stirred the milk and chocolate flake mixture again.  Ema tried to think of a way to change the subject.

“Did you know I didn’t actually realise our sisters were dating?" 

Maya laughed.  "Yeah, I know.  Sis and I had a bet going on how long it would take for you to realise.”

“I was pretty focused on my school work.”

“Emaaaaa.  They were living together.  In your house.”

There was a rattling of the glass dish as the milk came to the boil.  Maya poured the milk into the mugs and added a whipped cream and a sprinkling of marshmallows to each.  "Ta-da!  Maya’s Super Special Hot Chocolate!“

"It shall be drunk,” Ema replied, reaching up to adjust her glasses, “In the name of science.  You proposed the hypothesis that this is superior to water-made hot chocolate.  I intend to test this.  Scientifically.”

“I intend to drink it ‘cause it’s delicious.  Later I’ll probably test the hypnosis that whipped cream straight from the can to my mouth is just as good as adding it to food.”

The mental image of Maya Fey and whipped cream caused a small and sudden coughing fit from Ema.

“You okay, Ema?”

“I’m… fine.” Ema replied, running through the periodic table in her head to refocus her thoughts.  "Let’s go drink, shall we?“

They took their drinks over to the office’s couch, Maya curling up on her seat with the comfortable familiarity of someone who had thought of the place as a home for a long time.  Ema studied her over the top of her mug.  They’d known each other a long time, but then lost touch after Lana ended things with Mia.  Despite their mutual defence lawyer friend they hadn’t properly reconnected until just a few months ago.  And now they were drinking hot chocolate and talking like the years of separation had never happened.

Romance was not Ema’s strong suit.  In wasn’t that she lacked experience in the field.  More that her usual approach was impossible.  Dating wasn’t something that could be treated scientifically.  What worked with one person wasn’t guaranteed to work with another.  Each partner required a whole new set of formulae.  Klavier hadn’t been Kay, and Maya wasn’t Klavier (which she was very grateful for since being interested in one Klavier Gavin had been bad enough), so there was no reference to draw on.  No way of telling if her interest was requited.

"Did you know,” Maya said, breaking the silence.  "Meeting your sister really helped me.“

"Oh?”

“I’d only ever really had Sis to compare myself to.  So I figured there was something wrong with me ‘cause I didn’t like guys.  Kurain is really, really straight and Sis liked girls, buuuuuuuut she also liked guys.  So it wasn’t until I met Lana that I realised it could be a thing.”  Ema didn’t realise she’d been staring at Maya until the other woman blushed, then pouted.

“Shit.  You did know I’m gay, right?”

“A little hard to miss,” Ema replied, wryly.  "We were mutuals on tumblr, remember? You url was mayagay and your description was ‘I’m a lesbian and I like Steel Samurai’.“

"Still is.  And it’s still true.  So, what was with all the staring, then?”

“It’s just - I went through the exact same thing.  Growing up my only frame of reference was a lot of heterosexual people and Lana.  So I thought attraction was an either/or deal, and that I was an outlier.  Then I met Mia, and adjusted my theory to fit the new information.”

“Y'know, a quick Google search would’ve given us the same answers.”

“True.”

Maya raised her mug in a toast.  "Here’s to being a couple of really weird kids.“

Very carefully, so she didn’t dislodge any of the marshmallows or whipped cream, Ema accepted the toast.

[wardencommanderrodimiss]

Okay, so Gregory ends up with like what, eight grandkids? Klavier, Sebastian, Kay, Pearl, Trucy, Athena, Apollo, and sort of Simon. Yeah like eight. What is his opinion on these baby lawyers that keep showing up in his house? (Bonus: Ray's opinions on them.)

At its core this AU is actually “Gregory accidentally adopts two family’s worth of children, has no idea how it happened” and I love it. By the time Mia and Maya return from Kurain like “so our aunt tried to kill us/frame us for murder and we stole took custody of our little cousin” Gregory is like “well this might as well happen, let me know if you ever need any help”. He figures Pearl will be the closest he ever has to a grandchild because both his actual kids are gay workaholics. He accepts this. 

Like by that point Gregory has already actually adopted Franziska, had Larry and Phoenix hanging around so long that they’re basically family, had Ray decide that he’s family, laid claim to Maya as another child, and Ema is also chilling around the house all the time. This man has so many wayward children and Maya is probably where he realizes that this is just going to keep happening. This is what his life is: Mia’s in the hospital in a coma, the blame for who attacked her is pinballing around the group, Maya has just been let off the hook and now Diego is the accused with Phoenix as some sort of accomplice (since they were the two that went to confront White) and Miles goes and picks Maya up from the detention center and brings her home to Gregory since what else is she supposed to do, go home to Mia’s empty apartment? And Gregory takes one look at this girl, Franziska’s age, eyes all red and puffy from crying, having gone through hell of finding her sister nearly dead and being accused of it, clinging to Miles’ arm because he more than anyone can sympathize with her situation, and he’s like “okay I guess I have another daughter now” and she just crashes there until Mia recovers. 

