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[thecourtscorkboard]

Farewell, My Turnabout (2-4: PART ONE)

Justice for All comes to its end in one of the series's most beloved cases: the truth behind an award show murder, the fate of a famous actor, and Maya's life are all on the line in Farewell, My Turnabout.

Welcome to 2-4, the final case of Justice for All. At an awards ceremony that we were graciously invited to by a previous client, an actor is murdered and another actor is arrested for the crime: and an acquittal is the price for Maya's life.

I don't want to waste too much time setting up for 2-4: it's a case I have a lot of thoughts about, so let's just jump into it!

THE CORE CAST:

Phoenix Wright: Phoenix, still recovering from the trials and tribulations that were 2-3, is invited to an awards ceremony by a former client. Unfortunately, he's wrapped up in a murder nearly beyond comprehension.

Maya Fey: Maya is invited alongside Phoenix to the awards ceremony: and she's ecstatic, given that this is an awards ceremony all about the Samurais!

Pearl Fey: Although she may not know what an 'award' is, Pearl is happy to tag along to a once-in-a-lifetime event: and she takes the role as our main assistant!

Miles Edgeworth: The glorious return of Miles Edgeworth is what defines the climax of this case, and he wastes no time stealing the spotlight and returning as the ultimate arbiter of the law.

Franziska von Karma: Although she's not the lead prosecutor, this case is still Franziska's: and she serves a vital role in its conclusion and introduction!

THE MAIN CAST:

Dick Gumshoe: Gumshoe is really putting in the hours here, starring as the lead detective and a close partner for this mystery!

Matt Engarde: A world-famous actor known for his role as the Nickel Samurai. He's been arrested for the murder of a rival actor, and there may be more than meets the eye...

Adrian Andrews: Matt's assistant and a tragic character in her own right, Adrian takes her role very seriously. Perhaps a bit too seriously. ADRIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!

Will Powers: WP returns as our inviter and as a star witness, pun intended! He looks pretty good in that suit of his, doesn't he?

Wendy Oldbag: Stop the presses! The windbag wants to speak! Oldbag returns in full security guard fashion, starring a brand new outfit to boot!

Lotta Hart: As Lotta's final appearance in the main series, she marches into the scene with southern bravado and a knack for photographic journalism!

THE SECONDARY CAST:

Shelly de Killer: A mysterious assassin. He trusts those who trust him, but when those rules are broken...

Juan Corrida: A famous actor known for starring as the Jammin' Ninja and the victim in this case.

Celeste Inpax: Juan Corrida's former manager. Although she's been gone for two years, her impact is still felt on her protégé, Adrian...

Director Hotti: Eugh.

A BRIEF RECAP

An awards show is nearing its conclusion. The finalists are being announced and everything is coming to a head: the winner of this year's Hero of Heroes Grand Prix is... the Nickel Samurai out of nowhere with a steel chair, stealing the Jammin' Ninja's thunder!

I fuck with this design.

Investigation, Day One

Maya is enthralled by the awards ceremony: which makes sense, given that she's a massive fan of the samurai shows. Phoenix is decidedly uninterested, and Will Powers is happy that the actor behind the mask is doing the series justice: we learn that he invited us here as thanks for our defense in 1-3! Pearl is very confused but happy to be here as usual.

Maya immediately notices that something was off about the Jammin' Ninja: he wasn't carrying his guitar. WP agrees with her, but Phoenix brushes it off. It's clear that he very much wants to go home, but WP interests us by talking about a press conference involving the Nickel Samurai confessing to something. Talking with him a bit more, apparently the Nickel Samurai is so successful that they're making a movie out of him: Maya tells us that the new actor's name is Matt Engarde, and apparently the Nickel Samurai is in a heated competition with the Jammin' Ninja. They even air at the exact same time! Even Matt and the person who plays the Jammin' Ninja don't like each other. If you present WP's profile to him before we leave Pearl tells him that he looks very nice, which makes him happy.

Anyways, before we're dragged off by Maya to the lobby, we visit the hallway. Matt and another actor's, Juan Corrida's, doors are right across from each other, and it's clear that whoever this "Juan Corrida" fellow is... he's much more well liked. Apparently, Maya's been infodumping 24/7 about Matt Engarde to Phoenix: she's that big of a fan, huh?

Anyways, we head back to Viola Hall and are dragged off by Maya to see the post-ceremony show! Before we leave, however, WP gives us a ticket to the press conference. When we get to the lobby, however, the PA system blares that the conference is cancelled. Why? It's a police matter!

The low blind.

A security guard tells us to stop while we're going to check it out and gets into a very long today about the youth and- oh you've gotta be kidding me. It's Wendy Oldbag! Apparently, after she got fired from Global Studios, she tried to be Edgeworth's bodyguard: but he flatly turned her down. We get a little more information out of her—apparently there's been a murder! Here, at the Gatewater Hotel!

Maya manages to convince us (read: blackmail us) into sneaking away under the guise of going to the restroom. When we get to the Viola Hall, where the ceremony took place, it looks like nothing happened here, but before we leave a bellboy stops Maya. Apparently, she's got a phone call: it could be somebody from Kurain Village!

The high blind.

Maya decides to go with the bellboy to answer her phone call: we head into the hallway. This must be where it happened! After all, Dick Gumshoe and Lotta Hart are battling it out. Wait. Lotta's here? She's happy to see us, and Gumshoe confirms that a murder has happened inside of the room he's guarding: Juan Corrida's! Apparently, Matt Engarde—the Nickel Samurai—is being accused of "bumping off" Juan.

We ask Gumshoe why Matt got arrested, but his lips are sealed. We can't risk any leaks, and Pearl tells us that if Maya knew then she'd force us to take this case: which is... rather true. We head back to the lobby and tell WP what happened: and he understandably nearly buckles over. Before he leaves, WP gives us a small transceiver. Apparently, somebody told him to give this to us. Sure enough, it starts beeping...

...And on the other end is a mysterious voice alongside an all-too familiar one screaming for help: Maya has been kidnapped!

The cards are dealt.

The kidnapper has a simple demand. We will achieve a total acquittal for Matt Engarde in the first day of trial. If we do not, Maya will be killed. If we do, then she will be returned to us. Before he hangs up, he tells us his name: "De Killer". Pearl becomes completely inconsolable and we rush to Detective Gumshoe while WP looks over her: he's quick to tell us, though, that Matt Engarde is likely guilty. And if he wasn't, then why would there be a kidnapping?!

Gumshoe does tell us one thing, though: there's so much evidence that it was Matt Engarde that it's almost weird. De Killer did say something about Matt being set-up, and Gumshoe tells us that we can begin our own investigation after cooperating with the police.

Meanwhile, we slip into Maya's shoes and come face-to-face with De Killer.

Red! The blood of angry... er, assassins?

He reassures her that she is not his target: and she will not be if Phoenix manages to get an acquittal. He then contacts Phoenix: this takes just place just before their first conversation.

The next day, Phoenix and Pearl wake up without getting much sleep. Gumshoe was kind enough to go home with Pearl and Phoenix, and we stiffen our upper lip to be strong. For Pearl's sake! Before we leave, Pearl asks us a question: if we represent Matt, then what do we do if he is our murderer? It's a heavy question and one we're not prepared to answer, so we rush down to the Detention Center. We just can't wait to talk to Matt.

When we talk to him, we learn one thing about him: he's a moron. He thinks we're insurance salespeople, then fire extinguisher sellers, and only after we tell him we're a lawyer (and he talks to his manager) do we get a chance to interview him. It's not much of an interview, though: he doesn't answer our questions at all, and he's ready to show us out until we bring up De Killer's name.

Why does this rattle him?

Matt unexpectedly agrees to take us on as his attorney. Before we leave, we use the magatama to see if he did kill Juan: and when he says he did not, there's no chains or locks in sight. I guess he really didn't kill him! This is good—we've got an innocent client!

We head back to the Gatewater Hotel with one goal in mind: find the real killer. When we get to the lobby, we run into Oldbag, but it turns out that she's only heard everything from Lotta. It turns out she did see something very important, though: but when we try to pry, she's hiding it behind four psyche-locks! I guess we'll have to come back to her later. We run into Lotta in the hallway, and she's accusing us of stealing her camera: we're fervently denying it, but that brings us to another mystery. Where is her camera?

In any case, 'tis time for us to get investigating. One thing's for sure: if Matt was the killer, then he'd have to cross the hallway. Nobody saw him do this that we know of, so that's another layer of... if not proof that he's innocent, then at least a growing certainty. We take note of Lotta's missing camera and talk to her about what happened when Juan was murdered: she was here until Matt was arrested, but says she might've left here for a little bit to look for other stars to take pictures of. There was some big scoop that she was on the lookout for, but when we try to press her on that...

There's a joke to make here, but I don't know what it is.

Oookay, well. Time to make like Liz Truss and leaf. I guess it's time to put the pedal to the metal: let's go inside Juan's room. It's absolutely stuffed with, well, stuffed bears. Gumshoe is quick to inquire about Maya's safety, but we unfortunately have nothing to report: he asks if we're doing okay, but we don't respond. He tells us that we're totally allowed to investigate the crime scene and he'll give us all the information he can and gives Pearl a map: d'awww, he's a good guy.

When it comes to the cause of death, it's pretty obvious. Gumshoe gives us a picture and there's a knife sticking out of his chest. There are fingerprints on the knife, as well: and the current theory is that they're Matt's. Greeeeeeeeeeat. When it comes to Matt's actual arrest, Gumshoe tells us that he's got even more evidence. There was a button that got ripped off and landed in his Hakama, and furthermore he's got a witness: the Wicked Witch of the Witness Stand herself!

We run out of things to talk to him about so we get to presenting. He tells us that the transciever uses radio waves and he'll let us borrow a radio wave scanner: hopefully that'll work. There's also a suspicious guitar case on the scene. It's wet, but only on the top of the lid, with no water inside the case itself. Furthermore, there's no guitar! There's also a wine glass on the table filled with tomato juice: Pearl asks us a good question. Why is it that this is the only thing still intact? We get to talking with Gumshoe, and he tells us that Franziska also noticed that: which means Franziska is at the hote-

Gumshoe's beeper goes off, and on cue:

I was starting to miss her!

Franziska catches Gumshoe before he can run away and she tells us that victory will be hers this time: she's offended when we ask if that's all she's after, though, and storms away after throwing something at us. It looks like... an autograph? Signed "Juan", to... "My Dearest Wendy". Hm.

Maybe she does have a soft spot for us.

Before we leave to deliver the autograph, we stop in Matt's room. There's somebody in here before us: this is Ms. Adrian Andrews, Matt's manager. She's clearly very down-to-business, so down to business we get: interviewing her is a bit of a hassle, but she's quick to give us some information. She was eating dinner with Matt the night of the murder, did some errands to prepare for the post-ceremony show, and went to check on Juan when she found his body.

Apparently, Juan didn't have a manager. When it comes to the press conference, she didn't really know what it was about either: she was just told to put one on. When it comes to Juan, she's clearly not a very big fan of his. Or Matt's, for that matter. She equates them to children, always bickering about every little thing, and we get a hunch that she knows a little bit more than what she's telling us. We try to pry, but she gives us psyche-locks!

