#I'm sprinkling this fic with a lovely flavour I like to call

[luv-again]

late night incoherent rambling bc I'm thinking abt my fic instead of sleeping :

reminding myself for later that shadow has a bit of an epiphany after amy admits she takes no side in the cryptic castle stage. like,, yeah shadow, there might be a little more nuance than you thought huh. there is no polarity (which he will come to realise in the very next stage) and everything is in flux

amy doesn't take sides, she's a humanitarian and shadow, through her altruism, realises perhaps he wants to do the same after it dawns on him he's done some damage in stages prior

and this is all bc amy's stance on the background battle is "its a game of two sides and idc who wins. they're both bad. I'm here to save lives"

[donovankinard]

what's up guys!!! monthly recs - some holiday-related fics and then just general fics. i've not had as much opportunity to read fic as i normally do, and i'm pretty disappointed by that, but the hecticness of the holiday season has restrained me, unfortunately. for december we've got a lot of buddie and tevan, tarlos, bathena, mateo/nancy, polyfire, saltommy and a dash of henren! happy new years<3

🎁 cheap décor and flavoured cheer || @theclaravoyant evan buckley/eddie diaz/tommy kinard || 4k When Eddie flies back to El Paso, something goes terribly wrong. A fic about hurt/comfort, nostalgia, Christmas and coming home.

🔥 thursdays child has far to go|| @kinnsporsche evan buckley/tommy kinard || 17k Tommy laughs, as much as it can be called a laugh when he can barely get the air to do it, but his breath still grazes against Buck’s lips, the ghost of what he really wants. It’s warm, and Tommy’s still looking at him, and it’s been eighteen days, and he’s baked on nearly every one of them. They’re in a crashed helicopter and Tommy’s pinned down and it’s a terrible idea and it’s been eighteen days, he’s counted every one, and- Buck kisses him.

🔥 snowflakes falling like winter butterflies || 2pretty_2die evan buckley/tommy kinard || 1.6k “Oh man, I don’t think I’ve seen snow in nearly a decade.” “I don’t think I’ve ever seen snow outside of TV and movies.”An off-handed comment made while they cuddled on the couch watching Tommy’s favorite (Christmas) movie on Netflix ended with Buck scouring the internet for a surprise for his boyfriend.

🔥 Misperception || @emphasisonthehomo evan buckley/tommy kinard || 7.2k There’s a new kid at Harbor. He’s the youngest rookie they’ve ever gotten, one of those guys that went for the academy right out of high school. He’s also gay. Flamboyantly gay. Tommy’s jealous. OR: It doesn’t occur to Tommy that he should come out.

🔥 Bulletproof || ScarsLikeVelvet evan buckley/david 'deacon' kay || 1.1k (S.W.A.T. crossover). A rain of bullets is the beginning of the end for Evan's and Eddie's time at the 118. Their professional paths divide, but they remain close all the same while making new friends.

🔥 take my hand, heal my wound || 2pretty_2die evan buckley/donovan rocker || 1.2k (S.W.A.T. crossover). Buck expected a lot when it came to a day of hanging out with Christopher. He knew they’d play some games, maybe watch a movie, go indulge in some good food—because he has definitely turned the kid into a fellow foodie—and likely spend some time out in the sun. What he did not expect to happen was to end the day cleaning gravel from his boyfriend's hands.

🔥 A quiet place || @calinaannehart athena grant/bobby nash || 2.7k Athena had given up trying to sleep somewhere around three and had settled on the couch to wait for the sunrise. It used to be her favorite time of day, the array of reds, oranges, and yellows that painted the sky over the backyard as the sun inched its way over the horizon offering a prelude to a beautiful day. Now, however, it served as nothing more than a countdown.

🔥 Sprinkles of Joy|| BatThatBites mateo chavez/nancy gillian || 2k Mateo and Nancy are tasked with making the cookies for the 126 winter party. It can’t be that hard, right? ….Right?

🔥 A Crack In The Facade || immortalje carlos reyes/tk strand || 634w Working on last bits of release paperwork, Carlos tried to process the conversation he just had with TK and the glimpse it had given him behind the facade he wore for everyone else.

🔥 my lover's body is a map || @kinnsporsche evan buckley/tommy kinard || 15.5k They're all scarred. All of them. There isn't a single person in the firehouse that's unscarred, it's just the nature of the job. But that doesn't make the process of getting them any easier to deal with. Or: the one where Buck's drawn to Tommy's scars.

🔥 voyage || miss_tessa carlos reyes/tk strand || 1.4k The night before Carlos goes to see his father, and the moments after.

🔥 love from the other side || @fallout-mars carlos reyes/tk strand || 2.4k “Baby, oh my god,” TK replies, the words rushing out. Barely realizing what he’s doing, he manages to abandon the cups on the table over the hospital bed, moving to his husband. He’s glad he has enough hindsight—or paramedic instincts—to go to his uninjured side, because his first response is to help steady Carlos. He’s fine on his feet, but TK does it anyway, just to feel helpful. “What are you doing up?” he asks as he leads Carlos back to his bed. “You really shouldn’t be up, baby. I thought I could leave you alone for five minutes without you walking around.” Carlos says nothing until he’s back in bed, groaning softly as he lies down. TK follows, hovering over him so he can fluff up the pillow Carlos puts his head on, and that’s when Carlos sighs.

🔥 Campbell’s Soup for the Soon-to-Be Ranger Daddy’s Soul || cyrusbreeze carlos reyes/tk strand || 3.7k Carlos reflects on the possibility of raising Jonah with TK. Ranger Campbell and his family offer a surprising amount of clarity.

🔥 We can make it out (right?) || BatThatBites mateo chavez/nancy gillian || 2.7k Nancy didn’t expect to have her hands sticky with her boyfriend’s blood. Mateo didn’t expect to be bleeding out in a warehouse fire. They both didn’t expect an asteroid to be hurtling towards Austin

🔥 looking forward to the future || @fallout-mars carlos reyes/tk strand || 1.5k Glancing over his shoulder, he looks into the empty backseat of their truck. He stretches a little, careful not to strain himself or his stitches, then gestures behind him with one hand. “You think we’ll be able to get a car seat in here?” Meeting TK’s eye, he gets a blank stare in return. “What?” “A car seat,” Carlos repeats. “It’s good we ended up with this. There’s no way we’d fit one in the Camaro. In fact, we’d be violating multiple traffic offences if we did.”

