aceattorneymeta

[aceattorneymeta]

Lets pretend the lack of Phoenix backstory isn't a logical mechanical choice and instead treat it as a facet of the character because I think it has interesting implications. I saw a post that I can't find because I'm an idiot that mentioned how odd it really was in a story context that we never hear or see anything about his family and given my personal bias I have some thoughts. So. Treating it as a story feature. Lets begin.

I am extrapolating my ideas from a couple places. The first being that 1) Phoenix never really mentions his family so something happened to cause them to no longer be a part of each others' lives. 2) There is a seeming lack of grief and no mention even while on trial for murder in college. 3) Phoenix does not, to my eye, appear to hold the hallmarks of people growing up in an abusive household. But 4) He latches who he is onto other people with worrying intensity.

I'm merging these facts with my own belief that Phoenix is trans (disprove me I dare you) and my own observations as to what Phoenix is like as a parent. Also the fact that his name is Phoenix. Because honestly. So anyway. My conclusions are thus:

Phoenix is trans, but he didn't pick his name. He was named Phoenix at birth by his exceedingly law-hating hippie parents, which seems to be a popular idea from my narrow exposure. My view is that he was one of those kids that was like 7 and just knew. (Bastards. I love them but ugh. I wish) So Phoenix's parents being the amazingly supportive people they were, immediately swapped pronouns and even relocated him to another school so that he could have a fresh start without having to deal with a bunch of questions. The absolute bastard of a teacher nearly wrecks that (diatribe for another post) but Miles and Larry are enough to make them keep Phoenix in place because of how much the two mean to him.

Huh, guess this means Larry and Miles don't know about the trans thing. And even though they like Miles for hanging with Phoenix they aren't thrilled about Miles's hyperfixation. I bet it would be like when you go to a friends house they try to feed you except whenever Miles is over its like "try art!" or "have you ever thought of opening a business?" You could probably have some funny shenanigans as Miles, Larry, and Phoenix try to follow these kinds of suggestions in the most... them way possible.

So Phoenix's parents are super supportive throughout his childhood even reaching out to get him Miles's address though they aren't thrilled about Miles's Dad's job. Probably part of why Phoenix didn't know anything about Miles vanishing is that his parents didn't exactly care enough to ask.

A note though before moving into the reasons for the rift, are that while Phoenix's parents were super supportive, it was in a very hands off way. I'll get back to this.

So college comes around and Phoenix wants to take some law classes. Which his parent just are not thrilled or happy about. To the point where its like: fine, but we aren't going to pay for them. And then Phoenix sees Miles in the Paper and they are just... appalled. They refuse to pay for anymore of Phoenix's college and spend a rather taxing weekend trying to convince him to go back into art and trying to tell Phoenix that swapping majors for a man is ridiculous and law is nothing for a good sort like him. Oh. hehe, just had the thought that this is when Phoenix first watches Legally Blonde and it does the exact opposite of what his parents were hoping.

So they are arguing and by the end of the weekend they, honestly rather cordially, tell Phoenix that he is their son and they love him but cannot condone his choice. And he can take what he likes from his things in the house. They'll keep it all for him so that he can have it there when he comes to his senses and finds a decent career. But until then, it would be best if they didn't see him. Thus, Phoenix goes back to university heartbroken and seriously questioning if he made the right choice. (He probably watches Legally Blonde more than he'll admit.)

Then Dahlia comes along and the worst possible moment, and he is absolutely gone because he is craving that validation affection offers and hey law must be good for something because the courthouse brought him his darling Dollie. He latches all his insecurity and worry into the idea of loving and being loved by Dahlia/Iris. Which then makes his defense of her make more sense to my demi brain because I cannot comprehend that level of dumbassery for love. Just personally. It also makes sense because he absolutely latches onto Edgeworth after the trial because doing so is safe in a sense. Edgeworth can't hurt him because he isn't there and even if they are saying he is evil, Phoenix can save him after all he proved law wasn't evil, he can prove Miles isn't either. Or actually, he has to prove Miles isn't evil because if he doesn't then his parents were right and he fucked up is a massive way. So it goes.

