#The Hidden Inheritance

[jundsthoughts]

https://archiveofourown.org/works/63970507/chapters/164088706 @wixenforever @that1notetaker I'm gonna go run away now bye bye! lmfao. Oh this is going to be wild, and I really am sorry for how long it takes me to write proper chapters hahaha.

[abysswalkersknight]

Finished an old WIP! All I remember is that I started this one when Malleus told Deuce about how he was so glad to learn how to wash his clothes.

................

Malleus was glad that Silver was not a prince, it was not something he’d wish upon anyone let alone his dearest charge

and as though it were foreordained, it was the only nail without a sharpened edge. It’s as if I’m watching Lilia’s bat’s pups again

What a soft little thing.

So strong, thought Malleus as it’s soft pink gums happily gnawed on his long finger, the slightest sliver of a pearly white tooth just peeking through and gently scraping against Malleus’s skin, yet so fragile it was. It would take months for that one little tooth to fully emerge, even longer for it to grow alongside nineteen more according to one of Lilia’s voluminous parenting books. It has always baffled the prince with how… weak, humans are, especially as infants. No claws nor teeth to speak of to defend themselves with, couldn’t perform the most basic of magic at all. And just to rub salt into the wound they couldn’t even hold themselves upright without the aid of a guardian, really it was a pitiful sight compared to a young Malleus when he’d just hatched, why, he was spitting green fire the moment his eyes beheld his beloved guardian!

By all means this tiny, minuscule creature shouldn’t even have survived its first week outside its mother, yet somehow the one who snuggles deeper into the dragon’s arms is surviving solely because of his desperate, begging cries for his father’s constant doting attention… And Malleus’s intervention to say boldly, it lives entirely at our mercy. How is one born so vulnerable? Usually this would be seen as an affront to the prince to be in the presence of such a feeble, weak creature, Malleus believed when he was younger that humans were nothing more than mere bugs he could easily squash under his heel, it certainly didn’t help that they shared similar lifespans either, so why would he ever spare a thought for their disgusting, wriggling spawn who couldn’t even lift a measly little finger. Yet it is thanks to Lilia and his peculiar curiosity that now here sits the feared Malleus Draconia, nuzzling one of those very spawn with the gentlest touch and affection he’s never thought he’d ever possess, I suppose even humans can be surprising. 

Speaking of surprises, Malleus was quite glad he had thought ahead of time and visited Lilia’s home in the casual commoner’s clothing he’s miraculously kept hidden from the castle servants as the little one suddenly switched from Malleus’s finger to chew on a part of his pristine white button down shirt ‘my, how bold you are,’ he murmured fondly, caressing the babe’s soft, squishy cheek, Is this the child’s attempt at grooming? Malleus did read somewhere that some humans hold grooming in high regard, especially towards their hair, and how it can be a favoured pastime for close companions. Regrettably it miffed him that he could not return the loving gesture. While he’s now confident enough to hold Silver gently without issue, Malleus will not risk his fangs piercing that fragile skin and harming the small babe, I shall just have to wait until you grow a little older. For now he is perfectly content with being enraptured at the thought of this sweet child holding him in such high esteem, enough to share a pleasant human custom with him despite not knowing of Malleus’s power and status, far better than any wheedling submission and worship he often received from the nobility and senate, although… ‘As far as I’m aware, you're the only one brave enough to sully a royal’s clothing, anyone else would have instantly been burnt to a crisp, hmm?’ Lilia’s infant let out a muffled coo in reply, happily resuming his wet desolation of the fae prince’s shirt, ah, he will have to wash it in the sink before he leaves, lest the servants catch wind of it and start spreading unwelcome rumours, perhaps Lilia will even show him how to properly use that new ‘washing machine’ contraption he had installed? 

