#(yes of course it's because Edgeworth)

[deaththeyamikid]

Whatever you do, don't listen to Windows in Heaven by We Are The In Crowd and think about Miles and Gregory Edgeworth

[cornertheculprit]

something i think is equal parts funny and sad is that in the bad ending of 2-4 phoenix says that he never sees maya again, and then goes on to say that a few days later is when he hears the results of adrian andrews' trial. like if you look at the phrasing it seems to imply that he hit the streets the minute he left the courthouse and didn't see maya for 0.2 seconds and then was like "i'll never see her again" because she didn't magically show up in front of him and then started avoiding him to obviously deal with the fallout of an innocent person getting convicted for her sake. it's mostly sad though.

[quietwingsinthesky]

laying on the floor thinking about franziska & miles….

[aro-attorneys]

AA6 is giving me absolutely nothing man

[box-dwelling]

Wrightworth in turnabout for tomorrow is so fucking funny because they're both talking like they just returned from war and haven't seen each other face to face in years when we know for an absolute fact they saw each other in person only a handful of days ago and have regular phone calls.

I get that they treat being in court together like a big deal, that makes sense but like come on, they go so over the top dramatic.

Of course if you then read into yes daddy then it's likely they fucking woke up next to each other that morning but Edgeworth's dramatic ass still turns up with "I trust you've been well Wright"

[kijimha]

Nahyuta is the most OVERHATED character in SoJ

"He's constantly repeating the Holy Mother stuff" yes, because a character's speech should be recognizable to some extent, especially if they important. Religion is also a very important part of Khura'in and its legal system, too. Of course he'll rely on the Holy Mother a lot. Not to mention many characters have repetitive speech (For example, Franziska is an amazing character and uses the word "fool" a lot)

"Ema says he's a good person outside of Court but he isn't" We have BARELY seen him outside of Court, but you don't even have to in order to know he is a good person. He suffered in silence so Rayfa wouldn't have the same fate as he did, gave a witness a name despite having no need to, and didn't confiscate Dhurke's badge when interrogating him in hopes that he'd save him.

"He's annoying and extremely ruthless" Because his perception of defense attorneys was completely warped. When you live in a place where they're hated, you'll be bound to as well. Besides, he never believed that the person he was prosecuting was innocent and just wanted to give the victim their last rites. He is literally shown praying for the fallen, proving he has immense respect towards them.

Not to mention Khura'ins legal systems rely on Rayfa. Outside of Khura'in, naturally he is going to believe the accused is guilty and will do his best to make them pay for their crime.

"He was rude to Athena" Because she is young and, again, he does not like defense attorneys. He at least saw her as a worthy adversary after seeing her strengths.

"He kept throwing beads at people" As if the other prosecutors haven't done WORSE? Throwing coffee, whipping people...

"If his rude persona was an act, why was he mean when outside of Khura'in?" Okay, one, maybe he didn't want to break the persona. It'd be weird if he were mostly ruthless and suddenly switch personalities. If he wants to help Rayfa, he can't show something is going on at home. And if that won't help; maybe he's just a bitch???? He has every right to be. So many other characters are flat out mean. Also; he's in only ONE GAME so far. He still has a lot of his personality to develop.

"His writing sucks, he's basically a second Edgeworth" I agree some parts of his character are not as good as I wish they'd be, but he and Edgeworth are quite different. Even if the character arcs mimic each other, it isn't as if it hasn't been done before. Also, many just refuse to see Nahyuta past the stuck-up religious guy perspective. It's so interesting to wonder how his relationship with religion, rebellion, obedience, etc. would be before, during and post canon.

"He's the worst prosecutor of the series" Because he wasn't easy to beat? He was described to go from place to place, solving difficult cases. Of course he's not going to give up easy and will be a challenge to face

I admit his writing is not the best and could have been better. His redemption arc was a bit short and I think it could have been more interesting if he actually believed in Ga'ran, but Nahyuta is being treated as if he killed everyone's families. Seriously, people seem to forget so often he did so much for Rayfa, even working under someone he didn't believe in.

"He's still my least favourite character" then why are you still reading. I love him. he's my favourite character in SoJ and so mecore. skill issue skill issue

[folkdances]

in the trilogy, character pairs were a lot of the time set in bringing someone back from the dead or generally playing with the dead and the undead and the alive. this was the case with mia/maya in aa1, mimi/ini and adrian/celeste in aa2 (edgeworth/franziska as well to a certain degree), and of course in aa3 it was iris/dahlia, but also godot/diego, and obviously there was a lot more going on but this is a recurring thing that ace attorney does. it works with the turnabout theme, reviving the dead and reviving dead cases, and it works with phoenix's literal name. that's why i think it's really cool that that doesn't happen in aa4. aa4 is a really grounded game and isn't super interested in telling these literally 'magical' stories. the feys were magic, but trucy and troupe gramarye are magicians who work with practical things, illusion and obfuscation.

of course it is implied that trucy and apollo's perception ability is magical in nature, but i don't think it is ever outright stated that it is the same way it is confirmed that the feys possess unique magical powers. and because aa4 is so grounded and so invested in telling this particular story about corruption in every meaning of the term, it does its character contrasts with characters being "moral" and being "immoral" in the sense that the lines between these two labels are very blurry.

there is the contrast of kristoph/klavier, obviously — klavier is the good one because he can accept defeat in the name of truth, because he strives to find the truth and, when he realizes that what he is pushing for is not the right thing, will stop pushing for that thing, whereas kristoph is driven by his own pride and ego. it gets more complicated when you shift your focus towards, for example, phoenix (attorney)/phoenix (father). trilogy phoenix is naive and loyal and has these searing convictions (not that apollo doesn't), but he regularly puts people on pedestals and himself in positions to be betrayed. it is difficult for him to accept that his judgement of a person might have been faulty we see this thinking in turnabout goodbyes and in farewell, my turnabout and in bridge to the turnabout.

disbarred phoenix has lost that naivete because of the sheer amount of time that has passed, yes, but also because of the breadth of the "betrayal" he suffered. we know that disbarred phoenix wright is still a "good person", but he is more willing to get his hands dirty, is more willing to lie and omit and yeah, cheat.

there is the example of lamiroir/machi, in which lamiroir is portrayed as being a very innocent and tragic figure and for a good portion of the case, we sort of believe that machi has taken advantage of her innocence to a certain degree. the main parallel is of course that of kristoph/phoenix, but i think it is so interesting how phoenix dips a hand into the same methods kristoph used with the bloody ace — a less drastic and "evil" play, yes, but one from the same book nonetheless.

back to what i said about dying cases and turnabout, that's what a lot of the trilogy cases, every single one almost, focused on. the end-message is always one of rebirth and reinvigoration — two examples so you know what i'm talking about: in turnabout goodbyes, phoenix's revelation of the truth by bringing dl-6 back from the 'dead' is what starts edgeworth's journey towards becoming a different person. in rise from the ashes, his highlighting the detective's work in bringing sl-9 back from the dead is what frees the skye sisters and allows lana to experience a "new lease on life". this repeats over and over again. these are very classic endings. but in aa4, what's highlighted is the exact oppposite: corruption.

kristoph starts off as a very cool and collected person (in the player's eyes) and his descent into paranoia and greed and egotism is revealed to us across the past and present. we see apollo start off in turnabout trump as a different person than who he becomes by the end of turnabout succession; he doesn't become a bad person, but he's been through enough that he develops a sheen of pessimism while still remaining recognizably apollo, so brash and convinced and caught in the pursuit of justice, a corruption, yes, but less drastic. i already covered the change phoenix undergoes. trucy goes from being an element of zak's tricks to conducting tricks of her own (page vs ace). lamiroir has undergone a sort of breakdown of identity. wocky's slowly dying. even the clients we defend vary so deeply from the clients of the trilogy in that their innocence is already cast in doubt when apollo defends them because they've already gotten their hands dirty or are societally deemed 'shady characters'. in the first case, the client is a disgraced and disbarred lawyer. in the second, a gangster part of a violent mob. in the third, a seemingly innocent child is revealed to be a smuggler. and of course behind it all there is the legal system, already dark and corrupt in phoenix's time, now twisted so far out of shape that it is a miracle any cases are won at all. and that's also why i think making the prosecutor apollo goes up against (klavier) be a very just person works out amazingly.

not sure how to really end this but tl;dr apollo justice is an amazing game that plays with themes in a very different way from the trilogy and i love it!

