#richard winters icons

[judypooveysgf]

Ill never be as smart as Henry Winter but I aspire to be as cunt as Judy Poovey

[bandofbrothas]

WINTERS ICONS / PFPs

all from pinterest

“Lives of great men all remind us We can make our lives sublime, And, departing, leave behind us Footprints on the sands of time.”

[esthergreenwoodssecretaccount]

The secret history characters in brat album cover style but different 🤗🤗 (sorry if it doesn't fit the respective characters, I tried lmao)

[lesbiansforhenryclerval]

Live, laugh, Francis Abernathy

[henrywintersbathrobeghost]

The Secret History as iconic Tumblr posts parts 1-4

Feel free to send me more ideas for these

[chicinsilk]

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

US Vogue November 15, 1972

Raquel Welch in crazy striped silk crepe pajamas, dripping with color and topped with a long fringed scarf by Leonard Fashion. Diamond ring and bracelet by M.Gérard Jewels, hairstyle by Carita.

Raquel Welch dans un pyjama en crêpe de soie à rayures folles, ruisselant de couleur et surmonté d'une longue écharpe à franges de Leonard Fashion. Bague en diamant et bracelet de M.Gérard Jewels, coiffure de Carita.

Photo Richard Avedon Makeup/Maquillage Franklyn Welsh vogue archive

[burningfudge]

Black Widow, Winter Soldier, and WinterWidow reading list

I made this list for another post, but I thought I'd put it here too.

Black Widow (1999) by Devin Grayson - Natasha's first solo. It's only three issues, and it's the start of modern Black Widow. It introduces important aspects of her character, like the Red Room. Yelena is introduced for the first time.

Black Widow (2001) by Devin Grayson - Another three-issue comic, which I thought was a fun read. It's a Natasha, Yelena, and Matt team-up comic. It's a part of Marvel Knights, which told more mature and darker stories so I have a soft spot for the 1999 and 2001 runs for this reason.

Black Widow: Pale Little Spider (2002) by Greg Rucka - Another three-issue comic. While not focused on Natasha, it's a Yelena solo. It's part of the Max comics line, which was an attempt to tell adult-only stories, and it definitely shows because Yelena visits a bondage sex club. A very important comic for Yelena.

Black Widow: Homecoming (2004) by Richard K. Morgan - I think this comic was extremely influential for modern Black Widow. A lot of her mythos originated from this comic. The movie took a lot of inspiration from this comic as well, like the pheremones thing.

Black Widow: The Things They Say About Her (2005) by Richard K. Morgan - This one is decent. It's not entirely important, but I think it's worth a read. A classic Black Widow story where Natasha is on the run and doesn't know who to trust. While it's overdone at this point, I think this was the first comic to portray it. Yelena and Matt show up in this one too.

Captain America (2005) by Ed Brubaker - VERY IMPORTANT. Bucky is reintroduced as the Winter Soldier and shows up in #1. While it's long, every issue is worth it. Natasha doesn't show up until #27, but #27-#50 is peak buckynat. This run is one of my fav comics of all time.

New Avengers #48-64, Annual #3, Finale (2005) by Brian Michael Bendis - Natasha isn't super important in this, and she barely shows up, but Bucky shows up frequently. I wouldn't say it's entirely important, but it's during Bucky's time as Captain America, and when he interacts with the Avengers, so I recommend it just for that. Also, I'm a little biased because New Avengers (2005) is probably my favorite comic ever.

Black Widow (2010) by Marjorie Liu - The best Black Widow story ever written. I don't think anyone has disliked it. 10/10, I always love to reread it.

Black Widow: Deadly Origin (2010) by Paul Cornell - A miniseries about Natasha's origin. Not entirely important, but it's a solid Black Widow story. Appearances from Bucky and Wolverine.

Captain America #600-619 by Ed Brubaker - Again, it's very important for both Bucky and Natasha. It's a continuation of Captain America (2005).

Captain America & Bucky #620-624 (2011) by Ed Brubaker - Pretty important. It's a retelling of Bucky's life. #624 is all about buckynat and how they met. A lot of iconic buckynat content that the fandom gushes over is in it.

Widowmaker (2011) - Not super important and Bucky isn't in it. A fun team-up story about Clint and Natasha with Bobbi. I enjoyed reading it.

Winter Soldier (2012) by Ed Brubaker - I cannot tell you how much I love this comic. It's the best Bucky's ever been written and I don't think anyone will disagree when I say that no one has ever understood Bucky like Ed Brubaker. Extremely important for buckynat.

Winter Soldier: The Bitter March (2014) by Rick Remender - I'm not going to lie; I don't really remember much from this comic, but I know people like it.

Black Widow (2014) by Phil Noto & Nathan Edmondson - Another popular comic for Natasha. It's probably my second favorite Black Widow comic after Liu's. Another Black Widow is on the run story, but Liho is introduced in this! Bucky is in #8, 15, 17-18. A must read.

Bucky Barnes: The Winter Soldier (2014) by Ales Kot - This isn't my favorite, but the art is absolutely beautiful. I don't think it's essential. Natasha is not in this.

Black Widow (2016) by Mark Waid - I enjoyed reading this comic. I'd rank it third after Liu and Noto. Bucky is in #9-10. Essential Black Widow comic.

Tales of Suspense #100-104 by Matthew Rosenberg - A Winter Soldier and Hawkeye team-up where they look for Natasha after she was killed by Hydra Cap in Secret Empire (no need to read it; SE is trash). A fandom favorite, and I absolutely love it. Winterhawk exploded in popularity after this run.

Winter Soldier (2018) by Kyle Higgins - Natasha does not show up in this, but it's very important for Bucky. It's a short five-issue miniseries, and it's probably the best Bucky has been written since Brubaker.

Black Widow (2019) by Jen and Sylvia Soska - It's a miniseries, and it's a fairly dark one. Natasha is back from the dead, and she's PISSED. Bucky doesn't show up in this one, but Steve does, and it's after her murder at Hydra Cap's hands.

Web of Black Widow (2019) by Jody Houser - Another Natasha miniseries where she's on the run and her friends are worried about her. Bucky shows up in #2 and #5.

Falcon and Winter Soldier (2020) by Derek Landy - A fun team-up comic with Sam and Bucky. Natasha doesn't show up. Not essential.

Black Widow (2020) by Kelly Thompson - It's...not great. Many people have already talked about what they didn't like, so I won't go over it, but it has some fantastic buckynat moments. However, I will say that I really love Natasha, Yelena, Clint, and Bucky teaming up in this comic. That group together is highly entertaining. It doesn't seem like anything from this comic will be paid attention to in the future, but I would still read it.

Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty (2022) by Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly - Really trash. I didn’t like this at all. Bucky isn't written well, and I think Natasha shows up like twice. Skip.

Captain America: Cold War (2023) by Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly - Another trash event. Skip.

Thunderbolts (2023) by Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly - Buckynat FINALLY get back together after they broke up in Winter Soldier (2012). A boring comic otherwise.

[idontknowhsh]

the chokehold the secret history has me on is exactly why the hype makes sense

the writting. the characters. FRANCIS. camilla. richard. charles and henry are alright but FRANCIS????????? absurd. the plot. the twists. the wtf moments. THE EPILOGUE. GOD DAMMED EPILOGUE. the latin and greek random phases. THEM COMMUNICATING IN GREEK. charles sleeping in a slug and richard doing coke on the burger king parking lot. the funny bits. the fuck this book bits. the secondary characters whose name i have forgotten but make the story humane. richard being gay. francis being very much gay. charles being weird. henry being a complete sociopath. camilla just existing. FRANCIS. the funeral. smoking absolutely all the time. being drunk on WHISKEY all the time too. RICHARD’S PERCEPTION WHILE HIGH BEING ACTUALLY REALLY ACCURATE. the winter he spent almost dead. him being shot and just waiting for the rest to finish talking to let them know. bunny being absolutely book stupid. he’s really not that bad. give him a chance. also francis. them communicating by letters, vintage styled. everyone around them on colorful 80s clothes and them, walking around academically dressed in suits. francis wearing a pince nez. absolutely iconic. him making out with almost everyone there. milf man i love francis. also richard. not much to say here just richard.

yeah im done might keep going tho so not so done

[thecourtscorkboard]

Turnabout Goodbyes (1-4)

Phoenix Wright is called to defend a rival—and a close friend—in the first finale of the series, Turnabout Goodbyes.

I have to give an apology for how long this took; I lost a lot of motivation, then lost my password twice. But we're back! We're so back. Thank you for your patience!

The original final case of PW:AA, Turnabout Goodbyes (1-4) is the penultimate case of the game and instantly hooks with its art and intro. Miles Edgeworth is arrested for a murder he did not commit: and it's up to Phoenix Wright to defend him.

THE CORE CAST:

Phoenix Wright: Phoenix Wright has become a legal icon for his ability to save the most impossible cases. When this one arrives on his doorstep, however, it may just make or break his career.

Maya Fey: Maya returns as Phoenix's partner: her inquisitive energy is on full force for this case, and she serves a vital role!

Manfred von Karma: A new prosecutor that has taken over this case specifically to prosecute the defendant. Ruthless, cold, and undefeated in his 40 years of prosecution.

Miles Edgeworth: Not the prosecution, but instead the defendant! Miles Edgeworth has been arrested for this murder, and he's obviously not taking it very well.

Dick Gumshoe: Even though he's the detective for this case, Dick Gumshoe firmly believes in his boss's innocence and is determined to help Phoenix in any way he can!

THE MAIN CAST:

Lotta Hart: A true-blooded Southerner with a heart of gold and an afro that Richard Pryor would be proud of.

Uncle: An unnamed boat shop caretaker who has lived on Lake Gourd for an indeterminate amount of time. Potentially senile despite his relatively young age, all things considered.

Polly: A pet parrot owned by the boat shop caretaker. Loves to say her own name!

THE SECONDARY CAST:

Larry Butz: When something smells, it's usually returning for a cameo! Larry appears in this case for his winter job and to do his part in getting Edgeworth free.

Yanni Yogi: A mysterious court bailiff who was arrested and acquitted for the DL-6 incident some 15 years ago.

Gregory Edgeworth: Miles Edgeworth's father and the victim of a murder that happened 15 years ago called the "DL-6 Incident".

A BRIEF RECAP

Two men are standing on a boat in the middle of the lake. They're discussing something that happened 15 years ago: one of them says that they've suffered, and that an opportunity as presented itself. An opportunity to take revenge! He raises a pistol and shoots a shot: the other man falls into the water, and Miles Edgeworth watches him sink into the depths.

Wait.

Miles Edgeworth?!

Merry Christmas.