‘Ah ha! Found it!’ cried said fae, the pink streaked head suddenly popped out from the kitchen doorway. In his hand he held the tiny implement that’s usually in the infant’s mouth. Cute little auroral eyes widen eagerly at the sound of his father’s voice. Silver paused in his absent chewing, leaving behind a big, slimy stain in the middle of the prince’s shirt while Malleus couldn’t help himself but grimace at the wet feeling, and turned to squeak gleefully for Lilia, his little pudgy arms reaching out for him. ‘aw, did my dear Silver miss me, did he miss me?’ Lilia cooed, the child squealed again, whining impatiently as he began to wriggle in Malleus’s arms, much to the dragon prince’s shock and displeasure 'hmph, and here I thought you were enjoying our sweet cuddle session child’ the prince says, childishly pouting at such clear favouritism from the babe, but he was quickly satiated when Silver settled back down in his lap as Lilia got closer ‘aww, don’t fret dear Malleus it’s only natural that an infant craves his father’s attention’ he says, wiggling his fingers for Silver to play with. Malleus’s frown deepened at the child’s pleased squeals when his guardian gave the babe the human implement, traitor ‘you are aware he had no need of that Lilia, he was just fine using my finger.’ he grumbles, glaring at the human dummy with enough disdain to simper a duke.

Sighing as though they have had this conversation before Lilia pats the prince’s arm as he sweeps the squirming child into his arms much to the prince’s displeasure ‘unfortunately my dear while humans chewing on your limbs hardly leaves a scratch, the same does not apply for other humans or fae for that matter’ subconsciously rubbing his own arm he continues ‘for how weak and frail they are, humans are rather… wild when they want to be Malleus so it's best for young Silver to know not to bite people at rando-ACK!’ Malleus chuckles pleasantly as the old general struggles to free his bangs from the human’s drooly mouth ‘I believe he is disinclined to agree with you Lilia, and rightly so I say’ Malleus then stands and steals the babe back while leaving his old guardian to whine over how gross his precious locks were. 

‘Come Silver, you are now ready to learn the true way to make men kneel before you.’

[thearunadragon]

Tried to make monochromatic illustration. I lack skill in this particular field of art but I tried 🤷🏻‍♀️ only one version is actually monochromatic but y’know

details

pft

[noctusfury]

Did Astrid Inherit Stoick's Axe? (HTTYD 3 Theory)

Hello, everyone! Today we'll dive into another HTTYD 3 topic that's been on my mind for a while now.

It's after I saw this ax.

Like, this seriously surprised me when I first watched this. I was already used to her usual ax, so I thought it'd just be her ax — a gift from Hiccup after losing her other one at the end of RTTE — that she normally fights with, like here. 👇🏻

In the beginning, when the Riders go for one of their many raids to free dragons, we see Astrid fighting with her normal ax.

But in much of the film, we see her using the ax that suspiciously looks like Stoick's ax.

At first, I had thought she was using Hunter axes, but she's been using that ax throughout her fights with the remnants of Drago's minions.

Another example is the scene down below, during their final battle against their foes, we see Astrid with that ax again.

This is seriously making me think that this is Stoick's ax that she inherited, having switched her old ax for his! 👀 Which would be so cool and so touchingly wholesome. 😭

Of course, another option is that she just has another ax on standby made in likeness of Stoick's ax thanks to Gobber. 🤷‍♂️

But I actually really like the idea of Astrid inheriting the ax of her father-in-law. I think it's super wholesome. 🥰😭

What do you guys think? Do you find the theory plausible?

Long Live the Night!

— Noctus Fury

[good-morzan-inheritance-cycle]

So my mom wants to have some of my art printed and hung up (including some creepy clown art I did because she’s weird)

And she asked me to show her some art she might like to have printed and I was super tempted to show her some of my Eragon fanart because it’s in a style she likes.

Just imagine someone walking into my house and just seeing Roran staring at them from the dining table. That would be hilarious.

[thedawningofthehour]

If the fam wake up one day and sudently none of them can remembered their names, what names do you think they would suggest? They are not allowed to name themselves, but they can name others. Draxum is also included btw.

I mean, their colors? Splinter would probably just default to that. Draxum would probably have cringe mythological names ready for them, Norse or otherwise. Like how Bella is named after the Roman goddess of war. (her parents let Drax name her since he invented the process that allowed her to exist in the first place-his first choice, Khutulun, was rejected for obvious reasons)

[tonhalszendvics]

I was reading this wonderful fic, and there was a sentence about dragons and roofs. Odd thing, I just had the talk about this topic with my sibling and my sibling’s roommate the other day.

