#ace attorney's a good game I have good memories of it

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

“Almost Christmas” means it wasn’t Christmas!

[lazycranberrydoodles]

its prosecutor jiang wanyin!!!! oh fuck!!! / gifs + au rambling below the cut / follow for more mdzs x aa crossover stuff :3

all the gifs i made (poses traced off franziska):

hes so similar to franziska when you think about it. theyre both deeply insecure tsundere adoptive younger sibling of successful main characters. who carry whips. something something edgeworth choosing death and wwx actually dying also

his share code is HWFEFF if you wanna use him in a trial! you can't share backgrounds but heres the scenery from the donghua i used.

the easiest way to put custom stuff into objection.lol is to send it in discord and then use the link from opening it in your browser :)

a whole lot of AU stuff

the art im making is for if mdzs was an ace attorney game, playing from WWX's POV to solve various mysteries/cases over the course of the plot. so this scene would be from turnabout goddess, which would loosely cover the dafan mountain mystery.

cases include:

Turnabout Revenge (Mo Manor, quick introductory first case)

Turnabout Goddess (Dafan mountain, the good times flashback)

Turnabout Saber (the man-eating castle (omg hiii nhs))

The Blind Turnabout (Yi City arc)

Turnabout Deviation (the Koi Tower conference, Empathy on NMJ ala turnabout memories or beginnings. opening cutscene is his qi deviation)

The Blood-Soaked Turnabout (second Burial Mounds siege, flashbacks: Xuanwu, Sunshot, YLLZ, Nightless City massacre)

Turnabout Lotus Seeds (testimony about JGY, tree scene, golden core reveal, bathtub scene. opening cutscene could be JGS' death but that would make it canon rather than ambiguous)

Turnabout Confession (Guanyin temple)

the problem with splitting novel!mdzs into turnabouts is that flashbacks are a huge chunk of the book but they don't have mysteries/ cases to solve so they've gotta be lumped together with present day stuff. imo? many of the flashbacks would likely have to be abridged so they could be retold ala DL-6, SL-9, or the fourth grade incident, where characters talk about it over some pieces of art. this is really difficult when theres a metric ton of unspoken, complex, and signifcant history between every character lmao

there's not as much of a problem with the cql timeline but i have not finished it. so.

the opening cutscenes in ace attorney always show the murder and/or the murderer plotting. the first cutscene of the game would be MXY summoning WWX, muttering about getting revenge on his family (it would also be good for him to mention the yllz being dead because that's how the novel starts.) cut to WWX's POV as he wakes up covered in blood and the investigation segment begins.

for investigations of monsters (goddess, saber, etc) the cutscene would be a scene of some poor throwaway cultivator getting their shit wrecked.

it would be cool to make a breakdown for JGY but again I need to review that scene cause I don't know who I'd base him on. maybe Vasquez or Dahlia.

tell me your thoughts!! i'm working off of a mdzs summary/ skimming the novel because i don't remember it too well so if i get anything wrong please yell at me

Jin Ling's sprites & Nie Huaisang's sprites / masterpost

[iris-drawing-stuff]

I started watching a playthrough of Danganronpa (it's pretty fun). Since I made sprites for Mikoto in Ace Attorney, I wanted to try my hand at doing the same for Danganronpa. A bunch of people waking up in a mysterious prison with no memory of how they got there actually seems like a good setup for a killing game. Milgram even has a talking animal.

I was trying to emulate that weird, awkward stance they have. Seriously, why are their feet so far apart?

Anyway, what would his Ultimate talent be? Ultimate Clothing Designer, maybe? Him being the Ultimate ??? could be fun, but that would suit Es more. Jackalope would obviously be Monokuma.

[demon-prosecutor-milesedgeworth]

Playing through Ace Attorney for the first time and I'm on the second game and I'm just deeply in love with how things that are essentially just gameplay features impact and interact with the world of the game. I'm not sure if this makes sense but like:

Mia Fey is, in terms of game play, basically just the tutorial. She's there to show the player how the game works and what buttons to press and give hints when the case gets complicated, but the decision to have her

A. become the next murder victim that Phoenix must investigate

B. continuing to show up as a sort of "hint" system in court, but also being a major part of the story (namely in Farewell, My Turnabout where she's the way to interact with Maya while she's kidnapped, and also her being tied to the concept of spirit mediums in general which are so important in a lot of the cases)

is like, SO GOOD because it just the world of the game feel so much more alive than just the gameplay functions that specific things are tied to.

The same thing is true for the magatama, in that, like, not only can the player see the chains and locks that appear, but it's made very clear that Phoenix himself is seeing the exact same thing and comments on it often. It's not just a gameplay feature for the benefit of the player, it's something that exists and is talked about in the world.

