#LITERALLY such a better and more interesting character

[hopelesslyprosaic]

I enjoy this but also- "conventionally attractive" is a kind of meaningless term. I agree that it's weird to imagine Holmes looking like Henry Cavill, but there's a difference between that and weird-looking. Though- have people SEEN Jeremy Brett in My Fair Lady (or Rebecca, where he is marred only by that stupid mustache)? That dude was definitionally "conventionally attractive." The kind of attractive that he was just happens to go well with descriptions of Holmes in canon, and a lot of it came down to makeup and costuming.

As in, Holmes has some distinctive facial features mentioned in canon, but there's nothing that says that he isn't also attractive in whatever that very distinctive way is. (I'd also add that I've seen some tags mentioning Holmes needing to be super-thin, which is admittedly canonical, and this was a notion that really hurt Jeremy Brett when he was in the later years playing the character- he had a lot of water retention due to health problems/medications and literally apologized to fans for not being the thin Holmes that they expected, which is kind of heartbreaking.)

Lord Peter Wimsey is described early (as is noted) and often as odd-looking, but not unattractive per se- lots of people critical of the Wimsey-Vane relationship will talk about Sayers de-uglifying him by Gaudy Night, such as by making him taller and more attractive to women, but that doesn't really follow from the books because a) Wimsey is established as a respectable-if-not-tall-per-se 5'9" as of Clouds of Witness and b) in Gaudy Night Wimsey is seen through the eyes of Harriet... who loves him, even if she won't admit it. Sayers is very willing to write in the Vane Quadrilogy exactly what it is that Harriet finds attractive physically about Peter- in a way that, incidentally, she doesn't really have Peter do about Harriet. Of course, the person who plays Wimsey should be able to be interesting-looking as he's described in canon, but if they erred on the side of better-looking I don't think it would be the worst thing in the world, especially with hair and makeup. It's not about how good-looking the actor naturally is, but how their look is designed for the screen.

Now Poirot... yeah, he needs to look dorky, there's no two ways about it. He needs to look like someone whom only Vera Rossakoff could, well, I won't say love- let's say find endearing.

if there's one thing about classic literary detectives it's that they are not conventionally attractive. doyle told sidney paget to stop drawing holmes so pretty. christie was like "let me introduce you to this short pudgy balding man who is retirement age and i hate him." sayers compares wimsey to maggots on literally the FIRST PAGE

i love it. i love them. stop casting hot people in these roles. we need our detectives to be Charmingly Weird-Looking

[indieyuugure]

Hiii! Im doing a essay about ROTTMNT and TMNT do you have any ideas whatt ill do?

lol 😂 oh dear this seems a tad urgent.

Hm, well personally I would consider covering the both positive and accurate homeschooler representation in TMNT. It’s often overlooked but is really actually incredibly good and a deeper topic than maybe like art style.

A lot of media paints homeschoolers extremely inaccurately and often negatively. I can’t tell you how many times the “homeschooled” character’s in media are 2D friendless plain toast people with personalities that are literally just that they don’t go to school and it’s so incredibly insulting! But TMNT doesn’t do this!

I’ll tell you, as a homeschooler myself and having met NUMEROUS others, homeschoolers are wild, they’re full of personality and big dreams, often they have no interest in attending “normal school” and are usually better educated, they’re best friends with their siblings and very close with their parents, and actually tend to have more meaningful and lasting friendships than other kids.

All of these things is the TMNT is and it makes me so happy to have good representation that’s not loud and preaching but just subtly there because THAT’S HOW IT IS.

There are exceptions to everything I just listed—I can think of one person for just about every exception—but TMNT does a fantastic job of explaining in a lowkey way that homeschoolers aren’t aliens from another planet, they’re kids just like everyone else.

So anyway 😅 now that I’ve written my own rant, hopefully you’ll find that useful at all.

Other good topics could be the franchise’s themes of acceptance and learning to see beyond an outer appearance which as a show targeted towards children is a very good thing to learn (seriously children are the judgiest little things).

Another could be the franchise’s history from gritty young adult comics to colorful children’s cartoons.

