#& all nick has to say to that is 'i'm sorry edgeworth'

[chstart]

it's the way he really never tells anyone shit re himself

[queenlua]

Phoenix Wright / Kristoph Gavin "What the fuck are we even doing together?"

The disbarment hits the papers, and suddenly every Tom, Dick and Harry that Phoenix has ever met is blowing up his phone.

Amazing how many of them there are.  There's his aunt Jessie, whose sole previous communication with him these past ten years has been a dutifully-sent annual birthday card.  There's Gary from that internship Phoenix did his last summer in law school, calling from five states over.  His barber, for some reason.  And a bunch of guys that he hasn’t talked to since 1L.  Like a freaking class reunion in his phone, except through one-way glass, so he can't get a look at them.  It'd only be fair, after all, if he could judge them right back—judge them for whatever biglaw job they burned out of, or how much weight they've put on, or how divorced they are, or whatever it is people henpeck at those sorts of things—

And it's amazing how many of them won’t even admit why they’re calling.  Hey Phoenix, it’s been a while huh, just wondered how you’re doing these days, well if you get this call me back—

Right.  As if.

He plays the voicemails back every night, after Trucy’s asleep, sitting alone with a bottle of cheap swill, and he lets the voices wash over him until he’s comfortably numb.

When Maya calls, two weeks later, he recognizes it right off because he’s got the Kurain area code memorized.  And he stares at those digits a long while, deciding—because, hell, he owes Maya an explanation, doesn't he? Edgeworth, Larry, it's whatever, but Maya didn't ask to get mixed up in any of this—

Then he swipes the call straight to voicemail, and stops listening to the voicemails altogether.

Which he should’ve known wouldn’t be enough to put her off.  So he shouldn't be surprised when Maya shows up at his apartment a week later, banging on the door and hollering for him to come out, Nick, it's me—

His apartment looks like shit.  He knows that already, from the look the pizza guy's been giving him this past week, every time he opens the door.  He doesn't need to see that look on Maya's face, too.

“Do you mind,” he says, blocking the entryway with his shoulders.  He says some other things, probably.  He already had a good buzz going before she got here.

She squares her shoulders and shoves past him.  Then she barges into the nearest closet, roots around until she finds the swiffer and some wet wipes, and starts going at his place with the same vigor he used to have when he was cleaning up the office.

So it takes some doing, getting her to leave.  He stands in a corner and says nothing while she's sweeping and scouring and chattering.  I had to find out in the paper.  The paper!  You KNOW how slow news is to get to Kurain, Nick, you could've called—

You weren't here, he snaps.  He says it like an accusation, as flinty and sharp-edged as any he's ever flung in a courtroom, stares her down—and she's not a hardened criminal, she's barely an adult, she isn't steeled against this sort of thing.  She just blinks and stares back at him like a kicked dog.

It's a low blow and he knows it.  She's got a life in Kurain, she's got Pearl to take care of, and everything that went down with Godot was just two months ago, and he kept saying he'd go visit her in Kurain but he hadn't done that so who wasn't there for who, really—

But it does get her to leave.  Which is what he wanted, after all.

The next morning, he pulls up the call history on his phone, for the first time in days.  It’s a wall of missed calls from the very same number, that familiar area code.  He flips over to the voicemails, and ventures a click on one of them at random—Nick, I’m on the train down, I don’t know why you’re not answering your phone or why you didn’t just tell me what happened but I'll be there soon—

And he almost takes it back.  Almost calls her back, I messed up, Maya, I'm sorry, I'm messed up—

Except then, that night he’s at the Borscht, he's sitting across from Kristoph, right.  Kristoph, the only guy who's seemed normal about all this, whose sympathies are tinged with the comfortable chilliness of professional courtesy, who's been kind-but-not-too-kind.  Halfway through the first course, Kristoph mentions seeing a young lady at the train station this afternoon, he just happened to be passing by—and she looked just like that assistant of yours, Phoenix, wearing that most unusual garb—is it a spirit-channeler custom, or just a current fashion, do you know—?

All the hairs prickle on the back of Phoenix's neck.  Kristoph smiles like he’s describing nothing more consequential than a strange, alluring bird at his backyard feeder.

And that's when it clicks, when Phoenix realizes the thing he can't prove yet, the thing that'd make him sound crazy if he tried—that he's being watched, that he's been set up, that this Kristoph is a wolf waiting by his door.

Phoenix forces his best shit-eating grin.  How about another glass of that wine, Kristoph.  How about this dessert menu, Kristoph.  Like those birds that draw other, bigger birds away from their nest by flashing their wings just so.  Better that Kristoph have Phoenix in his sights than anyone else.  Better that he does this alone.

[cornertheculprit]

Actually, isn't the way the magatama functions an indication of phoenix being mildly psychic?

Like, I think all pearl says is that it "let's us see into people's hearts". But the way it does... Presenting evidence, finding contradictions. That's very lawyer, you know. Very Phoenix. And of course from a doylist perspective, it needs to be the same mechanics anyway. but in universe, wouldn't it make sense for phoenix to shape the way the magatama works unconsciously via latent spiritual ability? Maya seems pretty shocked when Phoenix later tells her what it does, so she didn't make it do that either.

Also might give some context to the appearance of black psycholocks. Given that we first see any after phoenix went through a huge deal of character development and arguably got better at reading people. Also they're not broken the same way the other ones are, possibly showing phoenixes change in methods in court, unconsciously applied to the magatama as well.

I might be misremembering what pearl says though, so I could be wrong. Anyway, sorry for the long ask but my friends will break off contact if I bother them about ace attorney any more. It had to go somewhere.

Love your blog and you takes!

NOOOO DON'T APOLOGIZE I LOVE TALKING ABOUT PHOENIX AND HIS WEIRD MILDLY PSYCHIC ABILITIES. ahem. anyway. pearl actually does name them as psyche-locks herself! here's the initial dialogue for it:

Phoenix: Aaack! What is that!?

Ini: ...?

Pearl: You can see it, can't you, Mr. Nick? You can see the "lock" on that person's heart.

Phoenix: Huh, what...?

Pearl: This is the power of the Magatama. Only you can see these "Psyche-Locks", Mr. Nick.

Phoenix: (Psyche-Locks, huh...)

Pearl: The more someone wants to hide their secret, the more locks you will see.

moreover, this is pearl's dialogue if phoenix fucks up too many times during the session:

Pearl: ...Mr. Nick... ...If you push yourself any more, your soul will shatter... ...Please calm down, collect your thoughts, and try again...

it's very clear that this power is actually pearl's, who charges the magatama with her energy and subsequently gives phoenix (and later, edgeworth) the ability to see them as well. and here's maya's explanation of why she doesn't know about the psyche-locks:

Maya: Hey, Nick, what is the Psyche-Lock thing?

Phoenix: Well, your magatama lets me see when people are keeping secrets. By breaking their mental "locks", I can find out what those secrets are.

Maya: Whaaaaat!? This Magatama has THAT kind of power!?

Phoenix: ... Maya, you're the one who gave me this Magatama last year...

Maya: ...Well, it's true that this Magatama is a prized Fey family heirloom, but... Pearly was the one that actually imbued it with spiritual powers, right? That's why I don't really know much about what it can do.

which raises the implication that the magatama is really just a tool—the power that it has is dependent on the person who charges it. i think this is also backed by what maya said when she first gave it to phoenix:

Maya: This is called a Magatama. It's a magical charm and it's always protected me. Give this to Pearly... And I'm sure she'll lend you her spiritual powers.

she says that it's always "protected" her, but seeing psyche-locks isn't exactly a form of protection, which in turn implies that whoever had charged the magatama before pearl did it with protection(?) in mind. maybe. i've always been a fan of the idea that the green magatama used to be misty fey's, which is why it used to be charged to "protect" maya, but that's a whole other story. ANYWAY!

i don't think the way the magatama functions is an indication of phoenix being mildly psychic, but i DO think something else about phoenix and the magatama points to that idea—the fact that phoenix, by the middle of trials & tribulations, doesn't need to be touching the magatama to see the psyche-locks. we see this happen when psyche-locks appear around jean armstrong despite the fact that armstrong had already stolen the magatama and phoenix wasn't interacting with it in any way, shape or form. this is something never mentioned by pearl nor experienced by edgeworth, when he was using it, and it DOES have a limited range (since phoenix couldn't see victor kudo's locks in vitamin square until he got the magatama back) but it's still something that happened.

it's not something ever really explored because phoenix keeps the magatama on him 24/7, but the fact that Literally Happened is something that fascinates me. could phoenix extend the range that he can be away from the magatama but still see the psyche-locks if he trained at it? i think he could. in fact, just given that he can already do things like hear mia even when she's not being channeled (for starters), i think that phoenix being able to forgo the magatama entirely and still being able to see the psyche-locks is an inevitability, not just a possibility. ESPECIALLY given that the fact that he found out that he could see the locks without the magatama was a total surprise to him. i just think that he'll never REALLY find it out because of his habit of keeping the magatama on him all the time. it's still interesting nonetheless!

[quailfence]

[Image description: Grayscale comic about Miles Edgeworth and Pearl Fey from Ace Attorney. Miles punches in a number on his flip phone. He brings the phone up to his ear and taps it impatiently as it dials. A note next to him reads "hasn't been able to stalk (corssed out) reach wright throught gumshoe in weeks". Pearl is in the office. She picks up the phone and says, "Wright & Co law offices how can I help? No, Mr. Nick is away in London." She starts to spin around and says, "No, I'm sorry, Mr. Ehjiworth, I dunno. Uuuh… when should they be back? Last month, I think."

Miles pinches his nose and shouts "What do you mean, last month?!?" Pearl asks, "Why are you yelling at me??" Miles replies, "I… I'm sorry… Pearl… when was the last time you spoke to either of them? Who's been taking care of you?" Pearl rests her head on her cheek and says, "Hmmm. It has been probably about a month and a half… maybe two?" It's been just me and Charley here…" She stares at Charley. who is sheding its leaves, and thinks "Well, mostly just me…" She's managed to twirl the phone cord around her.

Miles sighes and asks, "Didn't you think it strange when they didn't call?" Pearl grins and says in a heart-shaped speech bubble, "Not at all! (Heart)". She makes a kissy face at the phone and continues in cursive, "I"m sure Mr. Nick and Mystic Maya decided to elope and enjoy their romantic European honeymoon away from prying eyes, don't you agree?~" Below is a drawing of Phoenix and Maya in wedding outfits, with flowers around them.

Miles shakes his head and says "No, that can't be it…" Pearl stares straight ahead, a broken heart next to her. Miles continues, "Knowing that man, I'm sure it's something else entirely… Something stupid." A narration box reads "Meanwhile, in fantasy land…" Maya and Phoenix are in a bakery, laughing. Phoenix holds up a loaf of bread with a scowling face on it that somewhat resembles Miles' head. Phoenix says, "look Maya it's breadworth" Maya: "ha ha. why is that funny". Phoenix: "i'm not sure". A note pointing to them reads "wiped out memories".

Miles walks out the door, pulling on his coat. He's still on his phone and tells Pearl, "Stay where you are. I'm sending Gumshoe to come get you". Pearl has manages to get the phone cord around her three times. She says "Okay!", which is written vertically. End description.]

More plvspwaa art yes

a smol bonus:

this is all gumshoes fault, including the dimensional travel

[ao3-rex1223]

Chapter 23: Your First Defendant

Twelfth Floor Intern Masterlist

Pairing: Miles Edgeworth x fem!reader

Summary: You dive in to your first day following around the Ace Attorney himself, Phoenix Wright. You're enthusiastic and champing at the bit to try your hand at criminal defense! Unfortunately, you discover that your connection to the chief prosecutor is no secret anymore and for better or worse, you're getting recognized! Your investigation begins with some colorful characters surrounding this dog show murder and in addition to all that, you bump into an old friend of Phoenix and Miles!

Tags: Power Imbalance, Mentor/Intern, Miles wants you so bad but he's ethical AF now, No use of y/n, depictions of violence, Discussion of Rape, description of murder victims, adult murder victims, child murder victims, Eventual Smut, Happy Ending, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Vaginal Sex, Vaginal Fingering, Creampies, Loss of Virginity, Miles is the king of prosecutors but also the king of consent, Fluff and Smut, Romance, Blow Jobs, Nightmare about sexual assault, cross posted on AO3

Phoenix Wright's office is a simple, small building across from a hotel; a stark contrast to the towering prosecutor's office. In a way, it makes Phoenix more impressive. He's been incredibly successful with very limited resources.

"Hey!" Phoenix greets happily. "Glad you found the place, okay! Go ahead and set your things down wherever."

"Thanks! Miles told me how to get here."

"Hiya!" Maya greets with a big grin and grabs your hands gently. "It'll be so nice to have another girl on the defense team! No offense, Nick!" Phoenix sighs.

You lay your bag down behind the front desk and glance at the two bookshelves nearby. It looks like a secretary should be sitting there, but the only ones here are Phoenix and Maya. They really do do everything themselves. Aside from the small desk in the corner, there's a simple, black couch on the opposite wall and a coat rack next to it.

"Don't get too attached, Maya. Remember, she's only here for one case," Phoenix explains.

"Yeah, one case for now." Maya winks. "Maybe she'll have so much fun, she'll want to stay forever!"

Phoenix drops his shoulders and sighs. "She still has to finish school. Plus, there's no way Miles will let that happen, anyway, Maya."

"Oh right, she and Mr. Edgeworth are-"

"Maya! I told you we can't bring that up!" Phoenix interrupts.

Maya blushes with embarrassment. "Right, sorry, Nick, I forgot." She smiles sheepishly.

Phoenix turns back to you. "I hope you got a good night's sleep and you're ready to hit the ground running! We've got a lot to do today!" He announces.

You are ready, but you couldn't sleep to save your life. It took you over two hours to even fall part way asleep and every time you turned over, you reached for Miles only to crush your hand against the wall. You nearly called him three times but held out hope that he was faring better than you at sleeping alone. By the time you really got comfortable and fell asleep, your alarm went off. "I'm ready to go, Mr. Wright!" You reassure him. The excitement of getting to shadow the attorney you've looked up to for years energizes you and makes you feel bright eyed and bushy tailed.

"You can call me Phoenix. You say 'Mr. Wright' and you sound like The Judge." He chuckles.

You let out a laugh. "Okay, sure, Phoenix." It feels weird and, somehow, disrespectful.

"We better get going or we'll miss the bus," Phoenix announces. "I want to get to the detention center right away." He picks up his briefcase as he starts heading to the door. You and Maya follow quickly behind.

The bus is crowded, but you're all able to squeeze on board.

Maya nudges up next to you. "I'm dying to ask, what's it like interning with Mr. Edgeworth?"

The motion of the bus shuffles you against her and the rest of the crowd on the bus. "There's never a dull moment," you reply.

"Do you like it?" Maya asks.

You raise an eyebrow at her.

She giggles, "prosecution, I mean."

You chuckle. "Oh, yes, I do. I love it, actually."

Maya makes a sour face.

"C'mon, Maya, prosecutors aren't all bad," Phoenix comments.

"Yeah, I promise, I just want to help people," you add. "And find the truth."

"Well, I guess you and Mr. Edgeworth aren't so bad," Maya admits with a smile. "Even though he's really grumpy most of the time."

"He's really only like that during court," you explain. The bus slows to a stop, nudging the sea of passengers forward. It's been a while since you've used public transportation, but the muscle memory of staying balanced on a moving bus, train, or other large people mover comes back to you in an instant.

