wherein you pull out all the stops in an effort to persuade alhaitham on why he should date you, only… he woos you instead?!
CONTAINS : gn!reader, 7.8k wc, fluff, (attempts at) humour, angst if you squint, reader gets ill from overwork in one part, slight spoilers for 3.2 archon quest (brief mentions/recap of end events)
A/N : reader is struggling but they’re trying their best, alhaitham is a (smitten) menace and bad at feelings (kinda); the embodiment of u fall first, he falls harder (i just think we need more energetic/cute readers with haitham TヘT)
It wasn’t anything special. Really. Just you, your first day jitters, and the calm boy beside you in his Haravatat beret; the same one as yours.
Perhaps he’d noticed your flitting eyes, your shifting feet, or your wrung hands that swung gently in front of your robe-clad body because, when your eyes met (and, oh, what pretty eyes he had), he gave you a small nod. Of what? Comfort? Acknowledgement? Salutations?
You couldn’t tell, and you couldn’t ask. By the time you regained your senses he’d already walked off, the blank space beside you feeling strangely empty.
It wasn’t anything special.
But to you, that one, singular moment was all you needed; the comfort it gave was immeasurable, your first day jitters nonexistent.
pokes the last legacy fandom with a stick. is this thing still alive
i wanted to share smth with yall. ive been rooting around in the last legacy assets once again, and i believe i have discovered the variable that determines which choices are weighted towards an ending (and which ending they are weighted towards)
and since at this point we're probably never going to be able to find out organically (rip nix hydra) i've created a complete list of weighted choices in all three last legacy routes, and which ending they are weighted towards, in order of appearance. under the cut for spoiler and length reasons. enjoy
NOTE that this is ONLY a list of choices that contribute to the ending (good/bad ending). choices that are weighted in other ways (such as choices that affect your relationship with side characters like rime, but that don't actually affect the ending) are not included here. if y'all are curious about that, let me know, i might make another list for those later if/when i have the time.
quick note: each choice has two variables associated with it, one that determines what effect it has on the ending (good or bad) if any, and one determining the weight that choice has. the weight of each weighted choice can be light, medium, or heavy. next to each listed choice i will include both the ending it contributes towards and it's weight.
for chapters that aren't listed, i couldn't find any weighted choices in those chapters.
edit/additional notes: the endings aren't actually listed as "good/bad" in the code; the variable that denotes effect is an integer called "choiceType" which can be 0, 1, or 2. however, this is the same system the arcana uses, and in the arcana, 0 means unweighted, 1 means upright, and 2 means reversed. this on it's own wouldn't be enough for me to assume that fictif has upright/reversed endings as well, except that in some files within last legacy the options are straight up called "upright" or "reversed" (and the ones labeled upright are marked as choiceType 1 while the ones labeled reversed are marked choiceType 2.) i chose to call them good/bad endings since upright/reversed are tarot terms that only really make sense for the arcana.
Felix's route
Felix 01:
"I think it's risky." (good ending - light weight)
"It's just another tool." (bad ending - light weight)
Felix 02:
"Your book sounds creepy." (good ending - light weight)
"Can I see it?" (bad ending - light weight)
Felix 03
"Let's study it." (good ending - medium weight)
"Make it talk." (bad ending - medium weight)
Felix 05
"You've got this. (bad ending - light weight)
"We'll do this together." (good ending - light weight)
Felix 06
"We can't go with you." (bad ending - light weight)
"Can we talk this out?" (good ending - light weight)
Felix 07
"I kind of like your family." (good ending - light weight)
"No more family dinners, please." (bad ending - light weight)
Felix 08
"What's really bothering you?" (good ending - medium weight)
"Do you like Rime more than me?" (bad ending - medium weight)
Felix 09
"I'll never leave you." (bad ending - heavy weight)
"We'll figure it out later." (good ending - heavy weight)
Ikevamp au where everything is the same except MC is pureblood vampire.
