#I love you ‘Edgeworth finding out about Phoenix’s disbarment fics’

[science-lings]

It’s about the ‘have you come to laugh at the fallen attorney’, it’s about the refusal of help and compassion, it’s about the ‘let me defend you’, it’s about mirroring each other at their lowest, it’s about reversing the roles that have been set up since the beginning, it’s about the ‘it’s rotten work,’ ‘not to me, not if it’s you’, it’s about the emotional pillar needing someone to lean on after assuming that responsibility for years, it’s about convincing the guy who’s known for never giving up to not give up on himself, it’s about the reckless lover finally realizing that he’s always been loved back

[averysmolkirbo]

BABE WAKE UP NEW ✨️BAD FIC IDEA✨️ JUST DROPPED

Fic idea i might ACTUALLY be able to do, even though its probably super generic and has already been done 20 different ways before

Text under cut because the img quality is kind of shit for some reason

Anyway this is one of my less unhinged fic ideas (its probably too generic tbh) so let me know if this is any good/ if you'd read it/ thoughts/suggestions

Text because the img quality is bad lol

Fic idea for an hcom/ love/enemy triangle

narumitsu/kirinaru

similar idea to other fic but different and less fluff more drama. in the aj era.

Since its canon (i think??) phoenix refused to get any help from edgeworth when he got disbarred, i wanna expand on that idea in a relationship/love triangle way.

When phoenix gets disbarred he's intially offered support from edgeworth (even though he's still in europe) but he denies it out of pride. Even though phoenix says he doesnt need help, edgeworth has a feeling he's lying to get him to leave phoenix alone and decides to preemptively go back and see him in person. In a plot-twist-twist, phoenix is tipped off to edgeworth's suprise visit, and leaves the office before he gets there (still out of pride and believing somehow if edgeworth saw him he'd hate him for some reason) and somehow ends up staying with kristoph. Edgeworth finds the office empty and since he's persistent (in a yaoi way) he continues to look for phoenix.

Meanwhile phoenix is hiding from him at kris's house and they sort of have a thing but its kind of like a toxic old man yaoi type thing (they are terrible for each other). Kristoph is really nice to phoenix but really he's just manipulating him

and eventually Edgeworth finds out where phoenix is and goes there knowing it's kristoph but never having seen him in person before and when he gets there kris refuses to let him in like "yea no he's mine now he doesnt want to see you" with a smug little bitch attitude and while edgeworth gets the vibe he's totally lying, he's still hurt at the thought of it. He tells phoenix about it and tries to gaslight him into thinking he actually hates edgeworth (for real) and that he is WAY better for phoenix anyway. Edgeworth keeps thinking maybe phoenix really DOES hate him and that maybe he should move on since phoenix has seemingly moved on already.

Little do they both know theyre both completely incorrect about eachothers' assumptions because phoenix thinks edgeworth is chasing him to humiliate him and edgeworth thinks phoenix is running away because he hates him (for some reason) but really theyre both doing what theyre doing because they love each other. Phoenix trying to spare Edgeworth's feelings by not tarnishing his image of him by seeing him disbarred and Edgeworth not caring about that at all and just genuinely wanting to help/take care of him.

Eventually and after talking to someone else about it (maybe maya/franziska/gumshoe) edgeworth finds phoenix out somewhere and before he can run away he stops him to explain everything and they realize they love each other ❤️

[trlvsn]

I hope you won’t mind elaborating, please ignore this message if it makes you uncomfortable, but I am terribly intrigued by the correlation between shipping narumitsu and having attachement issues, and I would love to hear your thoughts - either on the pattern you’ve noticed, or on why you think one would lead to the other? Sincerely, a sceptical of the idea that our fictional preferences reflect who we are (who also just happens to ship narumitsu lol) (this is all /lh and /genuinely interested btw my signature is meant to be tongue in cheek not passive-aggressive)

this doesn't make me uncomfortable at all! in fact, i'm happy to elaborate. i would, however, like to start this by saying i meant the case majority of nrmt shippers, not every single one, so if this doesn't apply to you - honestly, great news for your future and present relationships with people.

anyways. when i started reading narumitsu fanfiction, i noticed a pattern. people tend to make the characters pass the "i will find you and help you" role like a hot potato between the characters depending on the time of the events in the fanfic - if it's feenie or aa1 era, phoenix is the one who writes endless letters and seeks miles out, if it's aa3-aa4, edgeworth is the one who flies across the ocean to see wright or helps him financially and emotionally during the disbarment. each time, that borderline obsessive behavior gets romanticized and turns into the basic formula of "i'm in pain, closed off and not who i really am - let me help you despite your constant refusals - okay i'm better now. i love you also". i don't mean to say it's inherently bad to write stuff like that or that it makes the relationship toxic, i'm simply hyperbolizing and making an overall point.

another thing about those fics is that the hurt/comfort is usually centered on the one who needs the comfort. if phoenix helps miles get over the turnabout goodbyes trial, holds him after an earthquake or saves him "again", it's usually a miles-centered fic, and the disbarment ones are a phoenix study. it can be the other way around, of course, but the ones described earlier made me have a realization.

as i've stated in my nrmt analysis post, what they would have had before turnabout succession is just... not that healthy in my eyes? not long term healthy, at least. so i feel like nrmt fans tend to have a warped sense of what love and relationships are, constantly defining phoenix and miles by what they do for each other and what they mean to each other, not by their individual growth. phoenix often gets too much credit for saving miles, miles gets assigned the role of the one who was always there during the 7yg and helped take down kristoph, etc. again, not bad!! just interesting.

and with all of that being portrayed as this big romantic thing, i just feel like the narumitsu fans can be divided into different groups. if you like phoenix-centered bratfeen and aa1-3 wrightworth, you are likely to disregard your emotional needs for the sake of another person, idealize then, and to have experienced parental neglect or betrayal and abandonment of some kind, which can lead to an anxious attachment style. the people who like aa1-3 wrightworth with explorations of miles and disbarment fics about phoenix might have an idea in their head that no one understands them and never will, have a tendency to isolate themselves and have an avoidant attachment style. it might get mixed up too. of course, this is no way scientifically credible or well-spoken, it's like two am for me, what am i doing. but anyway, with the way nrmt shippers practically tie these two together by their identities... yeah.

again. absolutely no shade or hate or anything similar. i'm a huge narumitsu enjoyer. i have 333 bookmarks on ao3 and god knows some of them are exactly what I described above. but a girl has to speak her mind.

[roosterbox]

Fic Rec Friday 1/12/24

Title: Things Are Better If I Stay

Rating: Explicit

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply

Category: M/M

Fandom: 逆転裁判 | Gyakuten Saiban | Ace Attorney

Relationship: Mitsurugi Reiji | Miles Edgeworth/Naruhodou Ryuuichi | Phoenix Wright

Characters: Mitsurugi Reiji | Miles Edgeworth, Naruhodou Ryuuichi | Phoenix Wright, Ayasato Mayoi | Maya Fey

Additional Tags: Established Relationship, Post-Gyakuten Saiban 3 | Trials & Tribulations, Pre-Gyakuten Saiban 4 | Apollo Justice, Disbarred Phoenix Wright, POV Miles Edgeworth, POV Third Person, explicit because they fuck, Swearing, Arguing, briefly, Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Mentioned Trucy Wright, Awkwardness, Crying, Men Crying, Love Confessions, Promises, Talking, Hotels, Bathing/Washing, Facial Shaving, cutting hair, Sweet, Nightmares, Anal Sex, Hotel Sex, Gentle Sex, Anal Fingering, Praise Kink, Not Beta Read, Consensual Sex

Summary: When Miles finds out about Phoenix's disbarment, he takes a plane home, ready to help his partner however he can.

———

Up for a bit of angst today, fellas?

Yes this is yet another ‘Miles Finds Out About the Disbarment’ fic, set in that fertile creative ground of the seven year gap. Many stories have been told of that time. And that subject. This is one of my favorites.

I love how the two of them are characterized here. Phoenix is downtrodden, cynical, and bitter. None of which we can completely blame him for, of course. His entire life has been, not just knocked askew on its axis, but entirely removed from it. Plus he has a whole entire daughter now. He’s been through a lot, okay? And this is only the beginning. We can perhaps forgive him then, when he lashes out at Miles, who only wants to help.

And Miles. Dear, sweet Miles. Like I said, he just wants to help. He just wants to be there for Phoenix in the worst time period of his life. To be his boyfriend’s pillar of strength. And he is. Man, he is. He cares for Nick in just about every way a person can be cared for. Soft, loving Miles is one of my favorite AA fic tropes, and I wish I saw it even more.

The sweet, gentle care scenes are hmmmmmm so good. A true balm to the soul. Even the smut - while extremely hot - is also soft. A real heartbreaker yet also heartwarmer here. It’ll tear you up only to build you back again.

A truly amazing fic.

———

Next week: How about some Dreamling? This one is a little number without much plot, but so much love and tenderness. A dash of hurt/comfort. All wrapped up in a beautiful story. Short, but incredibly sweet.

See you later!