You could also do something with the shows portrayal of positive familial relationships since most television often depicts siblings as annoying irritants and parents as unfeeling dictators, and while those are aspects of family life, they never show the positive things like unconditional love, and loyalty and understanding and very deep togetherness.

Hopefully any of this is useful, I’d recommend maybe asking a few other people for ideas (if you haven’t already) so you can get a wider selection of view points and of course more ideas 👍

[anthurak]

For the ask game, I'm going to choose violence and pick RWBY, because I am morbidly curious.

Ozpin/Oscar/Ozma and all the Wizard of Oz allusions are not actually as important/core to RWBY's overall story and narrative as people seem to think.

Ozpin/Ozma is not nearly as important to the overall 'war' with Salem as he has long thought. Salem isn't actually fighting this war just to spite him and the gods and she definitely isn't actually trying to end the world out in some suicidal cosmic temper tantrum like he has so long believed. Salem's actual goal has always been to undo the destruction of old humanity and Ozma never figured that out because he has always believed the God of Light instead of her (hey remember how the only thing we ever heard of Salem's take on events in Jinn's vision is 'She totally lied to Oz about the gods being at fault for everything. Honest. Nothing to see here')

Continuing on, Oscar is NOT going to be the one to defeat or even talk down Salem or even be all that pivotal in her defeat. He has ALWAYS been a supporting character and the whole point of his character, similar to Jaune, is all about RECOGNIZING that. Again, just like Jaune, the dude is a DECONSTRUCTION of a main-character archetype, NOT the/an actual main character. Similarly, he has never been a viable canon love-interest for Ruby, mostly because literally EVERY potential narrative, thematic and character connection he might have to Ruby (and more) is better filled by PENNY.

Finally, the Wizard of Oz allusions are not nearly as widespread as some of you seem to think. Like it's just the people directly connected to Ozpin/Oscar/Ozma. Not literally every major character in the show. Team RWBY and non-Qrow Team STRQ are NOT WOZ allusions. The fantasy literary classic that RWBY draws the most allusions from is NOT The Wizard of Oz. It's The Lord of the Rings.

The story and overall narrative and backstory of RWBY does not and has never revolved around Ozpin/Oscar/Ozma.

It has always revolved around Team RWBY, Cinder Fall and Salem. And possibly Summer.

Oh, and all this makes Ozpin, Oscar and Ozma FAR more interesting and better characters for it XD

[sausage-rolll]

My personal undertale headcanon is that Flowey isn’t emotionless and incapable of connecting with others because he lacks a soul or is inherently “bad”, it’s because he was deeply traumatized from watching his best friend/sibling kill themselves in an incredibly painful way only to die violently himself hours later at like, the age of 11?

That would break anybody. To make things even worse, he woke up an undisclosed amount of time later in a body wholly alien to him, unable to move, completely alone until Asgore found him. If that wasn’t bad enough he then had to directly face the consequences of his and Chara’s plan, and the deep pain that it caused everyone in the underground. His father, the king? Broken. His mother? Missing. His people? Devastated and hopeless. Chara? Gone.

And to make things just that much worse, when the pain and grief of everything gets too much for him, and he deems himself broken beyond repair and decides to take his life he finds out that he has complete control over time itself.

He then spends an unimaginable amount of time experimenting with this power, constantly trying to do the right thing, constantly trying to help people and make the world better. But he’s never satisfied. He’s never happy. He does this, again and again and again. He grows older and older but never actually ages, he sinks deeper and deeper into his own tiny world, becoming even more distant and disconnected from the people around him as situations repeat themselves and peoples lives loop and loop without end. 

Eventually he becomes so unbearingly bored of the endless, unescapable cycle that he starts to experiment with more negative situations. Afterall, his actions no longer have consequences, right? Anything he does, he can and will undo eventually. Even the most horrific actions hold no weight in Flowey’s impermanent world. The only person who ever has to deal with the consequences of Flowey’s actions… Is Flowey himself.

So he does it. Slipping deeper and deeper into his delusions. Falling deeper and deeper into genuine insanity as the years repeat themselves onto eternity and Flowey disconnects completely from the world around him.