Maya narrows her eyes and smiles accusingly at you. "Well, of course you would know that."

"Maya! C'mon, you know Miles asked us not to bring that up!" Phoenix reprimands in a rough whisper. You chuckle as he tries to reign in his curious assistant.

"I know, Nick, but I've never seen Mr. Edgeworth with anyone! I can't help it!" Maya blushes along with sporting a sheepish grin.

"Well, can you at least not bring it up in public?" Phoenix asks, exasperated. The bus jerks into motion again.

"Okay!" Maya agrees. So, you'll probably endure a barrage of questions from Maya later. Oh well. As long as she waits until you're out of the public eye and ear.

You arrive at the detention center shortly after visiting hours begin and sign in along with Phoenix and Maya. A detention officer leads you back to the visiting room. The large, rectangular room is divided in half by a wall of sheetrock and plexiglass, wide enough to allow conversation between inmates and visitors.

The defendant, your first ever client, sits in a chair on the other side of the glass. He appears rather subdued. He's a lanky man of medium height. His curly, light brown hair dangles a few inches around his face and ears. It sways as he turns to watch the three of you enter. He adjusts his glasses when he gets a better view of you specifically. He raises a brow as if trying to place you, sporting a guarded but not angry expression.

Phoenix sits directly in front of the client. "Dr. Wyatt Thompson?"

Wyatt still flickers his eyes to you occasionally while looking at Phoenix. "Yes," he reluctantly confirms.

"My name is Phoenix Wright," he states with a smile. He introduces Maya and then you.

"I knew it!" Wyatt shouts and stands up from his chair, pointing at you. "I'm not saying anything in front of her!"

Phoenix recoils in surprise. "What do you mean? What's wrong?"

Wyatt stares daggers at you. "I've read about her in the papers! She's the Edgeworth girl; a prosecutor! I'm not talking until she leaves!"

'The Edgeworth girl'...that's a new one, you think to yourself. Miles did warn you that defendants often have a skewed, negative view of prosecutors. Still, you felt bad the client is going to give Phoenix trouble because of your budding reputation as a ruthless prosecutor and protege of Miles Edgeworth. Then again, if he's truly innocent, why should he be afraid of you?

"No, i-it's okay," Phoenix attempts to reassure the client. "She's with me today! She's interning and she's here to learn. That's all!"

"I'm not even actually a prosecutor. I'm still a law student at the moment," you add, trying to speak as calmly and kindly as possible.

Wyatt huffs and continues to watch you with a softer, yet still distrusting face. You keep your expression neutral, unsure of whether you trust him or not. There's a somewhat long, uncomfortable silence before Wyatt finally says to Phoenix, "fine, but if she feeds any secrets to the other side, I'm reporting her to the state bar!"

"I promise, I want to help," you chime in. "I'm on your side."

Wyatt cocks his head to the side. "Hmpf, we'll see about that."

"Why don't you start by telling us what happened?" Phoenix says. He places his hands calmly on the desk in front of him, one on top of the other.

"I was hired as a veterinarian for the Southwestern Kennel Club Dog Show. I'd known Bill for a long time. We were always civil, but we weren't great friends. It all started yesterday morning when we were arguing about an illegal entrant into the competition. I examined the dog around noon and went back to inform Bill that the dog had a surgery to shorten one of the muscles in its tail which is against the competition rules. When I found him, he was dead. I checked for a pulse; I didn't feel anything. Plus, he was cold." Wyatt looked disturbed, not necessarily sad, though.

"Which competitor was cheating?" You ask, forgetting Wyatt doesn't want to talk to you, but identifying the cheater is the obvious choice for a first suspect.

The distrusting veterinarian scrunches his face into a scowl and glares at you.

"Please, Dr. Thompson," Phoenix begins, "these are important things for us to know."

Wyatt sighs and returns his focus to the spiky haired attorney. "Her name is Georgianna Zucker. She's a veteran dog show competitor. Her dog is Sydney, an Akita. I tried to tell Bill she was cheating, but he wouldn't listen to me and told me I was lying and to just drop it."

"Did he have any enemies that you know of?" You jump in and ask.

Wyatt stares at you with less vitriol than before but nowhere near kindness. He turns back to Phoenix. "I'm still not talking to the prosecutor."

Your shoulders sag and you sigh quietly. Maybe I should just go wait in the corner.

"C'mon, Dr. Thomas," Maya begins pleading, "she's a good friend of ours! She's really great." You appreciate her trying to build you up.

Wyatt snorts.

"It is important to know, though. Did he have enemies?" Phoenix repeats your question.

Wyatt scoffs and rolls his eyes. "Bill wasn't what you'd call a stand up guy. He's taken bribes in the past; he takes advantage of women involved in the competition because he's a judge. Oh, it's worth noting he's married with two kids, who he never sees because he works all the time."

"How do you know him?" Phoenix asks.

"We both used to show dogs. We were friends sometimes." He scowls as if calling the victim a friend was even a stretch. "We competed against each other for years, but we were usually cordial."

"Were the competitions the reason why you didn't always get along?" Phoenix asks.

Wyatt shifts in his seat and looks away, scowling. "Bill liked to cheat, too. There was an Alaskan Malamute he used to show. When she got older, he started dying her fur to keep her looking up to breed standards. I was sick of losing to him when I knew he was cheating so I finally told the judges. They disqualified him. I was also losing interest in the whole world of dog shows at the time and I'd saved enough money to go to vet school, so I quit. I have no idea how he weaseled his way into being a judge, but I don't think he ever competed again."

"How did you come to be a vet for the competition?" Phoenix asks. You wish you could jump in and ask questions yourself, but you know Wyatt won't talk to you.

"Actually, it was Bill that asked. He called me to see if I could fill in for their usual one who was on maternity leave. I assume it was because he didn't know of any others, but he never really explained why. We didn't exactly part ways amicably."

Phoenix sighs, clearly not looking forward to his next question. "I have to ask, Dr. Thompson, did you kill him?"

Wyatt frowns, eyebrows curling into a sad expression. "No, I swear. I wasn't crazy about Bill or what he's doing, but I didn't want him dead. I really don't care about what he did back then anymore. I've moved on from that. I was just there to look after the dogs and make some easy money." Wyatt's answer seems genuine, but part of you still questions it. Perhaps it's all the time you've spent on the other side, with prosecution, but you can't bring yourself to completely trust him yet. What you can do is promise yourself you will provide him with a fair trial. Miles was right, even if he's guilty, he still deserves at least that much.

Phoenix, in a genuine, kind, and caring voice replies, "I believe you, Dr. Thompson and I'm going to help you."

Wyatt looks exhausted, like he could cry. "Thank you, Mr. Wright. I swear, I would never hurt anyone!"

"Where were you during the time of the murder?"

"That's just it. I don't even know when he died, so it's hard to say. I can say I was in the makeshift clinic examining the dogs most of the day, but I'm guessing no one saw me there. I went up about two PM to the judges' office to let Bill know what I found on my exam and that's when I found him. The police couldn't find any other suspects so they arrested me! But I swear, I didn't do it!"

"I know. I'm going to get you out of this," Phoenix promises. You're unsure of what to make of your temporary mentor's complete trust of the client, however, you'll see what the investigation turns up. You can feel the premature judgment creeping up in your mind, but you can almost hear Miles telling you to ignore it and rely on logic and critical thinking. God, you miss that man. You wonder if he's thinking of you.

Phoenix wraps up his conversation and leads you and Maya out of the interview room. Phoenix looks at you with a frown. "Hey, I'm really sorry about what happened in there. I had no idea he'd recognize you. I really want your experience on this case to be a good one."

You let a smile form on your lips. "It's okay, Phoenix. It's not exactly the first time my connection to Miles has had consequences. I'm very grateful even to just be able to observe you directly."

Phoenix smiles and straightens himself up, putting on his 'teacher' cap as best he can. He clears his throat. "Okay, what do you think we should do next?"

Maya grins and hops in place. "Oh! I know! I know! We should look at the crime scene!"

Phoenix slumps with a sigh. "Maya! I'm trying to be a good teacher here! She's," he gestures to you, "supposed to answer the questions!" He looks at you. "Sorry, Maya is new to teaching, too."

You giggle. "It's okay. I was going to say the same thing as Maya anyway."

Phoenix smiles again. "Correct! Let's go check it out!" He turns on his heels and heads for the exit. You snort into a quiet chuckle at the stark contrast between Phoenix and Miles. Yet, somehow you can still picture them as friends. Their personalities would compliment each other well. Phoenix is so light-hearted and bubbly. Miles is far more hard-edged and doesn't show much emotion, except around you, of course. There is also something to be said about Phoenix since Miles trusts him with you.

The three of you arrive at the convention center where the dog show is taking place and there's no lack of activity. Police and contestants alike are buzzing about trying to get their jobs done. You recognize most of the officers and, of course, Detective Gumshoe. He beams at you and trots over. "Hey there, little lady!" He greets enthusiastically. His smile slowly fades and he glances around as if searching. "W-where's Mr. Edgeworth? I thought you two were joined at the hip!"

Oh God. Even Detective Gumshoe has noticed. "I have no idea," you answer. "I'm shadowing Phoenix for a case to get an experience with criminal defense!"

"Oh." Gumshoe laughs awkwardly. "Uh, got it."

"So, what happened here?" You ask.

"Bill Goddard. Fifty-eight years old. Found dead here yesterday by Wyatt Thompson. Witnesses said they heard the two arguing and Dr. Thompson didn't have anyone to corroborate his alibi so without any other suspects, we arrested him."

"Did anyone see the victim being attacked?" You ask.

Gumshoe quirks his brow with a frown. "Well, here's the thing, there weren't any injuries or wounds on the victim. He was just dead."

You and Phoenix look at each other with raised eyebrows. "Could it have been natural causes?" Phoenix asks.

"Maybe. Won't know until the autopsy, but as far as anyone here knows, he was perfectly healthy." Gumshoe scratches his head, looking puzzled.

"Could have been poison then," you declare, resting your chin on your knuckles.

Phoenix nods. "Who else was here yesterday?"

Gumshoe taps his chin. "Well, let's see…there was the veterinarian, the other two judges, and the contestants. There's ancillary staff, too, but they were all interviewed yesterday."

"Did they have anything helpful to say?" Phoenix asks.

"Not really. None of them heard anything except for the argument between Dr. Thompson and the victim."

"Is Georgianna Zucker here?" You ask.

"Uh, I think so." Gumshoe scratches his head again. "She's probably in the contestant lounge with the others"

"I'd like to have a chat with her," you reply.

Phoenix nods. "Yeah, same here. Let's go find her…uh, where's Maya?" He looks around for his assistant. You join him in the search and find her several feet away, kneeling on the ground, petting one of the show dogs, its tail wagging with elation. Her bright smile lights up the room as she scratches the friendly animal's ears. "Maya, c'mon," Phoenix calls, letting out an exasperated sigh. "We're trying to be professional for our intern here!"

"C'mon Nick, they're so cute!" Maya argues back, still petting the dog.

Phoenix rubs his brow and groans. "Let's go, Maya, we have to find one of the contestants."

"Coming!" Maya kisses the dog's head and trots back over to you and Phoenix.

"I assume Miles has had you interview witnesses," Phoenix says as you make your way toward the contestant lounge.

"Mhmm. I've done quite a bit of it, actually."

"Great! Would you like to interview Georgianna?"

"Sure!" You answer enthusiastically. You're champing at the bit to showcase your skills for your hero!

You arrive in the contestant lounge to find about a dozen handlers and canines. Maya lights up again. You approach the first person you see, "excuse me, can you tell me where I can find Georgianna Zucker?"

"She's over there; light pink suit," the man says and points in the appropriate direction.

Mrs. Zucker is a middle aged woman of rather short stature. Her medium length hair is decorated with just as much gray as its original light brown color. Her suit is impeccably well kept and she daintily holds the leash attached to a beautiful Akita, who sits obediently next to its master.

"Georgianna Zucker?" You ask, calmly approaching the woman.

"Who's asking?" She replies, holding a neutral expression. Her eyes, however, betray her and convey distrust and annoyance.

You introduce yourself and Phoenix.

"Oh, I've read about you in the papers!" She declares with a smile.

Not again. Your shoulders sink, preparing for her to tell you off.

"Good for you, honey," she comments in a soft voice and gives you a wink. "You got yourself a catch!"

Ah, I see you read the tabloids. "Eh, thanks. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions about Bill Goddard?"

Her smile fades, but you aren't sure if it's forced. This woman very likely has a great deal of experience hiding her true feelings. "Terrible what happened to him." She holds her hand over her chest and shakes her head.

"How long have you known him?" You ask.

"Hm, must be about fifteen years now. He used to show dogs, but now he's a judge."

"How did he get along with the other judges?"

"Fine, as far as I know. If you ask me, that veterinarian did it," Georgianna sneers.

"Can you tell me more about that?" You ask kindly, hoping you can build a decent rapport with her.

"First of all, they were arguing earlier and it sounded pretty heated. Second, he was going to accuse me of cheating!" She closes her eyes and huffs, offended at the thought. "It's been so much undue stress on Sydney and me!" She pets her dog. The animal looks completely unfazed.

"Do you know why they were arguing?"

"They were fighting about my prized baby, Sydney," she explains, gesturing to the dog beside her. "Bill, thankfully, was defending me! Telling that useless doctor he was full of beans thinking I would stoop so low as to cheat. My dogs are always the best. I don't enter anything less than the breed standards. I've won fifteen best in show competitions!"

"That's very impressive," you compliment with forced enthusiasm.

"It certainly is," Georgianna agrees with pride. "To be accused of cheating is an insult! My husband will hear of it if there's another word of this nonsense."

"Who is your husband?" You ask.

"Devin Zucker, founder and CEO of Zucker Realty."

It's not a company you've heard of before, but you feel confident in assuming Mr. Zucker and consequently Mrs. Zucker are rather wealthy.

"What got you into showing dogs?" You ask.

"I married my husband very young; I was only nineteen. I tried being a homemaker for a while, but that got boring, so I decided to try and show the purebred Vizsla my husband got me for my twenty-first birthday. Roxy was a hit and I just fell in love with it! I've made so many friends and even was invited to join the prestigious Book Club!"

You tilt your head to the side. What so great about that? "A…book club?"

"No, dear, not a book club. The Book Club. It's a group of," she smirks, "high society ladies of the area. It's named after the founder, Jordan Book. She started it back in fifty-seven. Her husband was Jackson Book, the oil baron."

"Oh, I see." You force a smile. A trophy wife club.

"You know, you'd be an excellent candidate now that you're married to Mr. Edgeworth. The other ladies would just burst with joy to have his bride join our group."

Your eyes widen with fear and Phoenix visibly flinches beside you. "Oh…um…well, he's…see, we're not married. He's my mentor and I'm an intern," you explain, stumbling over your words. You can't let that rumor start circulating! At least not for another few weeks.

"That's not what the papers are saying, dear." She pulls out her cell phone and shows you a tabloid website with the picture of you next to Miles at the courthouse with the headline 'Mrs. Edgeworth?' The subheading reads 'The prestigious attorney and his lovely young intern have not been seen together, outside the courthouse, in some time. Sources say they've already secretly married and are staying hidden, enjoying their wedded bliss'.

You stumble through more words, "I…i-it's not true, Mrs. Zucker." You pull your left hand up to show her your clearly empty ring finger.

"Ah." She replaces her phone in her purse. "That explains why you introduced yourself with your maiden name, then. I was surprised when I didn't hear you say 'Edgeworth'. No matter; look me up once you've married. The wife of Miles Edgeworth deserves a place at our table. Better be quick, though; he's definitely LA's most eligible bachelor and you are quite the beauty, but your looks won't last forever."

