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youngbounty · 4 years

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The Problem with Apollo’s Backstories

It’s very rare I see this. So far, I’ve only seen two posts on Tumblr about this, but I’ve noticed a few posts that make mention about Phoenix Wright having no backstory. Now, whether they were made as a joke to not be taken seriously or not is something I cannot confirm. That being said, it did bring up something that does come up often: the problem with Apollo Justice having too many backstories. The thing is, Phoenix Wright has just as many backstories as Apollo, yet no one seems to make mention of it or perhaps are not aware. It made me question how this is possible. Certainly, if Apollo’s three backstories stick out like a sore thumb, wouldn’t Phoenix Wright’s three backstories stick out too? Shouldn’t Phoenix also have the same amount of complainers about having too many backstories?

I am a true believer that there is no such thing as a bad idea, but bad execution. I think Phoenix’s backstories are an example of Apollo’s backstories done correctly. To understand this, I’m going to go over each of Apollo’s and Phoenix’s three backstories, and explain where Phoenix got it right where Apollo did not.

With Apollo’s first backstory in the game Apollo Justice, where Apollo is introduced as the main protagonist of this game, we find out that he used to work for Kristoph Gavin at the Gavin Law Offices before finding out he murdered Shadi Smith. Later on, we find out his bracelet matches Thalassa Gramarye’s in her picture, proving that they are mother and son. Through Zak, we find out that Thalassa was once married to a different man before he passed away, believing that her first born had died with him. This draws the connection between Apollo Justice and Trucy Wright as being half brother and sister. And… that’s it. This information does not effect Apollo, since we don’t know his life outside of this during the time of the game’s release, and he does not know that Trucy is his half sister. This backstory does draw a connection between the two long lost siblings, but without any knowledge to create a reaction, it feels empty and shallow. It wasn’t until the two follow-up games that we get more of Apollo’s character and development that fans of the game began to care enough to demand the two half siblings discover their long lost relationship they are not aware of.

For Phoenix Wright, his backstory is the all-knowing class trial back in his elementary school. On one school day, Phoenix Wright was accused of stealing lunch money from a student, due to being sick and being dismissed from school that day, leaving him without an alibi. This lead to a class trial where everyone, including the teachers, shamed him, even though Phoenix claimed it wasn’t him, then crying over the humiliation and shaming. Just when Phoenix was about to forcibly apologize to this student, the student stands up and makes the claim that, since no proof was given that Phoenix had taken the money, he is innocent until proven guilty. A second student also defends him, leading to the teacher deciding to pay for the lunch money that was stolen. From that moment on, Phoenix became friends with the two students that stood up for him: Miles Edgeworth whose money was stolen and Larry Butz who was the second student to stand up for him.

The first thing that makes Phoenix’s backstory different is it creates a motivation and relatability. This backstory tells the story of what motivated Phoenix Wright to become a Defense Attorney. He had befriended the two boys that stood up for him when he was accused of theft at school. One of those friends grew up to become the Demon Prosecutor, Miles Edgeworth, who is known for falsifying and withholding evidence. When Phoenix tried to contact him, he would not answer. So, Phoenix Wright became a Defense Attorney both to meet with him and save him. With this, comes with relatability. Phoenix is someone longing for the friend he once lost, something most of us can relate to – if you’ve ever had a childhood friend, whose friendship broke apart over time. This creates motivation for Phoenix and the players to wish for Miles Edgeworth to return back to being Phoenix’s friend again. With Apollo, on the other hand, his first backstory doesn’t give us anything to relate or motivate us to want him and Trucy to discover their real mother or relation. The mention about Apollo’s biological father does come up, but not until Dual Destinies and Spirit of Justice, which I will get into later. Because of how shallow and empty this backstory feels, it’s no longer Apollo was called a Gary-Sue when the Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney first came out.

The second backstory for Apollo finally gives us something concrete. In this second backstory, Apollo had grown up with Clay Terran in a boarding school. We get a flashback of Clay crying because someone in his family died (I can’t remember who. Comment if you know). Apollo cheers him up with his “I’M FINE!” speech. This became a motto for him and Clay. From this backstory, we finally find out that Apollo had grown in a boarding school during his youth with Clay. We finally get a motivation and relatability from Apollo Justice to make us care and cheer for him. There’s just one problem… what does this have anything to do with Apollo’s connection to the Gramarye and his relation to Trucy? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. That’s where Phoenix’s second backstory differs.

For Phoenix Wright, his second backstory tells that he began studying at Ivy University to study on law and art. From there, he met a beautiful lady named Dahlia Hawthorn at the library inside the courthouse. She gave him a heart-shaped bottle as a token of their love and they hit it off. Having dated Dahlia for nine months, he began showing off his little gift to all his friends at the university, even when Dahlia asked him to give it back. Just then, Phoenix came across Dahlia’s ex boyfriend named Doug Swallow, who met with him to warn him that Dahlia was not who he thinks she is. Angry, Phoenix pushes him, then finds him dead not long afterwards. He is arrested for murder, defended by Mia Fey – who is an already established character, in the tutorial first case of the third game of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. Through Mia’s defense, Phoenix realized that not only did Dahlia’s gift turn out to be evidence used to poison Mia’s boyfriend, but Dahlia had also tried to poison him with his cold medication and was the one responsible for Doug’s murder.

Just like with Apollo’s second backstory and Phoenix’s first, this creates relatability and motivation. It creates a motivation for why Phoenix was angry at Miles Edgeworth during the second game, why he trusts Mia so strongly and why he would go to Hazakura Temple, once he sees someone that looks like Dahlia. This also reveals one of Phoenix’s major flaws as someone that considers betrayal and murder by poison inexcusable actions, much like how Apollo’s second backstory reveals how and why Clay’s death pushes him to distrust his colleagues. Unfortunately, what Apollo’s second backstory does not show is any connection to the first. With Phoenix’s second backstory, it connects back to the first and second game. It explains how Phoenix met an already established character, explains why Phoenix was cross with Edgeworth in the second game and follows where the first backstory left off with wanting to become a Defense Attorney to meet with Miles Edgeworth. Aside from Apollo growing up in a Boarding School, confirming that he is an orphan, and why he always shouts “I’M FINE!” we get no connection or follow-up from the first backstory. There’s no connection to his former boss, Trucy or the Gramarye’s. Thus, Apollo’s second backstory feels like a separate story from the first, whereas Phoenix’s second backstory feels like a follow-up to the first.

Apollo’s third backstory is that Apollo’s father, Jove Justice, came to the Kingdom of Khura’in to play music inside Durke’s home. One day, a fire arose and Jove Justice was assumingly murdered. Dhurke had miraculously saved Jove’s infant son in the nick of time before the rest of his residence was burned, hiding in the mountains with his eldest son, Nahyuta. From there, Dhurke had raised Nahyuta and Apollo in the mountain as their father, watching them grow up. Unfortunately, because of the laws in the kingdom where Defense Attorneys were prisoned with any client declared Guilty and Dhurke being an outlaw, he sent Apollo to the United States. From there, Apollo never saw or heard from Dhurke or Nahyuta again, believing all his life that Dhurke had abandoned him.

Again, like the second backstory, this gives us relatability and motivation. Leaving any family is something all of us feel saddened about. It also follows up with the relatability of Phoenix’s first backstory of being close with someone, only to grow apart from them with age. But, again, there is no connection between this backstory or the other two. What does this backstory have anything to do with Apollo’s connection with the Gramarye, relation to Trucy, friendship with Clay, growing up in a boarding school as a youth or his reasons for saying “I’M FINE!” all the time? NOTHING! There’s not a single callback to any of these, not even to reoccurring characters from the fourth or fifth game. Nothing on Kristoph Gavin, the Space Center, nothing. There is mention of Jove Justice being Apollo’s biological father, but do we get anything on Thalassa or the Gramarye’s? Even a tiny bit? Nope! Any connection with Jove Justice and the Gramarye’s to explain how he may’ve met the daughter of the famous Magnify Gramarye and they may’ve fallen in love? Nope! Again, I get nothing. It’s sad, because the story could’ve also added Thalassa into the mix as being Jove’s singing partner, a subtle picture of her and explaining why she might be so talented in singing. The fact that the second case does involve the Gramarye, I think, is a missed opportunity to draw a connection to Apollo’s third and first backstory.

For Phoenix Wright, his third backstory is in Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, believe it or not. This backstory takes place during the seven years between the third and fourth game. Phoenix Wright was defending Zak Gramarye for the murder of Magnify Gramarye. During this trial, he presents forged evidence unknowingly, which Klavier Gavin reveals to be forged via the surprising Witness. From there, Phoenix is disbarred from law and his client Zak disappears from site. Trucy, who is Zak’s daughter, is left behind and Phoenix cannot find any living relatives, thus decides to adopt her as his own daughter. From here, he turns his law offices into a Talent Agency for his new daughter and takes the job as a piano/poker player. He befriends the only Bar Associate that voted him to be innocent, Kristoph Gavin, who had used his friendship to stalk and watch him.