🔥 you can breathe now || @decafdino carlos reyes/tk strand || 1.7k He gets the call while he's at work, because of course he does. Of course the universe decides that something terrible is going to happen in the middle of a shift. Well, fuck the universe. That's TK's philosophy.

🔥 I can't explain what's up with me today || @neversleepuntilfive carlos reyes/tk strand || 1.3k "Hey baby, are you okay?” TK quietly asks his boyfriend, who is sitting on their couch with his head slumped against the armrest. He just came home from his long shift. Carlos doesn’t answer him immediately, contemplating if he can gather his strength and push through it so TK isn’t worried. The truth is the day was horrible. He doesn’t even know why. Carlos usually gets up with the sun. But today, he doesn't. He's feeling terrible and can't think of a reason why. There is no reason as far as he is concerned.

🔥 Not your fault but mine || Liv_lily carlos reyes/tk strand || 13k TK stood just outside the recovery room they’d wheeled Carlos into, leaning heavily against the wall. There’d been a never-ending stream of medical professionals going in and out since the surgeon had let them know that everything went well, that a full recovery could be expected with time. He squeezes shaking hands into fists and tries to control his breathing, tries to stop the weight on his chest from collapsing in. He feels shaky and nauseous, panic crawling up his spine. Deep breaths, four count in through your nose. Hold four counts. Four count out your through your mouth. He tries to match his breathing to the slow beeping of the vital signs monitor, tries to take comfort in the steady rhythm. He should go into the room.

🔥 in our reflections of one another (we will start something new) || cyrusbreeze carlos reyes/tk strand || 212k (SERIES). Four years before the events of the pilot, Carlos and TK met in a bar in New York City. Their intense one night stand resulted in more than just a lasting impression. When TK arrives in Austin, both Carlos’ and TK’s worlds are rocked to their core and the impact of their night together has ripples that will last for the rest of their lives.

🔥 I am sorry for your loss || carlando_addict carlos reyes/tk strand || 2.3k TK dies and Carlos tries to process what his future will look like without the love of his life.

🔥 Faithless Plea || lonechronicles evan buckley/eddie diaz || 8.2k “I have done everything I was supposed to and still my life has fallen apart, and been ripped to shreds. I, I don’t know how much more I have left in me. You have taken everything from me. You can not have him too. You can’t take him away from me too. Please, please, don’t take him away too. Give Buck back to me because I cannot survive this, I cannot survive anything without him.” His voice was loud, not yelling, but loud enough that if someone had come outside they’d hear a voice. “I don’t even know if I believe in you but here I am, asking, begging, praying, a faithless plea if you will, just, please. Please, for the love of everything that you stand for, bring him back to me. I don’t survive this if he doesn’t make it.”

🔥 Him || lonechronicles evan buckley/eddie diaz || 5k He’s trapped in his head. The lyrics eating at him from every corner of his being. Religion and God and the sins of loving another man, the story vivid in his mind. A man raised on faith, feeling lost and disconnected. Trying to find himself, to understand himself, while feeling like that removes him from everything he's been taught to believe in. Feeling like connecting to himself will rip him away from everything that he knows, alienates him from his family, leaves him heartbroken and alone. So he hides. Hides himself, shelves his feelings and pushes through with what he’s meant to do. There’s a path perfectly laid out for him and it’s safer to follow it. It’s easier. He loses himself but everything else in his life stays intact, and that might just be enough. At least it is for a while.

🔥 you will get a sentimental feeling when you hear voices singing || @smilingbuckley evan buckley/eddie diaz || 2k Buck mopes, has a conversation with Bobby, and goes to a charity event.

🔥 a wolf without a foot || @screamlet evan buckley/tommy kinard || 34k Tommy wants to find his way back to Buck, but he has to find a way through himself first.

🔥 They Can't Take That Away From Me || @rdng1230 evan buckley/tommy kinard || 3.5k Tommy dabs the corners of his mouth with a napkin and gets up from the table, going over to the record player. “Is it wrong that I kinda like that there’s these gaps in your musical knowledge?” Tommy sighs, slipping a record out of the sleeve and placing it on the turn table. “You teach me so much, it’s nice to be able to show you things too. Makes me feel like I’m listening to things for the first time.” Buck feels his heart swell three sizes. He still feels like Tommy’s the one instructing him most of the time. And here comes his boyfriend calling him the teacher. He has a sneaking suspicion his love for this man will never stop growing.

🔥 Shafted || @sunnywithachanceofbi sal deluca/tommy kinard || 6.1k When the 118 are called to rescue a group of employees trapped in an elevator shaft, the power goes out again mid-rescue, leading one of the crew to get hurt.

🔥 100 Days of Henren || @theclaravoyant hen wilson/karen wilson || 4k (ongoing drabble collection). A series of 118-word drabbles centred on Hen, Karen and/or both. Written for 118dailydrabbles hiatus challenge.

🔥 Frost & Found || @sunnywithachanceofbi evan buckley/tommy kinard || 13k Two years after losing his husband (Sal), Tommy magically brings a handsome snowman (Buck) to life! Through his naïveté, the snowman helps Tommy to laugh, feel and love again, as the two fall for each other just in time for the holidays...and before he melts. ☃️

🔥 proof of god in your soup || cardiacsweetheart evan buckley/eddie diaz || 13.5k “God, we’re too old for this.” “What, love confessions?” Buck asks, just to be annoying. Eddie glares at him. “Not what I meant, but sure.” Or: Buck thinks he was born to be left behind. Eddie proves him wrong.

🔥 sell your fear and leave me standing here || @redgoldblue evan buckley/tommy kinard || 12.8k Buck bakes, has sex, and goes to gay bingo. Tommy wallows, gets told off, and wallows some more. Eventually, they kiss again.

🔥 The "Tommy Writes Hotshots Fanfic" Series || @herrmannhalsteadproduction evan buckley/tommy kinard || 7.7k Tommy gets sucked into the Hotshots fandom. (It's Karen and Maddie's fault.)

🔥 Chasing Fires || @thatmexisaurusrex evan buckley/tommy kinard || 150k 24-year-old Tommy Kinard meets 19-year-old Evan Buckley as Evan tries to steal food at a grocery store. Tommy decides to let Evan crash at his place until Evan figures out what his next steps are, giving Evan the same help someone had given Tommy when he had been kicked out of his house years ago.