Me, doing my work, suddenly losing interest: Hey, can a roof withstand a dragon landing on it? My sibling: Depends? How chubby is the dragon? Is its rider on it? Me: Yeah, yeah, I know, its centre of gravity changes then, but does it really matter? Sib: Plus-minus a hundred kilos sometimes matter a lot! Roommate: The roof must be sized for special asymmetric dragon load. If appropriate, you must take the number of heads as a safety factor.

[randomnameless]

@zevfern replied to your post “@zevfern replied to your post “If i may provide a...”:

A whole post to reply to my comment? You shouldn't have 🥰 I wonder if it's possible with magic to replace organs in people's bodies, because in that case Sitri could have been developed like an IV baby and then at some point during her gestation she would have the Crest Stone implanted into her. Buy left does have a heart, it's just not being used, so maybe it's the same case with Sitri? I don’t know, I just don’t want to believe the homunculus theory because it makes Rhea look really shitty (and gives Edelgard serious ammunition to use against her)

​it's because i have many thoughts and the comments aren't long enough lol

TBH the homonculi theory could be a bit fucked up... but then, again, to Nabateans who were also "created" by someone and not "born" (as in Sothis didn't meet a Mr. Sothis and they held hands and what not) I do not think the sheer idea of creating life from scratch is that taboo (or maybe it is since only Sothis is supposed to do it?).

In the most charitable reading, Rhea makes a "being" using her mother's recipe but since she's not her Mother Rhea's "creation" isn't a "full nabatean", then when the "being" wakes up and has a different consciousness than Sothis's, Rhea feels like she failed but, if Citrus is any indication, gives them names and let them live like random humans (or even as her own children).

I think the most "grey" factor could be Rhea's reasons and motivations to create "artificial beings", but someone already pointed out how, irl, we know some people have a baby for, at first, some sort of selfish reasons, like giving a playmate to a first born, rolling for a boy/girl, wanting to have a kid to bring a couple closer, wanting to have a heir, etc, etc.

And yet, wanting to create "a being" to be a vessel for the Goddess isn't, imo, an acceptable reason to, well, "create a being" (maybe that's what Rhea meant by breaking taboos? Or it was the sheer act of mimicking Sothis?) and yet, regardless of the reasons behind those beings's existence, as far as we know for Citrus, when they do not fulfill the role they were created for, instead of throwing them in the trashcan, Rhea loves them as their own beings, supports them as they live in her home and interact with people : aka live.

I'd find this argument rich coming from "devoted fans" especially as it is heavily implied Ionius had children either to get one with a major crest, or said children were a "consequence" of his philandering - dude had 11 I think - and who could "only watch" and close his fist (if you follow the theory that he wasn't the one who foddered them!) when said children were experimented upon.

In a series where sleazebag dads at least had one exposition line about "being good dads to their kids before possession/following an evil cult" (FE7, FE14 and FE17 iirc?) Supreme Leader has nothing of the sort to say about her dad...

Which ultimately leads to the question about what is worse, creating a "tool" and considering "it" like your own child after its birth, or fathering children to use them as tools ?

[malachitezmeyka]

Forever stuck thinking about the parallels between Kuviren and Mingzan no one touch me

[jundsthoughts]

The Flight From Number 4 Privet Drive

Enjoy this 950 word drabble of a scene that I'll eventually finish for The House of Black, my HP fanfic.

Harry barely took a second to look down the stairs before he was taking them two at a time, rushing down as Theo struggled his way up, his wand and a knife brandished at the Dursleys.

“Stay back.” Theo warned, his voice having taken on a low and dangerous quality that he’d never heard nor imaged could come from his friend.

A thrill runs down his pack, hairs all across his arms, back, and neck standing on end as electricity seems to fill the air and adrenaline fills his veins like a rushing fire. He’d only felt truly like this from his near-death experiences in Hogwarts, but he doesn’t have time to figure out why it feels the same. Why Theo’s voice had sparked this reaction in him.

He gets down far enough to gently grab the shoulder of Theo’s wand arm, pulling him up another step as Vernon takes a menacing step closer as Ripper shouts and howls at them from near Marge.

Harry suppresses a full body shudder as Vernon glares up directly at him, as if Theo wasn’t holding deadly weapons toward him. “Boy,” he growls, “get your freak out of my house.” He swallows thickly, doing his best to think of how to get Theo safe.