[fosterworks-art]

Thought WAY too hard about undergrad Phoenix, and now Amazon thinks I'm a lawyer.

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Just in case you can't read my handwriting, please look below for the notes. The below notes are a tad differently written + there may be some extra info I couldn't put in the sketches.

Page 1 - 18 y/o Phoenix

He majors in Criminology and Studio Art. So his main courses are Criminal Justice & Criminology, and Drawing.

He disappeared sometime after DL-6 and showed up with short hair, living in a duplex.

Studying to be a prosecutor - or cartoonist. His reasoning to becoming a prosecutor is unclear, he gives different answers (He can't do math, money and respect, it's a good job), he does genuinely want to help people through prosecuting, though.

Larry and Phoenix haven't seen each other for eight years, but did exchange letters.

For Larry, I wrote a couple notes for him: Going from job to job (and girl to girl) - Pretty good with tech and mechanics. That's a reference to the Thinker clocks, because it's impressive that he made them.

Page 2 - 19 y/o

Poker Hobbyist

Draws and sells card decks (and doujinshis)

People say he has a great poker face.

Also super friendly, just a doormat.

Friends don't know much about him and he doesn't talk about himself much.

He didn't remember Miles or the class trial until he saw the newspaper

That's when he decides to switch from being a prosecutor to being a defense attorney.

It doesn't change much about school.

Page 3 - 20 y/o

He's been taking summer classes this entire time. So he's a senior by 20.

He's a hard worker, and very tired. But he needs to meet Edgeworth asap.

Starts shrimping

People generally know him as a sweetheart and a softie, and a doormat. His classmates also realize that he could be a bit mean.

Heard about the Armando poisoning, but believed it was a different Dahlia Hawthorne. The one he was dating wouldn't harm a soul.

He trusted his girlfriend more than anyone, but never showed his true face until their last date. (He wore makeup and colored contacts throughout high school and college, only Larry knows what he really looks like.)

Couldn't see each other much, because they were both so busy.

Page 4- Born April 11th, 1993

This is what he looked like before the Doug Swallow trial. I just wanted to draw him when he wasn't sick, because the mask would cover the makeup.

(Just pretend I know what I'm doing with the hospital drawing)

Phoenix's 21st Birthday Presents

Not Guilty verdict

Hospital Bill

Botched Surgery (awake, aware, remembered)

Aversion to chips, pills, and romantic relationships

Friend (Mia Fey)

He didn't stay in the hospital for long and refused medication.

Yes he was in excruciating pain. Yes he finished his exams.

He ate glass, he can take it.

[velvees-archive]

Spirit of Justice DLC Spoilers!

I’ve talked a lot about how much respect Edgeworth has for Phoenix as an attorney and an individual (see here and here) but this DLC case really puts my analyses to shame because Miles makes it so, blatantly obvious.

In the final cross examination for the case, Pierce Nichody makes a last ditch attempt at warding off suspicion by slandering Phoenix’s integrity.

“He wants to infect this judicial body with virulent accusations!”

Before he can say more, Edgeworth objects to his testimony. It’s important to note that the text autoadvances here aka Edgeworth’s objection pops up before the text box fully loads in. It actually took me by surprise the first time I played through the case.

Do we see what I’m trying to say? Edgeworth—under the guise of maintaining professionalism—defends Phoenix against attacks on his character. It’s even more telling that he loses his cool and forcibly stops the dialogue after Pierce implies Phoenix is a stain on the judicial system, almost as if he’s saying “not the Phoenix Wright Miles knows”. No damn way.

An aside: This is post 7-year gap Phoenix coming under the Chief Prosecutor’s protection because he unerringly believes in Phoenix. That’s 7-year gap fanfic fuel in the flesh?!

It’s cute that he says, “We need to evaluate the defense’s claim” because, yes, of course we do, but does evaluating Phoenix’s argument include insulting your witness, too?

There’s something about this exchange that screams domesticity, what with Edgeworth indirectly telling Pierce to stfu and shifting the court’s attention to Phoenix, who definitely gets what Edgeworth is putting down. Look at his smirk and the dialogue!

This has to be one of my favorite NaruMitsu moments in the series. A culmination of their personal bond peeking through the professional curtain. I am so taken with these losers.

[sunstone-smiles]

Don't Wake Up Angry!

Original request: Hi Sunstone! I’m a big fan of your Ace Attorney fics, so I’d love to see Phoenix waking up Edgeworth when he’s slept in too long for Day 9. Maybe because of his nightmares or having just solved a difficult case? Up to you! Keep up the good work! : )

Author’s note: Happy Day 9 (Yes, I double checked the calendar again, Lol) of Tickletober everyone! Here’s Day 9: “Wake up” from August’s Tickletober List! I hope you enjoy!

Series: Ace Attorney

Characters: Phoenix Wright and Miles Edgeworth

Word count: 889

Summary: Phoenix needs to wake Edgeworth up so they don’t miss their dinner reservations; although, Phoenix needs to think of a foolproof method of waking him up where Edgeworth can’t get mad at him. Phoenix might have just the solution.

---

“Edgewooorth. It’s time to wake up.” Phoenix walks behind the sofa in the office. He peeks over the cushions to see Edgeworth lying on his back, eyes closed, breath soft, hands on his stomach—sleeping peacefully.

The man deserves the rest. Late night after late night, Edgeworth was working on a case that didn’t have a clear cut answer. It took digging through large numbers of police records and traveling across town to meet witnesses in order to find evidence against a shady defendant, who had the Judge wrapped around their finger by playing the shy little lamb card to the gullible, but kindhearted old judge. Eventually though, Edgeworth found an opening, cracked the case, and sent the guilty defendant spiraling in a breakdown all the way to the police station. And to celebrate all that, Phoenix offered to take Edgeworth to dinner.

After Edgeworth’s much needed nap, of course. As soon as the man removed his red wine-colored jacket and hit the couch, he was out. Phoenix left him to rest, but two hours have passed and their dinner reservations are closing in.

“Edgeworth, wakey wakey.” Phoenix gently shakes his shoulder. No response from the other man. He’s still preoccupied in his slumber.

Phoenix could let him sleep. He knows he needs it. But if he doesn’t wake Edgeworth up now, he might get a scolding later along the lines of, “Wright, why didn’t you wake me up?” Although, he might also get a scolding if he does wake him up. There’s really no winning here.

Although, maybe the best way to wake him up is one that makes it difficult to be mad. Phoenix gets the perfect idea.

He rubs his hands together like an evil scientist, then interlocks his fingers together before stretching his hands out in front of him. (Even with Edgeworth not watching, Phoenix still teases him). He flexes his fingers and positions them near Edgeworth’s sides.

The lawyer watches Edgeworth’s chest calmly rise and fall. With a smirk, Phoenix digs his hands into both of Edgeworth’s sides.

Edgeworth immediately jolts awake with a yelp from the initial surprise, followed by a bark of laughter once the realization of being ticklish hits.

“Wha–?! Wrihihihight!” Edgeworth tries to sit himself up and knock Phoenix's hands away from tickling him. “Whahahat are you dohohoing?”

“Waking you up. You’ve had plenty of time to rest,” Phoenix says with a smile on his face.

“Yohohohou couldn’t have given mehehehe five mohohore minutes?!” Edgeworth wraps his arms around his torso and tries to roll over to his side, still groggy from his nap.

“We both know that ‘five more minutes’ doesn’t actually mean five more minutes,” Phoenix teases and crawls a pair of his fingers to Edgeworth’s ribs. The prosecutor’s giggles jump and he rolls over on his back, providing Phoenix’s other hand the opportunity to access Edgeworth's ribs. Edgeworth squeezes his arms to his sides. As his giggles increase, a snort releases from the usually stoic man. He throws a hand to his face to hide his silly smile, but it quickly slides back down to his side to return for protection. 

“Was that a snort?” Phoenix can’t help but giggle. “If I didn’t know any better, I would think that your snort is as loud as you snore.”

Now recovered from any leftover sleepiness, Edgeworth uses one hand to shove at Phoenix’s chest, while his heels dig into the cushions; his other hand attempts to push himself backwards. 

“I do nohohohot snore yohohohou liar!” Edgeworth attempts to regain an ounce of his intimidating composure.

Phoenix is unaffected. “Okay, so maaaybe I stretched the truth a little bit. But that’s what you say I’m always best at, right? Bluff until something sticks!” The lawyer punctuates the end of his sentence with a quick scribble into Edgeworth’s underarm, causing the other man to collapse flat into the cushions. Edgeworth’s head leans back as laughter cascades from his form and his legs kick behind Phoenix.

