#course Phoenix comes in and now the classmate now has to deal with the knowledge that the defense and prosecution used to always eat lunch

[plaid-maniac]

Do you ever think about how there totally could have been an old classmate of Phoenix Wright and Miles Edgeworth in the audience during like turnabout sister or turnabout samurai. Do you think they would realize? Like “hey, were those the guys in my class in like fourth grade? I kinda remember them. Wonder if they remember each other. But it was so long ago, I doubt they would even care.” Meanwhile Edgeworth and Phoenix are undergoing the most insane mental battles where both of them are going “I recognize my best friend across the courtroom and I desperately want to be close with them again.” And “god he is so god damn annoying I wish he would die already.”

[arambleaway]

Okay, so like Ace Attorney recently ate my brain. And I have never played any of the games. This is the true potential of the internet at work people. Anyway.

I keep thinking about my very specific images of Phoenix Wright, Miles Edgeworth, and the relationship therein. This is gonna be a long one because I can't be assed to make it more coherent than the mess it is in my brain.

So. Phoenix is obviously from a very loving and supportive family except they absolutely loathe the law and law professionals. Phoenix is trans and his family is super supportive, allowing him to express himself even from a young age. Unfortunately, Phoenix's new teacher isn't so great. Is actually a bit of a piece of shit and has been isolating Phoenix and so the poor boy has spent the first couple months of being out being harassed by his teacher and classmates. And that is part of why the trial sticks with Phoenix so much. Because Miles stands up to not only the students, but the teacher and all of the vitriol they've been leaking as well. And he doesn't just drop Phoenix after. He still wants him around and as a little kid that shit sticks with Phoenix far longer than it does with Larry and Edgeworth. Also, unfortunately, if you've got one asshole teacher, you've likely got a few nearby, so Phoenix's family does their best to support him and they offer to transfer him and do what they can, but Phoenix as a child is afraid to move and never see Edgeworth or Larry again so he doesn't. And then when he starts writing letters, he finds he can't stop because they become confessionals of a sort and a place where he doesn't have to be on guard and can know that the person he is writing to is accepting of his identity even if he does wonder from time to time if maybe Edgeworth no longer accepts him.

Anyway, then canon, yada yada. Lets talk about Miles now. Miles is depressed, okay. And he writes that note (you know the one) completely literally. But here's the thing: Miles knows the trauma of finding dead bodies. Has probably seen the mess they leave, and doesn't want to cause more harm than he already has. So he writes the note and packs the pills/blade/etc into a suitcase and takes a flight to Europe where no one that knows him will have a chance to stumble upon him. The turnabout is this: on the plane over he gets into an argument with his seat buddy. Its no one important, but the key info on him is that he is in therapy and sort of off hand brings it up and Miles, who was not raised with a pleasant idea of therapists and such starts an unholy row with him, blatantly projecting his own insecurities and perceived weaknesses on this poor man. The flight attendants have to separate the two and the man spends the rest of the time in first class. Miles spends the rest of the flight getting dirty looks from everyone else. By the flight's end he is frothing at the mouth and the man's assertion that therapy is not something for the faint of heart has been burrowing under his skin. He gets off the plane and rather than immediately commit he thinks he might as well make the source clear and winds up at the empty von Karma estate. He spends the night with a blade on his wrist and voices in his ears. But he doesn't move.

He falls asleep and he wakes from a nightmare he can't recall and it is noon the next day. He doesn't eat, he doesn't move. He just lays there and thinks. He thinks about Phoenix, Franziska, His Father, von Karma, all the lives he's sent to prison after measuring them against a false scale, and he thinks of the man on the plane. He thinks of the things he said, the ring he noticed on his finger, and the husband that was brought up at some point in their altercation. He thinks a lot about what it means to be and Edgeworth and what it means to be a von Karma. He picks up the blade and he puts it in his suitcase. He starts to research Therapists. Because he is going to have the best therapist in the business if he is going to do this. (He just kinda goes for the one with the most academic accolades that is willing to do home visits or move of some shit, anyway) Miles Edgeworth starts therapy and it goes horribly. Miles hates it viscerally and he doesn't feel like his therapist understands. (Which they don't. They keep trying to convince Edgeworth to see and actual trauma specialist and find someone that he clicks with rather than coming back to them). His therapist is worth their name though, and Miles is actually hospitalized due to being a danger to himself. For all that he loathes this, it does eventually allow him to meet with an actual trauma specializing therapist and finally maybe understand what the big deal is. He still hates it, but he finds the therapist that actually suits him and things get a little better.