The parent thing though! Swooping back around to the whole independent, hands off style of parenting, I really strongly believe in that being how he grew up because that is exactly how he is with Trucy. People will emulate their parents' good parts when parenting themselves, so I think he really emulates that part of how he grew up. He trusts her to act independently and lets her have her space. But he is very clearly always there for her no matter what. (which ties into everything above see? Occasionally i have maybe a sense i know something about what I'm writing.)

So yeah. My zigzagging thoughts on why Phoenix is the way he is and the family he comes from. I guess just a last note is I don't think they ever reconcile. Especially not after the disbarment. They would see the news and just... crumple because they knew it, their darling son has been corrupted. Oh. ouch. They see that and empty out his room. And Phoenix sees it all sitting outside when he goes to try and talk to them. Oof. Oh. Why do I hurt myself like this. Maybe they even fucking move. They treat it like the death of a child and just leave. So Phoenix doesn't actually know where they are. Which might also contribute to the whole 7 years of depression he goes through. Ughh. Now I wanna think about that. NO. I have other shit that popped up. Later ramble, later.

[aceattorneymeta]

when capcom does similiarities in aa sprites between mentors and students and family members its such a small detail but also very cute

[aceattorneymeta]

MISTY FEY WAS A BAD MOM SHE ABANDONED HER DAUGHTERS ALL BECAUSE OF “””HONOR””” AND LEFT THEM WITH HER BITTER POWER HUNGRY SISTER YES HER SITUATION IS TRAGIC YES ITS UNDERSTANDABLE THAT SHE WANTED TIME ALONE BUT SHE STRAIGHT UP LEFT TWO YOUNG GIRLS (ONE OF WHICH WAS ONLY TWO YEARS OLD) TO BASICALLY FEND FOR THEMSELVES AND DEAL WITH THE FALLOUT OF WHAT HAPPENED.

NO SHE DID NOT MAKE UP FOR IT BY KEEPING THEIR PICTURE WITH HER AT ALL TIMES NO SHE DID NOT MAKE UP FOR IT BY GOING WITH GODOT’S SHITY “PLAN” AND SACRIFICING HERSELF ESPECIALLY BECAUSE IF PEARLS CHANNELED DAHLIA INSTEAD OF MISTY GODOT WOULD HAVE KILLED A NINE YEAR OLD GIRL INSTEAD. SHE ALSO PUSHED MAYA AWAY WHEN THEY DID MEET AGAIN INSTEAD OF TRYING TO GET TO KNOW THE DAUGHTER SHE SUPPOSEDLY LOVED WHICH IS UNDERSTANDABLE BUT SUPER SHITY

[aceattorneymeta]

you know what i just realized - miles edgeworth worked with dahlia during the fawles case. miles probably Knew dahlia was going to do something and while he might not have known exactly what that something was - he saw terry kill humself right there on the witness stand and probably knew it was dahlia. yet he didn’t do anything which ultimately lead to the poisoning of diego armando and then phoenix. do you think after the events of rfta when he like has his big epiphany that he feels. guilty for what happened to phoenix. do you think edgeworth blames himself. kinda like how klavier blames himself for disbarring phoenix.

[aceattorneymeta]

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Dahlia and Iris:  A look into sibling relationships, trust, & secrets.

Dahlia and Iris are some of the most infamous twins in video game history. They’re commented as “partners in crime,” while Iris blindly supports Dahlia in everything she does. They’re seen as polar opposites, or simply put, evil and nice. However, that is not the entire story.  

People seem to think Dahlia Hawthorne hated Iris. She’s portrayed as someone who simply uses her sister as a pawn in her game. She’s portrayed as despising her sister, treating her badly, and sending her off because she’s a nuisance. Yet, a simple play through of the third game can prove this as incorrect.

