#matt engarde when i CATCH you matt engarde

[shikisei]

congrats on the engarde reveal i hope it filled u with undescribable emotion

a lot of "holy SHIT" dropped in the vc that night. also this

like "oh fuck the guy who i thought was some loser douchebag goober is actually the literal scum of the earth and proud of it" genuine evil mastermind behavior what in the hell. what scares me most is how meticulous and thought-out he is about everything while being completely unashamed of it. when i first saw him at the beginning of the case i said "whoa. is he bisexual" and then it just went downhill from there. CORRIDA TOO TBH. i know he's dead but like neither of them are seeing heaven ok! also where'd he even get that drink.

i think this case is super dangerous and high-stakes the engarde reveal added so much more to how Dire this is going to be and how we're going to have to fight viciously until the end, while not really knowing how we're supposed to fight. it's really scary. it's making me really wonder what we have to do in the trial and how things will turn out. if we go for guilty verdict, then we have to worry for maya, but if we don't, then we face the moral struggle of letting someone who doesn't deserve it walk free. it's a lot to think about.

aa1 cases feel more like they focus on the slow burn mystery unraveling while aa2 cases feel more like the thrill of the chase and has a lot of emphasis on the sense of urgency everything has. i think especially since the major cases (bigtop dni) heavily involve characters we are already familiar with and has their individual circumstances lined up a specific way (edgeworth, maya) and even the short-term development with some characters (pearl, franziska, even engarde i think). and how circumstances and interactions lead to something in very specific ways that wouldn't be possible if it were any different. this isn't to say aa1 doesn't have its spectacular character moments, but i feel like it was more like packing snow together on your own, while this game is a snowball is rolling down a hill.

[autisticsupervillain]

Could the Wright Anything Agency catch Agent 47?

Assumptions

I'm analyzing this under the pretext that Agent 47 has killed someone and sticks around under the same cover to scope out another target in the same area. The person 47 was disguised as at the time gets framed for the murder and the WAA take the case, looking into this "Tobias Rieper" guy when it starts to seem like he might be involved.

Neither has any prior information on the other going in.

Pre-Disbarment Phoenix

Given the Timelines of both franchises, this is Phoenix going up against World of Assassination Era 47. That is.... not good.

Basically, 47 is at his prime both in his abilities as an assassin and his resources with the ICA and he's going up against Nick back when he still needed Mia's advice from time to time.

Okay, that is unfair. Phoenix has taken down some very tough cookies. Damon Gant, Manfred Von Karma, Matt Engarde, and so on. All of whom were either very connected, very intelligent, or both. 47 is very much both.

I do genuinely think 47 can talk his way around the Magatama. 47 at this point has a particular habit of speaking when undercover, where he'll tell technical truths as a little private joke to himself. Lies of omission. Much like how Matt Engarde got around it by technicality, I do think 47 could as well.

Example: "Hey, doc, what's in that shot you're giving me?" "Floral extracts. Mostly belladonna." "Uh, isn't that poisonous? Shouldn't I be worried?" "I'm not. Just sit back, it'll all be over soon." Etc.

Not straight up lies, just not giving an entirely upfront answer.

That said, the name "Tobias Rieper" mosy definitely would cause a ding, because 47 himself doesn't consider himself as having one. That'll probably be what prompts Nick into poking around.

47 takes care to avoid getting recorded or photographed, and takes time to destroy such evidence when he has to, so Nick's gonna have to rely on witness testimony to prove 47's disguise didn't match his client. His basic Pressing techniques should be enough on that front, getting them to mention 47's completely hairless physique, tall stature, monotone voice, etc by pressing for more detail.

That said, I don't think Nick can genuinely catch 47 out with anything. He was genetically engineered to not leave a trace behind, so he can't grow hair and might not even have fingerprints. He prides himself on the bodies either not being found until hours after he's gone or spinning his kills as elaborate accidents. Nick can definitely bluff and theorize his way into working out how 47 did it, but without any proof, all he can do is prove it couldn't have been his client.

Also, First Game Nick dies here. Dude almost got himself assassinated by the mafia and 47 won't hesitate with that fiber wire.

That said, 47 does play into Nick's hand a little bit. He's been known to concoct overly elaborate kills that only he could ever possibly pull off just to make things interesting and if there's one talent Nick has its untangling convoluted murder plots through logical leaps no one else is willing to make.

47 also canonically has an "aura of death" that psychics can sense because of how many people he's killed. Don't know if the Magatama or Maya can pick up on that, as that's not really in their wheelhouse, but it's there if you want to argue it.

Similarly, 47 has met ghosts before, so he's liable to put his guard up if Mia tries to interject. Hell, he's met actual Santa too.

Also, if Phoenix does get his man, he'll have incurred the wrath of the entire ICA so... lose-lose really.

Ultimately, I think Nick can get his client off the hook, but he won't be able to corner a man as slippery as 47. 47 covers his tracks too carefully. 5/10, would solve case, would not catch killer.

Post-Disbarment Phoenix

A lot of Nick's advantages from before still carry over, but with a few extra notes.

First off, timeline wise, this is Freelancer Era 47. 47 no longer has an entire international assassination agency backing him up and now relies on his contacts in the black market and Diana Burnwood to get around. He also has a home he can be traced back to while previously he moved around constantly.

This time, Phoenix is the one with higher resources, as he has connections to Interpol through Edgeworth and connections to Khura'in through Apollo. He has the means to organize an international manhunt if he has to.

Nick is also a lot more willing and able to play the long game. Take his seven year plan against Kristoph or his collaboration with Edgeworth to catch The Phantom, for instance. Nick won't stoop to the lows he did against Kristoph again, as that came about from him being at the lowest point in his life, but his plan there proves he's absolutely able to play the long term Chessmaster when silly bluffing lawyer man won't cut it.

Again, Nick won't be able to catch 47 on their first run in. He just runs too tight a ship. Unlike previously, Nick will have the means to conduct follow up investigation and won't have to do so with a massive target on his back because the ICA doesn't exist anymore.

That said, a 47 whose at the top of his game is still a bit more than the Interpol of Ace Attorney can handle. It will take a lot of planning to create a trao that 47 can't just shoot his way out of. Most likely by going after Diana, but it'll take awhile for him to figure out she even exists. Diana's a force to be reckoned with on her own.

In brief, he can, but he'd have to dedicate a significant chunk of his life to it, pulling every string he has through connections and friendships. 9/10

Apollo Justice

Gonna be blunt, perceive is not gonna work. Like, flat out.

47 doesn't have body ticks. He's unnaturally stiff at all times, even while relaxing and having fun. He doesn’t emote or react or change his tone of voice in a situation. There wouldn't be a microexpression to give away the lie because 47 barely has expressions.

That said, he's just as good at the classic approach as Phoenix is, so a lot of what I said there applies here. Press for more testimony and point out the physical discrepancies that come from that.

Of note, if the crime takes place in Khura'in, then the Divination Seance may screw 47 over. He's had entire conversations with targets before killing them, after all, so it could catch him right there if he's not more careful than usual.

That said, Khura'in by itself doesn't have nearly the presence or resources to catch 47 on the follow through unless he stays relatively close by geographically, so even with all of Khura'in's investigative abilities focusing him, 47 should escape afterwards just fine.

Unless you count Apollo bringing in Phoenix to bring in Edgeworth and Interpol, Apollo just doesn't have the right deck to play with 47. 7/10 because Divination Seance and death aura might get 47 in Khura'in though.

Athena Cykes

On the opposite side of the spectrum, Athena basically hard counters 47.

A seemingly emotionless assassin whose a master of disguise. Think I've heard that one before....

That said, 47 isn't just Phantom 2. He does actually have emotions. He just buries them deeeeeeeep in there.

Honestly, 47 is a massive trauma magnet with a lot of damage upstairs. He was genetically designed to be an assassin from the ground up, waa abused all his childhood in an attempt to purge all emotion and empathy from him, had to witness the first family he ever had he shot and killed in front of him to "teach him a lesson", was drugged into believing he killed his best friend and brother for years, and now has to live with the fact that he killed the parents of the one person left in the world that he cares about. Just... that's rough buddy.

Yeah, Athena would hear nothing when 47 talks about the murder and hear a biiiiiiiig blip when someone says the name Diana or Lucas and that's a big give away.

Could Athena talk him into giving up his career? That's a big if. 47's been kicking the can around in his head for awhile and he always comes back to "killing bad people is the one thing I enjoy in life" so... I'm not optimistic.

She also has no way of actually apprehending him, with none of Apollo's or Phoenix's resources (beyond having them in speed dial, at least).

That said, she'd shake him to his core in the way the other two could never. He'd come out respecting Apollo and Nick but shaken by Athena and that's a big win.

All of them:

Combine all those advantages and what do ya get?

That's a conviction several years in the making, my friend.

[self-shippy]

Best-Case Scenario

“Court will now adjourn for recess!”

Lora sighed as she left the courtroom, trying to ignore all of the things being said about Phoenix. They’re only seeing him defend a criminal, she thought to herself. It’s reasonable they would think that he’s evil.

Still, she knew those words were affecting her boyfriend more than her. He needed a pick-me-up. As the jury was chatting amongst themselves, she discreetly slipped out to go meet Phoenix in his lobby.

As Lora approached the door, preparing to knock, she heard Phoenix’s and Edgeworth’s voices speaking, and listened in.

“I just don’t know what the right choice is here,” Phoenix’s muffled voice said. “Do I save Maya and let Engarde go free, or do I indict Engarde and let Maya die?”

“It’s a tough dilemma, yes,” Edgeworth said. “Gumshoe and his detectives are currently on their way to De Killer’s hideout. All we have to do is stall for time.”

As Lora was about to enter, Phoenix spoke again.

“Before this whole fiasco started, I… I was planning on proposing to Lora, but after this, I don’t know if I’ll be able to face her.”

Lora’s heart stopped. Propose? Did she hear that right? She heard Edgeworth say something else, but she was too shocked to actually decipher what he said. She quickly walked back to the jury lobby, where the bailiffs ushered her back into the courtroom. As she sat back down, she couldn’t help but smile as the words that Phoenix said processed in her mind.

From there, the battle between Phoenix and Edgeworth continued. As time passed, it became increasingly obvious that Engarde was the one who hired a hitman, and that Phoenix was just grasping at straws. The murmurs from the jury were getting louder and louder, until eventually everyone erupted in shouts. Lora gazed down at her boyfriend, who was face-down on his desk, holding the back of his head. Now was the time he really needed a pick-me-up.

As the judge banged his gavel and the yelling died down to murmurs again, Lora stood up from her seat and yelled out, “Niiiiiiiiick!!”

Phoenix looked up once again, and Lora flashed him a smile.

“I’ll marry you, Nick! I’ll marry you, so don’t give up just yet!”

It didn’t take long for the bailiffs to grab Lora’s arms and pull her towards the door. She didn’t resist, but as she was being pulled away, she continued to shout. “I love you, Nick! I know you can do this! Don’t lose hope!”

As the doors closed in front of Lora, she could catch a glimpse of Phoenix’s dumbfounded face. Well, at least it was better than despair. She finally turned around to face the front. One of the bailiffs stayed behind while the other loosened his grip on Lora’s arm.

“That was the weirdest thing I’ve had to remove someone from court for, you know,” the bailiff said. “I hope you actually know the guy.”

Lora stayed silent, humming to herself. Once she was finally outside the courthouse, she found the nearest bench and sat, waiting for court to be over. As she waited, a car pulled to the front, and from it emerged a man holding a radio. When he left, the radio was no longer in his possession. Then, a while later, another car pulled up, and out came Franziska von Karma, holding Gumshoe’s coat like a bag.

Franziska ran up the steps, but abruptly stopped when she saw Lora. “Lora Wing?” she exclaimed. “What are you doing out here? Aren’t you supposed to be in the courtroom?”

Lora shrugged. “I got thrown out.”

Franziska stood, mouth agape, for a few moments, before shaking her head and saying, “It is not my business what a fool foolishly does before getting their due punishment. I have other matters to attend to.”

Lora let out a small laugh as Franziska rushed into the courthouse.

Some more time passed, and suddenly, an influx of people left the courthouse. Among those people were two police officers carrying a cuffed Matt Engarde to a cop car.

Lora’s heart immediately sank. “Oh, no,” she whispered. “Maya…”

“Birdie?”

That voice came from the other side of the bench. Lora whipped her head around, laughing when she saw Maya Fey standing next to her.

“Maya!” She shouted, embracing the girl in a hug. “You’re alive! Then, Engarde…”

“Matt Engarde is also getting his due punishment.” Lora’s head turned around again at the sound of Edgeworth’s voice. “I was told that if you accompany me to the defendant’s lobby, Miss Wing, you’ll be allowed access to the courtroom again.”

“Again?” Maya asked. “Wait, what were you doing out here, Birdie?”

Lora gave a sheepish laugh. “I… I was thrown out.”

As Lora and Maya followed Edgeworth, Lora retold her account of what had happened.

“WHAAAAT?” Maya shouted. “He didn’t even actually get to propose?”

“I know, I know,” Lora said. “I really shouldn’t have done that. I just couldn’t hold it in anymore.”

Before they knew it, the three had reached the defendant’s lobby. As Edgeworth opened the door, a relaxed Phoenix appeared on the other side. He turned around, his face brightening immediately. “Maya!”

Maya ran to Phoenix. “Nick!” She practically tackled him as she wrapped her arms around him, Phoenix doing the same to her. Lora stood back with Edgeworth, smiling.

“Mystic Maya!” Pearl slammed into Maya the way Maya did to Phoenix, letting Phoenix’s arms go free. He gave a smile to the two, then looked over at Lora.

“Birdie,” he said. He very calmly walked over, pulling their lips together for a kiss. When he pulled away, he had the sweetest smile. “You ruined the surprise.”

“I know, I’m sorry,” Lora said. She gave Phoenix another kiss. “It’s just… from what I heard, it sounded like I wasn’t going to get the surprise at all.”

“From what you heard?” The smile went away, being replaced with a puzzled look. “You were eavesdropping?”

“It wasn’t on purpose!” Lora laughed. “I was coming to give you encouragement, and I was only listening to see when you were done talking to Edgeworth.”

“Well, accident or not, you shocked me out of my despair in the courtroom, so thank you.” Phoenix took a deep breath. “And since you’ve already said yes, you’re only missing one thing.” He rummaged through his back pocket, and pulled out a little box. He opened it up, revealing a glimmering ring, then grabbed Lora’s hand, slipping it on.