At this point, he feels that he’s experienced quite literally everything the world has to offer. He probably lived as Flowey far longer than he ever did as Asriel by now. He’s befriended everyone, he’s hurt everyone. He’s saved everyone, he’s killed everyone. He’s done everything. Even violence doesn’t interest him anymore. So what does he do? He stops.

I’ve always wondered how Frisk even had the chance to fall into Mt. Ebott and usurp Flowey of his powers if he was constantly resetting the timeline, but I think I finally get it.

Flowey probably just… Stopped completely at some point. He stopped resetting, stopped interacting with the world and sat himself at his best friend's grave and just… waited. Waited for something, anything new to happen. Eventually enough time passed for a new human to fall, a human who inherently overpowers Flowey’s control of the timeline and so, for the first time in what must have felt like eternity Flowey was finally free from his power.

-

After everything that Asriel experienced leading up to and during his death, he probably would have needed intense therapy to overcome the trauma. But that’s not what he got was it? He didn’t get therapy. He didn’t get the chance to heal. He got the powers of a god and the curse of his actions no longer having consequences. I don’t believe Flowey is incapable of connecting with others or feeling true happiness or love. I think that’s just a lie he told himself so his situation wouldn’t hurt as much.

-

But, even after all of that I believe Flowey still has a chance at happiness. We see his character shift dramatically after the Omega Flowey fight. After he is once again stripped of his power over time, he has an intense moment of vulnerability that shows what I believe to be his true colors, followed by him coaching Frisk on how to get a better ending for everyone.

Sure, this was likely a trap for Flowey to take everyone’s souls, but once again, after his defeat as Asriel and returning to Flowey’s form, he has yet another character shift.

He’s genuinely happy at this ending. He’s happy that everyone escaped the underground, happy that Frisk gets to live their life. He begs the player to just leave everyone to their lives and to move on themselves. He doesn’t want his power back, he doesn’t want the cycle to continue anymore.

For the first time in god knows how long, Flowey is satisfied.

And maybe if the alarm clock dialogue is anything to go by, given time Flowey can finally heal. Flowey can finally find happiness and love again.

[artist-issues]

Hi.

Jasmine - Went beyond the idea of “consent” to say what she really wanted was “a real friend” and “love” if married. Once she got those things, even when they were falsely found in Prince Ali, no more “boldly sneaking out for independence” for her.

Rapunzel - Wanted to go see the world and experience things for herself but discovered the best experience and dream was love, from a man, who she was willing to give “experiencing things” up for the sake of (when Mother Gothel stabbed him and she promised not to escape again if she could heal him.)

Snow White - Absolutely literally 100% “waiting for a man.” Her song is called “Someday My Prince Will Come.” Her prayer is for Grumpy, a man, to like her. She’s happiest when she’s showing love to the male characters around her. And that kind of love is what inspires and transforms them, to be less self-centered.

Mulan - Wanted to have a safe father and prove she was worthwhile—which she was. Long before she ever went off to war, she had her father’s love and esteem. “The greatest gift and honor is having you for a daughter.” She never needed to go to war to prove that. She never needed to prove she was as good as a man to do that, or better than a man, to do that. She had it all along.

Aurora - Not forced. Protected. By superpowered women who gave up their power, dignity, and identities just to keep her safe. And when she found out she couldn’t have the man she was in love with, she was heartbroken, but did not rebel against authority—because she’s the kind of precious woman who respects others and is worth protecting.

Cinderella - The Fairy Godmother does not “empower” Cinderella so that Cinderella can “reach her goals.” The Fairy Godmother gives Cinderella her “goals.” Literally. And she does it as a direct result of Cinderella willingly waiting for help. Not help necessarily from a Prince, but help from Something outside of herself. Fate, destiny, (in the original fairy tale it’s God) to “make her dreams come true.” And then after she meets the Prince? She certainly is “waiting” for him. She’s not sneaking out of the house by her wit and moxy to wave her slipper in front of his face and lecture him about how he can’t recognize her if she’s not in a ball gown. It’s her faith that saves her. And faith is dependent on something outside her own abilities.