“Wrihihight! Thahahat’s enohohough!” Edgeworth shouts through his giggles.

“Alright,” Phoenix jokingly fakes a sigh, like a child who’s been told that it's time to go home from the playground. “I guess I’ve had my fun.” Phoenix pulls his hands away with a smile to allow Edgeworth to catch his breath. 

The prosecutor moves his hands to rest on his stomach and leftover giggles trickle from him with each exhale. 

Edgeworth looks up at the ceiling as the giggles fade to steady breaths. “Somehow, I feel more tired than I did before…”

“Don’t fall asleep on me again, Edgeworth,” Phoenix pats his knee. “We have dinner reservations to catch.” 

Phoenix stands from the cushions and grabs Edgeworth’s hand to help him sit up. 

“So come on,” Phoenix walks to the front door and grabs his coat. “Put on your jacket and let’s go. I don’t know about you, but I’ve definitely worked up an appetite,” Phoenix fixes his coat with a goofy grin in Edgeworth’s direction.

Edgeworth rolls his eyes, then lifts himself from the couch. He grabs his jacket, makes sure he’s presentable, and Phoenix opens the door for him, bowing like a chauffeur. Edgeworth shows him a smile, partially leftover from the wake up call, then heads out the door with Phoenix by his side. 

Edgeworth is awake and happy, meaning Phoenix's plan was a success! 

[yellowocaballero]

i see you reblogging aa, is this a sign an ace attorney fic is on the horizon 👀

I resign myself to the fact that any reblogging spree of one work inevitably results in people in my inbox asking if I'm currently writing fanfic about it. I can't complain, because the answer is usually yes absolutely of course I am.

I will say that the Great Phoenix Wright Trilogy Playthrough Of 2024 was this summer! It was very much a tether to sanity and I'm very grateful towards @lazuliquetzal for letting me watch her play and for making the experience so much fun. A very intricate bedrock of lore/in-jokes developed. Edgeworth thinks he discovered homosexuality and younger sister figures are mandatory in a court of law. We found it extremely well-written, very funny, and really interesting in character dynamics. I also got her to play Ghost Trick, which was awesome as usual. We're currently both obsessing about different things - and my fanfic to-do list is already VERY long - so no fanfic is actually in the works right now.

Of course I've already written some, who do you take me for. I wrote this just for us, so it's unfinished and rife with our in-jokes, but somewhat shockingly it probably has the densest joke-to-word ratio that I've ever written. Sometimes I want to continue writing something, but I look at it and I'm like, 'This is too good. I can't keep up this level of good. I can't reach this high again'. The short fanfic - sourced from our recurring jokes/efforts to figure out [SPOILERS FOR ACEATT3] how blind Godot is exactly, and what I would have found the most interesting - is, believe it or not, too good to keep writing.

Zany fanfic and spoilers for Ace Attorney 3 under the cut.

           As it turned out, there was a prosecutor’s lounge.

           Like a lot of Phoenix’s least favorite facts, it was both obvious in retrospect and deeply disturbing. The defendant’s lounge had an obvious purpose: confer with your client, beg them to tell you simple facts that would determine if they were sentenced to death via electric chair, let your coworkers blow off steam by making fun of you. Gumshoe is useful at the least useful second. None of these banal and extraordinarily stressful events had anything to do with a prosecutor.

           That was why Edgeworth had always wandered into the defendant’s lounge and made vague yet affectionate threats at Phoenix. If he had his own sterile room to stand around awkwardly, he surely would have done so. This felt so obvious it ought to have gone without saying. There couldn’t, like, actually be a real lounge. That would imply a lot of things about Edgeworth’s choices. 

As a result, when Gumshoe tossed Phoenix the updated coroner’s report and asked him to run it to the prosecutor’s lounge, Phoenix’s first instinct was to contemplate suicide. His only remaining link to sanity was the knowledge that running Gumshoe’s errands to an imaginary room was better than the alternative of staying here.

           Much better. Gumshoe was looking at Maggey, Maggey was refusing to look at Gumshoe, Phoenix wanted to be nowhere near any of this, and he was taking the out. Gumshoe might as well have asked him to go check if his refrigerator was running. Call him a mechanic, because he grabbed both Maya and Pearl and high-tailed it out of there.

           He had to ask for directions three different times before he even found the place. It was a place that could be found. In real life. Phoenix better go catch his fucking refrigerator!

It was also right next door to the defendant’s lounge. Had this really been here the entire time? Could Phoenix have been wandering into Edgeworth’s lobby and making vague yet affectionate threats at him? He could have even stood in front of the door and blocked Edgeworth’s ritualistic escape from his feelings. His was a life of missed opportunities.

           “I bet they have free coffee,” Maya said grimly. “I bet they have tacos.”

           “With free avocados,” Phoenix intoned. “As much as they want. Maybe caviar.”

           Pearl blasted her large and doleful eyes up at Nick. “Why don’t you put avocados on the tacos you make for us? I love them…”

           Poverty, but he couldn’t tell her that. Nick settled for patting her on the head. “Avocados are as immoral as the prosecutors themselves, Pearly. It’s a matter of ethics.”

           “Ethics are so overrated,” Maya said mournfully, kicking the doors open. “Let’s go evil, Nick. For the sake of the children.”

           The cops inside did not appreciate Maya’s dynamic entry, but nobody ever did. Disappointingly, the prosecutor’s lounge was identical to the defendant’s one – down to the cops, cheap sofa, and ugly-ass art. The only difference was – son of a bitch, they did have coffee!

           Entirely possible that Godot refused to step foot inside the courthouse unless they installed a coffee machine. But it was the principle of the thing, goddamn it! Nobody ever cared about Phoenix’s hunger strikes!

           Potentially entirely due to coffee, Godot was sitting on the scratchy sofa with his head tilted back and one earbud in his ear. Its cord snaked onto the cushions of the couch, attacked to some small black media player. Was he awake? Was he asleep? Was he dead? If they were really quiet, would he sleep through the trial and leave Phoenix to win by default –

           “They have a chartreuse board!” Maya screeched. “Those rat bastards!”

           Pearl gasped, hands flying to her mouth. “Is that sushi? Free sushi!? I love sushi!”

           “Get my purse, Pearl-chan! Grab much as you can!”

           “So it’s hereditary,” Godot growled. Phoenix winced, instinctively checking for coffee cups in his vicinity. The familiar cheap coffee table seemingly only had one, but on closer look Nick could tell that they were carefully stacked into each other. How tidy! “How did you even know this place existed, Trite?”

           One of these days Phoenix was going to start pronouncing his name “guh-dot”. That would show him. He hadn’t mustered the courage yet, but one of these days! “How could I not know it existed?” Poker face, Phoenix. Look condescending. Evoke Edgeworth. Show him what’s what. Literally nobody else you know is scared of him, therefore you are not scared of him, we are manifesting absolute zen in the face of the tallest man Phoenix had ever met in his life. He was sitting down. This shouldn’t be hard. “It’s right next to the defendant’s lounge, how could we miss it?”

           “Is that so?” Godot slowly leaned forward, like a great beast awakening from a mighty slumber. His movements were stiff and disjointed, like a fat bear waking from hibernation. “The spotlight of truth must be like a floodlight to the most enlightened defense lawyers. Illuminating all. Hiding nothing. But shadows cling to the undersides of society, and true darkness lurking underneath the charcuterie board –“

           “I have the updated coroner’s report,” Phoenix said, flapping the envelope loosely. “Gumshoe wanted you to have the other copy.”

           “Yeah, give it here.”

           “If the charcuterie board is evil don’t tell me.” Maya was plowing through a hunk of goat cheese like a rabid coyote. “I don’t wanna know. None of my business. Put the wasabi in my coin purse, Pearl-chan.”

           There was something inherently evil about having a cheeseboard at the workplace, but the legal system couldn’t get much worse. Godot didn’t stand up from the couch – he just thrust out a hand, making shockingly childish little grabby hands, forcing Phoenix to cross the entire room and put it in his hands. Pearl ran up to Phoenix and helpfully smeared wasabi on his hand.

           Godot took the coroner’s report and dropped it on the table. He leaned back, reaffixing his earbud in his ear. “Charmed. Clean us out of the nori, girls, it’s Payne’s favorite and I want him to experience suffering.”