Time line is still the same. She came through the door and could tell right away she was in a mansion full of vampires. She decided she was going to have fun with this and not let them know she is also a vampire (wrote this because we found out Purebloods can sense other vampires). It's the most fun she's had in years.
She fakes being shocked when Comte tells her that they are all vampires.
She hears some of the guys arguing about something stupid while she's doing a bit of cleaning and she goes "no wonder no woman wants to live here"
Isaac: ITS MATH, DAZAI
Dazai: but when you take one 2 and then turn the other 2 it looks like a fish! And when you move this 7 next to this 7 it's a triangle! And with theses 3s you can get an 8 and if you turn that it's infinity!!
Isaac: THATS NOW HOW THIS WORKS DAZAI
Jean: wait...I see it....it is a fish
Isaac: IM TRYING TO TEACH JEAN BASIC MATH
Mc: .....I think I want to leave
She's trying hard not to blow her cover. But she's out in the city and is like "oh! I remember this place!"
And Sebastian is like "this....this store doesn't exist past the 1940s"
"I uh...I meant in a book! I remember it from a book"
She probably met one of the guys while they were still alive and she's trying so hard not to be like "hey. Do you remember me??" But instead actively tries to avoid them in worries they will recognize her, tho they are all stupid so it's likely they won't.
She knows the basics about each guy and what they did in history, and she can't believe how stupid they are when they are all together.
She doesn't mind Napoleon, and Jean too much. She likes to hear them tell stories about the battles they were in and hearing their point of view on everything.
There's something off about Vincent and Dazai that she just can't seem to put her finger on. She can tell that Dazai is more aware than he likes to seem, and Vincent seems to be hiding something. You aren't sure if he means to hide it because he doesn't want anyone to know, or because he doesn't want to remember.
If Arthur could be quite and stop over analyzing everything for five minutes she might actually like him. She overheard him and Isaac and decided to interrupt and slap Arthur for teasing Isaac. She doesn't know much about Isaac but doesn't like hearing Arthur teasing him.
She was excited when Will came around. She always enjoyed his plays, however, she wasn't expecting him to actually talk like that, and occasionally had a hard time following what he was saying. She was also happy to see Leonardo and excited to see what new things he's come up with. But then slapped the back of his head and realizing how lazy he really is.
Being a pureblood, you end up learning more than one language, and they all found out she knows a few languages the first time Mozart muttered something about her. Then she went off in German too him. He never expects someone to know German so it caught him off guard. Theo happened to be in the vicinity and said something about "hondji is feisty today" and she heard it, and understood it and gave him a mouthful as well.
She feels the most pity for Sebastian. He's the only human here and he's doing all the work. But by watching everyone else she doesn't think she could trust any of them to even fold the laundry.
Comte: So how are you liking it here?
*loud crash in the background*
Mc: I want to leave
Isaac was the first one to find out she was a vampire. How? Well he was up late and needed his final serving of rouge and went into the kitchen to get some and saw her drinking some. They just made awkward eye contact.
Mc: If you don't tell anyone I'll gaslight Arthur and Dazai into thinking 21st century women are starter than vampires
"Could Benoit Blanc have stopped Light Yagami?" - the greatest thread in the history of forums, locked by a moderator after 12,239 pages of heated debate
The answer is of course yes because while L was all "i'm 99.999999% sure that this one kid is Kira but let's run a few more tests" Blanc would've just taken a chance on that 0.000001% margin of error and smashed Light with his car
It's interesting how Twilight is slowly getting worse at lying to others and himself since being with Anya and Yor - something that Handler has noted (although she might also just be teasing him, she seems to be one of the few who he allows to make fun of him).
Very early in the series, Twilight effs up (or did he?... hmmm) when he mixes up his lie with Yor's lie. Maybe he is a bit concussed, but this man's Westalis' best spy, you'd think he'd know how to keep his head straight even after a few blows to it. He is slipping.
Then there's the issue of Twilight leaving loose ends to his lies and not being ready for when they come back to him like a boomerang. In the latest 'take your daughter to work day' episode, Yor excitedly asks about Loid's "concussive recovery method", a lie he told her during their first date/ punch-session with smugglers (they are a weird couple). Sure, maybe Twilight really thinks Yor would be too dense to remember... but a master spy would never assume that, much less look completely caught off-guard by the mention of an old lie. He is slipping.