Again, this creates relatability and motivation as someone losing their job for unfair reasons, entering fatherhood and being manipulated by fake friends. This also is a great follow-up to the trilogy itself and confirming everything that’s already established canon such as Phoenix considering poison and betrayal to be inexcusable, which is what Kristoph does. It establishes the relationship and connection with Trucy and even Apollo. Even as weak as Apollo’s backstory is, it is enough to give Phoenix a strong motivation to take him in as a student. With how strong this third backstory to Phoenix is and its connection to the trilogy as a whole, it makes me wonder why he wasn’t the protagonist of this story. Though, it does conclude what this third backstory does so well that all of Apollo’s backstories do not do: continue where the previous left off.

With every backstory Phoenix gets, it always continues where the previous left off. They connect well like a puzzle. Each piece matches well and never feels separate. With each new backstory, it continues where the previous left off. The second backstory continues where the first and second game left off and the third backstory continues where the trilogy left off. With Apollo’s three backstory, they feel so disconnected, it’s like trying to fit three unmatching pieces together, while ignoring the rest of the 197 puzzle pieces. Sure, the third backstory might’ve mentioned Jove Justice as Apollo’s biological father, but we don’t know anything about Jove or Thalassa, their relationship, how they met or anything. Was Thalassa the lead singer when Jove played, like she is as Lamoure? I don’t know. Even Apollo growing up at a Boarding School or how he went there is never explained in the third backstory. Did Dhurke send Apollo there and pay for his classes? I don’t know.

In conclusion, Apollo’s problem with his backstories are not that there are too many, but that they do not connect. Backstories must fit together in order to work. There has to be a cause and effect. Phoenix Wright has full backstories that have always connected perfectly like puzzle pieces. He has one of the strongest established backstories in Ace Attorney, alongside Miles Edgeworth, who technically has four backstories. That just goes to show you can’t have too many backstories. Although, you can have botched up backstories that do not match up that makes it feel like there are too many backstories.

What are your thoughts on this? Feel free to comment, whether you agree or disagree. I might make a follow-up to this to explain how Apollo’s three backstories could be fixed to where they feel complete. It really depends.

#ace attorney #phoenix wright #apollo justice #apollo justice's backstories #too many backstories

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askaceattorney · 4 years

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Turnabout Memories

Hello and hap’piraki, everyone!

(Whoa... Déjà vu.)

Now that we’re finally nearing the end of this (*twitch, twitch*) year, and now that I’m preparing to step off this blog for a time, I’d like to take a moment to reminisce about all the ground we’ve covered since the day I first discovered the uniquely fun experience of Ask Ace Attorney.

It all began a few years ago when...

Oh, right -- this’ll probably be pretty lengthy, so I’ll continue below the cut.

It all began a few years ago when I discovered Ask Ace Attorney through a Google search. I don’t remember most of the details, but when I first found out about a blog that attempts to bring video game characters to life through blog posts and the power of imagination, I thought the idea was both strange...and amazing.

I’d only recently started getting into Ace Attorney at the time (after seeing Matthew Taranto’s hilarious mashup between it and the Kirby series), so I decided to send in a few letters and see if they’d get an answer. Sure enough, a few months later, I saw the first response to one of them! It was a pretty exciting feeling, to say the least.

I’d share that letter response here, but unfortunately, it included my real name, so we’ll have to save it for later. For now, here are a couple of the earliest ones from me: a deeply emotional one from Dahlia to Iris (a little far-fetched, maybe, but I CAN SEE IT HAPPENING, THE MOD), and a short, punny one from Moe to Phoenix. Not surprisingly, I enjoyed seeing the characters react to them in ways I found believable as much as I enjoyed writing these and several other letters. I knew the Mod (the only moderator here at the time) wasn’t affiliated with Capcom, but his character portrayals were spot-on each time, and my creative spark and love for Ace Attorney received some constant fuel for a while thanks to this blog.

And then...this happened. For a brief moment, I thought about how fun it would be to see if I could do what the Mod had been doing for so long, but then I decided it’d probably be better to leave it in someone else’s hands. Sure, I was a huge fan of Ace Attorney and its loveable characters, but did I really love them enough to pretend to be them on a hugely popular blog? Naaah.

I went over the rest of that story once before, so I’ll just give a brief recap here: my friend the Modthorne won the audition to become the next de Modder, I asked her if I could join, and then it ended up just being me here, followed by Mods Paups, Kristoph, and Maya. That’s the way we became the Ask Ace Attorney bunch.

So, when I first made my debut as the Commode Co-Mod, my only real strategy for answering letters was to emulate the Mod's style. I honestly wondered if I could accurately portray so many different personalities in a believable way, but, with a few hiccups along the way, I somehow managed to pull it off to some degree. I also started developing my own style and becoming less conscientious about how my portrayals looked (that definitely took some time, though), and worrying less about the blog’s popularity and overall performance review. That, I believe, was a big part of what made both of those steadily rise over time, until we ended up reaching and surpassing 12,000 followers! (I’m still geekin’ out about that one.) Just relaxing and going with the flow made things a lot easier for me, and apparently helped Ask Ace Attorney reach its current level of popularity. Something tells me that choice paid off in the end, and thank goodness.

I of course have to give credit to the popularity of Ace Attorney and its characters, as well as the Mod for giving me and the other moderators so much material to start off with, but I sure never expected my role in helping to build the Ace Attorney fandom’s strength and size to be quite this large. Heck, just getting to create things for so many people is a huge honor, so...what can I say to that, except a huge thank you to Capcom and the Mod?

Don’t worry, I’ll get to thanking all of you in just a moment. ; )

So, anyway, that’s all the general stuff. Let’s talk about the highlights of the last three years, now, shall we?

My first holiday-related post was an April Fool’s Day one, so let’s start there. We came close to hearing about Phoenix’s lawyer camp incident...

...gave a few of the characters a chance to ask some questions of their own...

...had a little run-in with some of the bad guys...

...and briefly opened the window into some characters’ minds.

We sure didn’t fool around when it came to fooling around, did we?

Then there was Halloween. We dealt with a creeper in the darkness...

...let one of the lesser-known characters go on a brief venture beyond the fourth wall...

...let some characters switch outfits and personalities for a short while...

...and paid homage to a classic interactive cartoon by letting them give out candy.

We sure had our fill of sweets and spooks, didn’t we?

And then there was Christmas, which included some of my favorite content. We enjoyed a musical performance by several members of the Ace Attorney cast...

...a less flattering musical performance by yours truly...

...a short play taking place in Pearls’s dreams...

...and a fan-made song parody about a non-canon (but believable) incident involving Phoenix and a reindeer.

(Sorry if that image cursed anyone for life, by the way.)

I don’t know about you, but I loved every bit of our holiday hijinks.

And of course, we can’t leave out some of the great moments that occurred on non-holidays, including Her Benevolence falling victim to a classic comedy gag...

...Pearls meeting herself from a different time period somehow...

...Apollo taking a trip to the Pokemon world in his dreams...

...Athena getting tricked into thinking she had passed on briefly...

...Trucy getting caught red-handed by Arnold Schwarzenegger himself...

...and, uh...this thing happening to Iris.

No idea what I was thinking back then. Sometimes you just have to go with the moment.

Not to mention one letter response that received an unexpected explosion of popularity. Edgeworth always did know how to drop a sass bomb, didn’t he? And one moment I’ll likely never forget is the letter regarding Athena’s hair. For the record, I thought the shorter hairstyle looked okay, but somehow I didn’t think she would feel the same way. Make of that what you will. X )

Of course, it wasn’t all fun times and laughter -- I ended up stepping on some toes by accident, making a few jokes in bad taste, struggling to keep a balance between blogging and the real world, and...well...

...that happened. I don’t regret a moment of it, though, because if Ace Attorney (and life) have taught me anything, it’s that powering through the less enjoyable moments in life is what makes us stronger, and what makes the good times that much more enjoyable.

But out of all the fun, hilarious, thought-provoking, and deeply touching moments that stood out in the last three years of blogging, the one I would say I enjoyed the most is this one. It was my first attempt at responding to a letter in character (with one of the biggest “characters” in the series, no less), but, as with many of my letter responses, it also included some of me in it -- specifically, the part where Athena tries to sound optimistic, but not too prideful. That was the sort of attitude I wanted to have whenever I answered letters -- I wanted to keep the fun and creativity of Ace Attorney and its characters going without injecting too much of myself into it. The series wasn’t mine, after all, and neither was the blog, so my main goal was simply to sound like the characters.

And with that in mind, let me just say this: If any of these letters (even one of them) have made you smile or laugh on an unpleasant day, made you think about things from a different perspective, or simply helped you suspend your disbelief for a moment and believe you’re actually talking to someone from a video game, then my goal has been reached.

Anyway, I didn’t mean for this to be my goodbye speech (I’m saving that for later). What it is is a sincere thank you for the fun and creativity that I and the rest of the moderators were able to engage in with all of you, thanks to our shared love of Ace Attorney, its characters, and its unique humor and depth. Every last piece of witty dialogue, every picture, every song, and every custom sprite (the last of which can be found here), was inspired by your creativity and willingness to participate in this imaginative collaboration work.

I hope you’ve enjoyed it at least half as much as I have. You guys are awesome.

-The Co-Mod

#Mod Post #Co Mod #Mod Commentary #Feel free to share any of your favorite moments that I missed

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rivalsforlife · 4 years

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Additional, what's your thoughts on AA6, then?