He didn’t trust Vernon, and especially not Marge, to not hurt him somehow if he did as was asked. That’d only make his own punishment less painful, afterall. His thoughts abruptly shift, though, as Theo nudges him another step up the stairs.

“We have to leave,” his friend says, not looking away from the Dursleys, “now.”

“Why?”

“Because the first escapee of Azkaban is after your life.”

Harry’s head whips around to Petunia as she sucks in a deep shuddering gasp. She’d always been pale, but now she looked sickly, horrified, more than he’d ever seen her. He was entirely sure what Azkaban was, so how would she know? Had his Mum mentioned it at some point? A thousand thoughts run through his head, trying to find some reason for his perfectly normal Aunt Petunia to know more about this than he did.

He couldn’t find any before a loud, explosive, bard crushed through the air. Heavily pounding paws, everyone turning and asking as a massive black hound rushes towards the door. Except, it never reached the doorframe. Instead, a man twisted and melted into and through it in place of the dog. The same black, matted and shaggy, hair was rolling down his head. Wild, gray eyes darted through the entry for only a moment.

They flicked to the huddled form of his Aunts and cousin, a small sneer that quickly disappeared as he looked confused at Vernon who was only now turning to face him. But it turned into a snarl as he saw Theo, which made Harry quickly drag his friend up to the same step. Then the man's eyes settled on him, and a greatly confused flurry of expressions raced across his gaunt and drawn features. Confusion and what Harry guessed was rage was first, then joy as the gaze settled properly on him. After that, it was a flurry he couldn't catch most of, other than confusion and disbelief before it settled into a hard look as it switched between Theo and Vernon.

“Harry, run. Now!” Theo shouted, his voice desperate as he shoves Harry roughly with an elbow while pointing the wand towards the stranger. “Locomotor Mortis!” A red bolt of spell fire shoots from his wand, the man jumping to the side as he makes his way towards the stairs.

“Harry,” the man calls out, his voice rough and scratchy, “Harry don’t-” He’s cut off as he gasps, getting hit by a Diffindo in the arm.

“Harry, run!” Theo shouts again, shoving him up to the landing. “He’s going to kill you!”

Harry’s eyes bulge out, quickly raking up and down the strangers form as he finally takes stock of the ratty clothes on him. Was this what Azkaban made its denizens wear? The man gapes, looking offended as he tries once again, “Harry I’m not- just let- argh.” He falls beneath Vernon, who’d been caught by a Tripping Jinx by Theo.

He just stares at the man, not sure what to think. The only reason… he must be with Voldemort. That’s the only thing that sticks into his head, the only reason he’d been hunted—why people had tried to kill him—so far in his life. With a deep, desperate thought, a crash rings through the house as his wand breaks through the door of his cupboard. Before it even lands in his hand, he’s yelling the Body Bind curse towards the man trapped under Vernon.

“Harry!”

Everything stops.

He whips his head around, bending halfway over the railing and taking a step down the stairs to do so. Theo tries to pull him back, but Harry just bats his hand away as he stares at his Aunt Petunia. She looks up at him, eyes wide as they bounce between the pile at the bottom of the stairs and him. “Run,” is all she says to him, voice filled with so much fear that he doesn’t dare question it. The last thing he sees is her pulling Dudley into the kitchen, yelling for Vernon.

With a steadier grip than he’d thought he could manage, he pulls at Theo’s arm and pounds towards the smallest bedroom. He lets go of Theo’s arm and drops to the ground, reaching under the bed to grab the bundle wrapped in his Dad’s Invisibility Cloak as he heard the locks on his door slam shut in a flurry of clicks as a rush of magic fills the room.