           Pearl helpfully tugged at Phoenix’s sleeve, dying it a light green. If he lost this case because the judge thought he smelled bad… “Can you pour me the last of the coffee, Mr. Nick? I wanna be a big girl and do it for me but the big jug is too heavy.”

           “Are you kidding? You’re way too young for coffee.” The last thing they needed was a nine year old bouncing off the walls. In a courtroom. During a murder case. Phoenix turned to Godot, who was biting his tongue and barely restraining himself from cursing out a nine year old. Was that blood? “You’ll want to take a look at that, Mr. Godot. There’s a new piece of evidence that could change everything.”

           “Save the dramatics for the courtroom.” Godot leaned back again, waving his hand absently. Yeah, that was definitely blood on his yellowed teeth. Phoenix had to admire the restraint. “What’s this new tidbit that’s so important, then?”

           Was he everyone’s errand boy? “The report’s right there, read it yourself.”

           “Seems like I was correct in pegging you as the lazy type, Trite. Look at you refusing to do a simple task.”

           Pearl made an ‘ooo’ing noise behind her hands. Maya broke a cracker in half, giving her the smaller piece. “Don’t say that world, Pearl-chan.”

           “What wo –“

           “You can’t insult me into doing the most basic aspect of your job. You read it.”

           “I’m a busy man. I’m hard at work actually making justice.” But he was sleeping?! “Defense attorneys clearly have nothing better to do than eat our precious cheeses. Show me that you can do the most basic element of the job.”

           Talk about a turnabout! This man had cranked the hostility meter up towards eleven and broke the knob off. Francizka had spent most of a year almost gnawing his face off, but she had never made Phoenix feel so specially hated. “Sorry, Godot, I’m not falling for it. But you’ll definitely want to read the report yourself. It has essential information for the trial in literally five minutes.”

           “If it’s so important than why did we give it to him at all?” Maya garbled, spewing pita chips everywhere. “We could have hid it and won this case!”

           “Because that’s unethical –“

           “You never let anything go! You and your silly ethics –“

           “Silly?!”

           Godot leaned forward and swept his hand over the table with incredibly unnecessary drama. He swept the folder into his hands, yanking the crumpled police report out. He ostentatiously snapped the paper and held it up to his visor, reading it closely. He nodded several times. He even hummed once.

           Finally, Godot straightened and tossed the report on the table. “Boring! So much for crucial evidence. You’re looking at the shadows in the cave and calling them innocent of heinous crimes, Mr. Trite. Turn away from illusions and overcome your cowardice by entering the deepest depths of Plato’s cave, facing your inner demons and reckoning with the truth of –“

           “Boring?” Phoenix cried. “The window for the potential time of the murder is completely different than we thought? And I’m the one living in a fantasy land?”

           Godot stared at him. “Really?” Phoenix made a garbled noise of outrage. Godot ignored him. “What’s the new window, then?”

           “Read it yourself!”

           “Hm.” Godot angled his head to the side, facing away from Phoenix. “Hey, little girl. I bet you can’t read.”

           Going for the throat?! Pearl clearly didn’t know whether or not to puff herself up in indignation or start crying. “I am such a good reader!!!!”

           “Really? Prove it.” Godot picked up the crumpled page and wave it at her. “Or are you a liar?”

           “Being a liar is for bad girls! I am a very good girl!” Pearl reached up on her tip-toes and nabbed the paper out of Godot’s hands. She scanned the page seriously, eyebrows furrowed. “Here! Right here! The new time of death is –“

           “Are you making a nine year old read a coroner’s report?!”

           Maya slurped slivers of ginger with pitying eyes. “She channels the dead, Nick.”

           “And that’s the time,” Pearl finished smugly. Phoenix hadn’t even heard her say it. She held out the papers to Godot again, who ignored her. “Now you know the time, because I am such a good reader.”

           “You’re a diamond in the rough, kid,” Godot told her seriously. “Never let these dullards dull your shine.”

           “My name’s not Diamond,” Pearl informed him, equally seriously. “It is Pearl Fey. Don’t feel bad. It’s a very common mistake.”

           “I don’t make mistakes, kid. I’m just one step ahead of reality. Count on it.”

           “You don’t have to be prideful, Mr. Godot.” Pearl smiled brightly and encouragingly at him, as if she was trying to connive a pit bull into a doing a trick. “It’s okay if you aren’t a good reader. Or if you aren’t a good speller. I’m a bad speller but that doesn’t make me a bad reader. Being a bad speller has nothing to do with being a good reader. I am a piece of decisive evidence about that.”

           Maya looked grimly at Phoenix, who was contemplating suicide again. “We’re ruined her vocabulary.”

           “We let her sit in during murder cases, Maya.”

           “And it’s ruined her vocabulary.”

           “What’s ruined your brain?”

           “Do you need me to read more things for you?” Pearl asked sweetly. “I like practicing my reading. I’m always practicing with Mr. Nick’s court records. They’re lots of fun and very educational. I can read ‘five counts of manslaughter’ very well. Do you want to see me spell it?”

           Godot looked at Maya. He looked at the coffee table, where the papers were not. He looked contemplative, maybe. Finally, he said, “How are you at serving coffee?”

           “If the jug is medium sized I can be very good at it!”

           “You’re hired.”

           Alright, that was enough. Phoenix had a lot of responsibilities, but his responsibility to Maya and Pearl came before every single one. That conviction had been put to test during that awful Engarde case. Phoenix almost sacrificed his integrity as a lawyer for Maya’s sake - he was not going to lose it now!

           “Absolutely not,” Phoenix said. It didn’t matter how insanely tall this guy was. Phoenix was taking a stand - right here, right now. Granted, the stand would go to his shoulder, but it was the conviction that counted! “Child labor is against the law, and her legal guardian does not give consent for this.” Phoenix made dangerous eyes at a cowed Maya, just to reaffirm that her legal guardian was not giving consent. “Don’t you have your own co-counsel? Make them do your chores, and stop stealing mine!”

           “I wasn’t planning on paying her,” Godot said affably. “That’s a violation of child labor laws, you know.”

           Maya appeared to be seriously considering his proposal. Which shouldn’t have been a big deal, but please refer back to the legal guardian wrinkle in this case. “I don’t know, Nick. Don’t you think it’s time Pearl flew out from underneath your shadow? It’s not exactly as if you pay me either.”

           “You’ll get paid when you do something helpful that gets me paid,” Phoenix said instantly. Maya glumly accepted this reality. “There’s no paycheck in moral support, Maya. Godot can use his own co-counsel –“

           “I don’t have a co-counsel,” Godot said. “Do I look like I’ve received an ounce of moral support in the last four years? Of kindness? Hell has no comradeship.”

           Phoenix flapped a hand. “Yeah, whatever. Your plucky imouto, co-counsel, whatever. Just get her to do it.”

           For the first time, Godot actually gave him a baffled look. Maybe. It was insanely hard to tell. “What would I do with a – younger sister, is it?”

           Everybody froze. You could have heard a penny drop. Maya and Pearl’s eyes practically goggled out of their heads.

           Godot just stood there, ignoring Pearl and Maya but clearly unsettled by the silence. “Cream and sugar undercuts the delectable bitterness of the black coffee. A life without siblings is a satisfyingly dark roast.”

           Slowly, Phoenix said, “I’m sorry. You’re a lawyer with no plucky female sidekick?”

           “I’ve had kouhai,” Godot said defensively. “I have a certain talent for mentorship –“

           “Mentorship? What makes you think you’re qualified to give any sort of mentorship? You’re a rookie!” Phoenix said the word ‘rookie’ like how Edgeworth said ‘polyester’, which was deeply satisfying. “And haven’t you lost every case you’ve ever taken?”

           Maya looked close to tears. “No wonder he’s such an awful lawyer…he doesn’t have a single imouto.”

           “Is that the ‘hell’ Mr. Godot talks about?” Pearl asked, voice wavering. “A world with no women?”

           “You’re projecting,” Godot snapped. “Just because you’re surrounded by teenage girls all day doesn’t mean any other lawyer is obligated to do the same.”

           “Any good lawyer. Why do you think Edgeworth has an imouto.” The thought of Edgeworth with no Franciska to hone his…edge…how sad. “And Franciska has Edgeworth as an imouto. This is law one-oh-one, Godot.” Phoenix propped his hands on his hips, grinning. “Hah! No wonder you can’t beat me! You don’t know the first thing about law, do you?”