Investigation, Day One

Phoenix and Maya are (presumably) celebrating Christmas at the office! Maya asks if Phoenix knows any waterfalls nearby to train her spiritual powers, and Phoenix suggests both the office shower and the fire department—the water pressure in the shower is too low for Maya and the firefighters got mad at her, unfortunately. Watching the news, he's bored about tabloid reports of a cryptid in Gourd Lake but is surprised at news of a murder: and flabbergasted when it turns out that Miles Edgeworth was arrested for it! Going to the Detention Center to see Edgeworth, he enters the room and then immediately turns around, trying to walk away but coming back when Phoenix calls out for him. Edgeworth, pissed off, asks if they've come to laugh at him. Edgeworth says that he didn't want Phoenix to see him like this: Edgeworth doesn't want to talk about the murder, and Edgeworth calls the idea of Phoenix defending him 'ridiculous'. He says that Phoenix needs real skill, and Phoenix changes the subject. Why did Edgeworth go to Gourd Lake if it's so far away from his place of work? Edgeworth stays silent, continuing to stonewall us. When Maya is about to ask if he really did it, though, he quickly explains that he went to see Gourdy: the cryptid that was on the news earlier in the day. Phoenix presents his badge to Edgeworth in an attempt to get him to let him defend him (wow, that's a lot of 'him's!) Edgeworth doesn't trust Phoenix, calling his case hopeless. Every defense attorney has turned him down. Ever single one. They were afraid of a loss: it could be Edgeworth's fault that they didn't represent him. After all, he is the Demon Prosecutor.

Phoenix and Maya go to investigate the crime anyways. Gumshoe is at the entrance to Gourd Lake, ordering the police on scene around in a rather unusual way. He's calling people idiots, telling them to double-time it, stuff like that: he's not in a good mood, either! Gumshoe is absolutely certain that Edgeworth didn't do it—he's open to help Phoenix in any way that he can. That's good! Gumshoe is disheartened to hear that Edgeworth didn't ask for their representation, and when Phoenix asks him what happens he calls him "Mr. Head-in-the-fluffy-pink-clouds Lawyer", which is really funny. Gumshoe explains what happens: it happened very early in the morning, just after midnight. Two men were on a boat, and one of them shot the other person with a pistol. He was arrested on the scene, and there's even a witness that can testify as to what happened. Great. Just great. We've really got our work set out for us, huh?

At least we've got someone on our side...

It's hard not to feel bad for Gumshoe. It's true that most of the police force thinks Edgeworth did it, it's true that nobody is defending Edgeworth, and it's true that the case against him is very strong. It sounds like Edgeworth is mad at Phoenix for some reason: Gumshoe says that he's just been muttering "Wright, Wright, Wright..." after the 1-3 trial. Gumshoe can't tell us anything about the witness—the only witness—but he's trying to see if they can find another. Gumshoe is taken away for a briefing, but not before Maya asks him for an autopsy report. An autopsy hasn't performed yet, however: he tells Phoenix and Maya to drop by the precinct and gives them directions. He also gives them permission to investigate the park, which Phoenix and Maya immediately do. They discover some party poppers, which Maya takes. Walking around the lake, they discover a noise-based camera that Maya tries to get to work. She tries saying something into the microphone, then tries shouting, then tries screaming before Phoenix interrupts her. She kicks it, and Maya tries the party poppers. The camera takes multiple photos, and the camera's owner gets right furious about it: meet Lotta Hart, one of my favorite side characters in the trilogy! She's rather excited to learn that Phoenix is a lawyer, and she gives us a bit more information about the crime. She's a research student here photographing meteor showers, and she was on the lake on Christmas Eve—she must be the prosecution's witness! We ask about her camera: the device she has attached to the camera is a microphone, so it might've taken pictures of the murder! We're not gonna ask her for those just yet and instead take just a small look around Gourd Lake. There's a boathouse that rents out boats to be used. This must be where the boat came from.

Anyways: it's time to go to the precinct to see if we can talk to Gumshoe. He's still in his briefing, so I guess there's only one place to go: the detention center. Phoenix asks Edgeworth if he did it, and Edgeworth only tells him to think what he will. He just asks Phoenix to stay out of it. He doesn't want our help, and rather forcefully tells Phoenix and Maya to leave him alone. He goes back to his cell, and we go back to talk to Lotta. We ask if she might've taken a few pictures of the crime. She goes to check her film: it turns out that she's not the prosecution's designated witness, given that she says she might be a witness. Going back to the precinct, Gumshoe begs us to stay by Edgeworth. Edgeworth and Gumshoe trust each other deeply—Gumshoe got his hands on the autopsy report and gives it to us. The victim was shot once in the heart on the 24th or 25th: Maya seems to recognize the victim, but she can't place exactly where. Maybe when she was a kid. Going to check with Lotta, it turns out she did indeed take two pictures: and one of them is a picture of someone raising a gun!

Dun, dun, dun!

It's looking impossible for it to be anybody but Edgeworth! She runs to tell the police about the photos she took, and Phoenix is left to just wander around Gourd Lake. Sure enough, we meet Santa Claus himself! It's just Larry in a costume, though: he's working a job as a hot dog vendor to help provide for his girlfriend Kiyance. He gives us information about Gourdy: it turns out it's a Nessie-like monster inhabiting Gourd Lake, and he gives us the news article for more information. Talking with Larry about Edgeworth, it turns out that he, Phoenix, and Edgeworth were all classmates and friends in elementary school. Edgeworth was trying to be like his father—a famous... defense attorney? It turns out that Larry is unsure why Edgeworth turned to prosecution, but it seems Phoenix might have an idea. Going back to the Wright and Co. Law Offices, Maya is taking a hard look at the autopsy report: she recognizes the face! He was a lawyer that worked with Marvin Grossberg. Marvin Grossberg? Could he have something to do with the "DL-6 Incident" from 1-2 that Grossberg told Redd White about?

Going to Grossberg's office, they've come to show him the picture. The man's name is Robert Hammond, and it turns out he was the defense attorney for DL-6! The criminal was never caught; the man that Hammond defended was found innocent, and the police blamed the spirit medium who called upon the spirit of the victim—Misty Fey, Maya and Mia's mom. What does that case have to do with Edgeworth, though? Well, it has everything to do with Edgeworth, Grossberg says! After all: the victim in DL-6 was his father, Gregory!

Grossberg gives us a photograph of the woman from 1-2. It turns out that this is Misty Fey: he tells us to give it to Edgeworth. We do so, and Edgeworth says that he's impressed that we've figured out so much in just a few hours. He ultimately agrees for Phoenix to represent him, and answers everything to the best of his ability.

"The DL-6 Incident... was when my father died. Right in front of my eyes."

He gives us a bit more information about DL-6. He doesn't remember much of it, but he says that Gregory died right before his eyes: and that the statute of limitations runs out in three days, on December 28. If the statue of limitations runs out, then legally the case never happened: it can't be a coincidence that so many people related to DL-6 are showing up this year, can it? Redd White, Marvin Grossberg, Robert Hammond—even both Maya and Mia. Nobody knows where the suspect in DL-6 is, and Edgeworth is understandably silent about his father. He gives Phoenix a letter of request to give to Gumshoe, but right before they part ways an earthquake rocks the station! Edgeworth goes missing for a few seconds before Phoenix and Maya spot him. He's curling up on the floor in a ball, shivering. Poor guy... guess he has a phobia. Going to the police station, we give the letter to Gumshoe: he says that Lotta Hart is definitely showing up as a witness tomorrow and even has an enlarged photograph of the crime. Phoenix says that Edgeworth was never scared of earthquakes while they were in school. Hmm... in any case, day one of investigation draws to a close with many unanswered questions and few leads. But if Edgeworth's innocent, something had to have been overlooked!

Trial, Day Two

In the defendant's lobby, we learn the name of the prosecutor on this case: Manfred von Karma, the man who mentored Edgeworth! Edgeworth calls him a "God of Prosecution", telling us that he hasn't lost a single case in his 40 years as a prosecutor. He tells us that he'll do anything to do a guilty verdict. "Manfred von Karma is a man to be feared," he says, describing von Karma as vicious as Edgeworth multiplied by ten—no, times twenty. Phoenix asks if Maya could channel Mia for help, but Maya's having trouble: she's been slacking on her training, and she can't quite reach Mia. Trial begins, however, and we're forced to enter the courtroom.

The God of Prosecution.

Meet Manfred von Karma, the star of this case. He immediately takes control of the courtroom, scaring His Honor out of an opening statement and calling Gumshoe to the stand. Hopefully he's never dealt with Dick before (winky face). He demands testimony from Gumshoe instead of His Honor, saying that the Judge only has one role: to slam down his gavel and say the word "guilty"! Gumshoe testifies that "a man" called into the station a bit after midnight on Christmas Day. A body was found in the lake later in the morning, which is why Edgeworth was arrested. Phoenix grills Gumshoe for information. Von Karma confirms that there were two witnesses: asking about the body, Gumshoe mentions that a bullet was found in the man's body and that the murder weapon, a pistol with Edgeworth's fingerprints on it, was found on the boat. The bullet found in the man's body was fired from the same gun: the ballistic markings on the bullet, essentially a gun's fingerprints, matched the gun's rifling. His Honor says that a verdict could realistically be declared now: but he wants to hear from Lotta first. Von Karma orders a 10 minute recess, and we go to meet with Edgeworth in the Defendant's Lobby.

Phoenix asks him about the gun and why his fingerprints are on it. Edgeworth confirms that he was in the boat, but he maintains that he didn't shoot Hammond: and that he doesn't know who did. He heard a gunshot, and then saw Hammond fall from the boat. At the time, he says, he thought that Hammond killed himself. Maya also still can't get Mia, lamenting that she's feeling useless in this case. Poor girl...

Court is once again in session, and Lotta Hart is brought to the stand. She confirms that she's a research student and is ordered to testify about the night of the murder. After testifying about hearing two bangs and seeing two men in a boat, Von Karma presents her photo: it's definitely a picture of one man shooting another, the photo from yesterday! The courtroom erupts into pandemonium! The court nearly finds Edgeworth guilty, but Phoenix demands to cross-examine Lotta. Maya asks if Phoenix found a contradiction: there's a chance. Cross-examining Lotta, he can't find one! His Honor says that any more outbursts from Phoenix will land him in contempt of court. Phoenix can't find anything... but Maya shouts "hold it!" and demands that Lotta testifies more! She says that her testimony is vague and that it's unclear whether she saw Edgeworth!

THAT'S MY FUCKING GIRL!!!

Von Karma tries to get His Honor to put Phoenix in contempt, but Maya points out that it wasn't Phoenix who said anything: it was her! Maya is held in contempt, and Phoenix cross-examines Lotta again after Lotta says that she says she saw Edgeworth! This changes her testimony: he can keep cross-examining! For the first time in the trial, His Honor sides against von Karma: he does not sustain holding Phoenix in contempt, and Maya is held in his place. Lotta says again that she saw Edgeworth on the boat and Phoenix seizes this contradiction: from the earlier photo, it's impossible to make out who is who! If high-quality film can't capture their faces, how could Lotta?! Von Karma pleads, saying that that's not what he told Lotta to say; but it's too late, because she's said it! Lotta says that she saw Edgeworth, though. She used binoculars. Now why would she be using binoculars on the lake if she was looking for a meteor shower? One thing leads to another, and Lotta admits that she was looking for Gourdy. She wasn't really looking at the boat at all! She's not a research student: she's an investigative photographer looking for Gourdy. Phoenix proves that she was looking for Gourdy, but it changes nothing... until Phoenix remembers that she enlarged the photo! Phoenix makes her show the enlargement, which von Karma says does not exist; but Lotta shoots back, saying that he told her not to present it! The photo very clearly shows somebody firing a pistol. A pistol that is in their left hand... but the prints on the pistol were of Edgeworth's right!