“You did it, Nick!” Maya shouted from the other side of the room. She ran to give Phoenix another hug from the back as Lora hugged him from the front. And all of the sudden, the shoulder that Lora was resting on started to wet, and muffled sobs 

“Oh, Birdie.” Phoenix ran his hand through Lora’s hair.

“I love you, Phoenix,” Lora cried. “I love you so, so much.”

Phoenix placed a kiss onto Lora’s head. “I love you, too, Lora.”

Lora’s cries abruptly stopped as a growl came from Maya’s stomach.

“Oh, right! You were starved for two whole days!” Lora lifted herself up and rubbed Maya’s head. “We need to get you something to eat!”

“Right!” Maya said. “I say we make up for lost time and have a gourmet feast, like the one we had right before I got kidnapped!”

“Another one?” Phoenix asked.

“You’re coming too, Mr. Edgeworth!” Maya grabbed Edgeworth’s suit sleeve and Pearl’s hand, pulling them both out of the courthouse. “We’re gonna have a party with everyone!”

Lora let out a laugh. “She never loses her energy, huh?”

“For better and for worse,” Phoenix sighed. “I’m just happy she’s alive right now. For that, she can eat whatever she wants to.”

The two dawdled behind Maya in front, staying within sight. After some time had passed, Phoenix spoke again. “You know, when you said you eavesdropped on Edgeworth and I’s conversation… I was surprised you didn’t mention what Edgeworth said after what I said.”

“That’s because I didn’t really hear what he said,” Lora replied. “I kind of stopped listening after you said ‘propose’ and ‘I don’t know if I can’.”

Phoenix made a small laugh. “Well, what he told me was that punishing myself for something that was punishment in and of itself was an idiotic thing to do, but doing something that would punish you in its wake was downright evil. He said that you really loved me, and if I were to disappear on you, proposal or not, it would hurt you. I decided that, even if the worst case scenario happened, I wouldn’t leave you, and I’d wait until I was ready again to propose.”

“And look at that,” Lora said. “Not only did the best-case scenario happen, but you now have a fiancee.”

“I wouldn’t call this the best case scenario. I didn’t get to actually pop the question myself.”

“Oh, shut up!” Lora bumped Phoenix’s shoulder. “You had a court as an audience when I said yes! Isn’t that poetic?”

The two of them laughed, and Lora intertwined Phoenix’s hand with her ring-adorned one. “I really do love you, you know.”

“I know.” Phoenix said. “I really do love you, too.”

And the two walked, hands together, both deciding that this was the best case scenario.

[kijimha]

What I think my AA blogs do when they're sick

Ron Delite: He is so so sad. Not because he's sick but because he can't kiss his wife. He's constantly stuck between wanting to cuddle and not wanting to get her sick, too. Eventually she just decides to hold his hand while at a reasonable distance from his face (and he is pleased with this)

Matt Engarde: He just calls Adrian and reminds her every second he's sick and complains and whines about it. Surprisingly she doesn't hang up on him no matter how much she REALLY REALLY wants to

Pierce Nichody: Honestly he doesn't care much. He still has to tend to Sorin. Gets medicine and stuff to help the illness but he doesn't take days off unless he absolutely needs to

Enoch Drebber: Also doesn't give much of a shit... he likes inventing. It is what he does. Although he probably has some kind of contraption to give him tissues when he needs it LMFAOOO

Blaise Debeste: Probably makes a big deal out of it I'm gonna be honest. like boohoo.... I'm sick.... the old age is catching up to me..,.,.... and people are trying so hard not to be like yeah it is isn't it

Patricia Roland: Huh. I have no idea actually. She probably assures everyone she's fine and cuddles her foxes more for comfort. Has a tissue on her and goes to a different room to blow her nose (to be polite)

Simon Keyes: Doesnt want ANYONE to figure out he's sick. if they do he's like Nooo its ok its not that bad! I don't wanna burden you!. in reality he just knows how annoying people like Regina can be when he's sick and he DOESNT want to look like a wuss

Kristoph Gavin: Also doesn't want anybody to find out he's sick. If they do he'll keep working anyway because he wants people to think he's sooo efficient like wow hes such a cool guy for being so devoted to his work!. in reality people are kinda worried about him because they've never seen him take a day off in their life

Nahyuta Sahdmadhi: Hes got too many duties to ignore. He'll probably avoid coughing just to be polite tbh. If he does cough he does it into his arm (NOT his hand!!) and also has tissues with him in case he has to sneeze. However he will rest if someone higher in status than him asks them to

Fulbright/The Phantom: Fulbright doesn't even look like he's sick until you start to realize he's coughing or sneezing a lot. And when you ask him if he's sick he's like yes! I have been for a few days! but justice needs to be served!! and people are like go fucking rest bobby

The phantom just does what Fulbright does. obviously. but even if he's free of identity stuff he still has work to do. zero self preservation

[abrthephantomq]

I definitely argue for more the former than the latter.

Like, Phoenix is def not always up to date on the newest thing - so maybe there are things he's just LEGITIMATELY unaware of until they're relevant to him.

And isn't that really how shit works for....pretty much everyone?

Also I'd argue that while Edgeworth is saying "every" legal professional, he's probably really talking about the prosecutorial side of things. In the Matt Engarde case, he straight told Phoenix that the De Killer is an INCREDIBLY well-kept secret among the police and prosecutors only. And only a select handful of that.

Phoenix likely knows of cases where De Killer is ultimately the murderer, but those are likely going to frequently be left unsolved and De Killer's name is clearly left out from the media. The police see the calling card, the prosecutors see it and go FUCK, because they already know that the crime scene is going to, essentially, be useless. De Killer is perfect. De Killer doesn't LEAVE real evidence. He's a random man with no connection to the murdered individual and I assure you he does not kill each person the exact same way every time, either. So the media wouldn't catch wind of it being a serial killer, either.

If Adrian Andrews hadn't messed with the crime scene AND hadn't taken the calling card, Miles would have no doubt stepped in IMMEDIATELY, the second that card was entered into evidence. I highly doubt that Franziska would have been made privy to the De Killer's cases. She's a damn good prosecutor, but there's a level of finesse that Miles has that she doesn't have (just yet - she'll get there. You see improvement, even, when she comes back in AA3). Also Japan (where the games take place and the localization team is bouncing off of) is just as if not more sexist than the US - her gender would definitely have an impact on whether she would be deemed trustworthy enough to know.

Which, by the way, is absolutely fucking TERRIBLE because the real reason NOT to tell her is that she's a Von Karma and Manfred was obviously corrupt as FUCK and Edgeworth only just barely has beaten the Demon Prosecutor allegations, thanks to Phoenix coming along and absolutely reshaping his worldview, by Franziska's prosecutorial debut, but I DIGRESS.

The whole legal world probs does know about the one case the Turnabout Terror lost; it's probably a case study used in law school - because there was no way there WASN'T a huge amount of media involvement. Two rival television stars, of competing television shows???? Hell yeah the media would have been in a frenzy out the GATE. And since court records can be requested, there ain't no WAY the court records for the Matt Engarde case didn't leak out to the Ace Attorney world as a whole.

Knowing that the AAI games take place after the original trilogy, Miles is likely operating on the assumption that the Matt Engarde case has been studied by most legal professionals, if not all. Phoenix's knowledge about De Killer came about when anything involving De Killer was disclosed on a need to know basis. He needed to know.

Before that case, he wouldn't have needed to. Because most people did not. After, though?

Yeah, after things would have been changed, across the board, for the AA world.

this implies one of two things: either the engarde case was a huge deal in-universe and de killer's profile rose since then, or phoenix wright is the most oblivious motherfucker in the entire legal practice

[snezfics-n-shit]

Sicktember Day 16: Toxin/Poison

Fandom: Ace Attorney Characters: Adrian Andrews, Matt Engarde Notes: Working for Matt Engarde fucking sucks. That’s literally what I wrote down the first time I really sat and pondered this prompt. Adrian finds herself literally sickened from working as Engarde’s manager and she’s trying so hard to make it through another day on the job. Takes place before 2-4, just as Adrian is starting her career as Engarde’s manager.

--

     Adrian Andrews knew beforehand that becoming the manager of the man who remorselessly took part in her mentor’s death would not be an easy task. She knew what Matt Engarde’s facade of “refreshing as a spring breeze” was just that: a facade. Engarde acted in a way beyond Adrian’s comprehension, so ready to tear an innocent woman’s life apart just to get ahead of a man who was just as despicable in his jumping to break off an engagement as if his fiancee were tainted from having been in a previous relationship. This knowledge should have made Adrian more than prepared for the intense malaise that hovered over her each time Engarde was even a thought in her mind, but it still managed to catch her by surprise each time her energy was quickly depleted and her stomach twisted in a way so intense that if she didn’t know any better, she would have used all her sick days already. 

“Do you even know who I am?” The entitlement-soaked faux-easygoing voice was enough to both snap Adrian out of her third time spacing out on the job as well as make the air around her feel thin. 

“Mr. Engarde, they do know–” Adrian thoughtlessly spoke up, forgetting that any attempt at making Engarde see the reality of any situation would simply roll off his back as if nothing had been said at all, at least after a thorough chewing out from him on the defense. 

Engarde rolled his eyes and showed Adrian the palm of his hand before returning to his so-called negotiation… of which Adrian had already forgotten. Adrian flinched, prompting a near-silent laugh from Engarde. 

“Yeah, Matt Engarde.” He repeated into the phone, slowly and more enunciated as if the person on the receiving end could not understand him. “The Nickel Samurai? The hero everyone’s actually coming to see? Let’s be real here, nobody’s attending this event for Captain Side-pan or whatever. They want to see me. Isn’t that enough of a reason for the Nickel Samurai posters to be displayed at the entrance?” 

Oh, right. The Hero Show performance at a local amusement park this weekend. Adrian had started the call to the event’s higher-ups as per Engarde’s request, but his impatience led to him snatching the phone from her hands because he wasn’t getting what he wanted fast enough. 

Just remembering that whole ordeal was making Adrian feel dizzy and sick again. 

The hotel bed looked awfully tempting. Adrian could have sworn she had a brief out-of-body experience, hovering over to the bed and nestling herself under the blanket that felt so cheap despite this being a luxury hotel. When it finally registered with her that she had never actually left her seat at all, the pang of disappointment was negligible compared to the heaviness looming over her. 

The heaviness only got worse as Engarde’s voice filled every corner of the suite. Unfortunately, this was an experience Adrian had encountered often since she began working for him. It was like she was drowning in everything he said and did. 

Engarde being… Engarde radiated from him in a way that was comparable to what remains of Chernobyl. Adrian would never admit it out of fear of sounding completely out of her mind, but she felt like being in his presence was slowly killing her. 

He was poison. 

The slam of him hanging up the phone snapped Adrian out of her drowning in dry air. 

“Heh, what are they gonna do without me?” Engarde muttered with a smirk. From what Adrian could hear, he must have called off his appearance as his means of ‘punishing’ the people he deemed responsible for the heinous crime of not advertising the Nickel Samurai more than they already had. 

“Should I make arrangements for an appearance elsewhere, Mr. Engarde?” Adrian asked monotonously. She may not have had much pride in herself for most things, but her ability to reframe her insecurity in making any decisions into simply being a diligent manager was something she considered to be a talent. 

“No, no. I’ll take this weekend off.” Engarde leaned back with his arms behind his head. 

If Adrian didn’t know better, she would assume this meant she would be taking the weekend off as well. Engarde would never let that happen, not when Adrian was growing more sure he received his energy from leeching off hers. 

She glanced at the clock and thanked the passage of time for allowing her the opportunity to turn in for the night. 

“Well, then. Goodnight, Mr. Engarde.” She struggled to say, just as she struggled to navigate to the suite’s pull-out couch that was designated as her bed. 

Maybe Engarde couldn’t see the amount of shaking Adrian was sure her body was doing. Maybe he just didn’t care. Maybe Adrian was just imagining it all. Even as she clutched onto the sheet for balance, the possibility this was all just made up as some subconscious mechanism of her simply not wanting to be working took on the sensation of a boulder pressing on her stomach. 

She set her glasses on the nearest nightstand before lying down. She forced her eyes shut and did her damndest to breathe as deeply as she could without being heard.

She needed a good night’s rest, after all, to prepare for tomorrow’s cup of poison.

[legobatman2]

an attempt at analysis of DGS1-3

INTRODUCTION: i am so normal about ace attorney

it's been very on my mind recently, so i wanna talk about the ways in which DGS (DGS1-3 specifically) is a direct hate letter to subversion of mainline AA and its tropes!! who knows how long i’ll ramble on for so. strap in, theoretical reader.

huge, HUGE warning for just absolutely bonkers amounts of spoilers; some for the original AA trilogy, and LOADS for DGS1-3 and preceding events in the DGS duology. if you have not played the games (specifically DGS1 up to case 1-3; no DGS2 spoilers here, don't worry) and think you might be even SLIGHTLY interested in playing them, this is my plea for you to play them instead of reading this. they’re good. they’re SO GOOD. i love the ace attorney games so much that i spent around 3500 words dissecting how one plot twist made my brain esplode into chunks, and how my experience with all the other AA games i’d played made it an even more effective twist. ace attorney is VERY GOOD, and if you have not played it and like visual novels/video games in general, you absolutely should. 

to talk abt the ways in which DGS1-3 subverts mainline AA, you very much do have to talk about mainline. so, i guess i’ll crack on with that!! 