And then later, when Lana is arrested, Ema goes to Mia for help since she knows in law school they were friends “intellectually attracted” dated for a while and Mia’s like “if you don’t want to stay at your sister’s apartment alone, my place doesn’t have any space since Maya’s here from Kurain currently, but I know a man who might be willing to take you” and Ema crashes at Gregory’s until Lana is acquitted. She and Franziska hit it off and Gregory is really very glad that Franziska is making some friends her own age, because really until Ema and Maya, Franziska’s only friends are Miles, Phoenix, and Larry.

By Pearl it’s just habit, like hey here’s another kid we’re adding to this family.

Kay and Sebastian never actually crash at the house - Kay loudly and aggressively follows Franziska home and declares them family, and Gregory kind of has no idea what to do with his chaotic crow daughter. He appreciates her ambition but is not subtle at trying to channel her toward anything more legitimate than “Great Thief." 

Sebastian gets kind of overwhelmed by Fran’s giant and extremely supportive family, so he’s more on the side and doesn’t integrate himself so well with everyone besides Franziska, Kay, Ema, and Ray, but he notices that Fran is not subtly foisting her dad on him as a replacement dad. He doesn’t know how to respond to this. Gregory meanwhile is also like "Franziska I see what you’re doing, I guess I’m his father now” and even when Sebastian doesn’t come around for a while - he’s kind of afraid of being rejected by Fran’s family of brilliant lawyers even though she assures him that they all have accepted Larry - Gregory and Ray are always asking Franziska about how he’s doing and she makes sure that Sebastian knows they are checking in on him.

Gregory loves Trucy. He loves his new granddaughter. His happiness at having his own grandchild - “Father, you know that she is Phoenix’s daughter, not mine, and he and I aren’t together, you know that?” “Miles, she obviously thinks of you as her father. Don’t let her down. She’s my granddaughter” - almost outweighs the amount he wants to lecture Phoenix about the follies of taking in a child when you don’t know how to raise a child and when you also don’t have a way of supporting yourself let alone a child. (Everyone else lectures Phoenix very much so it’s fine that Gregory doesn’t. It’s not like he’s not getting lectured.) 

Ray is absolutely baffled by everything Phoenix is doing but he loves Trucy and he and Trucy are Cool Hat Bros and they go hat shopping a lot and he is in the front-row seats at her magic shows whenever he possibly can. He’ll rearrange whatever commitments he can and he will also brag about her to everyone, he’s like “my super-cool niece is an amazing magician and everyone should come to all her shows ever.”

I feel like Apollo might remind Gregory of Ray when he was younger, a little - loud and eager to learn. He doesn’t spend that much time with Apollo, though; the one who does is Ray. Ray takes a shine to Apollo and takes up a mentor role to him. Apollo is, honestly, unsure whether he works at the Wright Anything Agency or the Edgeworth Law Offices, and this question of who is his boss is one off the less pressing questions that associating with the Edgeworth-Fey extended family gives him. Apollo is honestly overwhelmed by all of these people who are barging into his life and there are so many of them and for a kid who grew up an orphan, with no one, he has no idea what to make of whatever’s going on here.

Gregory loves all of these baby idiots who keep stumbling into his life and he insists that everyone gather together for dinner fairly frequently - I think it probably goes from once every two weeks to once a month to “once a month and we have no idea who’s gonna be there on any evening” because trying to wrangle so many lawyers together in the same place at the same time is quite difficult. 

The first time Apollo comes to a family dinner is because Trucy drags him and he doesn’t quite realize what he’s in for but he does know “Isn’t it kinda weird to go to dinner with my boss’ family at my boss’ dad’s house?” and Trucy says “It’s only weird if you make it weird, Polly” and Apollo pretty much decides this is probably still one of the most normal things that’s happened to him since he met Phoenix so he rolls with it. And I feel like probably only half the family is there, like him and Trucy, Phoenix, Miles, Franziska, Ray, Gregory, and Misty, and Apollo’s like “oh this is a manageable amount of people” and then the next time, everyone is there and he’s like “oh god what is this”.

Athena and Simon I’ll comment on once I figure out their place in this AU, but no one has any idea what to make of Klavier. Like? Apollo and Trucy talk about him occasionally, before That Trial, and then after they’re all pretty assured that he’s not corrupt and is a good kid, but Franziska never really mentions him until one day she shows up late to dinner with Klavier in tow and the only person she warned in advance was Apollo, who’s like “holy shit I kind of thought you were kidding when you texted me that,” and while everyone’s boggling at the fact that Franziska brought her hated rival home she’s just like “hey we’re keeping this one”.