Phoenix presents Edgeworth's theory that the victim shot himself. Von Karma, however, shoots this down: the distance from the gunshot proves that the victim was shot from at least a meter away. Nobody has meter-long arms, much less with enough room to circle back and shoot themselves in the chest! With reasonable doubt placed on Edgeworth's guilt and the question of who killed Robert Hammond still up in the air, His Honor asks both the defense and prosecution to investigate the matter further. Court is adjourned for the day.

In the Defendant's Lobby, Edgeworth and Phoenix meet to discuss the trial. Phoenix says that he's going to check on Maya, and Edgeworth tells him to tell her that he said to watch her mouth in court (that's a lot of telling!). Phoenix knows what he really means, though.

Aww, he does care.

With that, we move on to the second day of investigation. Things are getting juicier and juicier!

Investigation, Day Three

Curiously, this day does not start in the Wright and Co. Law Offices. It starts in the detention center, after Maya was arrested and held in contempt of court. She still can't call on Mia and she needs to get bail ready, so we go off to Gourd Lake: we talk with Gumshoe a bit, and he tells us that Edgeworth's fear of earthquakes goes back to DL-6. Gumshoe also tells us that he told the detention center to let Maya go as soon as they finished their report and not to worry about bail: Edgeworth paid for it! We tell Maya the good news and she joins us for our investigation: we meet Lotta at Gourd Lake, who says she wants information for the information she gave us. Specifically, she wants information about Gourdy! Going further into Gourd Lake, we meet with Larry. Something's different, though. There's a big ol' inflatable Steel Samurai balloon and a banner of flags!

From left to right: the United States, Germany, Canada, Brazil, Serbia and Montenegro, Bangladesh, a messed up version of India, South Korea, China, the United Kingdom, and Australia.

The balloon's inflater apparently broke. Larry doesn't have a lot else to say, so we go back to Lotta's camp: we don't have any proof, however, and she's turned down the sensitivity on her camera. After talking with Lotta about Gourdy some more, we go back to Larry and decide to talk about Gourdy. He denies it exists, saying that perhaps somebody saw something they mistook for a monster. Going to the Police Department, we meet Gumshoe: they're talking about a motive, and it's looking like von Karma's gonna go with Edgeworth getting revenge for his father. That certainly lines up with what we saw in the intro. Maya brings up that they're gonna be looking for Gourdy, and Gumshoe uncharacteristically snaps: he's understandably absolutely pissed that they're looking for a monster instead of helping Edgeworth. Phoenix tells Gumshoe about what's going on with Lotta, and he's more understanding: he's decided to help us out, giving us a choice between three tools—secret weapons for finding evidence! First up is the best character in the entire franchise! Second is Gumshoe's personal fishing pole, and third is a metal detector. Phoenix notes that none of these seem particularly useful, unlike Maya who thinks they all sound great. Phoenix ultimately decides to take one anyways, commandeering Missile from Gumshoe.

Going back to Larry, Missile immediately starts eating all of Larry's Samurai Dogs and ultimately is of little use. We try the fishing pole next, but we've got no bait: Phoenix jokes about using Missile, which understandably pisses off Maya, who hits him. I like to imagine she punched him in the stomach. She catches her own leg (ow!), falls on the ground, and wastes more of Lotta's film. I guess all that's left is the metal detector. We go to grab that, and going to the Boat Shop... it starts beeping! It looks like there's an air canister surrounded by a banner of flags. It looks like something Larry would own: but when we present it to him and ask him if it's his, he clams up! It's starting to make sense: he used the air tank to inflate the balloon because his compressor wasn't working. It got caught on the flags when it flew into the air! It turns out that he was out looking for it... on Christmas Eve. That's the night that Hammond was murdered!

How messed up would it be if he found the body? Flags, from right to left: Switzerland (at an incorrect ratio), the United States, Japan, potentially the Netherlands, and a Nordic nation I can't identify—given the width of the cross, probably Denmark.

Larry says he went home before midnight, so he didn't know what happened. He's no witness: but we've got a sneaking suspicion that we know what Gourdy was. It was the air balloon crashing into the water! Going back to Lotta, we tell her the truth. She's heartbroken: but in line with Southern chivalry she keeps her promise and gives us the info she has. Lotta tells us that the witness for tomorrow is the caretaker of the boat shop. She also has another photo to show us. The photo she shows is... just a picture of the lake, taken at 11:50 PM on Christmas Eve. What could've caused her camera to go off? Going into the shack, we meet the Caretaker! He's an old man, calling Maya and Phoenix Meg and Keith: is he really our witness? He seems a bit... confused, for lack of a better word, calling the boat rental a pasta shop. He calls out to his parrot, whose name is apparently Polly. He gives the Wet Noodle, his pasta shop, to "Keith"... before falling asleep. Again: this guy is our witness? He keeps going off-topic about the pasta shop. Phoenix knows that he know something about Hammond's murder. Talking about Polly, it turns out that she can say a few different things: she says her name is "Pol-ly!" and Maya immediately falls in love with her. The code for the safe is "1228", which Maya immediately remembers. Funnily enough, his kotatsu is a table with an electric blanket on it in the western releases. Looking a bit more around the shop, it turns out that all the fish on his wall are... saltwater. Huh. Now why would there be pictures of saltwater fish in a rental shop on a freshwater lake? Showing the old man our attorney's badge, we decide to finally break the charade. We're not really Keith and Meg!

Clearing things up with the old man, we finally get the opportunity to talk about the murder. He helps us out on one condition: we'll run the Wet Noodle once the case is all done. Apparently he knows all about the murder: after all, he saw it. Talking about it with Phoenix and Maya, he says he heard a bang and looked outside. There was another gunshot, and one of the men in a boat on the lake fell into the water. The boat came back to the shore, and a young man passed by the shop's window. He was saying something. The old man forgot, however. Great. He says he'll remember by tomorrow. Maya has one last thing to do: she asks Polly if they've forgotten anything.

What does this old man have to do with DL-6...?

DL-6 again! It seems like everybody in this case is involved with it to some degree: Maya's mom was the medium they used, Edgeworth's father was killed, Hammond was the defense attorney, and even this old man has some relationship to it. I wonder if that means von Karma was involved somehow?

Going back to talk about the caretaker with Gumshoe, he says that he's not sure about the witness. They don't even have any idea who he is. Phoenix asks about the DL-6 incident. It has something to do with the case, and Phoenix wants to know what it is. Gumshoe doesn't really know what it is, though, and Edgeworth forbade the police department from reading the file. Gumshoe says that if he can be convinced that DL-6 is related to the case, though, he might open the file up: we talk about Polly and how she knew about DL-6! Gumshoe opens up the evidence room for us. He doesn't want to open the file himself, apparently. Going inside, we get a good look at the case file.

On the day of the incident, December 28 of 2001—fifteen years ago in two days—a really bad earthquake struck Los Angeles: part of the district courthouse even collapsed, knocking out the power. No wonder Edgeworth is so scared of them. Three people got trapped in an elevator. It took five hours to rescue them, and when they were rescued... one of the people was found shot dead, and the other two were unconscious due to oxygen deprivation. The victim was Gregory Edgeworth, and one of the other passengers had to have been Miles. Gregory Edgeworth was 35 when he died, sharing a pretty striking resemblance when his son. He had lost the trial that day, and it looks like it couldn't have been suicide. The murder weapon was found in the elevator: it was fired twice, just like in the current murder! The suspect that was arrested was named Yanni Yogi. He was the third person in the elevator and a clerk for the court: and the person that Misty Fey must've helped arrest. He was arrested and tried, but acquitted thanks to the intervention of Robert Hammond—a plea of insanity meant that Yogi was set free, but his fiancée Polly Jenkins (Polly? Hmmm...) committed suicide. Yogi, for his part, was suffering from brain damage and apparently lost all memory of even being inside of the elevator. He disappeared after his acquittal, though. Phoenix and Maya take parts of the DL-6 Case File, and day two of investigation comes to a close!

Trial, Day Three

Trial opens up with von Karma declaring that the trial will only take three minutes. Calling the caretaker to the stand, he rather curiously doesn't make him state his name or profession, claiming that he's suffering from memory loss. Curioser and curioser! I think we've got a pretty decent idea of who this old man is, though.

In any case, the boatkeeper testifies that just after midnight, so in the wee hours of Christmas morning, he heard a set of gunshots from a boat on the lake; a man then walked by the boat shop's window. His Honor tries to start a cross-examination, von Karma objects: there are only 10 seconds left before 3 minutes are up and he's pressing for a verdict! Phoenix presses for a cross examination back, and von Karma flips. His three minutes are up, and it's time for cross-examination. Pressing every statement, the caretaker says that he could see the man's face. The caretaker, of course, says... it was that Edgeworth! Uh-oh. Uh-oh! Uh-oh! The trial is nearly over, but Phoenix raises an objection. The fingerprints! The shooter shot with his left hand, but the fingerprints were from Edgeworth's right! Von Karma claps back that Edgeworth could've wiped his prints and be holding it with the other hand. Phoenix objects back, saying that this is just hearsay from the witness. Von Karma shoots back, giving us an "evidence is everything" clapback, demanding proof that the witness is lying! There's no proof, though. There's nothing we can do. This court finds the defendant, Miles Edgeworth...

Sorry, Miles...

It's done. It's over. UNTIL LARRY FUCKING BUTZ POPS UP. The unsung hero of this fuckin' case! Larry says that there's no way this old man is telling the truth and demands to testify! Larry says that he was there on the night of the murder and says he remembers it differently! He's the only witness that von Karma couldn't have possibly fixed: our last chance! His Honor undoes his previous verdict and lets Larry testify. Von Karma is flabbergasted and we're given wind in our sails!

A brief recess is ordered. Edgeworth is understandably upset but tries to console us (poor guy). Larry being at the lake isn't a surprise, given that he was looking for the balloon that made Gourdy. Trial is reconvened and Larry is called to testify. Larry testifies that right as he turned the boat back in he heard a single gunshot... and didn't see a boat on the lake! He thought it could've been anything and went home. Only one gunshot? But the gun was fired thrice, and the other witnesses heard it fired twice! Larry says that he was listening to the radio with his headphones on, though: his testimony is now in doubt. After all, how can he say he heard something for real if he was listening to the radio? Phoenix says that he should keep testifying. Larry was listening to it very loud, but he's 100% sure he heard the gunshot and remembers what the DJ was saying: after a press, he says that she said it was almost Christmas.

You know where this is going.

We both know where this is going.

Say it with me, now...

"ALMOST CHRISTMAS" MEANS IT WASN'T CHRISTMAS!

What. A. Turnabout! When Larry heard the gunshot it was still the 24th; the other witnesses said they heard the gunshot after midnight, on Christmas Day! Von Karma tries to claim Larry is unreliable at best. We're absolutely sure that Larry heard it, though! After all, we've got proof! Remember that photo with nothing on the lake taken on Christmas Eve at 11:50? Lotta's microphone is activated by loud banging sounds, after all, and she was camped out right next to the boathouse! (And Evan gets it 100% right here: ku-fuckin'-dos for his deduction.)