Pocahontas - Wants to do the right thing, her “destined path,” instead of the smoothest, easiest thing, which is what everyone in her tribe sees as the highest good. And when hate is introduced, she combats it with love—not by “befriending” John Smith, but by giving her heart to John Smith, despite the fact that he can be a prejudiced blowhard. She loves him anyway. And that love allows her to see him as human, when everyone else sees him as less-than human. Same thing, with him to her. Without him in her life helping her to put belief into action, Pocahontas would have had no ability to convince anyone not to go to war.

Tiana - Why is everyone so obsessed with who-saves-who? Tiana worked to be an independent restaurant owner and that got her nothing, and if it had gotten her anything she straight-up says later in the movie that her dream (independence and ownership) would have been incomplete. Dissatisfying. Without who? Without a man. Without Naveen. Because love is worth more than gain, status, or validation—and she was never going to get love, gain, or validation without the help of a Higher Power. Her “the only way I’m going to get what I want is through my own hard work” philosophy was wrong, the whole movie worked hard to prove it wrong.

Belle - Belle’s “willingness to see past the exterior” did not save Prince Adam. Her showing him what it looks like to love someone self-sacrificially—meaning, you give up your own independence and your own dreams, for someone you love (her father)—is what gave him hope, and that hope led to him doing the same for her. Sacrificing his own interests for her, which is love, which is what broke the curse. Their love for each other broke the curse, it was not “her-saving-him.” And his name’s not Prince Adam, get over it, it’s the Beast.

Ariel - Ariel did not want to be human before she met Eric. She wanted to be part of the human world and understand it, and sure, she thought having feet and living in a world where she wasn’t told what to do all the time would be pretty cool—but “want,” as in, “give up anything for it, ready to go right now,” NO. She markedly did not want to leave her family and give up everything. Not until she had confirmation that she was right—that humans are not barbarians, and can be wonderful—and ERIC is that confirmation, for her. Eric is the inciting incident. Eric is the reason, the big “WHY” behind Ariel leaving the sea. She did give up everything for him. That’s the movie. There’s a shift in her motivations in the movie, and it happens when she sees that A) Eric is a dreamer like her, B) Eric is ridiculed for the way he sees the world like her, but he keeps believing anyway, and C) Eric risks his life to save other creatures instead of being a “spineless savage harpooning fish-eating barbarian.” Ariel did not want independence. She didn’t sign away her life and leave her family so she could dance around exploring the surface alone and independent. She did it so that she could be with someone. Who? Oh. A man. For love. And he absolutely does save her.

Merida - Merida’s movie is not about romance. The topic of “Arranged marriage” is only in the movie at all as a mini object lesson for “be brave enough to let a child decide what they’ll do with all you’ve taught them, instead of trying to force them out of a fear that they’ll make the wrong decision.” It’s really not making a statement about marriage at all. That’s just a low-hanging “the audience can understand Merida’s misgivings” fruit they grabbed.

Again—why are you all so obsessed with who-saves-who?

If you do the saving, congratulations, you demonstrated that you’re willing to sacrifice yourself, the hardest thing to sacrifice, for the sake of another. If you get saved, CONGRATULATIONS, you’re loved enough to be treated as worth such a sacrifice. BOTH THOSE THINGS ARE AWESOME. The worst thing to be is someone who 1) acts on their own self-interest (oh, like if your highest dream is to be “independent”) or 2) is completely unloved by anyone, and if you were endangered, nobody would even notice. Nobody would even want to demonstrate how much you mean to them by trying to save you.

Those are the worst things you could be. Why are you all so eager for your women characters to be those horrible loveless things? OR your men??

Also waiting?? Waiting to be saved? Have you ever lived any life, ever? Have you ever been in a circumstance you can’t change—yes you have, because you’re a human being who is not all-powerful. Don’t you know how incredible being able to wait for someone else to help you is? Do you know what the alternative is? Living in denial because you arrogantly believe that you have all the power to not only know what the exact right thing to do is to change your circumstance, but if you could just get it right, everything would change. OR. The other denial? Giving up. Letting your circumstances change you. My family hates me, so I’ll hate them back. I can’t get away so I might as well die. Those alternatives are the natural, easy, response we sink right into.

But waiting in hopeful expectation? Waiting because you trust someone else? Not letting your emotions be yanked up and down and all around by the shallow people and hard circumstances around you? That is hard to do.