So why is Dahlia portrayed as hating her sister? Why is Iris constantly painted as jealous, and vengeful, not forgiving her sister? And what’s the truth behind their relationship?

This is a two part post, which will be exploring:

Dahlia’s Views. Dahlia never straightforward says how she feels about her sister, however, while she’s in disguise as Iris, she reveals more than she would as herself. 

Iris’s Views. Iris straightforward admits how she feels about her sister. Why she helped commit the murder, how she felt about Dahlia as a person, and how she felt she could have helped.

A note: This is my second Dahlia meta, I explore Dahlia’s motive, reasoning, and life of abuse in a previous post, which can be found HERE.

I also understand that this is not everybody’s interpretation, however, I feel it is important to realize that Dahlia willingly admits how she feels about Iris, yet she’s still written off as negligent and selfish, not caring about her sister. I’m here to explore that. This is not a debate, but simply my interpretation of evidence found in the actual gameplay.

Keep reading

[aceattorneymeta]

I agree- I would really, really strongly prefer them not kill Athena off. I don’t think they will (if they’re being smart about it) because she got introduced for one game and brought this cast of character’s from her life and story (Simon, Juniper, Aura, the phantom) and to kill her off almost immediately after that would make it feel like they knew what to do with her even less. It’d either seem like she was just a device to get these characters (at this point, mainly fan favorite SImon) into the series, or it would just seem like they didn’t know what to do with her and killed her off to get rid of the issue + for some cheap drama.

That’s a pretty interesting idea! I think the main reason Athena nearly loses all of her cases is b/c they just want  male character to swing in and save the day (I mean... Phoenix, Simon, and I think?? Apollo have all done that, now) and not for any plot relevant reason, but it’d be really interesting if it was. I currently believe that they actually removed Apollo form the main cast to either make room for Athena or to make room for a new defense attorney (and probably to make him an AAI style kuhrain spin off) in AA7. It’s really hard to say what route Athena is on at this point, because her character is at a critical cross roads of choice, and being introduced in what i think is the weakest game in the series certainly didn’t help her.

ANyways, thank you so much for your response! If they really let Athena come into her own as a character without having it crux no another AA5 character’s story would be.... nice... :,) also bring back junie k thx

Why Athena has stagnated

I love Athena. My first ever internet handle, my deviantart, was AthenaCykes, I still go by Athena on here, and I have pleny of fanart and keychains of her in my ace attorney collection. But I don’t love where her character is going. You see, I think the AA5 dev team made a big mistake with Athena. Not with making her (i mean… cramming a third main character attorney into the cast is kind of pushing it but she’s perfect and our first defense lawyer girl who’s not dead so. it’s worth it) but wit giving her such a clean and done arc in the first game she appeared in.

Keep reading

[aceattorneymeta]

Why Athena has stagnated

I love Athena. My first ever internet handle, my deviantart, was AthenaCykes, I still go by Athena on here, and I have pleny of fanart and keychains of her in my ace attorney collection. But I don’t love where her character is going. You see, I think the AA5 dev team made a big mistake with Athena. Not with making her (i mean... cramming a third main character attorney into the cast is kind of pushing it but she’s perfect and our first defense lawyer girl who’s not dead so. it’s worth it) but wit giving her such a clean and done arc in the first game she appeared in.

In the “phoenix Wright” original series (AA 1, 2, and 3) Phoenix Wright is very distinctly not the main character of the first game. He takes the limelight in the second and third games, yes, but the first game is definitely about Edgeworth (I’m fairly sure takumi has even said so himself in an interview.) I understand the need to tie in main characters and main character trauma into the plot, it makes it much easier to get pulled in, and makes the pain in these arcs even more poignant. But by choosing to make the game about Edgeworth’s trauma, and not Phoenix’s, they left their foot in the door for more room later. It works for Edgeworth’s arc to have him confront his Trauma at the end of game one, because in game one, Edgeworth is a villain. So his arc throughout 2,3, and AAi get to be about him overcoming these things he has now worked through, and becoming a good person.

