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Hi I just wanted to say that I love all your Ace Attorney x Slay the Princess Stuff! They're my two favorite games of all time and I really really love the portion the shifting mound says about them too! Really good character analysis! Thank you so much <3

hehehe thank you! I'm glad other people enjoy my brainworms as much as I do

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couldn't get these thoughts out of my head so

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This one has fled her entire life. She ran from her home, from her family, from her memories, even from her language. She will make for an energetic heart.

Do not mourn her. She finally has a place to rest her head.

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I had a rather troubling discussion with a friend last night about the biology implications of Cookie Run lore so here's a comic inspired by it

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This one pursued her goals single-mindedly. She paid no mind to the misery she left in the wake of her determination, for she knew she would be forgiven once she was understood. She will make for a nurturing heart.

She apologises for the pain she has caused you, and has accepted that you will not mourn her.

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This one is guarded. A yolk of terror and sadness hidden within a shell of anger and pride. She will make for a calculating heart.

Do not mourn her. She has surpassed what she had aspired to.

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ohh i love ur persona ace attorney au so much. do you have more on nahyuta ?

OH I ABSOLUTELY DO but there'll be spoilers for P5R involved so I'm putting it under a cut just in case (be prepared for an infodump because I've put SO MUCH THOUGHT into this AU)

so as I said, Nahyuta in this AU takes the place of Akechi, but because he's not the same character, I decided to give him different motivations for doing what he did. He's not pretending to be loyal to the phantom, not plotting against them, not even really caring much about them at all. He does still betray the Phantom Thieves and try to kill Phoenix, but for wholly different reasons.

This is where it becomes VERY convenient that a big part of Nahyuta's character is being a pious monk.

Why does he do what he does? Because he's following the words of the Holy Mother. After all his years of praying, she finally responded! She granted him access to the Metaverse, gave him not one but two Personas to use in battle, and instructed him on what actions to take to grow stronger, strong enough to finally depose the royal family of Khura'in and save his country from the dystopic nightmare it's become. Why wouldn't he follow the words of the god he's been praying to when he finally received a response?

And then, after the fight where he ditches Sun Wukong for Devadatta, reveals his true Metaverse form and tries to kill the Phantom Thieves, much like Akechi/Crow in canon, he's approached by the version of himself that's been sculpted by the mind of the phantom.

A form that mocks him as he desperately pleads his faith, stating that the Holy Mother never noticed his prayers

but Nahyuta's been communicating with something, and has a horrific realisation:

Who's been answering his prayers all this time?

(hint: it's Yaldabaoth)

Much like Akechi did, he activates a door to cut himself and his Shadow self off from the rest of the Thieves to protect them, but unlike what happens in P5R, Phoenix remembers that he has a grappling hook and uses it to snatch Nahyuta to the other side of the door just before it closes. They hear Shadow Nahyuta get devoured by the other smaller Shadows, but Nahyuta's still beat up from their fight, so they leave the Metaverse to get him to a hospital.

Then he disappears. Checks himself out and dips

He seemingly returns to help Apollo and Klavier when Kristoph perverts the world to his preferences, much like how Akechi returned to help Joker and Sumi when Maruki did the same, but instead of the twist being that he was dead all along, Kristoph is just like "Apollo, Nahyuta tried to murder you and then vanished into the night, he's still missing IRL, what makes you think he could just come back with no fanfare and help you"

and sure enough, when Kristoph's illusions are dispelled, Nahyuta is nowhere to be seen...

...at least until he comes back, and explains that he went home, blew the whistle on Queen Ga'ran and successfully got her removed from power, and he's come back to turn himself in for the many crimes he committed at the behest of the phantom and the "Holy Mother". Sure enough, when the Phantom Thieves look it up, they realise he was telling the truth, but he still wants to redeem himself so he willingly goes to prison. And hey, he just saved the characters from having to do Ace Attorney 6!