I feel like the way the tutorial works in the second game also fits into this category, because rather than just suck it up and go through the gameplay again for anyone that hadn't played the first game, they decided Phoenix had to be *hit on the head with a fire extinguisher* and lose all of his memories, and rather than tell anyone, realize he's a lawyer and then without even being fully aware of what his name is, still wins a trial.

This is such a long post already, but the writing of the games also seem so aware of what makes the game function well and then how to twist that to its advantage to make the game more interesting. Like, of course, starting out, Phoenix has to win all of his cases. All of his clients have to be found 'Not Guilty', or else the game wouldn't be satisfying, but then you reach the Matt Engarde, and Phoenix's belief in his client's innocence becomes a defining character trait instead of just something that is necessary for the game to function properly. All of his other clients have been innocent, so when the setup with Matt looks the same, of course he believes it.

Can you tell I like these games? I really like these games.

[screamingaboutaceattorney]

i made half of these like a year after the first half which is why the quality changed multiple times throughout this post i’m so sorry

edit: image ids under the cut

image 1: image id: a tumblr post edited to look like characters from the ace attorney series are speaking. franziska von karma says “I swing both ways. Aggressively. With my whip. To make sure that nobody comes near me.” with a neutral expression, though she is holding her whip at the ready. end id

image 2: image id: a tumblr post edited to look like characters from the ace attorney series are speaking. maya fey says “Im too young to be turning the age im turning this year” with a dejected expression. end id

image 3: image id: a tumblr post edited to look like characters from the ace attorney series are speaking. apollo justice says “Me: “I need some serotonin.” Husband: Stands up. Husband: sits back down. Hisband: “I didn’t remember what serotonin was until after I stood up so I was deadass about to go get you some.” with a neutral expression. klavier gavin is vaguely superimposed over his words. trucy wright comments “Hes a little confused, but hes got the spirit” with a happy expression. end id

image 4: image id: a tumblr post edited to look like characters from the ace attorney series are speaking. dahlia hawthorne says “Me, a terrible person: wtf?? Wtf I’m a good person I dont deserve this??” with an upset expression. end id

image 5: image id: a tumblr post edited to look like characters from the ace attorney series are speaking. cammy melee says “I be like “im trying my best” and then sleep 15 hours a day” with a dazed, sleepy expression. end id

image 6: image id: a tumblr post edited to look like characters from the ace attorney investigations games are speaking. ema skye says “today my gf said “when donkey asks shrek what his name is, shrek pauses before he says shrek, and i’m convinced he came up with it on the spot.” we weren’t even talking about shrek. i can’t stop thinking about it or how lucky i am to be with her” with a happy expression. kay faraday is vaguely superimposed over her words. end id

image 7: image id: a tumblr post edited to look like characters from the ace attorney series are speaking. kay faraday says “if i had seen the transition from sepia to color in wizard of oz in 1939 i would have lost my shit i would’ve started screaming in the theater” with a happy expression. end id

image 8: image id: a tumblr post edited to look like characters from the ace attorney series are speaking. simon keyes says “i have to be silly every day or my brain will start growing mold” with a neutral expression. end id

image 9: image id: a tumblr post edited to look like characters from the ace attorney series are speaking. larry butz says “Frankly, I’m up for anything that could reasonably be described as shenanigans, though in a pinch I’m willing to settle for causing a ruckus.” with a happy expression. end id

image 10: image id: a tumblr post edited to look like characters from the ace attorney series are speaking. miles edgeworth says “brains say, “I know a spot” and take you to a traumatic memory from 2001” with a pained expression. a picture of him, gregory edgeworth, and yanni yogi trapped in an elevator is vaguely superimposed over his words. end id

[arkus-rhapsode]

Another Code Collection?!

So this Nintendo direct was a pretty good one. But what really put it over the edge for me and had my jaw on the floor was a remade collection of the long buried Nintendo series: Another Code. Or Trace Memory if you grew up in NA.

Now this game came out on the early days of the DS. And like a lot of games on that system, it was an interactive mystery novel with puzzle solving elements. Games like Ace Attorney and Professor Layton thriving at the time.

Another Code was Nintendo’s attempt at this with the help of developer Cing. Cing would go onto to do the famous Hotel Dusk game and even getting sequels to both Another Code and Hotel Dusk. Another Code’s sequel was always out of reach for me as I didn’t have a PAL Wii. Not helped by the fact that Cing went out of business. Basically leaving Another Code in the Nintendo vault without a developer.

So to see it come back and looking this good is one thing.

But that it would be a collection with the Wii game that never came to North America

My heart practically stopped.

I am so excited for this game. I keep hearing the switch will probably get replaced, but with this on the way out I’m just floored. And mind you same direct had Thousand Year Door remaster announced.

So yeah I’m excited and if any of this has interested you. I recommend picking it up.

[karuma-meii]

One thing that I think is really good about Professor Layton Vs Phoenix Wright, is how hard the game can lean into certain themes and ideas due to its setting.