On the other hand, Maya and Phoenix are good people (edgeworth is good and I know this, but AA1 edgeworth is MASSIVELY corrupt)- and they do not work through their trauma until game 3. This means that instead of their narratives being about them finding redemption after seeing the light, it’s about them finally being able to move on, while continuing to be good. Phoenix moves on from Dahlia and confronts her, and Maya moves on from Misty and gets to say goodbye. It is touching, and it is complete. The way Phoenix and Maya’s arcs are handled is a masterpiece, imo.

Hey!! I thought this was about Athena!! you might be saying to yourself. Now, hold onto your horses, because I’m getting there.

Ace Attorney has always had a problem that people writing books generally do not- a sequel is FAR from guaranteed. This means tieing everything up in a nice bow and leaving it, allowing for VERY little slow burn things like you would find in novels. Were ace attorney original meant to be a three game series, I have no doubt that Dahlia would have been introduced earlier, but t wasn’t. So the games rely heavily on backstory cramming. They always have. But here’s the problem- in AA4 and AA5, they were so desperate to make these new defense attorneys immediately have these sad stories, that they gave them their game three conclusions (from which they have little room to grow, thus- Hobophoenix and phoenix’s fall form grace). I think the AJ team felt the need to justify Apollo’s inclusion as the lead by giving him a cut and dry arc in his first game. Apollo Justice Ace Attorney follows a similar pattern to Ace Attorney three, with setting up this big villain in case one and then bringing them back as the ultimate mastermind for a blast from the past. AJ did it 100% better than AA5 did, though, allowing Apollo more room to clearly grow from there, and more backstory room.

So now’s where we get to Athena. In Ace Attorney five, Athena’s arc is cut and dry. her backstory is completely filled- we know about her mom, her pseudo brother simon, the phantom incident, her moving to Europe, ect. It would be difficult to add more to Athena’s backstory without shoehorning it into Europe in the few years she has before becoming an attorney- compare that to apollo simply finding out his boss kills people (and the sibling thing but thats??? still on slow burn. Why is that the one thing you choose to slow burn capcpom why) So while Apollo has room for two new aditional (though shoe horned in) back story things in AA5 and AA6, Athena... kind of doesn’t

See, Athena beat her final boss in her first game. The phantom, the killer of her mother and reason Simon is in Jail gets assassinated. He’s just... gone. She gets to beat her boss, save her brother (and Junie! Athena’s childhood friend trope was ALSO used in game one) and now she has nowhere to go but up.

Ace attorney has 4 main tropes they could employ here and none of them fit athena. She cannot overcome her deamons like edgeworth because at this time, she’s a good person- she doesn’t need to learn what it means to fight for the truth, she knows. She also cannot just have new and improved (tm) backstory like apollo- her backstory is too tight as it is, and there is basically no room for MORE TRAUMA. She could fall form Grace, like Phoenix does, but Capcom has already kinda swept that under the run, and it wouldn’t have the same effect as it did with Phoenix- she’s not famous, or have any real reasons to become disenfranchised. Or, finally, she could just... Klavier it up, and slowly become unrelevant, have her character stagnate unless it’s being used as a foil for Phoenix/Apollo’s growth. And after turnabout storyteller? I think that’s where they’re going

They wrote themselves into a corner with Athena, and so i think their either going to kill her off, or stagnate her. She totally could mature nad just... grow up but that wouldn’t have the backstory shock value the series relies on so heavily for tearjerkers right now so.... I don’t see it happening

as always, if you have a different opinion on this, I’d love to hear it! and thanks for reading :)

[aceattorneymeta]