Great. I've been invited to the Trophy Wife club. You don't want more rumors to spread, but you want to keep this connection you have to her as a witness and potential suspect. You try to redirect her to the victim and avoid directly addressing her assumptions. "Mrs. Zucker, about Mr. Goddard. Do you know of any enemies he had?"

"I don't think so. Everyone loves Bill!" She says with a smile.

"He's married, right?" You ask.

"Yes." She sighs. "Diana. The poor thing must be just devastated."

"How is his relationship with her?"

"Hm. He doesn't really talk about her much. They have two children so it must be okay, at least."

"Did he ever talk about his kids?"

She searches her memory. "Hm…no, not really."

"Does he live around here?"

"In Beverly Hills somewhere."

"Ritzy place for a dog show judge," you comment.

"Oh, his wife is an heiress. Her father was in construction, I think; he did a lot of commercial projects around here. She is a member of the Book Club but hasn't attended the gatherings in a while."

"Has she explained why?"

"She just says she's busy," Georgianna answers with a shrug.

"Do you know if Mr. Goddard had any health issues?"

"Hm…I think his wife mentioned something in the past…I don't remember exactly what it was though. I think it was something with his heart, but she said it was well under control. You should ask Eddie, the other show judge. He was good friends with Bill. He'd probably know."

"Do you know where we can find him?"

"I'm sure he's around here somewhere. Maybe that detective knows. I hope this all gets sorted out soon. I'd hate for Sydney to miss out on a best in show win because that stupid doctor had to go and ruin everything."

You're all heart, ma'am. "Thank you very much for your time, Mrs. Zucker."

"Any time, dear. Us high society ladies have to help each other out," she adds with a wink. We'll see how much she likes me when she's on the witness stand.

You let out an awkward chuckle and leave with Phoenix and Maya to search for the other show judge.

"Something seems off about that lady," Maya comments.

"Yeah, no kidding," Phoenix agrees. "She was rather defensive when she talked about the cheating accusations."

"And she spends too much time reading tabloids," you add, bitterly.

Phoenix and Maya both chuckle. "I guess the media really likes the idea of you and Miles together, huh?" Your temporary mentor asks.

"It sells papers; that's for sure," you reply. "Phoenix, doesn't she seem at least somewhat suspicious to you? She definitely has a motive. Dr. Thompson has confirmed she was cheating and told Bill Goddard about it. She could have killed him to keep him silent. Bill would have been the one to disqualify her."

"It's possible, yes, but I think the prosecution will probably argue that it would be very risky to kill one of the judges. She said herself she was unhappy with the delay in the competition."

"And expressed almost no concern for the dead man," you reply.

"True, but she didn't seem to care much for anyone other than her dogs. She does have a motive and we will have to explore it, but she might just be a very superficial person."

"As evidenced by her attachment to this club she's in…yeah, I suppose you're right," you add in agreement. You sigh. "Well, let's see if we can get anything more out of this friend of the victim."

"Gumshoe should hopefully know where to find him," Phoenix says.

The scruffy detective directs you to an office where you find the other judge. You can see through the window on the door that he's on the phone. He paces nervously while he talks.

Phoenix looks proudly at you before you move to knock on the door. "Boy, Miles was right, you really are a fast learner! You did an excellent job with that interview. Wanna take this one, too?"

"Absolutely!" You reply happily. You turn and knock on the door to the office.

The man on the other side looks at you rather curiously with a slight frown but gestures for you to enter. He quickly ends the phone call with "I'll call you back."

"Mr. Kirsh?" You ask as you walk in. You introduce yourself and Phoenix.

"Yes, uh, you can call me Eddie," he says. He appears in his late thirties and is quite well built. He runs his hand anxiously through his hair and shuffles around behind his desk. There are papers and folders scattered everywhere throughout the office which holds two other desks, likely one for each judge. "I'm sorry about the mess. I'm sure you understand the upheaval that's been caused here."

"Yes," you begin sympathetically. "I can imagine this is rather difficult. I'm very sorry for your loss, Eddie. I'm told Mr. Goddard was a friend of yours."

Eddie forces himself to stop his nervous pacing and exhales a sharp sigh. "Thank you. Yes, Bill was a friend. Are you going to put that veterinarian away for what he did?"

"We're actually from his defense team," Maya chimes in.

"Would it be alright if we ask you some questions about Bill? We're just trying to get to know him," you add.

"Uh…sure…I suppose I can spare a few minutes. I'm trying to coordinate what to do now that the competition is without one of its judges. There's a lot of pressure from investors and advertisers to continue the show."

"I'll try to be quick. How long have you known Mr. Goddard?"

"Five years or so." Eddie sits himself down in the office chair, trying to calm his nerves. "I met him when I became a judge."

"Did you get along well?"

"Oh yes, always," he answers confidently.

"I understand he's married. Can you tell me about his relationship with his wife?"

"Yes…Diana. Poor thing." He shakes his head with a frown. "Well, as you can imagine, Bill worked a great deal and spent a lot of time away from home, but as far as I know, they were rock solid."

"How about his kids?"

"Oh," he frowns, "well, I'm not sure if it was really that good. He was away a lot and I think his children really missed him growing up. I suppose they're okay now, but he was absent a lot of the time."

"Did Mr. Goddard have any medical conditions that you're aware of?"

"Oh…yes he did," Eddie begins and taps his chin, trying to remember. "I believe it was something with his heart, but he took medication for it and as far as he told me, he wasn't having any problems. My God, do you think poor Bill suffered a heart attack?"

"We won't know until the autopsy."

"That would be such a tragedy."

"Apparently, Mr. Goddard and Dr. Thompson had an argument yesterday. Did you hear it?"

"No, but I heard about it from one of the competitors, Mrs. Zucker. She said the doctor was accusing her of cheating and Bill was defending her." A shocked expression sweeps across Eddie's face. "Wait. Is it true? Was Mrs. Zucker really cheating? Could she have done this?!"

"We need all the facts before we make an accusation like that, Eddie," you say to him as much as yourself.

Your reassurance doesn't ease his tension. "To think there could be a murderer among the contestants…" he leans his elbows on his desk and rubs his temples. "There will be a lot of angry, powerful people if this contest is canceled."

Not a lot of love for this guy. "Eddie, do you know of anyone who might want to do this to Mr. Goddard?"

"I can't think of anyone. He was a well liked judge. Look, if there are no more important questions, I need to return to cleaning up this mess."

"Uh, sure," you reply, "we'll be in touch."

Eddie quickly ushers you out of the office, closes the door, and returns to his phone calls.

"This is getting weirder," Maya comments. She frowns and rests her chin on her knuckles.

"Not really unusual for us, though," Phoenix replies.

Maya chuckles and clasps her hands together. "Yeah, you're right, Nick. We do get some really strange cases."

Phoenix turns to you. "Great job on the interview. There was something else strange I picked up from Eddie. Did you catch it?"

You frown, unsure of what he might be thinking. "He was very anxious. He did explain he's under a lot of pressure though. Still, something did seem…off."

"He consistently referred to the victim in past tense. Usually loved ones don't do that right away. It might not mean anything, but it's worth noting."

Phoenix was right. Eddie did do that. "Yeah, I didn't realize until you pointed it out. My dad has told me stories about that, too."

"Like I said, not necessarily cause for alarm, but something to keep in the back of your mind."

"Got it," you affirm your understanding with a confident smile.

"Miles really has taught you well. You're practically doing my job for me," Phoenix says.

"You're doing great!" Maya adds.

You grin happily and blush. "Thank you. That means a lot coming from you guys!"

"Yo, Nick!" You hear a voice yell from across the main hall.

Phoenix turns to the voice. "Huh?" You see a tall, boyish looking man with light brown hair, a bit spiky like Phoenix's. He starts towards the three of you with a wide grin on his face. "Uh oh," Phoenix utters, quietly. He glances at you then back to the man who looks like he'd be more at home on the beach, save for the jumpsuit he's wearing. The man looks over at you, stops dead in his tracks, and stares slack jawed through longing, half lidded eyes. He looks you up and down, then he practically bolts toward you. You take a step back, thinking he's going to tackle you to the ground when Phoenix steps between you. The man crashes into him, knocking Phoenix back slightly, but not hard enough to topple him over.

"Hey what gives, Nick? Trying to keep all the pretty girls to yourself?" The man asks, frustrated and trying to look around Phoenix, still blocking you.

"Larry," Phoenix begins, bobbing and weaving to keep you separated from the strange man, "if there's one girl on the entire planet that you absolutely need to leave alone, this is her!"

"Why is that, Nick?" Larry asks, continuing to try and dart around Phoenix to reach you.

Who is this guy, you think to yourself, watching in awe at the scene unfolding before you.

Phoenix stutters, knowing he needs to keep your secret, but apparently wanting to spare this funny man the unfathomable wrath of Miles if he lays his hands on you. "Erm…well…see…she's…"

"My father is a very famous detective and he's very protective of me!" You chime in, hoping it will be enough to stop this Larry person from his flirty pursuit.

"Oh…" Larry pauses his movements. "Your dad's a cop?"

"Yeah," you confirm. "He gets angry really easily!"

Larry stares at you, his mind warring with itself over what to do next. "Ugh. I guess I don't need a cop chasing me down." He appears to be more calm.

Phoenix finally relaxes, steps aside, and introduces you. "This is Larry Butz. He's another old friend of mine…and Miles'."

Miles is friends with this guy? My Miles? "Really?" You ask incredulously.

"Yup! Nick, Edgey, and I go way back!"

You bite your lip to keep yourself from busting out in laughter. There is no way! If he really is a friend of Miles, though, he's a friend of yours, too. Although, you suspect Miles would not be very friendly right now if he were here. You muster up your most polite tone, "it's nice to meet you, Larry."

Larry almost melts. He sighs longingly, "nice to meet you, too." He reaches out his hand for yours. You almost take it, but Phoenix slaps Larry's hand away.

"Nice try, buddy," Phoenix quips sarcastically. "I promise I'm trying to help you," he adds very quietly under his breath and you're fairly certain Larry didn't even hear it.

Goodness, did I look this lovestruck when I started interning with Miles?

Larry smiles sheepishly. "Sorry, couldn't help myself. She's too cute, Nick. I think I'm in love!"

Your eyes widen. Wait till Miles hears about this!

"Larry, you really gotta stop. Trust me!" Phoenix warns.

"What? Her dad's not here is he?" Larry asks.

"Larry!" Maya shouts. "She's a law student and she's trying to learn so leave her alone, okay!"

"Okay! Okay," Larry agrees. "Geeze, didn't know you were a teacher, Nick."

"He's just doing it as a favor to-" Maya attempts to elaborate further but is cut off by Phoenix.

"The law school!" He shouts, drowning out Maya's voice. "They've been asking for years and she's at the top of her class, so I figured I'd give it a try!"

"And I've been dying to see what criminal defense is like!" You add in.

"What are you doing here, anyway?" Phoenix asks Larry.

"I'm helping out with the dog show!"

"Doing what?" Phoenix asks, his narrowed eyes watching Larry suspiciously.

Larry rubs the back of his head. "Well, cleaning up after the dogs." That explains the jumpsuit.

"That doesn't surprise me," Phoenix replies. "Do you know anything about the murder?"

"You mean the show judge that croaked yesterday? I'm pretty sure he just keeled over."

"What makes you say that?" Phoenix asks.

"He was found in his office, wasn't he? I guess he didn't have any injuries or anything. Who could have done it? If ya ask me, I'd say he just had a heart attack."

Phoenix sighs. "Thank you for your 'expert opinion', Dr. Larry," he mutters with heavy sarcasm.

"Any time, Nick!"

"Well, we should get going, Larry," Phoenix begins, "I've got a lot of teaching to do and witnesses to interview!" He steps between you and Larry again to gently guide you away from him.

"Hey Nick!" Larry calls. The three of you turn back to face him.

"What is it, Larry?" Phoenix asks.

"You should take her to meet Edgey! I bet he'd love to meet a law student!"

Phoenix could not be more frustrated with his childhood friend. "Uh, yeah, sure. I'll do that."

You cover your mouth to hold in your laughter as you follow Phoenix though the rest of your first day of criminal defense.

[spirit-small]

It's over. Edgeworth is not guilty. What a Christmas this was. Gumshoe, in all his excitement, invited himself over for an impromptu celebration at Fey & Co, kind of forcing Edgeworth and Larry into it as well. Phoenix wasn't the most pleased with this, since he couldn't even participate without exposing himself to yet another bean. But as the night went on, the crowd thinned out, leaving just himself, Maya... And Edgeworth.

There's a quiet peace, but with a vaguely uncomfortable air of uncertainty permeating it. Despite having far more time to consider it than anyone else, Phoenix doesn't know what to say to Edgeworth, but he feels like he has to say something.

"Miss Fey, I simply have to ask," Edgeworth breaks the silence. "You must be a capable lawyer in your own right to have beaten me twice already. So why is it, exactly, that you risk Wright's safety just to have him by your side in court?"

Phoenix and Maya look at each other for a moment and burst into laughter.

"Edgey, Edgey, Edgey..." Maya pats him on the back, hard enough to cause him to sputter and cough up his drink a little. "Let me let you in on a liiiiiittle secret."

Maya looks around the room suspiciously and gets really close into Edgeworth's personal space to whisper in his ear, "Nick is the real lawyer."

"I... Beg your pardon?"

"Then beg." Maya says, sitting back into a more comfortable position, Phoenix in her lap.

"What? No, I- How could he possibly be the lawyer?!"

"Nick's the brains of the operation." Maya shrugs. "I'm the looks. And the muscle. And the wild card. I'd really be the total package, if I had a law degree."

"If you had a- What?! If you don't have- Then WHERE, pray tell, did you get that badge?! I suppose that's a crude forgery, then?!"

"Nah, this is the real thing. The genuine article. It belonged to my dead sister. She enqueaved it to me! Enqueaved, that's lawyer talk, right?"

"Bequeathed." Phoenix corrects her.

"Bequeathed! What did I say?"

"You said enqueaved."

"What does that mean?"

"I think you made that one up."

"That sounds like me."

"Can we stop this inane chatter? Are you two actually telling me that you've been illegally practicing law for the last three months?" Edgeworth has had enough.

"That's right." Phoenix nods.

"That is... You realize that that is insane, right? Wright, where did you even learn enough to do this?!"

"Also her dead sister. But it started with you, all those years ago."

"Have either of you considered the ramifications if you're caught?! And now that you've involved me, I may as well be considered an accomplice."

"E-Edgey... You're not gonna turn us in, right? I'm just trying to help Nick achieve his dreams! Plus, like, if we didn't do this you would be so in jail right now. You owe us this. And also money. My services don't come cheap."

"Your so-called 'services' should not have come at all! But... I suppose I am grateful to you," Edgeworth sighs. "I won't turn you in. But you need to either stop this, or go to law school. I can overlook your previous crimes but I cannot condone this any further."

"You got it, Edgey. I... Was kinda thinking we should stop anyway." Maya wraps her hands a little tighter around Phoenix.

"What? Why?!" Phoenix protests.

"Nick... Von Karma could've killed you. I thought he did, for a minute. It's too dangerous."

"I'm sorry, who could have killed whom?" Edgeworth glares at Maya.

"Killed is a bit of an overstatement. He kicked me against a wall. I don't think that's even close to 'too dangerous'!"

"Miss Fey...!" Edgeworth's rage is building.