Like obviously all ace attorney games have whacky court proceedings, but plvspw really dials up the drama. You walk into the courtroom and immediately see the previous defendant thrown into a pit of fire while she begs for mercy. The defendant dangles in a little metal cage. The trial is only a showcase by the inquisition, before they sentence the next witch to die. The multiple witnesses that talk all over each other and contradict each other, openly plot with each other to get their story straight.

The sense of hysteria in the witness testimonials is especially good, I feel. Like there's fear and anger and conviction and indignation in everyone. Everyone already knows the truth, right? So you play the part, get caught in it and tell what you think must have happened. What sets it apart from other aa games in that respect is that very little of that testimony is a purposeful lie. Unlike in Labyrinthia, in the US/Japan (almost) everyone commits perjury on purpose, simply disguising their perfect recollection of events. Plvspw really digs into manipulated memories and how you yourself can be easily manipulated by the given narrative.

We see this with Luke. Luke isn't lying because he's hiding something, or for some nefarious purpose. He's a good kid. We know Luke. He's our puzzle solving friend. He's scared and angry and in grief. He doesn't realise what's happening, or what he's part of. A literal witch hunt.

For a game series that's so focused on law enforcement, I think this is a really interesting avenue to explore, and something I wish the mainline series did a little more of.

[ninakoll]

i love your artstyle so much its insane, ty for blessing the tag of any fandom you draw ;; out of curiosity, whats your thoughts on alkaloid? hiiros my favorite character, closely followed by aira (along with niki and shinobu, both of whom u draw So Good btw). my big sister's favorite (next to rinne. yes we have been called the amagis before) is tatsumi lol (shes also a big fan of your art!! we both showed your crazy b comics to each other like "ITS SO GOOD" "RIGHT???")

(also !!!! fellow ace attorney fan!!! i love the way you draw nick hes so shaped <3 idk if youre still into it or not [so like dont feel pressured to draw it if u dont wanna ofc] but if you ever drew more ace attorney fanart i would Die. apollo esp would look so good in your style,, )

THANK YOUUU you and your sister are so kind!!!! ;____; you bring me great joy. and anon it's so sweet you two are like amagi siblings:DD

putting my alkaloid thoughts under a readmore as to not make this post 100 miles long!!

to me alkaloid are such a sweet unit, they seem like they would never ever hurt each other ever... my favorite is actually hiiro as well! i love his way of doing things being a fish out of water of sorts; his way of seeing the world and logic is wonderful and makes for great writing opportunities. aira rly does have that french gene, he is about idols the way french people are about soccer players i swear... overall alkaloid is fun (+ black out seesaw is SUCH a banger). i am not completely decided on how i want to draw hiiro and mayoi, but for now let them be... this!

+ i love ace attorney so much!! i'm slooowly working my way thru the apollo justice trilogy, waiting for fall when the gaming weather is just right to keep playing. when i was younger i played thru the AJ game on the DS with my sister next to me and it's a fond memory of mine. fanart of the games is inevitable :DD thank you again and have a wonderful weekend!!!

[clownowo]

Ace attorney characters ranked based on how well I think they dance

Phoenix Wright: 6/10 he’s nothing to write home about but he took a musical theater class or two in college so he can keep a beat at least.

Mia Fey: 6/10 no real interest in dancing but she's not bad or anything. could keep up with Diego well enough

Apollo Justice: 4/10 he wouldn’t suck so bad if he could just loosen up.

Athena Cykes: 9/10 very fit. does cardio. has taken some dance classes for fun.

Maya Fey: 8/10 what she lacks in skill she makes up for in spirit

Pearl Fey: 6/10 has the physical abilities to dance but not the confidence. also has very little reference for how she could be dancing

Trucy Wright: 8/10 performer with good dexterity for sleight of hand. Music isn’t really her area of expertise but she does well enough. enjoys playing just dance with Athena

Miles Edgeworth: 3/10 he can do one dance and it’s the Steel Samurai season 4 ending credits dance and he does it flawlessly but nothing else. took ballroom dancing classes with the von Karmas but he wasn’t particularly adept.

Franziska von Karma: 4/10 she found the aforementioned ballroom dancing classes tedious but damn if she wasn’t going to perform in them perfectly. she can’t do anything else and refuses to try

Godot: 7/10 he can do a killer tango

Klavier Gavin: 2/10 despite being an internationally famous rockstar, when performing he usually has a guitar in his hands so he’s never needed to dance. he cannot dance. he doesn’t particularly want this info getting out

Simon Blackquill: 6/10 danced with Athena a fair bit growing up. knows several anime dances

Nahyuta Sahdmadhi: 7/10 i haven't met this guy yet but my friend tells me they think he'd know a fair bit of traditional dances.

Winston Payne: 0/10 or 10/10 no in between. he's either literal garbage or so bad it loops back around to incredible. he had insane disco game in the 70s but now all the rookies laugh at him.

