#The reason is because there are different sprites of Phoenix from different times

[askaceattorney]

Dear Lover Girl,

That's sweet, but I already have a girlfriend.

- Phoenix Wright

[cyandreamz]

✧Miles Edgeworth sketches✧

Today I was in the city for a few hours and spent about half that time time drawing in my sketchbook and this is the first page I did :D

For this page I decided to draw a bunch of Edgeworth's (and a cat as a warm up) because not only is he my favourite AA character (like 80% of the fanbase lol) but also, because I hate the anime trope of characters having the exact same hairstyle from childhood to adulthood! So I wanted to try drawing the three main era's of Miles with slightly different versions of his hairstyle while trying to keep the iconic parts.

(rest of commentary has minor spoilers for AA1-5)

I enjoy the hairstyle results as I think the shorter bangs for YA Miles makes him look more bratty which fits his fanon nickname and, I've seen a few of people draw Chiefworth with a ponytail and I love that concept so much cuz, not only does it look cool af but, it also has him tie in with Simon Blackquill's design a bit which I like for DD plot reasons. So I stole the design >:-)

I also changed some minor things about Chiefworth design that I personally disliked, such as making the gold buttons sliver (it matches his hair better and, distance his design away from his young design/Manfred which I prefer personally) and his glasses to be full rimed (as a glasses wearer I hate his canon glasses! that man probably gotta rub his lenses clean multiple times a day! Also the full rimed look matches his late Father :D).

Lastly, I played around with making him look more tired/aged as he got older, this does seem to be canonish as Bratworth looks more open eyed (at least his HD trilogy sprite does) and in DD Phoenix does think to himself about Chiefworth having stronger frown lines.

I think both adult Edgeworth and Chiefworth ended up look a bit older than his canon age but I don't mind that as the man is such a workaholic and, had nightmares for a good chunk of his life so I buy him ageing faster than average physically, the faces still don't look as nice as I hoped but hopefully drawing more Miles will help fix the jankyness I see but can't quite describe lol.

[box-dwelling]

OK so as someone who just genuinely loved Dual destinies and is keeping my theis length DD apologia in the drafts at least for now. I genuinely want to know why people don't like it.

I have seen this take from so many AA fans who I completely agree about everything else with. I need to understand why it sounds like we played completely different games.

I will put some I've seen but feel differently about under the cut

Critisms I find unfair:

-it doesn't tie up the loose ends AA4 left hanging. We don't hold any of the other games up to this standard because they all properly finish up the characters arcs. Aa5 cannot be blamed for the problems we want to overlook in AA4. I do also love AA4 but it does leave a lot of dangling plot threads that the others don't and that would be a fucking nightmare to tie up *staring directly at sibling reveal*

- Clay comes out if no where. He's very well established through the game. He just isn't mentioned in AA4 just like Fran isn't mentioned in AA1 and Dahlia isn't mentioned before AA3.

Critism I acknowledge is a reasonable opinion people can have but strongly disagree with

-Spilting the game between the protagonists stops them having proper arcs. Athena is our weird girl for this game. She is our maya. We get to play as her for 1.5 cases. For the majority of the game she's taking up the weird girl screen time and she's honestly still doing that in the ones you play as her. She's just a weird girl who happens to be a lawyer. In the main game Apollo and Phoenix have a roughly equal amount of screen time by chapter. They cut the bloated filler not the arcs (yes I will argue that 5-2 is needed for Apollos arc. Its there to set up his relationship with Athena that us a catalyst later on)

-Phoenix and Apollo are OOC. No. Phoenix is still a cryptic little bitch when you don't play as him and in AA4 he was so very clearly missing being a lawyer. It makes sense. Apollo very clearly in the last case of AA4 regains a lot of his respect for Phoenix. No, he doesn't do this on screen but again that is AA4s fault not dual destinies. That's how he acts the last time we see him so that's how he's acting now.

-The Phantom comes out of nowhere. Plot wise, maybe. But so do a lot of AA villians. Thematically, he's the perfect fit. DD is a game about trust. Very, very explicitly. A spy is someone who can't trust anyone. The phantom is a man who's shut himself off so much from emotions that he no longer recognises why trust is needed. And also has an ability that directly preys on people by making them think hes a trustworthy figure. He's not an incredible villian but he is thematically cohesive.