"Oh, yeah, I got tazed, too. Don't worry, Edgey, I'm fine, thanks for your concern." Maya glares back at him.

Edgeworth grumbles.

"I'm tougher than I look, you two! I can handle the perils of a legal career!"

"More like an illegal career." Edgeworth mutters, silently laughing at his own joke.

"I just don't think it's a good idea! And you can't do it without me, so we're not doing it."

Phoenix sighs.

"I'm sorry... Nick..." She wraps her hands even tighter around him. "I can't lose you..."

He pushes against her fingers and she loosens her grip. He slides off her lap to sit on the other end of the couch alone.

"Wright. This is for the best. It's for your own safety." Edgeworth starts to reach toward him but quickly retracts his arm.

"I know, Edgeworth. I know."

"I'm sorry, but you can't keep doing this. You can't practice law, you're not even a real-"

"I know! I know I'm not a real person. I don't need you telling me that." Phoenix snaps.

"That wasn't what... Nevermind. Good night, Wright. Good night, Miss Fey." Edgeworth gets up and walks to the door. He pauses, briefly, to glance back at them, and then wordlessly leaves.

Maya sits down on the floor, facing the couch. She folds her arms up on the cushion Phoenix is sitting on and rests her head atop them, facing toward him. She gently pats him on the head with her fingertip.

"Wanna... Watch tv...?" She asks him.

".........yeah."

[96percentdone]

Yahoooo~, I recently started playing AA Investigations, and Kay really reminds me of Tracy somehow. I don't know if the two of them ever meet up in canon, but do you have any thoughts or potential headcanons about the two becoming acquainted with each other?

Kay is basically like Miles' honorary daughter so she's definitely met Trucy before, even if she doesn't live in the Wright-Edgeworth household (narumitsu is canon do not @ me i'm right).

Unlike Trucy, who lives with Nick because she's. literally his child, Kay just kinda floats in and out of Miles' life whenever she feels like it. I don't even mean like "she doesn't live in their house" level I mean like. She fucks off for like weeks even at a time with only five texts and a postcard or two to show for it (she's very busy as a Great Thief you know), and then comes back and sits Miles down and asks him to spill the deets first thing. Already this can lead to her being totally surprised by sudden changes, and Nick's disbarment is a BIG change that happens in like a week after the plot of Investigations 2.

Now Nick once he gets disbarred slowly chips people out of his life as best as he can for a while, because Kristoph Gavin is the worst and had him convinced it was for the best he do so. This means for a while Miles isn't in much contact with Phoenix or Trucy, and that means Kay still has no idea who the hell That Man™ is, just that things look bad on that front. However, once Nick rights the boat a little, and reconnect with the people he cut out and is better equipped to defeat Kristoph, now the door is open. They can meet.

What i'm saying is they meet when one day, Kay, who had vanished for like a few months on different interpol missions (because I believe in interpol Kay supremacy), like. Sneaks into Miles' apartment in the middle of the afternoon intending to surprise him when he gets home from work, but SURPRISE!! There's this like 12 year old girl sitting in his apartment, that she's never seen in her life. And then the twelve year old is like "oh! you must be Miss Kay!"

Imagine being Kay in that moment. This rando child knows who you are, and you have no idea who the hell she is, or why she's in Mr. Edgeworth's apartment. Naturally, she's like "Who are you?"

"I'm Trucy! Trucy Wright!"

Well, that doesn't answer any of her questions. Did Mr. Edgeworth take up babysitting? Maybe that's not surprising, given how he used to watch her, but he did that while prosecuting? Does he even have free time as he climbs the prosecutorial ladder? Okay, new question: "How do you know my name?"

"Uncle Miles told me aaaaallll about you. His old assistant and friend!"

Uncle. Uncle Miles? Well, Trucy just said she's a Wright and not a von Karma, meaning...meaning what. Who the hell is this child in Mr. Edgeworth's apartment? Why? Unless...."Oh my god. Did Mr. Edgeworth finally start dating "That Man"? Is his name Wright? Something Wright?" Who is that man?

Trucy just tilts her head and looks at Kay, confused. "Mr. Edgeworth and Daddy aren't dating Even if they should, they can't yet. Um....who is That Man?"

"Wouldn't I love to know?"

Anyway they spend the next half hour or so talking about their respective parents, and reaching a conclusion about that man, and also learning about each other. They have a lot in common! They have a lot of passion for a trade they inherited from their fathers, and a love for the men who stepped up for them when they needed it. They're both too curious and mischievous for their own good, and like experimenting with techniques and tactics never tried before to fill an objective. The minute Kay learns Trucy is a magician she whips out Little Thief and they start using it to plan the most insane magic show of all time. It's too dangerous, and potentially entirely unfeasible, but they can't be stopped! The hype is too real!

And then the door opens "Sorry Trucy. Those errands took longer than I anticipated--Kay Faraday?" It's Miles Edgeworth, exposed to an insane simulation of a vaguely illegal performance feat. and he's already exhausted. "I see you've met Trucy."

"Yeah! I didn't know you had a kid!" Kay says, knowing its not true but just to cause problems.

"I don't. I'm merely watching over her while her father works," Miles says. He looks around the room at the holographic hellscape and says "Don't put ideas in Trucy's head."

But it's too late. This is a friendship, nay, a sibling bond of two girls enabling each other's most chaotic impulses for FUN and also intellectual stimulation. They can't be stopped. Turns out Kay is better at keeping in touch with Trucy than anyone else after this. Thanks for coming to my ted talk.

[oodlyenough]

at some point last month i got an ask expressing interest in my aa3 thoughts as i played and then i... never posted anything lmao. sorry! switch screenshots only share easily to twitter so it gets my scattered thoughts sometimes

anyway i finished case 4 (mia v bratworth) last night, meaning i just have the big finale left. no spoilers plz. here's misc thoughts so far

the feenie case was super fun. loved it. rookie mia was a great way to do the tutorial (although s/o to aa2 Amensia Phoenix for being the funnier option) while keeping it interesting for returning players. and while the first cases usually feel like total throwaway cases this one obviously sets up a bunch of stuff for the rest of the game, which is fun too

unfortunately case 2 with masque de mask or however they spelled it just about killed me lmaoooo i found it so dull and dragging. urgh. when i try to remember highlights now i can't even really think of any, other than ron and desiree were kind of endearing.

case 3 was a mixed bag. homophobic and dated, but in such a way that it like looped around to being... i don't even know. for most of the case nick was the only one not misgendering jean. then he got in on it too. then jean introduced his ? pen name? drag name? i don't know. i'm pretty sure it was meant to be zany and subsequently offensive but alright... genderqueer icon ig...

lmao also maya kept making remarks at nick that sounded like code ("i didn't know you were so... cultured") and there was endless weenie innuendo so i feel there was a different end result through the funhouse mirrors that are time, translation and culture

but tbh i don't have it in me to care too much about a 20 year old game having homophobic jokes. most of it, incl. fauxnix, was very funny, and i liked the puzzle solving of this case, where i could mostly reason through it on my own using logic, which is satisfying, rather than getting irritated and turning to a walkthrough like i did a dozen times for case 2.

case 4 is the one i've been dying to get to, i knew nothing in particular beyond another flashback case of mia vs edgeworth which is already right up my alley, anyway: deeply enjoyable. much to think about. etc. going in i assumed mia would lose the case, since obv dahlia is free in 3-1, but uhhh lmaooo i didn't expect the defendant to do That. like with the first case this clearly rolls over into the end of the game so i don't have too much to say about the plot yet.

other misc thoughts on this game so far:

i've been playing this pretty slowly bc i'm a crazy person (see original post) but the disconnect between how invested i am in the overarching case that involves characters i love VS the cases of the week is really noticeable here.

love that we're getting to see more of mia. love mia having her own lil moriarty... very funny that person is a teenager.

unfortunately godot is my least fave prosecutor thus far (i mean, aside from payne, but he doesn't really count). i know he's got his fans but i find his schtick dull. when i started aa2 i was like, "i get why they had to replace edgeworth as the main antagonist (bc he's in love with me) but i don't want a new one :(" but then they replaced him with franziska who immediately became another fave, so i didn't care. but replacing franziska with godot has not worked the same. 😞 miss the von karma brand of insanity

in general gonna miss all my fave lil dudes when i finish the trilogy 😞

i'm midway through aa3 right now (just starting the mia v edgeworth case) and although it's finally getting very good i find myself torn, bc on one hand, i wanna see what's gonna happen with all my new fave lil guys. on the other hand, i don't want the story with my new fave lil guys to be over. you see my dilemma

[whywontgodletthisblogdie]

WAIT YOU DO FANFIC REQUESTS???

ok, ok, would you accept other ships that are not marshallworth?

if so, PLEASE do a farafey fic (maya fey x kay faraday)!!!

i don’t care what it’s about, i’m just starved for content and would give my life to anyone who would do farafey related stuff for me.

if ya can’t/don’t want to do one, then that’s ok!!! even so, i’m just curious if you would do other ships.

anon i'm SO sorry this took so long to write, but here you go!

word count: 1485

find it here on ao3 as well:

Kurain had always been a place of peace and relaxation for Kay. She knew the same couldn’t be said for her girlfriend, but spending time in the quiet little village in the mountains was the perfect way to recover from a hectic semester in the city.

Finals week had just ended and given way to summer break. For most of the summer, she’ll be assisting Mr. Edgeworth in his investigations. He’d always been reluctant to allow her to crime scenes with him, but now that she’ll be able to turn the experience into college credit he’s more willing. His only requirement was that she take a break between the end of the semester and the beginning of work, hence why she’s on a train to Kurain.

She hasn’t seen Maya in person since spring break, and god she misses her. All the good morning and goodnight texts, video calls, and care packages in the world can’t hold a candle to actually being with her. They’re not sure what exactly their plans are for after Kay has graduated, whether they’ll move to a halfway point between Kurain and wherever Kay finds work, or if they’ll continue their long-distance thing for a while.

For now, Kay makes sure to be the first one lined up at the train's doors, even if it means standing up while the train is in motion and receiving a glare from the attendant. The extra few seconds saved by lining up early is an extra few seconds with her girlfriend, after all.

She tumbles out of the train when the doors actually open and nearly trips on the platform as she scans the station for Maya. It’s busier than it had been over spring break, so finding her is more difficult than it had been, but she catches a glimpse of purple robes and black hair, and instantly takes off in her girlfriend’s direction.

Maya is standing on her tiptoes looking for her at another of the train's doors and doesn’t seem to notice Kay’s arrival until she’s already been wrapped in a tight embrace.

Maya giggles at her enthusiasm before returning the hug, tucking her face into her neck and squeezing so tight she can barely breathe.

“My little crow,” she turns to press a kiss to Kay’s cheek. “God, I’ve missed you.”

“Mmm, I’ve missed you too, Maya,” Kay squeezes her even tighter.

They stay like that for a while, letting the other exhausted travelers maneuver around them. They’re probably in the way, but Kay really can’t be bothered to care right now.

Maya pulls back eventually and cradles Kay's cheek in her palm before giving her a quick kiss and pressing their foreheads together. Maya lets out a content sigh, and Kay takes her free hand in her own.

Finally. Together.

“Hey uh,” Maya pulls away, an urgent look in her eye. “Did you-”

Kay rolls her eyes, letting out a fake exasperated sigh. “Yes, I brought the snacks you wanted. I had to pack a whole extra bag just for them.”

“I’m sorry, they just don’t sell them here! I have to rely on you and Nick and Miles-”

She throws her head back and laughs at that, “Give me another kiss and we’ll call it even?”

Maya leans in, unable to keep a grin off her face. “Sounds like a deal to me.”

—

After arriving at Maya’s place and saying hi to Pearl, Kay excuses herself to the bedroom to unpack. Maya always makes sure to have a few dresser drawers and some closet space free for her, so it doesn’t take long at all.

She brings the snack bag to the kitchen which she finds empty, surprisingly. Laid out along the counter is a selection of toppings, presumably to go with the simmering broth and noodles currently on the stove.

“Oh, hi Miss Kay,” she jumps in surprise as the younger girl appears behind her without warning. “Mystic Maya is in the courtyard if you were looking for her.”

“Thanks, Pearl! Did you make all this for dinner tonight?”

Not that Maya was helpless when it came to cooking, she just prefers the final product rather than the process of making it. Pearl seems to enjoy cooking quite a lot for someone of her age, so it wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for her to have made dinner for them.

“Yes, but Mystic Maya helped quite a lot. She always does, whenever you come to visit.”

Kay turns away to hide her blush, “Aww, how sweet of her,” she mumbles.

“I think it should be ready to eat,” Pearl says before testing a noodle to make sure it’s cooked through.

“Sweet!”

Kay takes two clean bowls from their cabinet and begins filling them with noodles, broth, and toppings. One for Maya with extra of each topping, and one for herself.

“Are we all eating outside then?”

“You and Mystic Maya can, I have some class work I need to finish so I’ll probably have dinner in my room.”

Ah, right. Pearl hasn’t finished school for the semester yet. She’d been encouraged to take some classes online by Maya and Mr. Wright to make up for the education she’d missed out on when she was younger. She seems to enjoy them more than the average teenager, but she can't imagine still having another week of school left before summer.

“Oh, ok. Have fun learning then!”

Pearl sighs, “I’ll try…I just wish it was summer already…”

Kay laughs at that, “Don’t worry Pearly, just a few more days!” She gives her a comforting pat on the shoulder on the way to the cutlery drawer.

“I suppose…” Pearl mumbles, making her way from the kitchen to her room.

Amused, Kay just smiles and shakes her head. Teenagers.

Carefully balancing the two bowls as well as chopsticks and spoons, she makes her way to the door, turning to ease it open with her hip.

“Woah, careful there!” Maya suddenly appears at her side and takes one of the bowls from her.

“Thanks, babe,” Kay shuts the door quickly, to make sure no bugs can get inside.

Maya leads them to the center of the courtyard where she’s built a fire. It may be summer, but the setting sun ushers in a chill that has her welcoming the extra warmth.

They huddle together on a cushion Maya has laid next to the fire, and pull a thick blanket around their shoulders. They both start eating, and the first few bites have Kay realizing just how hungry she actually is from the long day of traveling. This combined with Maya’s usual ravenous way of leads to them both finishing their meals in less than ten minutes.

As they finish, Maya takes their bowls and utensils and puts them to the side before wrapping an arm around Kay’s shoulders. She strokes her hand up and down her bicep and Kay sighs in contentment and rests her head on Maya’s shoulder.

The two of them have a lot to catch up on, given the length of time they’ve been apart. But Kay is tired. It could be from traveling all day, or it could be lingering exhaustion from the stress of finals week. Or maybe it’s just the warmth from both her partner and the fire.

Cause aside, she’s tired and wants to sleep. She wraps her arms around Maya’s torso and turns to tuck her head into her neck. Maya smells like fresh air and fire smoke, and right now it’s the best smell in the world. She nuzzles in closer, and Maya giggles and wraps her other arm around Kay as well.

The cushion they’re laying on isn’t big by any means, but Maya is able to maneuver them into a laying position, where they’re both curled around each other.

The sun is just below the horizon now, and they’re able to just barely make out the first stars of the night. Living in a big, light-polluted city, Kay rarely has the chance to see the stars, and actually being able to see them here is one of her favorite parts of being here in Kurain.

But she doesn't think she can keep her eyes open to watch the sunset.

“Hey, if I nap will you wake me up when the stars are out?”

Maya smiles, the beginnings of crow’s feet crinkling at the corners of her eyes. “Of course, love. Get some rest.”

