#Rise from the ashes spoilers

[lika2]

My favourite part about ace attorney is when you talk to your defendant and they end up confessing to some crimes bcs there's always this random ass guard hearing this entire convo. Edgeworth dramatically confesses his guilt over possibly killing his own father, Phoenix dramatically refuses to give up on him, and this random guy just hangs out in the background hearing all of it

Or, in this case, Lana practically admits that Gant has been forging evidence and blackmailing her for two years, and the dude is just there like 🧍‍♂️

Not to mention Matt Engarde

[loz-the-noob]

“I’m not very good at being a criminal, I suppose.”

part deux :p vvv

n then she kicked over an oil drum

[strawwritesfic]

[attorneys-against-court-violence]

Joe Darke is such a meme to me.

He has no mugshot. The portrait we do see of him looks like a scrawny Gant. He was pinned for the single most ridiculous series of murders I've ever seen in Ace Attorney. He went to confess, but got spooked and ran into the office of the guy interrogating him. He got folded by a cowboy and a teenage girl. He got framed for a crime that was, in itself, faked to frame said teenager for killing said cowboy. He was canonically executed at the end all of this nonsense. Everyone thinks he's a bastard and 100% deserved it.

He is a fucking disaster, your Honour. In the most literal terms imaginable. His life was a god damn Darke comedy.

[whistlefrost]

Okay okay. More MAJOR TGAA2 / DGS2 case 4 spoilers incoming! Also, random MAJOR Dual Destinies and Rise From the Ashes spoilers as well.

I'm gonna just list some theories I have halfway through case 4 of DGS2 because they have been playing on my mind for a while.

Please don't confirm or deny anything! I'm just putting my thoughts out here :)

Starting to get the feeling that Susato's dad is. Definitely more deeply involved in the professor thing then he is currently thought to be in the case. I mean, of all 3 people studying abroad, Mikotaba is the only one of them who literally IS a professor.

Mikotaba has been subtly orchestrating people's movements throughout the duology, like Ryunosuke going to london, Susato coming back to Japan, and subsequently returning to London. And the most suspicious thing...

Mikotaba directly caused Dr. Wilson's death. He himself said, he was the one to ask Wilson to come to london. He even was in somewhat of an authority position over Jezaille Brett, who then murdered Wilson.

Regardless I think Mikotaba does have somewhat good intentions. Tbh I think whoever the professor is has to either have good intentions, or be evil, but just controlling a bunch of people with good intentions. I don't buy that gregson is actually evil. I think he is probably just trying his best to pursue justice in a corrupt system.

I'm also not buying that Genshin Asogi was the real professor. Based on Kazuma's actions and Van Ziek's accounts of who the guy was, I genuinely believe he must've been framed. Kazuma probably knows this and is trying to uncover the truth behind it which is his whole 'mission' here.

I think whoever the professor is, is also a major player in the reaper stuff. I mean, they have literally the same goal of eliminating all of the corrupt rich / noble people. Also unrelated but Klint is definitely suspicious for this reason. Even his design screams 'secretly evil'. But they might just be wanting me to think that.

The circumstances around Iris's birth are really strange. She must've been born right when the professor shit was going down since she's 10 years old. I'm guessing her mom may have been one of the professor's victims since she's not around and I seem to remember Iris mentioning she was dead??? Not sure though I've been playing this game over the past few months and details are slipping. Maybe both her parents were and thats why Dr. Wilson moved to Japan. But little did he know his friend who he thought had his best interests at heart was setting him up??? Idk.

I think Herlock knows a lot, but perhaps not everything. I truly don't think he is super involved in the plot, but he's maybe been trying to solve it himself? Idk. I just trust him too much. they wouldn't make another really goofy ace attorney detective with the main colour of highly saturated brown evil??? right??? right???

Mael Stronghart is soooo suspicious, but I can't decide on whether thats a red herring or not. He looks A LOT like damon gant, to the point I almost think it's intentional? And I can't decide whether that makes his more or less likely to be a villain.

The characters I genuinely trust are Herlock, Iris, Gina, Susato, Barok Van Zieks, and probably Kazuma (I think the game wants me to be suspicious of him though). Anyone else I think could very easily be in on the plot tbh.

I'm just like Gina fr. Can't trust most of the adults but the kids are chill.