And of course, there's the lies he tells himself. After Twilight defuses the bombs during the Cruise Arc, he returns to the childcare area to see his daughter fast asleep. He chides himself for abandoning his family... but catches himself abandoning his 'for the mission' lie. Would Westalis' best spy forget the life he's tailored for Operation Strix is just a lie? No. He is slipping.
Or is he? If Twilight's gotten worse at lying, it's because he's had to lie less. Increasingly, what he tells Anya and Yor is the truth - he is proud of his daughter, he appreciates his wife. And increasingly too, the lie of Loid Forger has become his life, and Loid Forger is becoming him. We've seen throughout the series that [redacted]'s history is becoming Loid's history - when he tells the tailor Loid is from the countryside, when he tells Yor about his mother and the war... those are all [redacted]'s background, not some cover story.
Twilight is slipping, but he's slipping away from his lying and his lies. He is slipping into something at once more scary and more comfortable - a real life as a father, a spouse... his own person rather than someone else's lies.
This nameless thing, not too spoilery, to commemorate the Psychiatry episode of SxF anime. I'll give it a provisory title: Loid goes lacanian and has a normal reaction. Welcome aboard pal, we have free gastric ulcers and cookies... Yor-made cookies.
Low Budget Productions will probably enter either a hiatus state or a ralentized rythm of production due to working reasons.
what you don’t get is science exists because people can love. medicine exists because people love each other enough to want each other to live long healthy lives. astronomy exists because someone loved the stars and the planets enough to track them through their ever changing position in the darkest night. science exists because humans are curious little creatures and we want to know the world around us and understand it like it does us. we know stars and planets worlds away, we’ve sent cameras worlds away, all because we love the universe, and we also put love in those satellites!! we sent the sound of a 100 languages, lovely messages, the sound of rain and a laugh, all out there just in case there’s someone in the universe looking for us like we do them, and so that they know that they were never alone, and we sent them the most simple loving things we could find.
# — tags: fluff, brief angst, hurt/comfort(-ish), yes there's kisses involved who do you think i am
# — notes: here it is! a birthday fic for my special boy on his special day 🥺 i took a couple hours out of yesterday to churn this one out, and i want to thank @the-travelling-witch @catcze @kazeyu and @kazu-sun for reading this ahead of time to both give me advice and boost my confidence! i love you guys vvv much and i couldn't have posted this without your help 💕 like always, reblogs and reactions are greatly appreciated, and i hope you enjoy!
wanna join the tag list?
✦ — 🕷 + 🍁 — ✦
Silence is a privilege. You learned this very early on. To be silent, to bask in the stillness of a room, is a privilege not often awarded to people like you. You’re an energizer; a people chaser. You seek chaos and the wreckage that comes with it all so you can find something to fix within it. People flee from crime scenes and accidents, but you invite them. Of course you have to be careful when taking pride in a fact like that -- it’s not like you want people to get hurt, but how else would you be able to pursue your passion?
From the time you were young, you sought to help others in their greatest times of need. You were the first to help an injured kid to their parents when they got hurt on the playground and the first to dial the paramedics during a freak accident; you were the first to drop some sneaky medical facts on your teachers in your high school biology courses and the first to volunteer to dissect something for your lab courses. “The Good Samaritan”, your peers called you. “Our school’s very own guardian angel.” So it came as a surprise to no one that you got a full ride scholarship to the best university in the city with acceptance into their competitive medical program. You dove headfirst into your studies immediately after your high school graduation in hopes of getting ahead of the program when orientation started.
It’s hard for you to say anything bad about the whole thing, really. But if you had to conjure up a single complaint, it’s that your field is so noisy. The beeping of the pagers, the crackle of overhead intercoms, the rushed medical jargon falling from fellow doctor’s lips like waterfalls, the groans and cries of agonized patients and distressed families. There’s no time for peace. You regret it at times -- being as wound up as you are 24/7 is bound to take a toll on your health one day -- but the pros outweigh the cons most of the time. Besides, you tell yourself, you’re not a resident just yet; you can have peace and quiet at home at the end of the day, right? Right.