Kay smiles in return and scoots up to be able to press a sleepy kiss on her girlfriend’s lips. As she pulls away, she fumbles under the blanket for Maya’s hand and laces their fingers together. She resumes using her girlfriend's shoulder as a pillow, and Maya reaches her hand up to gently stroke her hair. Maya cranes her neck to kiss the top of her head, and it’s the last thing she feels before drifting off.

[snezfics-n-shit]

Sicktember Alt. 2 - Vapor Rub

Fandom: Ace Attorney Characters: Phoenix Wright, Miles Edgeworth

Notes: Miles wants to do something nice for his sick boyfriend, and he thinks a good idea would be to apply vapor rub on his chest before bed. He’s rather concerned about its expiration date, but who is he to doubt something so tried and true? Set during the 7yg so imagine that stubble on Nick mmmm yes cool and good. Also this is the last entry, sorry. I am tired and late.

     There it was. That navy blue jar with the discouraging date of January 2004 printed on the cap. According to Phoenix, his mother had packed it with his things when he left for college, and he’s kept it with him ever since. It still worked like a charm, Phoenix had told Miles, and Miles knew better than to doubt Mrs. Wright’s way of doing things, at least not within earshot of Phoenix. Miles cautiously took the jar from the medicine cabinet, fearful of it potentially attacking him, given its age. 

“Is this it?” He held the jar up as he entered the bedroom. “The date on it has long passed.”

“Yup, that’s it.” Phoenix grinned. “The date’s just a suggestiod.” He snuffled. “It’s still good.”

“It’s twenty years old as of last month, love.”

"So?" The pitch change at the end of the one word question provoked a nasty cough from Phoenix, followed by a deep sniffle and then more coughing. 

"Careful, careful." Miles rubbed Phoenix's back gently. "Now, let me unbutton your pajamas." He sat on the edge of the bed and got to work. As his boyfriend’s chest hair grew more visible, his face just couldn’t help but go a bit pink. 

“Ih’pressive, right?” 

“That’s one way to put it.” Miles shrugged before removing the cap of the vapor rub jar. His nose was immediately overtaken by the strong scent of menthol. The scent was familiar, but of a memory so distant that it hardly dawned on Miles as recognizable. “Is it supposed to be this… intense?”

“Well, yeah. That’s how it does its job.” Phoenix chuckled. He seemed to find Miles’s bewilderment amusing.

“Even twenty years past its expiration…” Miles mumbled as he rubbed the gel on Phoenix’s chest, trying his best to get some on the skin rather than just sitting atop the forest of hair. If anyone asked him, he wasn’t at all envious of Phoenix’s ability to sport such a masculine… rugged appearance. Not at all. “I’ve been meaning to ask since I saw how old this is… Is this some sort of end times survivalism thing?”

“What? Where’d you get that idea?” Phoenix frowned. “Is it that hard to believe this stuff still works? It would be a waste to throw it out just because it says it’s out of date.” 

“I was just thinking about how you said your paternal grandparents once sold everything they owned for that very reason, so I wondered if that was something that stuck with your parents to explain keeping something this old.”

“Are you telli’g be you’d toss out perfectly good vapor rub that’s still half full?” Phoenix took a deep breath, much longer than he had managed before. “Yup. Still works perfectly.”

“I’d toss out anything twenty years past its expiration date.” 

"But vapor rub is different! For starters, you don't eat it."

"That part should be obvious.” Miles sighed through his nose. “But it can't nearly be as effective as a fresh jar, can it?"

"Of course it's effective!” Phoenix took another deep breath as a demonstration. “See?”

“How about I pick a fresh jar up tomorrow and you can compare the difference.”

Phoenix made a gasp of exaggerated offense, which Miles took as a ‘no.’

“Do you think I’m lying?”

“No, I just…” Miles sighed more heavily than he had earlier. “What am I going to do with you?”

“I can think of a few things.” Phoenix smirked.

“I'm sure you can.”

[daddywright]

I have only recently got into the ace attorney fandom, and this story was the first story I read, and I feel spoiled! I absolutely loved every chapter, so I'm gonna word vomit here and tell you everything I love about this!

"She offers him a smile. It’s small, tentative, but it possesses a strength that makes a hidden part of him twist and burn with quiet envy." the first time we see nick's wish to be as strong as mia!

Considering the fact that nick didn't have any prominent figure in his life, it makes sense that he would look up to gregory so much

"Phoenix looks up, and starts walking towards Mia Fey

He doesn't stop for two years."

THE RELATIONSHIP THAT MIA AND NICK HAD WAS PRECIOUS AND DESERVES MORE THAN WHAT THE FANDOM GIVES THEM

"Larry’s arms wrap around him, squeezing almost too tight" People forget that Larry and Phoenix were good friends too, and Larry would help his best friend

"Nobody believed him, nobody but Mia" Maya is what Phoenix is to Mia and I adore that

"He wishes, desperately, that he’d said it while she was still alive. I loved you. For everything you did." Not you absolutely breaking my fucking heart

Also the first AA game felt unnatural in the sense of how seemingly unaffected Phoenix seemed at Mia's murder so I'm really glad you wrote it this way

"Expensive. Thoughtful. Too much." SHUT UP NICK YOU DESERVE ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING

Also quick break to mention how I absolutely fucking love your writing style and i wish I was literally half as talented as you cuz the last time I read something that made me feel this multitude of emotions was ocean vuong. And I practically worship Ocean Vuong. So now I worship you too

"You're a stranger to me // When will I stop hoping?" I never really realised just how badly nick musta been hurt by good ol' bratworth before this fic, but now that I have read it, it would have hurt him so bad

"Is this why you never answered my letters? Because I was a reminder? Because it hurt too much?" Honestly what happened to miles and phoenix's friendship hurts so much because it should have never happened, and miles didn't deserve that.

"Maybe Miles Edgeworth is not the man he thought he’d be, either." yo when I tell you this hurt I mean this huRT

Fun fact! My birthday is on the same day as DL-6 anniversary. Gregory Edgeworth died on my birthday. I feel horrible now

"monster. You were nine years old and he's a monster. " No one has made me feel this much emotion for what happened to Miles in a single sentence other than you. I commend you for that

"I love you," he says quietly. He has never said those words to anyone, except for Dahlia Hawthorne.

Maya sniffs in his ear, crushing him tight. "I love you, too."

He has never heard them back.

PHOENIX HAS NEVER HEARD THE WORDS " I LOVE YOU" COME BACK TO HIM ARE YOU FUCKING WITH ME WHY NOW I'M SAD

"Tell me everything. Every detail—" Miles is worried bout nick and why wouldn't he? gods you're so gay miles but tbf if I knew someone like nick irl i'd go ballistic too

"He determined the motive for his own assault...with amnesia. Naturally." My man's smart af and he is king

"Is that what she thinks of me? That I'm like that? That I don't care about who the bad guys really are?" Gumshoe noooo you're hella precious! Also this particular chapter was so well written! loved this soo much!

Also taking a minute to appreciate the pacing! Rarely do I ever come across an author who just hits that sweet spot of perfect pacing and you did! so thank you!

Alright so here are a few thoughts that I felt capcom needed to do which you did for us!

no. 1 - Address the trauma phoenix faced with not only dahlia but also with mia's death

no. 2 - Actually fucking flesh out a good relationship dynamic between larry and phoenix

no. 3 - actually! have! phoenix! be hurt! in bridge to turnabout! istg my man would not have dropped from a burning bridge to a freezing river only to have a cold

AUNT FRANZY AND PEARLS MAN!

THEY CUTE

ok so I have a LOT of feelings for bridge to turnabout and HOO BOY BUCKLE UP

So I always thought that in this fic, miles must have felt fucking awful! I mean he very clearly hates who he was and what that has led to but that must have been doubled over with this case! Phoenix would have died if not for mia and it would have been indirectly miles's fault. I think about that alot

Like he said that he very much regrets whatever he did as bratworth in the phone call with gumshoe but i don't think he anticipated this. poor edgeworth

Also I think this was the final nail in the coffin for miles. Phoenix forgave him, after all the fucked up shit miles did, and that made that man go "how is this guy so fucking compassionate awwwww shit I'm in fucking love with this idiotic brave man".

my main thoughts were "holy shit phoenix must have been feeling awful." like to learn that you were in love with a person who turned out to be a murderer but then not a murderer cuz everything you felt about that was real and just...... it must have hurt. He never fell in love with dahlia. it was iris, always. and WHAT ABOUT MILES DURING THIS!!! Like to learn that the man you love was falsely led to believe that he was in love with a person he rarely met and then learn that his ex who is not murderous might still be in love with him because "that was real. that part was real." like damn. people just gloss over this

also I feel terrible for iris F in the chat for iris lads.

Dahlia literally haunting that courtroom scene. I felt mia's power. I felt her desperation. I felt everything and I am once again in awe of the absolute power your writing holds.

also godsdamn pearls had to go through all that shit huh. also FRANMAYAAAAAA THANK YOUUUU

I too, am a hoe confused as to what I should feel towards diego.

Ok anyways we jump to disbarment now

"He just winks at her and says Maya has other talents, and if Mystic Maya overhears, she puffs up at him like the fish from the aquarium she saw once, the one with all the spikes and silly eyes."

you know what constantly amazes me? your ability to change tones so effortlessly. When writing from edgey's pov, the language is sophisticated. precise. when writing from pearly's pov your language is simplistic, child-like. from phoenix's pov it's natural. grounded

"She never knew anybody who made faces like him, growing up in Kurain, and it’s one of the things that makes him special." Yo phoenix is the most amazing uncle ever and we all know it ok he's brilliant

I'M RUNNING OUT OF CHARACTER LIMITS

PEARLY CALLING EDGEY AT FIRST SIGN OF TROUBLE I'M SOFFFFTTTT

“I think I did something really bad." trucy baby no it's not your fault

pearl and trucy bonding supremacy. my girls would fuck shit up

"She’d meant to do this properly, one day." Thank you for giving importance to maya's feelings. thank you for treating her like a real human being. thank you

“Everything that happened...for what? It’s only gotten people hurt. Pearly. Our mother.” Me. Me." I felt so bad for maya here. I wish I could tell you in precise words about how this exact framing of the sentence is what broke me. "me. me" maya deserved more, but mia did all she could

"What do scared kids need? ...Food." not you breaking my godsdamn heart again. phoenix just knows what's it like being a helpless child, and he'll be damned if he ever lets anyone face that again

“��Course, Pearls,” he says reflexively, before frowning. “What for?” reflexively. if every man in the world could be like phoenix wright then the world would be worthy of the gods

"Another one?" give it 2 years edgey she'll be your daughter too

"after countless hours creating the man’s living space in his mind from the background snatches he’d seen in the man’s ridiculous video calls." NOT ONLY DO THEY VC FOR NO PARTICULAR REASON BUT ALSO MILES ACTUALLY SPENDS TIME TRYING TO RECREATE HIS ROOM?? BECAUSE HE WOULD ONE DAY LIKE TO BE IN IT??? good gods these bitches gay. good for them

"because just as day is light and night is dark, Phoenix Wright is an honorable man." damn straight. you love to see it (it being a 27+ year old man pining for another 27+ year old man)

also hey miles! how do you feel about the fact that the man you love changed his fucking major and degrees halfway through college just so he could see you again only for you to be incredibly rude to him and make him end up in jail! (i bully edgeworth cuz i love him)

"Wright finishes, shrugging like it’s nothing, like his commitment and belief isn’t the most extraordinary thing that Miles has ever faced." it's more than pining at this point. it's incredible faith and trust. Miles had someone who cared about him even after all those years despite him having changed so drastically, ofc he would be surprised. Miles loves phoenix and so do i.

also HOT DAMN YOU WRITING IS JUST * MWAH *

Also the whole segment where they kiss is just !!!!! miles wants! it's beautiful! THEY'RE IN LOVEEE

receiving poisonous bottles which your ex tried to kill you with. My man can't get a break huh

Miles being chivalrous and protective and absolutely stealing my godsdamn heart (and phoenix's too)!

Klavier being the absolute king that he is we stan

The hostage situation section? gods miles must have been terrified.

Phoenix not being able to promise pearly that he'd always come back home and miles hearing it and like... ouch. my heart. you didn't need to do that (but i love your for it)

GODS THE CLIMAX WITH KRISTOPH WAS SOOO SATISFYING AND LIKE MY MAN PHOENIX REALLY PUNCHED THAT BITCH HUH

klavier baby I am so sorry

ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL!

and thus my comment ends. I believe I have almost used up all of my commenting limits and i leave with these few parting words : HOLY SHIT YOUR AMAZING AND I LOVE YOU!

also I made a playlist on spotify for this fic! here's the link : https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3k8lRHiO8ZXQDLpiTUL7SN?si=fc3b35b4ab064867

gods this was long huh

GREAT GOOGLY MOOGLY....WHERE DO I BEGIN...THE FACT THAT YOU BROKE THE CHARACTER LIMIT ON AO3 AND MADE A PLAYLIST? WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS?

thank you so much for all the amazing things you said....i am crying on a Wednesday morning knowing my writing was appreciated this much. thank you!

[milk-addicc]

I really liked that post you made about how Capcom feels about Narumitsu. And I'm wondering how do you think they feel about Narumayo? Personally to me it feels like they throw more hints at Narumitsu since with the other one if Takami wanted it to be canon he would of done it at the end of T&T. I also think the team could of made it more obvious in SoJ with Maya's big return but I never really saw the hints but I know I'm biased lol.

oh i’m glad you like my rambles haha;;

ahh... that ship, 

well first, about the whole Takumi “wanting narumitsu to be canon” thing, its not exactly making them canon but have more fanservice leaning heavy towards narumitsu (which was declined by the director(?) who claimed, i sorta agree with, that the game did well even without the narumitsu hinting since in the first game they didn’t have that intention and it was pure coincidence that their relationship was just THAT deep and meaningful which is incredible lmao, Takumi and co managed to slip his warning and still put at least some of the hints in TT tho hhh-). so even then, i doubt the crew actually want the endgame to come so soon hh.

okay, back on topic. what i think about naru//mayo? yea, i’m not keen on that ship personally at all, actually i despise it. like, they first met in the office, in front of their dead loved one, Mia. Maya was 17, Phoenix was 24. you have Maya, who’s supposedly still in HIGH SCHOOL and Phoenix, who has GRADUATED COLLEGE, has a JOB, and most likely has PAID HIS OWN BILLS. from that point alone, it should already feel weird. 

Maya’s an adolescence, a teenager, she just lost her sister and barely grew up, in a way she’s still innocent, notice how she tend to ask random questions and or say things that she thinks makes sense or amusing, she tends to be naive too. its kinda like.. a child.

and Phoenix on the other hand, is a grown man. heck even Maya says he’s an “old fart”, they’re legit aware of their own age gap in game and outright say it. if anything, they both act like self-aware best friends/brother-sister than romantically. even Maya said it herself, she wants to be a good big sister for Pearl and Nick.

now how about we ignore this obvious fact just for a little while and try to see it from only their interactions in-franchise. heres the kicker, you may not see it in game since they only lightly nudges about this ship (usually with Pearl, and was dismissed by Maya right after.), but in some of AA spin off mangas (and from what i heard, one of the stage shows), for some reason, this ship has their own hints despite being completely aware that Maya is a teenager.

but its okay now don’t hold your breaths, 

their “hints” are more of a one-off ish thing, most of the time a gag and not taken seriously, and unlike other ship per say narumitsu, where it actually affects their lives and changed it forever IN-GAME. “i care about Maya and understands her” and “i became an attorney because of you, Edgeworth and i don’t have any regrets” are both literally incomparable, especially given Phoenix and Edgeworth’s history together in-game canon.

anyway, here’s some common arguments i’ve encountered about this particular ship :

“but Phoenix cares about Maya a lot! he literally went through a trial against a hitman and run through a burning bridge for her!”