Oh, well. In any case, we know what to do with the autograph Franziska gave– er, threw at us. We move to rush back to the lobby and confront Ms. Oldbag, but before we do we're stopped by WP in the Viola Hall! He tells us a bit about the Nickel Samurai, which is focused on three brothers—the Aluminum, Tin, and Nickel Samurai—all being in love with the same woman. Pearl asks WP for more information, but he tells her to tune in: and she considers it. He tells us about the Jammin' Ninja as well, which is about a ninja who can't ninja becoming a big pop star, which Pearl also considers watching. They run at the same time, it appears.

When we run into Wendy, it is pitifully easy to break her four psyche-locks. All we have to do is give her the autograph Juan made for her and she spills the beans!

She looks like an alien. Or an insect.

We get to talking with her. She tells us that she straight-up saw Matt leaving Juan's room the night of the murder: ten minutes before his body was discovered, no less! She's going to be a witness in court tomorrow, and she's going to work overtime to get Matt declared guilty. Greeeeeeeeat. Apparently, Matt created some sort of scandal that Juan got wrapped up in: something to do with Adrian, no less. When it comes to what it actually was, though, she isn't sure. It'll come up in next week's tabloid.

Greeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeat.

Fantastic. This was a huge waste of my time. (you did not read mine!) We go back to talk to WP about this "scandal", and he gives us more information. Apparently, Adrian and Juan were meeting in secret: and even more than that, the tabloid is hinting that they could even be lovers! He gives us the clipping and we have enough evidence to break apart Lotta's psyche-locks, so let's go do that!

Running into her in the hallway, we get to crackin'. She was here to get the drop on this "scandal"! We're right on the money, and her psyche-locks are broken after we substantiate our claim with the newspaper clipping. There's apparently a note on the story in her camera case. Another reason to keep an eye out for it, I guess.

Welp, there's one place to go now. Gumshoe told us to meet him at the Criminal Affairs Department, so that's exactly what we do. He is not happy to see us. Or, I guess more accurately, not happy for us. All of the evidence is pointing towards Matt's guilt: it's an airtight case, as far as the LAPD is concerned. The fingerprints did turn out to be Matt's. Furthermore, Oldbag's testimony is also damning. We try to pry for more information, and eventually we get to talking about the scandal.

Two years ago, a woman committed suicide: this woman, Celeste Impax, was Juan's own manager. Furthermore, she was Adrian's mentor. No wonder she hated him. Before he can tell us any more, Franziska barges in and fires Gumshoe! She begins to berate us for interfering, as if we didn't interfere then she would've won...

...says somebody finishing her sentence for her.

The great revival.

Franziska snaps at Edgeworth, but he keeps uncharacteristically cool: and, when she storms out in a huff, we get to snapping at him. Phoenix starts shouting at him, saying that he thought Edgeworth was dead and that he never wanted to see him again. Edgeworth coolly responds that he won't be showing up at tomorrow's trial, and thankfully given that he's not in charge of this investigation he's able to give us a little more information. Before we ask him, though, he reminisces about the von Karma creed: and we berate him for leaving because he lost his perfect win record. Edgeworth tries to correct us and asks why we stand in court. When we say it's to save our clients' lives, he has the audacity to tell us that we still have a lot to learn.

Sigh. In any case, it's time to get talking about the case. Edgeworth is happy to give us information on Celeste. Apparently, after she killed herself, her suicide note vanished. It was highly likely she did write one, given the ink on her fingers, as well. When it comes to who hid it? Well, it had to have been Juan. He was the one who discovered her body, after all. Edgeworth gives us Celeste's suicide report and we get to flipping: this is only part one, and Edgeworth gives us part two...

...it's an attempted suicide report and the victim is Adrian Andrews. This is shocking information! Adrian has an incredibly dependent nature, Edgeworth tells us—she latches on to authority figures in attempts to emulate them as she has very little self-confidence of her own. Celeste was the person she had latched on to, and when Celeste died she felt like she had nowhere else to go. Without somebody to anchor herself to, anxiety and desperation take control of her life: even with counseling, she's very clearly putting up a façade.

We head back to Matt's hotel room to talk with her. Franziska is there before us, and we learn that little beeping sound is a tracking device she planted on Gumshoe to know his every move. Okay, sure. Assault and battery, clear familial issues, and now stalking?

...I can fix her.

Anyways! It's time to break Adrian's psyche-locks. She knows the reason he was killed: she had to get close to Juan? Why? For Celeste's sake. She had to find the suicide note! She's uncharacteristically enraged to hear us talking about her, and when we finally tell her that we know about her dependent nature she folds: this is, indeed, why she got close with Juan. We're even going further than just this, however—Phoenix accuses her, to her face, of murdering Juan.

And yet she still denies it...

There's little else we can do today. We head back to the office and De Killer is on the line! We ask to hear Maya's voice and he relents: she tells us to talk to Mia, and Pearl channels her for us! Mia tells us that Maya is safe. She also left her a note: a smart use of spirit channeling! She didn't see the face of her kidnapper, however.

For the last bit of this investigation, we actually play as Maya. Scurrying around in the dark, we find a small card: it's similar to the one Adrian has, complete with a pink shell decal. Maya skillfully uses it to jimmy open the lock on her door... and investigation comes to a close!

Trial, Day Two

Before trial begins, we're called by Shelly de Killer. Apparently, he's given us a present: he's vague about it, though. Weird, as per usual. Maya is okay, but hasn't been fed at all. Thankfully, Mia's by our side this time, and when we go into trial we learn what this "present" of his really is.

In my favorite moment of this entire game, Franziska von Karma has been shot.

The flop.

This must be De Killer's gift to us. Franziska is one of the top prosecutors in the country: who could take her place?

Well, one person could. Edgeworth gives us the good news—she is alive and in stable condition. Just like her father, she was shot in the right shoulder: unlike her father, she is currently undergoing surgery. Edgeworth tells us that over this past year he has been undergoing a journey—and hopes that by the end of this trial we will understand the truth he has reached.

Gumshoe is called to the stand and lays out the facts of the case before us. After this trial, he's to turn in his badge: after a brief pep talk by Edgeworth, however, he gets out of his funk and is ready to testify. He tells us what we already knew: the murder took place during the awards show, Juan was murdered, and there was nothing suspicious about the guitar case.

After pressing Gumshoe for more information, we learn that only the victim's fingerprints were on his guitar case. We also learn that the cause of death wasn't stabbing: it was strangulation. Juan must've been stabbed after he died. Gumshoe's testimony comes to an end and we're given a new one on why Matt was arrested.

We get more information on both the knife—which, again, bears Matt's fingerprints—and the button found in his hakama. He slips up, though! He says that the murder was premeditated. We know this isn't true: after all, the knife he used was from the Gatewater Hotel! This was an issue in 1-5, if you recall.

When you commit a murder, you don't forget the murder weapon!

Edgeworth shuts this contradiction down, however. Juan's knife was present at his table. Whose knife wasn't present at his table? Matt's. Edgeworth says that a verdict could be reached if we have no new evidence to present—is he throwing us a bone? There's one thing that's piquing our attention. Remember the glass filled with tomato juice?

It's completely undisturbed in the crime scene photo, just like Pearl picked up on. Edgeworth brushes this off. Adrian Andrews, who discovered the body, must've simply put it down without thinking. We ask for proof, and Edgeworth gives it. Only Adrian's fingerprints were found on the glass! His Honor is ready to pass judgement but Edgeworth mysteriously stops him. He has another witness!

Oldbag takes the stand and Edgeworth is, understandably, shocked that it's her under that helmet. She gives her testimony about seeing Matt leaving Juan's room right after the murder supposedly took place: when we get to pressing her, she says that she definitely saw that bright red racing jacket of his. That can't be true, though. Juan's button landed in the hakama of his costume: if he was the murderer, then he'd have been wearing the Nickel Samurai outfit, not his racing jacket!

We ask for more testimony. Oldbag says that she did see the Nickel Samurai and got mixed up. There's a plain contradiction there, however. The Nickel Samurai costume has gloves. So, then, how did Matt's fingerprints end up on the knife?

Edgeworth says that the initial intent behind Matt's visit to Juan's room may not have been murder. He visited Juan, took off his gloves to relax, and then killed him. This can't be possible, though!

When you don't commit a murder, you don't bring a murder weapon!

We're going to fish for a turnabout now! There's a compelling theory brewing in Phoenix's mind. The real killer brought the knife in an attempt to frame our client! Who's the real killer? There's only one answer, and Oldbag even tells us that she was waiting for her. It's Adrian Andrews!

Oldbag is ready to testify to why she was waiting for Adrian. She was waiting to see if the scandal was true! How did she know about that, though? After all, the tabloid's gonna be published next week! Unless...

...remember Lotta's missing camera? Oldbag folds. She did steal Lotta's note! It was in the camera case We know she stole more than that, though.

I love how clearly desperate, tired, and pissed off he is here.

Oldbag finally confesses and shows us the camera. She says that she stole it to check for photos: His Honor orders the bailiff to do so as well. Edgeworth tells us that there's only one photo worth showing—the Nickel Samurai leaving Juan Corrida's room. His Honor is ready to pass judgement once more. After all, Matt himself said that during the time of the murder he was in the Nickel Samurai costume!

There's one thing off about this photo, however. The Nickel Samurai in this photo is holding up their hakama pants. The hakama is too long! This wouldn't be the case if it was actually Matt. It's his costume! Furthermore, in the poster, you can clearly see the Nickel Samurai's socks. The costume is too large for whoever is wearing it! There's only one person who could have access to the suit and be too short to fit in it comfortably.

Adrian Andrews.

Mia picks up on something, though. Edgeworth is unusually calm. When we formally indict Adrian, His Honor says that he'll call a subpoena: and Mia points out that this will take one more day! We desperately beg His Honor to keep this trial going. Edgeworth agrees with us and tells us one thing.

Everything is going according to plan.

Court is adjourned for a brief recess. In the Defendant's Lobby, Matt is shocked to hear that she was behind Juan's murder: but we have motive with the suicide note. But who told us about that note, Mia asks? Edgeworth did.

When court reconvenes, we're left with a sinking feeling in our stomachs. Adrian tells us that she had been seeing Juan and knew about the rivalry between him and Matt. Adrian testifies about when she discovered the body—she was in a state of shock, and when she felt she was about to faint poured a glass of tomato juice. Mia tells us that the key to breaking through her testimony is disrupting her pacing. To be blunt, unlike other witnesses she's smart.

Our main strategy, then, is to press. As we press, we notice that she's getting more nervous: she's starting to stumble over her words as we press her about her state of shock and the glass of juice. When we get back to talking about her state of shock, she lets it slip that she made a mistake! She shakily answers that she knocked the flower vase over—this is an obvious lie if I've ever seen one! Adrian says that she knocked it over and that it fell onto the guitar case: but we know this isn't possible, as the guitar case is wet and has glass on the outside, not the inside!

Why would she lie about this?