The first thing is he stops living in the von Karma estate. He admits its a bad place for him to be at the moment and so he moves closer to his therapist and gets a rental flat. Second he gets a new wardrobe. He's been using his stuff left at the von Karma home and all of it is his flashy very "von Karma" wear. So he goes and gets new suits tailored in his preferred style and he pays for them and wears them because he realizes he likes them and not because he is trying to emulate his Mentor. This step is especially a big deal because it is the first moment where he is able to really define who "Miles Edgeworth" is outside of the confines of the courtroom. In all this, of course, he is also figuring out who he is within the courtroom as well. After committing to his therapist and recovery, he goes back into Law in Germany and really tries to define why he still wants to be there. I like to think he spends some time in small courts as a defense attorney assistant while trying to redefine his place. Anyway, eventually Miles decides he wants to remove his old stuff from the von Karma estate. He might move in his new stuff but for now it is merely removing the old, giving him the space and option of a new start. In clearing his stuff he winds up in the storage space on the household and there he finds an old suitcase.

The suitcase is Miles's from when he first came to the household. Von Karma had told the staff to pitch it when they first arrived and apparently whoever was on duty that day was kind enough to save it for later. Miles has a bit of a breakdown on seeing it and has a rather sharp set back in his improvement. He finds himself staring at the knife again. Because he never put it away. He still doesn't. But he doesn't touch it, just looks. Miles fights his way back out of the hole and in doing so removes all of his things from the estate except that little suitcase. Its the last thing and he opens it to slowly deal with the contents. Most of it is children's clothes, some expired toiletries, but buried in the deepest part of the case, wrapped lovingly in an old bowtie is his Father's defense attorney badge. Miles doesn't have a breakdown this time (yay!) but he does spend the next week unable to sleep for the sheer intensity of his nightmares. He carries on though. He slowly and surely patches together who exactly Miles Edgeworth is and what he wants to stand for. And that little gold badge stays folded in the bow tie and tucked in the deepest corner of his latest suitcase. He throws out the knife.

Once again back to canon, he returns doesn't tell anyone shit, and slowly relearns Phoenix Wright and what that man means to him. Hazakura temple, all the gay vibes, until the disbarment era. Lets stop by Phoenix again, shall we?

Phoenix is disbarred and for the first so many years he is genuinely friends with Kristoph Gavin. None of this "oh i always suspected shit", he believes in Kristoph, because that's who Phoenix is. At this point Edgeworth is still in Europe and a large part of that is so that he can continue with his therapy. But he does drop everything to talk to Phoenix once he hears the news. He immediately knows that something is up because Phoenix would never and he believes in him more than anyone else and he is offering to do everything in his power to make this better because Phoenix is worth it and Miles love-- woah. that's a new emotion. what the fuck is up with that. So anyway Miles realizes that he has some less than platonic feelings and he wants to run back to Europe and his therapist and figure out what it all means, but above all Wright is his Friend dammit and he owes him so much. But on Phoenix's side, he sees how far Edgeworth is offering to go and he turns down all of the things that would cause Miles's life to be disrupted. He does accept the knowledge and shoulder to lean on that Edgeworth offers, but Edgeworth doesn't need to move continents or anything. Besides he has Kristoph here to help. And Miles kind of hates all of this situation, but he knows that he truly doesn't have the kind of knowledge and pull to really be of service not to mention his new discovery is not doing his health any favors. So he goes back to Germany and Phoenix stays with Kristoph.