[oracleofsecrets]

for the directors cut ask game, i’d love to hear more of your thoughts/commentary on “just here, yet lightyears away”! :)

WAOWWW thank you so much for asking! I’m always on mobile so I don’t really check my inbox at all, hence the delay

I tried organizing my thoughts as best I could. It’s long so I’m gonna slap it under a read more

For starters, this fic is actually a polished up excerpt from my first ever fic! It was a fusion of Sayonara Wild Hearts with Ace Attorney. I have been so brave about resisting the urge to delete or rehaul that fic entirely out of Cringe (writing self conscious moments)

In that fic, this chapter is an interlude taking place irl before the big confrontation. But as u can see it can stand alone with no knowledge of that bigger fic, so I’d wanted to show this bit off hehehe. The title of this fic is from the game’s prologue scene also

The main theme is that Phoenix is not doing so great! Bc I think so often about “Looking back, it was a pretty dark time in my life” as well as all the possible ways other characters Find Out about the disbarment

The theme is also tied to loneliness and loss bc it’s inspired by the titular song Sayonara Wild Heart (boppin song by itself, highly recommend) and boy does Phoenix have a lot of that going on in 7yg

As adults, it’s kinda common that some friendships can drift apart just bc of the busy-ness of Being an Adult with Bills and Responsibilities. Not that it necessarily means the End of that relationship; it can be easy with certain people to pick things up as if the time had never passed. But that requires effort that I think a depressed Phoenix cannot often muster

Like I said to your comment on the fic, I wanted to touch on what it’s like for Edgeworth to be getting this information and not being able to do anything about it. Sometimes you can’t just drop everything, unfortunately, or more frequently it’s a struggle trying to figure out what to even Say to someone dealing with something so Specific and complicated

Kinda related to that, I feel like I don’t see a lot of Delayed emotional reactions in fics. Which is fair, since these games are cartoony and almost a little campy hehe. It’s easy and expedient to show a character immediately reacting intensely to a big shock or something. But, maybe I’m an outlier here lol, in my personal life when I’ve gotten sudden Bad News it kinda takes a while (about an hour or so) before it like Really hits and a much Stronger emotional reaction happens

I think Edgeworth would be similar. It’s p commonly accepted that he’s buried himself into work to avoid Emotions and such, but it only lasts for so long

At the same time, looking back I feel like I overplayed phoenix’s emotional breakdown in the beginning of the fic >.> rookie characterization mistake… and I kind of wonder if I made Edgeworth a little Too well adjusted in the second part lol. Characterization is big to me (Would he say that? 🤔), so it’s something I’m pretty critical about in my own writing, for better or worse ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

But I like what I did for Phoenix’s POV section. I think an overlooked aspect from the games is Phoenix’s bitterness and rudeness lol, so I figure those are prominent during a depressive episode

A couple miscellaneous details to close this out: I specifically chose the dates—the Edgeworth-POV scene taking place the Monday after the Gramarye trial (which happened on a Friday), presumably when the Bar Association hearing takes place and he loses his badge. Then the second part is the anniversary of the day Mia was murdered, so it’s a little something extra for Phoenix to be sad about (-:

Thanks again :D

[eway]

Everyone please welcome Puyo Puyo/Madou Monogatari to the "I love absolutely everything about you except for one aspect that can't be ignored if I want to write within the canon timeline so everything I write for you is now canon divergent because I will not acknowledge these things except to complain about them even if you put a gun to my head and if there are aspects of this media I enjoy that were caused by this stupid horrible decision I will turn my fics from Canon Divergent to AUs to let them exist without the horrible thing" club!

As I said, I despise aging in fiction. I mean, yeah Arle ages between Madou 1 and 2 quite a bit, but 123 were all released at the same time, so 1 is more like how some movies start with the characters as kids before going to present day. In fact, Ace Attorney is the only series I enjoy that I can think of that has realistic aging. But its also in this club, though not for aging. For the bullshit disbarment that definitely would have been undone in a month because Phoenix has friends like Edgeworth who hold alot of power, and Beanix, which is just character assassination.

The other member is Super Smash Brothers. Search World Of Light Sucks on my blog to find out which aspect I ignore

So it's apparently confirmed that Madou 4 takes place decades into the future. And to be honest, this makes me sad. I hate it.

I've always hated large timeskips. I can't watch Batman The Animated Series because I know that no matter what good things happen, it's inevitably going to shit in order for Batman Beyond to happen.

This is why all my Ace Attorney fics take place in a no disbarment AU, because I don't wanna have to keep Beanix in mind.

But what makes Madou 4 worse, is immortality. We have The Dark Prince, who ages slower, and Schezo who doesn't age.

And this is just a me thing, but why bother making fics and stuff where Schezo is with someone like Arle, when you know it can't work out?

When there isn't aging, you can ignore this. When it's like the Pokémon anime, where they sometimes show the characters younger but not older, you can ignore the immortality thing. But if Arle is even mentioned and confirmed to have aged?

What's the fucking point?

[collabwithmyself]

hiii i’ve been craving some good wrightworth fic lately but sorting through the tag can be tiring and tedious and i’ve already read all of your stuff lmao. basically this is just a long way of saying: do you have any fic recs?

I DO, IN FACT. CRACKS MY KNUCKLES

Saturation by TiedyedTrickster

A very long and in progress fic that's an Edgeworth character study throughout the course of the games, filling in the gaps of what he does offscreen. Humorous and lighthearted, with short and easy to read chapters, but lots of callbacks with setups and payoffs. Edgeworth has a condition where his color vision dims and fades to greyscale when he's stressed, and it allows him to keep a better handle on his emotions. VERY slowburn Wrightworth, background Gumbyrde and Fradrian.

love most definitely requited by The_Eclectic_Bookworm

CONTENT WARNINGS: mild gore and emeto

The FLUFFIEST POSSIBLE TAKE on a Hanahaki AU, where it's a chronic condition that can easily be dealt with instead of a fatal one. Edgeworth catches hanahaki not long after Phoenix is disbarred, and has to be shoved into doing something about it by his family. Probably the fic I reread most often.

shatter by Charrelous

Angst with a hopeful ending, body horror. Using the magatama too much has consequences on one's physical and mental health, and Phoenix's unshared insecurities and trauma are slowly turning him into a monster.

selected conversations from the magisteel discord server by lowbatteryhealth

Literally THE best and most accurate chatfic I've ever read. Miles and Maya run a Discord server together, and don't realize that they know each other, or other residents of the server, in real life. Slowburn Wrightworth, but mostly focuses on the Miles and Maya friendship.

flew like a moth to you, sunlight by The_Eclectic_Bookworm

Good old miscommunication. Edgeworth gets Iris out of jail to try and get her and Phoenix back together and make them happy. He's completely clueless as to where Phoenix's heart really lies.

These Ties That Bind by TheHomestuckWhovian

An interesting twist on the idea of the red string of fate, where bonds are choices and need to be maintained. Extensive exposure to the magatama has granted Phoenix the ability to see the manifestations of people's connections to each other, and how good a condition their relationships are in. The trouble comes in getting himself to willingly examine his own, because he's worried of what he might find out.

Symbiosis by DeiRyuu

Actual Phoenix!Phoenix Wright! Turned into a firebird with symbiotic abilities, under mysterious circumstances that he's incapable of speaking about, Phoenix winds up joining forces with Edgeworth after Mia Fey's death to lead him down the path of truth. Slowburn Wrightworth, very long fic still in progress.

ticking time bomb in their chests by harmony

After an incident while trying to channel a spirit for a case, Phoenix is forced to go back in time further and further in order to get a fresh look at how his relationship with Edgeworth has developed. A very good character study of both Phoenix and Miles, and has a happy ending.

What You Can Afford by Mastrous_Disasterpiece

CONTENT WARNINGS: Emotional manipulation, disordered eating, fatphobia

Kristoph has some nasty things to say about Phoenix putting on weight while struggling to get along during the gap, and it plants a seed of doubt in his mind. Edgeworth, however, refuses to let Phoenix see himself as lesser for the shape of his body. Established Wrightworth. Short and... sweetish? It's got a hopeful ending. Less of a general recommendation and more of a "this speaks to me in particular."

[sandersgrey]

Fic Recs

Alright, folks, I've recently had cause to go through all six thousand something bookmarks of mine, so I figured I might finally do one of these. It's not even close to being all of the good fics I have saved, but these are some my absolute favorites.

All of these are completed and have happy endings unless otherwise specified.

If you try and make fun of me for my choice in fandoms, please keep in mind I have no shame and treat anon hate as fun enrichment for my habitat.

Percy Jackson

Solangelo

5: I've seen it recommended everywhere, for a good reason. Great for people who like their fluff a bit unhinged. 2k,

Touch Me: This one is for the touch starved bitches out there. Will knows that Nico doesn't like to be touched- in this specific case, Nico disagrees. 8k.

in which will solace's gentle hands pay off: Similar premise; Nico is touch-starved and he wants Will to touch him. 1k.

Jasico

joy and sorrow: Anyone else up for an Orpheus and Eurydice parallel? Jason languishes in paradise. Nico brings him back. 10k.

Ace Attorney

Narumitsu

and the tree was happy: Easily my favorite characterization of Trucy. It's Trucy-centric, and it focuses on her fixing the fallout after the truth about Thalassa comes out. 36k.

So, when this loose behavior I throw off: Edgeworth finds Phoenix during his disbarment and proceeds to play a very high stakes game of poker. 12k.

one step at a time: Phoenix decides to retake the bar after his five years are up. Edgeworth is there every step of the way. 22k.

forty years in the wilderness: Miles Edgeworth comes home five weeks after Phoenix finishes rebuilding the jury trial system. 9k.

Klapollo

and it's christmas, so no one can fix it: This is just honestly very well written. It handles Klavier's first Christmas after Kristoph- well, after Kristoph. 10k.

don't you lose my number: Five unconnected textfics, and each of them worth the time. 66k.

fame vs infamy: In which Apollo somehow lands a boyfriend by writing Klavier x Reader out of spite. 12k.

Boku no Hero Academia

Dabihawks

you're the song stuck in my head: You want some cute fake dating? I can hook you up with some cute fake dating. I'll even throw in some mutual pining. AU where Hawks is a cheerleader and Dabi is in a band. 37k.

Erasermic

on air: Mic is doing a segment on fun proposals on his radio channel. Aizawa calls in. 2k.

fusebox heart: AU where Mic has cyborg parts that need maintenance, and Aizawa is his favorite mechanic. Just like this fic is my favorite. 27k.

Tododeku

don't you just want to go apeshit?: Todoroki is tired of being nice. He chooses violence (memes) instead. 15k.

Hand to Heart: Deku asks to study Todoroki's quirk, and Shouto falls in love. 13k.

Haikyuu!!

Bokuaka

Karma: In which Bokuto offers to teach him yoga and Akaashi is a weak, weak man. 9k.

daisy rings and frivolous things: Akaashi is pining, and Bokuto has an onigiri quest for them. They get engaged. 15k.

il mio ragazzo falso: Akaashi brings Bokuto to his granparents' wedding anniversary- as his fake boyfriend. I think you know where this is going. 18k.

one in a hundred: Dating would be a lot easier if Akaashi stopped trying to break up with him. 3k.

Kagehina

your whole life on your play: Directly after his team wins the game, Hinata proposes to Kageyama. They weren't dating. (Part of a series, but can be read on its own.) 3k.

Kuroken

Please Notice Me: Instead of talking about his feelings, Kenma turns into a cat. Kuro is a sweetheart about it. 10k.

i hear my heart breaking tonight: Kenma is pining his way through the most domestic life possible. 10k.