Other than the vase, Adrian testified, she didn't touch anything at all. Why, then, was the guitar case closed if it was open in the picture? We ask Adrian to testify about the guitar case: this might be the key that blows the whole case wide open! At least, that's the façade we're putting up. Edgeworth knows we're grasping at straws. Frankly, we can't believe we're grasping this far, either.

Adrian's pacing is definitely disrupted now: her testimony, that she opened the guitar case for some reason after she found Juan's body, is riddled with holes. Her fingerprints weren't found on the guitar case, after all! This isn't strange, she argues back: she was wearing gloves. This can't be true, though! After all, her fingerprints were on the glass of tomato juice!

Mia tells us that we're definitely on to something: there must've been something else inside the guitar case. It all clicks into place! It makes perfect sense for one thing to be inside of the guitar case. The Nickel Samurai costume! Edgeworth and His Honor are both incredulous, but we have an idea. There was something Matt was going to confess at a press conference when he won the award: but what if it wasn't Matt in the Nickel Samurai costume?

He's exhausted, isn't he?

We make an outrageous claim: that Juan Corrida was going to wear the Nickel Samurai costume and hold a fake press conference! This! This is our turnabout! It wasn't going to be a confession. As Edgeworth notes, this would be public disclosure! Andrews tells us the truth: we're right on the money. The press conference was set up by Juan! "If he lost the Grand Prix, then Matt was going down with him," she says. Adrian says that Juan must've had a pretty big secret if it was going to ruin his career.

His Honor asks if Adrian knows what the "secret" is. She claims she doesn't. She's asked to testify one last time about why she's been behaving like she did—she says it was all to protect Matt, given that she's his manager and the button and knife are proof of his guilt. We press her and she tells us that Matt's motive was about the press conference: but she can't prove it. When it comes to the button, she says that it was torn off during his fight with Matt.

This, alas, is not possible. There's blood on the button, after all. This wouldn't be an issue if he was stabbed before he died, but he wasn't! He was strangled first and then stabbed. This can only mean one thing. The button was torn off deliberately! Why was the button ripped off? There's one answer. To frame Matt!

Everything is falling into place now. All of the evidence did seem too perfect, remember? We finally openly accuse Adrian of murdering Juan. If asked if we have any evidence, we say we have all the evidence! Adrian's perfect framing is coming back to bite her in the ass. The knife used to stab Juan's body? It was taken from Matt's room. Of course it'd be covered in his fingerprints! The only one that could take the knife from his room, and know which knife to take, would be her.

Furthermore! The only people that could've removed the button from Juan's costume were his killer and the person who found the body. We know Matt didn't: after all, why would he incriminate himself?! The guitar case is also proof. Who could've known there was a spare costume inside of the case? Two people: Juan Corrida and Adrian Andrews!

Edgeworth objects. Adrian's fingerprints weren't found on the guitar case! This is elementary. She used a towel or a cloth to hide her fingerprints: but the tomato juice? That was deliberate! After all, she needed to create the appearance of being a "dazed witness"! Finally, look at the picture of the Nickel Samurai leaving Juan's room. If somebody was too short to fit in the costume, like Adrian, then they'd have to ride the pants up to walk properly!

We can't: for Maya's sake!

Adrian refuses to testify any more: she's pleading the fifth! It must've been Franziska. Remember that they were talking in Matt's room yesterday. Edgeworth says that everything we've proven so far is simply circumstantial. With Adrian refusing to testify and Edgeworth shooting down our argument, we've ended up in the worst possible situation! His Honor says that the court must be adjourned today for further investigation. No! This can't be how it ends!

We beg His Honor to keep proceedings going. When Edgeworth interjects, we get to begging him. Edgeworth says that there is one more thing we can do: have Adrian testify to something unrelated to the evidence pointing towards Matt. What about the juice she poured?

Adrian testifies that she thought Juan was just sleeping. This is why she poured the glass of juice: she poured it for him. This can't be right. After all, there was a knife sticking out of his body! Her entire testimony was a lie. A lie that has proven one thing: she had to have been Juan's murderer!

Court's proceedings are coming to a close, and we've done it. We've done it! We've found who the real killer was and saved Maya's life. When it comes to the matter of the evidence, Adrian still refuses to testify: in that case, court today is over. Which is... weird. Why isn't Adrian confessing? That's what murderers have always done in the past.

...Is she...?

Edgeworth objects, stating that a verdict now would be immature. If Adrian isn't going to testify about why she tried to frame Matt... then he'll do it himself. She's still steadfastly refusing to testify: she's in complete denial that she'll be found guilty! It must be Franziska's influence—her dependent nature has caused Adrian to latch on to her!

Edgeworth tells us that we have a choice to make. Think about what the witness did and did not do: what kind of man are we? We have to win an acquittal for Maya, but we just... we just can't let the truth die. Adrian refuses to testify when we try to force her, however, and Edgeworth does the unthinkable.

He tells the truth about Adrian for her. Her attempted suicide in the past. Her dependency issues. Adrian begs him to stop: when it comes to this all being revealed, she'd rather...

Edgeworth's gambit.

Adrian tells us the truth. She did try to pin the crime on Matt... but she also discovered Juan's body. Adrian is livid: she's swearing at Matt, calling him a scumbag who's trying to flee from the truth "just like last time". This testimony is airtight. It must be the truth. It is impossible to indict Adrian on anything outside of fabricating evidence to get Matt convicted.

An extra day is called for further investigation.

Court is adjourned.

Before we leave, Edgeworth asks Adrian about the card in her hand. When she says she found it next to Juan's body, he demands she give it to him: apparently, this is a major piece of evidence.

In any case, however... court is adjourned.

And we didn't win an acquittal.

This is my favorite sprite in the entire trilogy.

Investigation, Day Two

Pearl is understandably inconsolable. Gumshoe swings by the offices to talk to us: apparently, now that he's out of a job, he's offering to work for us and help in our investigation. Hey, I won't turn him down. He's just as shocked as us to have heard Edgeworth say he didn't care if Adrian killed herself. We get to asking about Franziska, and she's in good condition: apparently, she was shot in the shoulder. Just like her father.

We play with the idea of visiting her at the... Hotti Clinic, eugh: apparently Phoenix does care about her. If you present her profile to Gumshoe, he tells us that he worries about her. Aw. If only Franziska knew that she had people who cared about her...

In any case, we go down to Hotti Clinic to check up on her. Edgeworth is worried sick about his sister to the point of not knowing that this man isn't Director Hotti: Franziska whips him out of the way. Huh. Well, at least she's still her old self. There's a funny bit here where Phoenix gets embarrassed after Franziska notices he brought her some flowers. See? He does care!

An unlikely friendship, perhaps?

Franziska says that she was going to run the trial today anyways (she's obviously lying, mind you) and Edgeworth dragged her here. Edgeworth says that getting her to the hospital was the logical course of action and that he had to clean up the deal she made with Adrian—she denies that she made such a deal. She calls Adrian weak and storms off, flippantly ignoring the fact that she had manipulated her into nearly being declared guilty for a crime she didn't commit.

When Franziska leaves, we're left alone with Edgeworth. Edgeworth says that the reason he did what he did was because he puts himself on the line and expects everybody else to do the same. When it comes to the card, though... Edgeworth swears us to secrecy. This is tippity-top secret information.

The card is a literal calling card: property of an assassin named Shelly de Killer. The name "De Killer" is an old one, dating back over a hundred years—the latest in the line, Shelly, leaves the card as proof that he committed the murder for his clients.

Before we leave, Edgeworth speaks up. He noticed how we were acting in trial today: desperate. We tell him the truth—Maya's been kidnapped. He's shocked and promises to put together a team to rescue her: we snap at him, telling him that we don't need his pity and that we don't believe that Matt hired De Killer to kill Juan Corrida. Edgeworth goes to prepare his rescue team and gives us a letter of introduction to be allowed to investigate the hotel.

She's still alive, thankfully!

Once we're done talking to Edgeworth, the scene cuts to Maya's perspective. Breaking out of her room with the card, we find ourselves in a room with a bunch of electrical equipment. A satellite dish, a computer, a picture of Celeste Impax, a weird little stuffed bear, and a bunch of video tapes. When we're done investigating, De Killer suddenly appears. He's rather impressed with our escape, but asks us to cooperate. Dead men tell no tales, after all...

We go to the detention center, but visiting hours are over. There's a message left for us by Matt, though: to feed his cat Shoe. Well. Pearl pushes us to feed Shoe, but before we do that we head over to the hotel to investigate. Apparently, Edgeworth buttered Wendy up in his letter of recommendation. Nice. Before we go any further, Wendy tells us that we're not allowed to go into Matt's room. Bummer.

Anyways, before we do anything else, we should probably feed Shoe. When we turn the light on, Matt's butler, John Doe, greets us. He looks oddly familiar, doesn't he?

Where have we seen this face before...?

John is reluctant to give us information about Matt: he doesn't pry into his master's affairs, as it were. He's rather reluctant to talk about anything, as a matter of fact. When we leave, John tells us that people aren't as they appear to be: a strange thing to say, wouldn't you say so?

Heading back to the hotel, we get into the hallway and meet with Lotta. Apparently, the info she made up about Matt foisting Adrian onto Juan? Hogwash. Balderdash, as it were. Great. When we go into Juan's room, Oldbag is waiting for us! Weirdly enough, all the bears around the room are presents. Apparently he fought and befriended a bear at one point. Weird, but okay.

De Killer calls us on the transceiver: we ask to speak to Maya, but the transciever fades away into static! We do manage to get one more day, though. Heading back to the office, Gumshoe is waiting for us. He offers to make dinner, but we're not hungry, and we ask him if he could look at the transceiver. Oddly enough, it's perfectly fine—he suggest electromagnetic interference. He explains it to us: it's like using a cellphone next to a computer making the screen blurry, and when Pearl doesn't understand that, we tell her it's like using the dryer next to the TV and the TV starts acting up.

Gumshoe suggests that some other device messed up the transceiver: like a listening device. And where did the transceiver get messed up? Juan's room! We've got a lead: FINALLY! Gumshoe races to break into the precinct and steal a bug sweeper and we rush to Juan's hotel room. Gumshoe couldn't get a police bug sweeper, but he did manage to find his own: one he whipped up in elementary school. Huh! Guy's handy with electronics. It'll go off on anything that emits electromagnetic waves, but it'll work to find any listening devices!

I'm more impressed that he made it in elementary school. Given he's in his 30s and JfA takes place in 2017, he made this stuff using equipment from the late 80s or early 90s! That's impressive!

We take a good look around the room and find something: a small video camera in the eye of the giant stuffed bear along with a transmitter and a timer. It transmits radio waves: there's no actual video on it. The timer on the device says it was set to start recording at 8:00 PM—around the time Juan was killed! This camera could've caught the murder on tape!

Gumshoe takes the camera and has a great idea: he's going to go to different electronic shops and see if he can't find who bought the camera! Edgeworth shows up and chuckles at Gumshoe's inefficiency: he overheard our entire conversation, it seems. The bear is custom-made, he tells us, and only a few are exported overseas. He takes the stuffed bear and tells us that he can find who bought it: he should still have enough time.