PART 1: your mother’s ace attorney game

1a: trust

in the original trilogy (which will be the main AA games i’ll talk about), there is an assumed level of moral goodness; you are playing as the Good Guy, and you Will Catch The Bad Guy. furthermore, there is an assumption that the game can be trusted to be telling you the truth. when you are asked to defend someone in AA, you do so in the understanding that they are innocent. while this is definitely subverted within mainline itself, it isn’t to a truly extreme degree. 

for example, Lana may not be guilty of the murder she’s accused of, but she is an accomplice and is also corrupt; even so, her guilt feels less like a betrayal because Lana herself tells you that she doesn’t want you defending her, and freely admits to being guilty from the start. the game telegraphs very clearly from the beginning that Lana is not all what she seems, and may actually have some level of guilt that you need to be aware of—though, the game offsets this by already having taught you to assume that you are defending an ultimately good person. Lana may not be innocent, but she is trying to protect her sister, and most importantly not a murderer.

as another example, Matt Engarde is one of the COOLEST FUCKING VILLAINS EVER but also is, as in Lana’s case, telegraphed to be not all what he seems, albeit to somewhat of a lesser extent. it’s strange that you are being asked to defend him by someone who kidnapped Maya; it’s strange that he has psyche locks. the twist that he has been pulling the strings is still hard-hitting and effective because he is not innocent in the slightest, but you trust the game to let you know that something is going on. 

while these characters are 100% subversions of the ‘always innocent’ narrative, i would argue that the game itself maintains its level of trustworthiness by actively showing you that hey, maybe these people aren’t all sunshine and roses. this trust is maintained throughout the series, because while this game may love to do grand reveals, these are generally confined to the ways in which your defendant is innocent. furthermore, in the case that a defendant isn't innocent (looks directly at Engarde), then they're found guilty. their innocence in itself is rarely questioned. to further emphasise this assumption of trust, one of Phoenix Wright’s key character traits is his unwavering faith in his client. this, again, communicates to the player that this is the view they should take as well. you trust Phoenix’s judgement, and also trust his morals. you trust the character to be right in the end, the game not to fuck with you too much, and the game to also… be the game that it's always been. 

1b: turnabout

by golly, does ace attorney love its turnabouts (i say, as though that’s not the fucking point). ace attorney as a game is built on overcoming stacked odds, as this is probably one of the easier ways to build tension in a game series about being a criminal defence lawyer. what else are you meant to do, have a corrupt establishment actively trying to throw obstacles in your path, government secrets and conspicuously guilty clients?? [canned laughter plays through cracked speakers in underground bunker]

but we’ll get to that later. in the mainline ace attorney games, the classic case layout is essentially that it looks like there is No Way that your client could be innocent/be found innocent, but given that you already know that they’re innocent because that’s the fucking game, you push onward and eventually are rewarded by Mr Phoenix Wright (and his assorted pals, in later games) revealing some absolutely bonkers off the wall twist that shows that your client is innocent, and furthermore, someone else is guilty. the turnabout really relies on your pre-existing trust in the client, because otherwise you’d just give up.

given this trend, the game programs you to see insurmountable odds and know, somewhere in the back of your mind, that it’s all going to shake out in your favour, and in the favour of your client. you are used to spotting the weirdo ace attorney villain, looking through your evidence roster religiously, questioning witnesses until they slip up or snap; the turnabout is coming, and you’re the one driving it forward. there isn’t really room for doubt, because this is the way that the game goes. 

1c: resolution

the ace attorney games are, at the end of the day, an interactive story. you are driving the events of a narrative, which has a beginning, middle and end. stories may not always have neat endings, but they very often do, especially in the case of ace attorney. 

take farewell my turnabout (AA2-4), for example. Matt Engarde is a twist villain who throws Phoenix’s and by extension your sense of morality into question, as you suddenly see the problems that can be thrown up by blindly trusting in your client. Phoenix suddenly has to choose between saving someone important to him, or choosing this ideal of ‘justice’ that he pursues. this is a genuine and hard hitting question, and in its own way absolutely does play on the tropes of the past two games. the resolution, however, is relatively neat. Phoenix chooses justice, and through justice can save the people he cares about anyway; this is thematically appropriate, and also a good resolution to a game. it’s the final case!! you can’t just kill Maya. that would be awful!! you have to resolve the case (and the game) in a satisfying way, or… i dunno, but you have to. that’s the game.

we expect very specific things from certain types of media. ace attorney, being a game aimed at kids and teenagers, can and does have very complex themes, narratives and characters—but it always, ALWAYS resolves in a way that is mostly favourable to the characters that you are rooting for. it’s natural to expect this from these games, because that is, to some degree, the space they occupy in our understanding of the level of narrative in a game of this genre.

PART 2: decidedly NOT your mother’s ace attorney game

2a: setup

and now, we come to DGS1-3. as you may know from the case name, this is the third case of the first game in the duology; it is also the middle case of the game. given that 1-1 is the tutorial, and 1-2 is… weird, 1-3 feels both very early in the game, and also serves as a tutorial in its own right; as your first introduction to the jury system and summation examination mechanics. it’s cool!! i like it :>. but anyways, case 1-3 does act as something of a tutorial, and follows the same classic AA tutorial case pattern of thrusting you into an unfamiliar situation and gently (or sometimes not so gently) nudging you through learning the mechanics; therefore, as you’re trying to learn a new system, you might be concentrating more on the new mechanics than the minutiae of the case. furthermore, as this is a tutorial and also literally the third case of a five case first game in a duology, you trust the game to be nice, not fuck you over, and tell you what’s going on. 

so, given its position in the chronology of the game, you trust this case to be normal-ish - also, this is case 3. and, as every ace attorney fan knows, case 3 syndrome is real, severe, and inescapable. 

2b: case 3 syndrome

case 3 is always shit. 

okay, so that may be hyperbole. it is, however, often true. case 3 isn’t always terrible, but it never really tends to be amazing. save for a few exceptions, i don’t often see ace attorney fans name any game’s third case as their favourite. some are openly hated (sorry, recipe and big top…) and some are just... kind of full of busywork? the faults of previous case 3s isn’t really what i’m driving at here, though; i mainly want to highlight the slight assumption that some fans will have that case 3 isn’t gonna be blowing their mind any time soon. 

2c: subversion

now, we’re really getting into the MEAT of 1-3 now. i lost track of the actual structure of this incoherent ramble about twenty minutes ago, so i’m just going to run through the way that this case attempts to murder you in cold blood, with the subversion of key components as outlined in part 1.

2ci: betrayal of trust

the game starts fucking with you from pretty much minute one of 1-3. you arrive in britain, talk to the Lord Chief Justice who is also a really weird and suspicious guy, and get told to successfully defend someone you literally haven’t ever heard of in your life. you find out that oh, the weird cases of this game have not stopped; there will be no investigation section for this one. you’re going straight into the trial, with only the briefest interaction with the defendant, who also seems… kind of weird and suspicious. but whatever, he’s the defendant; the game has thrown much more suspicious people at you in the past, and they’ve turned out to be innocent. so you go in, start playing, start learning the new mechanics, and importantly: you get to access some evidence.

your AA evidence bank, in general, is great. it’s got cool stuff to spin around and examine, legitimately useful clues, and it doesn’t lie to you like those shithead witnesses do. in 1-3, however, the eagle-eyed player might notice that something isn’t quite right with one piece of evidence—the omnibus seems to change between trial segments. 

personally, when i saw the apparent new evidence in the omnibus, i dismissed it; i assumed that i had missed something, because they wouldn’t have evidence changing mid-trial. that wouldn’t be fair. also, it would have some pretty uncomfortable implications, which an ace attorney would definitely not want to go into. so, i kept on trucking. friends that i’ve talked to thought similar things; although they may not have been quite as trusting as me, they thought that despite how shady the defendant and the evidence looked, it wouldn’t be like, that bad. it would resolve well. it was case 3, after all!! you’ve barely started the game at that point. (again, though it’s halfway through game 1 it does feel pretty early game, especially given that the duology should be experienced together; you aren’t really that far in at all. also, it’s your first case in britain!!)

your trust in this case, however, tends to take a steep nosedive as you approach the end. one of the most brilliant things about DGS1-3 is the pervasive, creeping sense of dread that you start to feel as things begin not adding up. 

2cii: turnabout fake-out

so, things aren’t adding up. your client looks guilty as hell, and weird things are happening with the omnibus. “wait,” you start to think, “what’s going on?” 

and then suddenly, it comes to you: this is the turnabout!

see, a really cool new dynamic introduced in DGS is the summation examination; the jury has ruled guilty, but you get to press the individual jurors on their reasoning and pit them against each other when they seem to have conflicting ideas. the end result of this will be certain jurors changing their verdict to innocent, buying you more time to press witnesses and uncover new evidence. this essentially pushes the concept of the turnabout to its absolute extreme: you, as Ryuunosuke, manage to move the situation from one in which you are absolutely fucked, to one where you’ve both saved your client (for the time being) and uncovered some new leads to follow up with in your next cross examinations. 

so, the turnabout: your client, Magnus McGilded, looks guilty. the prosecution, who seems to have some specific hatred for him, has openly stated that McGilded is definitely guilty. he has also put forward evidence that McGilded is trying to buy public opinion by donating money to the city to open parks, but is, as a matter of fact, a literal loan shark. things aren’t looking great for our buddy. but when the jury rules guilty, you find out about and trigger a summation examination, because you can’t just let him go to jail.

now, stepping back for a second: beyond the game’s pre-established understanding that the client is innocent, the stakes are a little higher for this case. given that Ryuunosuke isn’t actually meant to be the one practising law in the UK (his boy best friend Kazuma was the assigned lawyer, but died on the way over), he has been given an ultimatum: defend McGilded in court and successfully get him a not guilty verdict, or go back to japan and, implicitly, leave Kazuma’s dream unfulfilled. therefore, within the fiction of the game itself Ryuunosuke absolutely will not let this case end in a guilty verdict; anyways, as previously discussed, it would just be SO mean if the game made you get an innocent verdict for a guilty client as a condition for the narrative to continue.

so, back to the turnabout. the prosecution is easy enough to write off; it’s basically a rule that the prosecution in an AA game is unjustifiably spiteful and hates you specifically, and by extension your client. in this case, while van Zieks hates Ryuunosuke for racism reasons, he hates McGilded in a way that seems entirely separate from any input from you. again, though, he’s an AA prosecutor. these things happen.

furthermore, McGilded’s apparent guilt is the turnabout. the twist in this case is obviously that McGilded can be a shitty person and still be innocent of murder. so you fight your way through a summation examination, find evidence you hadn’t noticed before, find an entirely new and heretofore entirely unknown witness; she seems to have proof that McGilded is innocent. it’s all going well, until it super duper isn’t.

2ciii: resolution, and the lack thereof

as i mentioned in 2ci, the beauty of this case is the way in which the paranoia sets in. all of this stuff is quietly happening around you; but while you may have been conditioned into a certain way of thinking by the previous games, your ability to think critically hasn’t been completely shut off. you are noticing the irregularities and lies the game keeps openly showing you, and coming to the realisation that you maybe really should be paying attention to them.

as a personal aside, i streamed this game to some friends; towards the back end of this case, i noticeably got a lot quieter. i remember that at that point i was trying desperately to cram all of the pieces that the game was giving me into a properly ace attorney shaped mould. the game wouldn’t do this to me. it wouldn’t give me a guilty client and let them walk free by my own intervention.

at the point that you’ve overcome your internal biases and are somewhat convinced that McGilded is guilty, the game springs its final trap. you and Ryuunosuke try to overturn the innocent verdict that you’ve gotten for the defendant—Ryuunosuke builds up to the final turnabout, and then: nothing.

you’ve managed to throw reasonable doubt onto the assertion that McGilded is guilty, so he will walk free. the game tells you this succinctly and in no uncertain terms, gives him the not guilty verdict, and the fireworks go off. meanwhile you, the player, sit there feeling slightly ill. the game cannot have just done that to you.

you’ve… succeeded? you have also failed. the game is set up to be about bringing justice to murderers, and you probably just helped a murderer go free. you also fulfilled the conditions that will allow Ryuunosuke to actually try to help the wrongly accused. it’s a whole lot to think about!!

now, given that this is an unstructured mess already, let’s do a thought experiment. you want to make a game about lawyers. you’ve already made several games about lawyers, and you need this next one to feel fresh and interesting. given that the game is about lawyers—a nominally uninteresting topic for a video game—you need to have built in systems to artificially raise the stakes, and you have already done this. i think the point that i’m driving at here is that Takumi Shu could not have executed the final section of DGS1-3 so flawlessly without the context of the previous ace attorney games behind him, but he also did so with near pinpoint precision. he didn’t need to artificially raise the stakes anymore; he trusts the player to handle more complex, real-world topics than his last games tackled. so he just lays it all on the table: this game is about government secrets and human greed, but also the force of idealism and how it can be corrupted into something far more sinister with frightening ease. i think it’s fair to say that DGS1-3 is where this narrative hits the player like a large boulder in an indiana jones temple, even if it’s not quite apparent exactly how at this point. 

we’re not done with the case!! the game now really wants to rub in your face how fucking guilty McGilded seems—seems, because we haven’t actually gotten any solid proof that he’s guilty yet. he does appear to have been tampering with evidence mid-trial, though; after the verdict, he thanks Ryuunosuke and tells him that he’s about to go and oversee the inspection of the omnibus for tampering. which, thanks game! i know he’s guilty and i really did a fucky wucky on this one!! you say goodbye and finish the case, still feeling vaguely unwell.

you almost finish the case, anyway.

2d: the prestige

there’s a cutscene after DGS1-3. the cutscenes in DGS are really fun!! i like them. usually. you had a fully animated cutscene directly before the start of DGS1-3, so you’re not super surprised to see one at the end as well.

it starts in chaos. the lighting is red and orange, and the camera is focusing on the shadows of policemen cast across the ceiling. you pan down to see that the godforsaken omnibus is on fire. my immediate thought was that that little fucker McGilded had destroyed the evidence of his forgery by burning the entire damn thing, so, fuck me even more i guess. thanks, game.

Gregson comes on, and says that no one should have been allowed in before they started investigating, confirming our suspicions. except then a thud comes from inside the omnibus, because there is someone in there. and we both know who it is. all that’s left of the cutscene are some fun (said through tears and gritted teeth) reaction shots of the judge and van Zieks, who looks very ominous. weird! we file that one away for later, but ignoring that, let’s run through this again.

the game has just burned someone alive in front of the player, someone who you suspect (and is later confirmed) to be McGilded, the defendant. and honestly? my initial reaction was to be relieved, because McGilded was probably guilty. an ace attorney game made me feel relieved that my client died. like, all pretence at analysis aside, sincerely, what the fuck. 

i’m not going to go into McGilded’s actual guilt here, or anything beyond 1-3; though The Themes only get built upon from this point. but the point here is that ace attorney, a game about defending your wrongly accused client from going to jail/receiving capital punishment, gives you a guilty client who you allow to walk free, and then kills them ONSCREEN. that’s not the game!! the game can’t fucking do this to you!!! it’s such a BRILLIANT subversion of the entire narrative of ace attorney up to this point, and it’s so fantastic in acting as a tutorial not only for new mechanics, but for the new norm in this game—none of the cases are going to be truly cut-and-dry. 1-1 and 1-2 are similarly uncomfortable in their implications, but i really think that 1-3 is the point where most players sit up and go “ah. fuck.” it is so deeply brilliant at communicating to the player that this isn’t any ace attorney game they’ve ever played before, while also destroying them emotionally. thanks, Mr Takumi!! 