He may not be able to hear the voice of the Holy Mother anymore, but he's come to understand her will, and that begins with righting the many wrongs he's committed.

suck it capcom i wrote a better nahyuta than you

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I was personally imagining some different characters for some of those slots but if I’m being honest I think yours work way better. I will note I was personally imagining Simon as Sojiro since Metis is such a gimmee for Wakaba, but like you gotta include Gummy somewhere. (Also for some reason for Iwai my brain defaulted to Winfred Kitaki for some reason??? I mean it kinda works but yeah your pick makes way more sense)

Also I’m in love with any variant of the “Eustace is Sebastian’s deadname” headcanon lol. I went into AAI2 blind through the collection version and still vehemently hated that name

Last question before I hit the sack lol, in terms of setting, how much do you imagine being taken from each series?

The setting is the world of Ace Attorney, and I imagine it localised as Japanifornia because that's Fun, but Mementos and the Velvet Room exist and Phoenix goes to it and gets bullied by two little girls

I imagine that Simon Blackquill is the centrepoint of Athena's story, and trying to clear his name is a major aspect of the story, just like it is in canon. When he mentions that his execution is going ahead following the phantom getting exposed/caught, that's the signal that something deeper is going on and it leads to the deep dive into the bottom of Mementos

also in this AU Gumshoe helped investigate the UR-1 incident and fostered Athena because he felt bad for her

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I still haven’t been able to get the PT designs out of my head lol. These are the two series I’m probably the most autistic about so I hope you’re prepared because I’m probably not

In particular I’ve been thinking about how, at least in the order you’ve presented the characters, most of the most obvious antagonists have extremely striking parallels to who they’d be replacing (Morgan’s relationship to Maya is similar to Madarame’s to Yusuke, whatever org hired the Phantom would probably be the exact same type of threat as Medjed, Kristoph and Kamoshida have the same flavour of punchability, etc).

Anyway ever since I noticed this I need to know if that was a consideration when figuring out who’s who

(Also Franzy being Sae is such a wholesome thought to me considering she so vehemently insists she’s Edgeworth’s older sister)

It was absolutely a thought! Not every character has a replacement, because the whole idea of this AU is "Persona 5 Royal happens to Ace Attorney" so Igor and Caroline & Justine stay the same, but as for the rest (and keep in mind this is more about story role/arcana than which character they're most similar to)

Phoenix = Joker

Kay = Morgana (the minibus is Little Thief)

Apollo = Ryuji

Trucy = Ann

Maya = Yusuke

Edgeworth = Makoto

Athena = Futaba

Sebastian = Haru

Nahyuta = Akechi

Klavier = Sumi

Gumshoe = Sojiro

Pearl = Chihaya

Shi-Long Lang = Iwai

Ema Skye = Takemi

Maggey Byrde = Kawakami

Lotta Hart = Ohya

Shaun Fenn = Shinya

Clay Terran = Hifumi

Larry = Mishima

Eddie Fender = Yoshida

Franziska = Sae

Kristoph = Maruki

As for Palace rulers

Zak Gramarye = Kamoshida (his story is about coming back into his daughter's life and trying to take custody of her from Phoenix, his Shadow is a powerful wizard and his Palace is a wizard's tower)

Morgan Fey = Madarame (yeah you got it right lol, her Shadow is the high priestess of her Palace, which is a shrine complex)

Shelly de Killer = Kaneshiro (constantly taunting Edgeworth by avoiding arrest, his Shadow is a vampire and his Palace is a spooky castle)

As I said, Athena = Futaba (her Shadow is a priestess/oracle at an ancient Greek temple)

Excelsius Winner = Mr Okumura (his story is about him pulling strings to get out of prison, his Shadow is a biker gang leader and his Palace is a motorbike race track that's treated like a gladiatorial arena)

As I said, Franziska = Sae (again you got it right! her Shadow is a Lady of the Manor, the manor being her Palace)

The phantom = Shido (since he's the origin of the Dark Age of the Law, and his Shadow is the commander of a fortress palace... an AIR fortress that's a giant blimp)