           “And he can’t read,” Maya said sadly. “Maybe Mr. Godot isn’t exaggerating when he tells us how sad and pathetic he is…”

           “You thought he was exaggerating?”

           The tragic sight of the thoroughly baffled man clearly tugged at Pearl’s heartstrings, but she quickly found her resolve too. She rolled up her sleeves, as if they were at the office and she was ready to attack Phoenix’s toilet with a scrub brush. Once she had almost fallen in. “That does it! If Mr. Godot doesn’t have an imouto, then I’ll - ”

           “Nope. His problem, not ours.” Frankly, Phoenix was just trash talking a little. If you pretended Edgeworth and Franciska didn’t exist – impossible for Phoenix, but he could stretch his imagination – then Godot was a pretty good lawyer. To be a pretty good lawyer without the massive handicap of no young girl…Phoenix better stop giving the competition a hand like this. “Come on, the security guard’s started glaring at us again. It’s definitely time to start the trial.”

           “Your face will freeze like that, you know,” Pearl seriously told the security guard. He didn’t visibly react to her words at all. Maybe Pearl was onto something… “Mr. Nick, I have a duty to my fellow man -”

           “You can practice your reading with picture books, like a normal kid.” Pearl indignantly opened her mouth, doubtlessly about to launch into a meandering and breathless rant about her favorite Newberry Award winning children’s book author. “In English, not Japanese. Reading in English is your problem. At this rate you’re going to know how to read legalese and nothing else.” Phoenix yanked open the door, shepherding both girls out. Maya quickly stuffed more California rolls in her sleeve. “Bad enough Maya’s neglecting – Jesus Christ!”

           “You can’t give me a hard time about that,” Maya said reproachfully. “I’m Shinto.”

           Obviously, goddamn Gumshoe was at the door, one fist raised and clearly about to knock. His fist fell at the exact moment that Phoenix opened the door, and Phoenix only barely avoided a royal smack on the head by via Gumshoe’s meaty fist. He really couldn’t afford another concussion at this rate! CTE was a very serious brain disorder!

           “Mr. Wright! Hey, I thought I’d find you here! Right underneath my fist too! How’s that for some detective work, huh!” Gumshoe laughed uproariously, as if his crush wasn’t about to board her kayak and start doing the death row. And as if he hadn’t told Phoenix to go here. “Well, enough playing around! It’s time to get back to it! There’s no excuse for slacking off when Maggey’s life is on the line, you know!”

           “You’re the one who sent me on an errand!” Phoenix snapped. He shut the door tightly behind him. The last thing he needed was Godot adding his two cents. Or, knowing his wordiness, his two dollars. And change. “Did you forget telling me to give Godot the coroner’s report? It was five minutes ago!”

           “What? Why would I do that?” Gumshoe paused a second, creaky and rusty gears churning in his brain. Maya made demonstrative kissy noises. “Oh, yeah! Did you read it out to him?”

           Phoenix was going to have a fucking aneurysm. “Is there some reason why Prosecutor Godot is incapable of doing his own work? I’m already doing half the prosecutor’s job in the courtroom anyway!”

           “Some reason? Uh, yeah.” Gumshoe scratched the back of his neck, quirking an eyebrow. “It’s not exactly as if he can read the thing, you know.”

           “Oh my god,” Maya whispered, “he really can’t read.”

           Pearl’s eyes were brimming with tears. “A lawyer who can’t read…he’s so brave!”

           “Brave is one word for it,” Phoenix said flatly. How could he have ever been scared of this guy? No imouto, no literacy…the only thing impressive about him was how he’d even gotten this far. “It’s not my problem if Godot dropped out of fourth grade. He’s giving me enough problems, tell him to solve his own.”

           For some reason, Gumshoe outright glared at Phoenix. Phoenix was getting used to his misplaced ire over Xirneohp, but what did Maggey have to do with this? If anything, he should be thanking Phoenix for refusing to help the competition. “That’s out of line, pal! Haven’t you heard of basic human decency?”

           “In a courtroom? No.”

           “He’s got you there,” Maya said wisely. “When Nick’s putting the ‘Nick’ in ‘panicked’, then he can do some pretty sketchy stuff –“

           “And you call me the narc?!”

           “The courtroom doesn’t matter.” Gumshoe was still scowling at Phoenix. Of course it’s only Phoenix who gets treated like this. Edgeworth insults Gumshoe all day and he’s still his biggest fan. “I told you specifically to read out the autopsy report so Prosecutor Godot could record it into his PDA. Then he always labels it with that funny little label maker of his. You gotta get your ears cleaned out, pal.”

           Phoenix turned to Maya and Pearl, silently pleading for backup. Gumshoe was making Phoenix doubt his own sanity. Normally he just made Phoenix think he was losing it.

           But Maya just looked tragically disappointed in him. “Nick…you didn’t even let Godot label it with his funny little label maker?”

           Desperately, Phoenix rounded on Pearl. He was ready to fake tears. But Pearl just looked ready to whale on him with her little fists. “How could you, Mr. Nick? I didn’t get to see Mr. Godot’s cassette recorder! I’ve always wanted to touch one!”

           “Ah, Prosecutor Godot’s things are always super fun to touch!” At least Gumshoe looked sufficiently cheered up. “His bumpy labels make no sense to me, but I think they’re super cool. Like a secret code or something. But Prosecutor Godot always dumps coffee on my head when I mess around with them…makes me put ‘em back in order, then he says I’m doing it wrong, and…I won’t say I miss the whip, but prosecutors can be so rough sometimes.”

           Wait. Hold on a minute. Several different small pieces clicked into place, and Phoenix’s familiar trusty intuition began to churn its gears. Phoenix raised one finger, and Gumshoe instinctively ducked. “Detective…that label maker wouldn’t happen to be a Braille label maker, would it?”

           Gumshoe brightened, nodding voraciously. Then he apparently remembered he was angry at Phoenix, and started scowling instead. “Yeah, that’s what he called it! And I’ve just caught ya in a contradiction, pal! You said I didn’t tell you about the bumpy label maker. But you obviously knew what it was, didn’t you? You really were lacking human decency on purpose, weren’t you!”

           Cool. Phoenix wished he was dead.

  Both girls looked at Phoenix immediately, correctly deducing the return of his consistent suicidality but uncertain of the cause. Phoenix pinched the bridge of his nose, hard. “Braille is an alphabet for the blind. You read it by feeling little bumps with your fingers. Apparently Prosecutor Godot is some level of blind. And apparently nobody saw fit to tell us this.”

“Did we gotta?” Gumshoe asked blankly. “Mr. Godot doesn’t like talking about it.”

“Yes, you gotta! Now I look like some kind of - you know!”

Sure enough, Maya was giving him the most judgmental look he’d ever seen. Her face when full-ass adult Maximillian admitted that he had asked a sixteen year old to marry him was nothing in comparison. “You were bullying the blind, Nick? I can’t believe you!”

What was it, bully Phoenix for something that was not his fault week? “It’s his fault for not saying anything -”

“Victim blaming?!”

“I thought he was just being an as - jerk again! It’s not exactly out of character!”

“Ableism,” Maya denounced. Phoenix drooped. “I can’t believe it. I expected better from you, Nick.”

“I’m literally ADHD, don’t give me this -”

“Who isn’t autistic?” Maya said frankly. “That doesn’t count.”

“Plenty of people in this world are neurotypical, Maya.” 

He’d had to explain this multiple times. Sometimes she even made him doubt himself. It wasn’t as if he knew neurotypical people. The people in Phoenix’s life either knew they were neurodivergent or thought that normal people were the freak. Most fell into the later category. Unfortunately. Lana wasn’t winning sister of the year, but Ema’s diagnosis and Ritalin prescription was probably his sole link to sanity during that case. Phoenix had a conspiracy theory that Gumshoe plus Ritalin would produce a shockingly competent person. Like everybody else on the prosecutor’s side, he had no idea.

There was no way Edgeworth knew he was autistic, but Phoenix was softening him up for the revelation. He had to take it slow. Couldn’t afford for him to run off to the Philippines to find himself and then come home acting as if he invented autism. Again. Like he did with homosexuality. Shut up about the German discotheques, Edgeworth!

“Mr. Godot is blind?” Pearl gasped. Horrifically, Phoenix was relieved that she knew what blind people were. “Is that why he couldn’t read? And you made fun of him! That’s bullying, Mr. Nick!”