Oooh okay I know that AA6 is generally better received than AA5, but I didn’t really like that game much either, for somewhat similar reasons why I didn’t like AA5?

Like not only did it abandon most of the plot threads of AA5 -- which they have even less of an excuse for, since this game came out three years after DD and on the same console -- but it had a similar problem that DD had involving pushing back major characters. Namely, Athena, who was kind of hyped up in DD as someone who was going to “revolutionize” the courtroom, but then barely had a major role in SOJ aside from the fourth case (which only had the one trial day and no investigation time, and was completely disconnected with the plot.) And yeah juggling three protagonists at the same time is a bad move, but if you had to pick a protagonist to give a smaller role... I would not pick Athena.

I guess the thing about Spirit of Justice is that it’s an Apollo game which tries to be a Phoenix game. I can’t really see any reason for Phoenix to go to Khura’in and stay there. Sure, he wants to hang out with Maya, who he hasn’t seen in a few years -- but she was supposed to come back in a couple of weeks. Also, and this is one of my bigger issues, one of the biggest shows his daughter was ever going to perform would be in the time he was gone, but he didn’t seem to particularly care about missing it. And, and, and! He didn’t even get to SEE Maya for two weeks after he arrived! So why go that early?

I know the semi-canon prologue kiiind of touched on that with Phoenix thinking Maya was in danger, and I can definitely see him rushing over there if he thought she’d been hurt and/or accused of murder somehow. But... the prologue isn’t really CANON canon, it’s not ever stated explicitly or shown in the game. Instead the game just has him say he was worried about Maya for no particular reason, so he... abandoned his daughter just before her big show... and then didn’t even go back after she was accused of murder? I know that he couldn’t have made it back in time for the trial, but he didn’t even go back to comfort her? For two weeks? Where he was in Khura’in and couldn’t even see Maya?

It just strikes me as a “we need Phoenix to be in Khura’in for Plot Reasons and not because it’s something his character would ever actually do” kind of thing. And, you know, there is that one interview where they say that Phoenix had to be in Khura’in because they needed to “challenge” him more, but this isn’t really much of a challenge. “He needs to win otherwise he’ll die”??? Big deal, we all already KNOW Phoenix would die to defend his friends! We’ve played Bridge to the Turnabout and seen him run across the burning bridge because he thought Maya was trapped with a murderer. Like, the stakes aren’t that much higher. Phoenix wouldn’t let something silly like death get in the way of doing what was right. That one concept about an “underground court” where Phoenix couldn’t trust his clients was a MUCH more interesting concept because it actually challenges one of Phoenix’s core beliefs. Instead, I can’t say that Phoenix has grown or changed at ALL before and after Khura’in.

And aside from Maya Being There and a general intolerance for injustice, Phoenix has no personal stakes in the general conflict of Khura’in. You know who apparently does? Apollo. But his connection to Khura’in isn’t even really explored until the last case, where they shove all of the Dhurke and Nahyuta development in at once. Of course, his beloved childhood friend he was so distraught over in the last game isn’t ever really mentioned, nor does his loss seem to have any long-term effect on Apollo beyond DD.

And speaking of Dhurke and Nahyuta... another issue I had with Turnabout Revolution is that it was trying to do SO MUCH that it didn’t give much focus. Also the severe delaying of Nahyuta’s character arc: he’s pretty much in Second-Case Prosecutor Mode until the very last case, where we only see him for the last part of it. It makes his development feel a little rushed, I think -- it’s been a while since I played SOJ though, so take that with a grain of salt.

Also I want to say that I really love Maya and I’m glad to see that she’s okay, but it doesn’t feel like she had a huge role in SOJ despite the game pretty much existing to bring her back in a big way. She comes back, and she’s still not the Master, inexplicably, despite it having been nine years since T&T. The game says it was because she could only channel spirits 30% of the time or something before, but... that never really came up past Turnabout Goodbyes? After that she’d pretty much always been able to channel whoever, whenever she needed to (including channeling Dahlia for several days) so I don’t really buy that excuse. My fear is they didn’t want to risk changing Maya Too Much so they just kind of tried to keep her as close to original Maya as possible. Plus, she only shows up for two of the five cases, in which she spends almost all of her time accused of murder, kidnapped, or channeling someone. And all of her important interactions are with Phoenix, or sometimes Rayfa, and like maybe an offhand comment to Apollo? But she doesn’t ever bond with Apollo or Athena or even Trucy -- she and Trucy never even ACKNOWLEDGE each other, which is SO weird, because this is her best friend’s daughter, why is she acting like she doesn’t even know her?

There’s more with Trucy -- the game tries to claim Trucy has a bigger role because she’s accused of murder, but the entirety of that case irritates me for how it completely disregards previously-established Gramarye lore to add in This Random Dude (who does have an awesome theme song, but still), and then perfectly sets up the opportunity for a sibling reveal only to completely ignore it. (You’ve got a guy who knew Thalassa and should have known about her perceiving power + bracelet, and has a huge complex about being defeated by a Gramarye, coming face-to-face with Apollo with his perceiving power and bracelet and... nothing! Not even acknowledging it!)

oh and the civil trial. the civil. freaking. trial. is SUCH a cool concept that they ABSOLUTELY fail to make work. Because instead of it being about Phoenix’s ideals failing him, or him believing in his client until the very end but his client just turned out to be a terrible person, it was yet another Farewell, My Turnabout but worse, with Phoenix only defending this guy because Maya’s kidnapped again... and he learned absolutely nothing from last time, where the only reason he got through the trial safely was by trusting Miles and teaming up with the other side to delay the trial for a rescue, instead he just decides I’m Not Telling Apollo Anything and struggles like he did in the second game. Plus it takes any victory of Apollo triumphing over Phoenix away, because Phoenix wasn’t actually trying his best. It had the opportunity to be an exploration of “what would Phoenix do if his trust in people actually went wrong”, but they abandoned it because Phoenix Wright Is Never Wrong. Instead it was just so weak!

Wow this is ALL OVER THE PLACE I’m sorry about that anon. ending with a bit of positivity, I really like that Final Big Twist at the end of the game, I think that was a super cool use of spirit channeling! And getting a little more spirit channeling lore was nice (though I would have liked to see more about the structure of Kurain Village -- you expect me to believe this random dude has a major role as the mayor of what has always been described as a matriarchal village?) I guess my main issue is... a lot of potential for cool things (in the civil trial, in Maya getting to know and bonding with the New Generation, sibling reveals and spirit channeling lore) and it doesn’t really deliver on most of it.

#soj spoilers #spirit of justice spoilers #aa6 spoilers #I'm completely exhausted right now but I hope this is slightly legible #long post #asks

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giveamadeuschohisownmovie · 5 years

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After going the Ace Attorney games again, here are my rankings of the six main series prosecutors:

(Side note: Still haven’t played any of the Investigations games or the Great Ace Attorney series)

6) Nahyuta Sahdmadhi

Poor Nahyuta. I hate to place him in the last place slot but after going through Spirit of Justice again, he still hasn’t grown on me. Let me just say, I don’t really like Spirit of Justice. There are a lot of aspects of that game I was not fond of, such as the final case being a repeat of Farewell, My Turnabout and the underwhelming Khura’in Civil War storyline. However, in Nahyuta’s defense, I don’t hate the character.

Nahyuta has a decent storyline and he has a unique gimmick. It’s just when compared to the other 5 prosecutors, he doesn’t really do anything for me. His storyline with Apollo feels like a rehash of the previous games (oh, the prosecutor was close friends with the defense attorney? Hmm, where have I heard that before *coughPhoenixandMilescough* *coughAthenaandSimoncough*). Also, he’s not as fun or as interesting as his counterparts.

Basically, I don’t think Nahyuta’s a bad character, he’s just my least favorite of the prosecutors.

5) Franziska von Karma

This one hurt me, mainly because I love Franziska. She seems like a fun character outside of the main Ace Attorney games based on her appearances in the Investigations series. However, if we’re going purely with her role as prosecutor in the main series, then I have to place her in the 5th place slot. But it’s not because I think she’s a bad character. She’s great! She’s a fun character to interact with and she has an interesting backstory. The problem is Justice for All.

In my opinion, Justice for All is the worst Ace Attorney game in the main series. It’s to the point that it affected my placement of Franziska on this list. First off, it’s already bad that one of the main cases she’s the prosecutor in is Turnabout Big Top aka the worst case in the entire franchise. But then there’s Farewell, My Turnabout, which absolutely screws over her character by making Miles Edgeworth the focus of the finale.

Now let me back up. Before you Miles Edgeworth fans jump down my throat, I am aware that Miles is not the prosecutor for the final case in the first game. I am NOT saying that Franziska needed to be the prosecutor in Farewell, My Turnabout. I am NOT saying Miles ruined the story. The point I’m making is that even though Miles wasn’t the prosecutor in Turnabout Goodbyes, he was still the main focus. Everything in that episode revolved around Miles’ past and his relationship with Manfred von Karma. He still got a complete character arc even though he wasn’t the rival.

In Farewell, My Turnabout, Capcom just went and said, “Go fuck yourself Franziska” and made everything about Miles again. Franziska was barely a presence in that final episode and by the time the game ended, her arc felt incomplete. Yes, the writers attempted to make her relevant to the story by having her be the one to deliver the evidence but just think about that for a second. She’s the main prosecutor of the 2nd game and the most significant thing she did in the finale was deliver items. I honestly feel her appearance in Trials and Tribulations was damage control for how shit she was treated in Justice for All.