That night, there were two sets of gunshots 25 minutes apart. Von Karma claims that Lotta's camera was only activated by loud noises: there's no proof it was a gunshot. We've got proof, though. After all, the pistol was fired thrice! The court is thrown into a tizzy, to say the least; we've got no clue exactly what happened, but we know that something did happen! It's at this exact moment that Phoenix realizes what happened. After all, Dee Vasquez had the same exact idea!

Phoenix lays out his theory after talking with Maya: the murder did not happen at 12:15 on Christmas. It happened at 11:50 on Christmas Eve! That's what the first gunshot was; that's why the camera went off! Who are the two men on the boat? Edgeworth and the murderer! The murderer killed Hammond and then assumed his identity, meeting Edgeworth on the boat! Edgeworth was called out to the lake by Robert Hammond. Unsure of what Hammond looked like, Edgeworth didn't think twice when he saw the real killer! Von Karma says Ludacris, we say that Jay-Z is better, and we know who it is. The court asks for the murderer's name. We can't give it, unfortunately. After all, he never told us! The murderer was the boat caretaker: Hammond was killed in the boat shop. After all, Larry heard the gunshot when he was right next to the boat shop!

We have a full theory, now. On the night of the murder, the old man called Robert Hammond and shot him in the boat shop. He then put on Robert Hammond's coat and called Edgeworth out to the boat shop and got on the boat, shooting a shot into the water to create a witness. He then shot another shot, missing a shot on purpose to create a witness before falling back into lake to create the illusion of murder. The court is dead silent. Edgeworth is called to the stand and he corroborates everything we've said. Have we done it?

Shieeeeeet.

The second trial ends on a cliffhanger; a strong theory, a missing witness, and one last day of investigation!

Investigation, Day Three

Meeting with Larry, we get to hear Phoenix's tragic backstory (number one): a class trial happened after he was accused of stealing Edgeworth's lunch money. Going to see Edgeworth in the detention center, we get a lot of emotion being thrown around between everybody. Edgeworth tells us whole story of DL-6, which we know already; and, since it's painfully obvious by now, I'm gonna start referring to the caretaker as Yanni Yogi. Edgeworth tells us that von Karma was his mentor. Von Karma is obsessed with perfection: no cases he's taken have been unsolved and not one suspect has been declared not guilty. There's a very high chance that some of von Karma's defendants were innocent. We leave Edgeworth and go back to Gourd Lake, meeting Gumshoe there. Gumshoe is very firmly on our side and he's got his entire squad looking for Yogi. He runs away to help find him, but he comes back with "just one more thing". Nobody's allowed into the woods. After all, somebody was camping there. Hmmmmmm. Wonder who that could be.

Anyway, we go to the boat shop and meet none other than... Marvin Grossberg?!

What are you doing here, Grossberg?

Grossberg tells us to go by his office if we think of anything and then leaves. Weird. Going inside of Yogi's shop, we see that Polly's still there: remembering that Polly remembers the safe code, we open it up. Or, more specifically, Maya opens it up in the search for money. The only thing in the safe is a letter. No name, no signature, but handwritten.

"Get your revenge on Miles Edgeworth."

Oh shit. Think we found our motive! The letter details the entire plan; goading Yogi into taking revenge against the 'two men who ruined his life', namely Robert Hammond and Miles Edgeworth. After all, it was DL-6 that made Yogi stand trial; DL-6 that made his fiancée commit suicide; DL-6 that led to him being the caretaker of a rackety boat shack and forced to pretend to have dementia. The entire plan is outlined in detail! It's exactly as we suspected. But who wrote the letter? Who's the real mastermind of this case? It's happening again; we answer one question and three more pop up!

We take the letter to the only (free) person who has first-hand knowledge of DL-6: Marvin Grossberg. After all, Robert Hammond worked for him. He's not in his office, though, so I guess we have to go to our secondhand source for DL-6. That's when Edgeworth drops a bombshell. He confirms that the caretaker is Yanni Yogi! But why would Yogi want to take revenge on Edgeworth? He's obviously having his own conflict. Remember that nightmare? The murder he committed?

Edgeworth outlines a dream that he's had nearly every night. It's a flashback to DL-6; they're in the elevator. Yogi and Gregory are fighting, and there's something on the floor at Edgeworth's feet. It's a pistol. He picks it up, throws it, and a gunshot goes off; then an ear-piercing scream; and then nothing.

(Get away from my father...!)

That's the sordid truth, I guess. Edgeworth accidentally shot his own father in the DL-6 incident. We have to leave Edgeworth, so we go back to meet Grossberg to talk about DL-6 a bit more. His own theory lines up with Edgeworth's memory: Edgeworth picked up the pistol, threw it, and it killed his father. Every way to Sunday, it's looking like Edgeworth committed it: Maya desperately doesn't want to believe it, but it's looking more and more like it. We talk to Grossberg about his father. Gregory Edgeworth was an incredible defense attorney, peerless except for Mia. He was a bitter foe of Manfred von Karma: whereas Edgeworth focused on sound evidence and the truth, Manfred is obsessed with his perfect win ratio and will even forge evidence and testimony to get his way. After going over Misty Fey's involvement in DL-6 again, we learn that Gregory must've had the same idea: to protect his son, he went against his own values and falsified his testimony! Giving the letter to Grossberg, he talks a bit more about Hammond.

Robert Hammond was a selfish bastard. He took high-profile cases to fuel his ego and his pocket, never trusting the people he represented. Yogi was declared innocent, but Hammond didn't respect him nor treat his case with respect: no wonder Yogi wanted revenge on him. Grossberg takes a second look at the letter... it's something about the handwriting.

Oh, shit.

OH, SHIT.

It's von Karma's handwriting?! Von Karma masterminded all of this?! But why? Why would von Karma want Miles Edgeworth and Robert Hammond dead?! Answer one question, and three more come out of nowhere! One thing is for certain, though: we know for a fact that von Karma knows that Edgeworth killed his own father! He's not just going for a guilty verdict for this case. He's going for a guilty verdict for DL-6! But how does he know about the truth behind DL-6? Is he really doing this all for a grudge? 15 years ago, von Karma went up against Gregory Edgeworth in court: von Karma won, but Gregory proved that von Karma was using faulty evidence. It was a penalty on von Karma's perfect record, and it was caused by Gregory Edgeworth! After that, von Karma took the first and only vacation he ever took.

There are things that are adding up and things that aren't! If it was 15 years ago... and the penalty affected him so badly... was von Karma involved in DL-6? That's a distinct possibility, but it's impossible to say what his involvement was! We go back to the police station's Evidence Room to look around in the DL-6 files some more. They're all gone, though! Who took them? Someone had to have-

Oh.

Hi, Manfred. He doesn't seem to recognize us, though. That's... good? Von Karma explains that he doesn't remember defense attorneys very well; he doesn't even really see them as people. Talking to von Karma, we try to talk a bit about Edgeworth. He doesn't say why he took Edgeworth under his wing, though, but we can see that he still has an axe to grind with Gregory even though he's 15 years dead. Von Karma ominously declares that Edgeworth will "declare his guilt": and we both know that he's talking about DL-6. At long last, we get to ask what's been eating at us: von Karma did write the letter. The man in the boathouse is Yanni Yogi. And that is a stun gun.

Wait.

A stun gun?

"600,000 volts will course through your body like a dog touching an electric fence."

Von Karma assaults us in the evidence room, shocking both Maya and Phoenix and running off with the letter! Maya gets an incredibly emotional monologue that makes me tear up every time I play this case, lamenting how she feels useless in the shadow of her sister. She's not useless, though; we know this first-hand. After all, she called out Lotta! She took the fall for us! She helped so much in 1-3; and now she has a bullet from DL-6 in her hand!

The final day of investigation comes to a close. We know who our killer is, we know who our mastermind is: but that's just for one case. DL-6 is still a closed book...

Trial, Day Four

Trial opens up with Maya discharging static electricity like a Pikachu. She shocks Phoenix, Edgeworth, and Gumshoe before going outside to discharge all of the electricity she's built up from von Karma's stun gun. Trial begins shortly thereafter, and we already have a basic strategy: point out that Yogi is lying.

Yogi is brought to the stand. Von Karma strangely wants us to cross-examine him: there must be some kind of trick at play. He argues that Yogi didn't run away at all, with Yogi testifying that he was just buying food for his parrot. After all, he's got nothing to do with the incident. He doesn't even have a motive. We go for a full broadside, already accusing Yogi of lying about not knowing his identity. Overplaying our hand? Perhaps. But it's all we can do! The court notices how fervently we're pressing the idea that he has a grudge and that's he lying about his memory; we're quick to formally accuse him of perjury! Both the Judge and von Karma are challenging our claim, and we finally bring it to light. We name him as Yanni Yogi! After all, if he's Yanni Yogi, then he has a motive!

Phoenix is backed into a corner, but it's a corner he backed himself into; he has a plan. He asks to examine Yanni Yogi's fingerprints, but von Karma shoots this hypothesis down very quickly. Yogi apparently has no fingerprints! He apparently burned them off when working at a chemical plant. Shit! Backing ourselves into a corner has backfired immensely; we can't prove anything even though we know everything! Von Karma playfully proposes that we cross-examine his parrot.

We are.

So we do it! We ask that the witness's parrot be brought in to testify! The crowd goes ballistic, His Honor is in disbelief, and von Karma is outraged, but Phoenix stands strong. After all, von Karma brought the idea up! He's just accepting von Karma's proposal! Von Karma relents on one condition: if the parrot gives no information, then Edgeworth will be found guilty. After all. This is our last chance! There's no way von Karma could've tampered with the parrot!

His Honor tries to get the parrot to testify, but Polly doesn't talk outside of just saying "hello". We press Polly, and we get Maya to talk to her. We ask the parrot what her name is and what the number to the safe is; "Pol-ly!" and "1228". Bringing out the DL-6 file, we point out that Yogi's fiancée was named Polly and that the crime happened on 12/28. We try to see if she'll tell us about DL-6, but it turns out that von Karma retrained that: implicitly through some pretty cruel methods. His Honor falls under the school of "once is a coincidence, twice is a pattern", it seems: he agrees with us! He calls Yogi back to the stand. We've convinced the court that he's really Yanni Yogi!

It's finally the end of a long road. Yogi finally breaks the charade: he's straightened his back, cleared his eyes. Yanni Yogi is back; and he tells the truth. He shot and killed Robert Hammond. He donned Hammond's jacket. He tried to frame Miles Edgeworth. Hammond made Yogi believe that it would get him off the hook; he pretended to have brain damage this entire time. He maintains his innocence, but laments that he lost everything; his job, his credibility, and most dear to his heart, Polly. He tells the court about the letter and the pistol. We can't prove it was von Karma, and Yogi doesn't particularly care, but that doesn't matter: he got his revenge on Edgeworth and Hammond.

Miles Edgeworth has been declared not guilty of the murder of Robert Hammond! We did it. We did it! We beat Manfred von Karma! The first lawyer in 40 years to beat von Karma!

At long last, it's finally over-

SON OF A BITCH!

A Trial Fifteen Years in the Making

Edgeworth confesses to the crime; not the murder of Robert Hammond, but the murder of Gregory Edgeworth! This was von Karma's plan all along; to get Edgeworth to confess to DL-6! Even if he won the Hammond case, he'd still want to win the Edgeworth case; by getting Edgeworth declared guilty!