This was a thousand times worse coming from Pearl. “I wouldn’t say I made fun of him,” Phoenix said evasively. “If anything, I really think he’s been bullying me.” This did not impress Maya and Pearl, who somehow only looked more disappointed in him. Phoenix began to sweat. “I got nothing against the disabled, guys. They’re - like, they’re fine! Some of my best friends are -”

“Autism doesn’t count,” Maya said frostily. “You’ll never get your Disability Awareness and Inclusion Girl Scout badge at this rate, Nick.”

“I - am I a nine year old girl now? Seriously?”

Pearl straightened, eyes widening. “I’m a nine year old girl!” Phoenix gestured towards her, emphasizing the handful of differences between them. Gumshoe nodded vigorously. “Can I get a disability aware badge? I’m aware of disabled people!” Left unsaid: unlike Phoenix, apparently. Yet another difference between him and nine year old girls.

“You aren’t a Girl Scout,” Phoenix said, exhausted. “If that’s something you’re interested in, we can sign you up -”

“Girl Scouts! That’s a great idea. I was a Girl Scout way back when. It was awfully rewarding.” Gumshoe gave Pearl a big thumbs up, as if he hadn’t casually dropped the most insane bomb of all time and promptly moved on. “You’re probably overqualified for the Legal Expert and Fortune Teller badges. You could really make it!”

That was it. They had lost her. Pearl rolled her sleeves up, puffing out her chest with pride, and before Phoenix could react she had already turned around and pushed the lobby doors open. They swung open with a theatrical flair, revealing -

Godot, just on the other side of the doors. Judging by his somewhat harried look and unbalanced stance, he had also just barely managed to avoid door-to-face impact. Or, more likely, door-to-visor impact. 

Pearl either didn’t notice or didn’t care. She jabbed a finger at Godot, who still seemed dazed from the unintentional assault. “I’m taking your case, Mr. Godot! I’ll be your co-counsel! I’ll find you innocent of all charges - um, not that!”

“I lost all innocence a long time ago,” Godot said darkly. He pushed past them, flagrantly brushing off everybody. “If you wish to scout for something, scout for that. It ought to distract you from standing around and wasting time with meaningless gossip.”

Phoenix winced. He didn’t seem very happy. But he never really did - cheerful and amused, frequently, but almost never actually happy. “Uh, hey, man. I’m really sorry about - in my defense, you were actively hiding it -”

“Classic defense attorney,” Maya announced. “Always defending himself!”

“Mr. Edgeworth says that the attorney who represents himself has a fool for a client,” Pearl said helpfully, blissfully unaware of that one time Phoenix had to defend himself against a murder charge. Edgeworth had known. Obviously. 

“Save your pity, Trite. Save it for the courtroom. So you can pity yourself.” Godot held up one hand, not even bothering to aim it in Phoenix’s direction. “Out of all of your victims, of course you would pity yourself the most.”

“Dude,” Phoenix said, “did I, like, ghost you the morning after or something? I’m sorry about it, but becoming a lawyer because I didn’t text you back is a little weird.”

“A little weird?” Gumshoe said, baffled. “That’s a crazy accusation, Wright. Who would become a whole lawyer because of a guy?” Phoenix looked at the ceiling. Godot coughed. “I don’t like the sound of that cough, pal.”

“For whom does the bell toll, Detective?” Godot said. Maya looked actively distressed as she attempted and failed to decipher what the fuck he meant by that. “I’ll see you all in court. Prepare yourselves. I don’t intend on losing to the likes of you.”

He turned on his heel, striding down the hallway and escaping them all as quickly as possible. Pearl gasped, and she immediately let go of Maya’s hand so she could set off barrelling down the hallway. “Hold on! Wait for me, Mr. Godot!”

Godot didn’t look back. But he did slow until Pearl caught up, and when she shoved her little hand in his large one he didn’t pull away. 

Gumshoe scratched his chin. Maya squinted at the departing duo, obviously wondering how Godot knew where to take a left turn at the hallway. Phoenix made a mental note of it too. For a blind guy, he was really familiar with the courthouse���which meant that Phoenix’s mistake was perfectly reasonable! Anybody would make it! “Just double checkin’. You two are actually cool with sending off a little girl with the sketchiest grown man ever? Completely unsupervised and stuff?”

What, seriously? Phoenix and Maya glanced at each other before shrugging. “If you can’t trust your coworkers,” Maya intoned seriously, “you can’t trust anybody. Nobody’s more trustworthy than a real lawyer.”

“And Edgeworth recommended him,” Phoenix pointed out. “Good enough for me. The state of California would never have certified him as a defense attorney if he wasn’t trustworthy.”

“That doesn’t sound right, but I don’t know enough about the law to dispute it,” Gumshoe said cheerfully, displaying a chain of logic that had proven extremely convenient for Phoenix over the years. Maya had once tricked Gumshoe into letting them into a crime scene by pretending that there was a legal holiday once a year where every law and police procedure was inverted. “Don’t we got a trial to hit, anyway?”

“Shit!”

Pearl’s inaugural performance as the prosecution’s co-counsel/imouto went off without a hitch. Phoenix couldn’t be prouder of her efforts. She played her part perfectly: from the well-timed timed motivational encouragements to tension-relieving funny quips, she was a natural. Her only experience co-counseling with Phoenix had been very stressful for her, so Phoenix was happy to see her shine with confidence. Pearl Fey was truly suited for villainy.

She even went above and beyond into the role of personal assistant imouto. She carefully managed the presented evidence, holding up the right photograph or blood-stained object for the purview of the court. Pearl read out any written reports, described the evidence that Phoenix presented, and reported on any notable body language. Phoenix wasn’t sure if Godot knowing that ‘the Defense looks like you ate the last onigiri he was saving for lunch…’ was remotely helpful, but it was cute. Godot better realize how lucky he was to have such a top-quality imouto at his side today. It confused the judge, but what didn’t.

“I’m sorry,” the judge said, as Pearl carefully withdrew a generic white coffee mug from a large box underneath the table. Seemingly…filled with more mugs.  “Doesn’t that little girl belong to the Defense?”

“The Defense is loaning her out today,” Phoenix said seriously. Pearl began wrangling a coffee pot the size of her head. “Don’t worry, it’s not a conflict of interest.”

“I see!” Pearl carefully tipped the large pot into the white mug. It spilled everywhere, but coffee was poured. “And what is a ‘conflict of interest’?”

“Obscure old legal term. Don’t worry about it.” Pearl reached over the table and attempted to slide the mug towards Godot, as the unlucky draftee from the audience always did. He just pointed at a random pot in the crowd and told somebody that they were in charge of his coffee today. Terribly unorganized way to do things. 

“Watch it, you senile old man. The Defense is distracting you with outdated legal concepts. Focus on the most important aspect of this case!” Why was only the prosecution allowed to insult the judge! Why were they the only ones allowed to get away with that! Seriously unfair! As if Phoenix didn’t want to strangle the judge with his own two hands too?!

The mug scooted forward a little, but barely moved. Pearl scowled and tried again, sliding the mug forward a few inches and sloshing coffee over the side again. Pearl huffed in frustration before carefully cupping her hand around the mug and pushing it forward as she walked down the table. 

Godot cupped his hand on the table and let Pearl push the cup into his hand. Then he slammed the table, throwing his head back and chugging the entire mug of steaming hot coffee in one go. He slammed the mug back on the table. Pearl carefully retrieved it. 

“The fact that the old man and this fake Frenchman saw the accused put poison in the cup!” Godot announced. “That’s one fact that can’t be denied! Not by a reliable witness!”

Pearl clapped. Godot patted her on the head. Phoenix groaned.

Phoenix got his way - as usual - by the skin of his teeth - as usual. He was going to have a heart attack before he was thirty at this rate. Phoenix and Maya waited in the courtroom lobby for almost fifteen minutes before Pearl finally came running up to them. She was beaming, cheeks flushed red with pride. 

“Great job out there today, Pearl!” Maya cheered, clapping her hands. Yeah - a little too good. Godot’s performance in court was way smoother than last time. Maybe he was just getting his sea legs, but Phoenix never underestimated the power of young girls pursuing merit badges. “Are you ready to go home?”

“Nuh-uh! Mr. Godot said he’s gonna take me out for ice cream!” Pearl thrust her hand out, shining the biggest, wettest gaze directly into his eyes. “Can I have money for ice cream, Nick? Please?”

“Typically speaking, when you take people out for food, you’re the one paying,” Phoenix said flatly. “Mr. Godot’s on a prosecutor’s salary and I’m representing a waitress. He can pay.” 