🔥 our secret moments in a crowded room (they've got no idea about me and you) || @speaknowbuckley evan buckley/eddie diaz || 13.3k Professional Baseball Player Eddie Diaz and Professional Football Player Evan "Buck" Buckley have been married for the past six years, not that anyone outside of their close circle of friends and family knows that. But after they're photographed together and the internet starts going wild with sleuthing and conspiracy theories about their relationship, they're forced to consider whether or not the time may be right to come out publicly.

🔥 comeback of the year || @ambernotember evan buckley/tommy kinard || 5.1k Casey distracted him with stories of baby eagles and a dispensary hostage situation while Tommy drank his whiskey and worked his way towards telling Casey what had happened with Evan.

🔥 with a little help from your (best) friend || @exhaustedpirate evan buckley/tommy kinard || 1.9k “Why aren’t you wearing pants?” (or, what happened after buck and eddie sat down the couch)

STATS: # of fics: 35 # of authors: 30 # of words read: 575k

[stellar-skyy]

SUGGESTED READING - ♡

NOTES: this is an ongoing list of some of my favourite works by my mutuals! there were many i wanted to include (because everyone is so talented omg) but i didn't want this list to be too long.

some of these writers have moved, but i have tagged their latest blog. if you wish to not be included here for whatever reason, let me know and i will remove you.

the blood of the covenant. — @romaritimeharbor ⤷ notes: addi's writing style will never fail to amaze me. every word of this had me giggling and kicking my feet, and reading it felt like a warm cup of tea. i adore the way the siblings are written, this is just so fluffy and lovely with a sprinkle of hurt/comfort for flavour. i love you endlessly! — @thexianzhoujade ⤷ notes: absolutely hearbreaking. this broke me. i have never emotionally recovered from this. written absolutely beautifully, in the most shattering way possible. will he change his mind about you? — @june-again ⤷ notes: this hit me right where it hurts, because i could see myself: desperately clinging to someone while quietly wondering when it was going to end. it honestly almost made me cry when i read it, because i remember when i was at a point in my life where i needed to hear those words and reading this felt like it healed something in me. 1989 - a blog event. — @aventurne ⤷ notes: to celebrate 1989 (tv) we were treated to a fic every day for almost a month from the lovely meisha! i was rereading them to pick one or two for this list, but i couldn't make up my mind so putting the event itselfl! my favourites are suburban legends, wildest dreams, and wonderland. the beautiful implications of kaveh’s missing hairbrush. — @june-again ⤷ notes: such a simple concept, but it is so sweet. i absolutely adore the way this is written, it's so comforting. absence. — @romaritimeharbor ⤷ notes: 10/10 kills me every time. the kaveh!dad au has a special place in my heart, but this fic especially. [name]'s grief is so painful to read, but seeing alhaitham comfort them... it's the best kind of hurt/comfort, where nothing really is okay anymore but you have each other. curtain call. — @rainswept ⤷ notes: my favourite lyney fic from THE lyney writer of all time. and this one. this one is my favourite out of your lyney fics. there's something so foreboding about it, every word feels closer to doom: to the curtain call, as it is titled. i'm never gonna have enough words that describe how well you write characters so i am just going to leave it at oh my god this was amazing. dancing with the fontainians. — @nervocat ⤷ notes: ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE. dancing. fontaine characters. i don't need to explain myself, you had me at dancing. this is very cute and fluffy. the art of war. — @ryuryuryuyurboat ⤷ notes: the first fic i read from the lovely miss yukari! i love this so much, cafe aus are a guilty pleasure of mine and this one was so fun. i'm still giggling at the idea of kokomi just blue-screening after getting asked out.

[owl-at-home-28]

Just watched a c-drama

League of Nobel men

It was interesting! Plot was plotting , there were a few wholes and parts where the show kinda left things hanging , it made a little habit of brushing things under the rug

The thing that stood out though was the autistic representation, and I have not read the novel ( since it's in Chinese haven't learned that yet ) so I'm not sure if that was intentional or just accidental

Regardless that character was as undiagnosed adult autistic with a parent who didn't understand the different behavior and way of thinking but accepted and loved regardless as one could get , times when I would get frustrated by the character and feel called out was definitely something I didn't expect from it !

That's not to say there aren't several accidental representations we saw it with the untamed in the way I'm hundred percent positive the ML wei wuxian had ADHD with sprinkles of other things besides the obvious PTSD .

Oh if you thought autism was the only accidental representation in this series you'd be wrong , we see some others including the other ml and antagonist, though I'm not sure what flavour of neurodiverse they are , I reason why I believe they are neuro diverse and not just well standard loosing your mind is because the show was weirdly specific about it

The experience and thought process laid out in front was far from what I have come to understand a neuro typical one ,

On that note would love to know more about it if someone is willing to tell me.

Ahhh forgot mention some important aspects of the show

Definitely case fic we have mystery, a very single minded detective who doesn't for the life of him understand the power by birth system (same) of the capital , and his team? of very poly shippable other people.

Definitely has subtexts , I really enjoyed the poly vibe they tend to give off at times . It's got mystery and some parts I was hooked . It is a good short watch .

I would like to write more but my brain is very foggy write now , so I'll leave the discussion for later !

Tag me if there's more post about this show or story would like know more about the plot and everything

[the-ninja-legacy-whip]

Hello, love your work btw, it's tied with another fic series for the number one slot of best fics I have ever read, anyway what are your headcanons on what flavour of ice creams the ninja+ your ocs would like, and what are their reactions to the Dairy Dragon? Do they love it, hate it, or meh about the fact that the flavours are named after their villains? Do they even like the ice cream in the first place? How traumatised is Lloyd, post s5 after they name an ice cream flavour, 'the mango morro'. What are Jay's and Nya's reactions when they find out the flavour 'Bananakan' exist? Are the sprinkles and toppings named after the ninja then? Also wouldn't it be funny that while the rest of ninjago gets destroyed by a villain (for the umpteenth time), the Dairy Dragon still stands cuz its that good even the villains love it? Anyway, have a great day/night.

Well thank you!!! I'm honored to share such a flattering title!! :'3

But now, what we all came here for...ICE CREAM THOUGHTS GO

Kai: Is not a huge ice cream guy but will still eat it when the opportunities arises. Pretty meh about the Dairy Dragon; all ice cream places are the same to him. Is a little wary about the villain flavors and generally avoids them. Likes lemon + berry flavors primarily, but will try something wild like a chilli pepper flavor or a spiced chocolate and wind up utterly addicted. Has a topping called "Kai Krunch".