Oh man, oh man! When we try to object, von Karma brings up Larry! After all, he interrupted court proceedings after a verdict was declared! With nowhere else to turn, the second trial of Miles Edgeworth begins: this time for the murder of his own father! Court is adjourned for the prosecution and the defense to get ready.

Wait. Defense? That's right, baby! We're taking on the defense of Miles Edgeworth!

Get yourself a friend like Phoenix!

When court reconvenes, Edgeworth is called to testify. He testifies about the incident. He went to court with his father, when an earthquake struck the courtroom and trapped the Edgeworths alongside Yogi in the elevator. Edgeworth picked up something heavy that fell at his feet and threw it: a gunshot rang out and then a terrible scream came out of nowhere. Well, there's our first contradiction. The murder weapon was fired twice: so why did Edgeworth only hear one gunshot? There's a simple explanation, really. The first shot didn't kill Gregory Edgeworth! Someone else fired the second shot that killed him! The issue, von Karma points out, is that there's no proof when the gun was fired for a second time; or a first, for that matter. But there's an issue: a bullet hole in the elevator door. This proves the weapon was fired twice at the time of the incident and somebody else fired the second shot! It's impossible for it to be anybody else but the murderer!

Von Karma objects. No clues were found on the scene: he continues to deny that there were two shots fired since a second bullet was never found. A second bullet doesn't exist! But...

But it must exist!

Fun fact: Mom- er, that is, the Chief, only appears for a single frame.

Did Maya channel Mia? No? Wait, is she helping us directly? In any case, we object! It's a flimsy one, but it's an objection. What if, as Mia suggested, the murderer took the second bullet? What if the killer had to take the bullet? No; what if the bullet didn't need to find it?

Mia reminds us that we're not supposed to prove that the murderer took the bullet for a reason; we're supposed to prove that the murderer had to take the bullet no matter what! What if the bullet hit the murderer? What if that's the scream Edgeworth heard?!

Wait a minute. That almost makes sense! No, that does make sense! Nobody else in the elevator was hurt. The murderer came from outside! Despite how crazy our claim sounds, His Honor can't deny it. Von Karma desperately wants him to, though! Nobody involved in the incident was wounded. That's a fact.

Maya has an idea. It's a crazy one. Remember how von Karma took that vacation after DL-6?

Oh.

Oh.

Oh.

What if he took that vacation because he was nursing an injury? What if he got that injury because he was shot? What if he was shot in front of the elevator? What if he shot Gregory Edgeworth?! After all, it would take several months for a bullet wound to heal!

Maya Fey: Ace Attorney!

In a shaky voice, Phoenix tells the court Maya's theory: that Manfred von Karma shot and killed Gregory Edgeworth, that his vacation was due to the bullet wound! The court goes silent; it's an absolutely outrageous claim! Von Karma doesn't object. He calls our theory a ridiculous outburst: but we counter with the vacation theory! Von Karma tells us to prove that a bullet hit him.

...Remember that metal detector?

The mask slips!

Von Karma is rattled: we're on to him! This is my favorite moment of the entire case: when von Karma is utterly shaken. We've got him on the ropes! We run the metal detector over his body: it beeps on his shoulder! He claims that the bullet was from a separate incident years ago, but we can prove otherwise. After all, we have a bullet from the DL-6 Incident! Remember what we got told about ballistic markings?

If we take the bullet out and the ballistics markings match, then that proves von Karma was shot with the same gun that Gregory Edgeworth was shot with.

That proves that he shot Gregory Edgeworth.

That proves he was the murderer in the DL-6 incident!

Left with nowhere to go, and finally truly beaten, von Karma rages. He slams the desk as hard as he can and grabs his shoulder, screaming. Edgeworth knows that scream. It's the scream he heard in the elevator! A defeated and defiant von Karma slams his own head against the wall over and over, screaming bloody murder (no pun intended) as the case draws to a close.

A broken, pathetic God.

In the Courtroom Lobby, everyone comes to congratulate us: Gumshoe comes in with a big "whooooooooooooooop" and Larry comes in with lunch money. Lunch money? Larry was the culprit in the class trial! Gah, it all comes full circle! Lotta takes a picture, Mia makes her final appearance... and we go back to the Wright and Co. Law Offices.

Maya is leaving. She's going back to the village she calls home to master her spiritual powers. She still says that she feels useless, but without her we'd never have gotten the DL-6 bullet! With her spirits back up and a train to catch, we give her a very tearful and emotional farewell: and with that... we've come to the original end of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney!

See you, cowgirl: some day, somewhere!

What Really Happened?

On December 28, 2001, Gregory Edgeworth was defending somebody in a trial. Although he lost the trial, he left the prosecuting attorney he was facing up against—Manfred von Karma—a permanent penalty on his record. Manfred, incensed due to his desire for perfection, zoned out and found himself in the evidence room. As he was in the evidence room, and while Gregory was in the elevator alongside his son Miles and a bailiff named Yanni Yogi, an earthquake hit the courtroom and led to a blackout. Yogi and Gregory had gotten into a shouting match after hours stuck in the elevator, and Miles threw a heavy object he found at his feet to stop them from arguing. Manfred was standing in front of the elevator at this time, unsure why it wasn't working: in his state, he didn't realize a blackout had happened.

The thing Miles threw was a pistol, and it discharged when it hit the ground: shooting through the window and hitting Manfred in the shoulder. As Manfred was processing his being shot, the elevator doors opened. Three people were laying inside, unconscious due to oxygen deprivation, and Manfred von Karma picked up the pistol. He shot Gregory Edgeworth in the chest, taking the pistol to cover up any evidence and nursing his shoulder. The police force, completely out of leads, relied on a spirit medium named Misty Fey. Channeling Gregory's spirit, he said through her that the man who shot him was Yanni Yogi: he was protecting his son, who he thought really shot him.

Yanni Yogi was put on trial for Gregory's murder, but was acquitted because of the actions of Robert Hammond. The acquittal, however, was based on a plea of insanity and caused Yogi's fiancée Polly to commit suicide, his job to be lost, and his social standing to be permanently ruined. The police force blamed Misty Fey, labeling her a fraud after her role in the DL-6 incident was exposed by Redd White through Marvin Grossberg. Manfred decided to adopt Miles as his foster son, either wittingly or unwittingly grooming him to be the exact opposite of his father: a ruthless prosecutor without scruples, morals, or acquittals, which Miles took to handsomely (likely out of a desire to prevent what happened to him and his father from happening to anybody else). The so-called Demon Prosecutor, forged in the fires of DL-6 and molded by the influence of Manfred von Karma, was born. The murder was dubbed the DL-6 Incident, and wouldn't come up again until the trials of Maya Fey and Phoenix Wright for the murder of Mia Fey.

15 years after the DL-6 incident, right before the statute of limitations expired, Yanni Yogi received a letter in the mail alongside a pistol: this package was sent by none other than von Karma, determined to finally take his true revenge on Gregory Edgeworth. The letter was a set of instructions: he would call Robert Hammond to his house, kill him, take his coat and disguise himself as Hammond, lead Edgeworth out to the lake, and shoot twice into the water before falling backwards. He would then swim back to the boat shop, take Robert Hammond's body, and dump it in the lake to create the illusion that Edgeworth had shot and killed Robert Hammond. He did exactly as the letter said, and Edgeworth was arrested for the murder of Robert Hammond: all part of von Karma's ultimate plan, which was to get Edgeworth to admit what Gregory's spirit defended him from and what had haunted his dreams for years—that he had accidentally murdered his father in the DL-6 Incident, letting von Karma get off scot-free for the perfect crime.

THOUGHTS

God, I just love this case. 1-4 is one of my favorite cases in the entire franchise, and nearly always shows up in my top three whenever I'm talking about my favorite cases. I think it's a damn near perfect blend of mystery, characterization, character growth and development, and suspense.

As the second and last of PW:AA's locked room mysteries, Turnabout Goodbyes is undeniably the superior one. From a purely mysterious point of view, it's very good—and that turnabout? Mwah! I genuinely think that the boat murder is just 1-3 but better: a better locked room, a better turnabout, and better characters. As a fellow Southerner I'm particularly fond of Lotta—I'd love to get an ice tea with her, talkin' about paranormal stuff and horror stories. Wonder if she's from Appalachia: anyone else listen to Old Gods of Appalachia? It's a really good horror podcast. I now headcanon that she's from West Virginia.

Anyway! I think this case is sublime in nearly everything it tries to do. The main mystery is incredibly captivating, and this is one of those Ace Attorney cases where I can wholeheartedly say there's not a single bad character: Yanni Yogi is my favorite of the original four culprits, if for no other reason than my being a sucker for tragic villains. Manfred von Karma is also a slimy, gross bastard, and it feels wonderful to take him down: he's a well-written character and a personal favorite of mine, even if I think a later game in the series does what they tried to do with him but better. His design is peak, and his mannerisms in court? Delightfully smarmy. Taking him down is very satisfying, which is the best sign of a good villain!

The core three are at their best in this case. Maya is a massive standout; this is where she finally comes into her own as a character, being the end point of a great arc. Edgeworth and Phoenix go through a lot of development, and I think I prefer Phoenix's if for no reason than your gameplay mimics his growth. 1-1 sees you have Mia by your side; 1-2 sees you thrown into the deep end without Mia, even though you still have to rely on her in the end; 1-3 lets you and Maya take the front stage; with Mia only showing up as an assistant; and 1-4 leaves you and Maya to your own devices!

Unfortunately, this is where my one and only real criticism of 1-4 comes into play. The DL-6 trial is rather rushed, and Mia's showing up kind of undermines the journey I just outlined in my opinion. The DL-6 aspect of this case doesn't really take time to cook by the end; it's very fast, only lasting about 20-30 minutes in total for a case that's well over 3 hours. Still, it's wonderful! It's an absolutely awesome emotional climax for this game's original ending, and as that original ending? It's a damn good one.

Overall, 1-4 is incredible. I've said multiple times that it's one of my favorites, and I don't think that'll ever change. It does a lot of what 1-3 did only better, and 1-3 is already one of my favorites!

Next time, we'll enter into the final case for PW:AA... and one I'm not afraid to show my biases clear as day with. See you next time!

Final Rating: 9/10

FAVORITE LINES

"'Almost Christmas' means it wasn't Christmas!" - Phoenix Wright, after Larry's testimony

"Witness! You can't just say 'hello' and expect us to get anywhere! I want you to testify!" - Phoenix Wright, to Polly the parrot

"An idiot, who happens to be a friend of mine..." - Phoenix Wright, describing Larry to Lotta

"Your father shamed me with a penalty on my record! And you... you left a scar on my shoulder that will never fade! I'll... I'll bury you! I'll bury you with my bare hands! Death! Death!" - Manfred von Karma, during his breakdown

"Mr. Wright. You are truly the most unpredictable defense attorney I've ever known." - His Honor, to Phoenix Wright during the DL-6 trial

CASE RANKINGS

Turnabout Goodbyes (9/10)

Turnabout Samurai (8/10)

The First Turnabout (6/10)

Turnabout Sisters (5/10)

[heartofstanding]

Tell me everything about Joan if Kent, specifically which historians I should hiss at.