“Phoenix blushed and goes red when Pearl says he’s Maya’s special someone and he stutters!”

“Well my parents had a huge age gap!"

“well, Maya is 18 in AA2″

“considering Maya is a christmas cake now, Nick better tap that” 

“she’s an adult in AA6 tho”

now lets dissect each of these,

yes, Phoenix cares about Maya a lot he literally did cross a burning bridge for her but people seem to forget that this is the same man who turned his life around, abandon his dreams, study law for four years, and became an attorney to meet one man and willing to defend a girl who looks like his psychotic ex that nearly poisoned him in court. he literally would believe in his clients’s innocence no matter what, he’s by nature would sacrifice anything and even his life for someone. so its normal that he cares about Maya, but is it romantic? i doubt it, he cares about her safety and well being but does it have to be a romantic hint? no, of course not, he’s just very selfless for the people he cares about and Maya has no one to help her but Nick when she’s in trouble, he’s one of few adults she can trust and will help her out.

oh so blushing and stuttering due to embarrassment means having feelings now? and about the stuttering, he literally stutters around Edgeworth a lot lol. i’m starting to feel like people ships naru//mayo not because of their depth but because Pearl said so. Pearl finds them should be together and keep shoving the audience with Nick being “Mystic Maya’s special someone”, well if thats the case, they also explained why this happened, in-game. Pearl grew up very sheltered and among unhealthy marriages she just assumes a girl and a boy together means they’re dating and being “special someones”. she most likely just wants her cousin to be in a happy relationship unlike her parents where her father left both her and her mother but didn’t know any better because she was eight years old.

https://youtu.be/FGAqQkMEKNs?start=674&end=776

now about the parent thing and taking it personal, well my parents too had a huge age-gap of 7 years. but how come is it okay? its because they met when my mum was already a career woman at 26. she’s already an adult when my dad met her. what does this mean? it means my parents were both adults when they’re together, this is why i still like GumMaggey despite their age gap so wide, they first met when Maggey has already had a career, supposedly in her 20′s, she’s a young adult, she can buy alcohol by herself, already knows whats right and wrong and has live life independently, not a still hormonal teenager who depends on one adult figure. did your parents date when your mum is in highschool while your dad is like in his mid 20′s? sorry to hear that.

as for the last three arguments, i don’t even want to touch any of them with a five-foot pole. are you listening to yourself? do you not feel like you’re a creep typing that?

let me give you a benefit of the doubt. yes she’s older and legally an adult, but are you really discrediting the fact they met when Maya was still in highschool? they met and became friends when she’s 17 and he’s 24. sure they barely met during disbarment era, but should that change anything? why should it? how should it? like this?

“Oh this is Maya, i haven’t met her in years but boy she sure has grown up can’t wait to date her since she’s legal now.”

because thats what that argument sounds like, YIKES. 

you know? if they met under a different circumstance and Maya was like 19, i’d let it go. but they didn’t, they met because of a horrible loss, Maya, still in training, 17 lost her big sister and Phoenix, a rookie, at 24 lost his mentor. 

in conclusion, i don’t like naru//mayo at all

pairing them feels like pairing Edgeworth with Kay or Phoenix with Ema, just because they partnered in investigations, make playful jabs at each other, and saved each others’s lives before, people just think they like each other romantically despite their age-gap in first meetings (not to mention Kay sees Edgeworth as somewhat of a father figure, and she’s nearly 18 while Edgeworth is the same age as Phoenix). especially with how Maya, being a zoomer, calls Phoenix an “old fart” and just makes jokes about how so out-of-touch Phoenix is with the modern entertainment.

from observations, i have a huge hunch that almost all of them pair these two because :

1. Maya’s a girl protagonist so its a male protagonist x female protagonist type of deal and despise narumitsu because “yaoi”

2. AA6 she’s an adult so she’s legal which is damn creepy on its own, or last

3. because of Pearl shipping them in game despite being an eight year old and was so sheltered she thought a man and a woman being next to each other means they’re special someones.

either way, i only see them as best friends, sibling-like relationship with self awareness here and there since they tease the audience a lot with their gag “hints” in spin-off mangas and game. 

not only that, it kinda showcase how all male/female bond don’t have to be romantic, they can be just friends or familial and still hang together. another plus for the franchise right after encouraging moving on from ex partners. *glancing at Phoenix//Iris*

and as to the people who pairs this for some odd reasons, sometimes i just want to ask these questions,

“how would you feel if you’re in Phoenix’s shoes? met your mentor’s little sister at age 17 while you’re 24, would you feel romantically interested in this high schooler?” because i don’t, to me anyone 3 years younger than me is like a baby, how would Phoenix feel when Maya’s 7 years younger?

“also... why even? narumitsu and other less questionable pairings are RIGHT THERE in the open!”

but oh well people can like and pair whatever hhh, 

and there you have it, my even longer rambling hahaha sorry;;

Edit : To add the final nail to the coffin, Phoenix outright has said that Maya’s like his kid, like a niece.

Edit 2 : remember that this is simply my personal take, you can somewhat use this to make yourself feel better about your pair nor simply just to hate on the ship itself but do not use this to dictate actual people what to ship and not to ship. 

please don’t be destructive towards others.

[jorisjurgen]

For the character ask meme, Phoenix Wright? :D

[ask game]

1. Literary all of the mistake dialogue. it's So funny to me. Also his entire backstory. He really did just... Build his life around finding Some Guy he went to school with for a few months when he was 9 to fix him, lmao.

2. Hmm... I guess that the games don't touch on his problems, flaws, and character in general too much. It's a shame. It's hard for me to dislike something about a character that they actually do unless it's annoying or bad writing.

3. It's so hard to pick but it would probably be something from the "you did a fuckywucky, player" mistake dialogues because they are so good.

4. Him and Maya. Their friendship and interactions are so good.

5. Him and Edgeworth, which is probably obvious from my posts jdkfgdf

6. None I think. I just don't look at stuff I don't want to look at and go my way, hoping that people who are fans of ships I'm not into are having fun dfhgksdfg.

7. I think Maya had a little bit of a crush on him for a while, but not for long because he turned out to be just some random guy who literary just bullshits his way through court cases, can't turn over paper, and wipes the fingerprints of the suspect off evidence. I am a big fan of funny one-sided crushes between random characters I don't ship because it's really funny. Also I think he has adhd.

8. I don't really have one... At least I think? The spiciest opinion I probably have is that I really dislike how fanworks just... Make everyone call phoenix dad or brother or just do a "yeah me and Nick are basically siblings :)" dynamic between him and Maya. People will say they like found families and then immediately shove all those friendships and relationships into strict "parent-child :)" "siblings :)" fanon boxes because obviously no relationships other than these specific ones are valid or familial and just friends aren't REAL family haha /s. Especially irks me because I'm sure that most of people are like this just so they can say that "x ship is bad because it's basically incest because I headcanon it to be :)" in ship wars lmao.

9. I don't think I have one (yet). I'm so sorry, considering I'm usually Spiders Georg of associating songs with characters.

10.

[rivalsforlife]

i'm holding myself back from asking commentary on almost every scene from the catch up game bc i love so much how you wrote phoenix in that fic!! that said, could u do commentary on the last 2 scenes from the first chapter (party + gumshoe), if that's not too long or on parts of it if it's too much?

Sure thing!! The scenes on their own are already over 2000 words so I’ll put them under a keep reading for everyone’s peace of mind.

Alright let’s start then...

The bachelor party was beyond Phoenix’s expectations. He’d been expecting Edgeworth to be much stingier with the spending, considering his general attitude towards Gumshoe’s salary. But he’d agreed to rent the bar out and pay for one drink for everyone, plus transportation home for those who couldn’t do it themselves. Phoenix… was surprised, actually. He’d known for a long time now that Edgeworth appreciated Gumshoe much more than he let anyone know about, but it was still surprising to see in action.

this paragraph brought to you by My AAI2 Feelings, particularly the parts where Gumshoe really does come through in the investigations, so much that Miles actually gives him a salary raise at the end... it did a great job developing their friendship, I loved it a lot.

(Also I headcanon that after aai2 but possibly before that... every “I’m going to cut your salary!!” that Miles says does not actually result in a salary cut. poor gumshoe can barely feed himself as it is. but Miles can’t be, like... Nice about it so he’s just going to pretend. Gumshoe understands. it’s like an inside joke now.)

And honestly figuring out this whole party scene was such a pain. I still feel like it could be better but I’m not sure how? I just had the goal of “get someone to let it slip that Miles is in love with Phoenix” but then there was the issue of a) who knew Miles well enough to know this, and b) who knew Phoenix well enough to talk about it, and c) what circumstances would let them slip up and say it. The answer was Gumshoe because he can’t resist leaking information to the defense... even when it’s information about his boss’s personal life. oops.

Athena dropped by for a movie night, since Pearls was too young to attend. Phoenix wasn’t worried about them; he was sure they wouldn’t get into any more trouble than he and Maya could at the party.

OOF AWKWARD PARAGRAPH this is a remnant from when I shifted a lot of scenes around in this chapter. I thought it would be cute if Athena and Pearl were friends. And I think there was more to this but then it was distracting from the overall topic so I cut it out... resulting in this.

“Pals!” a familiar voice boomed at the entrance to the bar, and Phoenix soon found himself and Maya swept up in a bone-crushing hug. “I’m so glad you both could make it!”

“Gumshoe!” Maya returned the hug enthusiastically. “It’s been forever, man!”

“Sure has!” Gumshoe released them, allowing Phoenix the opportunity to wheeze and clutch at his ribs, while Gumshoe ruffled Maya’s hair. “Been keeping yourself out of trouble?”

“You know it!”

“Uh, I had several sleepless nights last year suggesting otherwise,” said Phoenix.

“Shut it, Nick.” Maya elbowed him, not helping with the situation with his ribs, and beamed.

a little bit of banter that really just serves as a transition thing. most of the party is actually both “transition scene to indicate that the party did, in fact, happen before I get to the important stuff” and “introduce some important character stuff while I have time to fill”. 

and of course these sleepless nights are in reference to pretty much the whole plot of SOJ... 

One last note that I think Gumshoe probably gives great hugs, if you can survive your ribs potentially being crushed in the process. he doesn’t mean anything by it. he’s big and strong and likes hugs so much he forgets how big and strong he is.

... ps I love Gumshoe

“But congrats, Gumshoe! Seems like just last decade Nick and I were wandering around trying to pass your lunches over to Maggey.”

“God, it’s been that long, hasn’t it?” Phoenix reminisced. It was odd, thinking back on cases he took before he was disbarred, before he became a father to a daughter who wasn’t even with him today.

Gumshoe chuckled. “Guess so, pals. You two’ve really been there since the beginning, huh? Maggey and I wouldn’t be here today without you.”

Phoenix smiled. “Aww, Gumshoe…”

“And that’s why I get to be maid of honor, huh?” asked Maya with a sly grin.

“Maid of honor?!” Phoenix looked to Gumshoe, who didn’t object, before rounding back on his best friend. “You didn’t tell me that!”

“You didn’t ask!” Maya sighed. “If it weren’t for me eating Gumshoe’s beloved bento box in front of Maggey, who knows if we’d be here today?”

“I don’t think that was a deciding factor at any point…”

Gumshoe clapped Phoenix on the shoulder. “Sorry, pal. Would’ve made you the best man, but, y’know… Mr. Edgeworth.”

“Yeah, of course, no hard feelings, pal.”

“What’d I tell you about stealing my trademark, huh, pal?” Gumshoe laughed before stepping back into the bar. “C’mon in, you two.”

REALLY just more awkward transition scenes haha. Maya is the maid of honor in this fic mostly because I went to Maggey’s profile page and she was the only woman listed under the “friends” list... and we don’t know much about Maggey’s personal life. plus more “Miles and Gumshoe friendship” agenda pushing in here!

There were more people there than Phoenix was expecting, and many of them he hadn’t met. Edgeworth had mentioned that he would let Gumshoe select the guest list, but he’d kind of expected this to be people the two of them knew. Or, at least, that Phoenix knew — Edgeworth seemed to recognize more, which was rare, and was currently speaking with someone Phoenix vaguely recognized as an Interpol agent he’d worked with on a few cases back when Phoenix would help him out in Europe.

Ema ran up to them and made small talk before she and Maya got caught up in discussion about some show Phoenix had never heard of, so he wandered off to find someone else to talk with.

And there was… no one, really. Gumshoe and Edgeworth were talking with strangers, and Phoenix didn’t want to butt in on that conversation — he thought he saw Larry lurking about but couldn’t find him right now — and anyone else Phoenix recognized he either hadn’t talked to in years or was sure didn’t recognize him.

Phoenix hadn’t realized just how much his disbarment affected him, in these little ways. He looked out over the crowd of people Gumshoe or Edgeworth spoke to and had no idea who they were. It had been eight years out of touch with the rest of the legal world — eight years to fall behind.

It was… oddly lonely. Eventually it was just Phoenix standing there at the bar with a glass of grape juice in his hand. He was beginning to wish he’d ordered some more euphemistic “grape juice” instead.

You know that feeling when you go to a party and your one (1) friend leaves you and then you have no one to talk to and don’t know what to do -- maybe? That’s kind of the thing. slight Lang cameo in there.

ORIGINALLY Ema and Maya were going to talk about Lana and Mia and kind of hint at some Lanamia stuff in there, but then I thought about it and really why would Phoenix pass up an opportunity to gossip about his boss’s past relationships. 

And this also tries to kind of go for one of the general... “themes” of the fic? More of an exploration into Phoenix’s loneliness/how he copes with not having people around him. RFTA and JFA in particular kind of really entrenched that he Does Not Do Well without people to take care of -- which comes up a lot during this fic. And part of getting to explore those issues is essentially me trying to make Phoenix as alone as possible. ... sorry Phoenix! 

Also in here is a lot of “disbarment should have messed up Phoenix more than DD and SOJ would lead you to believe” -- he essentially spent seven years completely disgraced, it’s unlikely he made a lot of notable legal connections, aside from maybe Miles and Miles’ social circle. He probably missed out on a lot.

The last paragraph there is just referencing the “grape juice” thing - I do believe it is literal grape juice and not an alcohol euphemism, and I believe it was also literal grape juice in the original, so that’s what it ends up being.

“Hey, Niiiick…”

… But Phoenix supposed that just when you’re feeling down, the Butz arrives to drag you down further. “Hey there, Larry.”

Larry slumped against the bar beside him with a sigh, a glass of what definitely wasn’t grape juice in his hand. “Y’know Franzy didn’t even show up to this?”

“I’m not surprised. Being whipped half to death during your own bachelor party isn’t anyone’s idea of a good time, y’know?” In truth, he knew Franziska couldn’t make it down until just a few days before the wedding because of work — or so Edgeworth had told him — though he couldn’t help but wonder if Gumshoe was grateful for it.

Larry muttered something under his breath that sounded like it might’ve been contradicting Phoenix’s last statement, which Phoenix decided he was certainly not going to press further on, before Larry cleared his throat and continued. “But why’re you out here by yourself, Nick? Maya ditched you?”

“No, not at all,” Phoenix lied. “Just… taking in the scenery.”