Larry Butz: 8/10 best dancer between him, Phoenix and Miles. he’s gotta be getting his girlfriends somehow

Dick Gumshoe: 5/10 a little too clumsy and can't keep a beat well but bonus points for his enthusiasm

Ema Skye: 1/10 doesn't even try

Kay Faraday: 10/10 incredible dexterity and physical ability. lots of whimsy and spirit.

Sebastian Debeste: 3/10 despite the baton, no real sense of rhythm

Manfred von Karma: 4/10 the one to sign Franziska and Miles up for ballroom dance lessons

Matt Engarde: 2/10 he got the jammin samurai killed so I don’t think he can jam

Dahlia Hawthorne: 8/10 she can boogie. gets down at clubs and parties. arguably the most normal about dancing

Sister Iris: 7/10 had to learn to boogie to properly emulate her sister but she isn’t quite as suited for it and has much less experience

Kristoph Gavin: 1/10 he likes watching but he doesn’t dance at all

Ryunosuke Naruhodo: 10/10 the most beautiful dance of deductions you've ever seen in your life

Susato Mikotoba: 10/10 while she's not particularly skilled with a koto, she learned to dance from the best

Herlock Sholmes: 10/10 THE dancer. THE ONE AND ONLY great detective known for his dance of deductions

Iris Wilson: 10/10 raised by the aforementioned one and only herlock sholmes

Yujin Mikotoba: 10/10 took to tap dancing incredibly well during his time in britain

Kazuma Asogi: 6/10 he's not particularly good but he somehow makes it look cool anyway

Barok Van Zieks: 7/10 used to be much better, before the professor kililngs he actually enjoyed dancing a fair bit. took classes growing up. retained a lot of the muscle memory

Gina Lestrade: 6/10 she doesn't have any training but if she did she'd do fairly well

Tobias Gregson: 2/10 he's the best investigator at scotland yard according to Sholmes, so you can imagine how bad the rest of the yard is at dancing

Maria Gorey: 8/10 she can dance just fine she just has no interest. the one time they got her to dance Herlock had very courteously offered his body up for dissection. "AFTER I'M DEAD, WOMAN!"

Albert Harebrayne: 1/10 he can't. he tries. Barok tried to teach him. he understands the theory! he knows the steps! he can't do it. he can't.

[immagrosscandy]

i'm scrolling through my old art and i got the feelings 😭

i can't believe how far i've come in terms of artstyle and drawing and painting and making content- like I start reading my own stuff and i'm like "aw yeah it's all coming together" "i peaked here for sure this is so good"

and now here i am studying goddamn ANIMATION. I HAVE A STOPMOTION CLASS. GOD DIGGITY DAMN.

i think that posting stuff here really helped me with my confidence. and that people were giving me positive feedback, and really liked the things i did!? that's awesome i feel so proud of myself!

like it was the first time i'e interacted with a fandom ever in my life. like i entered tumblr at the age of what, 17? and i got to learn lots of amazing things, i got to interact with the lgbt community for the first time, too, and learned lots of cool stuff about others... and maybe about myself as well

(i'm still unsure, but i'm figuring myself out 😅)

most importantly, i got the chance to meet some amazing people on the journey! with some of them i still interact with, and some other don't, but i still had lots of fun and created some fun memories i still think to this day.

there were some bad moments, of course, i still remember that time i got told off about not drawing an afro and a hijab correctly, i've never drawn them before so, of course i don't. but hey, i'm glad it kind of happened since it made me persevere and learn some more

so yeah! i want to think positively about my first time in a fandom ever, i learned a lot, yet i think i haven't learned enough, so let's keep going! now i'm deep into ace attorney but i still like this stupid hp mobile game (i haven't finished year 7 and THERE'S MORE THERE’S A YEAR 8 WHY?! LET MC REST) so when i got some spare time i'll drop new content :D

(I haven't even talked about my MCs lore it's been 4 YEARS)

so now i'm gonna do homework bye! :D

[prismartist]

(if you saw a similar post to this uhm. ignore that. i don't know why that's there. this is the actual post.

also spoilers for ace attorney 3, though my memory of the game is spotty so forgive me if i get anything wrong)

anyway. fucking fascinated with how cellbit incorporates the themes of ace attorney into his own lore, actually.

because the thing is, prosecutors in ace attorney are almost always at least a little bit evil. they're cruel, they're ruthless, and they prioritize winning over discovering the truth. which absolutely makes sense for the front cellbit's putting up; he seemingly no longer cares about unmasking the federation, and instead cuts off everyone around him and selfishly wants to keep richarlyson to himself. already a fantastic fucking decision, 10/10.

and then there's the fact that he chose godot.