These characters who wait on saviors and trust in love are so much stronger than the strong independent nothings you’re imagining.

Sincerely,

A woman who is waiting on The Man to come back and save her.

#StickIt

[foxmulderautism]

watching hannibal but having watched manhunter now is crazy cause in the movie i thought freddie lounds was the most obnoxious annoying mf and i did not care about him one bit but in the show i see freddie and i'm like hey beautiful. keep up the good work as always. like that's feminism

[lunarharp]

recent edgeworth-based scribbles....he means much to me

[fiona-fififi]

Call me homophobic, but I don't actually think it's great representation to stick a complex, dynamic, newly-realized bisexual character permanently with a flat, boring, underdeveloped love interest just because that was the first guy who showed interest.

[oodlyenough]

#i really dont like or care for this twist#not just bc it invalidates my feendolly fic (though perhaps thats on me for writing it before i finished 3-5)#but also like... idk felt lame.#the mental image of phoenix dragging around dahlia who doesnt want to be on these dates is so entertaining#and just like dahlia taking advantage of him any way she can#i like iris but i feel like this doesnt make her seem better than dahlia like girl u still lied to him and werent planning to tell#idk i was a bit pissed off#thats not to say i dont find feenris cute but... idk.#i was more invested with the fey family drama i wanted iris and pearl to speak to each other at the end yknow sisterhood and all

Yeah honestly same here, if I had to choose my ultimtae preference would be exactly what I thought we got in 3-1, Dahlia and Phoenix's no-good very bad relationship that he has too many blinders on to see. I found it compelling in 3-1 and I also thought it was an interesting thing to do with saviour complex Phoenix who believes in people, to have him be utterly wrong this time.

Failing that I would've rather seen the switch happen ... literally anything besides the "it was ALWAYS iris the whole time and they were in looooove" stuff we got, which I found obnoxious and also didn't really line up with the canon to that point.

And like you I was also very frustrated that the story never acknowledged what Iris did is still super fucked up, lol. Both canon and fanon treating Feenris like it was this really wholesome puppy love ship grates on me, it's objectively a very messed up thing to do to Phoenix and that version of events whitewashes all the things that make Iris a more complicated and therefore interesting character.

the 'actually he dated the nice twin all along ☺️' reveal in 3-5 was disappointing imo because, among other things, the idea that it was both of them is like, richer narratively and also much funnier. dahlia walking feenie to class through gritted teeth until he starts talking about how he got them tickets to a 3 hr poetry reading for date night and then she's texting iris like 'i'll strangle him right now i swear to god' 'ok ok i'll do it'

[royalarchivist]

In case you missed it, Jaiden just uploaded a new video! Congrats to her for 10 years of beautiful, funny, and heartfelt storytime animations!

[nwarrior777]

okay internet, i know that you not ready for this but

it's strange being all omgyes #slay yay totaly okay for like, all kinks, but going #omg wtf cringe scull emoji about fat kink

like we as society know how kinks works (importance of consents, special rules for practices like using special candles for wax play, etc), we know how really infinite can human fantasy go and so on and so on but why is it still taboo to be openly horny about things like big tasty meal with your lover

can we be finally chill about it

p.s. i have post which gives good arguments on this topic but i couldn't find it by search, only in my blog archive, so here is the link.

The problem with fat kink is not in it existing, but in not-exsisting of range of image of fatness in media

[dariusaurs]

i think dinostar is such an interesting ship right now even if i've kind of turned away from it after this season. the problem is that it's complicated, and fandoms historically don't like nuanced situations or takes. i don't think it's fair to say darius is putting brooklynn on a pedestal, since from his perspective, she hasn't done anything wrong, and kenji has been framed as this unfair partner to her. it does feel like his feelings are very immature and more of an infatuation right now ("if he loved you half as much.."/"unless?"), especially when you compare them to kenji's own feelings for brooklynn - his girlfriend who he's loved for 6 years - but that isn't a horrible thing, it's just different. i do completely understand if people dislike the ship right now, and even criticize darius' way of handling the accidental confession, but i just think people have been way too harsh on all three of them without being willing to see that all of their perspectives are different

[glasspalacesstoneshop]

Honestly because the map is smaller and more linear it feels more fleshed out. like there's a lot of detail and care in these spaces. And while you do repeatedly return to the same spaces they're completely recontextualized with new mechanics and drastic environmental changes. Day Skyloft and Night Skyloft are two different environments in the same place. When you get a new weapon/tool you get new aspects of a space that completely change how you play it.