I think one thing that really sets ace attorney (and GT, but i wanna talk about AA right now) apart is how low the stakes are- and how much that show’s Phoenix’s inherent kindness. Now, let me clarify. I know the stakes in ace attorney are high. ESPECIALLY in cases where Maya or Edgeworth or Athena’s lives are on the line. But even in smaller cases where you defend random people, the stakes feel really high. And this is so different from other games of the genre. In other logic puzzle based games, the protagonist is usually either saving a whole town (professor Layton and the unwound future) or them self/their love interest (999). But in most of ace attorney, you are fighting to save random people. The stakes feel through the roof- and I think one of the clearest points of this is in Farewell my turnabout. Yes, Farewell my turnabout has Maya’s life on the line. but so is Adrian’s. the final choice you make, guilty or not guilty, is a choice between Maya and Adrian. in a lot of puzzle games, or regular games (looking at u 999) the choice would b obvious. But in farewell my turnabout the choice is painful to the point of feeling impossible.of all the people I’ve asked, I got about a 50/50 ratio of people who chose guilty ot people who chose not guilty. Even though one is an NPC making their first appreance, and one of your beloved companion for 2 games. But this choice is framed in the game as if neither choice is right. You have to decide wether you want to place the life of a completel stranger of Maya- but not only that, a lot of people do. becuase Ace Attorney is about helping the underdog. Ace Attorney is about being kind- about, despite his snark, Phoenix is an inherently kind character (and this makes his fall from glory so much more defeating) Ace attorney is about kindness- not just about Justice, or about thwarting evil, but about helping those who need it. I think Phoenix himself says is best in Bridge to the turnabout

“It’s only natural for living creatures to fight to protect their own lives. But what makes us human is that we fight for others. “

[aceattorneymeta]

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Dahlia Hawthorne: More than just a murderous ex-girlfriend. A look into abuse, mental illness, and characterization.

Dahlia Hawthorne. Most people despise her, for obvious reasons. She tried poisoning Phoenix, sent a man into a coma, killed her own sister, and seemed to show no remorse for what she’s done. She’s seen as more despicable than Kristoph Gavin. She’s seen as more despicable than the Phantom. So, why is it that this young girl, who did not live past the age of twenty, is seen as one of the most diabolical villain in video games and why does she act the way she does?

Why is she simply seen as a “murderous ex-girlfriend” when the entire basis of her evil doings are given to the player throughout the game?

So why is Dahlia Hawthorne so compelling? What about her makes the player want to come back to her time and time again? And why does her breakdown seem to leave you feeling a bit hollow inside as the ghost leaves the body?

A Note: I understand that murdering is wrong, I am not claiming that what Dahlia did was excusable. I’m just simply suggesting that as a fan, it is important to understand why the character acts the way she does. The blatant mischaracterization is harmful to the character herself, and leaves the impact of Dahlia behind. Once again, I am not apologizing for her actions, but rather explaining why. Why she acts the way she does.

This is a four part post, which will be exploring:

Childhood. Why is Morgan Fey’s impact more harmful than what meets the 

Motive. Is Dahlia’s motive simply just for pleasure? Or is there a deeper, psychological desire?

Relationship to Iris. Why is Iris’s impact so important to Dahlia as a character? How are the two a symbiotic relationship?

Breakdown. Why is her breakdown so telling to her as a character? Why isn’t she ready to go?

This is very long, about five pages in Microsoft Word, and I apologize in advance for that.

This is also a reupload, considering the fact that this blog is newly revamped, however, this is all my writing.

This also includes mentions of #csa, #pedophilia, #abuse, #parents, and of course, #aa3 spoilers. So please, read with caution.

Keep reading

[aceattorneymeta]

Why Ace Attorney has lost its potency

this blog isn’t done or open yet but i was talking to a friend about this a bit ago and i felt like i finally put together some thoughts i’d had floating around for a while so i just wanted to jot them down here :0

and i know that title sounds clickbaitey but i honestly, truely believe the series has. Ace attorney started off as the passion project of top tier writer shu takumi and his team of seven other people. it was a game project used to train new staff, and they weren’t given a lot of time to make a game as amazing as ace attorney is. But they did! And i firmly believe the reason they could was becuase it was grounded in three things things: strong characters, clever mysteries, and most importantly: social commentary.