“... Huh. Never took you for the wallflower type.” Larry frowned. “I mean, we did use to spend school dances in the corner by ourselves… guess some things never change.”

“Please don’t remind me of middle school ever again.”

“I’ll drink to that,” said Larry, who then did. “But I get it, dude. I was kinda hoping for some more excitement here… more ladies…”

“Don’t worry Larry, I’m sure you’ll find someone else to pester tonight,” Phoenix commented dryly.

... enter Larry Butz.

I really did try to explore the relationships of all the important people in Phoenix’s life... Larry though is so insufferable in canon I didn’t really have the heart to fit him in, so he falls out. (Apollo also doesn’t show up much, aside from the bit in chapter 5, that’s because he’s in a different country and I couldn’t come up with much of a role for him.)

And I also do believe that Larry and Phoenix were super unpopular in school. Larry was... Larry, and Phoenix was probably very sensitive up until the Dahlia Incident, and together they had enough unlikable traits that anyone who could spend time with one wouldn’t want to hang out with the other, but the two of them were loyal to each other. It’s my headcanon that Phoenix’s only real close friends throughout his childhood were Larry and Miles, which is part of why he got so attached to Miles to change his career for him.

“Yeah.” Larry’s eyes scanned the crowd before landing on a woman with dark hair in a high ponytail, and his face brightened. Phoenix cringed preemptively.

“Little miss Kay!” Larry called out, as the woman looked their way. “Looking as cute as ever! And more grown up, too…”

Phoenix tensed, suddenly feeling the wrath of hell creeping up behind them.

“Larry Butz,” a deadly voice boomed, “if you go anywhere near her, I will sue you for everything you are worth, little though it may be.”

Larry jumped and spilled half his drink over his jacket. “Geez, Edgey,” he grumbled, scuttling off to find a napkin. Phoenix, hoping it was safe now with the target gone, turned back around to meet the glare of his other childhood friend. “Hey, Edgeworth.”

Larry being gross but more importantly: me pushing the Dadworth agenda! 

“You didn’t have to do that, Mr. Edgeworth,” said the woman with a laugh. “I’m an adult. I know how to effectively break someone’s kneecaps if they bug me.”

Edgeworth raised an eyebrow. “Though I don’t necessarily disapprove, do we need to talk about avoiding criminal records again, young lady?”

“Sheesh, you’re still treating me like a kid,” she huffed, before noticing Phoenix and extending a hand. “Sorry about that! Kay Faraday. I’m Mr. Edgeworth’s assistant.”

Edgeworth gave an exasperated sigh, though Phoenix could detect a note of fondness to it. “You haven’t been my assistant for over ten years, Kay.”

“So you finally admit I was your assistant at some point!”

“Ngrk…”

Phoenix laughed and took her hand. “Pleased to meet you. I’m Phoenix Wright, attorney at law.”

Kay grinned. “Oh, I know! Gummy debriefed me on you, Mr. That Man.”

“Kay,” Edgeworth warned.

“Plus I kept up with the news,” Kay continued, before Phoenix could say anything. “I’m a big fan of your work! Anyone who can take Mr. High-and-Mighty over there down a notch or two is a hero in my book.”

“Ha, I appreciate that.” Usually the first thing people said to Phoenix after saying they saw him on the news was much more negative.

I really still can’t believe Kay would be 27 here. that’s just so weird. she’s permanently seventeen in my mind. --- said by miles, probably

Even though this was supposed to be a fic about Phoenix’s important canon relationships Kay just wormed her way in here. I love her so I didn’t make any particular effort to take her out of this. Plus it gives me the opportunity to write my favourite things: Dadworth, and also Kay bullying Miles.

And yeah the part about people seeing Phoenix on the news is a reference to disbarment... can’t imagine anyone would have had anything particularly nice to say to him, especially those first few years.

“Kay has been assisting some of the prosecutors and myself through some tricky crime scenes lately,” Edgeworth informed him.

“Technically I’m a P.I., but Mr. Edgeworth said they’re really short-staffed these days, so I thought I’d lend him a hand,” Kay elaborated.

“Oh, so I might be running into you at the crime scene someday.”

“Probably!” She grinned. “Though I’m not gonna go easy on you just ‘cause Mr. Edgeworth likes you.”

“Kay.”

“Oh is that Ema over there?” Kay said loudly. “I’ve gotta run, see you around!”

She dashed off. Edgeworth sighed.

At first I made Kay just a straightforward detective, but I changed it pretty last minute. I feel like she’d want to do her own thing, plus this way she can assist from the outside when dealing with Dark Age of the Law Corruption-type stuff. Miles hires her because canon says he was left pretty short-staffed in SOJ. I’m not... totally sure what the laws are regarding private investigators working with police, but this is a fictional universe with fictional laws so I will do what I want.

Aside from that... more Kay making fun of Miles.

“She seems energetic,” Phoenix commented.

“Indeed she is.”

“... Why did she call me ‘Mr. That Man’?”

Edgeworth coughed. “I’ve not the slightest idea,” he said, turning his head to the side. “That aside, this whole affair is going much smoother than I expected, aside from that slight mishap.”

“Yeah, murder’s not really the best way to kick off a bachelor party, huh? Even if it is Larry. But I think we did alright.”

“Indeed.”

As if on cue, a loud cheer rose up from the crowd at the far corner of the bar.

“... Do you smell something?” Phoenix asked, and true to form, the swaying form of Larry crawled on top of a table.

People making fun of That Man is one of my favourite tropes regarding the AAI characters.

I don’t actually know how bachelor parties work, but if anyone can make them into an overly dramatized super wild party... it’s Larry.

Edgeworth groaned and began to storm off, but Phoenix grabbed him by the hand to hold him back. “Edgeworth, it’s a party, let them have their fun.”

“I… suppose so,” Edgeworth relented, but his hand was still tense in Phoenix’s.

Phoenix released him. “C’mon, we can chaperone from a safe distance.”

Edgeworth nodded wordlessly, but Phoenix could sense that same feeling of unease from him again. He opened his mouth to ask about it but a loud shout took up his attention — this was something that could be dealt with later, he thought, as he and Edgeworth rushed over to the scene.

Miles internal monologue: Wright is holding my hand. Wright is holding my hand. Wright is holding my hand writgh is holding my hand wright is holdin g my ha--

Phoenix: uh. edgeworth?

So in this fic... Miles is gradually working up the courage to confess to Phoenix. He finally worked out his own feelings at some point prior to this fic starting but can’t quite admit them yet, so every time Phoenix does anything that can be remotely construed as romantic he just goes “!!!” and it’s probably all he can think about for a week. Poor guy! I’m sure that when he finally confesses all will be well.

Hours later, as the party wound down and various taxis came to take people home, Phoenix found himself crowded in a booth with a tipsy Maya and a drunk, gushing Gumshoe.

“... and I know she’s gonna just be so beautiful, pals, and what if it’s too much?” Gumshoe asked, lying sideways against the table. “What if they don’t let me see her and then the day of the wedding I look’t her and… I die?”

“People have gotten married without dying, Gumshoe,” Phoenix consoled him.

“But they don’t marry Maggey, pal…”

Maya snorted. “With her luck, I wouldn’t be surprised if something like that happened.”

“Hey, don’t tell him that!” Phoenix hissed.

really this wedding should have had way more disaster than I wrote about... probably at least one murder.

“No, no, don’t mention her luck, she’s already so worried,” said Gumshoe. “We’ve checked off every good-luck wedding charm in th’ book… but she still thinks somethin’s gonna go wrong. I love her, I really, really love her, pals…” A far off look crossed his face, and Phoenix wondered if anyone would ever speak of him like that, “... but she worries so much…”

“What’s she worried about?” Maya asked, slumping over against Phoenix’s shoulder.

“Ceremony, reception, if people’re gonna show up, if we’re gonna lose somethin’ important… even ‘s far as the bouquet toss. I told her, if you’re not sure, just toss it in th’ direction of you,” he pointed at Phoenix, “or at Mr. Edgeworth, and maybe it’ll work.”

Phoenix frowned. “Why me?”

Gumshoe let out a burst of hearty laughter. “I’m thinkin’ if you or Mr. Edgeworth catches it, it’ll give ‘im the courage to finally ask you out, pal.”

Maya shot straight up. Phoenix froze. “... What?”

probably not the smoothest way to get to the entire reason why this bachelor party exists, BUT. 

Also it’s implied that Miles DID actually talk to Gumshoe about this at some point. probably Gumshoe caught him pining at a bad time haha.

“Y’know the old tradition, whoever catches it is the next to get married and all…” Gumshoe stared at them for a moment, before his eyes widened and a look of absolute horror crossed his face. “O-Oh! Crap! Pal!”

“Edgeworth wants to ask Nick out?!” Maya shrieked.

“FINALLY! IT’S ABOUT FREAKING TIME!”

originally Gumshoe used a much stronger word than “crap” but idk Gummy doesn’t seem like the type to curse much...? Maybe it’s a stretch haha. also “pal” as an exclamation is my favourite little Gumshoe speech tic

“Shh, shh!” Gumshoe reached over to clamp a hand over her mouth but fell, collapsing on the table. “You heard nothin’ from me, pals, got it? Mr. Edgeworth’s gonna kill me if he finds out… worse, stop funding the wedding…”

Death is one thing but the WEDDING...

And I can’t remember if I mentioned at any point that Miles was also funding the wedding haha but it’s probably also something he wouldn’t want to tell anyone. Gumshoe with his perpetually terrible salary (which is also Miles’ fault) plus Maggey with her inability to hold down a job before being fired in a murder-related incident probably means they don’t have a lot for a nice wedding so Miles offered. secretly and evasively. because he’s a nice person but also doesn’t want anyone to know that.

Maya stared at Phoenix, her mouth agape, as Gumshoe continued mumbling to himself under his breath about the various consequences of Edgeworth’s hypothetical wrath. Phoenix, meanwhile, felt like his brain had short-circuited.

That wasn’t possible. He must have heard Gumshoe wrong. Edgeworth didn’t think of him that way. Edgeworth didn’t think about anyone that way, Phoenix had thought, for the longest time.

Little do you know, Phoenix! 

Touching on the aroace Miles headcanon here because it’s a very valid interpretation of his actions even if it’s not my own...

… Even if Edgeworth had been acting strange lately, even if something in his expression softened when he looked at Phoenix, even if…

No. Phoenix quickly shoved that thought to the back of his mind. There were many things he knew about Edgeworth, and one of those was that Edgeworth saw him as a part-time friend and part-time annoyance, but never a romantic interest of any kind. The thought of it was just… just unbelievable.

Phoenix craned his head around, catching sight of a familiar pink jacket across the room and watched Edgeworth in the middle of some phone call. He would know if Edgeworth was interested in him that way… wouldn’t he?

At first “the back of his mind” was “the overflowing mental trunk of repression” but that seemed a little too on the nose. Just know that’s essentially what he’s doing.

Another thing I wanted to establish throughout the fic was how close Phoenix and Miles are now -- they essentially know each other really well. And thinking about that part in Turnabout Goodbyes where Phoenix declares that “I’m the only one who knows the real Edgeworth”, I kind of interpreted that Phoenix Knowing Things About Edgeworth is an important part of their relationship to him. And the occasions where Miles did surprise him (with some aspect of his personality) weren’t always very good things... realizing he’d turned into a “demon prosecutor”, then the “choosing death” part... it’s a lot of my headcanons running away from me haha. Basically in this fic, Phoenix thinks he knows Edgeworth so well because he’s so close with him so an indication that there’s something about Edgeworth he doesn’t know or has completely wrong kind of... connects to him /not/ being as close to Edgeworth as he thinks he is? Maybe? And being close to him is something very important to Phoenix.

(This is not my personal opinion though haha, people can and will surprise you no matter how well you know them... but this fic is Phoenix’s Relationship Issues: The Fic, so.)

And no one else has mentioned the scenes where it comes up yet so I’ll talk about it here -- a lot of my editing process involved going through the fic and cutting out every instance of Phoenix either talking about him hypothetically being in love with Miles, or of Miles being in love with him. I just ctrl+f “love” and cut out whatever fit the criteria. Phoenix’s interpretation of Miles’ actions up until the end of chapter 5 isn’t exactly that Miles is Capital-L In Love with him, more that it’s like... a little crush? Mayyybe some physical attraction. Misconstrued admiration. Not anything so severe that Miles would willingly initiate a conversation about Feelings. so “He would know if Edgeworth was in love with him” changed to “He would know if Edgeworth was interested in him that way” because part of Phoenix’s issue here is that he can’t actually directly acknowledge the possibility that he’s in love with Miles or that Miles is in love with him. It’s a whole complicated thing I’ll probably talk about in the next commentary I do?

This got long but there’s the end of the chapter! I’ll answer more later...? These take up a lot of time haha.

[seefasters]

that xmen au is one of the best pieces of ace attorney content i’ve ever seen. i adore it to pieces and i hope that you’ll talk about it some more

thank you so much!!! im so glad you like it

and i dont think you meant you wanted me to talk about it RIGHT NOW but thats what i'm gonna do. sorry

(also i hope you read this post: https://pherre.tumblr.com/post/185948190067/pherre-pherre-my-friend-and-i-made-an-ace otherwise this is gonna get real confusing real fast)

maya sometimes turns into edgeworth just to mess with nick, but he's used to it and figures it out very fast

except one time he mistakes the real edgeworth for maya

'- okay maya you almost sound like him, are you happy?

- who sounds like who, wright?'

- oh come on drop the act already, we talked about this, maya

- i assure you i am very much myself and not miss fey.

- this is exactly what "miss fey" would say!

- wright.'

trucy keeps making interdimensional pockets all over the WAA. case files and magic props getting sucked in is practically a routine occurance

klavier keeps asking apollo to do some vocals with his chords of steel for his new song. apollo always refuses

honestly i'm not entirely sure how exactly klavier's power works but i think once he's aware of his he can control it

and thus, after klavier performed one of his quieter songs to apollo:

'- was this... your power?

- no. i would never do this to you. it's just me.

/just/ him. like 'just him' isn't enough to drive apollo crazy'

- miles keeps wearing his gloves even after the truth is revealed because he doesn't want to feel the emotions of just anyone who touches him, even though there are approx 1.5 people who are allowed to touch him

- sometimes when phoenix is annoyed with miles he touches him on purpose just so miles could feel how annoyed he is

- miles knows that his father was killed by a gun. he read the report over and over and he saw the bullet but he still has nightmares where he touches his father's hand in that elevator and he sees gregory edgeworth's last memory: his son's terrified face

- (i THINK it's xmen canon that certain mutations can develop later in life and that's definitely the route mvk went: that incident in the elevator was the starting point of edgeworth's "deadly power")

- (because miles definitely touched people when he was a kid lets be real)

all the dialogue is written by my good good friend sasha!

[soap-stains]

Trials and Tribulations time!

We started pretty much immediately when we left off of Justice for All. It's only 12, so we thought we might as well.

(Turnabout Memories)

"Who is that? Oh, is that Phoenix? God damnit Phoenix."

???: *ahem!* "That's you. You're gonna see who it is, and you're gonna be so mad. . ." "Huh?" *Grossberg appears* "NOOOO! NO!" *has to take a minute to cry*

"His name is Doug Swallow?"

"Totally didn't commit a murder... Haha... Ahaha... Ha. . . . ."

I,,, she literally already knows what happened, and we're on Nick's second testimony. She guessed that Nick is covering for Dahlia(since she knows how much I hate Dahlia)

GOD DAMN THIS LADY. "Pharmacist... Poison. Sorry, that just popped into my head. It makes sense though, right? And his necklace, like we saw in the anime(I made the mistake of showing her a clip of the anime), that could hold some? Like, he could make. . . Oh, drugs. That's it. Nevermind." She's already got it all, almost! Ugh, I'm so stupidddddd... I shouldn't have talked about Dahlia as much as I did.