Thankfully, it looks like the Investigations games treated Franziska better. But as for the main series, she deserved a whole lot better. I’d love to place her higher but with the storyline she got, I have to mark her down.

4) Klavier Gavin

I don’t have much to say about Klavier. I think he’s a cool character and he has a kickass gimmick. However, he’s just a mid-tier kind of character for me. Like with Franziska, it’s mainly to do with Apollo Justice / Ace Attorney 4.

People have already pointed this out but the storyline in Apollo Justice feels more like set-up for something bigger. When I first went through Apollo Justice, it felt like there was going to be more to Kristoph Gavin, more to Klavier Gavin. Phoenix Wright was at the start of a different kind of character arc and the Gramaryes/Trucy Wright would be the main focus of the Apollo Justice trilogy, just like how Maya and the Feys were the focus of Phoenix’s trilogy.

In fact, just going off on a little tangent, I already made a post about this but I was thinking that the abandoned Apollo Justice trilogy would lead to Phoenix becoming a Godot-type character. He had the seeds of that character arc planted, with his darker behavior, willingness to bend the legal system to get what he wants (using forged evidence and trapping Kristoph with the jurist system) and a similar reason to become an anti-villain (Godot was poisoned by Dahlia, Phoenix was disbarred thanks to Kristoph). He would then show up in the final game as the main rival, leading to a Phoenix and Apollo showdown.

Sorry, this was supposed to be about Klavier. The point I’m trying to make is, Klavier is a cool character but he feels wasted. Since the 5th and 6th games didn’t follow-up on the 4th game’s story, it feels like Klavier was left behind as a result. That’s why he’s low on the list.

3) Simon Blackquill

Ah yes, the twisted samurai. For the record, Dual Destinies is my favorite Apollo Justice-era game, so it’s not a huge surprise that Simon is my favorite Apollo Justice-era prosecutor. For me, what makes Simon stand out is that he’s the most “complete” of the three AJ-era prosecutors.

My issue with Klav was that his storyline feels incomplete while my issue with Yuty was that he wasn’t that interesting of a character. Simon doesn’t have those problems. For one, he has the best gimmick between the three of them. It’s an interesting concept to have a prosecutor be an actual death row inmate. What’s cool about that is that the death row inmate gimmick worked for Simon’s character arc.

Dual Destinies set Simon up as the embodiment of the dark age of the law. He was a death row inmate who constantly talked about killing his foes. That’s why the reveal that he’s actually an honorable man who never killed anyone works so well, it’s a strong contrast to how he’s set up. Also, it’s a twist that works with Simon’s character as he’s supposed to be a psychology expert. He plays up his image of a crazy killer to intimidate his enemies.

Other than that, I also feel like Simon had the best storyline of the AJ-era prosecutors. Also, even though his appearance in Spirit of Justice was a bit silly, it was still fun to see this character in a more lighter tone.

2) Miles Edgeworth

Yeah, of course Edgey is this high up on the list. Like I wrote, I can’t count the Investigations games as I haven’t played them but even then, Miles had a pretty good run in the main series. He had a strong character arc in the first game, a decent return in the 2nd game, and a strong return in the 3rd game. It was great that you actually got to play as Miles in T&T and that he was the acting defense attorney. For me, Trials and Tribulations felt like the end of Miles’ character arc as he finally became a defense attorney, just like his dad.

And honestly, Capcom should’ve left him at that. I’m not saying this is why he’s only 2nd on the list but I just want to say, I don’t think he needed to be in Dual Destinies and Spirit of Justice. Yes, I am aware that Miles’ appearances in those games were just fun guest appearances for people who want that AA original trilogy nostalgia. However, I felt that his appearances in 5 and 6 slightly ruined his character arc.

Why? Because he was back to being a prosecutor. Last time I checked, wasn’t his entire character arc about him becoming a defense attorney? He wanted to be a DA like his dad, he developed a misguided hatred of defense attorneys due to the DL-6 Incident, he was misled into believing that the number one goal of an attorney is to win court cases by Manfred von Karma, he was rescued by his friend Phoenix which led to him reassessing his life goals, he goes on a trip around the world to find himself, and then in the final game, he becomes Iris’ defense attorney, overcoming his initial hatred of DAs and fulfilling his childhood goal.

Maybe it’s just me but having Miles come back as a prosecutor in the AJ-era games feels like a step back in character development. But once again, that’s not the reason why he’s 2nd on the list. I like Miles, but I like the next guy even more. It should be obvious who it is by now.

1) Godot

Yes, I know, this is potentially a controversial choice. I just wanna say, I don’t care if you love, like, dislike, or hate Godot. Let me write the reasons why Godot is my number one prosecutor.

When I was writing this list out, I was measuring the prosecutors based on several factors. Story, character arc, design, strength as a rival, humor and so on. Just to be clear, I don’t think Godot is the best of all those categories. For example, when it comes to strength as a rival, I’d say Miles and Franziska were stronger opponents. Godot is definitely a mid-tier rival, which makes sense as he’s supposed to be a rookie / defense attorney out of his league.

So, why Godot then if he’s not the best in every category? Honestly...I’d say it’s the character overall. Regardless of your feelings towards the character, I feel that we can all agree that Godot’s story is the most tragic.

Let’s recap; Godot’s story is of a good man who was destroyed by a wicked monster. He was then abandoned by the people around him and lost the love of his life. With no one to help him, he let his grief consume him to the point that he became a bitter shell of his former self, obsessed with shaming the people he feels are responsible for the death of his lover. It’s only at the end when he realizes that all of his hatred and anger was just him projecting his own self-hatred onto someone else. That even though it wasn’t his fault, he still holds himself responsible for his lover’s death. However, it’s too late to make amends as he’s damned himself. In a moment of blind rage, he doomed himself by committing murder.

That is some HEAVY material for a game series that features the main character cross examining a parrot and conveniently developing amnesia just to set up a tutorial sequence.

Going on another tangent, you know who Godot’s storyline reminded me of? Jax Teller from Sons of Anarchy. Both characters started out as honorable men who were deeply in love. Then, tragedy struck. They lost the love of their lives and, in their final character arc, they took their rage out on everyone. Sons of Anarchy season 7 is still some of the most devastating TV I’ve ever watched and part of the reason was because of how sad it was to watch Jax fall. He fell so deep into his rage and anger that by the time he got his revenge, he burned so many bridges that the only place his character could go was death.

Same with Godot. He’s a damn Shakespearean tragic protagonist in that he was ultimately undone by his own rage and anger. You can sympathize with him based on how he came to be but at the same time, he destroyed himself. It’s a devastating character arc and, as someone who loves Shakespeare and all things theater, I absolutely loved it. It’s the one character arc that has stuck with me after going through all six games over again, even more so than Miles and Simon’s arcs.

In addition to all of this, the fact that Godot’s character arc tied the entire trilogy together is definitely worth noting. From his storyline, the game tied together Mia Fey’s death, highlighted Mia’s importance to the main storyline, and even set up Trials and Tribulations’ main villain, Dahlia Hawthorne. I love it when stories do that, when the character arcs actually work hand-in-hand with the story that the writer is trying to tell.

On some smaller notes, Godot definitely has the best character design in my opinion. Also, the best character theme (I still have the Fragrance of Dark Coffee playing in my head). Lastly, he has the best case in the original trilogy (Bridge to the Turnabout), as well as the best moment (the original pursuit theme plays when you expose the knife wound underneath his mask).

So yeah. In my opinion, Godot is the best Ace Attorney prosecutor. Those are my reasons, feel free to disagree if you want.

#ace attorney #phoenix wright #miles edgeworth #franziska von karma #godot #diego armando #klavier gavin #simon blackquill #nahyuta sahdmadhi #apollo justice #athena cykes #aa #capcom

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pinksweatergettingbetter · 7 years

Text

warning, the following has mainly snarky (and possibly furious) opinions on Spirit of Justice. Reader discretion is advised.

alright. part two, here we go

“she’s safe”

“I’m afraid you’ve lost me”

the words ‘maya’ and ‘safe’ do not go together in phoenix’s dictionary

...Phoenix’s phone has caller ID??

ooh a phone vocal-blip. cute

ok fuck you how is the Benefactor keeping tabs on them?? Did Atishon use his One Phone Call to report to headquarters or something???

“I admit, I didn’t see that coming”

well spoilers guys I know who the benefactor is, and they have to be pretty fucking stupid not to know that a spirit medium is needed for this.

“its your friendly neighbourhood dragon”

no dhurke, youre not cool enough to be spiderman.

“you cant lay a hand on maya fey, and i mean literally”

>foreboding

[sighs deeply]

guys. just. fucking call edgeworth. he’s chief prosecutor of america and his sister is part of INTERPOL. call edgeworth and just. fix the fucking problem. right now.

“No time to explain”

ggghhghghhghghgh

...oh. there’s edgeworth

...............now watch him be completely fucking useless

.......ARE YOU KIDDING ME

PHOENIX /DID/ CALL EDGEWORTH THE MOMENT MAYA WAS KIDNAPPED AND HE STILL WENT THROUGH HIS FUCKING “DUHHH BETTER DEFEND THIS OBVIOUS CRIMINAL” SHIT??

oh edgeworth. you and your chartered planes.

whenever he does that i like to imagine he hired MJN air.