In Another Castle: Kuroo, will you please just let Kenma buy you two a house? Domestic fluff and mutual pining. 19k.

Tsukiyama

And Everything in Between: Yamaguchi buys Tsukishima a lizard for his birthday. It's the best gift he's ever gotten. 51k.

Sakuatsu

Other Boys in Other Ports: An absolute masterpiece. Atsumu is a space sailor and Sakusa is the bartender he spends three days with every time he arrives at his port. 26k.

The Dos and Don'ts of Loving Sakusa Kiyoomi: Atsumu is tired of always getting it wrong with Sakusa, so he starts keeping a list. 15k.

Hunter x Hunter

Leopika

All Roads Lead To: Urban Fantasy AU involving a magical library and a myriad of paths to take. Kurapika is the librarian, if that sweetens the pot for you. 46k.

Immersion Learning: Leorio picks up a bit of Kuruta over the years. 4k.

Killugon

starlight and star-crossed: Killua loses all of his memory of Gon, and he thinks this boy is too good to be true. 22k.

wriggle up on dry land: Killua thinks Mito is gonna hit Gon, so he begs her to hit him instead. 1k.

Naruto

Gen

The Divided Self: Sakura knows she has no natural advantage, no clan, no kekkei genkai. So she makes herself one. 6k.

Gaalee

Suna Stories: In which Gaara gets sick, and Lee has gotten drunk- Wait, not at the same time! 14k.

Diplomatic Relations: Lee is sent as an ambassador in Suna, which is sure to go over very well. 162k.

Undertale

Gen

Trying Out a Maybe: Technically platonic charisk, but Frisk isn't quite there. Sans notices the thing killing all the monsters is acting weird. 8k. Hopeful ending, but check the tags.

memeing across time and space: It's very hard to meme from the void. Gaster still tries. 1k.

The Witcher

Geraskier

nourish: Jaskier has a habit of sharing his food. (Honestly, I recommend about everything by @penandinkprincess. It's just all good shit.) 10k.

Customs of Courtship and Marriage: Jaskier starts calling Geralt his wifey as sort of a joke, and it sticks. 14k.

A Song Of My Own: Jaskier falls in love all the time, and there's a very cute scene with supportive bystanders. Much like with penandink, I recommend you just take a look at the author's works. 7k.

The Man Made of Love: Geralt is convinced Jaskier deserves better than his love. Still, he writes. 5k.

Voltron

Klance

i like where we are (here): For anyone who likes mutual pining. Lance is coming to Keith's home with him during college break, and he is Not handling it well. 40k.

tell me again, do you love me?: Everyone knows Lance is in love with Keith, and I do mean everyone- including Keith himself. Fluff. 6k.

Terminal Velocity: Technically a sequel, but can be read on its own. Lance always falls too fast- but Keith's down bad. 23k.

DC

Birdflash

Homiesexual: For the meme lovers out there. Wally has a sexuality crisis due to his hot gym buddy, Dick, and then posts about it on reddit. Because of course. 9k.

As Invisible as the True Stars at Daybreak: They just... know each other so well... Nightwing is acting weird, and Wally is the only one who has noticed. 5k.

Superbat

to feel without a light: Bruce is out of his mind with fear toxin, but he still trusts Clark. 5k.

Timkon

Cork Board Contingencies: For people who share my belief that Tim is at his best as a feral nerd. Tim has a date with Kon and goes feral about planning it. 3k.

Shiny New Fears: Could it be?... Yes, healthy communication. Features established timkon talking through their worries as they decide whether or not to have kids. (Not mpreg.) 10k.

Trust Me to Have a Pen in Hand: High School AU where Conner always has a pen to lend Tim. 1k.

The Mystery of the Superboy Shirts: Tim is obsessed with trying to figure out where the fuck Kon's shirts keep coming from. 4k.

Jayroy

The Big Book: Another one that is frequently recommended, and for good reason. Deals mostly with Roy's addiction. Features a supportive Jason. 4k.

I Want You With Me (Always): Idiots to lovers, featuring meaningful tattoos and commitment. 3k.

if your real dad isn't present store bought is fine: baby Lian goes to Red Hood when she's in danger, so he beats up a creep for her. What's not to like? 1k.

Bluepulse

Stick With Me: A classic set up where Jaime and Bart get stuck in a cabin and have to deal with their continuous proximity. 25k.

Sanders Sides

Analogical

i'll give you the moon: Ironically, Virgil defies logic in order to try to give Logan the perfect gift. 4k.

Intrulogical

by a map half-written: Arranged marriage AU. At the last minute, it's decided Logan will marry Prince Remus instead of his twin. Logan is quite satisfied with this. 4k.

Stalker-verse: A tiny series in which Remus and Logan are each other's stalkers. Somehow, this manages to have fluff. Check the tags. 19k.

The Magnus Archives

Jonmartin

Martin Blackwood and the Power of Research: Martin really wants to talk to Jon, so he tries infodumping. 4k.

Jongerry

fool me, fool me: In which Jon fake dates Gerry so the rest of the archives gang doesn't think he's homophobic. About as ridiculous as it sounds. Textfic. 27k.

Supernatural

Destiel

six hundred sundays (and many more): Time works different for angels and Cas has always loved Dean. So much fluff. 15k.

Purgatory, director's cut: A different retelling of Castiel and Dean's time in Purgatory. Clearly. 23k.

Fifty Ways to Lose Your Lover: Screenplay format, as the characters themselves revolt against the script. Humor. 1k.

Tall Grass: Castiel plants a garden. Dean watches. 57k.

Midam

adjust to the light: AU where Adam is the only survivor of a serial killer, and his ex, Michael, seems very concerned about his safety. 69k. Nice.

for fear that you'd find out: Right after they leave the bunker, Michael and Adam have a refreshingly honest conversation. 4k.

the divergence of divine law: Thee fic for those who enjoy thinking about their time together in the cage. Check the tags. Technically ambiguous ending. 73k.

Drarry

The Pure and Simple Truth: Harry, Draco and Hermione walk into a pub. There is no punchline. There is a very well developed supporting cast though. 65k.

Wolfstar

keymash: Absolutely perfect fic. Mostly texting. Wrong Number and No Magic AU. 45k.

The Barista, The Burglar, and the Sofa: In which Remus is an anxious barista whose house keeps getting broken into by a very generous stranger. (It's Sirius.) 21k.

[bevioletskies]

if you walked away (from me today)

summary: Apollo had to admit, majoring in criminology and minoring in fashion was a strange way of getting into law school. Stranger still, he somehow ends up asking his annoyingly good-looking criminology classmate, Klavier, to model for him in his grad show. Though he initially dreads the thought of working together, Apollo soon finds himself slowly, but surely changing his mind about Klavier and what he really means to him.

pairings: apollo/klavier, ema/kay, phoenix/edgeworth (established)

word count: 20.8k

a/n: This fic takes place in an alternate universe in which things mostly remain the same, except Phoenix never gets disbarred and he (and Edgeworth) goes on to adopt Apollo and Trucy around the same time. Apollo's experience is based on my own experience of getting my bachelor's degree in fashion design; this is not meant to portray how all fashion schools work! Fic title is from the song If You Walked Away by Cliff Richard.

preview:

“You didn’t answer my question.” Still, Klavier shrugged the coat off all the same, minding the pins in the shoulders, sleeves, and hem. Once he’d set it down on the table, he started unbuttoning his shirt. Apollo made a strangled noise in the back of his throat. “What?”

“Wh-why aren’t you changing in the other room?!” Apollo spluttered.

“Why would I? All my things are in here, and I don’t mind getting changed in front of other people.” Klavier continued on, slipping the dress shirt off with ease. Apollo found himself overly-fixated on his spreadsheet by the time Klavier was working on the fly of his pants. “You’re not going to tell me, are you?”

“Tell - huh?” Apollo blinked, slightly dazed.

“Why you’re studying fashion,” Klavier repeated. “You don’t have to tell me if it’s personal, I just thought I’d ask.”

“Oh.” Apollo cleared his throat; Klavier was pulling his denim cutoffs back on now. “Oh, it’s not - it’s not personal. Hell, it wasn’t even my decision. I mean, minoring in it was definitely my choice, it’s just - I wasn’t s’posed to take design classes in the first place.”

“Really?” Klavier sat in the chair opposite Apollo’s. Apparently, he was too interested in Apollo’s story to put his shirt back on. “So, what, you accidentally ended up in fashion? How did that happen?”

Apollo leaned across the table. “Administrative error,” he said in a conspiratorial whisper.

“Achtung, you’re joking!” Klavier exclaimed, astonished. “And they didn’t fix it?”

“Trust me, it’s not like I didn’t ask,” Apollo said, rolling his eyes. “But apparently, there were so many poli-sci undergrads coming in that year that there was a waitlist for the waitlist. Didn’t help that some professor retired earlier than they expected so they couldn’t open more sections to accommodate. So, they shoved me in here, I stuck it out for a semester, and...I dunno. It grew on me. So I decided to keep going.”

Klavier smiled, reaching over to gently brush his fingers against the coat sleeve, careful not to smudge Apollo’s chalk marks. “I went to your designer showcase last semester, by the way. Your portfolio was impressive, especially now that I know you weren’t originally planning on being here. But I suspect you aren’t planning on switching careers.”

“Definitely not,” Apollo replied, shutting his laptop. “I like design, but I don’t love it. Not the way that I love law.” His face suddenly grew warm. “Uh - I mean - I know that’s, like, the nerdiest shit you’ve ever heard - ”

“I think it’s cute,” Klavier said, his smile softening.

Apollo stared at him blankly, at a complete loss on how to respond. He cleared his throat again, then turned to grab his prototypes and slip them back onto their respective hangers. “Anyway, we’re done for today, so you can put your damn shirt back on, Gavin.”