Eighth Palace is the same as P5R

As I said, Kristoph = Maruki (he doesn't really have a Shadow, but his Palace is the courthouse blown up to massive size, and I imagine its architecture taking inspiration from the designs of Étienne-Louis Boullée)

Have some concept art that I drew before AAI2 got an official localisation

The Greek lettering on Athena's says "GYAXA"

It's also worth mentioning that I imagine for the final Palace/true ending, the player character role switches from Phoenix to Apollo, because in the original game Joker's with Akechi and Sumi and since that'd be Nahyuta and Klavier here, it makes more sense for it to be Apollo since he's the one with actual relationships with them.

also Sebastian is NB in this AU and changed their name to Sebastian when they came out and Capcom can pry this name out of my cold dead hands

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I’m about 4 months late on this but AAAA YOUR AA PHANTOM THIEF DESIGNS ARE SO COOL

I have. A lot I’m curious about, but in the interest of not overwhelming you, all I’ll ask here is if you have any names for the Personas

It's never too late! And as a matter of fact, I do! Here's a breakdown of what each thief's codename is, what magic they use, and their Persona

Phoenix: his codename is Ash, his magic is Bless and his Persona is Vimes (Commander Vimes from the Discworld series)

Kay: her codename is Raven, her magic is Wind and her Persona is Yatagarasu (what else could i give her let's be real)

Apollo: his codename is Sunny, his magic is Fire and his Persona is Icarus (yes, from Greek myth)

Trucy: her codename is Witch, her magic is Electric and her Persona is Titania (from A Midsummer Night's Dream, and yes I know SMT already has a Titania but her design is lame af)

Maya: her codename is Spectre, her magic is Psychokinesis and her Persona is Tomoe (based on Tomoe Gozen, which yes already appeared in Persona 4 but shush, this one's design is tailored to Maya just like Chie's is tailored to her)

Edgeworth: his codename is Chief, his magic is Curse and his Persona is Blakeney (Sir Percy Blakeney aka The Scarlet Pimpernel)

Athena: her codename is Vision, her magic is Support and her Persona is Cassandra (the Trojan priestess cursed to always tell the truth but never be believed)

Sebastian: their codename is Angel, their magic is Ice and their Persona is Erik (the Phantom of the Opera)

Nahyuta: his codename is Shiro, his magic is Almighty and his Persona is Sun Wukong (the Monkey King, at first) and then later Devadatta (an evil figure from Buddhist folklore)

Klavier: his codename is Chroma, his magic is Nuclear and his Persona is Ziryab (a 9th century musician sometimes considered the world's first rock star)

Ask me more and I might explain my thoughts/intentions behind the character and Persona designs :)

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This one is boundless curiosity. She is driven by a constant hunger for knowledge, in hope that she would learn she is not alone. She will make for an inquisitive heart.

Do not mourn her. She has filled the void in her soul.

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This one is joy and exuberance, the strength to smile through the darkest of rainstorms. A light in endless darkness, shining in hope of guiding those she loves to safety. She will make for a hopeful heart.

Do not mourn her. She is finally able to speak her mind.

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This one is passion and justice, the determination to seek truth at any cost, regardless of another's perception of right or wrong. She will make for a voracious heart.

Do not mourn her. She has finally regained what she had lost.

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This one is fury and betrayal. A prisoner of those she trusted, a demon to those who trusted her, robbed of the life she believes she was owed. She will make for a wary heart.

Do not mourn her, for she would not mourn you.

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This one is naivety. She never bore witness to evil or despair whilst she was hidden within the shrinking walls of her shelter. She will make for an innocent heart.

Do not mourn her. She has found the courage to walk a path of her own choosing.

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This one stands between two worlds. Beneath one foot; lush, living grass. Beneath the other; the cold silence of the grave. She will make for an empathetic heart.

Do not mourn her. She has accepted the role she is to play.

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This one seeks justice above all else. The willingness to speak for those whose voices have been stolen, to stand for those who cannot. She will make for an impartial heart.

Do not mourn her. She no longer has a need to fight.