Going back to the office, we start bouncing theories off of Pearl. All the signs are pointing towards Matt being the person who hired De Killer: we head back to the hotel to see if we can find any more clues and find Oldbag investigating with the bug sweeper. She's ready to tell us more scandalous details about Matt. Apparently, Juan was engaged to Celeste. We knew that already, but Celeste killed herself three days after the marriage announcement! What in the world?!

Juan called off his engagement with Celeste for some reason. We head back to the police station one last time, and the Chief tells us that they've got a new witness. Great. Great! Fuckin' great. Edgeworth does us one more kindness and lets us visit the detention center even though visiting hours are over.

Heading back to the detention center, we're giving the option of talking to either Matt or Adrian. We talk to Matt first, and when we ask him about what the "secret" Juan wanted to reveal is...

This must be the key to everything.

We decide to talk to Adrian instead, and she gives us more information. She tells us that the reason she wanted to get her hands on Celeste's suicide note was to burn it: she didn't want anybody to ruin her memory by spreading lies about her. Adrian tells us that she didn't frame Matt—she just planted evidence to make it more obvious that he's the killer. We have no information right now, so heading back to the Police Department, we run into Will Powers: he's tomorrow's decisive witness.

When it comes to his testimony, WP can't say anything, but when it comes to Matt? He's a playboy. Every women swoons over him... except for Adrian. Besides her totally being gay, there's another obvious reason there: he had something to do with Celeste's suicide, didn't he? He's practically begging us to ask him about Celeste's suicide, so we do. He tells us some of Celeste's last words: "It looks like I got caught up with a truly insidious man." Perhaps something on that note incriminated Juan?

After we're done talking to WP, we get a phone call from Gumshoe. He's in a hurry: Edgeworth's gone and done something! He's found the person who bought the spy camera and the bear. It was... Matt Engarde. He even has the receipt to prove it.

It's undeniable now. Matt Engarde hired Shelly de Killer. It's time for us to go back to the detention center and confront him. His psyche-locks are hard to crack: he recorded Juan, he gave the bear to him, we have the receipt, and we know why he recorded everything. He wanted a video of Juan's death.

Finally, we've uncovered the truth... and Matt Engarde introduces himself.

The river.

He knows all about Maya's kidnapping. He knows that we can't possibly say that he's guilty. Engarde leaves, triumphant, and Edgeworth shows up. We have a conversation with him back at the precinct—we can't get Engarde acquitted. That's no proper defense. But Maya's situation... he asks us why we fight, but before we can get into a proper conversation, we're interrupted by De Killer.

De Killer explains why he kidnapped Maya. He had to take care of Matt: he's his client, after all. When he hangs up, we hear a meow: was that... Shoe?

We've met De Killer?! We rush back to Matt's house and find it empty. Dammit! He was here! We were face-to-face with him! Police units rush to Engarde mansion with us. We're too late, but we do get to investigate: we find the bear figurine and the tapes, but we're too late. The video's been taken.

We also find a message from Maya. She wants us to get Matt declared guilty. But we can't do that! We need to save her life. Dammit! There's only one thing we can do. We head back to the detention center and confront Adrian: she has a psyche-lock, and we break it. Adrian tells us the truth—Celeste killed herself because of Matt, who lied about still having a relationship with her. In her suicide note, she wrote down all of Matt's misdeeds: but Juan hid it, waiting to disclose everything in it at the perfect time. This must've been the "secret" he was going to reveal at the press conference.

With all of the information gathered before us...

Investigation comes to a close.

Trial, Day Two

Before trial, Matt taunts us and Mia talks to us. Matt calls us again and we scream into the receiver, causing Gumshoe to be rather hurt by what we have to say. Gumshoe? Oh. He's calling us. He's back on the investigation team and chasing after De Killer: he tells us that the plan in motion is to make the trial last for as long as possible.

With Gumshoe, Edgeworth, Maya, Pearl, and Mia at our backs, it's time for court!

Edgeworth brings up De Killer's calling card. Once it's established that Juan was assassinated, he calls WP to the stand. On the night of the murder, he visited Matt's room! WP testifies that Matt was talking to somebody. There's a trap here: and we need to fall for it, Mia implies. WP says that Matt gave the bellboy a tip, and when asked about something he found strange during said tip-giving he remembers what it was: a fat roll of cash. This was payment.

Greeeeeeeeeeeeeeat.

WP testifies that he saw the bellboy leaving Juan's room. Pressing him, we learn that the bellboy came out of Juan's room empty-handed: we have to pull some cheap tricks here. We point out the tomato juice, but Edgeworth counters: the bellboy was wearing gloves. Black leather gloves!

We're really grasping here...

A large wad of cash and black gloves is enough to convince His Honor that this bellboy is suspicious, however. WP testifies further, saying that the bellboy gave something to somebody in Matt's room after leaving Juan's room: when pressing him, we learn that WP can't remember who took it or what was given. Something was removed from the crime scene—this is added to WP's testimony, and we present the figurine we found in Matt's house.

This is damning proof that Matt was his client, wasn't it? We ask His Honor to stop his judgement—there are questions that need to be answered still! Who took the bear? Well, WP says it was the Nickel Samurai. Shit. Well, there's an issue with that. Matt was arrested at the hotel: so how could he take the bear home?! Edgeworth counters. We admitted to him that the butler was Shelly de Killer, after all.

We grasp at the tiniest of straws by claiming Adrian Andrews is the real client. The courtroom is turning against us, but we weather the abuse: we're doing this to save Maya. Edgeworth notices our logic has flaws... but he can't deny the possibility! He's letting this trial go on, thank God. He's prepared to challenge our theory and calls the only person who could dispel it to the stand: Adrian herself. Court is adjourned for a brief recess.

During our recess, we notice Pearl isn't channeling Mia anymore: a more powerful force has taken over her spirit. Gumshoe is calling us—he doesn't have any more leads and we snap at him for it, but Mia suddenly comes back. Maya was channeling her, and she was able to see something Maya couldn't: a circus tent! Gumshoe tells his team to search in a 300 foot radius around the Berry Big Circus: that's about how far away Mia thinks it was. Earlier on, it's actually mentioned in an optional examine conversation that the Berry Big Circus has just opened back up. There was also a small mailbox and Mia thinks it might've been an office building. Mia tells us how Maya's doing: she's being deliberately starved by De Killer. Is this how he intends to kill her?! That bastard!

Nevertheless, court reconvenes. Edgeworth asks her if she's seen the bear before: Adrian answers she has, and a desperate Phoenix is shocked. Adrian testifies that the figurine is actually a puzzle, and to unlock it you have to take certain pieces out in a certain order to reach its hollow center. Without knowing the order, you can't solve the puzzle, and therefore cannot open the container. Smart.

Not the first place I would've started.

How does she know about this puzzle? Simple. She bought it. It was meant to be a present for Juan during her scheme to get closer to him. Only she and Juan knew that it was actually a puzzle, which meant Matt didn't. This is interesting. After we press every statement, all eyes are on Adrian: she unlocks the puzzle box...

...and inside is Celeste's suicide note.

Adrian says that she looked all over for the bear after discovering Juan's body, but couldn't find it. There's only one thing we can do: read the contents of the note. Adrian knows she can't stop us and Edgeworth tells her that he can't be persuaded to stop anyways. His Honor reads the note aloud: inside the note is a detailed account of the abuse she went through under Matt, how she was engaged to Corrida, and how Matt destroying everything led her to end her own life. This is Edgeworth's motive: Matt killed Juan because he needed to get rid of that note by any means necessary.

We know we can't stop. We have to keep going: Gumshoe hasn't called anybody yet. Right as His Honor is about to declare his verdict we counter—there's no proof that Matt knew this was a puzzle box! Edgeworth shows us the spy camera, however. Wait. Isn't that in our possession? He explains that this is another spy camera of the same make and model that he found in Matt's mansion.

Mia tells us that there's one piece of evidence Edgeworth hasn't had the time to look further into: or ignored to. The suicide note itself. We point out one thing—there is no proof that this is Celeste's. The handwriting hasn't been analyzed, after all!

And with that, we've reached the end of Part One! Part Two can be found here.

[arkangelo-7]

I think the scariest part about Batman is the loyalty he inspires. Like this motherfucker has an army of children who might at any given time hate his guts, but are still 100% willing to throw hands for him if Bruce needs them to. And then there’s the Justice League, who also at any given time might hate his guts or find him insanely irritating and/or weird, but will also fall in line and listen to his plans if the need arises. And that’s like the most intense form of power someone can wield—voluntary obedience from people physically more capable than them.

[chimerafeathers]

i really love how intensely Mirabelle reacts to act 5 Siffrin botched friendquest.

Isabeau is mostly operating out of concern and, eventually, hurt. he already knows something’s up before Siffrin gets to him. he knows something truly awful must be wrong for Siffrin to be lashing out like they are, and as soon as he can’t handle the situation anymore, he leaves and asks (with strained cheer) for time apart to cool off.

most of Bonnie’s anger comes from being upset and afraid that Siffrin would willingly put themself in danger for no reason, when that’s exactly why they’ve been so unsettled since the eye incident. they hate that Siffrin values their own life so little, they hate that they’re the cause of any pain or loss for him, and here he is, putting himself in that situation AGAIN. on purpose. it’s loud and explosive, but it’s familiar, too, being “hated” by Bonnie for this reason.

Odile pushes, and keeps pushing, until her concern overwhelms Siffrin and they strike where they know she’s most vulnerable. she gets physical, just for a moment, grabbing his collar before controlling herself and letting go. her fury shuts down into cold detachment, and she walks away.

but Mirabelle—dear, sweet, gentle, loving Mirabelle, “the most wonderful being on earth,” with her secret “ruthless side” that largely involves lightly badmouthing people behind their backs and then apologizing—slaps them. immediately.

and then COMPLETELY RENOUNCES THEIR FRIENDSHIP.

not just “we’re not friends anymore,” but “we were never friends in the first place.”

that’s!!! pretty extreme!!!!

of course, she ALSO starts by asking what’s wrong. something must have happened for him to act like this. but as soon as Siffrin brushes her off, she jumps past that line of questioning and dives headfirst into re-evaluating everything she thought she knew about them as a a person.

if he could say something like that to her and not see anything wrong with it, then she was wrong to treat him as a friend, wrong to read camaraderie into his teasing, wrong to think they must care about them all under their aloof demeanor.

that’s how Mirabelle phrases it—“I was wrong about you”—but i think that there’s a hidden layer of I was right about you, too.

she talks about the way they tease her like she had to convince herself that he was doing it in a friendly way. she says they talk like they “know better than her” like that’s a thought she’s had for a LONG time.

“Always soooo mysterious, Siffrin, always talking as if you're better than me! As if you know me!!! But you don't, Siffrin!!! You're just as lost and useless as I am!!! So stop!!! Talking!!! As if you know me!!!!!!”

none of this comes across as a new, sudden way to view Siffrin for her. it doesn’t shock or confuse her. it makes her angry, defensive, almost like she was waiting for something like this to happen at some point. the feeling of resentment, frustration, jealousy, being patronized and condescended to—this is something she’s been actively pushing down and rejecting this entire time, but they’ve given her ample reason for it all to boil to the surface. violently.