Now Miles is in Germany figuring out how to manage complex emotions and romantic relationships, while Phoenix is working with Kristoph, who becomes Kris, who could maybe be more except Phoenix isn't sure it would be fair to him since he has become more than a little hung up on Edgeworth since he came back from Europe. And because when Edgeworth asks him to Europe he jumps with no forethought. He gets Kris to watch Trucy and jets off to spend time with Miles. They do their amazing duo routine and Edgeworth comes away from the encounter knowing that yes, he very much would like a romantic relationship with Phoenix. Okay. Now how to go about it. Meanwhile Phoenix gets back and sees Trucy and this is when he realizes that Kristoph is dirty. Trucy tells him about something she saw while she stayed with him and something clicks and Phoenix has a mild breakdown because of how much danger he just realizes she might be in. He calls Miles at some point during this and Miles talks him down. He falls asleep and in the morning he doesn't shave. He smiles and gets Trucy to school, then sits in the office and tries to figure out where he goes from here. That afternoon there is knock at the door.

Miles Edgeworth does nothing half way and has flown to Phoenix just to be able to help him figure out the next steps and comfort him. Phoenix is officially gone for this man. The two talk and scheme and eventually hatch their mad plan to rebuild the entire fucking system. Miles will use his distance to research and provide information, Phoenix will keep an eye on Kristoph and start building what he can here. In all of this Trucy's safety comes up. Phoenix actually considers sending her with Miles. Miles puts that idea to a stop real quick, though he does mention doing more visits and such. Trucy is very happy to hear about this and demands to go every time. Phoenix says something along the lines of it being more expensive for two people to fly and joking that it would be cheaper if they just let him keep her in his suitcase. This is how Miles Edgeworth returns to Germany with a solid plan for the future and one Magician more than planned. Trucy obviously sneaks into his luggage and somehow makes it with him to Germany. In doing so she finds the badge in his bag, and despite the intense scolding she gets, the two are finally able to really connect and bond as Miles opens up to her a bit about his Father and what he has gone through.

Eventually Trucy gets back where she belongs and despite a few more hijinks over the years things progress via canon. Edgeworth and Phoenix have both accepted their feelings but have yet to act on them as neither is in a position to properly be with the other as they wish. So they flirt and argue and love each other intensely as only the best of friends and trauma buddies can. It all pays off and Kristoph is arrested. Phoenix is innocent, but he is unsure about going back into law. In this case, Kris was kinda the last proof of where blind belief will get you and it isn't just a façade, Phoenix is a lot bitter at the larger world and himself. So he isn't in the greatest place mentally, and Edgeworth sees it. And for the first time he thinks about reaching out to someone. Especially because this is Phoenix not just a random stranger on a plane. Then he finds he has the option to take the Chief Prosecutor position, and he finds himself staring at his Father's badge. He thinks on the years and his growth, and he talks with his therapist. And he decides to move. He takes the new position and seeing Phoenix struggle so close he finally shares about therapy. Not all of it. Nothing really just that he goes and has since the year-they-do-not-speak-of and that he is looking for a new one in the city and maybe Phoenix would like to help him. Because he values Phoenix and his opinions. Phoenix does eventually wind up in a therapists office and it is a mess, but it helps.

The two reconnect more strongly than ever and shortly thereafter Phoenix agrees to take the Bar again. Miles supports him in this and watches as he struggles and groans but makes it through. And at the same time he watches him heal a bit from the atrocities of the past 7 years. When Phoenix passes he is over-joyed and that night finds him holding his Father's badge and slowly thinking. Turning the idea over and over he can't bring himself to ignore it. He walks up to Phoenix in the office the next day and with all the drama of a marriage proposal give Phoenix his Father's badge. Apollo starts to realize exactly what sort of shit he signed up for. Especially when Miles turns up a couple weeks later and attempts to strangle Phoenix with his own tie and demands having the badge back because What The Fuck. An Orca. You Absolute Dumbass.

