#18 days left

[fraeuleintaka]

Official Investigations Manga

This is the 63rd post in the Ace Attorney Investigations Collection Countdown: 18 days left until release!

Today's topic: the official Investigations manga!

Yes, you read that right, there is an official manga of Ace Attorney Investigations! (There's also one of Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney but the Investigations one is better.) It's not explicitly canon to the games but it doesn't contradict anything either so you can easily take it as canon if you want to.

The Investigations manga consists of 4 volumes each containing two different cases. They're not all the same length, some are longer, some shorter, but they're all really interesting. The cases are as follows:

Turnabout Costume: A murder at a costume party at the Gatewater Hotel. (A short but highly entertaining one! Poor Miles gets mistaken for in costume and directed to the completely wrong event 😄)

Turnabout Last Number: A murder at the last concert of a famous rock band that Gumshoe wanted Miles to accompany him to. (This is what Turnabout Serenade wanted to be, there I said it. And this case completely pulls it off! Not to mention, Miles at a rock concert is glorious 😂)

Turnabout Bullet: A police officer chases an armed jewel robber into an abandoned building and everything goes wrong. (This is a comparatively serious one but still really good. The cast is quite small but the tension lies in what exactly happened in a very limited timeframe.)

Turnabout Museum: A rare piece of art is threatened to be stolen by a famous group of art thieves and Gumshoe is supposed to protect it. Then a murder happens. (Another really good one with a lot of action from Gumshoe and a last surprise twist at the very end! Miles is almost arrested for the crime of being too handsome and I love it 😄)

Turnabout New Year: The mysterious death of a company's president on New Year's looks like a suicide brought on by a family's curse. (Also relatively short and one of the weaker ones but still entertaining and full of Japanese New Year's traditions. This one I found the most obvious, I think.)

Turnabout Silver Screen: One of the stars of a series of successful detective films is murdered after the premiere of the latest movie. (One of my favourites, this is so good! Also one of the longest ones and really emotional, among other things Miles deals with a controversy around the verdict of one of his previous cases.)

Turnabout! The Secret of the Orges: After their car broke down Miles and Gumshoe are forced to stay at a decrepit hotel in the middle of nowhere, a murder happens with an orge being the prime suspect. (Another one of my favourites! It sounds ridiculous (and it is) but the premise is used to its full potential. There are so many wonderful, funny and tragic scenes and the murder method is genius.)

Turnabout Clinic: A murder at a supposed wonder clinic that doesn't live up to its reputation in more ways than one. (Again a relatively short one and on the weaker side though that might also be my bias against clinic settings. Finding out how it was done was the most interesting and tricky part.)

The Investigations format lends itself better to crime stories outside of the games (especially if they have to be on the shorter side) than the trial structure from the main series (which the PW manga struggles with a little). Most (not all) of the cases involve Miles and Gumshoe just going about their business when murders keep happening around them so it feels very familiar to the games 😄 Apart from these two (and Ema appearing in one case) no other characters from the games make appearances which is a bit sad, I would've loved Kay or Shi-Long to show up. That doesn't take away from the stories though, especially since they have to establish their case-specific casts in a comparatively short amount of time so not filling half of them with familiar faces helps in making the mysteries more interesting. It also puts Miles and Gumshoe and their (work) relationship in the foreground which I really appreciate, you get a lot of adorably cute interactions between them and Miles even shows his caring side on multiple occasions! There's one manga-specific character appearing in multiple cases (a female officer, Officer Hammer, who works with Gumshoe and Miles) and one character that first appeared in the PW manga who makes a return in one case (though it's not necessary to have read that to understand her character).

The manga takes place sometime after JFA and before the 7 year timeskip but other than that they're not specifically set between any given cases of the games or even give any specific dates. That helps them not interfere with anything and they basically fit wherever you'd like to put them in the timeline. They sometimes refer back to previous events in the manga (so the cases are chronological) but not to anything really specific from the games, just a few general points that are the established status quo after JFA. You could technically even read them before playing any of the Investigations games though I wouldn't recommend it because it helps to be familiar with Miles' general investigative approach. It's very reminiscent of how he works in the games just without framing his deductions and interrogations in the way of gameplay mechanics.