-almost a part 2 to the last point. The Fulbright reveal comes out of nowhere. First of all 5-2 has some very very choice sprite framing lol. But beyond that it also is a thematically smart choice. We as players are conditioned in AA games to trust the recurring detective. The villain should be someone that we trust. The guy was likeable but also fundamentally always kinda hollow and did in fact pull a shit ton of strings in 5-4 that we all ignored because we trusted him. The clues are there. You're just not ment to pick up on them because of the formula of these games.

-Edgeworth doesn't need to be there. Again game with a theme of trust. He doesn't necessarily need to be there but his dynamic with Phoenix does. They spent 3 fucking games setting up how important it is that those two trust each other and in a game about trust his absence would be felt.

-I don't see this a lot but I did see it a few times. Blackquill is a bad prosecutor. Honestly this is a taste thing and I love him. He is my little bastard man. Also thematically he embodies the two people you aren't supposed to trust in these games, a convict and a prosecutor but is actually a cool guy.

-I've never seen this but I can guess it's happened. Pearl comes out of nowhere. Again theme of trust. Phoenix has just lost the two people he's been relying on to trust the most and needed to be reminded that there were other people he loved and trusted so letter from Maya and visit from Pearl.

-mood matrix. I like the mini game I think it's fun. My brain likes to sit and logically think about what emotions it would make sense for someone to feel in situations.

Criticism I agree with but really don't bother me

-Trucy is side lined. Yeah. I love her to pieces and will never complain about getting more of her but it doesn't make sense for her to not be there plot wise and they clearly just didn't have room for her. I am happy with my Trucy scraps. I would visit her and present every piece of evidence to her to get as much dialogue as I could.

-Klavier is sidelined. Also yeah. But he did genuinely need to be there for 5-3 thematically for that case. (It is literally a showdown between his school of thought and the one he thought phoenix had) but they couldn't make him procecutor because he'd be too much on their side. It had to be someone who at that point seems at least a little morally dubious. I wish there was more but I will also happily take my Klavier scraps.

-the anime cutscenes. I don't love them but I do have a little switch in my brain marked "watching anime" that I can flip and enjoy them for what they are.

-the switch of the voiced sound effects. Yes they are worse but like, I can live with it.

Stuff I don't like and won't defend

-turnabout reclaimed racism and fatphobia (also blatant animal welfare ignorance). I'm not defending it or overlooking it but it's not the only game in this franchise to be problematic.

[oodlyenough]

aa6-1 foreign turnabout

finished off DD last week and we're straight into soj.

i know the least about soj of any of the games probably, which is kind of nice because these later games really need the element of surprise they don't have a lot else lmao.

some thoughts on the tutorial case:

the good

this is a big visual upgrade from dual destinies (although i'm still unconvinced the games needed to move to 3d assets). phoenix's model looks better in ways i found hard to articulate until someone on twt pointed out SOJ gets rid of the bulky black outlines. it's so much smoother!

aside from the models, the sprite animations for the new characters are very detailed (almost too detailed... i mean do we need ninety animations per NPC? can we get some extra ones for phoenix lmao), i like how the UI has been refreshed to match khurain, overall it just looks more polished/complete than DD.

insight is new, and subject to suck more later lmao, but so far it's the best minigame since the magatama. both perceive and mood matrix suffer from being kind of nonsensical; it never stopped being goofy to me in DD that you just had interactions like "well i found the body and i was shocked" "UM ACTUALLY my robot says you were RED EMOJI FACE, so you're lying!" insight, on the other hand, is more based on logic/reason -- spot the contradiction, think through a couple different layers of info (rayfa's words vs what's on screen and what makes sense), etc. i also like the idea that the ghost witness isn't lying, you just have to interpret the memory -- it's a bit of a refreshing change from everyone just committing perjury 30000000 times.

the defense culpability act is very funny. i can't be mad at it because it is too funny. i think i should get to kill the prosecutor if i win.