Jay: Loves ice cream, but likes Ice Planet more than Dairy Dragon. Flipped his shit upon seeing the Bananakhan flavor (especially because Skybound events aren't erased this time around ahahaaaaa), but is also amused by the fact it's a banana-flavor. He likes ice cream that has "Stuff" in it, like cookie dough, brownie pieces, fruit bits, peanut butter bites, cheesecake pieces, candy crunches, pop rocks, etc, etc. It's about the texture for him (...and he tends to get Kai Krunch loaded on top of everything, but don't tell Kai that)

Cole: Love ices cream, indifferent on Dairy Dragon. Amused by the villain flavors and thinks there should be more, but will not say that to anyone's face. Like sorbets and sherbets the most as he had those for dessert a lot while growing up, but otherwise isn't all that picky. Has a flavor called "Cole's Rocky Road", which is just Rocky Road, but it's very popular Jesse buys it by the carton

Zane: Indifferent on Ice Cream and Dairy Dragon; much prefers ice pops as a frozen treat. He does make a habit of tasting the villain flavors just to see if they're accurate lmao. Has no real partiality to any flavor, but makes Ninjapolitan his go-to, since its four flavors are based on him and the Core Four (which is cherry, (blue) raspberry, blackberry, and french vanilla).

Nya: Likes ice cream, liked Dairy Dragon until Bananakhan became a flavor (she was always more of an Ice Planet gal anyway), aaand is a huge chocolate ice cream junkie. The "Nya Special" is literally chocolate ice cream filled with chocolate brownies filled with fudge and covered in chocolate syrup and fudge sprinkles, and just looking at it is enough to put even Lloyd into a sugar coma.

Lloyd: Loves ice cream and Dairy Dragon, but is the vanilla fan. "You can make vanilla into any other flavor, but you can't make any other flavor into vanilla, and plus vanilla is always good by itself", is his motto. Hates the villain flavors and is especially put off by Mango Morro and is a little bitter about how popular it is snksnknsnk. "Spinjitzu Swirl" is actually a flavor based on Lloyd specifically, which is essentially a green-colored cake batter flavor with frosting (...which exists and I have had it. It is to die for).

Jesse: Prefers frozen yogurt to ice cream, not that he won't eat ice cream. Likes mystery flavors or not knowing what he's going to get, because he likes being surprised (in this specific instance lol), and finds the villain flavors to be a bit distasteful. Also really enjoys Ninjapolitan and Spinjitzu Swirl. Lowkey slips in some suggestions for a "Fruity Fuchsia" flavor. The time will come, he's sure of it.

Antonia: Ice cream is like her favorite treat ever, but doesn't even discover Dairy Dragon until way later on and kicks herself for it. Doesn't mind the villain flavors, but thinks they could be more creatively named. Is a Buttered Pecan kind of gal, but otherwise just gets whatever she's in the mood for. Is also a strong advocate for making "Fruity Fuchsia" a thing, but for different reasons.

Harumi: Used to like ice cream a whole lot, but the novelty wears off over time. Will still go to the Dairy Dragon if Antonia's egging her on about it. Likes strawberry the most, sometimes shares in Kai's penchant for spicier flavors...but is also unfortunately a huge fan of Spinjitzu Swirl and Ninjapolitan (she tried the latter out of spite) and there's literally nothing else like it in the world so she has to get that specifically if she wants to indulge RIP. Would also actively boycott Fruity Fuchsia if it existed hgdhsfhfs

Miranda: Not crazy about ice cream but certainly isn't going to turn it down either, especially if it's from Dairy Dragon (which Nelson gets her hooked on). Surprisingly has simple flavor preference, as her go-tos are mint chocolate chip and cookies & cream. Also has a whole list of idea for future villain flavors that they could and should use (such as Time Twin Tropicana, Pythor Punch, Mechanic Marble, Overlord Overload, and a Garmadon popsicle with gumball eyes)

Olivia: Might be contradicting something I said previously but she tends to avoid ice cream—the cold is really sensitive on her teeth. She can force herself to eat it but it's not usually a good experience. She does, however, like chocolate-flavor almost as much as Nya does, and can manage some salted-caramel flavor on occasion as well. Attempts to destroy the Dairy Dragon once or twice just to figure out how it manages to stay standing throughout everything lmao

Pixal: Does not like ice cream at all, but can be encouraged to at least try a bite or two, but will never go overboard with it. Therefore, indifferent to Dairy Dragon. Can stomach some vanilla on occasion, but like Zane, would probably go for a fruity ice pop first.

Skylor: Has not really had the chance to indulge in ice cream until getting off the island, and then the Dairy Dragon winds up becoming one of her favorite spots. As with her drink preferences, like a lot of the more tropical flavors (pineapple, coconut, dragonfruit, etc) and finds things like chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry a bit bland. She can get behind citrus flavors, however. Really hopes they don't make a flavor out of her dad—she's already got enough bad publicity to deal with.

Bridget: An Ice cream hater, somehow even more than Pixal.

Sunni: Is lactose-intolerant and probably shouldn't even be eating ice cream but that's not going to stop her from indulging in Ninjapolitan or Spinjitzu Swirl snksnksnksn. Would also probably die if she attempted to eat the "Nya Special", and very loudly attempts to boycott Bananakhan (with reluctant help from Samantha).

Harleigh: Not a big ice cream fan herself, but is lowkey waiting for them to make an ice cream flavor out of Ronin (for better or worse)

[pedroalonso]

Do you have berlermo fic recommendations?

A lot, actually! I'm usually such a lazy ass, so I'm just going to list down my absolute fucking fave authors ever, because I am extremely confident whatever fic of theirs you decide to click and read will undoubtedly be a good one. However, I will list down some of my personal favorites among their writing so you know where to start!

Also please leave kudos and comments if you liked their work. It would mean so much. Even if you just do a "KDHJSDJAGJ I love it!" keyboard smash like I usually do. lmao. Anyway:

givebackmylifecas (Ellen) - Ellen is one of the most, if not THEE most prolific writer in the Berlermo fandom. She has a record of a whopping 58 fics in total for the two evil bastards, and was one of the few people who kept providing fanfic content during the great Berlermo drought of 2020. An absolute legend. A fantastic writer. All her fics are "mwah, chef's kiss* and I'm happy to call her my wifey.