Edgeworth...

A) Why are you letting Dhurke be involved? Just cut him out, send Franziska and Lang in with a team of guys and kick the shit out of the enemy

B) You don’t need to conceal someone on a charter jet. You chartered it. You can do whatever the fuck you want with it. Besides, Dhurke got into the country p easily, he can get out the same way.

C) Dhurke is a criminal. Depending on what he’s done as a rebel, he could be as guilty in your country as his home country. Why are you acting like he’s innocent? Aren't you kind of by-the-book?

oh yeah and despite the fact that they’ve updated Phoenix’s sprite, Miles still looks like a frozen plank of wood. Thanks :\

Apollo: Sorry Trucy, guess you have to hold all the unnecessary evidence and hold down the fort and be LEFT BEHIND FOR A CHANGE AAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

oh. this is a really nice garden.

the drama theme is kinda harshing the mellow tho

o hai rayfa

um. what the fuck. that mask must make it pretty difficult to do shit pal

Garan, whilst ordering her henchmen online: drama queen or king preferred

UR DIARRHOEA, GAH-RAHN

cool theme, love the use of the royal “we”.

“what about those guards over there”

“ohh, just prepared to fuck shit u–– iii mean help you haha.”

yeahhh... I'm not buying her super calm “my husband is a kidnapper” attitude.

UIGSFILGFLIS DHURKE YOU FUCKING MORON

god he’s such a useless piece of shit. unless he’s trying to get taken so that he can be taken to... idk, wherever Maya is held in some sort of Gambit, he’s a real moron for just up and outing himself like that.

BAAAAARBED HEAD. YOU HAVE SOME SPLAAAAAAAAININ TO DOOOO

man why do they even give us other options if we can’t use them???

“Dhurke... I sure hope he’s alright”

hey apollo wanna hear a secret

i dont

Phoenix externally: Patience, Apollo, patience.

Phoenix internally: we are so screwed at any moment the queen could be all “OFF WITH YOUR HEAD” and i’ll never see trucy or maya again jesus holy mother buddha help me

i love that Garananana is kinda just chilling with them. You got more important shit to do, queenie. like being evil

also open your goddamn mouth once in a while, sheesh

Apollo: I hope no one gets hurt

The entire series of ace attorney as a whole: oh honey

wait ... INGA HAD A RATTAIL?!

ohhh yesss listen to those punches

why couldn’t they have animated it too ;w;

phew. im glad Maya’s ok.

yeesh... poor Rayfa.

i love that even apollo’s like “fuck dad, you didn't kill him, did you?????”

its a beautiful contrast to how adamant he was about Trucy not killing Manov.

um, soundtrack, now is not the time for Grand Revival. I know Edgeworth is on screen but the shit he’s saying is far, far from uplifting.

“it seems prosecutor sahdmadhi has grown quite fond of her”

nooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

“they’ve almost become a team of sorts”

ok so mark Ema down on the list of AJ characters who will never be seen again after this game.

fuck man i’d even take Klema over this

can you imagine if they'd split up Apollo/Phoenix Edgeworth/Athena instead

i really wonder how Athena and Edgeworth would interact. Athena’s spunky enough to be a bit like Kay I suppose, so maybe similar to that.

again, Kooraheen’s detention centre theme is really quite pretty

too bad i have to look at Dhurke’s face while listening to it

...a tasty... hash house

oh apollo’s up for that

well tbh if i was him i could use some hash after all this shit

yEAH YOU TELL’IM APOLLO

SMARTEN THAT BASTARD UP

god apollo he’s not worth it. i’d say leave the fucker to his fate but i guess it is important to find the real killer... sigh

apparently queen Amara liked insensitive fuckbags with masculinity issues

oh well. to each their own.

>:( don’t compare Dhurke’s story to Phoenix’s, Apollo

“you ran?! but why?!!”

oh i dunno, athena, maybe the fucking death penalty?????

hang the fuck on

are you telling me that Dhurke started making trips to his shitty abandoned law office via sewer... while Apollo was still with him?!

Like what fucking reason would he have to drag him down there?! The place is an archive/resistance base, but Apollo and Sadmad lived in the mountains as children; why the fuck would he take his /kids/ into town at the risk of having them all arrested at once?!

WHAT THE FUCK IS YOUR PROBLEM, DHURKE

that orb better be a fucking laser or some shit cause I'm really tired of hearing about it

oh......... hi sadmad..................... what a pleasure to see you........... again................

just as fucking pleasant as ever

i love that Dhurke is like “what happened to fighting the man, son??”

like even if he is a double agent he can’t very well just be like “psst I'm still on your side!!!!” in front of the fucking guard

i hate that dhurke’s face is so placid during this too.

“Son, why did you betray me? Also how was the sports game?”

“The Nahyuta you knew exists no more”

yeah sure sadblackworth, whatever you say

oh well that was abrupt

meh, onwards to the tomb

“No, that’s the holy mother. She’s the one who brought spirit channeling to Khura’in”

oh so you mean Ami Fey.

oh ema... i’ll miss you while youre off being Sadmad’s lapdog

“You mean His Ephemeral Holiness?”

Yes, Ema, fight it!!! Fight it!!!!!!

“But when he manages a smile and compliments my work, it’s hard to say no.”

...nuts.

wait what do you mean the defendant is someone you know

you met Dhurke like once a day ago

aw apollo took the locked-room-mystery words right out of my mouth. i love him so. why are they going to take him away?

alrihgt back to this shit after like a 3 month hiatus or something

i love how chill everyone is talking about Maya’s kidnapping

“oh yeah he brought her here to the tomb so nobody would see. sensible thing to do. oh also maya almost died but i guess that’s nbd”

casually opens a tomb

casually opens the sarcophagus hangings

casually tries to open the sarcophagus when told there’s a mummy inside

apollo, you're contracting douche-itis from everyone else. this old family of yours is a bad influence.

...we’re gonna yeet this sarcophagus arent we

i love that Amara’s just kinda. depicted standing there as she’s burned to death. i mean i guess theyre trying to preserve her beauty and dignity in death but it also makes her look like an idiot who didnt try to escape the flames.

ooh i like that last one though

pff thats a pretty well-equipped corpse line

“Where’d the other three bullets go?”

“Maybe Dhurke ate them?”

if he did they'd better have a VERY good explanation

“the poor guy”

EMA

HE WAS HOLDING MAYA HOSTAGE

“the cuffs of justice”

love it

“just one of those traditions people do and they dont know the reason why”

“like rolling up your sleeves?”

“or your psychology, if we’re going there” HE FUCKING WENT THERE

OOOOOOOOOOO I LOVE YOU APOLLO

“he said grape juice has something in it that helps you relax”

are we going into grape juice lore here

"Really? ...Um, are you sure he was talking about regular, plain old grape juice?”

Yes, actually, Athena. It’s canonical that it is /actual off-the-vine welsh’s good ol’ sippy cup grape juice/. It’s not a metaphor or a censoring for kids, it’s just juice.

Of course, this is written by the DDSOJ staff. And considering the intense, dark n’ gritty action makeover the series got, I wouldn’t put it past them to retcon the juice into the... “fermented variety”. thanks Athena.

Yayyy not only do they write shitty dads, but they have to retroactively en-shitten Phoenix as an alcoholic father. Gosh, I sure do love these guys.

(obviously this isn’t a dig at anyone who head canons gj as wine, there’s a difference between head canons and malicious retconning.)

hmm interesting mechanic for this chair. i guess since you can’t stuff it in your inventory you cant do the ‘look all over’ thing. but on the other hand, they REALLY wanted to impress you with that hidden blood.

Ema: [performs a blood test in 2 seconds] I didn’t get a match!

Well probably not in that time, babe

i have to commend them on the little cutscene though that was nice.

again, i guess Amara really liked emotionally stunted fuckwads

the devil horns are a bit much, though.

oh damn.

thats a nice ass pendant

...oh thats blood

well, it sets off the pink and gold quite nicely. and its a butterfly... seems like something Dahlia would wear

“speak of the devil...”

speak of the devil indeed. hiiiiiii sadmad... its been a while.

oh ok he didnt say anything

also i find it funny that apollos like “Wait!! wait!! damnit, after him!”

and then you just. go back into the talk menu with Ema. bit of a moment killer, there.

“why does everything have to be so difficult with you?”

cause hes a prosecutor, apollo. thats just how it is on this bitch of an earth

“the law is the law. placing personal feelings above it is beyond reprieve”

ah but placing religion above it is totally fine. gotcha yuts

“And the winner is... prosecutor Sahdmadi!”

helpful, athena

“it’s like he’s trying to cover something up with his pretty words!”

oh did you mean the inevitable reveal that he's actually a good guy and we have to forgive him for being a shitwad?

oh wow. that joke post about sadmad developing generalized anxiety was actually based on a legit thing that happened

is it ok if i hate him even more for it? i mean how did he figure it out? he didn’t let apollo use it in court so where would he have gained the knowledge? unless he knows about Thalassa’s abilities...

