Archvied fic rec - Like a Fairy Tale

[sakura_no_miko]

Title: Like A Fairy Tale

Author: pantswarrior

Fandom: Phoenix Wright / Gyakuten Saiban (video game, 2001)

Rating: PG-13

Pairing: mostly gen, with some Trucy/Klavier crushing

Warnings: alcoholism (parent), child neglect/abuse, allusions to prostitution, financial issues/poverty, angst

Other notes: kink meme fill, family, excellent characterization, alternate universe

Length: 32k

Summary: Even if they have no money and he drinks too much, Phoenix is the only daddy Trucy has left - and she’s the only one who can save him. Unless a handsome prince happens to come to their rescue, but that never happens in real life, does it?

 

I wonder what happened to the PW kink meme while I was away. Last I saw, it was thriving, one of the biggest memes on LJ, and now the name is changed, there’s a big ‘friends only’ post, and it says 'buttface’ in large letters. I don’t get it. I’ll just be thankful the meme has been left up. I’ve known mods in the past who have threatened to delete the entire comm, which is one of the more horrifying things to me, personally, since so many fics aren’t archived elsewhere. (Ironically, after writing that, I found this one on AO3.)

Losing this gem would be terrible. I’m not unfamiliar with alcoholism. I’ve know people–some close to me–who overindulge more than they should, to put it mildly. But this fic hit me hard over the head with the reality of living with an alcoholic who first doesn’t realize he has a problem, then finds himself unable to stop the problem, despite his best efforts. Phoenix, here, is both rage-inducing and pathetic, because you want him to take some damn responsibility, and yet you see how bad his alcoholism has gotten, and that he really can’t fix himself.

This is a fic where a child is forced to grow up and take care of her parent. For anyone who’s been in this situation, it’s amazing how you don’t realize it’s messing you up. You feel 'adult’ and 'responsible’ and you just want everything to be alright, little understanding that, when things go wrong, it’s not something you can fix, and, more importantly, it shouldn’t even be your responsibility to fix it.

There’s a scene where Trucy–oh, spoilers

spoilers?

Spoilers. Trucy decides she’s desperate enough for money that she wants to try prostitution. It’s an incredibly dark moment for such a sweet character. Fortunately, things end up being solved through a deus-ex-machina-rock star, but for a moment, things have hit rock bottom. This fic will mess with your emotions big time. But there is a happy ending, characters come out stronger, etc etc.

This probably isn’t a fic I’d use to introduce someone to the Phoenix Wright fandom. It’s pretty atypical. Tomorrow we’ll get into some more traditional fics.

 

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Originally posted on tumblr on 09/24/12