Recommended works: Yucatan AU, Daemon AU, Divorced AU, Andrés Getting Punched AU (5+1), Hallucination AU, Another 5+1 Fic where people assume they are dating, THIS absolute RIDE of an AU, Berlin the Cat AU, Amnesia AU

shotgun_cake (Shotgun) - QUEEN OF SMUT, and no one will refute me for this. Because anyone who has ever read Shotgun's writing will agree with me. Perfect blend off fluff, smut, and just enough sprinkling of angst to tug on your heartstrings and make you yearn.

Recommended works: Flavours of Lust Series, The Knight Fic, Wedding AU, Lawyers AU (still a WIP! but worth the read anyway), Sugar Daddy AU, One of the First Berlermo Smuts ever written and my GOD is it still good, Spin the Bottle AU

boom_slap (Boom) - QUEEN OF ANGST, and again, no one will challenge this claim because anyone who has ever read Boom’s fics will know what I’m talking about. Every single sentence she writes just evokes a very sharp pang of pain, but in a really good cathartic way that really captures the essence of Berlermo as a whole.

Recommended works: Unlikely Alliances (which is actually the fluffiest shit ever and an absolute masterpiece of an AU, but still has great angst I love Boomer for), really really amazing hurt/comfort fic that makes me cry, another really amazing hurt./comfort fic that makes me bawl my eyes out,  Andrés overdoes it with the dirty talk AU that has great hurt/comfot and makes me weep like a baby, really painful but beautiful hurt/comfort Attempted Suicide AU that reduces me to a puddle of tears, Short Studies in Pleasure series,  Berlermo Sick Fic,  Andrés’s wonderful journey through discovering his sexuality and spoiler alert! He bottoms in the end but it’s masterfully and carefully written so Bottom!Berlin Antis, give it a go you cowards!

phcbosz (Mav) - Mav’s a goddamn talented writer and he writes some of the best hurt/comfort fics out there too. And they’re heartbreaking and sad, but it also feels warm. Like you’re being hugged, like you’re being understood. 

Recommended works: MY COMFORT ANGST FIC,  Andrés falls in love FIRST AU, Bittersweet Fic About Andrés’s Illness, Trans!Martín AU, Cuddling for Warmth AU

marirable (Marie) - Marie is also like lowkey highkey an emotional terrorist and her works are incredibly underrated which is an injustice!!! So here I am trying to make up for that so please give this woman some love right now.

Recommended works: Marie has 5 fics so literally I recommend all of them thank you, but I would start with her first fic: the Soulmate/Soulmark AU

dashwood

Recommended works: Single Parents AU, Faculty AU, In Vino Veritas, Multiverse AU

masterofgallifrey

Recommended works: Soulmates No Backstory AU where Berlin meets Martín in the Mint,  Delicious Dubcon Criminal VS Spy AU, THIS PAINFEST

Some of these authors I’ve only read a few works of but I think they deserve some mention anyway! These are the works of theirs I like:

veterveter: stay awhile, rat king

rainbowcat: put on your war paint, just to follow the siren

sherwoodfox: Flowers for Bellerophon 

Names in bold are obviously my friends! Who I become friends with because I read their fics and hunted them down lmao. Also, huge disclaimer! This is my personal opinion. Fics are subjective so these are the ones that work for me, because I’m actually very particular with dynamics and characterization. And I think these fics manage to really capture Andrés and Martín’s personalities and relationship perfectly and also maintain a respect for the source material, which I know is hard to do, so I admire them greatly. Thanks for sharing your works!

If any of my mates have suggestions too, feel free to add them all here y’all: @hefellfordean @shotgun-cake @boom-slap @marirable

[marypsue]

💻? I love hearing about other people's weird fic research.

Gotta admit that I am not the world's most diligent researcher, especially when it comes to fic - I'm big on 'write what you know and use Wikipedia to supplement what you forgot'. But I actually did end up looking up a number of things for the road goes ever on, to try to accurately capture that good good eighties flavour! Off the top of my head, I went down a real rabbit hole about phreaking, and relatedly, long-distance calling charges and the breakup of AT&T. And I made a valiant effort to find out when, exactly, the Batcave closed (which I'm sure you particularly will get a chortle out of, and which I did not realise, upon setting out, was such a Thing). Most of these things ended up being, like, one line of dialogue or a sprinkling of flavour in the narrative, but I feel like they helped round out the world.

[rivalsforlife]

oooo i'm sorry but one more scene for commentary if youre up to it: maya and phoenix talking in chapter 6?

Of course, no need to apologize!! Once more, keeping this under a “keep reading”:

Around noon, his apartment intercom buzzed. “Nick, it’s Maya! Let me up.”

Maya? What was she even doing here? Maya never visited him out of the blue anymore… Whatever. She’d probably think he was at his office. She’d go away soon.

There was another buzz. “Nick! I know you’re in there! I called your office, you know!”

Kids these days. Selling out their bosses that easily… Maybe he should cut Athena’s salary. Nah, he wasn’t Edgeworth. … Edgeworth.

“don’t think about Edgeworth don’t think about Edgeworth -- ah damn it”

“Nick! Hello! Nick!”

She had to give up eventually, right? Whatever she was here for, someone else could help her…

“Security’s coming after me, if they arrest me you’re gonna have to defend me, you know, do you want that? I’m not even gonna try to pay you for it since it’s gonna be your fault —”

Ugh.

Phoenix stumbled out of bed and buzzed her in. “Fine. Come up.”

“Thank you!” she chirped in a sing-songy voice. “Hey, you heard him, let me go…”

Maya’s Obnoxious Little Sister Energy is eternal. Her next strategy was to break from the guards and dash as far as she could go trying to break her way into Phoenix’s apartment which... wouldn’t have ended well haha.

Also! Like I mentioned in the previous ask, a lot of this fic was just Phoenix’s Relationship Issues, and the way I characterized him in this fic was a lot of... he needs to have people around or he kind of falls apart, and his history of having people around was that these people needed him in some way -- Maya after she was accused of murder and then hanging around for Mia’s sake, Trucy being abandoned and needing looking after, even Miles to an extent needing to be saved from his corrupt ways and the von Karma influence -- and now that they’re all growing up and don’t need him anymore he thinks they’re going to abandon him.

That’s a long-winded way of referring to that one sentence of “Whatever she was here for, someone else could help her”

Also... I don’t live in an apartment and haven’t visited many apartments? So I’m not totally sure how the whole buzzing someone in process works. no one’s called me out on it though so I guess I’m okay.

Phoenix sighed and wondered if he should make himself look presentable. There probably wasn’t enough time. Maya wouldn’t notice that he hadn’t changed his clothes for two days, right?