As of late, however, you’ve been wrong. Peace and quiet is nothing but a dream to you now and it’s all thanks to the city’s “beloved” vigilante.
Standing at the taller end of five feet (he’ll never give you an exact number), Spider-Man has become the sole reason why you can only hope and pray to the powers that be for a night of pure silence. He doesn’t swing by every night (thank the stars), but he’s in your apartment, lying half-dead on your carpet on most days which is enough to make you want to start pulling out your hair. You’d think that a man with enough flesh wounds to kill a normal person twice over would be silent as he gets treated, but no, he somehow manages to weave bizarre topics out of thin air whenever he’s with you. It doesn’t help that he’s incredibly smart, smarter than he likes to let on, and snarky, too. Sometimes, you want to take off the mask that he wears, ball it up, and shove it in his mouth.
..Oh, but who are you kidding? Annoying as he might be, you’ve got a thing for the man, even if you don’t know who he is. He’ll drop by during the daytime whenever he sees you alone and sometimes, he’ll even give you things that he picked up during his little patrols -- plushies from outside vendors, wildflowers from the park… Once, he gave you a freshly clipped rose from a florist that was doing handouts not too far from where you were seated. The truth is that you like him and sometimes, you wonder if he likes you, too. It’d be complicated thanks to your existing crush on the cute barista of the cafe that you frequent, but it’d be a nice change of pace.
(Ah, love. Yet another noisy thing that you’re not quite sure you want to actually let into your life.)
Speaking of a change of pace, tonight is a quiet one. You’re not quite sure if that’s a good thing yet. You’ve heard sirens in various spots around your apartment, but each one died down within twenty minutes. You took that as a sign that Spider-Man’s been swinging here and there, which means that he’s bound to drop by sometime soon. So, rather than let your guard down, you decided to stand on your balcony with a comfy sweater pulled over your head. The night air is crisp and cool, albeit a bit stuffy from all the cars zipping about. When you exhale, you can see your breath coming out in puffs of white smoke. It’s nice -- the chill keeps you alert.
You let your mind wander while you wait for your patient to arrive. Embarrassingly enough, the first thing your thoughts drift to is the barista that you saw this morning. Kazuha’s always so upbeat during the day, even more so when he sees you (a fact that does very little to quell the excited thrumming in your veins whenever you see his face). He looked a little more tired today than he does normally -- when asked if he was okay, he merely told you not to worry too much about him. You’d agreed so as to not overwhelm him, but that didn’t stop you from stealing glances the entire time you were there. He caught you at some point and gave you a wink -- just thinking about it sends your stomach aflutter. It would be terrible if something was wrong with him, you think. Would you be able to help him?
You don’t get to think about it much more as a figure sailing through the air catches your eye. Spider-Man is so easy to spot, even in the darkness above the streetlights. You tense, somewhat hoping he doesn’t spot you. If he doesn’t, you could maybe get around to fantasizing about Kazuha a little more. Unfortunately for you and your potential fantasies, he does; Spider-Man changes course right before your eyes and lands on your balcony railing. He doesn’t lose balance once, instead remaining in a steady crouching position with ease. He really is something to behold.
You stretch languidly, relishing in the way your bones pop. “Alright,” you say as you turn towards your balcony door, “where’s it hurt this time?”
To your surprise and immediate concern, Spider-Man doesn’t speak right away. He adjusts himself so that he’s sitting on your railing instead, with one leg pulled up to his chest and the other dangling towards the floor. “No injuries tonight, doc’.” He rests his cheek on his knee and turns his head to face you. “I just wanted to see you. Is that okay?”
If it were a few months prior, you would’ve said no. Now, the very thought of turning him away causes needles to press at your chest. You close your balcony door and head back over, resting your arms on the railing beside him. “Of course.”
