strawberryproblems
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Recent works
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Not That Type of Scarring by i-did (strawberryproblems) for emry_stars
Fandoms: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
28 Aug 2024
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Andrew Minyard has figured Neil Josten out- or has he?
It was many things – little crumbs of truth Neil couldn’t hide – and Andrew noticed them all.
The refusal to change out with the others.
The not-so-common height.
The oversized clothing and his nervous tick of running his hands over his chest, constantly smoothing the fabric flat.
The way he stood between Matt and Seth, surprised by an arm draped around him, as if he had never been one of the guys before.
The most damning evidence was the way his face fell, when Andrew asked what he was hiding under his clothes, and what his file might reveal. Oh Neil was definitely a runaway – but the mystery of “Neil Josten” didn't end there – and Andrew was going to figure it out.Andrew POV through the series, where Andrew is under the assumption that Neil is an incognito trans man.
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Nathaniel watches the boys pop out of the pits they dug, wondering if their foxholes provide shelter from the burning sun. Nathaniel felt the heat of the dirt through his shoe soles like asphalt. He knew he didn’t have eighteen months here, or anywhere, and Romero knew it too. Shooting fish in a barrel. Nathaniel curled his toes to redirect the restlessness pooling in his feet and looked out to the horizon.
A.K.A. AFTG “Holes” AU
(no knowledge on the book or movie "Holes" needed) -
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Neil hadn’t cut his hair since his mom died. He had dyed his hair post-viking funeral—he had to. But... cutting his hair was her thing. She always gave him the same buzz cut. Common. Fast. Cheap. Easy.
He remembers the journey her fingers took from the top of his forehead to the base of his skull, the way his skin tingled as she pulled her hands away, not letting his hair tangle and hang on to her hands like it wanted to. Every part of him craved touch, even his hair was attempting to tie knots around her fingers, just so she would stay for a second more. He knew not to ask for it, and she knew he wouldn’t, hadn’t for a long time. And maybe that's exactly why she granted him the small show of affection, that was the first and last time he can remember a moment as soft as that one between the two of them.
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A reflection into Neil's history with haircuts, his relationship with his mother, and him learning to let go yet another moment from his past... in other words, Neil gets a buzz cut, and Andrew likes it.
Series
- Part 1 of Setting the Record Straight
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Neil vs. The Homosapiens Agenda by i-did (strawberryproblems)
Fandoms: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
23 Apr 2020
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EDIT: UNFINISHED AND ABANDONED, WILL EVENTUALLY PICK THIS UP AGAIN BUT NOT ANYTIME SOON
Neil is sitting in the metal folding chairs in the locker room a week after the Ferdinand interview, and 3 days after his uncle reconnected with him secretly. It was a rather short phone call that can be summed up as “be careful” and “wait for my signal”, when an unknown number texts him “I read your email.”
Stupidly, Neil looks up as if he can see who has figured out his number. He sits there hoping that maybe it’s Nicky or one of the upperclassmen texting from a new number, and not Stuart changing his mind and taking him back to the UK. Neil hesitantly responds with only a single question mark.
The response is almost immediate, “next time don’t use an unsafe computer to log in, but there won’t be a next time, will there, Nathaniel?”
His heart stings with fear, as if the blood turned to ice in an instant, and an anxious buzz of electrical energy burns in Neil’s now bouncing legs, begging to run.
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a Simon Vs. The Homosapeins Agenda AU -
It is Easier to Run if the World Thinks You Stayed Behind by i-did (strawberryproblems)
Fandoms: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
26 Jun 2018
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Neil is talking to Andrew, telling him his story of his secret twin brother, and how he was left behind.
if you read the books than you probably will be okay because most of it is referenced pretty lightly, like as if Neil doesn't think twice about it, except one scene.
This is basically a Neil monologue, I formatted it similar to the format of a long poem w/o rhyme.
Recent series
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Setting the Record Straight by i-did (strawberryproblems)
Fandom All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
06 Jun 2020
Summary
a series of one-shots based off of my headcanons, I plan on them all being able to be read individually, but my headcanons will likely stay the same thought the fics, so they can be read together as well.
- Words:
- 2,711
- Works:
- 1
- Bookmarks:
- 4
Recent bookmarks
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Randy has struggled to keep his head above water for nearly four years, and when he runs into his coworker in the steam room at the public pool, everything he tried to keep down resurfaces.
None of it is Benson’s fault.
Randy was a swimmer in high school. He’s not anymore. A locker room is kind of like a closet.
Bookmarked by strawberryproblems
25 Jun 2026
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Erasure Poem (or, The Narrator Writes the First Draft of the Rest of His Life) by thenewgothicromance
Fandoms: The Passenger (Movie 2023)
15 Dec 2025
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Randy almost doesn’t understand how it happened, even though he’s the one who started it. Three weeks ago he’d never had sex with anyone, never thought about doing it with a guy, didn’t think much about doing it at all. And maybe that means there’s something wrong with him, but he’s not stupid—he understands that Benson wants this from him. And if Randy can use that to keep them on track for a little while, maybe Benson will come back to himself. Will shake off the shock, and tell Randy what the plan is.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 150,350
- Chapters:
- 17/17
- Comments:
- 381
- Kudos:
- 596
- Bookmarks:
- 194
- Hits:
- 18,779
Bookmarked by strawberryproblems
13 Jun 2025
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Weeks before Benson's killing spree, Randy has a vision of the events to come. After weighing his options, he decides the best chance he has to save his coworkers is to befriend Benson.
He's the worst person for the job. He's also the only candidate who applied.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 56,023
- Chapters:
- 12/12
- Comments:
- 314
- Kudos:
- 1,062
- Bookmarks:
- 283
- Hits:
- 13,042
Bookmarked by strawberryproblems
11 Jun 2025
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Summary
Benson walks slowly, like he’s not about to drag Randy into the worst day of his life, like he’s not about to set off a chain of events which will lead to Benson lying still and bloody in a dirty parking lot.
Randy wants to vomit. It feels so real.
(Or: the Time Loop fic.)
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 25,215
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Comments:
- 152
- Kudos:
- 1,988
- Bookmarks:
- 473
- Hits:
- 12,824
Bookmarked by strawberryproblems
31 May 2025
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for i am the parasite of this town by helloitsbees for TheFlirtMeister
Fandoms: The Passenger (Movie 2023)
30 Jun 2024
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Summary
It's been five states and two months since the diner. They've only got $68.35 left of Randy's savings, and Benson says, half-joking, “Shit, maybe we should rob a bank.”
“We’ll just pick a bank that deserves it," Randy says. "One that’s run by shitty people.” It catches Benson off guard, because he laughs at him at first. Then he looks again, sees he’s only half-joking too.
“Burgers Burgers Burgers was run by shitty people,” he tells Randy, like Randy can’t still taste the mold in the back of his throat sometimes. “And you worked there.”
Randy shrugs. He never used to shrug in answer to people. It’s impolite, his mom always said. Use your words. She still calls him nearly every single day. He ignores it every time.
“If there’s a me working at the bank, he’ll get over it,” Randy says, and he doesn’t see it at the time, but something in Benson splinters at that.
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I gave them a little more time. From a Tumblr prompt, "goodbye sex."Bookmarked by strawberryproblems
27 May 2025