Oh man, Joan of Kent is awesome. It's hard to describe her life quickly because she had such a long and varied one. It spans from the end of Edward II's reign and the upheavals of Edward III's minority throughout the glory years of Edward III's reign to the decline in his latter years to the Peasants Revolt and the fragile beginnings of Richard II's reign. She can assume a number of different shapes: romantic heroine, powerful and influential woman, fashion icon, mediator, literary patron, scandal, survivor. She makes a status-defying match, ostensibly for love, and then follows it up by marrying the heir to the throne of England, again ostensibly for love.

Of course, it was the Middle Ages so a lot of medieval chroniclers and commentators saw her as the stereotypical wanton, transgressive woman.

Her story:

Joan was the daughter of Edmund, Earl of Kent (Edward I's youngest son) and Margaret Wake, and was thus Edward I's granddaughter, Edward II's niece and Edward III's first cousin. She was born before or on 29 September 1326-1328 (the exact year is debatable). Her father was executed in 1330 in highly controversial circumstances for attempting to free the deposed and likely dead Edward II.* Joan is generally believed to have become a ward of Philippa of Hainault as a small recompense for Kent's execution (Edward III and Philippa are believed to have played no role in Kent's execution). In the winter of 1340-41, Joan was married to William Montagu, the son and heir of the Earl of Salisbury. This was an entirely conventional match: he was of similar age and status to herself, the marriage ensured she would become Countess of Salisbury upon his father's death. But about seven years later, there was a scandal: a knight, Thomas Holland, claimed that Joan had married him clandestinely and that they had consummated it before she married Montagu. He appealed to the papal authorities to return her to him.

A long, protracted dispute followed. Montagu appears to have kept Joan imprisoned in strict seclusion so she could not respond or appoint an attorney to respond on her behalf to the papal investigation. Eventually, she was able to do so and evidently supported Holland's claim: the investigation found in Holland's favour. Her marriage to Montagu was annulled and she and Holland were have their marriage solemnised publicly.

Because of the scandal and the struggle to have the marriage recognised, as well as the unusualness of the match itself, Joan and Holland's relationship has typically been seen as a romance for the ages. But Joan was, at most, 13 years old (and possibly even as young as eleven) and Holland, born c. 1315, was around 25 years old, i.e. close to, if not actually, double her age, when they married clandestinely. At around 12 years old, she was considered to be "marriageable age" and a medieval 12 year old was likely considered more mature than a modern girl of the same age. But she was, still, you know, a 12 year old girl marrying a 25 year old man. That it has been hailed as a great romance is not really surprising given the stereotypical view of the Middle Ages as a time when dirty old men married preteen girls and raped them and the fact that until very recently Lolita was published with a blurb calling it the "only convincing love story" of the 20th century.

There are a number of legends attached to Joan from around this time. Two stories refer to a Countess of Salisbury and Joan held the title for the last four years of her Montagu marriage, though her then-mother-in-law, Katherine Grandison, also held the title as the dowager. The first story records that Edward III raped the Countess of Salisbury - the details of the story make it clear that Katherine, not Joan, is who was meant, though that has not stopped some with connecting the story to Joan specifically. The story itself is unverifiable - the earliest, i.e. contemporary, recording of the story contains both factually correct and factually incorrect details, and it is French in origin, which might mean it was propaganda designed to smear Edward III (this does not prevent it from being true, however). Some have suggested that the story has been confused. We certainly have no way of proving or disproving it beyond a doubt, but the idea it was meant to refer to Joan are very slim.

A second, much lighter story involves the foundation of the Order of the Garter. In it, the Countess of Salisbury is dancing when a garter slipped from legs, producing amusement. Edward picked up the garter and returned it, admonishing, "Honi soit qui mal y pense!" ('Shame on him who thinks ill of it!'), which then became the order's motto. This tale has also been heavily doubted and whether it was Joan or Katherine who is meant is debated. In both stories, Joan is often the more prominent candidate but that likely reflects how b*etter known she is and how these stories "fit" with her reputation as a beautiful, sexually desirable woman.

From 1350 to 1361, Joan gave birth to five children: Thomas, John, Joan, Maud and Edmund (who died in infancy). In 1352, Joan's only surviving sibling**, John, died childless and she inherited the earldom of Kent. This led to a massive step up in status and wealth for her new family. Holland died on 28 December 1360 from illness.

By spring 1361, Joan had another husband in line: Edward of Woodstock. Edward was the eldest son and heir of Edward III, Prince of Wales, war hero, chivalric icon and known famously, if anachronistically, as "the Black Prince". Joan was not the obvious choice for the Prince's wife - a conventional choice would be a royal or noble woman from the European continent (there had been a number of failed marriage negotiations for this type of marriage for the Prince), and had the Prince outlive his father, Joan would have been the first English-born queen since the Conquest. She was also the first Princess of Wales since Wales was incorporated into the English crown. It's frequently asserted that the Prince had long-loved Joan and he does appear to have referred affectionately to her, but we don't really know what Joan felt about the Prince or her marriage.

As a result of the Treaty of Bretigny, the Prince was to rule Aquitaine on Edward III's behalf. Joan and her Holland children accompanied him when he sailed to Aquitaine the following year. We don't know a lot about Joan in Aquitaine. We know her fashion sense drew fairly predictable criticism and that she gave birth to two sons while there. The first, named Edward, died in Aquitaine in 1370, aged 5 years old and the second would become Richard II. The Prince was much-criticised for his arrogance and ostentatious style in ruling Aquitaine and it's possible Joan was a part of that. A lot of work has gone reassessing his rule, however, and found it was not necessarily as bad as has been assumed.

After 1367, the Prince became seriously ill and the war with France was set to reignite. Incapable of carrying out his duties in Aquitaine effectively, Edward, Joan and their family returned to England in 1371, where his health declined further. Joan often acted in his stead during this period, and when he died in 1376, she was made guardian of their son, Richard, who was now the ailing Edward III's heir and became king himself in 1377, aged only 10.

Joan remained a infinitely influential and powerful woman in the coming years, with some historians describing her as a "quasi-queen". A large portion of pardons and grants were made at her request, and as Countess of Kent and the dowager Princess of Wales, she had large estates of her own to administer. She also enjoyed a great reputation as an mediator: she mended the quarrel between John of Gaunt, Henry Percy and the city of London and mediated between Gaunt and Richard. Interestingly, her entourage included leading members of the Lollard movement, suggesting she may have been interested in reform of the church. This was also time of Geoffrey Chaucer and literary scholars has been suggested Joan served as inspiration for a various number of figures in Chaucer's work.

During the Peasants Revolt of 1381, she was harassed en-route to London and the rebels asked for her to kiss them. Chroniclers also recorded her state of terror when the Tower of London was broken into, though it may have been more of a rhetorical device on behalf of chroniclers to show what they saw were the horrors of the rebels' behaviour.

Joan appears to have taken a step back from court. Possibly, she was increasingly incapacitated by illness (it's been suggested Joan suffered from dropsy/edema; the chronicler Thomas Walsingham claimed she was so fat she could barely move, though no other chronicle made this claim), or possibly she retired once Anne of Bohemia married Richard II so not to overshadow the new queen. Despite illness and retirement, Joan attempted to mediate between Richard and another of her sons, John Holland, when the latter murdered Ralph Stafford and Richard had determined to execute him. One chronicler claimed Richard's refusal to hear her pleas caused her to die of grief. The stress of the situation could hardly have helped if she was suffering an illness. She died 7 August 1385 and was buried in the same church as her first husband, Thomas Holland. This has generally been taken as evidence that she loved him best but the situation may have been more complicated. The plans for the Prince's burial changed dramatically, which may have led Joan choosing to be buried elsewhere or she may have made her choice to as a gesture of affection for her less royal family. Richard did pardon John after Joan's death and they were reconciled, so one might say that even in death she was a successful mediator.

In terms of her descendents, Richard died childless but most of her Holland children had issue. She had descendents on both sides of the Wars of the Roses.

*If you're unfamiliar with the reigns of Edward II and Edward III, the short summary is that Edward II ended up basically alienating everyone through his relationship with and preferential treatment of Hugh Despenser the Younger (quite possibly his lover). The queen, Isabella of France, eventually allied with Roger Mortimer, Earl of March and spearheaded a rebellion that led to Edward's deposition and the execution of Despenser. His son, Edward III, became king but as he was a minor, Isabella and Mortimer effectively ruled in his reign. Edward II was said to have been murdered on 21 September 1327 and most historians accept this. However, there are some references to Edward II surviving well past this, including the plot to free him that Edmund was involved with, and there is a coterie of historians who believe it, namely headed by Ian Mortimer and Kathryn Warner. Given Edmund's royal blood, his execution was deeply unpopular - no one could be found willing to execute him until a criminal was given a pardon in exchange. Edward III is said to have wanted to pardon Edmund but was blocked by Isabella and Mortimer by doing so. When Edward III took control of government and ousted Mortimer, he posthumously pardoned Edmund and executed Roger Mortimer. One of the charges against Mortimer was that he'd duped Edmund into believing Edward II was still alive.

** Joan had two or three siblings. Her brothers were Edmund, the eldest boy who was born had died before 5 October 1331 and John, who was born posthumously on 7 April 1330, inherited the earldom as an infant and died childless on 26 December 1352. A sister, Margaret, is sometimes identified but she seems to be attested only from an authorisation to negotiate a marriage - Penny Lawne has argued that it was more likely that Joan was the intended bride but the clerk writing out the authorisation confused her name with her mother's (Margaret). There does not seem to be any other evidence of her existence - she is not mentioned as attending the baptism of John, though her other siblings are, and she is not mentioned in the Inquisition Post Mortems for John where Joan is named as his only heir. If Margaret had existed, she must have died sometime before John's death. Her death is sometimes given as 1352 but I'm not sure what the source for this is..

Historians To Hiss At.

As you might guess, Joan's life suggests a sexual impropriety and scandal, or in a slightly less misogynist sense, a life dominated by romance. She was a bigamist. She was married for love. She married three times and only one of them to a man appropriate to her status. She's both Lady Chatterley, driven by lust into the arms of a man of lesser status, and the relentless, cold-hard social climber like Philippa Gregory's Anne Boleyn.

So of course historians through the centuries have replicated that bias. For some, like Anthony Goodman, she's a giddy romantic who follows her heart who never manages to mature. For some, she's a romantic heroine, her and Thomas Holland are the epic romance of the Middle Ages which, uh, doesn't really take into consideration Joan's youth at their marriage. For others, she's a saucy wench, hooker with a heart of gold - I've seen someone point out how young Joan was when she married Holland on Twitter and gotten the response of "well she was saucy ;)". For others still, she's just a slut and a selfish, slippery, scheming one at that. After all, all those good men wouldn't have been falling themselves over her without her seducing them, would they? Anyway, it's a Russian Roulette whenever you pick something up about Joan. Will it romanticise a guy having sex with a 12 year old? Will it call the 12 year old a giddy romantic? Will it slut-shame the 12 year old? I've only found one thing - Samantha Katz Seal's review of Anthony Goodman's biography of Joan - that actually suggested Joan was a victim of abuse without immediately offering a theory to work around it.