This is the point where my ideas dry up. Because where I leave them is pining idiots that are actually doing pretty ok. I figure they eventually get their shit together, but only after inflicting immense suffering on their co-workers and the legal system as a whole with their obvious pining and flirting. I barely know Apollo but watching him suffer is just more amusing than it should be. Also Miles is Autistic and it actually is part of what allows him to bond with Trucy.

[immoralrpg-blog]

Congratulations, LEX, you have been accepted for the role of SEVERUS SNAPE, with the faceclaim of LEE HYUN JAE. It is both an easy and common mistake to portray Severus as the villain --- however, your portrayal gives us an insight to the reasoning behind those actions, and the subsequent, sneaking guilt that follows. Wherever you decide to take Severus next, I have no doubt that it will be a complex and interesting ride! Please head along to the CHECKLIST for your next steps.

IC

CHARACTER NAME: Severus “Sev” Snape GENDER & PRONOUNS: Genderqueer (closeted), any pronouns (he/him default) FACECLAIM: Lee Hyun Jae, Go Sang Gil, Lee Soo Hyuk BIOGRAPHY: (cw for abuse) You levitate the silverware on the dinner table when you’re three. It’s harmless, and wouldn’t be a big deal if your Muggle father had been aware of his wife’s magical talent. Later, you’ll wonder when exactly Eileen was planning on telling Tobias, but you can never quite get the words out; either because you know deep down that wasn’t what really started the fighting, or because your mother is the only person you can’t bring yourself to hurt. Still, your earliest memories are of your parents fighting. there’s always yelling, and things breaking, and then by the time you hear the dull thump of your mother being thrown down the stairs it isn’t just fighting anymore. Most kids learn the difference between good and evil through fairytales, but your mother never has enough bedtime stories and Tobias Snape is worse than any imagined villain. It all goes back to your father. It’s hard to learn the difference between right and wrong when the only example you have to learn from is him. Because by the time you meet her, it’s too late. She’s good and wonderful, but by nine years old you know this: Poor, creepy little kids like you don’t deserve girls like her. You still latch on, maybe too tightly - how could you not? Lily is the best thing in your life right now, the best thing you can remember - but it’s with the knowledge that she could choose to give up on you at any point, decide she doesn’t want to be friends anymore, and that will be it. No contest. Class segregation is a bitch. That you both have magic doesn’t make much difference. Because as much as you talk about Hogwarts, there is a very large possibility you may not be able to go when your letter comes, if your father chooses to put his foot down. As it turns out, he’s too drunk out of his mind to put up much protest, these days. Truth be told you don’t remember much from that day; there was shopping at Diagon Alley you’re certain, because there hadn’t been enough money for books and you’d quietly pocketed The Standard Book of Spells while your mother wasn’t looking. Then there was the train station, meeting up with Lily, but that isn’t what eclipses the rest of the day. No, then you meet them. Funny how that first day on the train, being teased by those boys, essentially determines the outcome of the rest of your Hogwarts career. Incidentally, that’s also part of the reason - besides Lily, of course - that when the hat goes on your head you wish and wish for Gryffindor. In Slytherin, you learn to keep your head down. For a long time, you hate the Sorting Hat, can’t fathom why it would put someone with your blood status and socioeconomic background in Slytherin. Then, you start to hate yourself instead. It’s clear, after a few years if not immediately, that you’ll never belong anywhere. That group of Gryffindor boys picks on you and most of the rest of their house follows suit. Meanwhile in Slytherin, your classmates tolerate you. Tolerate might be too strong a word. People like you should be seen, not heard. The only time your presence is required is when someone needs a potions tutor, or to copy homework. The situation with the Marauders worsens, until ultimately Sirius Black tries to kill you and you walk out of the encounter with nothing but an acute phobia of werewolves and a life debt owed to James Potter. You still aren’t sure which part is the worst. But as hard as the school years are, the summers between are worse. Having Lily as a friend eases some of the pain, and maybe you lean on her too much, but you don’t exactly have anyone else to depend on. And by June 1976, you don’t even have her. One summer passes in near isolation, then the school year. You still talk to Lily, sometimes, but the distance between you isn’t easily closed. She keeps you at arm’s length, and you’re the first to admit (after you’re done begging for forgiveness) that you deserve it. Because people like you don’t deserve people like her. It’s not nice and it’s not fair but it’s how the world works, and you’ve given up on fairness a long time ago. That isn’t to say it doesn’t get to you, though. The anger and resentment (at yourself, always about yourself) builds up to a breaking point. And at that point? It isn’t even about Potter, even though it’s him you almost killed. Trying to relieved some tension, but was it worth it? You haven’t figured that out yet. You’ve had other things to think about. The summer is long, and you’re running out of places to go to avoid your father. At least, a sweatshirt covers most of the bruises.