[varpusvaras]

I think one of the best and unintentionally funniest worldbuilding aspects in Star Wars is the reasoning of why did Bail and Breha adopt Leia instead of having their own children. Leia is first established as the princess of Alderaan before she is written to be Luke's sister. So now we need to figure out how she got to Alderaan. She was adopted because she needed to be hidden and separated from her brother. Bail was placed there to be one of the only people who knew so there would be a reason why it was them who got her. They specifically wanted a daughter. Why? Because Alderaan is a matriarchal society, so they needed a princess. Why didn't the Queen and her husband have biological children? Because they can't. Why? Because the Queen can't have kids. Why? Because she got injured as a teenager and got her internal organs replaced and her body can't handle a pregnancy. How did she get injured so badly? She fell off of a mountain. How did that happen? She was climbing it. Why was the future Queen climbing a mountain in the first place? Because she needed to go through three challenges in order to inherit the throne and one of them required her to go through something physically impressive. Why? Because before that they just held a Battle Royale for all the heirs and the one left alive got the throne and they at some point figured out that maybe they shouldn't be doing that, actually. Oh, okay.

[chloeworships]

Or your destiny

👀

Also someone could be desperately trying to hide something from you

[chiokedmachi]

The Awakening of Kalon Dmachi: A Tale of Power, Betrayal, and Love in 2050

Kalon Dmachi In the year 2050, the world has changed, but power and secrecy still rule the shadows. Kalon Dmachi, born from one of the most powerful bloodlines known to history, is a man whose very existence defies comprehension. As a Level Five psychic, Kalon possesses abilities that most would call godlike—he can read thoughts before they are formed, perceive emotions before they are felt, see…

[casserpillarr]

Ears 👂👂

I have this headcanon that Scout inherited his large ears from Spy. Spy's ears are as large as Scouts but they're just hidden under his mask..

i've been very busy with SO MUCH!! its good to finally draw some tf2 again.. just a silly headcanon :)

[asuiru]

rune factory 4's crafting system is so complicated. and for what. <- guy who just watched the first video in a series of fourteen crafting guides 3 times in a row in order to understand it

[sabertoothwalrus]

Ace Attorney: Trials in Paradise 🌅

— an AA7 fan concept —

Initial Premise:

Since it’s designed for the Switch 2 (and thus made for a larger screen), the game will almost always have 2-3 characters on screen at a time, and will feature dozens of unique interaction animations between all sorts of character combos.

There has been another 7 year timeskip.

The old judge retired, and the new judge is his granddaughter!

The jurist system is featured.

This concept is heavily based around these designs.

The characters would have multiple outfits throughout the game, which become unlockable costumes, much like the DLC costumes of DD, SoJ, and TGAA games.

While this is way too specific to truly be a "prediction" of what aa7 could be, I tried to keep it (mostly) realistic to what I thought could actually be in an ace attorney game!

📦 Case 1: Turnabout Homecoming

Trucy left the nest and Phoenix doesn’t like living alone anymore, so Phoenix is moving into Edgeworth’s house. Apollo— who recently got his driver's license— was driving the moving van, and was accused because a body had been found in the vehicle. The true killer was one of the movers. I like the idea that you'd have to look through boxes for evidence, maybe the murder weapon was hidden within their belongings.

Defendant: Apollo Defense: Phoenix Weird Girl: Edgeworth Prosecutor: Diana Payne (Winston’s daughter) Detective: (drumroll…) Godot!! Witnesses: Larry (he was helping with the move), Leslie (one of the movers) Victim: Bee(another one of the movers) Killer: Anne(third mover)

(rest of the cases and a lotttt more art under the cut ↓ )

🎢 Case 2: Rollercoaster Turnabout

Maya and Pearl are on vacation at Blue Badger Land. Pearl is accused of murder after a body is found on an unpopular attraction that only Pearl enjoys going on. As an aside, Gumshoe is retired from detective work, and now works as a dog trainer. He trained Armando's service dog, Spot O'Coffee. Wendy Oldbag also serves as a witness, but she's pretty old at this point. Her memory has become fuzzy with age, and her testimonies begin to mix up information from other trials (which will be little references to previous games).