She probably would. But he couldn’t do anything about it, as just then there was a knock on the door. Figuring he should appease her so she wouldn’t give security anymore trouble, he reluctantly let her in.

Indeed, there was Maya, looking cheery as ever. “Hey, dude. What’s going on with you?”

“Nothing,” said Phoenix, and in response to Maya’s raised eyebrow as she took in his appearance, “Just not feeling well. Why’re you here, Maya? I thought you were busy up at the village.”

passive-aggressive “oh aren’t you supposed to be busy?” from Phoenix here...

One of the other major changes I made to this fic in the editing process was cutting out a LOT of Maya content. I really love her and wanted her to be here more, but to properly go through the Phoenix Characterization Study I had to make it seem like she wasn’t around as much so that Phoenix would feel more lonely. again, sorry, Phoenix... but like originally she came down for the picnic in chapter 3 and was around at the beginning of chapter 4, so it would be SO WEIRD if she showed up in every single chapter except for chapter 5 and then Phoenix accuses her here of being too busy to hang out with him. She was there all the time! So I only had her show up for the wedding and added in a few more lines alluding to her not being here as much as she used to in trilogy days.

“I am,” she admitted, pushing her way into his apartment. “But your daughter called me yesterday morning and said that if you didn’t call, I should check in on you. So. Here I am. And I know you’re not just sick.”

Kids these days indeed! Like Phoenix didn’t feel bad enough, his own daughter had to go and parent him. “Look, Maya, everything’s fine. I’m sorry Trucy made you think something was wrong.”

One writing tip I got and I’ve been working on implementing is like... trying to have a general idea of what every character is up to when they’re not “on screen”, so to speak. Even then, what they’re thinking about when they’re not the POV focus. So basically after the call with Trucy just prior to this scene, she immediately decided to call Maya (because she could tell something was Off with her dad and Miles, given his reaction when she mentioned his name,) and then told her to check up on him because he really scared her during that phone call... though she wouldn’t admit it. She basically saw it as a hint of returning to a sort of... disbarment-era depression, which she didn’t want, so she wanted to make sure someone could check in on him as soon as he could since she couldn’t.

Also another small aspect of Phoenix characterization (that’s going to be like 99% of my commentary about this fic I’m sorry) is that the way he deals best with depression is like... being around people, and doing things with people. It’s obviously not a method that works for everyone, but it keeps him from dwelling on things and kind of gives him a purpose, helps him feel like he’s needed. Mostly got this headcanon from RFTA where he says he was unable to take on any cases when Maya was gone until Ema showed up... and then even at the beginning of 2-2 he does seem pretty down. Trucy kind of knows some of this since she was the main thing keeping him together during disbarment era, at least enough to know that when Phoenix is depressed he’ll do much better if he’s got someone he cares about around.

Anyways, Trucy probably told Maya just to call in, because she knows her aunt is busy and part of the reason Maya hasn’t been around much is because she’s stuck with all sorts of Master responsibilities at Kurain, but Maya herself wanted to come down and check on Phoenix in person because she knows how he can get and if it was enough to worry Trucy, then she was pretty worried too.

Maya planted her hands on her hips. “No way, mister. I did not take a two hour train ride down here for you to tell me everything’s fine. Do you know how difficult it was to get permission to leave?! I had to pull the old ‘I need to visit my boyfriend’ card for them to let me go!”

Phoenix groaned, despite himself. “Have they still not caught on about that?”

“Their desperation for an heir has blinded them to common sense. They made me drink some disgusting fertility tea before I left, so you really owe me one.” She lowered her hands and sighed. “Look, Nick, I know something’s up. So talk to me. Please.”

I took a few liberties to sprinkle in my Kurain headcanons in here... which I’ve rambled about more in depth elsewhere, so I won’t go into too much detail, but basically: hereditary spiritual power leads to a lot of pressure on people who have said hereditary spiritual power to reproduce so they can pass it on to the next generation. Particularly with Maya (and Pearls to some extent though I believe Maya would willingly take the heat on it) since the two of them are the only remaining spirit channelers of the Kurain technique. And since it took Maya a really long time to become the Master officially (I don’t buy the idea that she wasn’t skilled enough by the end of T&T, my headcanon is the Master training process involves two years in Khura’in but she put that off until Phoenix was in the clear regarding Kristoph stuff) they probably don’t want her leaving the village to “goof off” unless she’s doing it to produce an heir. her biological clock is ticking! haha! (... ugh.)

And this kind of leads to -- in the elaborate backstory of this fic that I can only touch on through DVD commentaries which is like half the reason I do these things -- Maya and Phoenix agreeing that if Maya needs to get out of the village but whoever the other people in the village are start putting pressure on her, she can say she’s “visiting her boyfriend” who they think is Phoenix but really isn’t... and I guess they assume they’re getting up to heir-making activities but oh darn! didn’t work this time! guess I’ll have to go again next week! (obviously they’re just out getting burgers or something.) 

Hence people in the village pushing fertility tea on her because they think the problem is that she’s not getting pregnant... although they’re kind of misunderstanding the reason why she’s not getting pregnant... because no amount of fertility tea in the world will lead to a spontaneous pregnancy without other activities first. which aren’t happening. I feel like I need to clarify this multiple times just in case someone misunderstands.

Pearls both knows about this agreement and knows that Phoenix and Maya aren’t actually dating because she’s like nineteen now? She’s probably known for years, she never brings it up during DD and SOJ.

“I won’t go into much detail” oops. I’m so sorry.

Phoenix didn’t say anything.

Maya took him by the arm and guided him to the couch, plopping him down none-too-gently before sitting next to him. “You can trust me, right?” she asked. “You’re my best friend. I’m here for you, even if you did something really stupid.”

Phoenix laughed a bit. “Yeah… I did something really stupid.”

“Okay. Tell me.”

Phoenix buried his face in his hands with a sigh, then rolled his head to peek through his fingers at Maya. She looked — angry, sure, he wasn’t exactly being the most cooperative of people right now, but — open. Prepared. Like she was actually going to listen.

I know that SOJ called Miles Phoenix’s best friend, which don’t get me wrong I absolutely loved, but I do wish Maya was ALSO considered Phoenix’s best friend if not one of his closest friends, because they’re so obviously best friends. They’re a different flavour of best friends than Phoenix and Miles, because Phoenix and Miles are the “it’s complicated and there are secret romantic feelings possibly but we trust each other unconditionally” best friends, Phoenix and Maya have a twenty-five step secret handshake they have to execute every time upon meeting.