godot used to be a defense attorney called diego armando. after he got poisoned, put in a coma, and woke up to learn his girlfriend got murdered, he felt immense guilt over her loss, and projected that guilt onto phoenix wright, her successor, even though he had virtually nothing to do with it. godot's whole thing is baseless accusation, becoming a prosecutor to "test" wright when he's not even that good of a prosecutor; he doesn't even hate wright! he even admits this plan was a "stupid fantasy" of revenge. this guy is a stubborn mule, who only wants to make up for the fact that he failed to protect his girlfriend mia, though his efforts are flawed and arrogant.

the fact that cellbit chose this guy. the guy who switched from defense to prosecution parallel to cellbit's own apparent switch from anti- to pro-federation. the guy who was blinded (literally) by emotion. the guy q!cellbit has aligned himself with, not just in the recent stream but all the way back in the early qsmp streams when he would play his theme all the time. this is definitely the best guy that cellbo could have chosen to trick the federation. the feds will look at him and see a changed (mentally unstable) man, a man who is willing to serve them by whatever means in order to pursue his own stubborn goals––godot wanted to protect mia more than anything, cellbit claims he wants to protect richarlyson more than anything, even more than his other family. i mean, i dunno if the feds are buying anything that's cellbit's pulling, but if they realize who cellbit is kinning that's gotta add some credibility points to the front.

but also... though godot wanted to protect those he cared about, he is a self-sacrificial dumbass who foolishly took everything upon himself. in wanting to prove and redeem himself, he refused to communicate or ask for help, and his plan to protect was half-baked and rash and got people killed. godot, in the long run, caused more harm than good in his effort to protect his loved ones and in his self-absorbed pursuit of redemption.

and well, if one puts it that way... q!cellbit's cosplay may be less of a charade than he realizes.

but you know what? i'm just glad he didn't actually go crazy over a vivo commercial

[sunchaserwings]

Incoming rant about The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Herlock Sholmes from The Great Ace Attorney, and the BBC Sherlock (no major spoilers ahead I promise).

A preface before I begin; I was never a big fan of Sherlock Holmes or any adaptation of the stories. I've seen Elementary although I was very young so I only have the vaguest of memories of enjoying it, and my roommate had me watch a couple BBC Sherlock episodes when I was a tween/young teen. My mother claims she tried to get me into Sherlock Holmes but I'm rather skeptical. Anyhow, onto the story.

Back in March my boyfriend bought me the Ace Attorney games for my birthday which included the Great Ace Attorney Chronicles (or Dai Gyakuten Saiban for those who are still stuck on the pre-localization names ;p). I was on my flight home from my birthday trip after I got the news my manager fired my brother while I was out of the state and figured why not, I'd start playing the first TGAA game on the flight. I'd probably enjoy myself and I couldn't sleep.

Second biggest mistake of the year (first biggest was trusting Les Schwab to do my brake job). I. Was. Hooked. I played the first case and fell in love with Kazuma instantly (he's so Zero shaped!). I played the second case and realized that calling him Zero shaped was way too accurate. We all know what happened there. Most important to this rant, I met Herlock Sholmes (more on my opinions on him later). I could barely put the game down but I had to take a break due to finding a new job and getting adjusted. I ended up finishing the game in June or July, one of the two. I finished the final case of the first game in one long 12 hour gaming session it was that good (my back didn't thank me though).

Now, the man of the hour: Herlock Sholmes. I didn't think much of him initially. He was simultaneously charming and annoying in the second case but as I played more he grew on me. I cried when the start of 1-5 happened. He clawed his way up into like the top 7 favorite characters at the time. The ending of the game with him playing his violin made me bawl my eyes out. I. Loved. This. Game.

It took a few more months to start and finish the second game. In between Adventures and Resolve I played Skyward Sword, Minish Cap, and some others so I had a healthy break. I came back to play Resolve and finished it like two months ago. It hit me in the gut just as hard as the first game did although there are a great many things I'd tweak and do differently. But Herlock Sholmes... man, he's not my favorite but he's up there underneath Kazuma and Van Zieks.

Anyhow, I finished the game but the hyperfixation had started and would not let me go. I've never been one to go out and seek fanfiction due to... personal stuff but I had a feeling I didn't want to go probe the depths of AO3 yet for fear of crying. I started a graveyard shift at my job which severely limited my ability to talk with people about stuff and also there's so many major spoilers but very few people I knew had played the game. A thought occurred to me, however. What about Sherlock Holmes audiobooks? I have an auditory processing issue which has made listening to audiobooks hard but I decided to give it a go. Perhaps it would satiate the TGAA hyperfixation hunger.

I found the ones produced by Magpie Audio, expertly narrated by Greg Wagland. Go check him out, he has over 77 videos of Sherlock Holmes audiobook recordings and all of them are a minimum of 40 minutes, often times far more. I went through over 30 hours of audiobook in a few weeks listening to these. Sherlock Holmes is such a good character and I can understand how and why he took late Victorian England by storm. And you know what the best part is?