“Mr. Godot doesn’t get paid,” Pearl said frankly. “He said he does it for the love of the game.”

This was somehow the most surprising thing he’d heard all day and completely predictable. 

Maya frowned, tilting her head. It was a gesture he’d seen in Mia a thousand times. Even after all this time, Maya still hurt him in those little ways. “Prosecutors get paid by the government. How do you legally work for the government and not get paid?”

“Maybe he’s a volunteer?” Phoenix suggested. “People volunteer at places, right? Like…in zoos?”

“That makes sense!” Maya said brightly, clapping her hands together. “Zoos, a court of law…what’s the difference, right?”

“After we’re done with it, not much.”

“I can’t believe I didn’t meet the parrot,” Pearl said, crushed by the immovable weight of the world’s injustices. “I wanted to make friends. We have so much in common.”

Maya sympathetically patted Pearl’s back. “You do! You’re both so good at imitating voices! Maybe one day Phoenix can cross-examine you too, huh?”

Nope. No. No way! “Not happening. I’ve accused every imouto I’ve ever had of murder on the stand. Pearl’s merciless enough, we can’t take that chance. She wouldn’t make it a day in prison.” 

“Sounds like a you problem,” Maya said, unimpressed. “Godot would never accuse an imouto of murder. He’s a bro like that.”

“He’s a prosecutor, it’s not his job -”

“Apparently being a prosecutor isn’t his job either.”

“You’d make an unemployed man pay for my ice cream?” Pearl demanded. “For shame, Mr. Phoenix Wright!”

Phoenix sighed and pulled out his wallet. He didn’t know why he wasted time pretending this wasn’t going to happen. Pity he wasn’t in the habit of accepting the inevitable. His life would be a lot easier.

[jayskaiart]

wake up! it's almost christmas means it wasnt christmas day! time for aa fans to be annoying again 🥳🎄 here's a mini comic to celebrate the fact that the cringe terrible comic i did last year is my most popular post in every single app that exists ❤️ (i hate it here. but im also glad ppl liked it, i never expected it to do so well lol) (and i swear it's the last time i redraw this shit!)

tbh this comic is more accurate to how i actually feel about their dynamic! so HEADCANON TIME ‼️ i think they wouldn't usually be romantic and clingy, especially edgeworth,, imo he'd be more subtle displaying affection; but of course they have their little moments like this (and unfortunately franziska has to witness it 😭). it's not like they avoid being romantic or anything, they just don't force it and let it happen naturally,,, but of course phoenix likes teasing him a bit sometimes like in this comic Imaooo — ANYWAYYY i hope you like it! this ship never leaves my mind i guess,,,

i honestly wasn't planning to make anything with the mistletoe comic again because last year's comic makes me cringe a lot Imao but it did relatively well so i couldn't help but redraw it with a dialogue i like a bit more. i still think my art is a bit stiff (i should draw ppl interacting more often) but i guess that's a goal for next year loll

and yes i remade last year’s meme too because i still feel this way everytime i draw ppl (narumitsu) kissing 🤭

also this one ,,,,, siblings <3

[doctorsiren]

In an earlier post of yours regarding Defenseworth, it was seen he was still arrested for murder.

https://www.tumblr.com/doctorsiren/731481087607554048/is-your-defense-attorney-miles-still-accused-of

Now, in the Defenseworth and Prosecutor Wright AU, does he still get falsely accused? Or will it be Prosecutor Wright? Yes this is an absolutely dumb question, but still I feel the need to ask.

Yes it is Defenseworth

So how Turnabout Goodbyes plays out is that, originally, Phoenix is the prosecuting attorney against Edgeworth. However, after like, day 1, Phoenix has a battle with himself because he KNOWS what it’s like being wrongly accused and being a defendant on the stand for a murder he didn’t commit. He can see that Edgeworth (who is defending himself) is just…going through it. Edgeworth’s defense for himself isn’t great. He’s just…kinda standing there. It’s sad and depressing and Phoenix remembers why he wanted to be a prosecutor in the first place: to put *criminals* away. But Miles isn’t a criminal.

And so Phoenix switches from being the prosecuting attorney to being Miles’s defense attorney (we’re going to ignore the legality of that haha their legal system is already messed up). Miles refuses at first, of course, saying that 1) hey you can’t do that? Idk how legal this is? 2) you’ve never defended before and 3) just let me take this (because he’s sort of given up)

He feels basically the same way as in the original game, but even worse now because not only has he lost his father, but he’s lost Diego, he’s lost Mia, he’s lost Franziska, he’s lost Phoenix. He really only has Maya and so he’s accused and just can’t bring himself to defend himself that well since he can’t even trust his own memories.

But Phoenix keeps insisting and tells Miles that “hey yeah I may have not ever defended before, but my defense of you can’t be any worse than your defense of yourself seeing as you’re not really doing anything to help yourself”

And so Edgeworth eventually agrees and Phoenix has to figure out how to hold on to that truth and defend. Von Karma has to take over the prosecution, and he’s doubly furious because now his second protégée is defending his failed protégée.

So it’s a mess and they stumble through it, but in the end (after a whole lot) Miles is acquitted and von Karma is found out as the murderer. Miles and Phoenix have to heal from what was done to them, but now they have each other. Although they were manipulated in opposite ways from each other by von Karma, they at least have one another for support.

[prismaticpichu]

*clears throat* Sephiroth is on trial in an ace attorney ass courtroom, how do things go?

ANON I AM HUGGING YOU SO FUCKING HARD YOU HAVE NO IDEA 🤣❤️💖 YOU GET IT LOL!!

~

Judge: *pounds gavel thrice* Court is now in session for the trial of Mr. Sephiroth…

Judge: …!

Judge: Hmm. That is quite bizarre…

Edgeworth: Is something wrong, your honor?

Judge: Ah, yes, well… Our defendant doesn’t appear to have a last name.

*a heavy silence looms in the courtroom*

Edgeworth: …Our defendant has a more than complex background in deference to familial ties, your honor. He doesn’t currently have a legally documented surname.

Edgeworth: Are you serious? We haven’t even commenced the trial yet!

Phoenix: *pounding hands on desk* Maybe so, Edgeworth. But do you really think we can begin when we can’t even have the foundation of such basic information?

Edgeworth: …?! What are you babbling about?

Phoenix: *brandishing a document* I’m talking about, of course, the nature of my client’s name!

Edgeworth: …?!?!?!

Phoenix: You stated just moments before that, quote, ‘He doesn’t currently have a legally documented surname.’”

Edgeworth: Correct! The likes of which is a documented fact.

Phoenix: …*placing his hands on his hips as he smirks* Is that so, Edgeworth? Because if that truly WAS the case… then what is the document I have HERE!

Edgeworth: …?!?!?

Phoenix: *smirking still* I thought you might say that. Well… let me enlighten you all about a little something: just earlier, I stopped by the ShinRa labs in order to gather as much information about my client as possible. While there, I happened to stumble upon something very interesting. Something that, frankly… *his smirk deepens* Will shoot your little ‘fact’ right down where it stands.

Edgeworth: What is the meaning of this…?! WRIGHT.

Judge: Umm… gentlemen, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but… we have a trial to—

Phoenix: *brandishing the papers once more* Ladies and gentlemen… I would like to correctly introduce the name of my client…:

Phoenix: Mr Sephiroth Crescent, the surname of his mother——Lucrecia…!

Phoenix: …

Edgeworth: …

Judge: …

.

.

.

Sephiroth: …I—I believe you are mistaken, Mr Wright; my mother’s name is—

Phoenix: Jenova?

Sephiroth: …?!

Phoenix: I read all through the files, Sephiroth. All the experiments. And I’m afraid, as much as it hurts to say… that your father, Professor Hojo, has seemed to have lied to you since the very beginning.

Sephiroth: …

Phoenix: (poor guy looks so wounded…) *ahem*—

Edgeworth: Wright! I find this information completely irrelevant to the murder at—

Phoenix: Like I was saying… Hojo, your father figure, he seemed to have created a false identity of your mother… And manipulated you in order to conceal the real truth of your identity.

Sephiroth: My… identity?

Phoenix: *nodding* Yes. Lucrecia, you see… was the name of your mother. Your real mother. Your real mother who, in spite of everything… loved you to pieces, Sephiroth. Loved you so much that on the hospital bed she just wanted to hold you, just to tell you she-

Edgeworth: …Congratulations, Wright.

Phoenix: …What?