(read on ao3)

[iridescentoracle]

personally i'd be interested in basically any take on "post-AA4 klavier getting peggy sue'd to before the seven-year gap," especially if he actually gets to be deeply traumatized and somewhat unstable about the whole thing, but if i was writing this (which i will not because i don't do long-form prose fic and i definitely don't do mysteries, to my own eternal sorrow) then i'd have klavier warn phoenix about kristoph being responsible for the diary page and btw that was a forgery, he's trying to ruin your reputation and get you disbarred, and i don't know what else he's got planned so he might try something else to ruin you or might just decide to murder you, please be careful, etc, and while he was at it i'd have him ask phoenix for advice because i'm pretty sure kristoph sent the forgers poisoned items and i don't know how to arrange for a police investigation that won't absolutely traumatize a hikikomori 12yo girl and also if kristoph finds out i suspect him of anything—never mind being actively responsible for him being investigated for forgery and attempted murder—he'll just add me to the list of people he plans to kill which will make it very difficult to save you and the mishams and phoenix would be like. "okay well there's a lot to unpack there and the only cop i know is extremely not subtle but edgeworth's back in the country so why don't we go talk to him."

so they'd do that, and hopefully edgeworth would either know someone better at subtlety than gumshoe or at least know who would know someone etc, because otherwise i think probably half the cast do wind up getting killed. assuming they do manage an investigation subtle enough that kristoph doesn't get tipped off, the stamp and nail polish are safely removed from the mishams' house, but while vera could probably identify kristoph as the one who commissioned the forgery (via drawing him) since it was never actually used in court i have no idea if that would actually be a crime, and he would definitely have been too smart to leave fingerprints, so there wouldn't be sufficiently conclusive proof to actually get him convicted of attempted murder, all of which would add up to "the immediate/known threats have been avoided, but kristoph is still free and who knows what plans he might have next, and he's probably pretty irritated with phoenix and klavier both at this point" so the mishams are probably safe for the moment (since kristoph hopefully has no reason to suspect the stamp & nail polish are in police custody, and thus has no reason to try again) but phoenix definitely isn't, while klavier's safety is even more up in the air than the mishams bc that depends on whether kristoph suspects him of suspecting anything, and whether he has any sort of sibling loyalty, and whether he thinks klavier might still be a useful tool, and all sorts of other things they can't possibly guess. so everybody in the know would be Very Tense as they tried to figure out what the hell to do next.

and that's about when i'd have kristoph frame phoenix for the murder of zak gramarye again.

bc like. we never do find out why kristoph actually wanted to murder zak—if not for the black psyche-locks i would've assumed it was simple petty revenge bc zak fired him, the flip side of him wanting to get phoenix disbarred for being his replacement—but it's not like klavier would know about the black psyche-locks, and i think it would be very easy for him to forget or not even realize that zak gramarye is on the list of people kristoph wanted dead. the mishams had already been sent poison so they're already in danger, phoenix not being disbarred yet is insult to injury so he's already in danger, but zak didn't get killed for another seven years and for all klavier knows that was just a means to an end, someone whose death he could theoretically easily pin on phoenix wright.

because i love peggy sue aus like few other tropes, but they have to be done right. if the protagonists just Solve Everything and make no mistakes and no new problems are created in solving the old ones, i mean, that can be fun for a cheerful lightweight story once in a while but if something's going to be satisfying there need to be consequences and the protagonists can't actually be perfect.

so klavier screws up. he forgets one of kristoph's potential targets, and for the remainder of the story he's got zak gramarye's death on his conscience.

and of course that just gets worse when he realizes that it solves a problem: just like the first time around, the real story comes out in court. phoenix is proven innocent, and the real murderer of zak gramarye is revealed to be kristoph gavin, and for it he's sent to jail, where he can't arrange for any more forgeries or (as far as we can tell from canon) any more murders he hadn't set in motion years before.

and wouldn't it just do wonders for all klavier's guilt and self-hatred, if he realized that zak gramarye's death wound up being convenient for him? someone's murder solved a problem klavier hadn't been able to deal with on his own?

isn't seeing zak gramarye's murder as a means to an end (framing phoenix) part of kristoph's own crimes?

honestly i don't actually know how you give klavier a happy ending here even though everyone else (aside from zak and kristoph) winds up better off bc i'm pretty sure this version of this plot would culminate in klavier fully having a mental breakdown out of guilt and self-hatred and trauma but eh. [gestures at edgeworth] if he survived so can klavier. maybe his version of choosing death can be choosing to go on tour with the gavinners for a while. there's options probably

like. okay. all indications are that despite this world having some types of magic that are real, the kinds of magic appear to be pretty specific (spirit channeling, viewing psyche-locks with a charged magatama, apollo & trucy's perception, etc), and time travel in particular only exists as a figurative way of handling physical and emotional trauma, and otherwise it's probably just a very complicated scheme to get someone convicted of murder. the games have been pretty clear about all that. but god what i wouldn't do for a story where post-AA4 absolutely-drowning-in-guilt-and-self-hatred klavier accidentally gets himself peggy sue'd to the start of the gramarye trial

[turnaboutfairplay]

📓

i keep meaning to write these two and then telling myself "you know what? it can wait" and then months pass but here:

- phoenix, just post-disbarment, leaves edgeworth a voicemail and it's like...the voicemail interspersed with phoenix trying to pick up the pieces of his life? idk its like. full of parallels and phoenix's signature Let's Ignore My Issues and it's kind of narumitsu but also weird semi-introspective character study type stuff because i have a niche

- more weird semi-introspective character study type stuff about franziska (i have a niche!!!!) because every time i think about her backstory its like. oh my god thats tragic featuring the question is it better to have had a father who loves you and then lost that love or to never have had that love at all? is there ever a chance that you can take the weight of the world off your shoulders? i worry about franziska sometimes and also i think she and sebastian should talk

- i lied here's another one. total nonsense crackfic but i think the funniest way for apollo and trucy to find out they're related is for ema to propose it as a joke and then wake up in the middle of the night like "wait...but what if?" featuring science, conspiracy boards, apollo's fivehead, and ema being right

- this isn't even a coherent fic idea but epic kay and sebastian bestie moments

[isogenderskitty]

One-Shot Fic: Tied Together

Soon to be put on AO3 once my signup goes through but for now it lives here.

Fandom: Ace Attorney Ship: Narumitsu (AKA Wrightworth) Word count: 1,342 Genre: Fluff, getting together, inspired by a conversation on a Narumitsu Discord server. ♥ Warnings: None! Except that I haven’t written anything in approx. 100 years. jkzsdhf Summary: Phoenix isn’t very good at tying his tie neatly. Miles really, really wants to fix it, among other things.

When he gets over the initial shock of his childhood friend suddenly showing up across the courtroom from him, the first thing that Miles Edgeworth notices is inane, illogical, and confusing.

The man cannot tie a tie.

It’s not so bad that it’s not technically tied up, he reasons – a person with slightly lower standards than his own probably wouldn’t even notice – but it is loose and wonky, and could look so much better with a little help from a more deft hand.

It’s not an outright obsession; there are often much more pressing matters at hand, obviously, both professionally and personally. But in tiny moments throughout the years, something living in back of his mind taps him lightly on the shoulder with slowly increasing confidence to say Miles, you really want to reach out and fix that tie.

Every time it comes to him, the thought is accompanied by an increasingly tighter chest, faster pulse, and more detailed visions of what Wright’s face might look like that close. How he might look at him. Whether he would feel the same pounding and rushing and near loss of control that Miles does. What that meant.

He thinks about it during multiple post-trial celebrations, looking across a tightly populated dinner table with the buzz of alcohol consumption in the air, unable to hear anything anyone said for worrying amounts of time, and especially unable to look away from a triumphant and jubilant Wright, smiling enough for all of them.

He thinks about it hundreds, thousands, infinite times while away in Europe for that secret year, wondering if Wright still hadn’t learned how to tie a tie properly. As lonely months pass, that thought becomes less wistful and more riddled with guilt and anxiety.

When he returns home, the first time he sees him is in the Criminal Affairs department, a young girl in robes clutching his hand tightly. He’s never seen Wright look this dishevelled. He looks like he hasn’t slept in days and hasn’t changed out of his suit or showered in just as long. The tie is barely holding on. A selfish and stupid thought flickers through Miles’s mind, for just a moment: is this what happens when I leave?

How absurd, he thinks, shaking his head. Something else must be wrong.

When Wright is disbarred, Miles can’t get hold of him for weeks. He drops everything and rushes over when he finally hears from him. Two surprises meet him at the door, albeit one much bigger than the other; Wright has a daughter now, and there isn’t even a tie in sight to fix.

He finds himself taking a more active role in Phoenix’s life from then on; as a current friend rather than just an old one. Visiting often for game nights, or just to watch TV, or giving financial or personal aid. Some nights just talking, some just listening, most a mixture of both.

After about six months of this new, altered relationship, they develop a silent agreement. If they just so happen to be sitting adjacent on the sofa, and perhaps Trucy has gone to bed or fallen asleep with her head on Phoenix’s lap, and all is still and dark and quiet except for lights and sounds from the television, they enter a different state with a different set of laws.

Heads can lean on shoulders and against the napes of necks. Thumbs can brush softly over knuckles while the other fingers grip each other tight. Feet can gently kick and nudge each other on the floor, that or perhaps the TV eliciting chuckles that can be felt as rumbles against skin or as breaths in hair. Every moment of living in this warm space they create makes Miles’s heart burst aflame and crash violently against his rib cage, screaming to be set free… and yet, mysteriously, he always wants more of that destructive feeling. As years roll by like this, ties are long forgotten.

Until Phoenix gets his badge back.

Miles walks into the defendant lobby a few minutes before the trial is due to start, to wish his dear friend luck. He stops in his tracks when he sees him. Back in that familiar blue suit, but better. So many details that are already driving Miles insane. The hair, the chain, the waistcoat.

The tie. Even this new, more mature, somehow even handsomer version of Phoenix was hopeless.

Before he knows what he’s doing, Miles has already walked over to him and opened his mouth.

“Wright.”

A turn, a beaming smile that threatens to blind him, a slight crack in the voice that is echoed on the surface of Miles’s heart. “Oh, hey Edgeworth!”

“I… just wanted to bid you good luck.” He bows out of habit. Too formal, even for the public eye, he scolds himself as Phoenix’s face falls ever-so-slightly. The last thing he wants right now is for Phoenix to think he’s been demoted to Wright. That being a lawyer again means their previous, stiffer relationship has been reinstated along with his career. He panics slightly, not wanting that idea to take hold.

“Thanks.” It’d sound happy to anyone else, but Miles can hear the undercurrent of worry.