CONCLUSION: i will never be the same again

i honestly don’t really know how to conclude this collection of insane and rambling thoughts, and i’m probably going to read through and take another stab at organising this in a way that is even halfway coherent—but. this case is what really made me fall in love with DGS in a way that few other games have really captured me. it wants to talk about real life, real history, real problems; it really trusts you to understand this, and it pays off in a huge way.

i joked at the beginning that DGS is a hate letter to mainline AA, but i think it’s also something of a love letter to those games and all the people who’ve played them, especially those who’ve stuck with the series for years (i am not one of those people, but i congratulate them for their tenacity. i cannot imagine having to wait so long to play the localised version of DGS). it’s truly a moment where the game uses your own love for the series against you, but to further a new and incredible story that you’re just as likely to fall in love with—and honestly, i think that’s just really special.

[mystic-faraday]

UTIL Plays Phoenix Wright: Justice for All (Case: Farewell My Turnabout)

Small Note: It took us two weeks to get through this case, so that’s why there wasnt one of these last week.

- *Nickel Samurai Slashes the Moon* “FUCK THE MOON” “Wow, Majora’s Mask looks different” “Fly me to the moon, and let me kick its fucking ass”

-  Pearl VA: Is he a sussy baka? Mr. Larry taught that word to me Larry VA: I sure did Edgeworth VA: You and me are going to have some words later

- “Prosecute Me Daddy~”

- “No one Maya likes stays alive”

- ”Not to judge people by their appearances but bellboy looked two-faced to me “ 

-  “With a last name like De Killer, I’m sure he did De Killing”

- “The show is real popular with High School Students and Secretaries” “Maya is the center of the ven diagram that is this shows demographic”| “Ven MAYAgram”   

- “Hi, my name’s Phoenix Wright and I went to law school to chase a guy” “Hi Phoenix” “Hi, my name is Elle Woods and I did the same” “Hi Elle”

- “Lotta Hart? More like Lotta Hurt”

-  “The finger prints are like the ballistic markings of your hands!” “Yeah! Put a glove on that gun and you’ll never know where that bullet came from”

- “This bastard (Matt Engarde) is just Sans!”

- “ Is she… yknow.. a lawyer?”

- “(Oldbag) was married to von Karma” “WHO HASN’T VON KARMA FUCKED? He’s the court bicycle”  “Manwhore Von Karma”

- (In relation to Phoenix’s relationships with the Fey Family) “The fey kidnapped him, and turned him into a lawyer”

- “When (Edgeworths)’s doing that pose I feel like something’s going to drop into his arms” The whole call: “Yeah, Phoenix”

-  “I’m tired Miles, carry me” “That is what this whole case is about yes”

-  “Mr. Edgeworth said she was in stable condition” Franziska VA: She’s never been stable

- Director Hotti: Exists The Entire Call: FUCK YOU PIECE OF SHIT DIE

-  A Solid 2 minutes of the VC loosing our shit over the mental image of Edgeworth just picking up a 6 foot tall bear and leaving. 

- “I love how no one questioned if Corrida hired the assassin himself” “He really said ‘take me out’“ “Like with a Gun or on a date?” “Surprise Me” “This whole case is just a date gone wrong”

- Pearl VA: Sorry I had to go get mac and cheese “I just had the mental image of Pearl Summoning Gregory’s spirit in Engarde’s kitchen and having him make Pearl mac and cheese”

- The entire VC got sad when Phoenix accidentally yelled at Gumshoe

- “You two can kiss and make up” “Couples therapy!” “This session of court is couples therapy”

- Edgeworth VA: Shit gets whack every time Wright is in the courtroom Phoenix VA: you know what, that’s fair.

- “I’m just fucking with you your honor” “Fuckery sustained” 

- Coming to the realization that Phoenix is using the exact same method of deflecting that Manfred used in 1-4

- “Image your dragging yourself away from your captor with the last of your strength, and using your channeling power, which is exhausting you even more, and just as you’re about to pass out the last thing you see is MAX GALATICA’S FACE STARING DOWN AT YOU” “Maya loses her "I survived big top" pin”

- Playing the loz chest sound effect when they opened the bear

-“Did he pickpocket Phoenix” “He did” “Slapped Phoenix’s ass” “Buenos Días Phoenix” “In court?” “You get that ass Mr. Edgeworth Sir”

 - Phoenix, checking his pockets:  Babe did you take my evidence? Edgeworth, wearing phoenix's hoodie: our evidence, babe. We share in a relationship

- Entire VC loosing their shit over the ‘Edgeworth Catch’ Phone animation

- Someone: Goes off on a tangent about Phoenix’s eyes. “Heterochromia is the only hetero Phoenix will ever have or be“

- “We discovered the suicide note is forgery”  “Well isnt that a kick in the balls” 

- “Will the court please refrain from unlocking repressed childhood memories”  “That’s what we do here”

- “This is an inclusive courtroom” “No Gender in this court of law”

- Franziska: OBJECTION Entire VC: Explodes in joy

- The “miracle” never happen.

-Engarde VA: *stops talking mid-sentence due to slow internet* “Oh he died” “Oh De Killer is FAST”

- “Look at these two finally talking about their emotions like adults! Oh Hi miss von Karma”

- “Who gave this website to (De Killer) ?”  “Squarespace!” 

Video Version will be uploaded by @musashi at a later date! 

[gemstoneslesbian]

Oh wow, you have so many neat WIPs!! Do you want to talk more about the Matt and Juan friendship one?

Thank you!! ^^

And yeah sure! :D

Okay so, basically... I read this fic where the person's characterization of Matt was almost exactly like my own. There were only minor differences here and there, and none that impacted the overall characterization / storylines. He definitely acts differently, but the changes lined up with how he'd be acting if he had that different life, y'know?

So it was just like... reading an AU of my Matt. A very very sad AU that absolutely ripped my heart out. And then I became very fixated on making things better for him in that AU. (And when I wrote him, I went ahead and wrote him completely consistently with my own characterization, but again, it barely changed anything.)

There was ALSO a different fic, written by a different person, that took hold of my emotions. This version of Juan is separate from my own characterization of him, but I was interested in writing with this alternate version of him. I pitied him and wanted better things for him, too.

So I was like... might as well write a fix-it fic where these two end up becoming friends instead of rivals.

I didn't write very much of it, but here's what I did have written:

Juan Corrida is laughing with a group of his friends. He can feel the pride swelling in his chest, practically bursting out of him. His heart’s been pounding since his agent called with the news that he got the role.

He’s been acting professionally for years now, but most of his jobs have been smaller. Nothing the media would catch sight of, nothing to provide steady financial support, nothing that would have much of a chance of getting him noticed or kickstarting his career. While the roles have slowly been getting bigger and better and closer to the spotlight, he’s never had anything like this before.

He finishes off his drink—the last one of the night, he reminds himself—and excuses himself to go find a trash bin.

Taking the opportunity to really soak in his surroundings and immerse himself in the high energy of the club, he doesn’t notice the pretty man in his path until he nearly collides with him.

Juan curses softly as he draws back just in time, thankful that there’s nothing left in his cup.

The man doesn’t glance up at him, just steps out of the way, head down and thumbs tucked into designer jeans.

He’s about to apologize and move on when he realizes that he recognizes him. “Oh, hey there!” He hopes that his tone comes out as friendly and easy-going as intended. “Aren’t you that guy who’s gonna star in the new Samurai show?”

A grin breaks over the man’s face, charming and boyish and perfect for flashing cameras. Despite the expression, however, his hands remain stiffly at his sides, and his posture is tense. “That’s me! And you are?”

“Juan Corrida.” He extends his free hand. “Starring in the upcoming show The Jammin’ Ninja. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

The man shakes his hand. “Pleasure to meet you. Congrats on your role!” He’s meeting Juan’s eyes, but his stare is distant, unfocused.

“You, as well!” He lets their hands drop. “I’m sorry—I saw you in the papers, but I don’t remember your name.”

The man’s smile drops for half a second before it returns again, this time sickly sweet and coyish. “Matt Engarde.” His tone is softer as well, more effeminate. He doesn’t say anything else.

Juan is caught off-guard by this, and he’s not sure what to think of the sudden change in demeanor. He’s suddenly aware of how awkward the positioning of his limbs feel, and the fact that he’s still holding that empty cup. Figuring it would be odd to simply nod and walk away without another word, he wracks his brain for anything else he could add. “Well. It caught my eye because one of my favorite actors of all time had a big role in the previous installment.”

The new show had caught his eye, all right. It was an instinctively bitter reaction; after the tragedy that took Jack Hammer, it was hard to feel any sort of fondness for some flashy new sequel. Still, it’s a personal grudge that isn’t fair to take out on some up-and-coming kid.

He’s about to make his escape with a final compliment and an encouraging statement, but what he’d said had apparently struck some sort of a chord with Engarde. Engarde lights up, hands flying to his chest and a more genuine smile appearing on his face.

“Oh? And who was that? Did you watch the old show? Are you going to watch the new one?”

He honestly hadn’t been planning on hanging around for long. Just a quick friendly greeting would have done it. But at risk of seeming rude, he chuckles and shifts his weight. “Yeah, for sure.” He pauses. “The actor was Jack Hammer.”

[scarlettlawyer]

This is fanfiction of a fanfiction! Specifically, the Phantoms and Mirages fanfiction series by Meowzy (renegadewangs on tumblr), which can be found over at AO3! This post’s fic contains SPOILERS for the series up until the end of Lifting Spirits, the fourth installment. If you have not read the Phantoms & Mirages series up until at least the end of Lifting Spirits, it will not make a lick of sense to you either! So I would highly recommend checking the series out first if you would like to give this post a read. I would still recommend checking it out if you don’t want to give this post a read too! :P

Anyway here is the little thing I wrote just in case others would like to read it :)

-------------------

Date: December 25th 2028 Time: 10:14 AM Location: Wright Anything Agency.

It was Christmas morning, and it had been six days since his client had been handed down the death sentence in court.

The execution had already been carried out, he’d heard. Just as swiftly as the court’s verdict promised.

Phoenix Wright wasn’t feeling especially festive, but it was Christmas, so putting a smile on his face and doing his best to carry on as usual was the least he could do. He had to, at least for Trucy’s sake. It wouldn’t be fair to let recent grim events detract from her celebrating and enjoying today.

But he supposed he couldn’t act like this was just like any other Christmas, either. They’d rarely seen Athena in the past few days – she had taken the outcome of the trial especially hard.

And Apollo…

There’d been friction as of late. That was undeniable, and impossible to avoid. He’d starkly disagreed with his and Athena’s actions starting back when they’d acted as the Phantom’s defense team, but he’d soon learned afterwards how that had all been a ploy, and then Apollo had quickly understood, any discontent completely washed away.

It had been for a good cause, after all – to ensure that the spy known as Mirage was caught and faced justice. The Phantom’s role in that trial had only been relevant insofar as it had furthered that goal; it had nothing to do with Phoenix and Athena actually supporting him or advocating on his behalf outside of that. Once Apollo realised that, he’d been at ease once more and all was well.

The trial for Alexander Luster Jr., though, that was different. There was no ploy; it was a completely genuine and earnest attempt to seek a second chance to be granted for a man to turn his life around for the better, and for him to have a future. Athena and Phoenix had actively chosen to stand by that man’s side and fight for his second chance.

And that core stance was the source of the fundamental and insurmountable disagreement between Apollo and the two of them. Apollo could not, and would not understand their decision to advocate for that second chance. Phoenix couldn’t entirely blame him, and it would be unfair to expect Apollo to understand.

It didn’t matter now; they’d lost, in the end. Alexander Luster Jr., the Phantom, whatever you wanted to call him, was dead now. Apollo’s stance had ultimately won out and it was the one that the court system had officially endorsed. 

—————- 

Date: December 19th 2028 Time: 12:04 PM Location: District Court – Courtroom No. 4.

He continued to stand by the defense’s bench in the wake of the verdict, motionless and paralysed, as his client was carried away screaming, forced towards his impending death. 

There was nothing Phoenix could do but stand there uselessly. His mind was blank as the chaos went on around him.

And just like that, his client had been taken away, but the impact of the day’s events was still unfolding everywhere in the courtroom.

Whenever he was involved in a case, the court had never really come to the wrong decision before. Even when losing a case, there hadn’t been any issue because it was the correct and just outcome. The only other time the outcome of a trial he’d defended in had felt so utterly wretched and bleak and wrong was when he’d lost his badge.

His badge…

A very dark moment passed over him. If he couldn’t ensure a just outcome, if he couldn’t protect his client, then what was the point? Why stand in court?

He stood frozen, and the sudden mad urge to tear off his badge subsided. There was no way he could cast it aside so easily, not after everything he’d been through. That wouldn’t be right either. He couldn’t do that to Trucy. And Edgeworth had done so much to help him and to get it back.

To throw it all away… it was something he felt that he probably would have done many years ago, if he hadn’t been able to bring Matt Engarde to justice. But this situation wasn’t quite so dire, and back then he hadn’t had a daughter and two apprentices to think about. Back then, he’d never experienced having his badge taken away from him either, hadn’t suffered so much and for so long before he could get it back again.

But ultimately, what did this symbolic representation of his membership to the legal profession even amount to? He’d been proven useless in the end. It was all futile. He was supposed to act as an agent of the law to ensure justice for all. It was supposed to result in justice for everyone, but… Phoenix wasn’t so sure what to think about that anymore.

Still, he had duties that he was bound by. Duties to the people around him, and to carry on with his work… he just needed to make sure he didn’t suddenly find himself entrapped by the very things that used to feel freeing.

Time passed, and the courtroom grew to be practically empty. He didn’t know how long he’d been standing there, but it must have been a while.

He started to walk. It was an aimless gesture with no real intent, hardly paying attention to where his feet might be carrying him.