Faron Woods gets FLOODED. I think this works better than just a water dungeon because you see real physical impacts of the story on the environment. Now you need to save the forest not just for abstract game reasons, but because the woodland creatures are suffering. It makes a much denser world.

The time mechanics of the Lanayru robots rank as one of my favorite game mechanics of all time--and are a great example of how well the game uses its space and how the environments really feel like they have a history outside of Link. It's also such an interesting way to do a time travel mechanic and I haven't found anything like it in any other story. It really makes me think of the impermanence of civilizations. The robots are dead and gone and you cannot save them. Link may be the chosen one of this world, but this world exists independently of him. He's the main character to the audience, but he's not the main character of the NPCs. A lot of other Zelda games feel like the NPCs aren't actually people, just props.

In a lot of Zelda games you can explore as a mechanic but there's not much to really discover. BOTW has a big world, but it doesn't really have a dense world. Story beats are just separated by grassland. I think EoW is much better in this open-ish world aspect, because even if there's not as much to look at, they use all the space to create different environments and civilizations. Plus with Zelda's unique echo mechanic, exploration felt like a challenge to see if I could outsmart the game and get somewhere without the mechanic I was supposed to use. Meanwhile, BOTW doesn't really have that to its exploration, because you know Link's abilities. And the environments flow better together than Just Put Grass Between Them. WW doesn't solve this problem, but the fact that everything is literal islands is at least very honest. And because your brain is told to treat it as dead space, actually encountering stuff in the ocean feels like a genuine surprise. Wind Waker is also good at the environment telling a story, because they put stuff underwater.

I also really like the watercolor look of the game. I think the stylized worlds of SS and WW have aged a lot better than TP's graphics, which were very on trend at the time, but kinda look like they just have a muck filter over everything. Color is Good and My Friend please don't make everything brown

which is your favourite LoZ game and why is it Twilight Princess?

wrong, skyward sword. but twilight princess is really good too

[cluescorner]

Arlecchino's whole deal is unbelievable

Arlecchino: Huh I wonder what's causing my weird powers? I can't really worry about that right now tho, I've gotta become King and then kill my "Mother".

*Kills Clervie and "Mother"*

Arlecchino: Huh I wonder why I was able to defeat a Fatui Harbinger when I'm like 17 or so? I can't really worry about that right now tho, I've gotta be in jail and become a Harbinger.

*Is in jail for a while and becomes a Harbinger*

Arlecchino: Huh I wonder why I am-

Pierro: Hey what's up hello, anyways you're descended from the Crimson Moon Dynasty of Khaenri'ah. I'm sure that this is a lot for you to take in so-

Arlecchino: Ok.

Pierro: ...You're just cool with that?

Arlecchino: IDK maybe? I can't really worry about that at the moment, I'm a father now. This orphanage full of children I love (who also are child soldiers and are not allowed to leave or else I'll execute them except maybe now I'm just gonna wipe their memories IDK I'm morally complex) isn't gonna run itself.

*Runs the orphanage/spy recruitment initiative*

Me, the fucking player: WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU ARE KHAENRI'AN? WHY WASN'T THIS BROUGHT UP IN YOUR FUCKING QUEST?? OR ANYTHING ELSE????

Arlecchino, talking to me through my phone: I honestly don't know why you care, I'm too busy to give a shit. Anyways, I'm gonna go fight fate itself I guess. I'm sure that I don't share any thematic parallels with any other Khaenri'an characters (particularly as it relates to acting and family angst) and that I haven't made the idea of 'curses' on Khaenri'ans and what they entail even more complicated than they already were. See ya.

[the-judicial-assistants-notebook]

sits up in bed. so lana and ema definitely thought they were responsible for edgeworth "choosing death", right?