Of course, in the original the manga - like the games - is set in Japan and unlike in the games they couldn't really change the art in the translation to reflect the location switch so the story is notably more Japanese. In some cases it's still hardly noticable but in others it's very obvious (Turnabout New Year is the most extreme). It's not really a problem imo but it does feel different than the localised games the Western audience is used to. The translation kept all the other localisation changes though, like the names, and "translated" all the new names with the usual puns to match. They're not quite on the games' level but I definitely appreciate them even trying. I also like the art and how the characters are drawn, it's dynamic and expressive without being too over the top and while some panels look a bit weird (because of a weird perspective or a mismatched scale) most of them look nice and are creative with how they depict various scenes (including the culprits' "breakdowns"!) so that the characters aren't just statically talking at each other half the time.

In terms of story and mysteries, they work extremely well! Naturally, the mysteries are simpler since the cases are shorter but they're really well done with interesting twists and even some shocking reveals while always giving you the opportunity to figure stuff out on your own before the explanation is provided. I could easily imagine any of them working as a case in the games, they're that good. I'll definitely write more on the cases individually and what I think of them at a later point but that'd be too much for one single post. Suffice to say, there's not one I didn't like and if you can get your hands on these (they're out of print, sadly, and very hard to get now), I highly recommend them!

[tosrcountdown]

🌠 18 Days Left! 🌠

We're finishing off today with art by GodRisiel featuring Mithos! With a fantastic blend of color and light, this piece shows Mithos’ power is nothing to be trifled with!

[buttercupshands]

rewatched Kurogiri's holiday story from ultra impact (not related to sketch at all)

(but it did inspire me)

on another note

finally!!

[befuddled-calico-whump]

Augusnippets Day 18: Infection

cw: dissociation, implied aftermath of torture, vaguely implied past noncon, substance dependency, left for dead (implied), slight death wish, carewhumper

previous // next

for the @augusnippets challenge // word count: 410

=~=~=

“Fuck. That's bad, isn't it?”

“I knew it would happen. I told you.”

“What are we supposed to do?”

“I don't fuckin know. Nothing?”

It (he) is curled up on the icy concrete, unable to stop shivering, too hot and too cold all at once. The pain in its leg is nearly background noise now, numb; the wounds scattered across its form are nothing but another layer, bland in comparison to the symphony of hurt that wraps around it like a blanket. Some things hurt worse than others, but it can hardly discern which is which at any given moment. Reality comes and goes. It only wants to escape.

The creature sleeps when they dose it, allowed peace between the bouts of anguish and spells of unconsciousness that are far from restful.

The spy dreams of Vic, heavy hands and unwanted touches, inability to get away

(stop, stop it please)

Sahota’s dreams are just as agonizing; stabbing pain, snakes making a nest in his guts.

Ander’s dreams…

(they could come for him)

They shouldn't.

The spy (creature) can understand what the guards are saying, but comprehension doesn't quite reach

(tired, hurts)

“What do you mean, nothing?”

“The boss said questions are a waste of time. He's had his fun. Why even bother keeping him alive?”

“Doesn't feel right just to leave him like that…”

“Yeah? Well anything else is work. We got shit to do. I don't have time to play nurse.”

“Fuck, shouldn't we at least clean it out?”

One of the guards drops to a crouch beside it

(the spy is too exhausted to try and pull away)

White hot pain surges through its body as the guards prod at a wound above its hip; the creature screams, nausea rising in its chest

(pulsing, reddened skin, festering)

“Fuck, that's disgusting.”

“You didn't have to touch it.”

“It's your fault it got this bad.”

(infected)

“Get off your high horse. I'm not stopping you from doing anything.”

The creature perks up at the sound of a water bottle opening, eyes fluttering open. It can't move towards the sound, can hardly move at all, only utter a creaking please.

The bottle is held to its lips, static crackling across its body at the prospect of escaping the way it feels.

“What are you doing now?”

It finishes the bottle, the easy mindless fog already nipping at its consciousness.

“Just giving him something to make the end a little less painful.”

[kyouka-supremacy]

I think we should just bring back Wungo Wednesday and start a fandom collective anime rewatch

[moonchild-in-blue]

Hey guys... So like. Did we know that before Thom Pike was a tour manager, he was a drummer in a band (Falling With Style) with 3/4 guys who would later become Holding Absence? Is this common knowledge, or have I stumbled upon gold?

