#guess there is value to the idea that you should get to do what you want with your life too. suppose that is the primary issue w communism

[weena-mercator]

I had to choose “both unsure” because my answer is - they both believe he is dead when they hear the news, but then over time what they believe changes. I was gonna put my nuance in the tags but that’s annoying to do on mobile so here we go with me being more wordy instead lol

I think they both took the news at face value - following the events of RFTA, that’s not hard to believe (even if the note says Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth chooses death).

But I think their immediate reactions were different - I’m guessing Gumshoe was the one who told both of them (or that’s how I think it should have gone) right after finding the note (I also think that Gumshoe finds out Miles is alive a few months before it’s revealed he knows that at the end of Big Top, but obeys Miles’ request to not share anything about his return yet).

Phoenix I think would have had a very emotional reaction, just barely holding it together long enough to not break down in front of Gumshoe, and then doing so as soon as he’s alone. I feel like he has a tiny moment of denial before he jumps straight to the depression stage of grief, and after a little bit, once it’s revealed there’s still no details (no body, no signs of foul play, etc.) he goes back to bouncing around between denial, anger and bargaining. There’s no way to get closure and so he thinks what if… and he wonders what is worse - Miles actually being dead, or Miles hating him so much that he never wants to see him again. Obviously Phoenix was just a catalyst for everything that happened in the past few months, not the real reason for any of Miles’ trauma, but what if Miles still resents him for everything? And what if Miles, the Miles he knew, really is gone, that the only thing left is someone who looks like him but isn’t him at all, not the childhood best friend who set his trajectory for becoming a defense attorney (even if Phoenix probably didn’t decide that until college).

By the time JFA games kick off, Phoenix is mostly angry - it’s easier to let himself believe Miles is dead even if there’s yet to be any proof of that. If he thinks about how he might be alive, he’s even angrier. It’s better to just tell himself that Miles is dead, he’s got to figure out how to keep living himself, and it’s easier if he believes that and stop thinking in hypotheticals.

So I think Franziska also first takes it at face value, starting off in denial stage of grief. Probably bouncing between denial and anger. Similarly though, weeks pass and there is no proof of his death, and that leads her to question it. I do think she eventually starts to try to find him herself before determining she needs to go LA and take down this man who tarnished her brother’s reputation (it’s something to be able to focus on, as I don’t think she’s ready to deal with her father’s part in it all yet). I can’t remember if it’s acknowledged that she knows he’s alive after Big Top but before he shows up in Farewell, but I like the idea of her following Gumshoe one day, discovering him going over to see Miles to give him case notes or something and she bursts in like “You fool, you are alive! I knew it, of course.”

As for if any of my thoughts contradict canon, well, my opinion is this - canon contradicts itself at times.

I think it’s fun for us to all have various interpretations of things - there are definitely ideas or hcs I don’t agree with but are interesting to consider nonetheless. There aren’t too many things that I feel are “not up for debate,” mostly it’s just “I personally don’t see it that way.” That would be a whole other post to go into though lol

Fandom opinion poll: In JFA, did Phoenix and Franziska, deep down, think Miles was dead or alive after leaving the Note?

Aka not when they first found the note and not what they were trying to convince themselves of.

Still, there can obviously be fluctuations in someone's beliefs, go with what you think each character predominantly believed. (I also left "unsure" options if you think it truly doesn't lean one way or the other).

I'm curious about the fandom's opinion on this. Feel free to leave the nuance behind your choice in the tags! (I will reveal my thoughts on this after the poll closes).