...also, how /is/ he doing this? the way Perceive works isn’t just “i can sense that you’re uncomfortable”, it’s that people who can use it have extremely good eye-sight and see tiny little movements in other people. If they’re smart about it, they can tell that the movements mean the enemy is lying. Apollo just happens to get tense when he notices this, most likely because he’s kind of straining his eyes.

But then again that brings up the fact that his power would act up CONSTANTLY, either because EVERYBODY FIDGETS, or Apollo himself could just be stressed and making the bracelet squeeze on its own.

So thanks, SOJ. Not content with ruining Apollo’s canon, you’ve also got to ruin his cool lawyer power. Gosh, you’re just the gift that keeps on giving, aren’t you?

“Powerless in the face of the Holy Mother’s blessings”

SOJ team is now nicknamed the Holy Mother. Or possibly the Unholy Mother.

“Looks like your power won’t work against Sadmadhi. Guess we’ll have to try something else.”

“Yeah, let’s ask Dhurke...”

Yeah. Because you obviously don’t have someone with you RIGHT NOW who ALSo has a special power. You dont even have TWO POEPLE with you with a special power. Guess we’d better talk to the man who birthed this shiteater.

“I won against Mr. Wright”

yeah in a completely rigged trial where losing would be the worst option. thats not really something to brag about, you know.

“...doomed to be reborn as something lower than a bug or a vegetable”

you heard it here first folks Sadmad hates sustaining agriculture and the bees.

>Lang’s scrolls and dickfuckery

>Edgeworth’s by-the-bookishness

>Franziska’s catchphrase

>Blackquill’s backstory twist

These were the ingredients chosen to make the perfect prosecutor. But the SOJ writers accidentally added an extra ingredient to the concoction: BAD WRITING

THUS UNINSPIRED ASSHOLE WAS BORN!

apollo you don’t matter to anyone anymore youre getting the boot. do as your foster pop said when you were a drowning 5 y/o and suck those pussy baby tears back into your skull.

welp thats it for part one of investigation day 2. now (i think) we’re headed over to the delicious pandering of Phoenix and Edgeworth, back together. Will it bring me solace despite being an obvious ratings grab?

good god, i hope so.

till next time.

#sulking over SOJ #im gonna do this; I'm gonna finish it. i swear.]

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kaiba-cave · 8 years

Note

12, 15, 17

12. Least Favourite Case

In the regular games, like almost everyone, I hated Turnabout Big Top. But even that was a million times better than Turnabout Airlines from AA:I.

15. Least favourite ship?

I’m like honestly scared to say the name in case the shippers come for me with pitchforks and torches. But it’s the most popular pairing in the freaking fandom between a certain defense attorney and a cravat wearing prosecutor.

Honestly, this was one of those “the shippers/fandom ruined it for me” times because I did really like it at first. I can totally see why people ship it and I’m all for multi-shipping but I couldn’t seem to affiliate with that ship at all without seeing people hating on my other favourite ship, which just ended up making me really dislike it. The only way I really ship it nowadays is if it’s an OT3 type situation with all three characters from both ships involved lmao.

Of course not everyone who ships it is like that and I have a lot of mutuals now that ship it and are totally nice people, but those people who treat it like it’s canon and if you ship anything else you’re a bad person are like… yikes. :/

(Like I’ve honestly come across blogs that outright say not to follow them if you ship these two characters with ANYONE ELSE BUT EACH OTHER and I’m like…….. alrighty then….. 😐 )

17. Least favourite murderer?

*shakes fist at Kristoph*

There are villains you like because they’re so awful, like Dahlia, and then there are villains you hate because they’re so awful. Kristoph is that.

He decided to ruin Phoenix’s life because Phoenix unknowingly stole a client from him, like dude get over it, jeez. It’s not Phoenix’s fault you apparently suck at playing poker. Plus he was planning on using the forged evidence himself to win the case and only when Phoenix got the client did he decide to tell Klavier that Phoenix was going to use it. Then proceeded to pretend to be his friend for seven years in order to stalk him. ARGH.

My dislike for Kristoph probably also comes from my general dislike of what they did to Phoenix in AJ though.

I also didn’t like Roger Retinz in SOJ because he was so scummy and also had a stupid reason for murder. Trucy is just a kid, stop blaming her for her awful biological family’s problems.

#might as well answer these while i'm awake #before going straight back to bed #ask #hinamesfrank #why do my answers always get sooo long

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mylittleedgey · 7 years

Text

Phoenix tried to crane his neck to look at the other man. “How do you feel about me?”

The answer came with almost no hesitation. “Significantly stronger than I’m comfortable with admitting to.”

“For how long?”

“...How long has it been for you?”

He sighed. “When we were in elementary school, I told my parents I was going to marry you. They told me it was illegal, and I said you would be a lawyer then so you could make it work.” he smiled wistfully. “I didn’t understand gay sex, or much about sex at all beyond what Larry had told me...”

“Which was absolute rubbish.” Miles interjected.

“Indeed.” Phoenix agreed wholeheartedly. “You know what I mean, though, right? It wasn’t like, creepy, I just wanted you to be part of my life forever. Like my parents were to each other, but before I realized Mom wasn’t really just trying to help Dad fix his zipper with her teeth that time they thought I was asleep.” He laughed nervously. “I’ve always considered it my first crush, if that doesn’t sound too creepy? My parents almost had me convinced it was just a phase I went through until I saw you on TV as an adult. I mean, I’d seen pictures in the paper, but the whole package, and that voice on top of it...” He nudged the other man. “And you?”

“More complicated.” he replied, and for the first time in a very long while Phoenix saw him grip his arm in that pose that always meant he was remembering something painful. “I suppose in retrospect it was obvious that Von Karma was trying to distance me from my past life, to keep me isolated and at his mercy… but at the time I believed everything he said about ridiculous childhood games and boyhood obsessions that would only serve to hinder my growth. I spent a great many years without thinking about you, save through the veil of shame I cast over my entire childhood.” Phoenix was silent, but wrapped an arm around the prosecutor’s waist in an awkward reclining hug. “You must understand, that on one level I blamed my childish ways for causing the panic that had caused me to block out the memories of my father’s death, preventing me from helping to convict my father’s murderer, and on a deeper level I believed it was my dangerous hysteria that had caused me to… to e-end my father’s life.” He gritted his teeth. “I’m sorry, none of this is what you asked.” he replied in a distant tone that indicated his mind was far away in an elevator he’d never fully escaped, even now.

“I’m sorry.” Phoenix breathed. Words were ridiculous at a time like that.

“No, don’t be.” Miles replied, and no mood matrix was necessary to show how high strung he was. “I-I only say this so you understand that the sheer contempt I showed for you when we met again was an extension not only of my indoctrination by Von Karma, but the bitter hatred I felt for myself. Even when I saw that you had sacrificed so much to help me, I couldn’t accept those feelings, let alone return them. It would have required me to confront everything I’d been running from. I literally was not able to speak to you.” The self-reproach that had dogged him seemed stronger than ever now, and he stood nervously, refastening his pants and smoothing his vest. “Zip your pants, Wright, I can’t speak to you when you’re like that.”

“Hey, I...” He stood quickly and rushed to make himself presentable. The one-eighty in Miles’ personality left him breathless with worry.

“No, please don’t go, I’m sorry.” he stammered a little too quickly for his usual dignity. “I’m...” he breathed in deeply. “I’m okay. It’s just been a while since it all came out last.” When Phoenix stepped forward, he was shocked to feel the slightly taller man surge forward and encircle his arms around his shoulders. “It was almost like a fail-safe. He couldn’t bring me down in court, but everything he had beaten into me was so strong that I couldn’t understand how to break it. Gant too, he knew exactly what he was doing.”

Phoenix wanted to respond, but there was nothing. “I was there. I’ve always been there.” he finally announced weakly, hoping it didn’t sound accusatory. “Even when you can’t bring yourself to speak to me, know that I’m always there for you.”

Miles was silent for several moments. “You know when an animal is sick, and they somehow realize their time is up? They distance themselves from everyone to die alone. Maybe they don’t understand what’s happening, but they still do. It’s instinct. I think that’s how it was for me.” Phoenix said nothing, but his grip tightened nervously. “I’m sorry I frightened you when I left, but I’m glad you didn’t see me like that. It wasn’t a pretty sight.”

“You don’t ever have to be pretty for me.” he replied softly with a half smile, and he stops short of mentioning he’s never known a time when the other man wasn’t pretty. “But I try to respect your privacy. I know you don’t like to be seen like this.”

“You’ve seen me worse.” Miles breathed into his shoulder. “Only you.” The room was silent and still for several moments, but Phoenix was surprised to find that it wasn’t awkward. Instead, it felt surprisingly intimate. “In any case, to answer your question, it was probably six months from after our being reunited when I admitted to myself that my ridiculous feelings for you were not going away, as much as I hoped they would. When I met you again and you went on that tirade about how you never wanted to see me again, I thought it was all settled, but then you had the poor grace to forgive my cowardice. In my time abroad following that I decided it was time to come clean, for better or for worse, but then, before I could...” he paused. “You asked me to defend the love of your life.”

“Oh….” Well, that answered his next question, namely what the hell kept them from doing this years ago. “I’m sorry,” The words lost meaning after a while.