I knew about Sam Hallett being in Blood Youth before working as a tech, and Thom working with them on tour, and I also did know Thom and the HA guys went way back*. But this I didn't know!! How cool!!

* Adamross and the rest of Glass Heart was also already working with him at this time btw. The connections are connecting.

Referring back to that recent post from @sleepanonymous, I am now wondering if George Lever also produced their stuff from before, given he has worked on both early Holding Absence and Sleep Token, and if that's how they all met 👀

(more ramblings bellow the cut, nothing interesting just me being insane. also i just think it's cool how all of these bands and people are connected. nothing more)

So. Timeline of events that I know of:

2015 - Falling With Style ends

2016 - Thom is now a Tour Guy ; Sleep Token and Holding Absence are born ; George Lever is producing for both bands

(and then there's that Carl Bown/B4MV thing somewhere around here)

2018 - Thom has been working as Tour Manager for Holding Absence and Blood Youth ; Adam and the (would-be) Glasses are part of his crew ; Sleep Token is touring with HA and Loathe (also G. Lever prod.) as an opening band ; enter Espera (🥹🥰💕😚💘🤭 this has nothing to with the post but I just like to think about them)

2019 - Thom is officially managing ST (probably 2018 too? idk about before) ; Glass Heart is born (again not entirely relevant but I stay on my GH propaganda always. Adam say thank you baby 💎🩵)

Then we have those collabs etc etc ; Sam leaves the band and becomes a Tech guy ; FTRB ; George stops producing (🥺🥲) ; enter Carl Bown ; ENTERS COOL MF VESSEL THE FOURTH (our ivy)

January 2023 - Sam Hallett joins the fold (🥹💙) ; the first singles of TMBE are released ; World Domination etc etc

[innamorament0]

Happy Birthday to our favourite scientist and Kara's wife <3

[sergle]

18 days until deboobening

[marzipanandminutiae]

me, fuming that my mother wouldn't let me wear long skirts or grow my hair much past shoulder-length until my mid-teens but also aware that that WAS how things often went in the late 19th century, wherein I now get most of my aesthetic inspiration:

[kybercrystals94]

Teal Paint

Read here on Ao3!

Angstpril 2024 | Day 18 | Prompt 18: Left Behind

Rated: G | Word Count: 1526 | Summary: Memories left behind... | Character Focus: Hunter, Crosshair, Tech, Wrecker, Omega, Echo

*some slight spoilers at the very end for Season 3*

Tech finds a reasonably tame city to spend their brief period of downtime between missions. It took several months, but they’ve finally scraped enough credits together, and today is the day. The streets are crowded with evening traffic, the Batch walking close together to avoid being separated.

“Did you know,” Tech says, informatively, “that facial tattoos are among the most painful, depending on the location on the face?” 

“Thanks, Tech,” Hunter grumbles, “that’s really helpful.” 

“You’re not going to talk us out of it,” Crosshair adds resolutely.

Wrecker nods. “Yeah, we’re gonna do it no matter what you say, Tech!” 

Tech huffs. “On the contrary, I’m quite eager to observe the process. I just believe that being well informed is beneficial when making a life altering decision.” 

“Maker, Tech, getting a tattoo isn’t life altering,” Crosshair says. 

“It’s awesome!” Wrecker declares. “You should get one too, Tech.” 

“I prefer modifications that can be modified,” Tech retorts.

Crosshair leans close to Wrecker, puts his hand up to shield his mouth from Tech, and loudly whispers, “He’s too scared.” 

“That is not true.” 

“Aww, Techie’s scared,” Wrecker crows, throwing an arm around Tech. “I can hold your hand, be brave for the both of us.” 

Tech tries to extract himself from Wrecker’s grip. “I am not scared! I have stated my reasoning clearly and concisely. Fear has nothing to do with it.” 

