>> i like how you link so many things to grown up phil, it's easy to follow. <<

I'm glad this works for you.

My usual fanfic mode is "derive back, extrapolate forward." The martial arts stuff, for instance, is strongly influenced by "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor's Hammer." Phil showed some BAMF skills there -- and yet he went miles out of his way to minimize the potential for anyone getting seriously hurt. He used de-escalation skills to control the situation, and only used his martial arts for the climax. But that brief flurry showed complete mastery of the craft, riffing on moves that are classic indicators of an expert. So I worked back from that to imagine how Phil could have learned not just the physical moves, but the philosophy and finesse required to pull off the complete choreography as shown. Because most people could not have used both nonviolent and martial skills at the same time.

>> and i am more like flip than like any other of the people there except maybe bruce so it feels ... close? <<

Yes, that makes sense. Several readers have mentioned feeling a strong kinship with Flip in this story.