Two examples:

The peach that is renowned Ricardian crank and misogynist John Ashdown-Hill wrote that "the girl's [Joan was in her 30s) reputation left a good deal to be desired … she was deficient in some respects and rather too-well endowed in others".

Ian Mortimer's biography of Henry IV makes overly frequent comparisons between Henry and Richard II, who Henry deposed and had murdered, basically to the tune of "Henry was better than Richard! Henry had the biggest penis!" One repeated comparison is their mothers, where Mortimer describes Joan's legacy as "burdensome" for Richard and cast a shadow over his legitimacy, while "Henry’s mother, in contrast, was popularly regarded as one of the most lovely adornments of the English court". One's a burden, the other's a beautiful object.

But the historian that I really get my hackles up about is Kathryn Warner, probably I once thought really very highly of her. She talked a lot about going back to the original sources instead of repeating what other historians have said, not speculating without supporting evidence, and having progressive values. Notably, she called out the homophobia and misogyny that hung around depictions and discussions of Edward II and Isabella of France. She was originated (I think?) or at least got heavily involved with the Don't Defame The Dead movement with history bloggers and the histfic community on Goodreads.

Warner follows Mortimer's example, talking about how "embarrassing" Joan was for Richard II unlike the Saintly Dead Paragon Of Medieval Feminine Virtue That Was Blanche of Lancaster. She even deepens that comparison when talking about Joan being sexually harassed during the Peasants Revolt:

even the rebels in 1381 demanding kisses from her, though it may indicate that they liked her and found her considerably more approachable than other members of the royal family and the nobility, does not imply deference for a royal person and the king’s mother. It is difficult to imagine anyone demanding a kiss from Joan’s predecessors Philippa of Hainault or Isabella of France, or from Henry of Lancaster’s mother Duchess Blanche.

So... we're victim blaming Joan for being sexually harassed. After all, as Warner loves to point out (repeatedly) Joan did have a "habit of dressing in the style of a freebooter’s mistress" that "did Joan’s reputation no good whatsoever". In her Philippa of Hainault biography, Warner seems to imply that Joan's style of dress was the sole complaint about the Black Prince's conduct in Aquitaine.

Edward and Joan of Kent lived in magnificent, extravagant splendour, and not everyone approved: one observer stated that the princess of Wales and Aquitaine wore great furred gowns and low-cut bodices in the style usually worn by the mistresses of freebooters: ‘I am disgusted by those women who follow such a bad example, particularly the Princess of Wales.’ Even so, not a word of condemnation came from Edward’s parents the king and queen.

There are many, many complaints about the Prince's actual conduct but Warner chooses to single out Joan's fashion sense and implies that it was worthy of condemnation from Edward III and Philippa of Hainault. Given Philippa herself was an assiduous follower of fashion and it seems doubtful that she'd think Joan following the new fashion style was worthy of complaint.

Actually, it would be very reasonable to interrogate this. Richard Barber points out this is the "French view" of English fashion and it may well be that there was underlying xenophobia in the sentiment. Additionally or instead, we could read it as another entry in the age-old misogynistic tradition of men complaining about women's fashion. In short: we should not be replicating the biases of the Middle Ages as an excuse to talk about how embarrassing or condemnatory Joan's behaviour was.

But what was, you may be asking, a freebooter's mistress? A freebooter was a effectively a pirate so Warner is effectively saying that Joan dressed like a pirate's whore.

In discussing Joan's marriage, she gives Joan's age as "only thirteen or fourteen" before correcting herself to "at most thirteen and a half" and then notes Holland was in his mid-20s. Warner then says:

Evidently, though, she found him extremely appealing, and they married clandestinely and consummated the marriage, or so they later claimed.

I feel like if a man writing in the 1970s can recognise that Joan may have been coerced in marrying Holland, as Karl P. Wentersdorf did, saying Joan may have "been placed under pressure by her suitor and had not given her full and free assent", Warner can do much, much better than "clearly 13 year old Joan of Kent found him soooooo hot". We have no idea how they married or how Joan felt about her marriage as it happened. Of course it's possible that Joan found him hot - kids have crushes on adults all the time, though they don't really want to have sex with their crush except in the theoretical sense. But maybe Joan didn't, maybe Joan was pressured, as Wentersdorf suggested in 1979, or maybe she was groomed and believed she did. But I think it is just... a really irresponsible, victim-blaming line to take in relation to a 25 year old marrying a 13 year old (if Joan was as old as 13).

While Warner does recognise the creepiness of the relationship between Holland and Joan, she discusses it like so:

Thomas Holland was twice her age, a gap which makes their supposed love-match seem less romantic and more creepy and abusive to modern sensibilities (though contemporary opinion would have held an earl’s daughter and king’s granddaughter marrying a man so far beneath her in rank as a far worse misdemeanour.

I'm so glad she threw in the reference to how Joan, contemporarily speaking, was the worse offender in the relationship. We have no idea how people who actually knew her understood the relationship, it's possible they were horrified on her behalf. We only know what chroniclers - writing when Joan was an adult - made of it and chroniclers were frequently full of misogyny. As Warner has pointed out herself, they were the gossip magazines of their day.

Warner suggests that rather than using the money Holland had gained for fighting in the Crecy campaign to finance the very expensive process of appealing to the papal authorities, he felt that finally, with all this money, he could keep Joan "in the style to which she was accustomed", making her sound like a spoilt brat who'd been like "eww poor person" at Holland. Montagu, in Warner's telling "supposedly kept her prisoner". That neither Joan nor an attorney on her behalf responded a summons and that Pope Clement VI dispatched a brief to the Archbishop of Canterbury and other prelates enjoining them to ensure Joan could appoint her own attorney suggests that Montagu was preventing Joan from responding in some way.

This is all a prelude to the theory Warner believes in which is that Joan and Holland made up the story of their earlier marriage because they met while Holland was working as Montagu's steward and fell in "love or lust" and wanted to marry. So, in that regard, Joan isn't a victim of what today we would call child sexual abuse but actually an adulteress who lied to the papal authorities because she wanted to be Mrs Thomas Holland.

Only problem is that there is absolutely no evidence of this and quite a lof of reasons why it doesn't make sense. This post is long enough already so I'll write them up in a separate post. We can't even say that Holland was Montagu's steward because the only evidence of this is in John Hardying's chronicle, written during the Wars of the Roses - over a century on from events.

Some of this might sound like nitpicking or disagreements on historical record, and maybe it is. But Warner does have a Facebook post where she complains about Joan's "fans" who depict her as "amazingly special and unique and far more important than anyone else" (where are all these fans, I wonder). In the comments, she indicates her reasoning for the theory Joan and Holland lied which basically boils down to:

it's sickening that the story is treated as a great love story when it's not love and "just disgusting"

Not speaking up about his marriage makes Holland look like a coward, which he wasn't and it makes Holland look like an abusive groomer which she sincerely hopes he wasn't

she "prefers" the version where Joan wasn't groomed and raped and it's empowering to imagine her choosing Holland

Joan's fans are annoying

To which I would say:

It is sickening! But also: how people have interpreted and represented the relationship has nothing do with the reality of it.

It's not "brave" for a grown man to admit to having sex with a 12/13 year old. And he did very much admit to having sex with a 12/13 year old Joan - eventually. Being brave in battle does not make a man more or less likely to be an abuser. Finally, wishing and hoping does not make history.

It is a historian's job to interpret the evidence, not ignore it for a fantasy scenario in which they can feel good about what happened. It is also not really empowering or feminist to erase Joan's abuse.

How do people living almost 650 years on from Joan have any impact on Joan's lived reality? Girlbossed historical women is an annoying phenomena but it has nothing to do with the real Joan or her life.

[bala5]

Northern Parula by Richard Laeton - Balaram

The Northern Parula (Setophaga americana) is a small songbird belonging to the wood-warbler family. It’s known for its bright plumage, yellow throat patch, and distinctive song. This bird has captured the attention of many due to its unique appearance and behavior.

Symbolism in Spirituality

The Northern Parula is also seen as a symbol of spiritual growth and transformation. It represents personal development and self-improvement in various spiritual practices.

Northern Parula as a Symbol of Personal Growth: Its journey from winter to summer plumage signifies personal growth and change.

Northern Parula as a Symbol of Nature’s Cycle: The bird’s migration journey symbolizes the cyclical nature of life, reminding us of nature’s cycles.

The Northern Parula is a fascinating creature with deep symbolic meanings across different cultures. Its vibrant colors and migration journey make it an iconic figure in various belief systems. It represents renewal, growth, transformation, balance, and harmony. The bird’s presence serves as a reminder of the interconnectedness of all living beings and the cyclical nature of life. As we learn from its symbolism, we can appreciate nature’s beauty and our role in preserving it.

[ace-edit-torney]

Matching Matt Engarde & Richard Wellington Winter icons

[blogger360ncislarules]

Who’s ready to return to Darrowby this winter?

PBS Masterpiece’s All Creatures Great and Small Season 5 will hit your screens on Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025, it was announced this morning, airing on PBS and streaming via PBS Passport, PBS.org and the PBS Masterpiece Prime Video channel.

Watch a trailer above.

The series, based on best-selling author James Herriot’s iconic collection of stories, had been renewed for Seasons 5 and 6 back in February. Each of the two seasons will consist of six episodes plus Christmas specials.

Callum Woodhouse, who was off-screen for Season 4, is back as Tristan Farnon. (Siegfried’s brother has been away serving in the Royal Army Veterinary Corps.) Also returning are Nicholas Ralph as vet James Herriot, Samuel West as the aforementioned and mercurial Siegfried Farnon, Anna Madeley as the matriarch of Skeldale House, Mrs. Hall, Rachel Shenton as the charismatic Helen Herriot, James Anthony-Rose as Richard Carmody, and Patricia Hodge as the wonderfully sophisticated Mrs Pumphrey (with her pampered Pekingese Tricki in tow, of course).

What all is on tap for Season 5? “It is Spring 1941 and we return to Darrowby to find young baby Jimmy keeping everyone in Skeldale House on their toes,” the official synopsis tells us. “Helen is getting the hang of motherhood with James away at RAF Abingdon, Mrs. Hall and Siegfried are enjoying having a little one around and Carmody is now a full-fledged member of the Skeldale family.

“With World War II now fully underway,” the overview continues, “Siegfried is taking up the slack at the surgery, Mrs. Hall and Helen are considering their contribution within the community, and Carmody is eager to step up. Siegfried is keen to have everyone back, but Tristan’s surprise return won’t be quite as straightforward as he hoped.”

[mm2022ll]

Happy Birthday, Richard O'Brien, the most wonderful man on earth!

Let this magnificent creature be the happiest on the entire planet! May all the gods and fate protect him, may inspiration never leave his life, and may his heart be full of warmth and joy)))

I want to tell you a little about how I got into this beautiful universe, which was created by the amazing Richard O’Brien, which appeared thanks to the phenomenon of his existence and creativity, and which literally saved my life.