“Daddy, there you are…! Polly and I, we found-”

“-Athena,” Phoenix said automatically upon catching sight of her. She was looking quite the worse for wear, and Apollo was standing by her side, awkwardly trying to offer support.

“Hey, it’s okay, I’m here for you. It doesn’t have to be like this. You don’t have to be sad. There’s no use crying over him - think of how much the Phantom has taken from us all. He can’t hurt anyone anymore, now. It’s over and it’s best we all move on… There was never really any other way. This was necessary for-”

“You don’t GET to decide when someone’s life ending is NECESSARY, Apollo!”

Apollo started back in shock, Athena’s sudden fierce tone forcing him into silence as she continued.

“Do you think that his death will magically make the past better? Can it undo anything that’s already been done?! Who are you to decide that a human life should be offered up as some kind of,” she waved her hand about wildly, “sacrificial stepping stone for your own personal development to make you feel better? Execution doesn’t bring back the dead. It only adds to the death! Another lifeless body thrown upon the pile.”

Widget had turned from dark blue to red in a flash at Apollo’s words, before reverting back to a deep blue once more. Evidently, Apollo hadn’t expected his attempt to console her to be met with such defiant anger. After a few moments, his response came, unusually quiet, but firm and resolute.

“You’re right. It’s not for me to decide. It’s for the courts to decide. And a conclusion has already been reached for this case. It’s not about feeling better – it’s about what’s right, and what needs to be done. It’s about justice. The sooner you see that, the sooner you can heal.”

“You think-,” she broke off, her voice struggling with the effort it took stave off sobs. “You call this justice? Lex – didn’t want – to h-hurt anyone! He just wanted - to live! He was a – new person, and-,” she then shook her head, breathing heavily. “I’ve gotta go.” At that, she rushed out the door.

Apollo sighed, his expression dismayed and stern. “She’s too far gone,” Phoenix heard him mutter to himself.

“Apollo-”

“No, Mr Wright. Do you expect me to feed the idealistic fantasies she’s constructed? Because I can’t. It’s not healthy… For either of us. I just can’t- I mean, don’t you think… things have been hard enough as it is? Every now and then, I still find myself checking my phone on occasion, expecting to see a new message from Clay… Out of habit. Even thinking about that… Phantom is a constant painful reminder. I’m sick of it - I don’t want to have to hear about that killer anymore, and I shouldn’t have to.”

Apollo paused to catch his breath and calm down somewhat, and Phoenix let him.

“’Who am I to decide’…? Who was the Phantom to decide that ending Clay’s life – anyone’s life was necessary? There’s no use… distorting things into such a one-sided picture, because life doesn’t discriminate. It doesn’t matter who you are, in the end. What’s done is done, and everyone needs to be held to equal standards of accountability for their own actions. Isn’t that what justice is? No one is so special that they are above the law, yet even you seem to need reminding of that right now. She should know – and we should know this better than anyone. We’re lawyers. This is how our legal system works!”

Alexander Luster’s final, terrified and desperate screams that had filled the air as he begged and pleaded for his life before he was dragged from the courtroom were still ringing in his mind, branded deeply, haunting him with the horror of a life knowingly about to be cut off. The inherent horror of the awareness there must be, that it was your life at its end, your life that you barely knew.

This is how… their legal system works.

This can’t be right.

It shouldn’t have ended like this. It was his fault. He could have prevented this. He could have done more. He could have saved a life, if he’d just tried harder.

It was all… wrong.

“…I’m sorry, Apollo. This is one case where… we won’t be able to see eye to eye. We don’t have to agree on this; you don’t have to understand. Right now, I think we should just give each other space.”

Apollo’s mouth set in a grim line. “Fine. Next I see you, I hope you’ll have actually regained some of your senses.” And with that, he stormed off.

Maybe Apollo was right, in a sense. Maybe the system was working exactly as it was supposed to. The courts would swallow up input, spit out a result, and whatever that result happened to be the citizens are demanded to gaze upon it and call it “justice”. If it pleased or displeased the masses, then so be it. Maybe, on some level, the idea was that the result didn’t have to make sense. Maybe there just had to be one, so that everyone else would then be free to go home and carry on with their lives, their legal truths set in stone.

—————-

Date: December 25th 2028 Time: 10:21 AM Location: Wright Anything Agency.

The next he did see Apollo after that, neither of them had said a word about the incident.

It would be wrong for Phoenix to hold Apollo’s feelings about it all against him, and he didn’t. Apollo had lost his best friend. And Apollo knew that the verdict had dealt a blow to both Athena and Phoenix. Even if he clearly disapproved and thought that the Phantom wasn’t worth anyone’s time up until the very end, he made a point of doing his best to not say anything that would exacerbate the strain that was present or add any unnecessary grief, after that instance gone awry. It was an unspoken intent to keep the peace amongst them; neither would voice any of the internal thoughts that may upset the other when in their presence.

Lessons had been learned when Apollo had unintentionally overstepped, but Athena had been the first one to apologise when they’d crossed paths the next day. She apologised for yelling at him, and he apologised for unintentionally making things worse, and they were able to leave it at that.

Even so, their interactions had been rather stiff as of late. After all, there was still the uncomfortable fact hanging over the three of them that Apollo was pleased with the very same verdict that had left Athena crying out desperately, even attempting to stop the Interpol agents from taking the former spy away. So much for the Wright Anything Agency all coming together for Christmas…

So there it was: Apollo was happy with the outcome. Athena was devastated. And Phoenix, well…

Phoenix still personally disagreed with Apollo and could not internalise the Judge’s decision as the right one.

So here he was, still a lawyer, on Christmas morning. He was acting cheerful, and so was Trucy. She’d loved her presents, just as Phoenix had hoped, and hugged him enthusiastically as she’d thanked him. But Trucy was a smart girl and must have known not everything was currently as well as it could be, and that relations among the Wright Anything Agency had seen better days. Maybe, to some extent, she was actively injecting enthusiasm into her demeanour for that reason, too.

He just needed to keep staving off the depressing thoughts. He had time… time to come to terms with the verdict, and what it might mean, on some other day. Today was for focusing on family.

Suffice it to say, given everything, he hadn’t been expecting Athena to march right through the door with such lightness and energy to her demeanour.

“Merry Christmas!” she exclaimed, a bright grin settling on her face. She dumped a bag on the floor which Phoenix could see contained some wrapped gifts.

“Merry Christmas, Athena! Good to see you,” Trucy beamed.

“So what’s the go, Boss? I sure hope you’ve got a big Christmas lunch on the way, ‘cause I’m hungry!”

Phoenix rubbed the back of his neck and grinned sheepishly, a little taken off-guard. He hadn’t even had the chance to greet her yet! “W-wait, but if you’re hungry, didn’t you have anything this morning?”

Athena reached up to tap at her earring, causing it to sway. “Well, I did have brunch just earlier with Simon and Bobby, but… The point is, I know I will be hungry once it’s lunchtime!” She thrust a peace sign in Phoenix’s direction and continued, “Big meals are an essential part of Christmas, anyway!”

Phoenix might have thought that she was forcing some kind of cheerful act, were it not for the fact that Widget was glowing green with genuine happiness. But even if it wasn’t for that, he would have been hard-pressed to deny the essential truth that her high spirits seemed to ring with.

“So, um… Where’s Apollo?” she asked, her tone softening a little.

“Ah,” was all Phoenix offered in reply.

“Maybe… you should give him a call? Invite him over. That’s- if he’s not busy with other plans, that is. We can’t have a Wright Anything Agency Christmas party without him, after all.”

“Hah, there’s nothing Polly could be too busy with that he can’t drop it all at a moment’s notice to see us! Isn’t that right, Daddy?” Trucy urged.

“Ahaha, I guess there’s only one way to find out.”

—————-

Date: December 25th 2028 Time: 1:34 PM Location: Wright Anything Agency.

As it turned out, although Apollo was involved in other plans and couldn’t leave immediately, he had promised to be there in the afternoon. He should be arriving any minute, now.

It was strange; Phoenix really hadn’t thought they’d be able to salvage the day to this extent, but here they were. It was just as it should be – everyone was upbeat, Apollo was on his way over, and they could all forget any troubles. Phoenix didn’t need to pretend to be upbeat as they played makeshift games and unwrapped more presents. It was just a shame that Edgeworth wouldn’t be arriving until a bit later, too, but once he did, there’d still be all the rest of the afternoon and the evening to spend together at the Wright Agency Christmas party.

Speaking of which, he’d needed to leave the main room to take a phone call from Edgeworth. It had gone on for longer than planned, and he stopped himself just before stepping back into the room once the call was over, not wanting to intrude on the solemn exchange of words that seemed to be taking place between Athena and Trucy.

“-was so worried. You’re sure you’re okay?” Trucy was saying.

Phoenix hadn’t meant to overhear that, but in truth, this had been nagging at the back of his mind as well. It seemed odd for Athena to have bounced back to normal so quickly… And the worst of times are when lawyers have to force their biggest smiles.

“Don’t worry about me. I’m fine, I promise.”

Trucy nodded. “…Alright, I believe you.”

“Besides, today’s not the day to go around being gloomy… But thank you. It’s touching that you care.”

And when Trucy left the room to get some materials prepared for an elaborate magic trick so it could be ready for Apollo’s arrival, it was Phoenix’s turn to speak to Athena one-on-one.

“I’ve been meaning to ask. You said you had brunch with Blackquill and Agent Fulbright this morning, didn’t you? How… How are they?”

“Ohh…” Athena seemed to think carefully for a moment, searching for the right words. “I think… they’re going to be okay. I think they’re going to be just fine.”

“Hmm…” I’m sorry, he wanted to say, I feel like I let them both down. And I let you down, too. But there was something holding him back. “And what about you?”

“Me? Come on, Boss. I know you heard what I said to Trucy earlier – you’re not that subtle with your eavesdropping, you know. I’m alright, and how could I not be? It’s Christmas Day and I’ve been spending it with my friends.”

Ahh, caught red-handed, it seemed. “But, aren’t you… sad?” he tried. Something still didn’t seem to add up.

“Of course I’m sad–”

… Interesting.

“-but there’s a time and a place for sadness. I don’t want to be all miserable right now. I don’t want to focus on less pleasant things. So, let’s continue enjoying the rest of today. …Mr. Wright?”

“R-Right! You’re right.” His phone beeped. “Ah… Apollo will be here in five minutes.”

In actuality, Apollo arrived in three minutes’ time, bearing presents of his own. After responding to Trucy’s enthusiastic welcome, there was a brief awkward silence when he caught sight of Athena.

“…Hey, Apollo,” she said, holding out a present done up in shiny red wrapping, “got you a gift!”

“Athena! Mr. Wright said you were here, but I thought-,” he shook his head. “…Thank you. Merry Christmas.”

Just like that, everything felt so normal again, among everyone.

It was a crazy thought, but

…Maybe, somehow, everything had all worked out in the end. There was something about Athena’s demeanour that put him at ease, allowing him to trust that all was well… it allowed him to trust in justice.

Maybe, he didn’t quite have the full picture. That was alright with him; he didn’t need to pry any further.

In this case, just the idea of it was enough. 

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Psycho Analysis: Dahlia Hawthorne

WARNING! This review contains MAJOR SPOILERS!

I decided it would be better to branch out into video game villains sooner rather than later, which mostly stemmed from a desire to discuss the villains of the Ace Attorney franchise. Ace Attorney is a series of point-and-click adventure visual novels with logic puzzles, as you must piece together the inconsistencies in the testimony of whatever crazy character you’re cross-examining in court and find flaws in their testimony so that you can ultimately prove the innocence of the client of our lovable protagonist Phoenix Wright (or Apollo Justice, or Athena Cykes, or Miles Edgeworth in one notable instance).

The series is known for having some truly wacky and colorful characters, so of course this extends to the villains, who tend to have incredibly creative breakdowns after you catch them in their lies and reveal them as the killers. However, even at their silliest the major villains tend to be handled a bit more seriously than the one-shot villains in other cases, even if all of them keep the ludicrous levels of hamminess required to even be in the series. What I’m saying is that the big bad tends to be over-the-top, but in a more subdued way than the wildly gesticulating characters around them. And “Over-the-top in a more subdued way” is probably the best way to describe the first video game villain I want to talk about: Dahlia Hawthorne, the overarching villain of Trials & Tribulations, the finale of the original Phoenix Wright saga, and one of the cruelest, pettiest, and most personal foes  Phoenix Wright ever had to deal with.

Motivation/Goals: Dahlia Hawthorne’s criminal career is almost entirely based around covering up her previous crimes. Her first crime was a faked kidnapping that went awry, which led to her faking her own death and then getting the man she seduced, Terry Fawles, framed; when her stepsister and co-conspirator got a change of heart and wanted to confess to her part, Dahlia killed her and then convinced Terry to ingest poison and commit suicide under the guise she would join him, a la Romeo and Juliet; after that she poisoned the coffee of attorney Diego Armando when he investigated her, and then hid the evidence on some hapless dork she bumped into in the courthouse, one Phoenix Wright; after that, she used her identical twin sister to try and get the evidence back so she could destroy it; and when that didn’t work, despite her sister’s feelings for Phoenix, she went ahead and tried to kill him, only to then try and frame him for the murder of another man who had figured out her true nature. Not once in any of this does Dahlia show even a single shred of remorse or exude any sort of sympathetic trait, unlike many villains of the series; no, Dahlia is just a truly monstrous and rotten person to the core. This isn’t even the half of it, mind you; all of this is just backstory, context for her motivation in the game’s present.

Her attempt to frame Phoenix having failed, she was defeated in court by Mia Fey, who would go on to be Phoenix’s mentor, get murdered, and then guide him by occasionally possessing the body of her spirit medium sister (long story). As such, Dahlia held a grudge against Mia, one that lasted even after she was executed. Revenge becomes her prime desire, revenge for finally being trapped after running for so long. It’s a simple motivator to be sure, but considering the kind of person Dahlia is, it makes perfect sense that she would want to harm someone who finally brought an end to her constant killings. 

Out of all the protagonists in the original trilogy. her motivations make her the most personal foe. Of course, Von Karma was also fairly personal, seeing as he was the killer of Edgeworth’s father, but he was only really around for a single case (albeit a very good one). Dahlia’s actions are a shadow that hangs over the game, and that deeply affected Mia, Godot, Phoenix, and even Edgeworth to a lesser extent due to his role as prosecutor on Terry’s trial. While it is pretty arguable that Dahlia is an idiot and an incompetent criminal who has to keep covering up her crimes with succesive murders, it still doesn’t change the fact she has a rather impressive body count, nor does it negate just how much she personally altered the courses of the main character’s lives.