Mirabelle’s kindness is not inherent or easy. it’s a choice she’s making. she treats Siffrin warmly because she gives him the benefit of the doubt—refusing to act based on anxiety-fueled, cynical speculation, and reassuring herself that his actions are driven by care and friendship even if she can’t quite see it.

“I was wrong about you” doesn’t mean she always and without question believed them to be a fundamentally kind, caring person from the beginning—it’s that her first, colder instincts were right, and she was wrong to convince herself otherwise.

never mind that she asked what was wrong at first. she barely gives them time to speak in their own defense, to explain what they really meant by what they said. all of her suppressed doubts and frustrations are getting aired out now, now that all the trust she’d so deliberately placed in him has been betrayed. her pain feels bigger than this singular moment, so when she hurts him back, she makes sure it extends back through the entirety of their relationship for him, too.

“You're awful. You're not my friend, not my ally, not anything. You never were.”

like the others, she goes back to the clocktower and tells Siffrin not to come back until later. but there’s a finality to the way she ends this confrontation that isn’t quite there with the others. Isabeau and Odile reach their breaking point and remove themselves from the situation, asking for space to cool off but still somewhat leaving the door open for Siffrin to tell them what’s really going on at some point. Mirabelle is the only one who tries to fully cut ties—after everything else she says, her “I don’t want to see you until tonight” reads to me somewhat as “I don’t want to see you anymore unless I have to.”

I can’t wait to never see you again.

even back at the clocktower, Mirabelle doesn’t really defend Siffrin’s place in the party when Odile suggests leaving them behind out of concern for their trustworthiness on the most important day of the journey. Isabeau and Bonnie protest out of sentimentality and faith in Siffrin’s abilities and connection to them, and Mirabelle agrees, but…

“I agree, but... B-But would he even agree to come with us, still? Maybe they won't even come back tonight...”

she doesn’t say much outside of that. maybe the stutter and hesitation here are signs of regret about how things happened, but she lacks Isabeau and Bonnie’s confidence that Siffrin even wants to come back to them in the first place. she doesn’t trust that their bond was real anymore. maybe it never was in the first place, or maybe she broke whatever was there herself.

and she’s still mad when they finally catch up to Siffrin at the King! and she makes sure Siffrin knows that—after saving them, assuring him that he no longer needs to fight, that they’re all there for him. she still cares, of course she still cares—she’s still hurt, too, but they can figure that part out once there’s less world-ending stuff going on.

she’s the first to say that they all reserve the right to still be angry at Siffrin later—and that they’ve already forgiven him.

she’s also the first to say we want to stay with you, too. it’s not just you.

she was wrong! she thought they didn’t care but they care so much, it’s overwhelming, it’s world-ending.

i think she’s gonna be wallowing in guilt post-canon the moment she remembers what she said and did TO SIFFRIN and not just what Siffrin said to her. especially now that she knows Siffrin’s exact hangups, and especially especially if she figures out what Siffrin was trying to say.

they put themself through hell out of loneliness and fear that none of the others cared about him the way he cared about them, he was going insane from repetition and exhaustion and hunger and trying to keep them all safe and together, and all they did in the midst of all that was say something kind of mean to her one time (that turned out to not even be MEANT to be mean it was supposed to be HELPFUL they just SAID IT ALL WRONG) and she SLAPPED THEM? and told him that they WEREN’T FRIENDS AT ALL??? how could she!!! she should have known better!! what they said hurt a lot but still!!!

so when they eventually manage to try to talk about it, they end up almost in, like, a guilt competition.

Mirabelle apologizing for how she reacted, that she shouldn’t have yelled or hit him, that she doesn’t want to be the kind of person who acts that way out of anger and she’s sorry that she made Siffrin expect that reaction from her, she should have known better and believed in him more and they only messed up like that because they were losing their mind in a time loop but what’s HER excuse—

and Siffrin going nononono stop I deserved it—(HUH DON’T SAY THAT NO YOU DIDN’T)—and that he should never have said such awful things to her, ever, and she was under so much pressure already with the weight of the country and everyone’s lives and futures and her religion and their whole party counting on her to do this impossible task because she’s the only one who can, all this unbearable expectation and hope crushing her, and they KNEW that but they thought they could skip to the ending as though her feelings didn’t matter at all, like helping her wasn’t as important as saving a little time—

until they’re just. in tears together, apologizing for all the horrible things they did in between complimenting each other’s strength and kindness and resilience and how much they admire each other and saying that no, everything you did was completely understandable, actually, the only one who sucks here is me. which neither of them will accept coming from the other!!

they’re so similar, in ways they couldn’t really understand, before.

warm, affectionate, perfect Mirabelle, the resolute hero, a beacon of compassion and hope for all those around her, who wears her heart on her sleeve, her fear making her courage shine all the brighter—nothing like the insignificant, forgettable Siffrin, too terrified to be known, too fragile to touch, too selfish and disgusting to bear letting go.

cool, mysterious, unflappable Siffrin, the worldly traveler, as charming and silly as they are confident and skilled, who brushed off losing an eye like it was nothing, accepting the risks of this journey with barely more than a shrug—nothing like the anxious, stagnant, undeserving Mirabelle, a fraud and a nobody crumbling under the weight of a mission too important to be entrusted to someone like her, doubting herself, doubting her friends, doubting her mentor, doubting her faith, too weak and brittle to bend and change the way the world needs her to without breaking.

not worth bothering others with their problems. they should be able to handle this alone. stay positive, stay calm. breathe in, and out.

they’ll struggle with it, still—the hiding, the minimizing—but now, they understand each other a little better. they can hold each other accountable for what they leave unsaid.

it’ll get easier, eventually. they have plenty of time.

[valtsv]

[lucabyte]

Different standards

[teratomatica]

you always land on all fours

[jesncin]

Happy Pride! Now that Lunar Boy (our middle grade graphic novel) is out, we wanted to share our thought process behind queer vocabulary in media. The constant censorship, imposed western biases on queer culture, and what it means to introduce queer vocabulary to a young audience.

Check out Lunar Boy wherever american graphic novels are sold, or check it out at a library!

[lala-blahblah]

I get why people headcanon that Trucy would call Edgeworth "Uncle Miles" because it represents how close he is to Nick and Trucy and how he's basically part of the family etc. HOWEVER I cannot help but imagine the shock and horror of passersby who hear Trucy call one man "uncle" and one "daddy" as they watch Nick and Miles interact lovingly in public and come to the conclusion that Nick is openly cheating on his spouse with his spouse's brother.

[pillowspace]

hello. i am. perhaps 👉👈 interested in that au art with the verry sleepy looking sif. would you. maybe be open to sharing what its about?

Sleepy Sif <3 sure, I sorta just made it up on the spot after I had already finished sketching, but it kinda stuck with me. Here's extra dialogue that I was going to draw, but I got tired:

Basically, it's an AU where Siffrin never left the island north of Vauguard. The people there are like ghosts, going through routines while never processing much of anything, while the country itself is like a hazy dreamscape you can't quite focus on without it all falling apart. Loop serves as an anchor, keeping Siffrin the most coherent out of anyone on the island, though Siffrin is still forgetful and, as you said, sleepy.

I know that Siffrin's king, but I can't decide what they were previously. If he lived a normal life and Loop just went "you're the closest to a person out of anyone here, why shouldn't we live in luxury?" Or if he was already a prince before the island stopped existing. Either sounds interesting. Regardless, it's not like Siffrin would remember though.

Isabeau ends up on the island due to some incident with a boat and a storm I suppose, no one can really choose to go there on purpose. Maybe the others also came along, Isabeau just hasn't found them on the island yet.

Since the island is being held to reality with flimsy tape and Siffrin's been entirely alone outside of Loop's company and villages of unseeing eyes, Siffrin unconsciously sways the island into being inescapable, dreading when they'll leave while still trying to be supportive. Since Siffrin seems to have such a fierce but melancholy bond to their home, no one's really gathered the will to ask if he wants to go with them yet.

That's the general idea! I also like to imagine different colours come and go on the island, but red's always there. Sometimes the grass is grey, sometimes the grass is green. Etc.

[thecourtscorkboard]

Recipe for Turnabout (3-3)

Prepare yourselves for a night out on the town: it's time to dig in to 3-3, Recipe for Turnabout!

Welcome to 3-3, the third case of Trials and Tribulations. An all-too familiar defendant has been charged... and convicted of murder! It's our job to get her off the hook for a murder she's already been convicted of. Will we savor 3-3 or will it leave a sour taste in our mouths? Let's find out!

THE CORE CAST:

Phoenix Wright: Impersonated and slandered, Phoenix returns not just to get his client off the hook but also clear his name!

Maya Fey: Maya returns as our assistant: it's been a while since we've had an old-fashioned filler case with her!

Godot: Godot returns as our prosecutor, this time coming fresh off of two losses against us. Wonder how pissed he is...

Dick Gumshoe: Gumshoe has a personal interest in this case: and he's going to do his best to help us out!

THE MAIN CAST:

Maggey Byrde: Maggey returns as our defendant: and a convict, of all things. Luckily, we're here to clear her name!

Victor Kudo: A rather perverted old man and a witness to the crime. Rather obsessed with pigeons.

Furio Tigre: A loan shark associated with the mafia who breaks a striking resemblance to you-know-who. Has the best theme song in the game.

Jean Armstrong: Part restauranteur, part drag queen (yeah, this is canon!), Jean Armstrong is the owner of Trés Bien.

THE SECONDARY CAST:

Glen Elg: The victim in our case. A programmer from Blue Screens, Inc., who has a aside job of reporting Saiyan's power levels.

Lisa Basil: An employee at Blue Screens, Inc. who knew Glen. Looks like a dollar store Hatsune Miku.

Viola Cadaverini: The beloved granddaughter of Bruno Cadaverini, the mafia boss of the Cadaverini clan. I'd make a joke here but I don't want my name on a hit list.

Winston Payne: Payne makes a very brief cameo as the prosecutor in Maggey's first trial.

A BRIEF RECAP

The case begins with His Honor calling for a verdict of a trial he's overseeing. The defendant swears it wasn't them, but His Honor sees no room for doubt: the victim was alone when he drank the poisoned coffee. The defendant swears that she saw somebody else there, and the scene widens to show a man sprinkling something into a cup of coffee: nonetheless, the defendant is declared guilty... and Phoenix Wright is left defeated?!

One of the game's strongest introductions!

Investigation, Day One

Gumshoe bursts into our office: he weasels his way out of a practical joke by Maya to demand an explanation for our shoddy defense of a person he seems to know, specifically a poisoning case last month! Things keep getting weirder: after all, we weren't involved in a poisoning case last December! Gumshoe hears us out and we come to one conclusion: there's a phony Nick going around town!

...Keep trying to come up with a name, Maya.