I was born and raised in a country and at a time where the bulk of my generation knew absolutely nothing about his “Rocky”, and I greatly regret this. Personally, I myself watched it relatively recently, a few years ago after I found out that it was one of Freddie Mercury’s favorite films (I just went to the cinema to see “Bohemian Rhapsody”, just for fun). I really liked Rocky. When I saw Riff Raff, I thought - wow, what a colorful guy! Very much to my taste). And how he sings, what energy is in his voice when he calls light into his life in “Over at the Frankenstein place”, what willpower is to defeat the main ... villain, or hero, depending on how you look at it). But “on the wave” of Freddie, I was captivated by Frank-n-Furter performed by Tim Curry. I also thought that the film was excellent, especially considering the years of release, everything was beautiful, high quality, understandable and appropriate. In general, a living classic and style icon. However, I still wasn't a fan). I didn’t even realize the significance of Richard for this creation, looking between the lines, and almost immediately conveniently forgetting who played whom. Because immediately after this, several events happened in my life that made me forget about films, and hobbies, and in general, all kinds of entertainment, in general, not very good events.

When, after a couple of years, everything went a little back to normal, I wanted to watch something in the noir style (I like, among other things, noir, as well as gothic and a little horror, although I watch everything that is filmed, in my opinion, good, because in almost any style you can find good examples). I read good reviews for the movie "Dark City" and decided to watch it.

My God! The effect was simply amazing! The film evoked a strong reaction and response in me! I just fell in love with it, with its idea, atmosphere, scenery, characters, and most of all I was hooked by the image of Mr. Hand. I was simply hypnotized by him, he was so good! What grace, what manners, figure, but most importantly - what eyes! Expressive and deep, bright, like stars, and piercing right through you, like two daggers, and at the same time looking a little reproachfully, but understanding everything! Beautiful eyes for which you can give your soul and heart, if demanded. And his smile! It was like I saw heaven when he smiled at Emma in the pier scene, it was just incredible! It was as if the warm sun warmed me in the middle of winter, as if the brightest star in the universe had been lit... He was simply amazing)

Oh, how I wanted to develop his storyline! How I wanted a battle between him and Murdoch, and not just with Mr. Book)) Considering the grace and artistry, skill and photogenicity, colorfulness and appearance of Richard O’Brien, it would be incredible and exciting! He was simply created for such things, and I sincerely don’t understand why so few of him were filmed, including in such films, because he is simply the decoration of everyone in which he played. I think martial arts with dance elements would suit him perfectly). And how I wanted to preserve the inquisitive and most humane of the Strangers! I cried at the end of the film - from the happiness that people will gain relative freedom and the joy of seeing the light, and also from the fact that Mr. Hand died. Some will consider me crazy, and probably very naive, but in my fan version of events it seems to me that if it were not for the memories of the killer that were injected into him, Mr. Hand would still have turned out to be a person, an individual.

Be that as it may, the image of Mr. Hand turned out to be simply magnificent, “Dark City” was a gorgeous film, and I became interested in the actor who played Hand (I didn’t recognize him right away, although I saw that his face seemed familiar to me, and especially his incredible eyes). When I realized that this was the same actor who played Riff Raff in Rocky, I was simply delighted and decided to continue my acquaintance by reading more about him).

And... I disappeared! I entered his world through the back door, fell through and fell like Alice through the rabbit hole into Wonderland, and this door to Richard O’Brien’s universe was Dark City, not Rocky). It turned out to be not just an actor, not just a person, but an absolutely incredible, unimaginable, bright and brilliant personality! Divinely talented, versatile, smart, sarcastic, but at the same time very kind, very complex and deep, beautiful, sophisticated, fragile and at the same time very strong and strong-willed - and all this is one incredible person! I embarked on a journey through his universe, and this journey is still ongoing, and he never ceases to amaze me, and never disappoints me. I learn many things from him, his philosophy of life, I can understand his point of view, I like his perception of this world, I feel the energy in him that is kindred to me (no matter how arrogant it may sound, sorry).

Thanks to Richard O'Brien, I came out of a deep depression. If I may say so, he saved my soul. I am incredibly grateful to him! The fact that I discovered his world, gave my life more color, I wanted to live again. I realized that this world is not as bad as I began to think. Looking through his work, listening to songs, interviews, enjoying shows with his participation - in particular, “The Crystal Labyrinth” (in which you can see him in all his beauty, live, close and a lot) and “The Ink Thief”, I heal my heart from old and new wounds, I draw inspiration and strength - and thank him for this, thank you a thousand times! I think he will never be forgotten; I think he left a mark on this world forever. I think that with his creativity he did something very important in life for each of his fans, helped a huge number of people realize themselves, and for the whole society he showed what real freedom is, what it means to truly live for art and embody art, to be yourself and a muse for others, to be the Sun, and inspire others with your pure, positive thousand-megawatt energy! Happy Birthday to the most wonderful person in the universe! Happy Birthday Richard O'Brien!

[angevinyaoiz]

Having just rewatched the Lion in Winter, I am need of someone to vent to about all the ways Geoffrey is Eleanor but sterile. The way he's a mother-father surrogate for John and shepherds him around, all the while insulting and manipulating him. The way the cycle of parent-child relationships is continued in their strange attachment. They're constantly a pair despite at least one party always ready to sell out the other. Godd, why is there not more JohnGeoffrey stuff?

Also. 'And Richard? Promise him anything.' when your mother-lover prostitutes you out to your ex-boytoy situationship.

Idk. You seem like you would get it.

geoffrey in 68 TLIW and his toxic matronly vibes..I see u ehehe. Not enough John relationship explorations at all in general, I feel he gets brushed off a lot bc his scenes are goofy but especially in the play you can see how much more conflicted he is, in how he's painfully aware and frustrated that he's lacking. He tries to weakly push back against Henry (the "I'm not going on the birthday hunting trip!!!" Scene) but Henry basically shrugs and laughs him off. Just enough for Geoffrey to swoop in and play him...it's interesting that it works bc Geoffrey is seen to kind of be nicer to John, John (in the movie) is happy to see him when Geoffrey arrives, he brought presents...he plays up the "you and me we're in the same boat" younger bros teaming up to take on the oldest solidarity lmao. It's interesting also in the play how John also isn't above snarking at Geoffrey's expense too (he finds Geoffrey's "here I am father! I'm it" play in the end CRINGE and tells him as such in the dungeon). Geoffrey may be playing the Lucy Charlie Brown football movie on John every year but they still hang out and WILL be coordinating to invade Aquitaine later on lmaoooo...

Eleanor also ordering Rich around at the end of Act 1 is so good...so much implied before we even get to the Big Drama (and also her feigning ignorance when henry asks about it later.) Richard is always getting played in this movie, and he hates it, and he can't help following along and being a cog in everyone's plans (his whole assertion at the beginning where he's like "I WONT HAVE MY FEELINGS TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF...IM cool and stuff .." and then proceeds to get his heart raked all over the coals the rest of the play. Iconic of him

[mightyflamethrower]

he post-Joe McCarthy era and the candidacy of Barry Goldwater once prompted liberal political scientist Richard Hofstadter to chronicle a supposedly long-standing right-wing “paranoid style” of conspiracy-fed extremism.

But far more common, especially in the 21st century, has been a left-wing, hysterical style of inventing scandals and manipulating perceived tensions for political advantage.

Or, in the immortal words of Barack Obama’s chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, “Never let a serious crisis go to waste.”

The 2008 economic emergency crested on September 7, with the near collapse of the home mortgage industry.

Obama took office on January 20, 2009, more than four months after the meltdown. In that interim, the officials had finally restored financial confidence and plotted a course of economic recovery.

No matter. The Obama administration never stopped hyping the financial meltdown as if it had just occurred. That way, it rammed through Obamacare, massive deficit spending, and the vast expansion of the federal government. All that stymied economic growth and recovery for years.

In 2016, Donald Trump was declared Hitler-like and an existential threat to democracy.

Amid this derangement syndrome, any means necessary to stop him were justified: the Russian collusion hoax, impeachment over a phone call, or the Hunter laptop disinformation farce.

Eventually, the left sought to normalize the once unthinkable: removing the leading presidential candidate from state ballots and indicting him in state and local courts.

Nothing was off limits—not forging a federal court document, calling for a military coup, rioting on Inauguration Day, or radically changing the way Americans voted in presidential elections.

In October 2017, allegations surfaced about serial sexual predation by liberal cinema icon Harvey Weinstein.

The #MeToo furor immediately followed.

At first, accusers properly outed dozens of mostly liberal celebrities, actors, authors, and CEOs for their prior and mostly covered-up sexual harassment and often assault.

But soon, the once legitimate movement had morphed into general hysteria. Thousands of men (and women) were persecuted for alleged offenses, often sexual banter or rude repartee, committed decades prior.

#MeToo jumped the shark with the left-wing effort to take down conservative Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Would-be accusers surfaced from his high school days, 35 years earlier, but without any supporting evidence or witnesses for their wild, lurid charges.

#MeToo hysteria ended when too many liberal grandees were endangered. Most dramatically, former Joe Biden senatorial aide Tara Reade came forward during the 2020 campaign cycle with charges that front-runner Joe Biden had once sexually assaulted her—and was trashed by the liberal media.

The outbreak of COVID-19 in the United States during the winter of 2020 prompted an even greater hysteria.

Without scientific evidence, federal health czars Anthony Fauci and Francis Collins were able to convince the Trump administration to shut down the economy in the country’s first national quarantine.

Suddenly, it became a thought crime to question the wisdom of six-foot social distancing, of mandatory mask wearing, of the Wuhan virology lab’s origin of the COVID virus, or of off-label use of prescription drugs.

Left-wing politicians and celebrities, from Hillary Clinton and Gavin Newsom to Jane Fonda, all blurted out the political advantages that the lockdowns offered—from recalibrating capitalism and health care to ensuring the 2020 defeat of Donald Trump.

The COVID hysteria magically ended when Joe Biden won the 2020 election. Suddenly, the lies about the bat or pangolin origins of the virus faded. The damage from the quarantines could no longer be repressed. And herd immunity gradually mitigated the epidemic.

The lockdown caused untold economic chaos, suicides, and health crises.

One result was the 120 days of looting, arson, death, destruction, and violence spawned by Antifa and Black Lives Matter in the aftermath of the tragic death of George Floyd while in police custody in May 2020.

Suddenly, a hysterical lie took hold: American police were waging war against black males.

The details around Floyd’s sudden death—he was in the act of committing a felony, resisting arrest, suffering from coronary artery disease and the after-effects of COVID, and being high on dangerous drugs—were off limits.

The riot toll reached $2 billion in property damage, over 35 deaths, and 1,500 injured law enforcement officers. A federal courthouse, a police precinct, and a historic church were torched.

Police forces were defunded. Emboldened left-wing prosecutors nullified existing laws.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion commissars spread throughout American higher education as meritocracy came under assault.

Racial essentialism triumphed. Racially segregated dorms, campus spaces, and graduations were normalized.

Everything from destroying the southern border to dropping SAT requirements for college admission followed.

Sometimes real, sometimes hyped crises lead to these contrived left-wing hysterias—like the January 6 violent “armed insurrection” or the “fascist” “ultra-MAGA” threat.

Otherwise, the progressive movement cannot enact its unpopular agendas. So it must scare the people silly and gin up chaos to destroy its perceived enemies—any crisis it can.