Personality: Dahlia’s personality is where she truly impresses; she exudes an air of sweet, serene kindness at first, easily winning over the entire courtroom save for the defense bench. Everything about her design invokes sweetness and innocence, and this highlighted by the butterflies that flock to her and the peaceful, pretty music that acts as her leitmotif. Of course, seeing as you’ve read this far and seen the massive list of criminal actions she has partaken in, you know that this is a ruse, and it’s even fairly easy to pick up on before the truth is revealed to the player.

Dahlia is most comparable to Hans from Frozen. Both characters are sweet, charming redheads who turn out to be murderous, sociopathic manipulators who do what they do solely out of a desire to gratify themselves. The big difference is while the foreshadowing with Hans ranges from clunky and obscure to nonexistent, the foreshadowing for Dahlia is pretty evident, especially when Mia notes that they’ve met before. Then of course, in the end the big shock isn’t that Dahlia was the villain, it was the true extent of her wickedness. At the game’s start you get an idea that there’s more to her than what you see in the case, but at the end she seems to be little more than the standard starter villain, though even then keen players will note there’s something a bit off about this; she just doesn’t fit the same bill of most other starter villains in the series, as she is far less eccentric and accepts her defeat quite better than, say, Frank Sahwit or Ted Tonate. Then, over the course of the rest of the game, you see the true extent of how evil she was, as she is at least partially responsible for the entire plot of the game due to her poisoning of Diego Armando, the man who would go on to become Godot and oppose Phoenix in court throughout the game. She’s honestly up there with Von Karma as one of the biggest driving forces behind the original trilogy’s storyline. THIS is how you do a twist villain, THIS is how you do a manipulative sociopath. Dahlia is quite frankly everything Hans should have been.

I think it should be noted that Dahlia gets a shadowed court mugshot in the final cases of the game, long after she is dead. This is an oddity for the series, because typically the faces of criminals are shown in the bright colors of the rest of the game. This really shows us two things: one, obviously, is that she is dead, she no longer exists. A similar situation happened with Joe Darke in the bonus case of the first game. The second thing it shows is Dahlia’s true nature; while the other criminals in the games kill for selfish or stupid reasons, sometimes there is a sympathetic motive behind them. With Dahlia, this is not the case. She was always a prideful, twisted, self-serving monster who cared nothing for anyone other than herself. Her heart and soul were black, and she went above and beyond even what twisted villains like Von Karma or Matt Engarde did. She just kept killing and killing and ruining lives all because she felt like she could. And so, ultimately, a featureless, chilling shadowed image truly represents what Dahlia was on the inside.

Final Fate: Dahlia is hanged for her attempt to frame Phoenix Wright for murder, though this doesn’t stop her; after making a deal with her mother, Morgan Fey, that would have allowed her to get revenge by proxy on Mia by possessing the body of her stepsister Pearl and murdering Mia’s little sister Maya, Dahlia is summoned to the mortal plane yet again… and then finds that the entire plan failed, she’s actually being channeled by Maya, and she got one upped by Mia once again. Phoenix and Mia top off this chain of humiliation with one of the most epic “reason you suck” speeches in fiction, one that is just so incredibly awesome that it completely exorcises Dahlia’s spirit from Maya’s body and sends her shrieking with rage back to Hell.

Best Scene: The best moments the villains get in these games are always the breakdowns, and Dahlia probably has the most extravagant and satisfying in the entire series. After everything she did, sending her back to Hell with full knowledge that she is a complete and utter failure who will never be able to get revenge on Mia feels so damn good.

Best Quote: Upon finally being revealed in the final case, how does she introduce herself to the courtroom? “Dahlia Hawthorne. And my current profession? Permanently retired.”

Final Thoughts & Score: There are few villains in the history of video games who are so satisfying to see taken down. Dahlia is just an utterly irredeemable, heartless witch with a capital B… and for that, she gets a 10/10.

There really was no better way to cap off Phoenix Wright’s character arc in the original trilogy than with a foe so personal to him, a foe that ended up bringing him and Mia together and setting into motion the events of the past two games. Without Dahlia, Phoenix could have ended up on a different course in life, despite his best efforts to become an attorney to save Edgeworth, but because of her she pushed him down the path that would lead to the conviction of dozens of criminals, the saving of Miles Edgeworth and numerous others, and the reveal of the black corruption festering in the courtrooms. 

There’s also the way she ties thematically into the overarching moral of the story: revenge is ultimately a pointless endeavor and will consume you, ruining more than it helps. Dahlia kept on killing and killing in her quest to seek vengeance on any who dared to oppose her, and all it did was bring her not only to her own death, but eventually ended up damning her to an eternity in the afterlife existing with the knowledge of her failures. And that final failure also acts as the catalyst for the true killer of the final case to admit their wrongdoing and encourage Phoenix Wright to uncover the truth, so that they can pay for their foolish quest for vengeance that ended up causing more harm than good.

Three games in and they managed to make the absolute pinnacle of thematically appropriate villainy that is ultimately incredibly satisfying to see stripped of their bluster… it’s an incredible feat, and even with the fantastic villains that they’ve created since then, ones that are definitely as evil and impressive in a technical sense, I don’t think they’ll ever again create a villain as wholly satisfying to defeat in court as Dahlia Hawthorne.

[acevillainswhodunnit]

Epilogue 2

Miles Edgeworth, I think to myself, rejects change unlike any other man I’ve met. Despite the fact that it has been over a decade since he last saw me with this face, he carries himself with the same stiff poise at thirty-four as he did at twenty.

“Ms. Yew.”

“That’s not my name,” I drawl, idly studying my plain and trimmed nails. Lana was such a conservative dresser. Simple to maintain, but awfully boring.

“I don’t believe you’ve told me your real one,” Edgeworth replies stonily. “So if you’ll pardon my rudeness, I will address you as Calisto Yew for the time being.” He raises an eyebrow, as if to goad me into objecting. What a ridiculous man.

“I suppose I can put up with that for now,” I reply.

Edgeworth clears his throat. “Now that that’s been settled, I wanted to ask you a few questions.”

“And if I have no interest in answering your questions?”

“You will.” At this, I can’t help glancing up. Edgeworth’s face hasn’t budged an inch, but there’s a surety to his tone. It’s almost smug. “One way or another, I will get answers.”

What a cocky son-of-a-bitch. I laugh, loud. It’s not as full-bodied as it was the last time I went by the name ‘Calisto Yew’, but that’s harder to pull off when you’re cuffed to an interrogation table. “Ask away, then. You won’t like my answers, I can tell you that.”

“We’ll see.” That damn smugness again. “First question: how did you manage to relocate twelve prisoners- one of whom was meant to stay in solitary confinement- all the way to Germany?”

We were starting with this? That incompetent American police force hadn’t changed either, it seems. “Simple: your sister released them.”

Edgeworth’s eyes widen slightly, but he keeps himself in check better than I had expected. “Explain?”

“I meant exactly what I said. Agent von Karma arranged for the transfer of those twelve prisoners to a private institution in Germany. The details couldn’t be revealed to just anyone- Interpol business, you see. Management kindly kept the whole affair under wraps.”

I watch with amusement as the cogs click into place. “I see. You impersonated my sister in order to make use of her connections without anyone asking questions.” He pauses, finger to his temple. “And that’s why, despite your proclaimed grudge against the Von Karmas, you left her unscathed for the duration of the game. You couldn’t risk people noticing her absence and therefore looking into the disappearance of those twelve prisoners.”

I can’t help but grit my teeth. He wasn’t supposed to figure that part out. “Grudge? What are you talking about?”

“Oh don’t play the fool, Ms. Yew. It doesn’t suit you.” Edgeworth smirks, ever so slightly. “The survivors of your game were more than happy to elaborate on your supposed ‘revenge quest’. It was a trivial matter to make the connection between that plan and the old estate.”

Daryan and Alita had blabbed, huh? I knew I should have killed them when I had the chance. “Don’t be ridiculous. A grudge against the Von Karmas? I’ve hardly met any of them, aside from your sister. And you, I suppose. Would you say I have a burning desire to exact revenge against you, Miles Edgeworth?”

“Not quite. But that does bring me to my second question: how did you discover Manfred von Karma’s involvement in your smuggling ring?”

If his first deduction was a blow to my expectations, this was a blow to my ego. I can’t feign ignorance to this question- I know he’s seen my reaction. “Define involvement.”

“I believe I was supposed to be the one asking questions?” Edgeworth replies wryly. “But if you need proof- investigation may be a better term. He had been looking into your cocoon smuggling operation for a few months before he was arrested, and left ample documentation of his findings in his family home. Of course, being the paranoid and meticulous person that he was, no one knew about his investigation until long after his death.”

“So how did I manage to find out?”

“That was my question, yes.”

I suppose there was no point in keeping this secret to myself any longer. “People talk. Especially when a name as infamous as Von Karma’s is the subject. I only found out about his snooping a few months after his death, when it was too late to exact revenge the usual way.” I lean back in my chair, sighing dramatically. “The evidence I planted was meant to make people believe he was assisting the smuggling ring, not uncovering it, but it seems I underestimated your deductive skills. Congratulations, Edgeworth.”

Another faint smirk. “It was my pleasure. And I’m sure you’ll be happy to know I’ve uncovered the reason you chose those twelve prisoners as well.”

“What?”

“It was difficult to make the connection at first,” Edgeworth continues, as if I hadn’t spoken. The nerve of this man! “But once we looked into their individual backgrounds, it was fairly obvious.”

I scoff. “Obvious? Don’t get too cocky now.”

Edgeworth doesn’t even have the decency to reply. Instead, he pulls out a manila envelope and begins to read excerpts from it. “Alita Tiala and Furio Tigre both had ties to powerful mafia families in their respective regions. Yanni Yogi and Cammy Meele were known for providing discreet transport and travel assistance. Redd White and Dee Vasquez were early participants- it’s how they boosted their fame and fortune. Daryan Crescend and Luke Atmey had crossed paths with you in the past during their detective work, and the latter was willing to look the other way as he committed his own crimes. Mimi Miney was struggling after the death of her sister and turned to your operation to get back on her feet, and the same went for Matt Engarde after his release from prison two years ago. Morgan Fey was chosen not for any former connection, but because she would be a useful ally if you needed the power of a medium during your game. And finally, Lana Skye would have had the most authority and simultaneously the least presence in the house. You could cover any knowledge you had about the game as anecdotes from Ema Skye, and using Lana’s identity also continued the redd herring of Phoenix Wright’s connection to the others.” He stops to push up his glasses. I can hardly breath from my rage. “Well? Did I miss anything?”

I stare back at him in silence, unwilling to give him anything else.

“I see. Thank you for the confirmation.” He puts the folder away.

“You can believe what you want. You’ll never know for sure,” I manage to say, pulling up a sneer.

“That’s where you’re wrong, Ms. Yew. I’m absolutely certain of this.” As he sits back up to face me, I catch a glimpse of something green in his hand before he slips it into his suit pocket. “If I could ask one more question, we can finish here.”

“Well, if we must.”

“I’m afraid so. Final question: why put in all this effort? Why go to such lengths to set up an elaborate, risky, copycat competition when you could have just killed your targets at any time?” He leans in slightly, eyes gleaming with desperation. “Why make it a game?”

I laugh, high and resounding from the bottom of my heart. Now this, this I could answer and leave him dissatisfied. I know he will never accept my words, despite them being the absolute truth. “Because it was fun, of course!”

[ladyloveandjustice]

JFA THE FINAL CASE THE FINALE

Mia basically tells Phoenix he is powered by friendship and its his strongest weapon. SHE AGREES WITH ME HE IS A MAGICAL GIRL.

Will Powers on the stand convinced Phoenix is going to accuse him of murder because THAT’S WHAT YOU DO TO WITNESSES I’VE SEEN IT.  Miles says: “I will personally talk to the defense later” He did this in DD too didn’t he. The whole “Don’t worry I will scold my troublesome husband” bit. This is where it started. Amazing.

Never forget that Phoenix just threw a cell phone. Across the courtroom. At Edgeworth’s head. Yelling “EDGEWORTH CATCH.” This happened in a court of law.

Gumshoe: I’M COMING PAL AS FAST AS I CAN

Miles: Wait, get here in one piece-

GUMSHOE: NOPE I’M RUNNING ALL THE RED LIGHTS  *immediately crashes*

Miles: THE FUCK DID I JUST SAY.

Fortunately Franziska is a weirdo who puts tracking devices on her subordinates so we get can get her to come to the rescue.

Back to the trial and hey we COULD get a not guilty if we wanted but Phoenix CAN’T BETRAY EDGEWORTH’S TRUST… then he’s like “His…trust? I never thought about it till now. I…I….I trust him?”

My friend was actually playing this part when I lent her the game and we voiced characters and when I did Mia’s “Yes. You do.” Response here I made sure to do it in a COMPLETELY DONE voice because she looks so done. This was Phoenix’s internal monologue too so she just must have been able to read it on his face or something “YES PHOENIX YOU ARE STILL INTO HIM THAT HAS BEEN OBVIOUS TO EVERYONE FOREVER. My sister has been kidnapped can you DO YOUR GAY AGONIZING LATER???” It’s so hard to be Mia.

Miles: THE TRUTH IS THE BEST I LOVE THE TRUTH I WANT TO MAKE OUT WITH THE TRUTH TRUUUUUTH I WILL NEVER BETRAY YOU I WILLL DO MY JOB AS A PROSECUTOR THE END-

Phoenix: Edgeworth this guy will kill Maya

Miles: shit. well okay fuck the truth. the prosecution rests.

Phoenix: WAIT SUDDENLY THE TRUTH IS VERY IMPORTANT TO ME,

Miles: FUCKING-

Franziska crashes in to saaaaave the day. Despite having been shot yesterday.

When she whips the judge Miles is all “lol she always has u in her sights” and then later happily informs us she’s probably beating the shit out of Matt Engarde (GOOD) he’s so weirdly proud of her violence.

De Killer does his little “I’ll return your item” thing to Phoenix and Maya SCREAMS AT THE TERRIFYING ASSASSIN “wtf I AM NOT AN ITEM” you tell him girl.