Heading down to the detention center, we meet with our client: Maggey Byrde from 2-1! And she's got a cute waitress outfit on. She's furious at us, demanding an explanation, but once we calm her down and explain the identity theft she's willing to hire us to help her out again. Maggey explains that she got fired after the incident last year and that even though she saw the killer nobody believed her, and even other witnesses testified that they saw nobody. They also found poison in her waitress outfit! Great. Before we leave, Maggey tells us about the killer and the victim—they were probably in the music industry, given that one had an earpiece and there was a CD on the table labeled "MC" something. Maya hilariously suggests "MC Screwdriver", with Byrde backing her up with "MC Hacksaw". We explain that there's grounds for a mistrial and subsequent retrial, given that there was no real defense attorney present, and agree to take her case. The game is afoot!

We head down to Trés Bien to take a look for ourselves. It's a quaint little place, and as we look around we discover quite a few interesting things. The first? A magazine from December 3rd: the day of the poisoning! The second? Something written on the magazine itself: "MC Bomber, $100,000"! We head back to Maggey and ask if this was the "MC" disc. She tells us that it was! The $100,000 must be a down payment for a record deal, with the magazine itself... belonging to our victim!

We head back to the crime scene and run into Trés Bien's owner: meet Jean Armstrong, restaraunteur by day and aromatherapist by also day. Apparently he's familiar with us: he was a witness in the trial yesterday, and our mysterious Xin Eohp flirted with him... in court, no less!

Petite is one way of putting it, sure.

We get to talking with Jean. He tells us that last month a man who came in for his coffee suddenly became violently ill because of the poison inside of it, with Maggey passing out after the victim died. Jean didn't see the exact moment of the murder, as he was in the kitchen: he serves as Trés Bien's chef and manager. Jean is sure there was nobody else at the table, and he tells us that an old man who presumably also served as a witness will say the same thing. When we ask him about any possible motive that Maggey could have, though, he clams up: hiding behind Psyche-Locks, no less! Great. We'll have to come back in the future, then. When we check our pockets, though... the Magatama's gone! We can't find it in the restaurant, so we'll just have to look around elsewhere. Before we do that, though, we're gonna go talk to the old man Jean told us about—and he's in Vitamin Park, just behind the restaurant.

The old man with a rather Rudolph-esque nose is Victor Kudo, and he wants nothing to do with us. He absolutely hates us and Trés Bien: but it sounds like he's a regular! ...And it's not hard to see why if you listen a bit closer to his dialogue. Pervert. On one of the fruit-themed benches in Vitamin Park there's a magazine for job listings: it seems to be Victor's, but we take it despite his protests. When we get back to Trés Bien and pull out the job listings, Jean notices them and hires Maya on the spot. Phoenix leaves her to her fate, too amused to do anything else.

Well, we've got no new leads and there's somebody we need to talk to. Heading down to the precinct, we meet with Gumshoe, who's putting off all his other cases to do his job on this one for some reason. Oh, and more good news! The retrial's been approved. Godot's showing up again, too. Talking with Gumshoe about Maggey, it's not hard to put two and two together: the reason he's working so hard on this case is because he's a bonafide love bird!

As a brief aside, Phoenix's relationship with Maya is on fire in this case. Er, in a good way! I love it.

Gumshoe fills us in with details on the case itself. The victim, Glen Elg, was a computer programmer. Maggey never even saw the guy before, and apparently it was his first time at Trés Bien. Despite that, Gumshoe says that a motive was established in the trial! What on Earth could Payne have thought up? Gumshoe reassures us that Maggey isn't a liar, but there were two big problems with her testimony: the fact that nobody else saw the second person at the table and the fact that nobody found the CD. Glen Elg didn't even have a CD player: he had a portable radio. We get to talking about Jean, and after a funny joke where Gumshoe says he can't stop thinking about Jean and then defends himself by saying he's not his type (so... Gumshoe likes twinks?), he explains that he feels like Jean has something to do with the case. What it is, though? He doesn't know and can't take the time to investigate. It's up to us! Before we leave, though, we hand Gumshoe the sports magazine. He might be able to do something with it!

We head back to Trés Bien, locking eyes with a customer—a rather mysterious one, at that—and are greeted by... Maya, in a rather spiffy waitress outfit! Phoenix sheepishly tells her that maybe she should stop being a spirit medium (awwwwwwwww), and it seems Maya's actually taken quite a liking to the job. We try to bring up the lunch itself and Maya goes out of her way to take our order and bring it to us: the food itself is nearly inedible, however, and when Maya tries it she surprisingly can't eat it either.

Not gonna lie: it suits her.

Maya lets us sneak into the kitchen to investigate. There's our Magatama! Now what was Jean doing with it? Taking a few more looks around, we find a collection of poems that Jean's written. Phoenix does his best French accent to read one out, but besides that there's nothing here. The poem itself though sounds suspiciously similar to our poisoning... weird, right? There's a collection of bottles on the floor and we take a look: they're all aromatherapy oils, save one. It's a green bottle, the shape almost reminiscent of some sort of nail polish. Maybe Jean got mixed up. When Maya opens it and takes a whiff, though, it doesn't smell like anything. Not nail polish, then. So what is it?

We head back to the precinct to tell Gumshoe what we learned. He tells us that the doodle on the magazine was definitely Glen's handwriting: as to what MC Bomber is, though? No clue yet, even if it's a little familiar. We tell Gumshoe what we found. He takes the bottle and tells us that he'll send it to the lab for analysis. Furthermore, he tells us that he knows what Jean's secret is: he's in debt. The restaurant is failing, and Gumshoe gives us a copy of his contract. He's $500,000 in debt! Armstrong was desperate for cash!

Now that we've got our Magatama, we can head back to Vitamin Park to talk to Victor again. When we do, a bright pink scooter catches our eye: and out comes a gangster, roaring at us and accusing us of messing with his "bike"! He threatens to sue us and when we tell him our name he's left laughing: after all, he's Phoenix Wright! We've found our Xin Eohp! He speeds away and Victor puts us down for folding so easily. What a basketcase. Anyways, now that we've got the Magatama, we can start cracking Victor's Psyche-Locks!

He looks more like a Rocky villain...

We get to pressing Victor. After breaking through his lie of eating at Trés Bien, Victor lies again by saying he's just rich enough to burn money there. This is another lie: he's looking for jobs! The real reason he goes to Trés Bien is simple. He's an old pervert, creeping on the waitresses! He didn't want to talk about going to Trés Bien before, but now that we know his secret we can finally get to asking him about the murder that he supposedly witnessed. Even though we've broken his Psyche-Locks though, the creep won't talk! Great. We're gonna have to talk to him later, then. Phoenix has an idea though: we go to fish Maya from the restaurant and bring her to Victor. He's not impressed... until Maya channels Mia. That gets him to open up. Phoenix is a little surprised at the lengths she's willing to go, but there's no denying that it works. He folds like a wet paper towel!

...Let me rephrase that. He folds like origami paper! There we go.

Anyways, when Mia gets to interrogating him, Victor admits that he witnessed the murder: and that he saw nobody else at the table. Victor also tells us some juicy info: that Jean Armstrong is an ex-con! More specifically, he's a kleptomaniac and a petty thief. Victor even writes us a little haiku on the time Jean got arrested! Mia is rather pissed at Maya for calling on her for this, but we can't deny its effectiveness. She departs on a sour note.

...What? What do you want me to say? You want a quip?

We head back to Trés Bien to talk with Jean. When we present the Magatama, Jean says something interesting (at least in my eyes): that some "horrible feeling" has come over him. That's fanfic potential, right there. Anyways, Jean confesses that Glen had a lottery ticket for half a million dollars! That's enough to cover Jean's debt. We accuse Jean of stealing the ticket and his first lock is broken. Jean says he's no thief, but we've got Victor's note to prove otherwise. He wants proof that he's stolen from his customers and our proof is right here: the Magatama itself! He stole it from us and put it in the kitchen. His last line of defense is asking why he would steal the ticket: and when we present his loan contract, it's over. Jean folds, although he continues to swear that he didn't steal the lottery ticket. Jean confesses that he did steal one of his tickets, but not the winning one. Before we can say anything else, though, Godot shows up. Apparently he's been sitting there the whole time, and he takes time out of his day to complain about Jean's coffee before explaining that Jean did indeed take the wrong ticket. Godot tells us he's got no idea what happened to the ticket, and with that our first day of investigation comes to a close!

Trial, Day Two

Before trial begins, Gumshoe encourages Maggey and us to do our bests. Nevertheless, he's Godot's first witness: while he wasn't the lead investigator for Maggey's first trial, he is for this one! That's good for us. He explains that Jean and Victor are our two witnesses and gives us the floor plans of the restaurant as evidence. His testimony is rather straightforward, telling us that Glen was listening to his radio, died almost immediately after drinking his coffee, and had traces of poison in his cup. When we ask Gumshoe about Maggey's motive, it's rather simple: she wanted to steal his winning lottery ticket. We press harder—the fact that the ticket was missing doesn't implicate Maggey—but Godot tells us that the ticket was found during a search of the defendant, presenting it as evidence. We keep grilling Gumshoe harder, and Godot presents both a photo of the crime and the cup itself as evidence.

There's definitely not another person there...

His Honor is ready to re-issue a guilty verdict until Godot presents more evidence: Maggey's apron, stained with coffee, and a small bottle of potassium cyanide that was found in her waist pocket. There's a large red stain on the apron that is initially assumed to be blood: weirdly enough, Godot doesn't seem to know about it. Furthermore, he doesn't even seem to see it, as he asks Gumshoe if there is one! It's only ketchup, though. Weird. His Honor asks Gumshoe to continue with his testimony.

Gumshoe tells us that the crime was reported around 2:25 PM by Victor Kudo. Glen Elg's identity was quickly established, and Maggey was both searched and arrested soon after: she woke up from her fainting spell around 10 minutes after the police arrived. As for the identity of the victim, even though he didn't have an ID he did have a bag of prescription medication on his person. The bag was empty, though. This is a lead that we have to follow up on, even though Godot makes fun of us for it! Gumshoe says that nothing else was missing from the crime scene but we pounce on the missing medicine. Phoenix argues that the victim's own medicine could've been the poison used to kill him! Godot asks us to read the bag and it's made rather clear what the medicine actually was. Ear drops. Glen Elg busted his eardrum in a fight the day before his death. He even applied some of it before his death!

There's a stark issue with this, though. If Glen applied his medicine right before he died, then where did it go? The possibility that the medicine could've contained potassium cyanide is there, even if it's improbable, and Godot is forced to call another witness: rather, Gumshoe is. Victor Kudo will come to the stand after recess!

Talk about a lovers-to-enemies arc...

During recess, Maggey lambasts Gumshoe while we prepare for Victor to come to the stand. We try to reassure her, but she's still furious at him: when court reconvenes, Victor testifies that he saw Maggey put something in Glen's coffee. We press Victor harder, asking if Maggey wasn't just putting sugar in Glen's coffee, but Godot presents the cyanide bottle that Victor identifies. Victor is sure that Maggey gave Glen his coffee, identifying her by the ribbon in her hair and the straps on her apron, although tellingly not by her face. They're all features that he would see from the back: he might've never seen Maggey from the front at all. After all, if he did, then wouldn't he notice the stains on her apron?! Godot counters with the fact that she was still the only waitress working the day of the murder.