Herlock Sholmes is the most faithful adaptation I have personally seen as a character of the original Sherlock Holmes.

They got so many of Sherlock's little idiosyncrasies right and you can tell the entire team were genuine fans of the books. I listened to Mr. Wagland's narration *and I saw 221B Baker of the games*. Especially the jack knife impaling the communications to the mantle being referenced in the game? The sheer mess of the flat? It's so good!

My roommate (whom is also a Sherlock Holmes fan) noticed my newest hyper fixation that spawned off of TGAA and that reignited his Sherlock Holmes obsession. He was a fan of the BBC Sherlock and now recognizes it was not a very great show but it's a comfort media for him nonetheless. He just dragged me into rewatching it and... okay, it's playing into a lot of inaccurate Sherlock tropes I don't like but goddamn Martin Freeman carries the whole show. I love his John Watson because it feels like a reasonable version of a modern, younger Watson. He feels real in a way. I do like the fact that even in the first episode, it's established that John and Sherlock can make each other laugh and smile just like in the books. I don't forgive them calling Sherlock a sociopath, however (speaking as someone with a brother that has been diagnosed with being a high-fuctioning sociopath). He's AuDHD to the max and deserves recognition in that department.

All of this to say, I can trace my current Sherlock hyperfixation back to Mega Man. Finding Mega Man in 4th grade led to watching the Ace Attorney anime in late 2021 which led to playing The Great Ace Attorney and that led to listening to Sherlock Holmes. I don't know why I decided to make this post but maybe I might start live blogging this shit? All in all, this is going to be a wild ride.

[reddbuster]

I've talked about this before but I don't think I worded it all that well so I kinda want to try again to articulate what it is that bothers me about Dahlia's writing cause I have some thoughts.

We really aren't supposed to like Dahlia. The text does not like her. She is supposed to be an evil, manipulative girl. A wolf in sheep's clothing. This is made very clear. From the moment we are introduced to her character, Mia herself very clearly doesn't like her. She is written to be a difficult and frustrating witness, having already wrapped most of the courtroom around her finger. Cross examining her is even more of an uphill battle than usual. The first time we beat her in turnabout memories is satisfying to the player, because we know justice is being served. Even when we learn her story, we aren't really lead to closely examine or to sympathize with it. Because Ace Attorney is not a game in which we decide if someone deserves to go to jail. It's a game where we deduce whether or not someone is a criminal. And Dahlia, by definition, is undoubtedly a criminal. She's a liar, and a manipulator, and a serial murderer. Mind you, the game isn’t COMPLETELY unsympathetic to her situation. Iris, her twin and narrative foil of a sort, Is an example of the kind of person Dahlia could have become if her circumstances were different. Iris even says as much herself. Ace Attorney acknowledges that Dahlia is a victim of her circumstances, at least to an extent. But it also treats her as if she’s too far gone to be worthy of any kind of closure. And more than anything else that's what bothers me about her story. Because if you take a minute to think about her at all beyond this very orthodox formalist lens she's SO MUCH MORE THAN THAT. She's suuuuch an interesting and complex and compelling character if you look below the surface but the game really doesn't encourage you to do that and that makes me really sad honestly. From a psychoanalytic lens I personally think that agency (or the perceived lack-thereof) is a big point in her story and that more than anything is what makes me want to write about her from a feminist lens, because agency is a really big point of feminist literary theory.

I've seen a couple people say that they don't think Dahlia needs to be thought about deeply because they see her as a cartoonish sort of villain character like Manfred and Engarde. And obviously this isn't an objectively wrong reading, anyone who follows me knows that I'm the first person to tell you that are multiple good and valid readings of a text. But PERSONALLY I disagree with this. I think Manfred is easier to read like that because he doesn't really have an.. understandable reason for any of his crimes? Like lets be real the murder of Gregory Edgeworth was petty as hell. Personally I think he's pretty interesting himself and worth thinking about deeper esp after watching the anime but I also thinks he fulfills the role of capital V Villain in the game really well so you don't need to if he doesn't compel you that much. Engarde imo is much more interesting as a character if you view him as a culmination of the game's themes, or as a device to cause conflict within other characters. Ofc you can psychoanalyze him to hell and back if that's what you wanna do, but you really don't need to at all. Dahlia on the other hand.. way too much has happened to her for me to comfortably read her as just Girlboss Manipulator Villain™. The more I think about Dahlia the more I appreciate her as a character, and it makes aa3 even better to me. Of course it also brings to light some of my issues with the game, but even so everything just hits harder when you consider the ending of aa3 from everyone's perspective. It's just such a bittersweet conclusion it hits me in the feels very time.

anyway TLDR I support women's wrongs and I personally think Dahlia deserved better from the story. I dunno the more I think about her the more her story just makes me sad and I just wish they gave her some kind of closure in the end. This is just my take tho don't come after me ok thankies

[alterrune]

Oh hey, it's this game's 2nd anniversary.