Defendant: Pearl Defense: Apollo Weird Girl: Maya Prosecutor: Klavier Detective: Godot Witnesses: Gumshoe (and his kids, Callum & Beau), Wendy Oldbag, Ride Operator Victim: Ride Safety Inspector Killer: Park Manager

💍 Case 3: My Love, Turnabout

Klavier has arranged a collab performance between Trucy and Lamiroir. Hugh Dini, Trucy's assistant and boyfriend, is accused when his stunt double is found dead. Hugh is very cagey about his alibi, but it's because he was planning to propose and didn't want Trucy to know yet. Franziska takes this and spins it into a jealousy plot, and insinuates he killed his stunt double out of envy. Because Hugh is actually pretty shy, he has a habit of not speaking up, which only incriminates him further. A twist in the case is revealed during a cross-examination when it turns out the "gold band" the witness is referring to wasn't Hugh's engagement ring, but instead about a gold bangle. This immediately puts Apollo under suspicion, until Phoenix drops a hint that someone else (Lamiroir) has a gold bracelet as well. The truth about Trucy and Apollo's sibling relationship is revealed when Athena finds an unexpected emotion in Phoenix's mood matrix, and Lamiroir decides it’s time to break the news.

Defendant: Hugh Dini Defense: Athena Weird Girl: Phoenix, Apollo (← steps in when Phoenix has to get cross-examined) Prosecutor: Franziska Detective: Ema Witnesses: Lamiroir, Trucy, Hugh Dini Fangirl Victim: Hugh's Stunt Double Killer: Jealous Trucy Stan

🏝️ Case 4: The Getaway

This one isn’t a traditional case.

After Manfred Von Karma divorced his first wife, Bianka, he moved to Europe, and his previous home was left uninhabited until his eldest daughter, Karla Von Karma, discovers she has inherited it. She decides to turn the beachside property into a bed & breakfast, and invites her half-sister Franziska and adoptive brother Edgeworth to give the manor a trial run and let her know if it’s suitable for visitors. Edgeworth brings along Wright Anything Agency, because… why not treat them to a break?

But of course, their vacation quickly takes a turn when they find a literal skeleton in the closet.

Not all of the rooms in the estate had been searched. Manfred’s study has a large, padlocked safe, and Karla hadn’t gotten around to hiring a locksmith to open it for her. Phoenix tries “0001” for the hell of it, and the only thing more surprising than that combination successfully opening the safe is the body folded up inside.

They can’t imagine the killer was anyone other than Manfred Von Karma, but— since he’s already been executed— they’re not sure if a trial even needs to be held. They need to investigate the situation to determine with absolute certainty it was, in fact, Von Karma, because otherwise they’d need to find a new suspect. Obviously, the group of criminal justice lawyers aren’t not going to get to the bottom of it.

Except Apollo, who has decided he wants nothing to do with solving the murder. He came on this trip for a vacation, dammit, and that's exactly what he's gonna do. He heads back outside to the beach, and leaves everyone else to the investigation.

The first mystery is figuring out when the murder happened. The police arrive, and Ema estimates that the remains are about 30-40 years old, which is around the time the Von Karma family moved out. Since Manfred & Bianka had divorced in 1999, they start to wonder if Manfred had even still been residing here when the murder took place, but the body is found with a train ticket dated for January of 2002. A time period that just so happens to line up with the one singular vacation Manfred took during his entire career— to recover from a gunshot wound that he couldn’t even trust a doctor with knowing about.

The body is wearing a housekeeper's uniform, and they identify her as Ophelia Falsch. They conclude that she was killed because she had discovered Manfred’s injury, and he wanted to eliminate the witness. They think they have the case over and done with, but then Ema comes back with the dental analysis. She explains there was no dental record of an "Ophelia Falsch", but the teeth did match Bianka Von Karma.

This raises some questions. Why was Bianka dressed as Ophelia? Was there a more personal reason Manfred could have killed his ex-wife? Could Ophelia have been involved as well?

Since the murder happened so long ago, they don't even know where to begin with finding witnesses. Karla was 18 at the time of the murder, and had just moved out, so she wasn't present. Edgeworth, of all people, is the one to suggest an unconventional idea: why not ask Von Karma himself?

The manor is in a remote location that's only accessible by train or boat, and since it's late, Maya won't be able to get there until the next morning. In the meantime, they check up on Apollo, only to find him getting scolded by a woman about having his chair on the beach. She explains that she's Karla's daughter, Angelika Von Karma, and that she's impassioned about marine ecology. She just discovered the beach had become a nesting site for an endangered species of sea turtles, and is worried about disrupting it.