Again his body moves without his mind’s explicit consent and he’s reaching for Phoenix’s tie in the middle of the defendant lobby before he’s registered the impulse to do so. Phoenix squawks and goes stiff as a board and red as an apple but doesn’t quite get as far as moving away. “Edgeworth, what… “

“You never were any good at tying this thing. Hold still.” His own voice sounds much farther away than Phoenix’s. Miles distantly decides that if he’s going to exist in this insane dream state for a moment he might as well embrace it. He commits to memory the heat coming off Phoenix’s skin, the cheap feel of the tie, the way his knuckles brush against his neck and he thinks he feels the hint of a nervous gulp. The air in the room suddenly feels unbearably hot.

After he finishes finally fixing that godforsaken pink tie, he admires his work for a moment, and then dares to look up to Phoenix’s face. The actual proximity of his eyes shocks him mute. He feels a slight tremble in his fingers as he pulls them away from Phoenix’s lapel. The room doesn’t exist.

He spots Phoenix wet his lips quickly with his tongue, and speak:

“I love you.”

It’s not said as if it’s news, or as if it’s a dramatic declaration, just a simple statement. Like it’s a reminder of something he’s already said. In a way, Miles supposes he has, in ways other than with words, countless times. He supposes they both have.

Phoenix looks just as shocked as Miles feels. Miles can’t help but laugh a little, even in his stupor. Phoenix looks even more shaken at that.

Distantly, as if echoed through a valley, they become aware that the bailiff is standing a few paces away, awkwardly trying to get Phoenix to go into the courtroom. Miles steps back, clearing his throat. His finger catches on Phoenix’s newly reattached attorney’s badge for a moment, giving him a burst of pride that is somehow perceptible over the rest of his body screaming bloody murder.

“I-I should go,” Phoenix stammers.

Miles faintly registers just before Phoenix turns away that he shouldn’t leave this conversation at that bombshell; he doesn’t want him to think the feeling isn’t mutual - the one that tears him apart day and night. He takes a deep breath and replies perhaps a little too loud.

“I love you too. Call me after the trial?”

“Way ahead of you,” Phoenix breathes, chest heaving. The beaming smile is back and somehow even brighter. It seems to illuminate the entire courthouse in a radiant golden light. Miles weakly offers up an uncharacteristically erratic wave before Phoenix turns and disappears into the courtroom with a skip in his step. Miles makes a mental note to apologise profusely for the distraction if he loses the case.

[ziskandra]

Fic Round Up 2020

I didn't intend to do much writing in 2020. Perhaps participate in a single-fandom exchange or two, if any took my fancy. Then my city's second lockdown happened, the Premier told us to stay home, and I am a good citizen. I wrote more in 2020 than I have in any year since 2009 (when I was sixteen). So, I guess 2020 was good for something after all.

Anyway, without any further ado, I present 50 fics across 13 fandoms! (Ace Attorney, Aggretsuko, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Dragon Age, Game of Thrones, Golden Sun, Harry Potter, Mass Effect, My Fair Lady, Original Work, Persona 3, To The Moon, Your Name.)

Ace Attorney

A Good Forking; Ema & Klavier; Klavier Gavin is aroused by a particularly sumptuous steak, and Ema is not amused. (750 words, rated T.)

I (27M) have adopted a child (8F) in less than ideal circumstances. What can I do to be the best possible father for her?; Phoenix & Trucy; Shortly after adopting Trucy, Phoenix seeks advice in the r/relationships subreddit. (2.3k, rated G.)

The Disappearance of Trucy Wright; Phoenix/Edgeworth; Miles Edgeworth is forced to confront his complicated feelings on fatherhood. (10k, rated T.)

A Helping Hand; Franziska/Phoenix; Franziska offers to help Phoenix piece his life back together after his disbarment. Phoenix should suspect her motives, but finds himself drawn towards her methodology instead. (2k, rated E.)

Chasing Demons; Franziska von Karma & Ensemble; Franziska von Karma is haunted by ghosts. Who are they? What do they want with her? And what do they have to do with the identity of her mother, a family secret her father has always kept close to his chest? (20k, WIP, rated M.)

Aggretsuko

anything we dream; Fenneko & Retsuko; Just because something makes you happy doesn’t mean you have to do it forever. (1k, rated G.)

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

Intermission; Audra/Greg; Recently divorced Audra Levine visits West Covina to provide moral support during her frenemy’s open mic night. (2.3k, rated T.)

Realization; Audra/Greg; Greg and Audra meet at Rebecca's open mic night, hit it off, and spend some quality time together before Audra leaves town. (2.2k, rated E.)

Does Rebecca Feel the Same Way?; Rebecca/Greg; Greg Serrano is still, hopelessly, helplessly in love with Rebecca Bunch, even if he does his best to hide it. (1k, rated M.)

silver place; Rebecca/Nathaniel; Upon reuniting with Rebecca after his sabbatical, Nathaniel finds himself feeling self-conscious about his body. (900 words, rated T.)

mirror image; Rebecca/Audra; Despite being a staunch feminist who believes women can do whatever they want with their body hair, Rebecca can't help but be intimated by Audra's impeccable personal grooming. (200 words, rated E.)

Dragon Age

Duty; Loghain Mac Tir; There are many times in Loghain's life where he could've died. Somehow, he survives. (6k, rated M.)

Skinned Knees; Loghain & Anora; Loghain and his daughter throughout the years, from her infancy to the Landsmeet. (2k, rated G.)

Divine; Cassandra/F!Trevelyan; After the Inquisition is disbanded, Evelyn Trevelyan and her lover, Divine Victoria, steal a quiet moment alone together. (2.1k, rated E.)

Selfish; F!Trevelyan/Josephine; An extension of the scene where Josephine and the Inquisitor cuddle in front of the fire. (1.6k, rated E.)

A Little Longer; Alistair/Zevran; It’s not the first time Zevran has assisted a friend in a loveless marriage. (750 words, rated E.)

The Secret; Alistair/Anora; In which Alistair tells Anora he might have a child. (1.6k, rated M.)

Jennies; F!Cadash/Sera; Malika's looking forward to introducing her family to Sera. Sera has her reservations. (1.3k, rated T.)

Unsaid; F!Hawke/Varric; After the events at Adamant, Hawke and Varric are interrupted during an inopportune moment. It leads to a discussion on what their relationship means to them.

To Find a Cure; F!Cousland/Anora; Letters written to and from Warden-Commander Cousland, Queen Consort of Ferelden, during her search for a cure to the Calling. (10k, rated M.)

Loud Enough; Josephine/Sera; After the Inquisition is disbanded, Josephine and Sera travel to Antiva. (1k, rated T.)

No Half-Measures; Anders/M!Hawke; After the Chantry explosion, Hawke is faced with a difficult decision. (600 words, rated T.)

Kept Waiting; Celia/Loghain; It’s no secret that the Teyrna is the one truly in charge of the teyrnir (and its Teyrn). (2.8k, rated E.)

Ripples; F!Hawke/Isabela; Isabela had thought she'd given up on love, but as it turns out, love hasn't given up on her. (500 words, rated M.)

Vulnerability; F!Hawke/Isabela; In the weeks following the Qunari invasion, Isabela and Hawke settle into a routine that cannot last. (1.2k, rated E.)

A Matter of Trust; Cassandra/Varric; A line in Varric's most recent romance serial, Holed Up in Skyhold, provides Cassandra with a new idea for their lovemaking. (3.8k, rated E.)

Right Hand; Cassandra/F!Trevelyan; After losing her left arm, Evelyn Trevelyan is all right hand — except where it matters to Cassandra the most.

Home; F!Hawke/Isabela; Two weeks after leaving Kirkwall, Hawke's still growing accustomed to her new home.

Game of Thrones

precendent; Arya/Sansa; Arya shouldn’t be thinking about Sansa like this. It feels like a betrayal. (450 words, rated M.)

Golden Sun

Into the Vortex; Isaac & Garet; After a decade trapped in a Psynergy Vortex, Isaac and Garet begin to wonder if they'll ever be rescued. (800 words, rated G.)

Harry Potter

Sorry; Harry/Hermione; In a world where Ron never returns to his friends, Harry and Hermione must navigate the events at Malfoy Manor together. (2.1k, rated M.)

Scoop; Rita Skeeter & Gilderoy Lockhart; Rita Skeeter investigates a lead from an unlikely source. (1.6k, rated T.)

across the veil; Luna & Harry; During Harry's sixth year, Luna attempts to provide him with some comforting news. (700 words, rated G.)

Beautiful Disaster; Rita/Lockart; Rita Skeeter will do anything for a lead. (1.1k, rated E.)

Mass Effect

Fleeting; Sloane/Jien; Stolen moments before the launch of the Andromeda Initiative. (1.3k, rated T.)

Sparks Fly; Jack/Miranda; When Jack had promised to smear the walls with Miranda, she hadn't meant it quite like this. (1.8k, rated E.)

Instructions; F!Shepard/Samantha; Samantha likes to make sure Shepard's taking care of herself, in every sense of the words. (1k, rated E.)

black and blue (fight on through); F!Shepard/Garrus; After the Battle of the Citadel, Garrus goes to say goodbye to Shepard, and is inadvertently promised a future instead.(1.5k, rated T.)

Piece by Piece;Miranda & Female Shepard; After the Commander’s first death, asphyxiating in the skies over Alchera, Miranda had been the one to piece Shepard back together again, like the world’s most elaborate jigsaw puzzle. The second time… well, she’s practically an expert. (550 words, rated T.)

Mark II; Miranda/Female Shepard; Shepard doesn't leave a body behind this time. (700 words, rated T.)

Control; M!Shepard/Garrus; Garrus will do whatever he can to save the man he loves – even if he can’t bring himself to say the words aloud. (1.3k, rated E.)

Practice; F!Shepard/Garrus; Garrus had thought he'd been nervous when he'd first slept with Shepard, but somehow he's even more flustered the second time around.(1.2k, rated E.)

My Fair Lady

no time for a chat; Higgins/Pickering; Eliza returns to 27A Wimpole Street to seek further phonetics instruction, and life soon resumes its familiar routine. Familiar until one fateful night, when Eliza overhears a heated discussion. It threatens to change everything and nothing at all. (2.3k, rated G.)

Original Work

Run Here; Sword Lesbian Princess/Sword Lesbian Princess From A Rival Kingdom; Much to the dismay of her mother, Princess Cassandra wishes to elope with her lover. Her lover has other plans. (1.1k, rated G.)

Aulia & Haidrul’s Enchanted Weapons and Wares; Daughter of a Blacksmith & Son of a Witch; Two elderly proprietors weave the tale of how they overcame societal expectations to go into business together. (10k, rated M.)