So...similarly to Pokèmon Mystery Dungeon, Ace Attorney & Persona, I went into this game without playing ANY of it previously.

However, unlike those series, I didn't go in completely blind. I KNEW what to expect as I'd seen promotional material and LPs for the entire Splatoon trilogy on YouTube before. I knew it was a shooter game, I knew (most of) the lore, and I knew how the game worked.

And what I got...well, needless to say, it absolutely ROCKED my world.

Ironically, even though Splatoon was in the back of my mind, I hadn't thought about it until I saw the promo material for Side Order.

LOOK AT THAT ARTWORK. You bet your ass that suddenly shot Splatoon 3 onto the top of my wishlist.

Of course, I wasn't buying it purely for Side Order. I was also buying it because I hadn't played Splatoon during the Splatfests, and I missed out on Splatoon 2 as well. I was NOT missing out for the 3rd time in a row.

Needless to say, I was absolutely fucking AMAZED by it. I had never played such a fast-paced shooter before, and it made my autistic, ADHD-addled brain get the dopamine hit it absolutely deserves. (Oh yeah, don't think I've mentioned that before, have I? Long story short: I was diagnosed with BOTH ADHD and Autism when I was really young. We're talking, like, two years old, here. Let's not dwell on that, though.)

And as soon as I could, I played RoTM and Side Order.

I got stuck at Frye's boss fight in RoTM, but I eventually beat it. But then I got to Mr. Grizz's fight...

...and this cutscene was then promptly burnt into my memory. I almost BROKE MY SWITCH IN HALF because I kept failing and this cutscene kept playing as a giant middle finger on my screen.

I had to give up for the sake of my Switch, and for the sake of my sanity. I am NEVER completing Return of the Mammalians because it was just THAT bad of an experience for me.

However, Side Order was a different story. I thought it was unbeatable. I always failed at Floor 20 and thought I would never get any higher than that. However, I eventually did. And then, directly after that, the game gave me the Blaster Palette (palette = different equippable weapon, btw), and I proceeded to beat Side Order with it.

I actually cried tears of pure fucking joy when I realized I had toppled that 30-floor tower of hell. It took 42 runs over the course of 150 days (I counted), but I did it. And my god, was it perfect timing. The final non-special Splatfest, Bread vs. Rice vs. Pasta was just about to begin, and I had my very first Splatfest in Inkopolis Square.

It. Was. Worth. It.

And of course, I grew attached to Deep Cut. Specifically Big Man, which, as you all have no doubt seen, I finally have his amiibo. And by god, I'm gonna make sure I take good care of it.

All in all, this game basically made me a fan the moment I booted up a match for the first time.

Thank you for everything, Splatoon 3.

Believe me, the future looks bright for the Splatoon series. Whatever direction it takes, I'm ready for it.

Happy 2nd anniversary, Splatoon 3. Here's to celebrating it in style at the Grand Festival soon. Cheers. 🥂

[lunawritesaa]

— — > 4 years later..

honestly four years is absolutely crazy for me to fathom. i can’t believe it’s been that long since i took the plunge and decided to start writing for ace attorney. it feels like just yesterday i sat down and said “yeah.. i love this silly lawyer game” and started this blog.

-> so whats going on with this blog?

well, the long and the short of it is i don’t enjoy writing anymore. every now and then i get a small desire to write, but it fades so fast. i do miss it! i miss fulfilling requests, i miss mini headcanon mondays, i miss talking with people about my favorite game of all time!

but.. i got tired of it. if you’ve ever ran a writing blog, you’ll know that you can only write so many requests before you feel like you’ve written the same thing over. and over.

don’t get me wrong, i absolutely loved every second and every thing that i wrote. i have no regrets! i just don’t have that drive that 16 y/o luna had.

-> where have i been?

uhhh graduating college! i got my degree and have been job hunting, trying to get my life started. honestly, college took up the majority of my time these past few months. and now that i’ve graduated, my life is ramping up!

so, as much as i want to write again, i just simply do not think ill have the time. its unfortunate, i know. i see all your little notes in the reblogs and i appreciate the love and support on everything ive written. i just dont think writing is in the cards for me anymore

oh, i also got a dog and named her maya. she has a burger plush that she loves :3

-> what will happen with this blog?

i’ll leave it up. i debated deleting it a few times because it occasionally brought back bad memories. but so many people still follow, like, and reblog everything that i can’t bring myself to delete it. especially with the scraps of aa content that’s already out there lmaoo (trust me i was scraping the bottom of the barrel for content when i finished soj)

will i check back in? yeah occasionally. i have been for months. i just wont write.