The next morning, Maya arrives, and Phoenix and Edgeworth hold a mock trial in the foyer. Manfred is channeled, but is uncooperative, so they try... a different method. Phoenix and Edgeworth perform a reenactment of how they think the murder happened, while Trucy and Athena watch Manfred to see if they can glean any information based on his reactions.

Manfred breaks down and confesses to the murder, but is telling the truth when he says that he didn't know the victim was Bianka; he did, in fact, think he had killed a housekeeper who found out about his gunshot wound. After this, his spirit is released.

As puzzling as this is— who was Ophelia, anyway?— they can't do anymore investigating because Karla has become very upset. The whole ordeal has caused long-repressed emotions to resurface. She's always felt a little bit resentful towards Franziska because their father left Bianka for Franziska's mother, Levina, and always felt like she had her family taken from her. On top of that, Manfred had done everything he could to get full custody of Karla in the divorce, and she never saw her mother again. She's angry that that wasn't enough— he'd gone and killed her too.

Karla and Franziska get into a big fight, and the whole trip ends up cancelled.

🚂 Case 5: Turnabout Train Car

They all board the train to head home. The mood is really awkward and it's kind of a bummer. Since the train is only way out of the area, Karla has to board as well, albeit in another car.

And because nothing is ever easy, there’s a murder on the train.

The victim was the owner of the train, Diesel Porter. He was found in his private sleeping room, and the only other room on that train car was being occupied by Karla, so naturally, she is accused.

Since Ema and the police are already on the train, they’re able to take control of the situation until the train makes it back to town. The Wright Anything Agency isn’t allowed to investigate the crime scene much, so they opt to interrogate the other odd passengers.

They get a helpful tip from the train’s bartender that Cole Porter, son of Diesel Porter, had been making plans to build a resort. They also find out that the train company had been losing money, since they weren’t getting many passengers.

The next day in court, Phoenix claims Cole killed his father to inherit the company, but Cole denies it because, why would he want to inherit a dying company? And Phoenix turns it around by bringing up the resort plans and how he wanted to build it on Karla’s property. He couldn’t just kill Karla, because then they’d have to take care of Angelika and Franziska too, so they needed Karla to feel like she had no choice but to sell it.

The trial goes to recess and Cole is apprehended for questioning, but at that moment they get word that someone else has just been murdered on the train— the bartender from before.

Phoenix goes back to the train investigate and boards when it’s stopped on the mountaintop station. While he’s investigating the train’s caboose, Cole’s wife, Electra, detaches it from the rest of the train. Cole and his wife were in cahoots! Phoenix is sent hurtling backwards down the mountain in the runaway car, and manages to pull the emergency brake just before reaching the bottom. He’s ended up back by the manor, and calls to have a boat sent to pick him up.

While he waits, he finds Angelika is still here studying the turtles. She gives him permission to go inside the manor again to investigate. He finds the deed to the house, along with an old photo that has a letter written on the back. It’s addressed to Bianka from Levina (Franziska’s mother).

The case is solved when Phoenix proves that both Cole & Electra Porter were involved in the murders. The land becomes protected by the government in order to keep the sea turtles safe, since they are endangered.

After the trial, Phoenix shows Karla and Franziska the letter he’d found. It turns out Levina hired Bianka as a housekeeper under the alias “Ophelia” so that she could still see her daughter Karla. The photo depicts a teenage Karla playing with a baby Franziska. Levina and Bianka had a good relationship, and had made efforts to keep their families together.

Karla and Franziska apologize to each other, and agree to get along better.

Defendant: Karla Von Karma Defense: Phoenix Weird Girl: Athena & Apollo Prosecutor: Franziska Detective: Ema & Godot Witnesses: Train Conductor, Old Passenger, Tain Bartender Victim: Diesel Porter Killer: Cole & Electra Porter

💃 (DLC) Case 6: Turnabout Runway

Klavier has been invited as a guest judge for a fashion tv competition. He invites Pearl (and Apollo) to the shooting as an apology for accusing her for murder & because of their shared interest in fashion. "Lip sync for your life" but literally.

Defendant: Lady Killer Defense: Athena Weird Girl: Pearl Prosecutor: Blackquill Detective: Ema Witnesses: ensemble of drag queens/models, Klavier Victim: Taxi Macabre Killer: Paul Rue