But of course that doesn’t mean they can’t be serious, Maya is absolutely here for her dumb best friend

“It’s…” He sighed, again. “Have you ever — have you ever wanted something for a really long time, but — but you never thought you’d get it, and then you have this chance, and you just… panic?”

Maya nodded solemnly. “Steel Samurai movie premiere tickets. I won a raffle, but I forgot I signed up for them and thought it was a hoax, and didn’t get to accept them before the deadline. The bad Wi-Fi didn’t help, either.”

“But that doesn’t mean they can’t be serious” um

The one constant among all the ace attorney main characters is that NONE OF THEM WANT TO TALK ABOUT THEIR FEELINGS EVER

Also I struggled a lot with this fic trying to figure out... exactly what was going on in Phoenix’s head, and how he would interpret what was going on in his head. I kept changing opinions all the time and it was so off before I did editing haha. Even this line is still a little weird with the “Have you ever wanted something for a really long time” because he probably shouldn’t be aware that he has wanted this for a long time. ... I’m going to stop pointing out the flaws in my own fic now--

At Phoenix’s glare, she added, “I’m just kidding. Thought I’d lighten the mood a bit. Is this about Edgeworth?”

“What makes you think that?”

“‘Cause when is it not about Edgeworth with you,” asked Maya, cutting straight to the heart of things, as always. “Did he ask you out?”

“Not even that.” Phoenix turned his gaze to the floor, ashamed. “He said he loved me. I… I told him I didn’t feel the same.”

Maya was silent for a moment. Phoenix didn’t dare look at her. “Do you?”

“I like being around him,” said Phoenix. “I like seeing him smile, and laugh, and — and he makes me happy.”

What he wouldn’t give to see Edgeworth smile and laugh at him again.

“Not what I asked, dude.”

“Nick’s being really broody again it’s GOTTA be Edgeworth...”

Anyways that second-to-last line there is sticking out at me and I’m pretty sure it’s one I wavered back and forth on deleting before deciding to keep. ... at least I think I kept it? I’m taking these from google docs so there might be a few tiny changes from the ao3 version but I don’t think there’s anything too major I changed while doing last-minute edits.

Again we run into the problem of Phoenix Is Incapable Of Admitting He’s In Love With Miles -- which is the whole psyche-locks thing that pops up in the scene after this. The psyche-locks were also a pretty last-minute addition plot-wise... I think this fic was the most I deviated from my outline, but I was pretty rushed for time so I didn’t do as much planning as I normally would.

Hm I think there’s another ask where I can talk more about the psyche-locks? I’ll talk a bit here because I put a lot of thought into it. Basically I ran with the idea of black psyche-locks hiding something even the owner isn’t aware of, and that those psyche-locks are (typically? who knows about Kristoph) inflicted through traumatic events. Phoenix has three because I came up with three main Issues he had to work through, but some of them kind of blend together... two of them came up through specific traumatic events (Phoenix guesses them in chapter 8) and another one is just general overall trauma. if no one brings up the particular scenes by the time I get to that other ask, I’ll talk more about them, but basically there are three locks from three separate traumas and three occasions where they break -- someone guessed one of the breaking scenes on the narumitsu discord, but no one’s brought up the other two yet! 

Long-winded way of saying that the psyche-locks are the reason that Phoenix can’t admit that he’s in love with Miles yet... and it’s kind of a cheap fantasy visualization of the trauma, basically? Maybe not the most elegant way of addressing it, but I never claimed to be writing for a series which addresses issues elegantly.

“But — but can you even imagine it?” Phoenix demanded, raising his head to gesture fully at the ridiculousness of it all. “Me and Edgeworth?”

“Yeah,” said Maya, simply. “It’s not that hard, really.”

Phoenix had no response.

“You two balance each other out well, and you trust each other, and you both care a ton about each other,” Maya elaborated. “If you love him, what’s the problem?”

oh Phoenix you have no idea. you and Miles are so easy to imagine together that you’re the number one pairing on ace attorney ao3 by a longshot.

Also one thing I kind of wanted to avoid was less of the... “you and Miles are PERFECT for each other how do you not SEE this” thing. nothing against the trope, of course! Just the whole concept of people shipping their friends intensely is something I’m not super familiar with and tbh would make me pretty uncomfortable...? It’s sort of the deal with rpf. Of course this is fanfiction with fictional characters but from an in-universe perspective...

So Maya’s taking the approach of more “Yeah, I can see you and Edgeworth as a couple, I think you’d work well together” rather than “you two are SO perfect together and I’ve been shipping you since 2016!!” because while that may be what Maya is THINKING it’s definitely not what Phoenix needs to hear right now.

“It just… seems like a recipe for disaster. I wouldn’t even know how to… like, this isn’t my first time feeling like this, but when I think about us, me and Edgeworth, it’s…” Why couldn’t he find the right words? “It’s too much.”

Maya brought a hand to her chin and tilted her head thoughtfully. “So — tell me if I’ve got this right — you like Edgeworth too, but for some reason, when he confessed to you, you panicked and you don’t know why.”

“I guess…” Phoenix returned his face to the comforting darkness of his hands. “I don’t know what it is. I-I shouldn’t have a problem, right? But the thought of a-actually admitting that I… or being in a relationship, it feels like I’m standing at the edge of a cliff and am about to fall off.”

Maya was silent for a long time. Phoenix just hoped that whatever she said next, it would somehow magically fix all his problems.

Instead, she said the most ridiculous thing Phoenix could possibly imagine. “Maybe you have trust issues?”

It certainly lightened the mood. Phoenix threw his head back and laughed harder than he had in a long time.

Phoenix is a very trusting person, absolutely, but you can’t tell me this man walked out of the Dahlia Debacle without quite a few romance-related issues. It’s kind of a weird sort of contradiction... 

“No, I’m serious,” she persisted, through his laughter.

“What are you talking about, Maya?” Phoenix managed to get out, once he had that fit of mirth under control. “There’s no way I have trust issues. My whole thing is trusting people and believing in people until the end, you know?”

“Yeah, I know. But trusting someone not to be a murderer is a bit different, isn’t it?”

“It’s not like that’s as far as it goes,” Phoenix argued. “I trust you, I trust all of our friends, more than just not being murderers.”

“Yeah, sure, but romance is kind of on a different level.” She leaned back into the couch thoughtfully. “When’s the last time you’ve been with anyone?”