“I never blamed you. You follow your heart, and if it led you to save me, how could I fault it for leading you to others? I admire it immensely, as hard as I am on you about it. You were so single-minded on saving her, I felt like you didn’t even see me there. I guess I accepted it as my punishment for treating you so badly. But then, when the truth came out in court...” he cleared his throat, and Phoenix distinctly heard the breath catch. “I knew I had lost. I couldn’t compete with someone who loved you so strongly, or so openly. What happened with her?” There was genuine confusion in his voice.

“We’re good friends. Still, actually.” Phoenix replied shyly. “Trucy and Pearl call her Aunt Iris. She’s the one that taught Trucy how to knit my Papa hat, you know. Trucy taught her how to make things disappear. She’s pretty good at it, it freaks the crap out of Bikini.” There was a continued silence. “I… I went to see her a lot in prison.”

“I know.” Miles answered quietly.

“Oh, you saw that?” One hand instinctively went to the back of his neck.

“I admit it was extremely unprofessional of me, but I was aware. Every Friday, for three years. You only missed twice.” His teeth bared in what was hard to describe as anything but a grimace. “It ate me alive that I was being so petty, but every time you visited I held my breath and awaited the formalization of your relationship. I swear, though, I never used my connections to listen in.”

“Well,” Phoenix chuckled awkwardly, “you might have saved us both a lot of trouble if you had. We talked for hours, and it was so much like old times, but it was never… like it had been. We never really discussed it until maybe a year in. Out of the blue, one day she asked me if ‘it was Mr. Edgeworth’. No context. I mean, I figured it out pretty quick, but I couldn’t answer her directly, and I guess that was all she needed to know. The next time we met, it was as friends.”

“I… see...” Miles was surprisingly calm and thoughtful. “She and I rarely spoke, but I do recall that she specifically requested that I not be present at her parole hearing. It seemed odd, seeing how I served as her defense council. I wonder… if she didn’t want to see me.” His eyes shifted in an almost guilty smile. “I always got the feeling that she knew exactly what my feelings were for you.”

“When I didn’t?”

“She was a very perceptive young lady.”

“If she knew, she could have said something.” Phoenix pointed out.

His gaze soured. “Were I in her position, I don’t believe I would have done any different.” he admitted darkly. “I would never have consciously come between you and your happiness, but to actually be the catalyst that brought you together with another...”

Phoenix studied his face with total confusion. “There’s no way I’m worth both of you losing sleep.” The idea that Miles actually had feelings for him was strange enough, but the idea that two people he cared about felt strongly enough to anguish over who he chose… it went beyond flattering and into the profoundly disturbing. “I never meant to hurt anyone.”

“Of course you didn’t.” There was a smile again, and a little squint that went straight to his spine in a nervous tingle. “You don’t have it in you. It’s your nature to care about everyone, just as much as it is for people like Iris and I to be taken in by it.”

“You seem to have a lot of respect for her considering she’s a rival.”

“As I do for you, my greatest rival.” Miles smiled. “But in all seriousness, I understand her well. Perhaps better than you. Her greatest crime was that she allowed her sister to convince her to sacrifice her own morals for the sake of Dahlia’s ‘greater good’. I’m sure it was slow, and subtle, and probably at the expense of her own confidence, her very identity. She may have gone her entire life without realizing how low she’d allowed herself to be dragged if it hadn’t been for you. We’re the same in that way.”

He’d certainly never thought of it that way, but it made a lot of sense. “It must not have been easy for the truth to come out like it did, but I believe she was better for it.” Miles continued. “No, I’ve been too close to her situation to ever wish evil on her.” Hie smiled with just hint of bitterness. “I wouldn’t trade places with her for anything, of course. I’m not that good a person.”

“You really feel that strongly about me?”

Miles’ eyes darted to the side again, the way they tended to when he was embarrassed. “How many ways are you going to make me say it, Wright? I could start in other languages, but I just don’t see where it would do either of us any good.”

“I’m not trying to tease you.” Phoenix explained quickly. “I just… I can’t believe you, or anyone, really, would look at plain old Phoenix Wright and see something worth fighting over.”

“You’ve had some destructive relationships.” Miles pointed out with a frown that only experience taught him was concern. “I know very little about your love life, but I’m aware of that. That’s why I thought you would be better off with someone like Iris, who could actually treat you right and let you know how important you were, as opposed to someone like me, who would call you an idiot on your deathbed and will likely never pay you a compliment without it hiding an insult.” He shrugged suddenly, indicating that line of conversation was over without waiting for a response. “But I guess that’s neither here nor there if you’re satisfied with my personality as it is.” Suddenly he stood, picking up his phone and settling himself down behind his desk. “And while we’re on the subject of my shortcomings as a partner, I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you to leave in about twenty minutes. I have some meetings to attend to, and there’s really no excuse I can see for inviting an unrelated defense attorney to them. So we should probably get the more important aspects of the relationship defined now.” He finished whatever he was typing on the phone and set it down, folding his hands neatly on top of the desk. “Unless you’d like to try sex again? We could probably make it in time.” The words were spoken with such a bold lack of hesitance that Phoenix could barely shrug stiffly in reply. “But there will be plenty of time for that later, when we’re better prepared.”

“Just to make sure we’re perfectly clear, I am not in any sort of relationship that would prevent me from starting one with you, and I have no objections to the idea. I don’t smoke and I never drink to excess, in fact I believe you’re familiar with any of my bad habits that would interfere with a relationship. I’m not sure if I snore, I haven’t had anyone watch me sleep in years besides Gumshoe, and he wouldn’t tell me.” He looked up suddenly and harshly. “I nod off in the office occasionally, before you ask. Sexually, I’m comfortable with both giving and receiving. I’m known to be rather controlling in either position. I should mention that although I’ve had many complaints about my personality and the like, I’ve never had a single partner criticize my abilities. In fact, response has been overwhelmingly positive.” He maintained the confident eye contact until Phoenix finally looked away with a blush. “But I promise I’m always open to suggestions for improvement.” His eyes narrowed. “And it will improve in case you were worried about that. I’m afraid I was a bit off my game today. I’d normally prefer advance warning, but as they say, fortune favors the bold.”

“As for my emotional qualifications, I don’t normally do ‘relationships’. I would prefer you not pressure me into putting feelings into words. I have no problem with providing you with a monogamous relationship if that’s what you choose, and in case it wasn’t clear, your daughter is a charming young lady and I have no wish to interfere with her life or your involvement in it. I… can’t guarantee that I can hold my own weight in our... affiliation. I also… can’t promise that I won’t hurt you, as I know I have done in the past. I can only promised that I would never do so intentionally. These are, I’m afraid, the best terms that I can offer you. Is that acceptable?”

It seemed like an odd set of stipulations from a man who had practically jumped on him at the first sign of affection, but there would be time later. In a way, the utterly indifferent way he laid out the relationship like a legal document was comforting. “I… agree to the terms and conditions?”

Miles smiled, giving that odd squint that made Phoenix’s heart flutter like a lovesick teenager. “My first question for you would be: do you have any idea how your daughter feels about you being in a relationship? Would it make a difference if it was with another man? I’ve heard her ‘new mommy’ talks.”

“Actually,” he replied awkwardly, “she’s the one that put me up to visiting you today.”

He blinked. “You’ve spoken to your daughter about us?”

“Well, I kinda might have mentioned to her that I heard you talking to whichever Paine it was at the party last month, and he kinda implied you liked me, and you kinda didn’t deny it...” he explained.

“That’s what this is about?!” Miles sputtered.

“...Yes?”

He sighed. “Of all the ridiculous….”

“...Does that change things?”

“Not really, it’s just…” He drummed his fingers on the desk testily. “He does that from time to time, normally when he’s drunk. He changes the target of my affections occasionally. Usually it’s Blackquill these days. After all, I helped save his life, obviously I must be...” he trailed off distractedly. “To think his idiotic rambling...”

“...I’m sorry?”

To his surprise, Edgeworth strode strongly around the desk, took his shoulders roughly, and claimed the attorney’s mouth in a dominating kiss. “I refuse to acknowledge his role in my current happiness.” he announced curtly as he pulled away.

“...Sorry?”

“But you...” Miles continued. “If I’d known that was all it took, I would have started rumors myself.” His hips angled forward, trapping Phoenix against the desk, and it was suddenly very apparent that his partner was more than ready for a second go already. Lips closed on his mouth again, and Phoenix was again blown away by the fact that he was in a heavily physical relationship with High Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth. He leaned into the other body, shifting to better accommodate the angles with his own…

“Hey, Pal, I- whoaaaaaa!” Phoenix jumped back, forgetting that there was nothing behind him but desk, and impaled himself on Edgeworth’s name plate. “Should… I…?

“Detective!” Edgeworth answered with his usual composure and a great deal more than his usual contentment. “Mr. Wright and I were just discussing the opportunity of a new partnership. And I did indeed call you for a reason.” Ignoring Phoenix, he walked to meet the tall detective. “I need you to pick something up from the drugstore, can you do that for me? it’s a personal matter, so I’m afraid you’ll need to clock out for a break, but...” He slid a crisp piece of paper our of his wallet and handed it to the older man. “This should compensate you for your troubles.”

“You don’t have to-”

“-I want to.” Edgeworth interrupted. “The contents are rather embarrassing, but it’s already paid for and I’ve asked that the bag be stapled with the receipt on the inside. Is that alright?”