Victor gives a second testimony, this time about the victim himself. What matters here is the fact that he said Glen was holding a newspaper in his right hand. This would mean he was drinking his coffee with his left hand, but that's impossible. His lip marks are on the part of the cup that would be facing you if you were drinking it with your right hand, with the handle on the right side of the cup. His memory is now being called into question, and he asks for one more chance to give testimony. Godot is on his 16th and final cup of coffee, and Victor testifies that Glen was wearing his lens on the same side as his radio. This would be his left ear: the one that got ruptured in his fight!

His Honor is ready to suspend proceedings until Victor demands time for one final testimony. Victor testifies that when Glen died he broke a vase on the table he was sitting at: the crime scene photo shows an intact vase, however. Victor tells us that his own vase must've been the one that broke.

With that final piece of useless testimony, he gives us an apology note—saying that he broke the vase at his seat—and court is suspended for the day.

Investigation, Day Two

After a brief discussion with Maya at the office, we head back out to do some snoopin'. Our first stop is the police station to talk to Gumshoe: but he's not there. Something else is going on! They're apparently shutting down the entire server. What's happening? It's too early to tell, and none of our business anyways, so we head out. Heading down to Trés Bien, we run into Gumshoe. He's obviously listening to the lottery show on the radio, but when we ask him about it? A single Psyche-Lock. Funny. We tell him about Maggey and the poor guy's heartbroken: and when we break his Psyche-Lock, he admits that he was listening to the same radio show as Glen Elg. They announce the drawings live every day at 1:30. We get to talking about Glen, and he tells us where he worked: a computing firm called Blue Screens, Inc..

Before we head over there, though, we go to snoop out the kitchen. Inside is Jean with a familiar-looking lady, although we can't quite place her yet. She's indirectly threatening to burn down Trés Bien... and speaking in language that implies she's talking to him about his loan. Trés Bien has unsurprisingly been having money problems given its lack of customers, and when it comes to the conversation he's not talking. We show him the loan contract, though, and he spills his beans: the woman was indeed from the loan office that gave him $500,000. They had him do something, his hands being figuratively tied and all, but as for what? He's not telling. He tells us that the loan office is called Tender Lender and wisely tells us not to borrow any money from them. When it comes to who runs it, Jean refers to him as "the Tiger": and he seems to be our phony Phoenix.

Honestly, I rather like Armstrong's character design.

Before we leave Trés Bien, Gumshoe stops us. He's heading back to the precinct. Before he leaves, though, he gives us a lunchbox of hot dogs and rice: it's an apology present for Maggey. How thoughtful! We run to Blue Screens and meet one of the company directors, Lisa Basil. She explains that Blue Screens is a data analysis and software development company, developing and producing their software on CDs. This could be where MC Bomber came from! She says that we're welcome to take a look at Glen's desk to look for any clues, but she can't tell us much because the crime itself had little to do with Blue Screens. Talking about Glen himself, Lisa lets it slip that he was in trouble: when we ask her for a bit more information, though, she hides behind three whole Psyche-Locks. Great.

Oh, well. We need to take a look at Glen's desk anyways. It's littered with tickets for horse races, and to top it off there's a horse-themed calendar on his desk. December 3rd is marked on the calendar: that's the day he died! It's also labeled with a reminder. "Meet with the Tiger". I think we know who our prime suspect is: the Tiger himself! We need to go down to Tender Lender to meet with him. He's not in, but the girl from earlier is. She offers us coffee and we explain that we're not there for a loan, but she disappears before we can talk to her. Oh, well. We can take a look around, at least. There's a CD player on the table. The girl comes back to subtly threaten us, but we steal (er, that is, take into evidence) the CD that the Tiger was listening to: and it's labeled "MC Bomber"! Taking a look at the Tiger's shelf, we find a repair bill for $15,000... for a car owned by one "Cadaverini", whoever that is. There are also a set of clothes hung up on the wall, including a copy of our suit: and a paper attorney's badge, of all things. Did they really fall for this?! Finally, there's an ashtray on the table. It's spilled everywhere, and next to it is a book of matches... belonging to Trés Bien!

Before we can look around even more, the Tiger himself walks in. He accuses us of knocking over his ashtray, but the girl from before explains that she knocked it over. He goes from a threatening presence to a whimpering kitten in just a few seconds! He admits that he's our phony, but before we can gather up the courage to talk to him he walks out.

I mean... there's the possibility of it being "both"...

The girl, whom the Tiger called "Violetta" remains, though, and we finally get a chance to talk to her. She works here at Tender Lender, and we get to talking about the incident. Both her and the Tiger were here at Tender Lender, and she finally gives us a name for the Tiger himself: Furio Tigre. She insists that we call him Don Tigre, however, and she tells us that he saved her life after nearly dying. When we ask her about the incident that nearly killed her, however, we're met with four entire Psyche-Locks. We can't get any more information right now, so we're forced to go check out somewhere else. When we leave Tender Lender and go to Vitamin Park, we come face-to-face with Victor Kudo.

After listening to him rant and rave for a bit, he lets it slip that he was asked to go on an "errand" while at Trés Bien soon after Glen's death. He was the one that called the police! It took him about five minutes, as instead of a cell phone he had to go and find an actual payphone. That means there's five minutes of time that are completely unaccounted for! We need to go back to Trés Bien. When we do, though, Jean's nowhere to be found: so we go back to see Maggey instead. She tells us that she remembers things completely differently from Victor: she's sure that it was the other person at Glen's seat, presumably Furio, who slipped something into his coffee. We tell her about Victor looking for a telephone and come to the same conclusion—that for whatever reason she was set up by Jean Armstrong. We get to talking about Victor himself and Maggey says something very interesting. While there was another customer in the restaurant, it wasn't an old man. It was a creepy young woman.

Right! Before we leave, we better give her the lunchbox Gumshoe made. She rejects it outright after she learns it was made by him, however, and lets us eat it with Maya. We have other evidence to talk to her about anyways: she confirms three big things. One is that Furio Tigre is indeed our phony, two is that she hasn't even seen potassium cyanide in her life, and three is that she'd never seen Glen Elg in her life except for when she served him coffee earlier.

This is seeming more and more like the unfortunate truth...

While we're waiting for Jean to show up, we head back to the precinct to check on Gumshoe. It's quite literally on fire: the main server's gone up in smoke! He tells us that a computer virus is sweeping through the station. We get to talking about the case, and he tells us an interesting bit of information about Tender Lender: Furio Tigre's been calling in every loan he's given out. In a funny bit of dialogue the usually Luddite Phoenix has to explain what a computer virus is to Maya and Gumshoe—remember, this game came out in 2008—and Gumshoe tells us the name of the computer virus. It's called MC Bomber. He tells us that a group of criminals threatened to release it on the police station unless the demands they made weren't met, and it seems they've gone through with their promise. Right now the police think it was put up for sale: and that the possible price tag is in the millions. When it comes to Tender Lender itself, we get a name for the mysterious "Violetta": Viola Cadaverini, the granddaughter of Bruno Cadaverini, head of the ruthless Cadaverini mafia family. They control all of the money on the black market, and Bruno apparently cares about Viola more than anything in the world.

Before we leave, Gumshoe gives us another lunchbox to give to Maggey as he kind of expected she wouldn't take his first one. Before we go back to Trés Bien to find Jean, we head back to Blue Screens to break Lisa's Psyche-Locks. It's a relatively simple affair, and by using the lottery ticket he died for we come to the conclusion that Glen had a serious gambling problem. He borrowed the money from Furio Tigre, racking up $100,000 in debt. Basil tells us that Glen would use his "talents" to repay the money: this means that he was the creator of MC Bomber!

Was it, now, Ms. Basil?

Lisa admits that Glen did indeed create MC Bomber, although she likely didn't want to divulge this information for legal reasons. Going back to Tender Lender, we break Viola's own Psyche-Locks: Viola Cadaverini was involved in a car accident with Furio Tigre, resulting in a serious head injury that required a $1,000,000 surgery. He paid the surgery after being pressured to by Bruno Cadaverini, of course, and Viola folds. She admits that what Furio did to get his money was "evil" and gives us her medical file from the accident. We can finally go back to Trés Bien to talk with Jean, but before we can, Furio busts in and beats us senseless to get the medical papers back! He and a pressured Jean go to burn the papers, but they can't before Gumshoe comes in to save the day! He takes down Tigre and gets the papers back.

With that, our second day of investigation comes to a close: tomorrow, we catch a Tigre by his toe!

Trial, Day Three

Before the trial, Gumshoe gives us the bottle we found in Trés Bien back. Trial begins and our first witness is Jean himself: after flirting with Godot—who at least swings both ways, nice—he testifies that Victor's testimony was conflicted because he was experimenting with new décor, namely a mirror between seats. There's still an issue with that: if this is the case, then Glen's HMD would suddenly be on the wrong side of his head! This contradiction isn't much, however, as Godot shuts it down by reminding the court that Victor's memory is shot. Jean gives his second testimony, this time about the way the restaurant is setup: the mirror divided the two halves of Trés Bien horizontally on the day of the crime, meaning that the only seat where Victor could've seen Glen is the seat directly opposite his. Here's a diagram to make that a bit simpler. The crime photo that was presented last trial, however, makes this impossible: Victor clearly testified that he broke the vase on his table, but the vase is intact in the crime photo! This makes one thing very clear. There was no mirror in the restaurant that day. Ergo, the victim was wearing the HMD on the wrong side of his head: ergo, the radio was also on the wrong side of his head: ergo, the victim wasn't the victim at all, as he would've been wearing the radio on his right ear instead of his left!

It's Turnabout time!

Somebody acted out the murder after it had already happened! There was only one reason to show Victor the murder at all: to frame Maggey! Jean tries to weasel his way out of testifying about this, but he is under oath. We make him testify about the phony theory, and he admits to committing perjury; but besides that, we do get testimony that there was no 'phony'. The only people in the restaurant were Glen Elg and Victor Kudo. We get to pressing, and he slips up! Jean says that Victor must've come in around 2:00 PM and Glen started celebrating his lottery win a bit after that, but this is impossible. After all, the lottery show airs its results at 1:30! Godot asks us where Glen's body was. It had to have been in the kitchen: this means that Jean Armstrong, our witness, hid his body! We have proof, too. Remember where we found the bottle of ear medicine: in Jean's aromatic oils, which he stored in the kitchen! In his final piece of testimony, Jean swears up and down that he was pressured into hiding the body by somebody. We know who this is: Furio Tigre. His Honor is prepared to suspend proceedings to summon Furio to the stand but Godot swears he can get him here in 30 minutes, and His Honor calls for a recess.

During the recess, Gumshoe approaches us and we ask him to analyze the fingerprints on the ear medicine bottle: after all, he gets all antsy when he doesn't have a job to do. Court reconvenes and both Maya and His Honor hide under their respective benches, but Godot manages to reign in the Tiger and force him to give testimony. Furio testifies that he knows nothing about the murder, and His Honor tells us that we will penalize any pressing that doesn't lead anywhere. Gulp. Okay. No pressure, then.