"Sorry! I just felt like hurting someone!" "I look for that in a woman." (she's v gay for Mia. I'm fine with it, though, since now my gayness for Franzy feels validated.)

"Feenie is a babey. Must be protected." "HE IS BABEY. In the anime, he's just annoying, but in the game he is a BABY."

"Miss Fey, I will hold you in contempt of court for badgering the witness. . . Fuck you. . ."

"Mia's cool, she's just weird sometimes." "She's weird, but she's a queen. Like all women." "...if she breathes, she's a thOOOOOOT!"

"Every time we see Grossberg, you end up crying." "I'm not crying yet."

"Am I gonna end up gay for [Dahlia]? I feel like [some of] the murderers end up being really attractive."

"What voice are you gonna give her?" "I already have one." "You're going to be voicing all but two characters, is that okay-? Oh, you always do that. Haha, nevermind."

*Mia pushes her hair aside* "Awe, that was adorable." *She says some confident line* "I... Oh." *dies of cuteness*

*says judge line while drinking milk* *ahem* "Sorry, i was drinking milk. Don't ask where i got it from. But it was that pink haired... Star." "Who are you talking about??" "Oh, right, this is in the past, I forgot. Um."

"They're all very fond of their drugs." "Me too. Ah, wait, I wasn't supposed to admit that in court. Uh, Bailiff! Strike that from the record, or I'll have your pay reduced by... Oh, I forgot, Edgeworth isn't here at this time. Time travel."

*gasp* "Does he take off his shirt???" "I- I'm sorry?" "Does he take off his sweater, like throw it off in sadness when this case is over?" "No!" "Aw." (she's very ahead of this case, man)

*as Dahlia* "Boys will be boys!" "Boys will be bugs. Y'know, because they're vermin that should be squashed under our feet."

Haven't typed in a couple hours, but,,, she went from "Dahlia's kinda cute!" to "God, she sucks so so much."

(The Stolen Turnabout)

[something where I screw up my words and said 'fuck' a couple times in Maya] "Hey! Watch your fucking language! Was that a fatherly thing to say? Sure."

Idk how but she already called which character is the murderer- Luke Atmey. She saw him and went "ew, I thought the Murderers were supposed to be hot"

"So you're saying that even though on one came...- wait, what? Even though on one- what is that saying? So you're saying that even though on one came through those doors last night... That makes no sense!" "I think it's supposed to say 'no one.'" "...oh."

Ron DeLite is babey. He is best boy and has best relationship with his wife.

"I need you to go to my hideout!" "Well, I meant my secret base..." "Your house. You mean your fucking house."

"He makes up for it in other ways." "That... Can be taken in such a wrong way." "I- wh?? Dude!" "What?!" "Other ways...?" "See! Phoenix thinks it, too!"

Mask DeMasque = Mark DeKiller, according to her

"I shouldn't have trusted you!" "What the fuck, Pearls?!" "Do you want to be thrown out like Maya?"

This music,,, is kinda sad,,, huh.

*Adrian appears* "She looks like she just had sex."

Larry appeared and she screeched in aggravation, I laughed because I forgot he was coming

"Women... I don't trust them anymore!" "So you're telling me you're gay now? Cool."

"She chose Hollywood over me!" "Sounds about right."

Pearl pronounces Godot like God-it because I want her to. As for her, she is stupid sometimes and pronounces it wrong

She already hates Godot, which I knew would happen. He's annoying most of the time, tbh. I like him only because I believe he and Mia should've been happy together, but that's really it,,, Godot is the only character I knew for a fact she wouldn't like.

"I know more about this thief than anyone! Well, other than maybe his mom!" "Well, his wife probably knows a lot." "No, she doesn't." "That's,,, That's very fair."

*About Gumshoe* "He looks like an angry puppy who couldn't actually hurt you."

"Is that Godot's theme? I don't really like it,," "Me neither, it sounds like elevator music."

"This game gives me Dyslexia, I swear."

"I don't know how I could ever repay you!" "I dunno, maybe with money?"

"[Godot]'s hot." "He's an attractive male, just an annoying person." *he smiles and she makes a weird kinda giggle* "He's so adorable." "Dang, I kinda wanna hug him. I don't appreciate that."

We've been listening to the Lordly Tailor Department Store theme just itself for a while, it's really nice! ^^

"He's so honest, he wouldn't even steal a glance!" "A glance at what?" ". . . Oh. Haha. Took me a moment."

"'PLEASE, STOP IT!' He screamed." "Wow, you sounded just like your husband. Can you do me next?" "No." "Actually, wait, no, don't. I slapped the last person who did that."

Headcanon: Ron DeLite is trans

"I can't think of [Grossberg] without thinking of hemorrhoids, now."

"I'll do whatever it takes to save my man!" *slight squeal* "Okay, I'm sorry, but I love them and their relationship."

*Maya sits in chair* "Ooh, I feel like a real CEO!" "It'd be funny if they just added in like a stick figure of Maya in the chair while she sits there. That'd be funny."

"It's a THICCC binder." *trying not to laugh* ". . .It's not funny. That's not funny." "You don't know how happy I am that you found that funny."

"[the body] fell out of a safe?!" "At least it wasn't a trunk." "I mean,, yeah, but,"

"I can't fit in these shelves!" "Maybe you could if you didn't eat so many hamburgers..." "Dang, you didn't have to come for me like that." (she proceeds to make me say 'you didn't have to come for my weave like that' in Miles' voice)

"...If you've got insomnia." "I do, actually! Sometimes." "You're not Shinsou." "Wow. I can't believe it. My life has been a lie up to this point." "Wow. You're not a purple haired loser- oh, wait. Oh, you actually are now(I dyed part of my hair purple a couple weeks ago) Okay, guess you're Shinsou now."

"I swear I want to change my ways, but I just don't have any interest in men!" -Larry Butz

(my brother talking to me) "Gotta tell you, [sister], your voices are a little one-note sometimes." "Yeah, I know." *hands me a doctor pepper* "See what I did there? Parenting technique. I insulted you and then I gave you a reward. You wanna die now?" "A little." "Good." (don't worry, he mostly didn't mean it)

"Are you calling Pearl not sane???"

*sees Ron on screen, he's giving his Testimony* "Who's this bitch. And why's her name Tess-tim-onee?" "His name's Ron." "Really? That's his name? Of course it is..."

@ Godot; "We get it. You're e d g y."

@ Godot; "Shut the fuck up~~"

"Wow Godot, didn't know you could be so feminine." "Call me feminine again, and I'll kill you." "Uhh... Judge? I'm being threatened..."

Welp. Uh. I guess she knows almost everything about Godot. I'm big stupid. Yikes. Also she might just be lowkey in love with him too but I just love his relationship with Mia. . .

I hate this "one chance" thing ughshxbdhvdn

We were both (well, mostly her) waiting for Mia to say something to Godot but it didn't happen so now I'm sad... Welp. That's it for this trial.

(Recipe for Turnabout)

"I really wanna see Mia in a maid uniform."

"Maybe he realized he's got strong feelings for you, Nick!" "I'm sorry, what?" "I really don't reciprocate. . ."

*screws up several sentences in Maggey's voice* "god daNGIT, WHY CAN'T I SPEAK WORDS?!" "She's just as annoying as I remember."

"If there's no pestering child by me, that's not me. If there's not a child yelling 'what's that?' 'can I have that?' 'look at that!' then it just isn't me. See?"

"Ugh, [Maggey's] positivity. . . Ew."

"Can I just say 'Backwards Phoenix' [rather than Xin Eohp]?"

*sees Pink Badger* "What the heck??" *a moment passes and then she sees it too* ". . .What the heck?! That's really stereotypical, the blue and pink. But it's kinda cute, like cotton candy."

"Maya says Respect Pronouns."

"Yes! Mia!!! Take a screenshot!!!"

*Godot appears* "Ugh, so hot, but so annoying."

"His metaphors get so weird at times. . ."

"I'll be squaring away (okay I don't remember what he said)!" "That's,,, very intimidating, coming from [Gumshoe]." "I'll be squaring away for your arrest!" "At least he's not squaring up." "You right."

"You really know how to drive a man nuts." "That,,, can be taken many ways. Wow, this case is... So gay."

"All he had was 58 cents?!" "That's not enough to buy chicken nuggets..." "I can't believe you."

Okay so Viola appeared and left (honestly I really like her lol) and then Armstrong did a weird thing and she was like "aHK I saw his p*nis!!! Ew!!!" And now that's our joke. That's it. P*nises.

Poor Viola ;~;. She didn't deserve what Tigre did to her!!!

godot is such a hecc sometimes

(Turnabout Beginnings)

"Awe!!! Look at Miles (on the title screen)!!! Such a boy!!!"

(about Terry) "He's such a baby!!! I just wanna hug him!!!" "You're gonna wanna hug him a lot more after this case."

"Did he just call her Kitten?? That's so adorable-" "I ship it s o m u c h hnnnnn-" *starts crying* (yes I did actually start crying)

"God, I just wanna kiss [Diego]."

"I like Diego a lot more than Godot."

"Ew, it's this guy(the judge) again."

*Miles appears* *both of us eeeeeeee*

*giggles at Edgeworth, I don't know why, I never do that*

"Stop calling me 'kitten', it makes me not think straight. . . Except it is straight."

"(Miles) looks so smug uwu. I usually hate that in a person, but I'm just in love with him."

"When Gumshoe told us Mia cross-examined him, he forgot to mention this." (he was flirting with Mia)

"Mr. Edgeworth, I'm not sure I like you... Oh, there's more-"

"I came to testify for her!" "Oh, really? Are you a magician? Or, wait, what is it called..." "A psychic?" "No, I don't think, that's what it is... Uh... Oh, yeah, a psychic!"

My dad finished up his work for the night about the same time we were finishing this case up- he was there from when Terry came to the stand to the end 😬. Then we went to bed, having finished two cases in a day. When we get downstairs in a bit, we're going to start the next case, and jfc, we're almost done with the original trilogy! It's going to be weird, moving from the Switch to my DS for Apollo Justice, but we'll adjust. And then after that... I dunno. Maybe I'll buy Dual Destinies & Spirit of Justice? Not quite sure, yet. But I have thought about it. Anyway, sorry for rambling, I just wanted to put my thoughts down, here.

(Bridge to Turnabout)

Barely into the case and we've already planned Maya's death

I've got her thinking Iris is Dahlia; good.

"I think maybe his salary has been cut a little too much?" "Y'think?" "I don't think he's getting paid at all."

"Haha, Godot's going to think it's Phoenix he's going up against, but nope!" "You know, Godot against Edgeworth is something funny I'd like to see." "I mean, you're going to see it." "...fair point."

Now that Miles is the protagonist, I'm voicing like literally every character.

Franziska appeared and she threw the controllers in anger lmao

"I was hoping [Miles] would wear blue, but okay."

God, I'm so glad to be doing Franziska's voice again UwU

"It's a do or be done in world, after all!" *snorts* "I- Hm." "Phoenix is a Done In, Miles is a Do." "Pff- there is no longer Top or Bottom, only Do or Be Done."

"I love Edgeworth as a defense attorney." "The difference between Miles & Phoenix [presenting wrong evidence] is funny. Phoenix is like 'This statement contradicts this evidence!' and Miles is like 'The statement is clearly a contradiction to this evidence!' 'No it's not?' 'Yes it is!'"

*doing the 👉👈 motion* "...[Franziska] you fucking fuck..."

*gets a call* "Hey, it's from Washington D.C." "You,,, might not wanna answer that,, Wait, please don't-" *she answers it* ". . . Eh, they hung up immediately." "I was gonna say, you might not wanna answer a call from D.C. with everything going on right now." "Well, yeah, but it's not like I have social media." "Yeah, I know. You're not at any protests or anything, but I still don't want the FBI storming my door." "Ah, yes, 'This person answered a call from Washington D.C., must be suspicious, send the FBI.'"

"God, my theories are good sometimes, better than this game's [lore]."

"They just asked Larry if he was high!" "I wouldn't be surprised [if he was]."

"Nick, you dooooooog!" "..." "..." "Go ahead, say it." "Say what?" "The joke I always make, say it." "Wh- What are you talking about? What joke?" "Oh my God, I'm so offended... What joke do I normally make?" "I dunno, sex jokes?" *sigh* "... OH! He's my husband!!!"

"That led me to finding a beautiful crystal sphere half-buried in the snoooOOOHHH-" "...?. . . Oh shIT!" (there was blood on the sphere)

"(She does look kinda cute...)" "Woah woah woah. That's okay for [my name] to say, but not you, Phoenix! You're dating her brother!"

"No whipping, you sick!" "The sick."

"[Franziska] Von Karma says Consent is Everything."

"[Godot says something along the lines of 'what's weird is the angle at which Trite is pointing his index finger']" "Excuse me, are you threatening to bite my finger off??!" "What? Why would- no!" "[something along the lines of 'sticking your finger in a socket would be better than having it bitten off IDK I can't remember']" "..." "You doubted me??"

"Why does [Godot] have Dahlia's files?" "Hm, good question. Well, actually, thinking about it. Edgeworth went digging[on Dahlia], so if Godot asked, he probably would've given it to him." "Why would Godot ask?" ". . ." *i take a pause as i think about her asking this question and the consequences of my answer* ". . .good point. Anyway-"

God I love the animation of Dahlia leaving Maya's body, the whole sequence is so good!!!

hnnn I'm starting to cry because i know godot's objection is coming hnnnnnng nooooo i might end up crying later hnnnn

"There's plenty of time for crying later." "...Really, because I'm cRyInG nOw-" "I can see that."

"She looked like she had horse feet, and I was so confused. I'm still so confused."

(Honestly, I would prefer that Iris was found Guilty than Godot be found Guilty...)

(She's choosing Godot as the murderer I'm starting to cry oh no oh no oh no oh no oh god oh fuck oh no)

"I was right, I'm happy! I didn't think I was right. You're being really silent, you're making me doubt myself. Was I right?" (No, you're not wrong, I just don't wanna say it... Honestly, it'll never not be sad for me. I love this case, but I just wish Godot would've let Iris be claimed Not Guilty and left it at that. I mean, it was his job, he couldn't let it slide. Even if it was him.)

"Awe, [Godot] did it all of good will... I can't hate him, now..."

"By the way, when I yelled[while you were in the bathroom]... I yelled 'take off your shirt!'" "I- at who?" "Godot. Anyway, if your parents or brother are awake, they would've heard that. I'm sorry."

It's Over, Isn't It? with Diego/Godot

*Iris is telling Nick how it was actually her who dated him* "Dang, even the Judge is invested."

*at Larry* "Shut up! You're beautiful, and creative, and adorable! Fuck you!"

Here we are, at the end of the trilogy. We started on March 22nd, and now we and, at 2am on June 11th. It's been a long road. Voice acting mishaps, a heck ton of notes. It's been almost 3 months. Some things have happened, but we're still going strong. Oh, but don't expect us to stop, oh no! I bought Apollo Justice! So we will be back someday. But unfortunately(for us), it won't start tomorrow. She has to go home. And maybe we'll buy Dual Destinies & Spirit of Justice? Who knows. Anyway, haha, I'ma stop typing now since we're reviewing voices. Bye!

"That was just dumb-shoe. I- I meant to say Dumb Gumshoe-"