WOW I totally forgot that this is where Miles started his ~that man~ thing.

But... A man appeared and stood fast against that selfish me. I fought him in my usual manner, and tasted my first defeat. (…)_ No matter how desperate the situation... instead of giving up like most people, that man would hold strong with his undying faith. And then, before I knew it... I began to trust in that man as well.

HE’S LITERALLY DOING THIS RIGHT IN FRONT OF PHOENIX. I’m just imagining Phoenix being like “Uh, Edgeworth who is this guy???? Are...are you talking about me???”

“YES I’M TALKING ABOUT YOU WRIGHT OBVIOUSLY. I’M TRYING TO BE POETIC”

“how is not saying my name poetic”

“IT JUST IS”

Maya’s baaaaaack. And informs us if she had died she would just haunt Phoenix forever through Pearl I love her so much

Edgeworth: Maya...

Maya: Oh, Mr. Edgeworth.

Edgeworth: Um... I'm relieved you're alright.

Maya: Hey... It looks like you've made some real progress, Mr. Edgeworth!

Edgeworth: Umm... Well, I suppose I'm a little different from who I was a year ago.

Maya: Heh...

Seriously their friendship is so cute and underrated.  She like “U APPEAR TO BE TAKING MY ADVICE ABOUT THOSE BABY STEPS GOOD JOB I’M SO PROUD”.

Maya’s first order of business is to eat all the food and it’s gonna be GOURMET FOOD because THE KIDNAPPING INTERRUPTED HER FEASTING AND THIS WILL NOT STAND.

Phoenix calls Maya a glutton SHE WAS JUST STARVED FOR TWO DAYS PHOENIX THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS “TOO MUCH FOOD” here.

Maya’s like “wow I’ve escaped death three times now lol I’m invincible” THAT’S RIGHT BBY. DEATH IS NOTHING TO MAYA FEY

Phoenix doesn’t know how ~express his feelings~ to Edgeworth so he settles for giving him a whip.

And thus we initiate AWKWARD SIBLING CONVERSATION. God Franziska is such a good character. She is such a ball of conflicted feelings and…agh. Like there’s so much in this conversation like her feelings of abandonment and  she just wants to be acknowledged so badly by people and even Miles just sort of ignored her and didn’t treat her like a rival or equal because he was wrapped up in his own shit. 

It’s pretty clear from how she talks she both just really wants the attention of her remaining family but also resents him so much after being pitted against him for years thanks to her father…She had to work so hard and also pretend it was all easy for her and she was confident and just felt inadequate the whole time…and her emphasis on “that “girl” you left behind….” Indicates she  felt there was gender component to how her father neglected her and why people weren’t noticing her…

THERE’S TOO MUCH TO SAY ABOUT HER I CAN’T DO IT RIGHT NOW. I GUESS I’LL JUST SUMMARIZE THEIR CONVERSATION.

Franziska:  BEING RAISED BY AN ASSHOLE DAD AND BEING CRUSHED BY ALL THE EXPECTATIONS HAS FUCKED ME UP MILES. HE MAY BE A GENIUS BUT I’M NOT BUT STILL I HAD TO BE (ok but. U did become a prosecutor at 13 Fran. Most people would consider that enough to qualify as a genius.)

Miles: Franziska I too am fucked up. But look here’s your whip back just be a prosecutor and think about the TRU-

Franziska: OH MY GOD SHUT UP I HATE YOU.

Miles: k

Franziska: YOU JUST LEFT ME BEHIND MILES EDGEWORTH. LEFT ME BEHIND WITH MY SHITTY FAMILY AND HAVING TO MEASURE UP TO MY DAD’S WEIRD OBSESSION WITH YOU AND YOU DIDN’T THINK ABOUT ME AT ALL. NO WHAT DO YOU DO, JUST FUCK OFF TO GO FLIRT WITH SOME DEFENSE ATTORNEY JESUS CHRIST. I WANTED TO KICK YOUR BOYFRIEND’S ASS AND THUS FINALLY TRIUMPH OVER YOU and have revenge BUT NOOOOO

Miles: Huh you’ve given like ten different motivations for your revenge you are an extremely complex person I guess

Franziska: I CAN’T THROW AWAY WHO I AM

Miles: Okay but have you considered dating Adrian Andrews.

Franziska: what

Miles: her girlfriend’s dead and I think you guys would get along

Franziska: what does this have to do with anything

Miles: Well I’m pretty sure Wright’s forgiven me and I want you to be happy too…

Franziska: WE ARE NOT HAVING THIS CONVERSATION

Miles: Okay well. I’m not going to stop being a prosecutor ever again except well actually I WILL quit for a while in my spinoff game for a while and it will really piss you off

Franziska: what

Miles: anyway if we’re not prosecutors we’ll probably never interact because we’re both shit at communicating. So if you stop THIS IS WHERE WE PART WAYS

Franziska: *cries* NO IT ISN’T BECAUSE I’M NOT GONNA BE IN YOUR SHADOW FOREVER YOU JERK SOMEDAY I’M GOING TO KICK YOUR ASS SO HARD THE ROAD TO KICKING YOUR ASS BEGINS NOW

Miles: Yaaaaay that makes me happy.

AND SO WE END OUR GAME. I am very fond.

I’ve covered all the anime was s’posed to cover, so I guess I’ll binge the rest of the anime real fast like, just to sate my curiosity.

I can’t really go directly to the third game bc my friend’s borrowing it rn so that will have to do.

[kijimha]

NOOOO DONT COMPARE ME TO MANSPREAD VON KARMA....

AND YEAH!!! like klaviers story is soo related to kristoph but not the way around. but like hello? theyre siblings? they lived together for a long ass time? if capcom wont give us gavin bros content we'll have to fucking MAKE IT!!!!

And im so unwell about characters thatbhave barely any lore. nahyuta... (well he does have lore but also im still going flesh her out)... enoch drebber... matt engarde... patricia roland\fifi laguarde... capcom when i catch you

from one kristoph kin to another: YOU GET IT i love how you portray your kristoph blog so much i am shaking you by the shoulders /silly

I LOVE HIM. YOU GET ME. AUUXUDH HES SO INSANE I LOVE HIM. he makes me so so sick. i love making his story more intertwined with klavier because in AA he was very independant from him... not on my watch. wags finger

[dragonscanbeplantstoo]

Oil & Sky: echoes from the trash

Engarde

Corin folds his legs up and props his chin on his hand, his own stretching forgotten as he watches Zorion raise his left leg vertically over his head, opposite hand just touching the barre for balance. He is wearing gray knit running shoes, and the soles make a protesting squeak as he rises up on his toe. The moments he hovers are tense and improbable, like a brown leaf on a green tree, or a cello string in that fine place between tuned and snapped. Zori folds his leg in and returns to his heels in a single controlled motion. Corin is impressed, as always. Less so than he might usually be, if he weren’t so distracted.

“Zori, why hasn’t she called?” He whines.

Zori gets down on the floor and reaches for his feet. “We’re stretching, Corr.”

Corin sighs and reaches for his own feet, catching the toes of his trainers. Zori is folded entirely in half, his Michelangelo face resting against one of his double-jointed knees. Corin stares. He is plenty trim and athletic from running, swimming, and genetics, but Zori is sinuous into the most elusive corners of the body; edges of hips and between rib-bones. He is wearing a Metallica hoodie over his tights, and even through the sleeves Corin can see the deep curve of his deltoid and bicep. That sweater is the same deep matte black as the tiny hairs that wisp around Maeva’s temple and ears. Zori rolls one eye Corin’s way.

“Are you worrying about the painter or being a bi-saster again?”

“Uh…” Corin blinks, “both.”

“It’s only been like two days. She’s probably busy figuring out how to paint left-handed.” Zori sweeps his legs out into a split, and it’s a little too beautiful for the eye to take in.

Corin looks away. “I would have called me.”

“I don’t get the impression that you two are particularly alike.”

“That’s like asking if you and I are alike.”

“Well there you have it. I would be more worried about my own finals than your pretty face.”

“Then you need to hand in your bi-saster card.”

“Fair point. Maybe she doesn’t think you’re that pretty.”

“You think so?” Corin shrugs. “I suppose anything is possible.”

They both turn to look as the classroom door swings open and their professor appears, a delicate stage foil propped on her shoulder, first-years pushing a rack of similar weapons behind her. The students begin rising up off the floor and migrating to the barre on that side of the room. Zori discards his hoodie by their bags, and Corin reluctantly folds his scarf on top. They pad over to the rest of the group. Choreographed combat classes are a requirement for anyone who’s major involves a stage, so the group is an even mix of third-year dancers, singers, and actors. The former easily picked out by their tights and swan’s-neck posture, the latter two blending more easily together. Corin and Zori stand out as second-years because their eyes are slightly less tired and they look slightly less on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Already this class has seen the effects of the purge—in Corin’s absence they were reduced from a nice round twenty-two to an awkward thirteen. Their faces remind him that he hasn’t been to see his academic advisor since his return. Their faces make him want to continue avoiding it at all costs.  

“Alright, my little ones.” Professor Rajanna pats the sword rack with one of her hide gloves. “Today is the day.”

Corin murmurs to Zori, “today is the day you humiliate me.”

“Only because I have to.” Zori elbows him.

“…I want to see nice clean footwork, be aware of where you put your weapon today, not just thrusting out into the heavens and hoping you don’t kill someone…”

Corin counts through the beats in his head. One, two, three, four. Parry, step, strike, turn. Five, six, even, eight. Strike, miss, stumble, block. He pauses in his next count—he can’t remember the order of strikes.

“Does anyone have any lingering questions about the choreography?” Professor Rajanna asks.

“I do,” Corin says, “for the losing side, the strike combination in the middle has two thrusts, right?”

“Yes, and that reminds me,” She holds her foil out. “When you make that second thrust, I want you to disengage your thumb beforehand, so that when your partner wraps your blade, you’ll be ready to release it. No broken fingers today, little ones. Off you go.”

Zori brings Corin a foil, and they rush to catch a spot near the mirrors. Professor Rajanna is already floating through the room, yelling at people to stay far enough apart. Zori holds his foil up in front of his face and bounces airily from foot to foot.

“You ready?” He asks.

Corin gets into the starting stance. “As I’ll ever be.”

This class always seems to be the last on his list of priorities. This week he’d literally thrown a dorm party rather than practice enough times to get an instinctive grasp of the steps. Zori makes the first lunge, liquid grace, a silvery flash, and Corin is a half-beat behind him. He can hear it in the movement of their swords. The swish of Zori’s foil always ends a second before the satisfying clang of blades meeting. Five, six, seven. Corin trips over his own feet and snatches the sword up to catch Zori’s downward strike.

“Oh, there’s life in him after all.” Zori teases, bearing down.

Corin’s sword makes a long screech as he turns out of the block and starts backing Zori up with strikes and thrusts. One, two, three, four. Zori makes the most graceful ankle-roll in existence, his off hand flitted out to the side. Corin braces himself for the turn of the fight—Zori leaping the distance between them, slashing Corin back onto his heels. Whenever Zori does a thrust he pops up onto one foot, making it into a cute little arabesque. When his sword launches from his hand, Corin tumbles appropriately into the hardwood, his knuckles cast across his cheek.

“Don’t hurt me, Zori!” He cries, “who ever would sing you to sleep?”

Through his hand he can see Zori pausing, see the next pair over giving them a quizzical look. Corin can’t hold back the laugh. In his moment of hesitation, Zori’s eyes narrow, and he makes a snarling smile.

“There’s always Tristan.” And he punches the sword into the floor by Corin’s bicep.

“Tristan?” Corin looks between the sword and his friend. “That’s cold, Zori.”

“Eh, he was the only other tenor I could think of.” Zori reaches to help him up.

Corin stretches his hand up without thinking, and Zori’s fingers brush the inside of his wrist, dig into the scars through the fabric of his shirt. Something crawls up Corin’s arm, spreads through his chest and his shoulders. He pulls out of Zori’s grip and rubs his arm.

“Corr, I’m so sorry.” Zori’s voice is thick and dusky “Do they still hurt?”

“No, no, it’s okay.” Corin takes his hand back. “They just feel weird. Don’t worry about it, okay?” He smiles.

Zori smiles half-mast. “Okay.”

Corin squeezes his hand. “Come on, let’s do it again. I’m still not as fast as you.”

They start again. Their timing is better and the counts come faster, but Corin is never going to be as quick as Zori. His physicality is incredible, the speed at which he can coordiZori his limbs from one pose to another. The seamless, mindless way he puts flourish into his important motions. The professor stops to watch them, and he turns it up even further. Corin has to physically pause mid-strike to process the elegance of Zori’s parrying pose. He looks like he’s about to break into a Flamenco. Corin sees Professor Rajanna raise an eyebrow and hurries to shake off the gay, pushing his sword carefully into the next position.

“Pause for a second, Corin.” Professor Rajanna says.

Corin lowers his foil. “I’m sorry, I got distracted.”  

He eyes Zori. Zori sticks his tongue out.

Professor Rajanna laughs, “oh, dear, I don’t mean that. You know your steps very well, and you two have a good flow going, but your energy is very contained, close to your body. There’s no sense of forward motion.”

“I didn’t notice that.” Zori says.

“It’s hard to notice someone’s energy when they’re pointing a sword at your face. Here, Zori, the first strike combination. And, go.”

Professor Rajanna performs the series of slashes and thrusts that back Zori up with bone-deep precision. She isn’t a dancer, her background is in Shakespearian theatre, so she doesn’t have the same sparkle to her motions as he does. But she has violence. Stark and anxious, all in the snap of her elbow and the forward tilt of her body.

She lowers her sword, and like that, the violence is gone. She turns to Corin. “Do you see the advance? Yes? Good. Go, go, crawl on top of him.”

Corin looks at Zori. Zori looks back. In that glance, they make a mutual decision not to comment or laugh. Later, Zori’s honeybee-brown eyes say. Later, Corin’s sky-blue eyes agree.

Corin tries the advance again, trying to push his energy forward, add snap to his strikes like Professor Rajanna had. When they stop to look at her, both he and Zori are breathless.

“Hmmm.” Professor Rajanna turns her long braid over her shoulder. “Better, but I still feel you’re cold, Corin. Your attitude is very removed, and I can’t think of a single tenor role where the character is removed from his opponent, can you?”