If you aren’t a huge ace attorney obsessor like I am, or you just don’t know a lot about law in Japan, let me give you a basic rundown of what I picked up while doing research on the series. In Ace Attorney, Phoenix Wright is the perfect prosecution’s punching bag. obviously, this is for comedic effect, no prosecutors in Japan bring whips or hurl coffee in court. But in Japan, especially at the time when Ace Attorney one was in development, Prosecutors ruled the court. It was expected that prosecutors not loose cases. It was expected that your client go to prison, as a Defense attorney. Prosecutors were infamous for forging evidence and forcing confessions, even leading testimony was common practice, and it even sometimes had a blind eye turned to it. So that’s what ace attorney was- a big, cartooney exaggeration of a very real problem in japan at the time. Phoenix is the defense attorney who cannot win, edgeworth and franziska are the “anything for a guilty verdict” prosecutors, adn the judge is the blind eye of the japanese justice system- a justice system that did not have a jurry in it until 2009.

So why is this gone? Ace Attorney one has overarching themes of the innocent deserve help, as well as biting critical commentary of Japan’s legal system at the time, the villinization of the prosecutor (something completely reverse from most american courtroom dramas, where the defense attorney is portrayed as evil) the innocent, hard working down on his luck defense attorney, the desperate, sympathy garnering clients in a place that so often paints them as villians (just look at Yanni Yogi, as well as Yomiel from Ghost trick, for example on that, albeit dramatic ones) Ace Attorney two is about the conviction of people who are ultimatly good- once again making sympathy where there often is none (i feel bad for ini, don’t you?) and then turning that on its nose with the scum bag client. AA2 was about how we understand innocence and how we need to look past it to create a good legal system. Finally, AA3 is about prosecution and defense working together to fix things- like takumi believes a courtroom should work. We see this carried over into apollo justice, which also has a more likeable prosectuion who actually cares about getting the correct verdict, it shows a step in the right direction, ESPECIALLY with takumi’s push for the jury system in this game (Apollo Justice was made in 2007, just two years before jury was reinstated in japan. clearly takumi was following this a lot)

 I’m not going to touch on AAI1 and 2 becuase i frankly dont feel like i understand their context well enough to, and I haven’t play AAI2 (plus theres no official translation that worked with the staff, and while i worship the fan translators it runs the risk of missing very subtle themes if they didnt work with the producers directly) and I’m not going to touch on DGS (completely different historical context) or PL vs AA (not as serious a game) becuase theyre in a different situation than main game ace attorney

But in Ace Attoreny 5 and 6, this is just... gone. i didnt really enjoy ace attoreny 5 just... in general, it had weird writing and stuff but on top of that? it doesn't have a cohesive theme to tie it together aside from “athena is traumatized” and we’re in the “DARK AGE OF THE LAW” which was about... fake japanifornia law and (as far as i know) was not meant to criticize any other law systems. Ace Attoreny six some how took this one step further by setting everything in fake tibet and then criticizing a law (the culpability act) that has NEVER BEEN INSTATED anywhere?? as far as i can find? certainly not in japan, and certainly not right now. it felt like a hollow imitation of 1-4′s biting social commentary (especially in 1, tbh) and it fell very flat. I had plenty of other issues with this game that I’m sure I’ll talk about too, but this post is long enough

If i’ve missed anything, espeically about real world stuff b/c my knowledge of ace attoreny is 100% better than my knowledge of law in the real world, please feel free to talk to me about it, or disagree, or set up a dialogue! This is a jumping off point and I’d love to hear other’s thoughts :)

thanks for reading!!