“Well, sure, Sir, but...”

“And Detective?” Edgeworth looked up.

“Yes, Sir?”

“You may feel free to congratulate me, if you wish.” he replied with a quiet smile.

The detective was still for a second, like a dog being invited on a couch it knows it’s not allowed on. Then instinct took over and he enveloped his boss in a massive bear hug. “Oh, Mr. Edgeworth, I’m just so happy for you, sir!” He was almost bawling, and Phoenix quickly realized that Gumshoe’s unease wasn’t from catching his boss with his longtime rival, but merely not knowing how their relationship allowed him to react. “Good for you, sir!” He gestured towards Phoenix. “You too, come here!”

“I’m… good, thank you.”

Edgeworth scowled over the massive bulk of one of Gumshoe’s arms. “If I have to, you have to.” he commanded, only half joking, and Phoenix begrudgingly joined the group hug.

“Who was it that confessed?” Gumshoe asked.

“Wright, actually.”

“Congratulations, Pal!” Phoenix was rewarded with a hearty thump on his shoulder that threatened to knock the wind out of him. “See, Mr. Edgeworth, I told you that piece of fluff with the braids didn’t have anything on you!”

“Detective!” For the first time in the conversation, Edgeworth went full scarlet in the face. “I told you-!”

“Oh!” Gumshoe straightened nervously. “I mean, Mr. Bright-”

“-Wright.” Edgeworth corrected.

“Mr. Wright, Sir, he never spoke badly about… well her, it’s just, I mean, I’m not even gay but Mr. Edgeworth is something else!” Like a parent who didn’t want to speak badly about the other kids in the class but was absolutely convinced that his child was a pure prodigy. “I mean, I guess you know, if you’ve been kissing on him-”

“Detective.”

“-And he really deserves someone to treat him right, and I guess your salary isn’t that great, but he can-”

“-Detective.” this time it was more authoritative.

“Oh, and I, uh, guess I’m still kinda interrupting things, but I’m really happy for you both, and you’re always welcome to dinner, and Maggey will make a cake-”

“Thank you, Detective. The order is under my name, but the clerk knows you by now, so you shouldn’t have a problem.”

“Yes Sir!” Gumshoe answered with a salute he recognized as Maggey’s signature response, and Phoenix wondered who had picked it up from whom. “Good luck, Sir!” He ran out the door, slamming it boisterously on the way.

“Good luck with what?” Miles wondered aloud.

“… So… Gumshoe knows?”

“Although he still doesn’t remember your name, apparently.” Edgeworth noted. “Yes, he does. I assure you I never told him anything, but he is actually a detective, and he does occasionally do his job. Not always when I’d prefer.”

“...Did you just send him on a lube run?”

“And condoms.” Miles noted. “And before you ask, it’s a matter of hygiene and I use them on toys as well.”

“I could have gotten-”

“I trust you with a great many things, Mr. Wright, but I assure you that I do not trust you to purchase the brands based on their protection against injury and infection rather than their cost.

“I could’ve-”

“What brand of condoms do you use?”

“I, uh...”

“What’s on sale?”

“Shove it.” Phoenix sulked.

“Oh, I intend to.” Miles smiled. “But I intend to do my shoving using glycerin-free water based lube and individually tested condoms. Now, I don’t mind telling you that that your self-imposed curfew is going to make things difficult. I don’t normally get out of here before eight. If you could be here by, say, eight fifteen I could give you a ride home and still make sure it’s worth both our whiles.”

“Wait, Trucy will be home by then, so we couldn’t...you know, at my place. The walls are pretty thin.”

“I live in Santa Monica, I doubt we’d have time to make it to my house and back even under optimal traffic. That leaves the office or the car.”

“You live in Santa Monica? Wait, you have a house? Not an apartment?”

Edgeworth sighed. “Do you really believe I’d waste so much money on something as extravagant as a sports car if I hadn’t taken care of basic living arrangements? Besides, it was hardly fair to Fushimi.” <- one of two dogs, it became my headcanon after working on this that Edgeworth has a problem with picking up dogs when puppy mills are busted and may have even financially helped Gumshoe get into a house because Gumshoe does better with multiple and badly trained dogs while Edgeworth finds homes for them. Also that Miles may use his position to try to influence people into adopting dogs?

---

Ended there when I realized getting into the house and the dog was just way too much talking. Parts of this were cannibalized into the finished story. Gumshoe’s mention of Iris made more sense when they’d just finished talking about her and how Edgeworth had been keeping tabs on them. The Iris part seemed pretty heavy and possibly like it should be a separate fic, I’m interested in the possible similarities between Dahlia and Von Karma. Also Edgeworth going in and out of suicidal talk seemed abrupt.

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rivalsforlife · 5 years

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16!

16 - If there was anything you could change about the series, what would it be?

ALRIGHT UH (cracks knuckles) LET’S SEE

first - I would make narumitsu canon? undoubtedly? that would be my first priority.

But as for a non-shipping related answer... I think the biggest mistake the series made was to bring back Phoenix as the protagonist in DD. I love Phoenix, I love him as a protagonist so much, but his arc was done at the end of T&T, and maybe extended a bit into AJ because of the whole disbarment thing... but if they were going to disbar Phoenix, do it from Phoenix’s POV (like in aai2) so that we actually see him develop more, instead of what happened in AJ with Phoenix kind of taking over the finale. I mean... if AJ was about Apollo, then it’s not really great for the final case to end with Kristoph screaming about how Phoenix ruined his life. Because it’s /Apollo/’s game, you know, and the major villain should be focused on him more than his mentor? At least in T&T when Dahlia screamed about Mia she wasn’t the final final boss, that was Godot. ... I need to clarify that I have only been through Turnabout Succession once because of the pain it brought me and that was over a year ago, so I’m a little fuzzy on the details and might be wrong about this.

Now, as for Dual Destinies. I wasn’t a big fan of a lot of the things they did in AJ with regards to Phoenix... but I /really/ wasn’t a big fan of them going back on those decisions in DD. The whole Dark Age of the Law is just absurd and underdeveloped on a level that would take me a whole other ask to elaborate on... which is kind of how I feel about DD in general, that it had a lot of potential but the writers didn’t really follow through on that. I really don’t think they should have made Phoenix the main protagonist for DD, not when Apollo only had one game that was already pretty upstaged by Phoenix. And THEN they added in Athena: and while I love Athena a lot, and don’t think she deserves some of the hate she gets, I don’t think it was a good time to bring her in. Dual Destinies, essentially, attempted to:

1- Reintroduce Phoenix as a protagonist and showcase his return to law

2- Develop Apollo further as a protagonist

3- Introduce Athena as a new protagonist and show her start in law

... and as a result never managed to follow through on any of those points, resulting in it feeling kind of half-hearted and wasted for me. And then SOJ kind of cut Athena out but was still torn between Phoenix and Apollo as the central protagonist (and SOJ SHOULD have been an Apollo game, Phoenix’s only role in that game was to hang out with Maya again and even /then/ he barely got to interact with her since she was arrested and kidnapped in the two cases she had a role in... but again my SOJ thoughts are too long for this ask.)

Once more, I adore Phoenix. He’s probably my favourite of the three protagonists. But his arc has been over for a while now, and he’s just taking up space the writers could use to have Apollo and Athena grow. If I were in charge I would have continued where AJ left off and let Apollo have his own trilogy before introducing Athena. The original trilogy had three games to develop Phoenix, and his friendship with Maya, and his complicated relationship with Edgeworth. Trucy, being the “Maya” of AJ, was shunted to the side in DD and SOJ, and Klavier, the rival of AJ like how Edgeworth was the rival in AA1, didn’t develop any further past AJ. He barely even showed up in DD, while Miles was arguably the focus of the whole emotional arc of JFA! I know some people try to claim 456 as a trilogy but they aren’t cohesive the way the 123 are. They don’t have a defined protagonist with a central arc, or a main assistant or prosecutor, and the games are so disconnected from each other that major plot points influencing the games aren’t even mentioned in later games. (like... the entirety of AJ.)

Okay so I guess to summarize my thoughts: the new games should have left the trilogy behind. Phoenix should be delegated to a non-dead Mia-type role of offering advice but not in the spotlight anymore. I love Maya, and I love Edgeworth, as anyone who has ever interacted with me knows... but their arcs are finished, too. Sure, have them come in as cameos or have offhand mentions so we know the old gang are all in contact (unlike in AJ where Miles wasn’t mentioned at all and no one knew where he was) but don’t try to dedicate whole games to them if you’re not going to do anything new with them. Like most of SOJ seems to have been created so we could see Maya again, and all she really did was get arrested for murder, get kidnapped, and channel people. We didn’t see her grow as a character. And shake up the dynamics a bit: I think if Apollo had been the one to go to Khura’in in a potential Apollo Justice: Spirit of Justice, it would have been great to see him investigate cases with Maya! If you have all these characters in the same place, the least you could do is not stick to the same dynamics that have already been explored.

... oh wow that got LONG, I have a lot of opinions on the way the series could have been improved, and could probably go on for hours about this but I’ll spare you. uh, sorry, haha. Thanks for asking, though, I needed to get that off my chest and twitter’s character limit was getting on my nerves haha.

#asks #ace attorney

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