Hunter rubs his hand across the left side of his face, a fist of apprehension balling up in the pit of his stomach. He isn’t having second thoughts, he’s almost positive that he’ll be happy with the results. He and Crosshair spent hours with a pad of flimsi sketching and scheming. Crosshair wanted something subtle, meaningful, a reflection of himself. Hunter, to his brothers’ surprise, wanted something bold. A statement. Memorable. Of the Batch, he most resembles, in appearance and speech, a reg. But he is no more a reg than any other member of his squad. He might not be able to easily change his facial structure or vocal pattern; however, inking half his face with the dark contour of a skull seems like a good start. 

“What do you think?” Crosshair asked, holding up the sketch he’d made of Hunter. 

Hunter grinned, taking the pad and admiring the simple lined likeness to himself, the skull motif shadowed deeply with graphite. He loved it. It was perfect. Exactly as he’d imagined it. “Looks good,” he told his brother.

Wrecker, at the last minute, decided that he also wants a tattoo, although his ideas are scattered and untethered to any sort of theme. Even as they approach the tattoo parlor, he is still undecided, claiming that it is going to be a surprise. 

“A tattoo is permanent,” Tech tells Wrecker again, having resigned himself to being tucked under Wrecker’s arm for the remainder of their trek. “You should at least have some sort of idea.” 

“I do,” Wrecker says, “My idea is that it will be the coolest tattoo in the entire galaxy.” 

“That is not an idea,” Tech sighs. 

At Tech’s direction, they turn off on a side street, the crowds petering off the further they walk. It doesn’t exactly feel like a bad part of town; however, it is less kept, the buildings showing their age and wear. Hunter is beginning to wonder if Tech got them lost when they turn another corner and a neon sign blinks the word “TATTOOS” at them, the flashing light practically searing into Hunter’s retinas. 

“They should get a brighter sign,” Crosshair snarks, “we almost missed it.” 

They step inside, and find the business deserted except for a human who stands up from a chair behind the counter. He is covered in colorful ink, his natural pigment completely lost under the tapestry of mismatched designs across every inch of his exposed skin. 

“Now that must’ve hurt,” Wrecker mutters to Tech, but he might as well have screamed it from the rooftops. 

Tech rolls his eyes. 

The man smiles, flashing white teeth. “Only hurts ‘til the pain goes away.”

“Naturally,” Tech agrees sardonically.

“I’m gonna guess you lot are here for some ink,” the man says. 

“They are, I am not,” Tech replies quickly. “I am here to observe.” 

“Not a fan of needles, huh?” the man asks. 

Tech opens his mouth to deny the accusation, but Wrecker gasps out, “Wait, needles?” 

Crosshair groans. “We went over this, Wrecker.”

“Yeah, well” Wrecker says, “it sounds different the way he says it.” 

“How?” 

Wrecker heaves his broad shoulders in a shrug. “I’ll just wait on my tattoo. Until I think of something good, ya know?”

Crosshair steps around Wrecker and jerks his head in Hunter’s direction. “He and I are getting tattoos. These are what we want.” He pulls two pieces of flimsi from his pocket with their chosen designs, pushing them across the counter. 

The man takes them, looking over the details. “Straightforward and to the point. I like that. C’mon around and we’ll get started.”

Hunter takes a deep breath. 

He’s not turning back now. 

<<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>>

Hunter and Crosshair decide to add to their armor to coordinate with their new tattoos. The next time they’re on Kamino, they find their leftover paint and set to work, Tech and Wrecker joining them. Inspired by Hunter’s new half skull tattoo, they decide to incorporate the symbol into all of their armor in some way. 

“So help me, Wrecker, if you tip over another can of paint…” Crosshair mutters, snatching up the at-risk bucket from Wrecker’s proximity. 

Wrecker is sprawled out on their barrack’s floor, taking up far more than his fair share of space. His paint brush flicks up, sending a spray of heavy duty white across the room. 

“You’re cleaning that up,” Tech says from his place at the table.

“No one will notice,” Wrecker assures them. “Maybe they’ll look like clean spots!”

Hunter sighs. “That’s not a good thing, Wreck.” 

Wrecker ignores the comment, instead dropping his paintbrush onto the tray Tech ordered him to use and holding up his helmet. “What do you think? It’s a skull.” 

“Not a human skull,” Tech points out. 

Wrecker shakes his head. “Human skulls are boring.” 