Corin laughs. “No, they’re usually angry to the point of madness.”

“Then you must communicate that. You must channel the anger through both your voice and your motions.” She looks between him and Zori. “You two are quite good friends, right?”

“Best friends.” Zori says.  

“Best friends.” Corin nods.

“Oh, well, best friends like lovers, fight a lot. When did you last fight?”

Corin frowns. Zori frowns back at him. The last fight Corin remembers having with a friend was Alex, and even then, he was so high that he doesn’t remember feeling angry, just that Alex was yelling at him about drugs. But he and Zori have never fought. He and Quentin have never fought. Corin has never seen the point in fighting with his friends when he could just ask them to do things, and do as they ask. Zori as well, doesn’t ask for very much.

“I don’t think we ever have.” Corin says.

“I can’t think of anything either.” Zori says. “I mean, Alex and I fight all the time, but you never give me a reason to fight with you.”

Corin wonders why Alex had thought drugs a good reason for fighting, while Zori hadn’t.

Professor Rajanna sighs. “You’re a sweet thing, Corin. Anger is going to be hard for you.”

“I don’t know, I’m good at acting angry when I sing, aren’t I?” Corin checks with Zori.

“Yeah, of course you are. When you were practicing that one song last year you were giving me nightmares.”

“Perfect!” Professor Rajanna claps her gloves together. “Sing me something furious, then attack Zori with that same energy!”

“Mhmmm, I’m going to die.” Zori says. “Cool. I didn’t want to go to my repertoire class anyway.”

Corin wracks his brain for something quick to rattle off, but all he can think of is the recitative that Don Giovanni sings right before the opening sword fight. It’s not within his voice type, but whatever. He knows the words, the notes, and the story behind them. He holds up his sword and glares at Zori.

“Attendi, se vuoi morir…”

Zori’s eyes widen, and Corin strikes at that moment. Don Giovanni is angry that a woman has turned him down. That never happens to him. The very idea is absurd. And now Zori (or Il Commendatore, in the opera) is preventing his escape from humiliation. He blocks the strike that turns the fight, putting more pressure on Zori’s arm than strictly necessary. Their swords make a low grinding noise, and Professor Rajanna claps her gloves together.

“Perfect. You feel that, don’t you? The tension that wasn’t there before?” She knocks her fists together in demonstration.

Corin nods, “absolutely.”

“Definitely feel it.” Zori says.

“Keep that feeling even as he overtakes you, Corin. Resist the steps and let Zori push you.”

“Will do.”

It’s definitely more difficult to keep his character in mind as he purposely reels back, but he does as the professor said and lets Zori push on him, humming the music to the opera under his breath. He falls, Zori stabs at him, so dies Don Giovanni. If it had gone this way in the opera, the rest of the story would have been extremely boring. Above him, Zori laughs from his stomach.

“Ah! già cade il sciagurato! Affannosa e agonizzante—”  

“No, no!” Corin claps his hands over his ears. “Stop that, Jesus Christ!”

Zori may have the right Fach type for Don Giovanni—baritone, the most common male voice—but he sings loud and thin and horribly off-key. Corin growls and kicks at him. His ears are going to be shot for the rest of the day after hearing that garbage.

Zori is clutching his stomach from laughing so hard when Corin finally gets to his feet.

“I can’t believe you just did that.” Corin says. “Now if Maeva calls me I won’t be able to hear her.”

“Oh it was not that bad.”

One of the third-year baritones calls from across the room. “It was pretty bad, Zori. Corin, though, you made it work. I’ve never heard a tenor try that.”

“Thanks.” Corin smiles. “I’m sure if I had to project it though the tone would be shit.”

Zori gives Corin a low look, but Corin just shrugs. Most baritone songs are well-enough within his range that he probably could project them through an auditorium and be fine, good even, but that isn’t how opera works. A singer’s type is their type for a reason. Trying to sing outside of it is asking the fates for vocal trouble. Corin has had enough vocal trouble. He looks at Zori.

“One more time for good measure?”  

Zori holds up his sword, “Oh, for good measure.”  

They do the first couple of strikes, and it’s easier to keep their rhythm this time. Corin laughs to himself.

“Remind me never to ask you to do backup vocals for the band.” He says over the clang of their swords.

Zori laughs. “Speaking of, where are we at with the band?”

“I’m not sure what you mean?” Corin lunges, “Our practices have been fine, don’t you think?”

“No I mean, what’s happening after you graduate?” Zori slips away from the thrust. “Is it over? Are you going to La Scala?”

“I’m not in La Scala yet.” Corin dashes Zori’s sword away a little harder than necessary.

“Ok, that’s a premature question, sorry.” Zori says. “I guess I just want a sense of what you’re leaning towards. I know Quentin is married to the band. He’s ready to throw his degree out the window.”

“Yeah, I know.” Corin murmurs, thinking of Quentin’s enthusiasm in their last rehearsal. “I just haven’t been able to think about it much right now.”

“Okay, well if you want to talk it through, I’m around.”

“Sure.” Corin makes his fall.

The truth of it is, he’s still avoiding thinking about his world after graduation. He wants La Scala, he’s wanted it for fifteen years, and this year is no exception. But when he cradles his microphone, he feels a love like he’s never felt before, tunneling from his chest all the way down to his gut, warm in his cheeks and the tips of his fingers. If he starts to think about it, he gets a flutter in his breath and a powerful desire for oblivion.  

Professor Rajanna claps her hands to end the class, and Corin takes their foils back to the rack. Zori offers him his scarf when he returns. Corin loops it twice around his throat, cuddling it under his chin for a moment. It’s a soft, safe moment. He sweeps up his bag and fishes his phone out. No missed calls. No Maeva.

“She’s just busy, Corr.” Zori says.

“You mean she doesn’t like me.” He sighs. “I probably said too much and freaked her out that night.”

“Mmm, it’s possible.” Zori says. “You can be kind of intense sometimes. Unless, of course, someone compliments your singing.”

Corin rolls his eyes. “Don’t start with that.”

“I’m just saying, there’s no need to be so modest when you can obviously sing both tenor and baritone characters. Hell, you could probably sing the…whatever is above a tenor.”

“Countertenor.” Corin says. “And yes, maybe, but I’m not going to go around advertising either. It’s egotistical and unprofessional, and singing is not the same as performing.”

“It’s not like it’s never been done. Placido Domingo sang baritone roles.”

“You’re not really about to compare me to Placido Domingo, are you?”

“I don’t know.” Zori shrugs. “Your voice kind of reminds me—”

“He didn’t have a high C.”

“Oh, well excuse me.” Zori laughs. “I’m just saying, you should own your range, don’t hide from it.”

“I’m not hiding from it, I’m staying in my lane.” Corin says. “If I want to use my lower range, I have a microphone. I’m perfectly happy making out with a microphone all day.”

Zori looks at the ceiling and makes an exasperated noise. “See, this is what I’m talking about. Ever since you came back you’ve been set on La Scala, but then you drop lines like that and it sounds like you’re planning to give up on opera altogether. I don’t know what to think.”

“Hey, hey.” Corin stops walking. “I didn’t mean it like that, I was being funny.”

“Of course you were, I just—I’m sorry.”

“Hey, no, talk to me.” Corin takes Zori’s hands and pulls him to a bench on the walkway.  

Zori sits down, his face turned toward their hands. “I know you’re going through a lot, but I wish you would take some time to think about this and at least get an idea, so I understand my options. I mean, should I start applying for companies? Or not bother because we’ll be touring or something next year?”

“Well, you should do whichever one you want, you know we’re behind you either way.”

“No, no, no.” Zori shakes his head. “If I just make up my own mind, and then it’s different than what you all do, I’d be abandoning you. I can’t do that.”

“You can, and you should.” Corin dips his head so he can see into Zori’s face. “You’ve put more work into dancing than you’ll ever put into being a guitarist. To change the path of your life for that is a huge decision,”

Zori glares. “We can all say that, Corr.”

“We’re not talking about all of us, we’re talking about you. Doing what you want for yourself is not abandoning us. If you keep saying that, I’m going to take you to therapy with me.”

“Okay.” Zori murmurs.

He has that twist in his voice that tells Corin he agrees, but doesn’t really believe what he’s saying. Corin sighs and props his forehead against his friend’s.  

“Do what feels right, and don’t worry about me.” He lifts his head and smiles. “I have Italian, but I’ll try to think about it more. See you tonight?”

“Nine P.M.”

Corin squeezes Zori’s hands one more time before he leaves. As he slips through the crowd toward the Ack building, he has to swallow down a ball of tension. He slips his fingers along the edge of his phone, lifts it up. Still no missed calls. Still no Maeva. His chest twists up with an emotion he can’t identify. Whatever it is, it drowns out anything about Zori, the band, or La Scala.

[hccwproductions-blog]

Broken Hardy's vs The Coven- Part 2

As the match returned from commercial, the first thing that could be seen was, in a giant, open field, five figures, dressed in all black, wearing some nice ski-masks, appeared to be pouring gasoline in a very specific pattern…

The camera cut next to the main bedroom of House Hardy, where The Coven had Reby Sky tied to the bed, with a gag in her mouth, and several candles lit around her, as Winter and Ivelisse began mixing several powders and liquids into a bowl, chanting rhythmically as they put in the last part of the spell, causing the mixture to bubble. They then painted an inverted cross on Reby’s forehead, and finished up the chanting, yelling the last words as if something was supposed to happen after they were said.

Nothing did.

Winter and Ivelisse looked at each other, rather confused as to why their spell didn’t work. “I don’t understand! We got all the ingredients, it’s a New Moon, I know, I checked the lunar calendar you bought me for Christmas, we have the virgin, I don’t know what the problem is!” Winter seemed frustrated. That’s when Reby spat the gag out of her mouth, looking at the witches as if they were stupid.

“Virgin?! I have two kids, numbskulls!”

Winter and Ivelisse just looked at each other for a moment, realizing their mistake. “Oh yeah… wait… the kids!” They said in unison, rushing down stairs to try and find the boys.

Back in the forest, the Hardy’s were still hanging upside down, when Vanguard 1 came by.

“WHY ARE YOU TWO JUST HANGING *hic* AROUND?” Said the drone.

“Vangaurd 1! My loyal solider! You must cut us down so that we may continue with the DELETION of the Witches!”

“YEAH YEAH YEAH, WHATEVES” replied Vangaurd 1, a small circular saw coming out of his head, cutting both of the ropes that the Hardy’s had been suspended by. The clearly drunk drone then flew off, guiding the Hardy’s back to the house.

The Coven were just leaving through the front door of the house, carrying Maxel and Wolfie in their arms as they did. Suddenly, The Hardy’s, Flanked by Vangaurd 1, ran up, blocking their path.

“Release the kings! Or you will face the darkness of Deletion, witches!”

The witches both just smirked, tossing the children at the Hardy’s, which they rushed to catch. When they caught the boys, it was revealed that it was just two dolls. When the Hardy’s looked back up at the Coven, they had their staff, and were readying some sort of purple blast to fire at the Hardy Boys. Before it fired, however, suddenly, Skarsgaurd the Dilapidated Boat jumped in front of the blast! Skarsgaurd saved the Hardy Boys!

Winter and Ivelisse dropped the staff, gasping that that didn’t finish of the Hardy Boys. Matt and Jeff finally charged them, finally taking the fight to the witches! The Hardy’s battled the Coven all the way to the shore line, and once they were there, Broken Matt actually threw Winter into the Lake of Reincarnation!

Matt, Jeff, and Ivelisse watched the water, waiting to see who Winter would come back as- they got their answer, as not one person rose from the water, but two.

Katie Lea Burchill and her brother Paul, looking at each other longingly, as they held each other much closer than siblings should ever hold each other. The Hardy’s looked disgusted, and a very jealous Ivelisse pushed them both back into the water.

Winter didn’t come up right away, but Paul did… into his former incarnation of Pirate Paul Burchill!

Pirate Paul walked out of the water, holding his sword and his belt up, walking up to the Hardy Boys.

“Hello.” He said, getting up in their faces as he did, just as Captain Jack Sparrow does in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. “The name’s Paul. Captain Paul Burchill. I seemed to have been marooned here in… where am I exactly?” Paul looked around at the dark North Carolina shoreline. His eyes stopped to look at Jeff Hardy. “You sir! With the face paint. You look like you’d fancy a duel. Engard!” Paul pulled his sword, which was clearly rubber, and everyone just appeared to be more confused.

Suddenly from behind, Senor Benjamin, who was still preparing the battlefield, mowing the lawn, ran over Pirate Paul with lthe lawn mower! Senor Benjamin laughed as Pirate Paul was reduced to nothing and never seen again- only his hat remained.

After that brief interruption, the battle continued, with The Hardy’s and The Coven trading blows all the way into the ring that the Hardy’s had set up for the match. The Hardy’s rolled the Coven into the ring and continued the assault on them. The Coven managed to isolate Jeff in the ring though, by kicking Matt out of the ring. The Coven whippe Jeff Into the corner, but Jeff jumped up and crashed down on them both with Whisper in the Wind! Ivelisse rolled out of the ring as Winter tried to pull herself up in the corner, just as Matt got into the ring on all fours. Jeff used his brother as a launching pad, crashing into Winter with Poetry In Motion! Winter stumbled out of the corner, only to be hit with a Twist of Fate by Matt! Winter was driven into the mat, face first! Then Jeff climbed up and performed the Swanton Bomb! Cover!

1…2…3!

The Hardy Boys retained! Matt and Jeff have defeated the Coven!

Suddenly, out of nowhere, those five guys in skimasked all said into the ring, and began to beat down the Hardy Boys! What the hell was going on?!

The five men stopped the beating to remove their masks. The Young Bucks, Cody Rhodes, Marty Scurll, and…. oh my god, that’s Hangman Page! Hangman Page has joined his Bullet Club brothers in HCCW!

Cody smirked as he crouched over the now unconscious Hardy Boys, lighting a cigar as he did. Cody took a long drag and smirked. “Sorry to interrupt boys. Just wanted to let you know, we’re coming for those titles.”

The Bullet Club got out of the ring and began to walk away, before Cody stopped, and tossed his cigar to the ground on the way out. The Cigar lit the gasoline that had been poured on the ground, and it quickly went up in flames.

The last shot was of the image the flames made. From an aerial view, a flaming Bullet Club logo burned.

Goodnight, everybody.