#laying out my thoughts about franmaya was very fun too. i enjoyed answering this tremendously

[the-judicial-assistants-notebook]

oh the ones I wanted to send are taken already UHM.. Wrightdot and/or Franmaya? (the latter isn't my cup of tea but I'm interested to hear your thoughts on it!)

HELLO, GRACE, MY DARLING FRIEND GRACE 💖💕💕💞♥️💝❤️💗❤️💖💖💕💝💞♥️💗💞 Thank you for the ask; I am honoured you actually wanted to hear me talk about multiple ships whsjdhj 💖💘💗

Wrightdot:

Grace, trying to answer this gave me some sort of quarter-life existential crisis, and I am a bit hysterical rn. Through the laughter and the screaming, I have to admit that... I kind of............ get it??????? I WOULDNT SAY I SHIP IT, BUT, LIKE. THEY'RE SO FUNNY BUT ALSO REALLY SAD AND IM????? IDK WHAT I THINK SJWVSHDHFKDH

Ultimately, though, ULTIMATELY. I can't quite get past the whole 'that is Mia's ex who is still very much in love with her, and her protege' thing. She's played too much of a role in both their lives for them to see very far past her influence on one another, and I don't think it'd be very healthy for them to try pursuing a romantic relationship; because I feel like they'd inevitably end up trying to fill the space Mia left in their lives through the other person which just wouldn't work. I definitely think they should have some sort of a relationship, though! I think Diego cryptically mentoring Phoenix and being very unhelpful most days, but always really solid help deep down, is very fun and kind of important for them post-BttT. I think they should get to truly know one another, beyond the masks and the projection, and Diego has a lot more experience being a lawyer than Phoenix, so he'd definitely be able to help with all the moral quandaries that are bound to come up later on. Plus he'd Get the whole 7-yg Phoenix attitude thing because... he's been there. I think he could've been helpful, and it's a shame we don't get to see them be, if not friends, respected acquaintances.

Alternatively, though, the idea of Phoenix having a casual conversation with Diego only for the fleeting thought of "Wow, he's really attractive" to stop him dead in his tracks and make him question his whole life and go to therapy and Leave the Country™ is so funny to me. Alternatively-alternatively, I get the romance of it. It's the whole pulling back the mask, having someone who really understands you, being accepted in spite of your worst flaws, moving on from grief and loss with another hand in yours and NOPE. I CANT TALK ABOUT THIS. I DONT SHIP IT BUT IDK! IDK!!!! IM THROWING THEM BOTH OFF A CLIFF, AND THEN IM THROWING MYSELF OFF A CLIFF. I AM DONE. GOODBYE.

Franmaya:

Okay, after standing in the shower and staring at a wall for 3 hours, I can talk normally again, which is good because I have to explain this.

I know the people who ship them don't do it in this way, but? Honestly? Franmaya is one of those wlw ships that strike me as two female characters being shoved together because they're left hanging once the main male couple whom everyone actually cares about (nrmts in this case) gets together, and because no one can find anything interesting to say about them as individuals, so now they're lesbians. Yay! (And also because people maybe don't want to be seen as only shipping mlm ships for fear of being told they're fetishising them.) And I know that that's not true and that most Franmaya shippers love both of them individually (as we all should), but something about them always makes me hear the feminine AI TikTok voice going, "Diversity Win 😊👍🎉!" in my head and conjures up images of Western corporate advertisements during the month of June (hence the love is love coca-cola).

And I know this isn't the case, but ???? I think it's mainly because I genuinely do not understand this ship. I don't usually need ships to be supported by canon for me to ship them, but what we've been given by canon doesn't help me see these two as ever being friends, let alone girlfriends. I understand the reasoning of "they both have self-worth issues so they'd understand each other", and that's a perfectly good reason to ship people, but like. I kind of want more? I kind of want them to be able to connect on a level that goes beyond them having similar issues? And probably the folks who do ship Franmaya do have reasons that go beyond that, like maybe Maya teaches Franziska how to lighten up and not take herself so seriously, and Franziska shows Maya that she doesn't always have to be the easiest version of herself to be loved. And that's all lovely! But I... don't want them to fix each other--

See, the versions of Franmaya I've seen floating around either boil them down to a wlw version of nrmts OR they make them out to be this saccharine, perfect, happy lesbian couple who are so, so wonderful and sweet to each other. Which is. Great! I love seeing women happy! But -- I'm sorry -- it's so BORING to me. It always seems to fix them a little (even if it's just around each other), and I like their flaws. I like that Franziska's a bit of an uppity, violent snob, and I like that Maya is a bit of a naive, insecure girl. I don't want them to fix each other, but I've tried twisting them the other way round, too! I've tried giving them the Krisnix treatment where they just amplify each other's worst traits, because they share similar insecurities and would know where to prod to make it hurt, but! I find that even less appealing and workable, tbh. Maya at her worst might let someone walk all over her for momentary wisps of affection disguised as acceptance of her flaws? But she has good and smart friends! Nick would never let her be in a toxic relationship like that, and he'd stay with her until she realises it's bad for her! And Franziska, regardless of how she may feel about being in Edgeworth's shadow, would never let anyone else even suggest that to her. The moment she gets a hint of that kind of disrespect, she is gone. She doesn't need you, make no mistake of that.

And it all really comes back to the fact that I can't see them connecting as friends. With Emaziska, I could see how they could be genuinely good friends and then more, but with Franmaya it's just... Not there for me. I can't see them progressing beyond the "oh, that's my little-older brother's friend's sister" stage the way you might be "friends" with your parents' friend's kids, you know? Like, yeah, you guess you're friends with them, but it's nothing serious or real. That's how I view their relationship. I'm not averse to being persuaded to ship them (in fact, I'd like to have them explained to me; they have cute art!) but I have tried and ehhh?? Doesnt do much for me, sorry, Franmaya 😔

#experienced the entire breadth of human emotion on the train today thank you Grace i can always count on you to make me Feel & Think 💖💕♥️ #wrightdot #franmaya #this is my bias talking but i feel like franziska could be better friends with iris than she ever could mia or maya. girls who stab people #and girls who whip people just have an intrinsic connection y'know? like her and adrian <3 wjakdgskdh #idk how these keep getting so long!!! thank you though i LOVED answering both of these even if nrgd sent me into a spiral <3 #laying out my thoughts about franmaya was very fun too. i enjoyed answering this tremendously #sorry it took a hot minute. i was really Going Through It