Anyways sorry for my insane ramblings. Can't wait to play 2 more minutes of this case and find out all of these are wrong and the professor is actually time travelling Aristotle Means

[uselesstaroth]

Just marvelling at Rise From The Ashes, specifically Damon Gant (spoilers obvs (also prompted to post because of @/snapcubes post))

I have (sadly) not played an Ace Attorney game, but the idea that they release the first trilogy on GBA, then put it on DS 3 years later, and then added a fifth case to the first game, and it's aaaall of this.

Damon Gant sets the stage the moment he comes in, staring at the player, with that unique, upbeat music, and immediately you know that this guy is something special.

Then he starts talking, and participating in the case, and simultaneously helps, and throws the entire case into chaos. He goes out of his way to undermine Edgeworth, and the facade of a nice man is revealed to not exactly be a facade at all, just what he is: a very powerful man who can afford to be nice because he controls everything.

Solving the case is like going through a maze he built for no one to get to the truth, with traps so elaborate that showing evidence too soon is a game over.

That upbeat theme turning foreboding and filling you with dread because it means he's around/involved is so well done, coming to a head after his incredible break down (even better with ProZD's voice acting) where he confesses and you realize he is just that calculating, and panicked a single time, and it all fell apart.

Absolutely in awe of this lad.

[acehalah]

rise from the ashes

[seamayweed]

What would you have me do, Mother?

HOUSE OF THE DRAGON — 2.04 “The Red Dragon and the Gold” // Maia Baia, Mother

[trlvsn]

top 10 misunderstood pieces of advice

[stacks-of-stags]

aside from the big bad blackmail murderer™ damon gant, we have:

- lana skye: forgery of evidence, disposing of a dead body with intention of concealing murder

- miles edgeworth: presenting forged evidence to the court (let's be honest, detainment would have been better than whatever hell this man is building for himself in his own head lmao)

- jake marshall: stealing evidence, perjury

- phoenix wright and ema skye: breaking and entering, trespassing, covering everything in their wake with luminol and fingerprint powder which endangers sensitive equipment and hapless passers-by

- dick gumshoe: disclosure of classified information, letting phoenix run amok in the department, being just way too much of a good boy on way too many occasions

- the judge: forgery of legal documents, lying on the resume (i refuse to believe this man has the law degree and the experience that are necessary to become a judge. i just refuse)

...

...

okay, i have to admit, i haven't found anything wrong with angel starr yet (apart from the seemingly pointless little lies in her first testimony), but I bet she'll have some time to shine on the last day of this kangaroo hell because there ain't no way a person this sus can Rise From the Ashes of this burning pile of garbage unscathed, with her dead fish eyes and stacks of lukewarm bento

i'm starting to get the feeling that once this trial is over literally everyone will be led out of the courtroom in handcuffs

[roykiller07]

artistic rendition of my mental state over the past week

[infamouslydorky]

Thinking about Turnabout Sisters in the context of Lana Skye, and I have a couple of thoughts:

Lana and Mia were very close, albeit they drifted apart over the years after college and especially after Lana started working with Damon Gant, who began manipulating Lana around 2015-16. For two years, Damon used Lana, and in the midst of it, Lana's once best friend and arguably former girlfriend Mia Fey was brutally murdered. Now, two different things could have happened depending on the timeline of events between Turnabout Sisters and SL-9 (the case Damon used to manipulate Lana/Lana becomes chief prosecutor)

Lana was yet to be chief prosecutor: The chief prosecutor before Lana is caught for corruption because of dealings with Redd White (Mia's murderer) and removed from office, giving Damon the opportunity to appoint Lana as chief prosecutor along with himself being promoted to Chief of Police after his own predecessor was fired for dealings with Redd White. So, the person who assigned Edgeworth to Mia's case was Lana's predecessor.

Lana was already chief prosecutor: Not only would Lana have to assign the case to a prosecutor as chief prosecutor, she assigns it to Edgeworth, who at that point was "the undefeated demon prosecutor". She wanted whoever was charged with the crime of killing Mia to pay for it, and what's worse is Redd White, the real murderer, had power over the chief prosecutor at the time because of his influence with information blackmail, so Lana would truly have no say in catching the true guilty party despite her desire for justice for Mia.