Persona 3

Deathseekers; Minako & Ensemble; They call themselves the Deathseekers and the end of the world is nigh. What else can they do but fight when Death seeks them out in return? (Fantasy AU) (600 words, rated T.)

To The Moon

Minisode 3; Robert/Eva/Neil/Roxanne; They wake up one morning and discover they have drunkenly married one another. (2.2k, rated T.)

Blame It on the Punch; Eva/Neil; After their semi-disastrous prom, Eva and Neil take the next step in their relationship. (4k, rated E.)

Your Name

do you remember?; Mitsuha/Taki; Mitsuha feels a supernatural pull towards the handsome architect she crosses paths with on the street one day, almost as though they've met before. (1.3k, rated G.)

[snezfics-n-shit]

Whumptober Day 1 - Autumn

Fandom: Ace Attorney (did you expect anything else?)

Characters: Phoenix Wright, Miles Edgeworth

Notes: starting the month w an allergy fic let’s go, takes place during the 7 year gap so we got Hobohodo yeehaw, Established Wrightworth as always, allergic!Phoenix this time to spice things up

     “A’aschhHUUH!” 10. “H’SCHUUUH!” 11. “T’TCHUUHHh!” 12.

“Bless you, love.” Edgeworth handed Phoenix another tissue. The box was nearly empty at this point. “What’s got you like this lately?”

“Oh. It’s dorbal for be.” Phoenix blew his nose as hard as he could, ignoring his boyfriend’s discomfort at the shamelessness of him doing so. “Gets like this every Fall. Cold season, and all that, I guess.”

Phoenix, along with his newly adopted daughter, had been staying at Edgeworth’s home since Phoenix’s disbarment proved to put a strain on his ability to pay rent for his apartment, which proved too small for a family of two anyway. It came to no surprise that with this new arrangement, Edgeworth would be learning a lot about the now former lawyer, admittedly more than he ever took the time to get to know him during his law career. 

“Wright,” an old habit of his slipped his tongue, Edgeworth never quite dropped the formalities since he and Phoenix began dating, but at least the man he loved found it endearing, “I don’t know if you were aware, but colds hardly come with puffy, streaming eyes like yours are right now.”

“Wha? Is it something more serious, then?”

“Has it ever dawned on you that it might be seasonal allergies?” Edgeworth pulled his smartphone from his pocket, tapping once or twice on the touch screen, a far more sophisticated device than Phoenix’s relic of a Nokia he still held onto. “It started getting this bad when you decided you’d rake the leaves in my yard, yes?”

“Yeah, but aren’t seasonal allergies for Spring? Not Fall.”

“For me, maybe, but there are still plenty of allergens out there this time of year.” The serious-faced prosecutor flashed an Allergy Tracking app on his phone, not at all acknowledging the notification for a Steel Samurai app gacha event that popped up just before he did so. “Particularly, mold that lives in leaf piles. There are a lot of spores out this time of year. You sent them flying even more by disturbing them while you raked the leaves.”

“That’s disgusting!” Phoenix exclaimed, not at all finding any irony in him blowing his nose again in a crumpled tissue from his hoodie pocket immediately after.

“What it’s doing to you is hardly the Mona Lisa either, love.” Edgeworth kissed his boyfriend’s nose before he got up off the sofa, amused by the resulting grim expression.

“Aa’hhTTSSCHUUUH!!!” 13, now, was it? “Hey! That’s no fair.”

“Consider it a taste of your own medicine.” As he spoke of figurative medicine, Edgeworth poured a glass of water to accompany a large antihistamine pill. “Take this. It should clear your system right up for the rest of the day.” 

Phoenix was hesitant to take the pill from his hand. 

“That thing is huge!” He objected. 

“But it’s strong. Just below prescription grade. You’ll get used to it.”

Phoenix frowned, but took the pill without making a fuss. He had a new respect, almost an admiration, for the man’s ability to manage throughout the Spring. He made a mental note to tease his boyfriend a little less next year.

Just a little.

~fin~

[rivalsforlife]

"Eventually Miles said, “Do you want to know when it happened, when I realized it, or when I came to terms with it?” / “You have three answers?” / “Technically four. Don’t be a hypocrite, you rejected me even though you were in love with me —”" and the rest of the scene if you want to haha, not a lot fits in the ask box :P

Alright!! I’ll do... most of the scene haha, there is one part of the scene I really want to point out, so I’ll once again put this under a keep reading so I don’t take up all this space on people’s dashboards...

Okay!

So basically this part of the scene existed because... I kind of wanted to touch on Miles’ perspective throughout this entire fic as well as a handful of headcanons for Miles and also so that I could fit in a bunch of narumitsu fluff in there somewhere, since my notes for this chapter were pretty much to just shove as much fluff as possible to make up for the rest of it. 

In some ways I’m kind of regretting talking about Miles’ perspective because that reduces some of my flexibility for possibly rewriting this fic entirely from Miles’ perspective OR the handful of jumbled scenes that could potentially form a sequel someday... but honestly writing has been like pulling teeth lately so who knows if that will happen at all. Either way I’m sure I’ll be able to get it to work somehow. (Also kind of... directly pointing out what Miles was feeling when it probably would’ve been a better decision to leave it implicit but WHATEVER TOO LATE NOW --)

“When did you fall in love with me?”

Miles didn’t say anything, and Phoenix might have thought he fell asleep again if it weren’t for his breathing. It didn’t line up with what Phoenix had learned from experience, when Miles fell asleep.

Eventually Miles said, “Do you want to know when it happened, when I realized it, or when I came to terms with it?”

“You have three answers?”

when you’re Miles Edgeworth emotions are waaaaay more complicated than they need to be huh. Since this scene was just Dumping Ground For My Headcanons they for the most part tend to line up with what I think most of the time, buuut I might go into more detail a little later.

“Technically four. Don’t be a hypocrite, you rejected me even though you were in love with me —”

Phoenix shushed him by clapping a hand over his mouth, except he missed in the dark and slapped Miles’ nose instead. “Whoops! Sorry. Okay. Give me all four.”

aww see they can laugh about it now like Miles didn’t cry for several hours after the rejection :’) 

“I should have guessed,” Miles sighed. He used the hand not currently squished against his side by Phoenix’s entire body to hold Phoenix’s hand, guiding it down from his face and holding it against his chest.

This is me trying to find a way to write affection in a way that isn’t totally awkward... uh so basicallyyyy I am not a very affectionate person and I don’t think Miles is particularly big on physical affection most of the time, so when I write him trying to express affection I typically go for subtler things... like hand-holding and such, because I think even that much would be a pretty big deal for him when it wouldn’t be for some other people.

Pretty much every time in this fic he initiates any form of physical touch (which is pretty often because he is attempting to Court Phoenix (ba dum tshhh)) it’s something that he’s deliberately thought through and deliberately initiated, as opposed to like... Phoenix who does it more unconsciously. (And of course not all of Miles’ initiation of physical affection is strictly romantic, I like to headcanon him making an effort towards platonic physical affection as well towards his friends + found family members... just putting this here to cover my bases so no one thinks every time Miles puts his hand on someone’s shoulder he’s flirting with them haha that’s NOT what I was going for, more that he’s aware that lots of people enjoy physical contact and see that as a way of expressing affection, and he’s trying to get better at expressing affection, and Phoenix happens to be one of those people he is expressing affection to, in both the platonic and romantic sense.)

(That was a very long paragraph for literally one sentence about affection hahahaha...)

“Well, I am fairly sure I had a crush on you in fourth grade.”

“No, you didn’t. I had a crush on you in fourth grade, I changed my whole career for you because of it. You were in love with your law books.”

“I told you I ‘liked’ you and you started talking about girls.”

“O-Okay, sorry I didn’t know about bisexuality when I was nine, give me a break here.”

I waver back and forth on whether Miles had a little baby crush on Phoenix in fourth grade or not, I guess when I wrote this I was feeling that way! Anyways this line is referencing the flashback part of chapter 3:

“Do you like anyone, Miles?”

Miles blinked. “I like you.”

Phoenix’s face reddened. “N-No, I meant like-like. You know, like a girl.”

Miles looked at the ground, and his face was red as well.

this fic would have been over with SO MUCH FASTER if Phoenix actually knew what he meant there -- 

My interpretation is pretty much always that Phoenix had a little baby crush on Miles in fourth grade, but it wasn’t until he got older that he realized that it was a crush and not just pure idolization -- which was definitely part of it too, and I could probably write thousands of words on how baby Phoenix’s idolization crush on Miles when he was younger shaped some of their interactions throughout the trilogy but I’m not going to get into that now. I thiiink I said in this fic somewhere that Phoenix didn’t realize he was bi until he was in his teens, so baby Phoenix just thought that Miles was His Best Friend Who He Wants To Hang Out With All The Time And Hold Hands With And If Miles Were A Girl Phoenix Would Want To Kiss Him, and at some point adult Phoenix remembers this train of thought and goes “... wait.”

As for Miles, in the universe of this fic he figures out that he’s gay pretty young, probably largely influenced by Larry talking constantly about girls while Miles complains to his father “I don’t know why Larry’s talking about how pretty [girl of the day] is, I think Phoenix has a nicer smile” while Gregory tries to pretend his laughter is him choking on his dinner. And I think Gregory was an excellent father who loved and supported his son, and probably talked about it a bit with him and made sure Miles knew he was always loved and supported no matter what and --

Anyways, there’s that.

The next paragraphs are mostly them talking about the situations where Miles did fall in love with Phoenix (Turnabout Goodbyes) and then realized it (after Farewell, My Turnabout/ when Phoenix fell off the bridge) then kind of... repressed it until post-canon because he didn’t think he was ready yet and they weren’t really in the right place. I don’t have much to say about it because it’s all pretty straightforward stuff...

Then Phoenix deflects Miles asking about when he fell in love, because Phoenix is still struggling a bit with expressing his emotions this way haha. Also because he was in denial for a really long time so he can’t quite pinpoint exact moments aside from “the moment Miles stood up for him during the class trial”, but much like Miles he’s probably had multiple realizations of love throughout his life.