We get to pressing anyways, and Furio slips up by saying he was in the office on December 3rd. We know this is a lie, as he was meeting with Glen! Furio lies again by saying he never met with Glen, even going as far to say he's never even been to Trés Bien. We found the matches from Trés Bien in his office, though, proving that he has! (Funnily enough, if you press the first statement of his testimony, His Honor almost brings up when Phoenix ate the poison bottle Dahlia gave him in 3-1.)

Furio changes his testimony again, this time saying that when he walked into Trés Bien he stumbled onto the crime scene. This is another lie, as proven by the floor plans: between the entrance and the victim's seat was a tall partition, blocking his view! He saw Glen, alright. He must've met with him! So who was the phony victim? Simple. It was our phony Phoenix: the Tiger himself! Phoenix dodges under the desk out of fear of the Tiger's roar but comes out to accuse Viola Cadaverini of being the fake waitress. Furio testifies one last time, saying that he was only after $100,000 and had no reason to kill Glen given that he had just won the lottery. He wasn't after just $100,000, though: he was after MC Bomber. After all, selling it on the black market would cover the $1 million he owed to the Cadaverinis nicely! To finish his scheme, he posed as us to get Maggey arrested and convicted for the murder.

Godot asks for evidence, and although we don't have any, Gumshoe bursts in with the bottle we asked him to analyze earlier! Court takes a brief recess and we meet with Gumshoe.

Proving your damn worth, Gumshoe!

We tell both Gumshoe and Maya that the fingerprints don't really matter: we have everything we need to finally nail Furio Tigre. Gumshoe sheepishly apologizes to Maggey and before Maggey can run after him to apologize for her own outburst court reconvenes. Phoenix has cooked up a scheme. Furio Tigre's fingerprints are on this bottle. We pull a nasty trick and lie to Furio: we claim that the bottle is full of potassium cyanide. Furio laughs in our face! That's not the bottle. The bottle of cyanide was brown and made of glass!

...The court goes silent.

Furio has just admitted that he knows which bottle was used to kill Glen Elg, something he could only know if he saw it with his own two eyes: and he would only know what it look like if he poisoned Glen and put it in Maggey's pocket! After all... he didn't attend court at all before today, so he couldn't have possibly known what the cyanide bottle looked like! The Tiger goes down in defeat, roars so loud that he causes a blackout, and brings this case to a close.

...and with it, my favorite breakdown of the game.

Afterwards, we give Maggey Gumshoe's lunchbox. It turns out she actually loves weenies, and all's well that ends well! Recipe for Turnabout comes to a glorious close. Savor it well!

What Really Happened?

Everything began 4 months ago. Furio Tigre, a loan shark and owner of Tender Lender, collided with Viola Cadaverini's car while riding his moped. Viola was severely injured, and to repay his debt—and probably avoid getting killed—Tigre agreed to pay for Viola's $1 million brain surgery by the end of January. When Viola recovered, Furio looked after her both out of obligation and out of fear of Bruno Cadaverini, the vicious head of the Cadaverini crime family.

Furio lent $500,000 to Jean Armstrong, owner of the failing Trés Bien French restaurant, and $50,000 to Glen Elg, a programmer. Glen developed a computer virus called MC Bomber that Furio became interested in: if he could sell it on the black market, then he could pay off his debt to the Cadaverinis. He met with Glen at Trés Bien, where they were served coffee by Maggey Byrde: during their meeting, however, Glen won $500,000 in the lottery. Glen refused to give MC Bomber to Furio, as he now had more than enough to pay off his debt: in response, Furio slipped potassium cyanide into his coffee, killing Glen and stealing MC Bomber. Maggey witnessed the murder and fainted due to shock.

Due to the money that he owed Furio, Jean was forced into helping him cover up the murder. They hid Glen's body and Viola was used as a substitute waitress. Victor Kudo walked in to ogle Maggey, as usual, and while he was there Furio recreated Glen's death: taking Glen's appearance to make it seem like he was Glen. He made two critical mistakes, however, by wearing the earpiece on his right ear and drinking his coffee on the wrong side, which was seen by Victor Kudo: Jean interrupted the scene and yelled at Victor to call the police to create a few minutes to frame Maggey for the crime—he was forced into doing this by Furio because of the loan over his head. The Tiger hid the bottle of cyanide he used in Maggey's pocket and left the scene of the crime. The police came soon after and arrested Maggey, with Furio posing as Phoenix Wright to ensure she'd get a guilty verdict. After Maggey was declared guilty, Furio sold MC Bomber on the black market, keeping the original copy for himself. MC Bomber would later be used to attack the LAPD's offices while Phoenix and Maya investigated the crime and ultimately broke through Furio's deception and cleared Maggey's name.

THOUGHTS

3-3 is a rather average case all things considered. It definitely has the telltale feel of 'mediocre', which makes sense—it was made for JfA, after all. Jokes aside, I really like the premise of this case. I'm always a bit of a sucker for poisonings in particular, and I think the introduction to this case is one of the strongest in the entire game (which is saying something given that T&T has the best introductions in the trilogy).

Maya is hilarious in this case. This is one of her best showings, and Maya and Phoenix's banter is actually on point throughout this whole case: this is a very strong showing all around for them, comparable with 1-4 or 2-2. This case just has a pretty decent cast all around. Furio is incredibly fun and one of my favorite obvious killers, and I just really really really love Gumshoe's crush on Maggey: I ship them pretty hard, and this case is a big reason why. Maggey feeling so betrayed about Gumshoe leading the investigation against her for her first trial and Gumshoe doing his best to clear her name? That's a love story right there. Speaking of love stories, even though I don't ship them I absolutely love all the little nudges towards the Narumayo crowd in this case. One of my favorites is how Maya offers to give the iron fillings she picked out of sandboxes as a kid to Phoenix like a bird, and another one is when Phoenix sees Maya in the waitress outfit and very sheepishly goes "...maybe you should quit being a spirit medium...". They're very cute in this case! I love how he actually leans into her wackiness and plays along with some of her jokes. It's a really nice change of pace from their dynamic in 2-3, which is still fresh in mind, and probably one of my favorite cases for their relationship.

Another thing I can't fault 3-3 for is its art direction. It has some absolutely great setpieces and some wonderful character designs: Don Tigre himself stands out, but I also really like Jean Armstrong and Victor Kudo's designs. The Trés Bien apron is also a really neat getup and I think it fits Maggey and Maya well, although some of the set pieces like Vitamin Park and Blue Screens, Inc. are a little underwhelming.

Unfortunately, this case also has its fair share of missteps. Jean is this case's biggest problem. He's a rather stereotypically offensive caricature of a gay man, and while I appreciate Janet and Shu's work in retconning him to be less offensive and actually more inclusive—including adding that he moonlights as a drag queen, which is why he sometimes uses feminine pronouns and words to describe himself, which is actually an addition I really like—it's still rather crude. Victor is another mediocre addition, although he's not offensively sexual like everybody in 2-3: the only real standout character from this case aside from the core cast is Furio Tigre, but even he's a bit inconsistent in his execution even if he has one of the best character themes in the series. Speaking of the sexual tones of this case, I actually find it weirdly refreshing that they're not danced around: Godot outright says that Victor has a straps fetish, which is just a really funny line. They're a little overbearing, sure, but that's just because sex is a little out-of-tune with Ace Attorney as a whole. They're not case-destroying like 2-3, however, which is nice.

There are many questions I have about the case overall as well. Why can't Furio afford to pay for Viola's surgery if he's a loan shark who can lend out $550,000? Why fake the scene at all: wouldn't Furio just kill both Glen and Maggey or just rely on Jean as a witness instead of creating another one, ergo another point of failure? There are a lot of logical holes that just sink an otherwise pretty good case, unfortunately, despite a unique twist and cool set pieces. It's still a little above average, but it's definitely nothing special.

Next time we'll be taking a look at 3-4 and come close to finishing the original Trilogy! See you then!

Overall Rating: 6/10

FAVORITE LINES

"Well... I stand under the rushing waters of the shower head every day." "...That's called 'taking a shower'." - Phoenix Wright and Maya Fey, discussing her spiritual training

"Look, it's one of those magical boxes that spits out money." - Maya Fey, describing a cash register

"I dunno Jacques about French." - Phoenix Wright, trying to read Trés Bien's open sign

"So the particular feature you recognize about the waitress is... her outfit!? But anyone could wear just such an [sic] uniform! Even me!" "Mr. Wright! You will spare the court any further mental anguish from that image." - Phoenix Wright and His Honor, during Victor Kudo's first testimony

"People have all kinds of fetishes, Trite. We don't need to embarrass the witness." - Godot, after Phoenix asks Victor why he was focused on Maggey's straps

CASE RANKINGS

The Stolen Turnabout (9/10)

Recipe for Turnabout (6/10)

Turnabout Memories (3/10)

[zoe-oneesama]

Just to be clear, and this isn't targeted at any One Person because multiple people have done it and not just the ones I've screenshotted here, but if you send me in "Bulk Orders", they're just gonna get deleted.

I hoard interesting suggestions for literal months just in case I get art block, that doesn't mean that suddenly Free Art is on the menu boys. But if you spam me with suggestions or just list all the ones you want to see, my eyes are just gonna glaze over and it's not gonna happen.

This is just my fair warning.

[bloobydabloob]

Do you think being aware of the different elements in art or just ordinary objects can make the process of actually making art difficult? I get that it's about balance and unity of it all, but being introduced to so many concepts early on feels like too much. Almost feels like learning to make art digitally for the first time -> introduced to all these neat gadgets but no idea how to use them or where

This is a crazy good point anon & very important. YES I think it makes it exponentially harder

[thissying]

pre-race rituals, GP Barcelona, 2025

[dottysdokis]

this post digging at billford shippers as Stupid Media Illiterate Abuse Fetishizers is even funnier now after the recent mslb podcast where alex hirsch himself flat out says "what kind of intimacy is that, to let someone into your brain?"

it's almost like the same action, from the same person, can be intimate in some circumstances and become a violation. the cruel betrayal of that trust and intimacy is the tragedy. instead of the straightforward "everything ford felt for bill was completely coerced and he never enjoyed any of it and never has any complicated feelings like many real abuse survivors do", it's much sadder imo if beyond the manipulation and violence, there was an inkling of true desire.

this does not cancel out the fact that his consent and bodily autonomy were violated! a consent that cannot be revoked is not consent. "but he liked some of it" is not a defense, that's the exact excuse bill gives.

yeah, a lot of billford stuff does focus on the "honeymoon" era. but i think it's generally with the understanding that we all know what bill is really doing and what happens after. it's dramatic irony, it's lingering on the calm before the storm because it was so ephemeral and fleeting. wouldn't it be nice if we could stay in the period of ignorant bliss, where trust was freely given, before intimacy turned to violation? sure, it was built on a lie, but wouldn't it be nice?

[sunonwaxyleaves]

I feel like we, as a community, do not talk enough about the fact that Louis held onto Lestat’s card that he gave him when they first met FOR OVER 100 YEARS!!!!!!!!