QUESTIONAIRE

expand on one ( or more ) of your connections. tell us about them. your relationship with them.

There’s a part of him, a rather large part of him, that doesn’t know if he wants her or wants to be her. Severus doesn’t know how to talk about Lily without accounting for that part, so most of the time he just doesn’t. He’s uncomfortable even thinking about it - see, how he hides his face behind his hair, how his eyes skirt around the room to find something, anything else to focus on. It’s time to grow up and stop focusing on what ifs (what if I was pretty/popular/nice/good like her). In contrast, the stupid crush that isn’t a crush anymore, is an easier pill to swallow. At least the heartache is something he knows how to deal with. He taps his fingers against his leg, restless, movements jittery. “It is, perhaps, too cruel to say I resent her. I know I am well overstepping my boundaries to say the hard feelings go both ways. Still, if tomorrow she decided she wanted my friendship back, I wouldn’t even have to think about it.” Then, lower, a barely audible murmur: “I miss my best friend.” It’s the most juvenile thing he’s said in a long time.

pick one word to describe yourself. why that word?

Well, there are a lot of words Severus can think of to describe himself, and none of them are very pleasant. Some were learned, and none apply to the entirety of his situation. He doesn’t want to parrot back any of the words his father threw at him either, nor the teases repeated by Potter and his little entourage. His voice is cold and impassive when he settles on one. “Unfortunate.” Severus looks away. It’s true, and whether the term is self-deprecating starting from his very birth, or simply a statement on his bad luck, is up to the asker.

why were you sorted into your house? do you think you belong there?

To be perfectly honest, he doesn’t know. Sorting usually runs through family lines but… was that enough to put him in Slytherin, half a wizarding bloodline, a family he hasn’t met, a household he wasn’t brought up in? And then, would he fit with any other house in the first place? Severus may not exemplify Slytherin’s traits, but would any other house have taken him? Ravenclaw, maybe. The house he really wanted is out of reach, or at least he thinks so. People tend to be blind to their best traits, and Severus is certainly no exception. He doesn’t answer the question truthfully. “My mother’s family were all in Slytherin, so since it’s a matter of blood, of course I belong here.”

what side are you on? order of the phoenix? death eaters? neutral? why?

He doesn’t have to reason through it in his head, although maybe he should. This is war they’re talking about, after all. Joining up one side or the other incites the distinct possibility of getting caught on the battlefield, but then again, staying neutral doesn’t leave much more hope. It isn’t about his personal beliefs, or which side is more likely to win. Severus’s voice is carefully measured, tone sharp but even. For the first time, he maintains eye contact. He doesn’t mince his words. “I am on whichever side will put a roof over my head and food on the table. Those are not things I can take for granted.”

what do you smell in amortentia?

An easy question, finally. “A clean scent, like soap or laundry detergent. The cheap shampoo my mother always used. Freshly mown grass, like the field near the park where Lily and I spent so much time as kids. Old books and dust, the far corners of the library where I study on a near daily basis… Underneath it all, a hint of aftershave.” And that’s what makes him pause, the part he can’t quite make sense of. The aftershave is bold and spiced and distinctly masculine. It’s undoubtedly expensive, but a scent his fellow Slytherins likely wouldn’t be caught dead wearing. The aftershave is always mingled with pine and something earthy, the woods just after it’s rained. Severus can never place quite what it is or who would have worn it, but it’s achingly familiar nonetheless.