My personal headcanons though is that Phoenix genuinely thought he was just helping out a friend throughout the trilogy... and then sometime during disbarment, possibly during one of those Europe trips, he realizes “oh crap I loved him the whole time”. Obviously in this fic Phoenix doesn’t realize he’s in love with Miles until the cherry blossom petals scene at the end of chapter 4 and then can’t quite articulate that feeling as love rather than more general attraction until the end of chapter 8 after reading Trucy’s note. (Where the last psyche-lock breaks!)

What I DO want to talk about though is this line at the end of the scene:

“It doesn’t matter when I realized it,” Phoenix whispered. “What matters most is that we’re here, together, now.”

No one’s pointed it out so idk if it was too subtle or too obvious that it didn’t need pointing out, but it’s a callback to this line in chapter 4:

Edgeworth stared at him with an unreadable expression, almost curious. “Well, you don’t have to say anything,” he said. “What matters most is that I can be here with you now.”

It’s a very slight difference in the last part of the dialogue, but an important one!! 

I had an interesting conversation with my best friend a while ago... long story short her brother was in a relationship for a long time with this one woman then they broke up and now he’s engaged to a different woman, and they dated for a shorter time than the first. And my friend says that she and her family knew that this was a different relationship and that she was “the one” because the way they talked about doing things was different -- more of a “we’re going to do [x]” rather than “she and I are going to do [x]”. This probably isn’t really a real thing so like... don’t use it to judge relationships around you... but I thought it was pretty neat.

So in the conversation in chapter 4, Miles says “What matters most is that I can be here with you now”, which is still like exceptionally romantic, but it still sees the two of them as separate entities -- whereas Phoenix in chapter 9 saying “What matters most is that we’re here, together, now” sort of phrases the two of them as more of a unit. ... not that they’re not still separate entities with their own lives outside of just each other of course but you know. you know. just having some fun with sentences!

Anyways that’s what I really wanted to talk about... I hope you enjoyed!!

[iturbide]

@cianidix​ replied to your post:

The more you talk about this, the more I want to read it! Edgeworth-centric and also more Edgeworth-Maya interactions, ahhhhh. I’m also sooo interested in reading about how the relationship falls apart and how they (hopefully, maybe, I don’t believe Feenie is actually dead here… right??? Q_Q) eventually make better or move on and just- ahhhh I wish this fic was here already (if you get back to it)

(Trucy still exists, right? Even tho Wright wasn’t disbarred, right???)

Of course Trucy still exists I could never write her out of existence she’s too precious of a child to not be around in some way shape or form (and there’s nothing to say that Nick won’t end up with her at some point in the future, anyway -- he could always use another kid or two, and I think we all know it).  Interestingly enough, though, one of my other big works was an AA4-compliant piece, also Edgeworth-centric, that involved a lot of Edgeworth-Trucy interactions because Trucy’s a part of Phoenix’s life now, and if he wants to have any part in it himself Edgeworth has to get along with the adopted daughter.  It actually had a decent chunk of words in it, too (around 12k -- it’s the second excerpt from the link in the last post).

But in all honesty people getting excited about my stories gets me excited about those stories and since I still don’t know when I’m going to get around to writing the whole thing out, what’s the harm in dropping the summary? 

Gonna give this another shot and Tumblr’s not gonna eat it this time mark my words

A couple notes before we get into things:

OCs are fair game in Ace Attorney as far as I’m concerned, and we’re certainly going to have a host of them.  From the prosecutor on the case to all of those involved, I’ll be making a whole cast and crew to back this story up, and if I can manage it there will be absolutely terrible puns, because that just seems to be how AA games operate.

Lana Skye is hands down one of my absolute favorite characters in the series, and it’s a crime that they only put her into one bonus case and put her in prison at the end of it.  For all of my continuities, I completely write out SL-9 as a case: Joe Darke never escaped his cell, Lana got into the prosecutor’s office and became chief by virtue of her own talents, and both the prosecutor’s office and the police department have cowboys running around.

I have a fairly non-standard view of Phoenix as a person, just based on everything I remember seeing in fandom back when I was more active.  For instance: I love the fact that he was an art student, but I’ve always specifically thought he was aiming to be an actor and had a thing for Shakespeare; frankly, the ad libbing that has to go into acting when something goes wrong explains so much for me where Nick’s bluffing is concerned (when a man interrogates a parrot, you know he has a weird history).  Unrelated but still relevant to that point, I think he’s actually a decent pianist and took lessons through most of his childhood and adolescence -- but he’s a classical pianist by training and not great at playing by ear, so people just think he sucks because he botches any modern tunes.  So if you see something that seems Weird compared to fandom’s general take, just know that it probably has backstory.

So with all that in mind, let’s dive in.

In true Ace Attorney fashion, the whole thing starts with a cold open.  As he finishes up the last of the paperwork associated with the case he wrapped up that afternoon, Phoenix gets a call from a familiar number, and though he dreads the conversation to come he answers anyway, refusing an offer to meet and saying that he can’t do this anymore before someone enters the inner office.  He insists that they’re closed as he turns toward the door, and a voice replies that this won’t take long -- and then there’s gunshots.  And then nothing. 

The next morning, Maya is understandably shocked and horrified to arrive at the office and find that it’s once again a crime scene: bullet holes in the windows, blood on the floor, police everywhere...but no sign of Nick.  Gumshoe is on the scene, though, and after a lot of badgering, he reveals that there’s been no sign of Phoenix, but the police are operating under the assumption that he’s dead -- and they’ve already arrested a suspect.  Maya can’t imagine who would want to hurt Phoenix, and hearing that it’s Miles Edgeworth they’ve imprisoned just makes the whole thing feel that much more surreal.  Sure, Nick and Edgeworth have had their disagreements --- including one the day before, in the recesses of their trial, and Phoenix had seemed really upset after that -- but she didn’t think it was something worth killing over. 

But she’s still hurt, and reeling from the morning’s news.  So her first order of business is to march down to the Detention Center to confront him.  Edgeworth is...not surprised to see her, given the circumstances -- but when she demands to know why he did it, he insists that he’s innocent: he would never harm Wright, no matter the circumstances.  As much as Maya wants to believe that, though, the fact that he doesn’t seem upset by Nick’s supposed death so much as the accusation that he had a hand in it rubs her wrong, and despite herself she can’t help but wonder if he did have some role in it; regardless, she still goes everywhere she can think of in hopes that there was a mistake, that Nick is okay after all, collecting evidence with every stop...but as it gets later, when there’s still no sign of him, she and Pearl return to the Detention Center.  

With no defense counsel, Edgeworth is almost guaranteed to go to prison...but at Pearl’s urging, Maya steps up and offers to defend him, since she recently passed the bar and got her badge.  She spends the rest of the evening doing her best to cobble together a case based on what little information she has, and reports to the courthouse the next morning for her very first trial as a defense attorney. 

Her first case, and Nick isn’t even there to see it.  She didn’t think it could hurt any worse. 

Before they’re called into the courtroom, the defense gets a surprise visitor: chief prosecutor Lana Skye, come to deliver case notes and evidence files.  Maya barely gets time enough to leaf through them before they’re called into the courtroom to start the trial, where she finds herself facing the rising star from the prosecutor’s office: Gayle Huntington, a young woman who counts Chief Prosecutor Skye as her inspiration and who is excited to add another guilty verdict to her record, in spite of (or perhaps because of) the fact that one of her fellow prosecutors stands accused. 

The prosecution declares it a crime of passion, and presents their theory of the case: following a heated confrontation outside the courtroom, Miles Edgeworth called Phoenix Wright to arrange a meeting.  While he may have intended only to put an end to the argument, tempers flared, and in a fit of rage the defendant shot the victim three times before dragging the body down to the street and driving it off to be disposed of at another location.  Their evidence includes the blood found at the scene, which matches Phoenix based on forensic testing; three bullet holes in the office window, though no slugs or casings were found at or around the office despite an extensive search with metal detectors; Edgeworth’s phone, which shows that the last call before he contacted 911 was made to Wright’s number; and a handgun found at the scene which shows evidence of recent firing, though no magazine was found in it. 

Over the first day of testimony, Maya manages to shred the prosecution’s case based on that chain of events:

The gun, as it happens, belonged to Phoenix himself.  One of the documents the chief prosecutor provided to the defense was a photocopy of a sign-in sheet for a local gun range, which not only has Nick’s signature on it, but included a copy of his firearm registration and permit, which was for the exact make, model, and serial number as the purported murder weapon.  Lana Skye herself is called to the stand, as her name also appears on the sign-in, and she testifies that after court the previous day she happened across Wright at the range and they talked a bit; he said that he needed to blow off a bit of steam before going back to his paperwork, and she clearly recalls that he did not clean his weapon before leaving, instead saying that he would do so after he went home since his cleaning kit was there.  On closer examination, it's discovered that while the weapon has mostly been wiped clean, the trigger was not, and a partial print matching Phoenix is recovered.

On calling Edgeworth himself to the stand, he admits that he did contact Phoenix late in the evening in the hopes of resolving the argument from that afternoon; however, he was across townpicking up his car from the repair shop when he made that call, and when he heard what sounded like a shot before the call cut out he immediately drove to the office where he found the blood trail leading to the curb.  Cell tower records do, in fact, confirm that he was far from the defense attorney’s office when the call was made, and based on the time of his calls to both Phoenix and 911, there was far too narrow of a window to dispose of the body. 

The next revelation comes with the filing of a new piece of evidence, courtesy of a frantic Gumshoe bursting into court and taking the stand.  The police, in their search of likely dumping grounds for a body, dredged something out of the river that seems to confirm that they have a murder on their hands: a blue suit coat with three apparent bullet holes in the back...and Phoenix’s badge still affixed to the lapel.  What little blood evidence they were able to collect matches Phoenix, as well. 

For all that this is a stunning (and devastating) revelation, it brings with it yet more to undermine the prosecution’s case: namely the bullet evidence.  When placed on a mannequin, even coupled with the knowledge that Phoenix left his suit jacket unbuttoned while working in the office, the placement of the bullet holes in the back would require that there be associated entry points in the front -- which do not exist.  Maya draws the logical conclusion, then, that the shots must have been fired from outside the office -- through the window, and the reason no slugs or casings were found was because the shots weren’t fired from inside the office, and the bullets were still in the victim. 