“... At least not since I got Trucy,” Phoenix admitted, only a little shamefully. “You try hooking up with people while having the world’s most perceptive daughter who’s desperate for a ‘new mommy’.”

“Been with anyone seriously, I mean.”

Phoenix winced. “... College.”

“I rest my case, Your Honor.”

Prettty self-explanatory here, I managed to get most of my thoughts on the actual fic instead of wanting to put it in an appendix or something. Basically... you can trust people in different ways? Phoenix can trust someone to not be a murderer to the extent of putting his own life on the line for them... but when it comes to revealing any sort of details about himself, or general emotional intimacy, he’s kind of stingy about it. Of course the out-of-universe explanation is “Phoenix doesn’t talk about this stuff because we need suspense so the player keeps playing the game instead of an exposition dump as soon as the issue comes up” but I like finding in-universe explanations for out-of-universe stuff.

I think I just regurgitated my points in a few excerpts oops.

Last little comment there regarding the idea of Phoenix presumably having a casual sex life -- Iiiiii am super asexual, have known that for a long time, generally kind of squeamish about the concept and also live a very sheltered life. so I don’t know much about people hooking up... like how people just go out and do these things. But I know people do these things so I try to reference it within my limited knowledge. Anyways yeah presumably that was happening in the background throughout the trilogy in the universe of this fic. probably not an important point. i’m moving on now.

“I’m not hung up on that!” Phoenix insisted. “Iris was a good person, she was the person I trusted. I’ve known that for years, now!”

“But she did lie to you,” Maya pointed out. “And you thought she tried to kill you for five years. I dunno, if it were me, I’d have a hell of a lot of relationship issues now.”

“Do you want me to psychoanalyze you too, now, Maya? It’s not gonna be pretty.”

“Oh, no thanks, that’s what therapy’s for,” she said, far too cheerily. “But really, Nick.”

Anyways I’m pretty invested in the whole Iris-Phoenix dynamic post-Bridge to the Turnabout, because like on the one hand, hypothetically the woman you were in love with but you thought was a killer coming out to say that she actually didn’t kill anyone and was actually in love with you should resolve all your lingering relationship issues resulting from that... but I don’t see that actually happening.

It probably took Phoenix the whole five years to come to terms with the fact that Dahlia hated his guts and tried to kill him, because I do believe he was seriously hardcore in love with her at the time. Well, Iris, but he didn’t know the difference. And then finding out Iris actually loved him... but not enough to actually, say, tell him this beforehand?... makes things kind of messy. Phoenix probably thinks he should be all better now but really the whole Dahlia-Iris thing was messed up and undoubtedly messed him up a lot.

Last little bit is just me squeezing in that Maya probably also has a lot of messed up relationship issues and also definitely needs therapy. (And is getting a bit of therapy in this fic! Good for her!) I have a lot of thoughts about Maya’s trauma... but unfortunately this fic is about Phoenix so I couldn’t go too in depth about that. Sorry, Maya. One day.

Phoenix sank further into the couch. “I don’t have trust issues.”

“Y’know, there’s still a lot of stuff I don’t know about you,” said Maya. “You never tell me anything personal until there’s a murder or something and then you have to. What happened to Edgeworth, both times. The whole Dahlia thing. It took me ages to get you to tell me how you got disbarred, even! And, like, romance has this level of intimacy to it, where he’d need to know stuff about you that I wouldn’t know, that Trucy wouldn’t know. And Nick, you know I love you, but I know you’re scared of that.”

“What do you know about it?” Phoenix snapped. “You’re barely ever here.”

He felt horrible as soon as the words left his mouth. Maya gave a sharp inhale and stiffened, her eyebrows knitting above an angry and hurt glare.

“I’m sorry,” Phoenix apologized, looking at the floor. “That was… that was unfair.”

“Yeah,” said Maya. “Yeah, it was.”

yep regurgitating my points from above. Anyways, highlights: platonic “I love you”s are great, we should have more of those. Just... emphasizing that it’s platonic because the Phoenix and Maya friendship is one of my favourite things in the series.

And there’s that “You’re barely ever here” comment that I had to cut Maya out of most of this fic to fit in, because otherwise it wouldn’t make any sense. In the universe of this fic Maya was pretty distant being busy with training and spirit medium Master stuff after the trilogy... and presumably hasn’t seen Phoenix as much as either of them would like. She loves hanging out with her best friend, and probably feels super guilty too, that Phoenix is dealing with all these issues and she can’t be there because she has other responsibilities -- so obviously it upsets her when Phoenix kind of accuses her of not being there for him, because she definitely would be, if she could, and if Phoenix would let her. 

Pretty much you can’t always be around for everyone all the time, Maya would be so worn out if she had to juggle coming down to the city to hang out with Phoenix all the time on top of all her other responsibilities. She knows this, Phoenix knows this too, he’s just kind of lashing out right now because he’s hurt and confused and misses all his important people, but Maya just happens to be in front of him right now.

And yeah what Phoenix said was pretty uncalled for, which he realizes right away, and Maya acknowledges -- a pretty short fight, I don’t think these two would stay mad at each other for too long. 

They sat in a tense silence for some time, until Maya sighed and brushed back her hair.

“Look, I’m saying these things because I’m scared of it, too,” she said, barely above a whisper. “After Mia, and Mom… I don’t want to be left behind again.”

“Maya…”

“Just think about it, okay?” She extended a pinky towards him. “Promise.”

Reluctantly, Phoenix linked his pinky with hers. “Fine. I’ll think about it.”

points at this and says Maya’s Definitely Got Trauma From Trilogy Events then brushes it off to get off the uncomfortable emotion topics

“Good.” Maya hopped up from the couch and stretched her arms above her head. “I’ll forget about what you said if you buy me lunch, okay? I’ve got a client this evening, so I can’t stay long, but I’ve got enough time to stop by Eldoon’s.”

“If you insist,” said Phoenix with an exaggerated sigh, and Maya laughed, so Phoenix willed himself to push the conversation from his mind for now. Maya would be spending four hours on a train today for his sake; Eldoon’s really was the least he could provide.

and in true Phoenix and Maya fashion we’re just gonna forget about the emotions and go get ramen! 

Anyways thanks anon for requesting this scene I apparently have so many thoughts about Phoenix and Maya friendship... sorry if this is totally incoherent I should not have started this so late it’s like 11:30! But thank you! I will do more of these tomorrow... hopefully.