“There’s supposed to be red on your helmet somewhere,” Crosshair gripes. 

Wrecker reaches over and plucks Crosshair’s fine tipped paint brush out of his hand, the bristles still dripping red paint. Crosshair sputters a curse as Wrecker happily begins painting with the stolen utensil. 

“Hunter!” Crosshair cries, “Tell Wrecker to give it back.” 

 Hunter doesn’t even look up from his work. “Let’s share our toys like big kids,” he coos, earning a chuckle from Tech. 

“I’m gonna give it back in a second,” Wrecker says. “Almost done.” 

Crosshair growls something rude in Huttese. 

“There!” Wrecker says, tossing the brush back at Crosshair, the sniper catching it from the wrong end, paint staining the palm of his glove. Wrecker turns his helmet again to the room. “See? It’s perfect.” 

The number 99 is brandished across the forehead of his helmet in dripping red. 

“Subtle as usual, Wrecker,” Tech says. 

Wrecker grins. “Thanks!” 

Hunter sits back and admires his own helmet’s new design, carefully imitating his inked face. It’s exactly how he imagined it. 

<<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>>

“I like this color,” Omega says, pointing at a swatch of teal paint. “Oh, and this orange is nice.” 

Tech glances at Hunter, clearly questioning the decision to let Omega choose their new armor colors. Hunter shrugs. At least it will look…different. Which is exactly what they want. 

“What about this one?” Wrecker asks, pointing at the yellow swatch.

“Yes! I like that one too!” Omega cries. 

They purchase the three cans of paint and some brushes before heading back to the Marauder. Omega is beside herself with excitement. “Do you think the paint will work on my helmet?” she asks. 

“Sure, kid, ‘course it will,” Wrecker says cheerfully. 

“I’m gonna use orange on mine, then,” Omega says. 

That evening, spread out under the Marauder’s wing, the Batch set about repainting their armor. Wrecker can’t bear the thought of covering up the skull on his helmet, so he settles for removing the bright 99 from it instead, sanding it down and repainting the area white. With Omega’s help, he uses orange and yellow to accent the rest of his armor pieces. 

Tech and Echo decide to monopolize the orange paint, leaving very little to Hunter. With a sigh, he picks up the teal paint, and pries it open. Omega beams at him. “I think that will be a very nice color on you,” she tells him sincerely, and suddenly, the color doesn’t seem so bad. 

<<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>>

“All the armor’s been stripped. But we’re still not gonna blend in,” Echo says, tossing Hunter his helmet. 

The colors of his past lives have been removed with finality. He knows it is necessary; however, he can’t help but feel the pang of loss as he stares at the familiar piece of himself he’s had for so long, devoid of the visible memories lingering like ghosts behind him. 

Maybe they’ll paint their armor again, when all of this is over. 

If they all make it back. 

END

@the-little-moment and @just-here-with-my-thoughts 🥳 I can't believe we've only got 4 more stories/chapters each to go!

✨Let me know if you'd like to be added to my tag list!✨

Tag List: @followthepurrgil @isthereanechoinhere96 @amorfista @mooncommlink @arctrooper69 @nagyanna424 @proteatook @ezras-left-thumb @merkitty49

[tosrcountdown]

🌠 18 Days Left! 🌠

Our second art for today is by Fatema with our main party from Symphonia! We're just 18 days away from embarking on the journey with them!

[paintingstardust]

reviving this blog after over 10 years of abandoning it to post fox ren hehe

my digital art abilities have been insanely rusty but I knew as soon as I played this that I needed to draw it 🥰 didn't turn out as well as I'd envisioned but still happy with it! eeee lovvvve fox ren

(ren belongs to @14dayswithyou)

[kang-yina]

I have a enemies to lovers-lovers to enemies toxic yuri story with mattel i guess

[pickled-flowers]

Rereading the Mysqueery Gang and like. Who let me post this. Worst writing I've ever done like heck I'm so sorry to all my readers i should have been better 😭 these kids deserve a better story

[lady-phasma]

House of the Dragon Season 2 premiere runtime is a relief after episode count

I don't usually share links to this type of article but 1 hour 4 mins is pretty great

[fingertipsmp3]

This is the spiritual successor to Four Seasons Landscaping. To me.