Despite the upset in court, the prosecution refuses to budge, and the Judge refuses to declare a Not Guilty verdict.  Court adjourns for the day instead, and Maya heads out to continue her investigation.  Making her way to the Gatewater Hotel, she manages to get information on who was staying in the room across from the office: four members of a jazz band in town for a show, who insist that they’re the only ones who have been in the room and that they were setting up for a performance on the night of the crime.  Though she doesn’t know them herself, she hears vague rumors that they have a fifth member who’s been in some ‘legal trouble.’  When Maya relates the name to Edgeworth, he remarks that it seems somehow familiar, though he can’t quite place why.  She also gets the prosecutor’s repair records and goes to check out the rental company he used while his car was in the shop, which nets her a copy of the damage and condition checklist the agent filled out when Edgeworth brought the car back.

While Maya has the case to occupy her mind, Miles has no such means of escaping his own thoughts in his prison cell.  Between the confirmation that the jacket does, in fact, belong to Phoenix (something he had tried to deny at first, hoping that the coat was a look-alike and the badge stolen, only to have that possibility dashed by the presence of Wright’s initials on the underside of the tag) and the relative isolation in the detention center, he’s had ample time to think over how things had been with Phoenix -- including how he, himself, had been with the defense attorney...and he’s forced to face some very hard truths about his behavior toward someone he cares about far more than he wanted to believe.  

With the start of the second day in court, the prosecution has changed its theory of the crime, but not its perpetrator: rather than committing the crime alone, Edgeworth had an accomplice, and his call to Wright was a ploy to get him into firing range while the shooter waited in the hotel for his chance.   Leaving his rental car in front of the defense attorney’s office, he picked up his usual vehicle and upon arriving at the crime scene helped his accomplice load the body into the getaway car for disposal while he made a call to police.  Their evidence comes from photos of the rental vehicle in question, which show damage not reported on the return checklist, as well as blood evidence taken from the trunk which matches Phoenix. 

Once again, Maya tears through the prosecution’s case piece by piece:

The damage in the evidence photos compared to the rental return form make for the first order of business.  On calling the man who signed off on Edgeworth’s car to the stand -- an amiable but nervous young Latine by the name of Novi Nada -- they swear up and down that the damage in the photos absolutely was not present when they checked the car in on the night of the crime.  (In true Ace Attorney form, this gets somewhat ridiculous, as this witness lapses into Spanish when especially nervous; when pressed, they insist “no vi nada” -- I didn’t see anything -- to which the Judge responds “yes we know your name now what did you see?”)

Sensor data from the rental lot finally confirms the agent’s version of events, where the car is registered as driving onto the lot shortly before the time marked on the inspection form; more importantly, it also recorded the car being driven off the lot and then back on much later.  Unfortunately, there is no additional inspection form, nor a record of who rented the car after Edgeworth, and therefore no record of who might have been involved. 

Edgeworth is recalled to the stand to revisit his testimony, and he adds another key detail: while it was a sound that he took to be gunfire that sent him to the defense attorney’s office, Wright had said something strange during the call, mentioning that the office was closed -- as though he was speaking to someone else that had just arrived moments before the shots sounded and the call cut out. 

Neither the defense’s office complex nor the Gatewater Hotel have video surveillance of the street; however, the Gatewater does take video of the lobby, which shows one of the four band members leaving around an hour before the crime occurred, two more leaving minutes before the shooting, and the last rushing through the lobby with a trombone case under his arm; notably, he’s the only one of the four to actually take his instrument when he left, as the others were all empty-handed.  Most importantly, though, the video proves that no one else left the hotel between the time of the shooting and the time that the police started arriving, which calls into question the notion of an accomplice helping Miles dispose of the body.

This, however, provides the prosecution with a shiny new theory: that Miles hired the band to act as hitmen while he kept his hands clean.  As it turns out, the reason the band name seemed familiar to him was because he was set to prosecute the fifth member of their group after his case against Phoenix wrapped up; the prosecutor posits that Miles promised to go easy on their incarcerated bandmate if they took out the defense attorney. 

This is a damning accusation, and Maya has no ready response.  The Judge adjourns the court for the day, and the defense scrambles to come up with a way to prove that Edgeworth had no part in what happened and place the blame on the truly guilty.  She returns to the rental company and, while interviewing Novi further, finds out that the fifth bandmate has a sibling that works at the same agency.  She also returns to the Gatewater to speak with the band, and notices that the trombone case in the room doesn’t look like the one from the lobby video.  When asked, they say that the old case got lost...which seems odd to her, since the trombone itself is still there and doesn’t appear damaged. 

While Maya looks deeper into the band, she reaches out to Miles for insight into the case he was supposed to prosecute.  The fifth band member had been taken into custody on suspicion of murder, and while he suspected that the man did not commit the crime alone, he hadn’t yet been able to prove that when all this happened.  For the first time, though, Maya starts to see real anger in the prosecutor -- not because these people dragged his good name through the mud with this set-up, but apparently because Phoenix’s blood is on their hands, and he can’t abide the thought of them getting away.  He readily gives her access to his office for the other case file (which Chief Prosecutor Skye secures for her) so that she can use it in establishing her own case.

Despite her best efforts, though, Maya simply can’t pull together enough solid evidence to prove that Miles didn’t have a hand in the crime -- and without proof of his innocence, the court intends to find him guilty.  But before the judge can hand down his verdict, the courtroom doors open, and a strident Objection! rises from the back of the room...and who should come limping up to the witness stand but Phoenix Wright himself. 

The courtroom goes absolutely wild about this. 

Understandably, the judge calls for a recess, and before the prosecution can drag him off to prep him for testimony Maya and Edgeworth at least get a minute with him.  As it turns out, Maya had forgotten her phone that morning, and Pearl grabbed it for her; just as they were called into court, though, it rang, and Pearl stayed behind to answer -- only to be shocked to hear Mister Nick’s voice on the other end, at which point she rushed off to beg Mister Scruffy Detective to take her to get the defense attorney from the hospital where he’d been for the past few days as a ‘John Doe’ (since he had no ID on him when he was brought in).  Maya is overwhelmed to see him alive, if worse for the wear, and Edgeworth…

...he can’t even find words for the feeling. 

The celebration is shortlived, though, as Phoenix is dragged off to the witness lobby in short order to prep him for testimony.  For all that the prosecution seems to believe he’ll help them, though, Nick gives them absolutely nothing, and instead confirms that he received a call from Edgeworth that evening, and while they were on the phone two strangers came into the office just before he was shot.  They dragged him down to the street and threw him in the trunk of a car, then drove to the river and threw him in; most importantly, though, he remembers one of them asking what to do with the case, and another saying they would dump it at the club where it would blend right in; police are immediately dispatched there and find a bloody trombone case (since they’d thrown it into the trunk before loading Nick in) with a rifle inside.  

The motive?  Everyone knows the Demon Prosecutor’s reputation, and they knew that they’d all go down if he tried the case on their buddy.  The enmity between prosecutors and defense attorneys is well known, though, and in particular they knew that Wright had broken Edgeworth’s old record and it had never recovered; they figured it would be easy to frame him for the murder with the right set-up.  They had a small window of opportunity while Wright and Edgeworth worked through their trial, and they used it to put all their pieces in place, expecting that Edgeworth would go down and they’d all get off when a less competent prosecutor inevitably got their friend’s case.  Clearly, though, that backfired on them: they’re all taken away, and Edgeworth is declared Not Guilty.  Cue fanfare and confetti!

...and that’s where the fallout begins. 

While Miles is taken to get things squared away with his release from detention, Phoenix is taken back to the hospital because honestly he should not have left in the first place.  The man was admitted with a collapsed lung.  It’s frankly a wonder he even managed to stand, let alone raise that objection.  His recovery takes a while, and Maya and Pearl are frequent visitors...but so is Miles, much to his surprise.  Only it’s not a good surprise for him, given what he’d been planning to say on the night he got shot.  Things feel awkward, and all the more for how Miles is acting...different.  Not like his usual self.  Phoenix doesn’t know what it is or if he likes it, but he’s too tired to complain since it’s not bothering him, and visiting hours are relatively short since the prosecutor is still working cases. 

Given what happened to him, though, the doctor recommends that Phoenix should stay with someone once he’s discharged: his condition, while improved, could deteriorate rapidly if something happens, so it’s imperative to have someone else around in case of an emergency.  Maya and Pearl are still going back and forth between the city and Kurain semi-frequently, though, and he wouldn’t want to impose on them, especially since Pearls has been thinking about attending school in the city rather than just getting her medium training...but though he doesn’t even consider Edgeworth as a possibility, the prosecutor immediately volunteers when he hears: he has more than enough vacation time accrued and the chief prosecutor hounds him regularly about needing to take some, so he can be on hand for whatever Wright might need. 

This does not, in fact, reassure Phoenix. 

It’s okay enough at first, if only because Nick is just too tired and hurts too much to think about it or care about much beyond finding a comfortable position to sleep in and figuring out how to breathe without it making his chest feel like it’s full of broken glass.  But as he starts improving, the tension slowly ratchets up, because Phoenix still doesn’t understand why Miles volunteered for this and the only possible explanations he can think of aren’t really good (most involve having him in the prosecutor’s debt, which is not what he wants).  Miles, meanwhile, isn’t aware of this tension at first...but gradually he becomes more and more aware of the silence around Phoenix.  It was understandable at first, because he was fresh out of the hospital and still recovering, but the longer it goes on the more noticeable it becomes, and he knows it means something but he doesn’t know what to do about it. 

Eventually, though, it all does come out, because Miles finally broaches the subject of his own accord by asking Phoenix what he’d been planning to say that night: he’d said he can’t do “this” anymore, but he never said what “this” is.  And even though he’s aware that nothing is likely to cme of it, Phoenix explains exactly what his problem is and has been for so long: the one-sided relationship where he’s the one doing all the work and making all the concessions and getting none of his own needs met in return.  It’s exhausting, and he can’t do it anymore.  And rather than fighting or arguing the point, Miles -- who has never had a relationship like this before -- asks what needs Phoenix has, and how can he meet them.  He concedes the point, he admits that he’s been in the wrong and needs to change, and asks for help figuring out where to start -- because he came so close this time to losing Phoenix permanently, and that realization scares him more than he can say. 

Phoenix is pretty well dumbstruck.  But he recognizes, too, that this isn’t easy for Miles.  He’s reaching out, he’s trying...and even though Nick had intended to cut his losses that night in his office before everything went so wrong, he decides to give this one last shot. 

And when Miles listens to what he says, and actively responds and adjusts...he can’t help hoping that this turnabout will end up well.