Spider-Man must hear something in your voice that you don’t, because he shakes his head slightly. “You can say no, lovebug. I don’t want to bother you.”
“If you were bothering me, I would’ve told you to leave.” You frown at him. There’s negativity rolling off of him in waves. That’s not like him at all. “Are you okay?”
“I…” He reaches for the back of his neck before pausing. He lets his arm drop. Was he about to--? “I don’t know.”
You nudge him gently with your shoulder. Go on, you say silently. What’s up?
Spider-Man picks up on your invitation and sighs. “Do you… like your birthday, by any chance?”
“Me?” You tilt your head curiously. “I guess so. Why?”
“I guess I’m really not normal.” He turns his head, looking past you and into your apartment. “I don’t like mine at all.”
You connect the dots rather quickly. You’d feign excitement, but clearly, doing so would do nothing. If anything, it might make things awkward. “Is… today your birthday, Spider-Man?” When he nods, you make a small humming noise. “Would me saying ‘happy birthday’ cheer you up, or..?”
“If it’s you,” he says, his voice soft, “then yes, probably.” You don’t say it right away. You hesitate because of his tone, but he takes the opportunity to keep speaking. “I lost someone important to me a few years ago today.” He inhales sharply. “And a few more in the years prior. Today’s more of a day of mourning than anything else.”
Your heart shatters. You wonder if he knows how small he sounds. “I--”
“They say you shouldn’t spend your birthday alone,” he continues, “so I decided to stop by. You’re all I have left, lovebug.” You can hear the fake smile in his voice when he speaks again. “You’re going to have a hard time getting me off your back. Sorry.”
You don’t know what to say. The silence lingers and all that can be heard is the sound of cars rolling by on the street below. A car horn blares every so often at the light nearby, but you still remain quiet.
Is that why he always comes back? Because really and truly, he has no one else in his life? You can’t say the same for yourself -- you have Kazuha to keep your heart and mind occupied during your down time; you have Beidou, Hu Tao, and Chongyun to keep you busy at school; you have Barbara and Shinobu to keep you on your toes at work. You have friends, people to fall back on. But Spider-Man… doesn’t. And it’s not like you can just introduce him to your friends, either.
To think that you’ve been complaining about him when all he’s been doing is spending time with the only person who gives him the proper time of day.
The guilt that seizes you makes you hiss softly. What do you do now? You’ve had tender and serious moments with Spider-Man before, but this is too different. Do you apologize for being an asshole? What good would that even do? Do you make a gift for him on the spot? No; that might make him feel worse…
“I’m grateful for you.” Spider-Man’s voice cuts your thoughts short. “I really am. I’m sorry for dragging you into my mess. I hope you can forgive me.”
“If I… didn’t want to be involved,” you manage, “I would have told you to stay away a long time ago. Don’t apologize; I want to be by your side.”
Again, you hear a sharp intake of breath. “That’s--”
“Dangerous? Stupid? Yeah, I’m aware. But since I’ve never told you this out loud before, you’re my friend, Spider-Man.” You rest a hand on top of his without looking him in the eye. “Whether you knew that or not, we’re friends.” It feels weird to say, but you mean every word. Of course, friends don’t think about unmasking each other and kissing them every once in a while, but you’re not going to dwell on that. Your face starts to burn. “I wouldn’t want to be rid of you at all.” You say honestly.
Spider-Man moves his hand so that he’s holding yours. “...I appreciate it.” He says after a brief pause.
And once again, there is silence. It’s one that you can bask in, you find, especially when Spider-Man’s grip on your hand tightens. His presence is comforting, and only now do you realize that he thinks the same of you. The city marches on below your balcony, everyone encased in the same chilly autumn breeze that causes rigid goosebumps to rise on your skin. It’s nice, this silence. Is this the stillness that you’ve been missing out on because of Spider-Man? What are the odds that you’d finally be able to enjoy it with him?
You shudder and sneeze suddenly, shocking the both of you. Spider-Man jolts but eases into a laugh. “Are you cold?” He asks.