Edgeworth: Do you SEE your client right now…?!

Phoenix: …

Phoenix: …!

*Sephiroth, head buried into the defendant’s stand, his entire body trembling with the stifled weight of tears*

Sephiroth: Mother… mother… m… o…th..er mom… I love you too…

Phoenix: …

Edgeworth: …

Judge: …

.

.

.

Judge: Well…

Judge: This poor man certainly doesn’t look like a murderer to me

[muffinapologist]

Hey, hey, look at me. Look me in the eyes. Listen.

Ace Attorney au where everything is the same up to Turnabout Sisters at which point things go wildly off the rails and Redd White succeeds in getting Phoenix convicted for Mia’s murder

And theoretically Edgeworth should be satisfied another criminal in prison and his record is maintained. But something keeps bothering him about the case. And he convinces himself it’s the motive, they never figured out *why* Phoenix Wright would kill Mia Fey. (Spoiler alert it’s actually bc deep down he knows Phoenix didn’t do it and he’s got, you know, unnecessary feelings)

So he goes to visit Phoenix in detention, to ask him what his motive was. And Phoenix is like"You want my motive?" "yes?" "i'd love to tell you, really I would, but since I didn't fucking do it; that's kind of a tall order"

But Phoenix is also kind of in a bind because he’s in prison and Redd White isn’t and now White knows that Maya knows who he is. And Phoenix is worried she’s going to be his next target.

So he strikes a deal with Edgeworth. Edgeworth investigates Redd White (not for Murder but for his many financial crimes) and Phoenix will give him access to his entire life basically, his apartment, Mia’s office, etc, so that he can figure out Phoenix’s motive

Featuring (but not limited to):

Edgeworth’s slow descent into a morality crisis as he realizes Phoenix is innocent and White isn’t; therefore also throwing his previous cases into doubt

Maya and Miles worsties to besties with Maya helping Miles with his investigation with the goal of helping Phoenix and eventually bonding with him through their shared family trauma

Guilt nightmares and general spiraling

“Everything I’ve learned about Wright has been against my will” -Edgeworth, lying

Phoenix’s depressing personal life and Mia being Important

Edgeworth having Phoenix consult on the Will Powers case while in prison and Phoenix of course finding the key contradictions

Demon prosecutor Miles Edgeworth breaking his own perfect record by helping Phoenix file an appeal and being a proxy in his retrial

A surprising amount of April May character development as she turns on White and testifies in Phoenix’s retrial

Eventual wrightworth because you know how I be

[crowfaraday]

✨EN / JP vending machine dialogue comparison✨

compiled for reference + with some brief descriptions of the original items! also yes the really cursed milk joke is exactly the same in the original text

(contains miles + franziska's JP/EN dialogue for each item, theres a lot of text after the cut)

1.) EN / JP [Hot Dog / ホットドッグ] note: the JP dialogue also lists payne as being the one who thought of the description.

Edgeworth:"When you're in hot water, you might need a hot dog." Edgeworth:.................. Edgeworth: Hm... It looks like this slogan was decided through a public contest. Edgeworth: And the winner was... Prosecutor Winston Payne...? Franziska: Hmph. What a pathetic slogan. No presence at all! Now, if it was up to me, it would read... Franziska: "If you leave matters in a Von Karma's hands, everyone in court will be found guilty dogs!" Edgeworth: ............Objection! Franziska: Overruled!

ミツルギ:『有罪で、ほっと一息ホットドッグ』 ミツルギ: ････････････････････ ミツルギ: ふむ････どうやら、 公募によって決められた名前のようだな。 ミツルギ: 命名者は亜内検事、 か メイ:フン。気の弱いことね。私ならこう名づけるわ。『狩魔に任せておけばほっといても全員有罪ホットドッグ』 ミツルギ: ････････････････････ 意義あり! メイ: 却下よ!

2.) EN / JP [ Beef Jerky / 饅頭] note: the original item here in the JP release was a box of manjū. the description is probably a pun on shinsou (truth) + shiroi (white) referring to the white cream in the middle of the bun. a close approximation of it is probably something like "Get to the bottom of our most delicious case yet! The proof is in the pudding!"

Edgeworth: "Don't be a jerk in court like these beef jerks!" I see... Franziska: Objection! Miles Edgeworth! Wouldn't you agree that it's a very clever pun? Edgeworth: Do you really think they put that much effort into the product name? Franziska: Even a foolish fool could understand the foolish thinking of the fool who made it up! Franziska: You're acting so foolishly that I got so thoroughly mad, and am now utterly famished! Edgeworth: ......If you wanted a pack of these, all you had to do was ask like a normal person. ミツルギ: 『真相は白いアンの中まんじゅう』・・・なるほど。 メイ: 意義あり! 御剣怜侍! うまいことを言った、とでも思ってるの? ミツルギ: それなりに考えられた名前だと思うが? メイ: バカが考えたバカげたシャレに、バカがバカな理解を示している。 メイ: バカバカしくて、 腹立ちまぎれにおなかがすいてきたわ! ミツルギ:・・・・・・食べたいなら、すなおにそう言えばいいだろう。

3.) EN / JP [ Ham Sandwich / カツサンド] note: the original item here was a katsu sando.

Edgeworth: "Don't let the prosecution and the defense make a ham sandwich out of you!"...? Franziska: It sounds like it's directed at that ham of a Judge. Edgeworth: Well, it certainly isn't directed at me. I can out-maneuver him any day. ミツルギ: 『検事と弁護士にはさまれて、もう限界カツサンド』････? メイ: 無能な裁判長の叫びのようね。 ミツルギ: 私には、まだまだ余裕があるように思えるがな・・・

4.) EN / JP [Orange Juice / 伊予柑] note: the original item here was a lyokan.

Edgeworth: "When it's looking bad, blind your opposition with some OJ!" Are they promoting violence? Franziska: Don't worry. My whip will make sure that anybody following this advice won't be for long. Edgeworth: (Compared to the sting of a whip, the sting of orange juice may not be so bad...) ミツルギ: 『困ったら目つぶしイヨカン』 犯罪を助長してはいないだろうか。 メイ: そんなものなくても、私にはこのムチがあればじゅうぶんよ。 ミツルギ:(法廷にムチを持ち込めるなら、目つぶしくらいカワイイものか)

5.) EN / JP [Milk / 牛乳] note: this joke is basically exactly the same as in the JP text.

Edgeworth: "Defendant's Fresh Milk!" ... What exactly is that supposed to mean? Franziska: I bet it means the milk is freshly milked by various defendants on trial right now. Edgeworth: No, I think it might mean that this was milked right here from the various defendants. Franziska: Miles Edgeworth... You can't possibly be serious! Edgeworth: ...Of course not.

ミツルギ: 『被告人の、しぼりたて牛乳』 どういうイミだろうか? メイ: 被告人がしぼった牛乳、ということでしょう。 ミツルギ:いや、裁判でしぼられた被告人から出た牛乳ということも考えられる。 メイ: 御剣怜侍 ････まさか、本気で言っているわけではないわよね? ミツルギ: ..........もちろんだ。

5.) EN / JP [Swiss Roll / とら焼き] note: the original item here was dorayaki. the description “dorayaki together until the gong/bell goes” is because they're shaped like gongs ("dora"="gong")

Franziska:"Stay neutral as the Swiss do until the end with these!" ...The end of what? Edgeworth: Well, I assume it means the end of the trial. Edgeworth: I suppose this means that one should eat them during a recess...? Franziska: You can't eat during a trial, so I suppose the only time you can eat them is now, huh! Edgeworth: I wouldn't mind if you wanted to eat one now. They come in packs of two, after all. Franziska: Hmph. We're in the middle of an investigation! Besides, I don't have $6 on me! Edgeworth: If you want, we can pool our money and buy a pack together. Franziska: If I have to split it with you, then I don't want it!

メイ: 『ドラがなるまで一緒どら焼き』ドラがなるまで? ミツルギ: おそらく、ドラというのは開廷の合図を指しているのだろう。 ミツルギ: 休廷中に食べるということか...? メイ: 法廷では飲食は禁止されているわ。 食べるのなら、今のうちね。 ミツルギ:食べたいのなら、構わないが?ちょうど2個入りのようだからな。 メイ:今は調査中よ。それに、600円も持ち合わせていないわ。 ミツルギ:ならば私のお金とあわせて買えばよいではないか。 メイ: あなたに同情されるくらいなら、食べなくてもケッコウよ!