————

i’m sorry to anyone who was hoping for me to one day come back. believe me, no one wanted me to come back more than me. i miss that itch, that drive to pump out content. writing just isn’t something i’ve done for a while.

i still love ace attorney. i beat the new trilogy about a month ago now and i loved every second, despite having played all three games before lol! there’s so much charm and love to the series.

i still would love to gush and talk more about it. i’ve thought about making a twitter account several times because i can be more active on there. so if anyone is interested lemme know! i can post on there and still interact with everyone.

but as for this blog - it’s time to adjourn court!

thank you for the lovely four years. and thank you for nearly 600 followers, my goodness! i love you all, and i treasure the love that has, and was, given to me.

- with love, luna <3

———

[oodlyenough]

aa6-1 foreign turnabout

finished off DD last week and we're straight into soj.

i know the least about soj of any of the games probably, which is kind of nice because these later games really need the element of surprise they don't have a lot else lmao.

some thoughts on the tutorial case:

the good

this is a big visual upgrade from dual destinies (although i'm still unconvinced the games needed to move to 3d assets). phoenix's model looks better in ways i found hard to articulate until someone on twt pointed out SOJ gets rid of the bulky black outlines. it's so much smoother!

aside from the models, the sprite animations for the new characters are very detailed (almost too detailed... i mean do we need ninety animations per NPC? can we get some extra ones for phoenix lmao), i like how the UI has been refreshed to match khurain, overall it just looks more polished/complete than DD.

insight is new, and subject to suck more later lmao, but so far it's the best minigame since the magatama. both perceive and mood matrix suffer from being kind of nonsensical; it never stopped being goofy to me in DD that you just had interactions like "well i found the body and i was shocked" "UM ACTUALLY my robot says you were RED EMOJI FACE, so you're lying!" insight, on the other hand, is more based on logic/reason -- spot the contradiction, think through a couple different layers of info (rayfa's words vs what's on screen and what makes sense), etc. i also like the idea that the ghost witness isn't lying, you just have to interpret the memory -- it's a bit of a refreshing change from everyone just committing perjury 30000000 times.

the defense culpability act is very funny. i can't be mad at it because it is too funny. i think i should get to kill the prosecutor if i win.

also, maya having lived here for unspecified time period, surely being aware of the lawyer stuff and still inviting her best friend, ace attorney phoenix wright, is very hilarious. i hope edgeworth, academic of foreign legal systems, had a heart attack as soon as he heard where nick's vacation was

it is also funny to see supervillain payne. winston payne was just kind of an asshole and largely incompetent. gaspen is a supervillain who longs for murder. well, okay. why not i guess

the questionable

khura'in is but the latest in a long line of exciting AA countries that will have you asking "what are the geopolitics of this world?" and "...is this racist?"

it's really funny to me that the first culprit was a white guy on an eat pray love journey but that his eat pray love journey is totally incidental to the crime, apparently. khurain is apparently very welcoming to immigrants if one can become head monk guarding their sacred treasures after a mere six months, and payne is chief prosecutor after three.

it's also very funny that with his life potentially on the line, the only person phoenix is worried about is maya. i think there is an understandable in-game explanation, which is that you have to assume every game might have a new audience and that new audience has only been told of maya so far. but returning players who know he has a teenage daughter might uh. wonder.

the bad

i can sense that the more lore i learn about khurain the more racially uncomfortable i am going to become

the names are BRUTAL i wish they'd stop. i get that ace attorney always has silly goofy pun names. but i feel they're veering further and further from the... slightly more believable names into stuff that just sounds stupid, and man, trying to apply ace attorney pun name goofiness to names that are also supposed to be in a fake fictional language .... i mean it sounds like i'm reading racist jokes from the 90s. it's uncomfortable.

i also think khura'in lore is bound to upend or retcon the superior kurain village lore, which ruled in the trilogy and did not need expanding into a kingdom. isolated little village matriarchy of witch family that are constantly committing sorocide >>> whatever's about to happen here. it's great for rayfa that she does her lil dance for enrichment 2x a day to have temporary hallucinations in a pool of water, but maya crosses her fingers and shapeshifts. checkmate.

lastly, one thing i found myself thinking as i moderately enjoyed the tutorial case was that it was honestly kind of nice having a case scaled back. i can't shake the sense that three playables is just too much for these games; apollo was dead weight narratively in DD and i think athena is about to suffer that fate in SOJ. the character writing in these new games is just not strong enough to manage this many major characters and their whole entourages. the mistake of the original trilogy was accidentally setting a precedent for "new prosecutor every game, who is also our friend by the end :)". the main cast is so huge that most of them just end up stagnating or disappearing into the void or whatever; apollo and athena cannibalized each other's screentime in DD, athena usurped trucy, SOJ is introducing a whole whack of new characters to replace THOSE newbies... it's a lot. we don't need to reinvent the wheel every new game.

anyway... i know a little about 6-2 and i expect it to exacerbate a lot of these issues lmao.