Truly depends on if SL-9 happened before or after Turnabout Sisters

[loz-the-noob]

Because I’m playing dual destinies and I miss Ema Skye with my whole heart, please take this WIP list of Silly Goofy Things Ema Has Done throughout the games I’ve played. Feel free to add to it if you think of anything I’ve missed.

Things Ema Skye has Done

Threatened to spray potentially hazardous (?) chemicals on a child

Unwittingly convinced everyone she was a crack addict

Sung a song in a court of law with very little persuasion  

Openly admitted that she intended to commit tax evasion. To a lawyer.

Accused a blind orphan of murder with a 45. caliber revolver 

Cried because she couldn’t push something over

Essentially received a bonus in the form of snacks and was completely fine with this

Apologised to a trash can 

Bullied Apollo into buying tea for her from an overpriced vending machine

Somehow confused the words “pickle” and “sausage” in the context of a well-known phrase. 

Inexplicably physically morphed into the Prosecution’s imprisoned brother briefly during a trial. This is never addressed. 

Said ‘Ah’ AT LEAST 12 times in Apollo Justice. I’m pretty sure I missed some 

“Eh heh heh, you want to know about my tool do you?”

Signs legal documents with a little heart next to her name

Was placed on security for a major venue with literally no means of communication with backup?? She had to physically go and get people. This is not her fault.

She has been set on fire. This was also not her fault.

She’s canonically very clumsy. Allegedly breaks bulbs all the time. Did I mention I love her.

Momentarily considered going on a destructive rampage at a concert she was supposed to be security for.

Very nearly let a 15 year old girl convince her to eat potential evidence at a crime scene.

I’m 90% sure her footwear is a health and safety risk

[the-bar-sinister]

Replaying Rise from the Ashes, and I was *going* to remark that Phoenix doesn't recognize Edgeworth's car, but it's actually very ambiguous whether he does or not.

He doesn't interrupt Ema, who doesn't recognize the car, but he also doesn't tell her whose car it is (or who's office they're going to.)

So either he also doesn't recognize the car, OR he's not being very nice/forth coming. Either interpretation suits Phoenix, honestly.

[attorneys-against-court-violence]

It's Late and I Have RFtA Thoughts, Let's Do This!

RIGHT THEN, let's talk about Joe Darke shall we? I think he's a pretty overlooked aspect of the SL-9 Incident and the case as a whole. When most people sing the praises of RFtA, they usually talk about the Skyes or Damon or Edgeworth - all solid things for sure, but let's not overlook the man who arguably kickstarted this entire mess to begin with.

To recap rq, Joe Darke was the man suspected of committing serial murder prior to the SL-9 Incident - the ones Angel, Bruce and Jake were all investigating. Eventually they pinned this man as being responsible, but had no evidence to prove it.

Take note of that. It's going to be important to my points here.

Now Darke isn't a harmless man who got caught in the crossfire; he did threaten Ema's life and forced older Marshall to take action. That whole kerfuffle left everyone unconscious for Gant to do his thing - framing Ema for killing Marshall and helping Lana cover it up to make it seem as though Darke was responsible.

Keyword; seem.

We never get any concrete confirmation that Darke actually killed anyone. The only murder he has strong ties to was a fabrication. You could say he was just good at covering his tracks, but there does exist the grim possibility that Darke was an innocent man. It's possible that he was caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, when the police (GANT) were beyond ready to finally put an end to the murders they pinned to his name.

They were desperate. Very desperate. Gant especially was desperate enough to not only fabricate a crime for him, but to frame somebody else to manipulate Lana into helping him "cover-up" and put Darke in the line of fire instead. A move that cost the life of older Marshall, the goodwill between two sisters, and now thinking back may have cost another innocent (if not pleasant) soul as well.

Joe Darke's criminal credibility being so dubious helps make the case's overall message crystal clear; that even in the pursuit of justice, good men may be compelled to do horrific things to meet it. It's exactly the person Edgeworth fears becoming, the person Damon Gant is, and the person that ruined the lives of many people to destroy another man.

And we have no evidence to say he had done anything wrong.

Not so small note/correction: Joe Darke had turned himself in to the police in light of the investigation. I'm not certain as to the nature of why he turned himself in - whether it implies he's guilty or felt coerced - though worth remembering in the midst of my ramblings

[lawyerkin]

HAAAAA WATCH OUT ITS JOE DARKE! HES GOING TO JOE THE DARKE YOU!!!!!!!!