You sniff and tug the hood of your sweater up over your head. “No,” you grumble. “You’re cold. I’m just peachy.”
Spider-Man hops down and leads you inside, his fingers still intertwined with yours. “You’re a horrible liar,” he jokes. Once you’re inside, he stands in the threshold and laughs again. “You’re shaking.”
“Why couldn’t your birthday be during the summer or something?” You whine and make yourself small in your sweater. “It’s fucking cold outside.”
“What can I say, I like the fall more.”
“Whatever.” You ball your hands into fists inside your sweater pockets. “You’re not coming inside?”
Spider-Man shakes his head. “Something could still happen. I’m going to head back out.”
An idea comes to mind. It’s a stupid idea, a really, really, really stupid idea, but it's an idea nonetheless. You don't have much in the way of material goods to give him -- it'd be a cold day in hell before you coughed up one of your expensive medical supplies (as if he had any use for those with his speedy healing) -- and despite knowing him for as long as you have, he has yet to give any real hints as to what it is he likes. When you think about it, you realize that Spider-Man's been super careful as to not give you any kind of clues as to what kind of person he is without the mask. All of his likes and dislikes are a complete mystery to you, unfortunately.
Well, almost all of them. He's told you time and time again that he likes this one thing — one person.
“B-Before you do,” you stammer, “what’re your thoughts on birthday gifts?”
You can practically feel the confused look he gives you. “Why?”
Rather than let the embarrassment consume you, you let your body move on its own accord. You walk closer to him and place your hands on either side of his face. “Stay still.” You whisper. Without waiting for his question, you lean forward and place a kiss on his lips right over his mask. You can feel them just beneath the cloth and hear the noise of surprise that he makes, but you don’t let it stop you. You stay there for just a moment longer before pulling away. Your face heats up to an impossible degree and you keep your head turned away to avoid further humiliation. Spider-Man is completely quiet, likely with shock, and it makes you want to bury your head in a hole. He's told you before how much he likes you; even if he was joking, he's said it too many times for you to consider it as just a joke. A kiss should suffice as a gift, right? “Happy birthday," you mutter. “Now go--”
Before you finish speaking, a gloved hand comes over your eyes. You start to question what the hell he’s doing, but a pair of uncovered lips cover your own, silencing your protests. You melt into the kiss after a brief moment of shock and Spider-Man pulls you in closer with his free hand. Closer, closer, and closer still. He kisses you like you're something gentle, fragile, prone to break at any moment. And yet he tilts his head and nips at your bottom lip, kissing you deeply, like you mean something to him.
Friends don't kiss like this.
You can’t think. You can’t move. It’s just you and your masked vigilante and the sound of sirens outside.
The sound is what causes Spider-Man to pull away after a while. He doesn’t uncover your eyes right away and you hear fabric moving -- likely him fixing his mask. When he moves his hand, your vision feels hazy and your throat tight. You stand there in limbo, the two of you just staring at each other. You tug on the strings of your hoodie gently. “You should, um… you should get going.”
You wonder how he’s looking at you right now. Spider-Man clears his throat. “I… Yeah. You’re right.” He starts to reach for you, but he drops his hand and balls it into a fist by his side. “Will I… see you tomorrow?”
It’s a hesitant question -- a request, if not anything else. Am I allowed to see you tomorrow? You nod without hesitation. Who are you to refuse him? “Yeah.”
Spider-Man’s shoulders drop with relief. “Okay. Then…” He walks backwards onto your balcony and raises two fingers in his usual salute. “...Thank you for the birthday gift.” And with a push backwards, he tumbles off of your balcony and zips into the biting autumn night, leaving you in your living room.
You walk forward and close the door to your balcony. You turn your eyes to the clock on the wall. 12:00 AM, it reads. It’s October 30th. Your kiss was the last and only gift he'd received yesterday.
✦ happy happy happy birthday, kazuha.. i hope he enjoys his day with his new family 🥺💕💗
✦ i'll make an origins post about spidey!kazuha someday, hehe