(the rest of this post was supposed to go in the tags, because it's not very well organised or written, but it got too long so. here are the slightly edited tags for your reading pleasure (or otherwise)):

i was going to make this solely about ema because she's the obvious one with her open adoration of edgeworth, but the thing about rfta is that it goes to great lengths to emphasise the connection between lana and edgeworth as well.

the sl-9 incident showed that lana grows attached to people deeply, hence angel starr's comment on how, when neil marshall died, 'she (lana) felt like her own brother had died.' with edgeworth, i think it was similar but worse. because he's not just a coworker or subordinate who's dear to her. he saved her life. and it cost him his own.

at the beginning of the case, edgeworth says he was mistaken for thinking that lana was always looking out for him post sl-9 (a statement interesting on its own because that's when everyone else says she grew distant), and, later on, he brings ema fingerprinting powder because lana asked him to. then, of course, there's the 'lady luck' comment he makes.

similarly, on lana's side, you obviously have the end of the trial when she says he did well, but there's also that additional moment post-trial where she's the only one to notice — in a group comprising her, ema, phoenix and gumshoe — that he's 'hiding', listening to their conversation. point is, there's enough to suggest that she might have been the nearest thing edgeworth had to a mia; his 'chief prosecutor' to phoenix's plain 'chief'. they're as close as two people can be in a relationship where one of them is constantly lying and the other is von karma's star pupil.

rfta is pretty straightforwardly depicted as the case which solidified edgeworth's resolve to do what he did; i don't think i have to prove that. rumours about him have reached new heights, his car and knife were involved in goodman's murder, he makes an unprecedented mistake in court by failing to connect the evidence room and carpark incidents, thus forcing the chief of police to enter the trial to do so himself, and he's publicly revealed to have relied on falsified evidence to secure a conviction in the sl-9 case, all of which only happened because of lana. jake marshall even claims that from the beginning — that if you trace edgeworth's rumours back to their source, you end up meeting one person: lana skye.

and it gets worse because at the end of rfta, she thinks he's fine!! she literally says, 'i was afraid the pressure would break you, but you rose above it,' and reminds him he's nothing like gant because he's not alone. she leaves the case thinking he will be okay. and then, what, like a week passes, and she finds out that he wasn't, and that he's gone, and it's her fault. even after she was freed from gant's control, even after she had finally stopped lying, she couldn't prevent herself from claiming another life. so much for 'lady luck', i suppose.

and the game reiterates this multiple times. gumshoe states at the start that edgeworth's ties to those higher up in the department have made him the subject of constant rumours, and phoenix says (in front of ema) that he shouldn't be held responsible for the forged evidence because that was all lana's doing, which then leads to edgeworth commenting (again in front of ema) that he feels as though 'something inside him has died.' it all goes back to lana. we can argue and say that it was technically gant's doing that caused all of this, but lana still took actions that led to it. even her complicated friendship with edgeworth isn't spared; it's that closeness between them that exacerbated those rumours. how could she not feel responsible in some way?

and with ema, it's rather obvious, isn't it? if she hadn't gone poking her nose into things, none of this would have happened or come to light. and, of course, she'd never choose anyone over her sister, not for anything in the world — it's simply not a question, but that's the problem, isn't it? it's not a question. it's not some hypothetical moral dilemma. it just is. she may not have killed neil marshall, but she still has one king of prosecutor's blood on her hands. and now she has to live with that. she just. has. to live with it. no matter if he chose otherwise.

moving on from that a little, i think it's actually wild how much of ema's journey to becoming a forensics investigator is paved with bad memories. neil marshall's death and her subsequent inability to testify are what drives her to begin pursuing it, her first proper investigation results in her idol's "death" and when she finally graduates, the person who saved her sister has been disbarred, and she can't even help because she isn't allowed to. all that pain and constant pursuit of her goals, and she's still the same ema skye, still that girl shrouded in darkness, always one step behind the truth, one step a little too late. no wonder she was angry in aa:aj. i would be furious.

[silusvesuius]

n*loth not being able to bag anyone over the (human term) age of 25-30 at most is the only logical and real conclusion to me because it can be just explained away as him wanting to prove and control everything and anyone (Cus he's a man!) but being stuck in that demographic because his unbearable and vile personality is a force that nobody can look past once they've outgrown the possible fear and idolization period of anyone but also n*loth in particular.