also, maya having lived here for unspecified time period, surely being aware of the lawyer stuff and still inviting her best friend, ace attorney phoenix wright, is very hilarious. i hope edgeworth, academic of foreign legal systems, had a heart attack as soon as he heard where nick's vacation was

it is also funny to see supervillain payne. winston payne was just kind of an asshole and largely incompetent. gaspen is a supervillain who longs for murder. well, okay. why not i guess

the questionable

khura'in is but the latest in a long line of exciting AA countries that will have you asking "what are the geopolitics of this world?" and "...is this racist?"

it's really funny to me that the first culprit was a white guy on an eat pray love journey but that his eat pray love journey is totally incidental to the crime, apparently. khurain is apparently very welcoming to immigrants if one can become head monk guarding their sacred treasures after a mere six months, and payne is chief prosecutor after three.

it's also very funny that with his life potentially on the line, the only person phoenix is worried about is maya. i think there is an understandable in-game explanation, which is that you have to assume every game might have a new audience and that new audience has only been told of maya so far. but returning players who know he has a teenage daughter might uh. wonder.

the bad

i can sense that the more lore i learn about khurain the more racially uncomfortable i am going to become

the names are BRUTAL i wish they'd stop. i get that ace attorney always has silly goofy pun names. but i feel they're veering further and further from the... slightly more believable names into stuff that just sounds stupid, and man, trying to apply ace attorney pun name goofiness to names that are also supposed to be in a fake fictional language .... i mean it sounds like i'm reading racist jokes from the 90s. it's uncomfortable.

i also think khura'in lore is bound to upend or retcon the superior kurain village lore, which ruled in the trilogy and did not need expanding into a kingdom. isolated little village matriarchy of witch family that are constantly committing sorocide >>> whatever's about to happen here. it's great for rayfa that she does her lil dance for enrichment 2x a day to have temporary hallucinations in a pool of water, but maya crosses her fingers and shapeshifts. checkmate.

lastly, one thing i found myself thinking as i moderately enjoyed the tutorial case was that it was honestly kind of nice having a case scaled back. i can't shake the sense that three playables is just too much for these games; apollo was dead weight narratively in DD and i think athena is about to suffer that fate in SOJ. the character writing in these new games is just not strong enough to manage this many major characters and their whole entourages. the mistake of the original trilogy was accidentally setting a precedent for "new prosecutor every game, who is also our friend by the end :)". the main cast is so huge that most of them just end up stagnating or disappearing into the void or whatever; apollo and athena cannibalized each other's screentime in DD, athena usurped trucy, SOJ is introducing a whole whack of new characters to replace THOSE newbies... it's a lot. we don't need to reinvent the wheel every new game.

anyway... i know a little about 6-2 and i expect it to exacerbate a lot of these issues lmao.

[platonic-pals-punchout]

Warriors (book series) | Ace Attorney (video game series & anime)

Firestar & Graystripe:

Oh crap this is a required question uh. They met each other by beating each other up and were inseparable since. Except that one time Graystripe left him to join another clan but we’ll ignore that part. Firestar wouldn’t promote another deputy/second in command for months after Graystripe was catnapped even though it’s apparently God’s will that you have to before the midnight after the former deputy is unable to continue their role. Breaking the Laws Of God because he was so sad his friend was gone. Later on after Firestar dies one of the writers wrote a noncanon short story where Firestar’s ghost appears to Graystripe and I forgot what happened next oops. Anyway these guys were my first thought when thinking of fictional friendships so 👍

Fanart credit goes to ME

Maya Fey & Phoenix Wright:

1. Quite frankly I don’t think they will win. They are constantly being tormented and experiencing the horrors and this poll would be no different. 2. they literally cannot die no matter what hell canon puts them through. fall off that bridge n cliff to a deathly boy! get kidnapped like 4 times girl! when she gets kidnapped like the first time, they had to make a new sprite for Phoenix coz he didn’t look devasted and depressed enough. Power of friendship though! and she is OKI! :) 3. The most iconic attorney and assistant pair in the series. Phoenix canonically ran onto a burning bridge to try to save Maya when she was in danger. His call with her got cut off once and he left the country to go make sure she was safe. She’s been kidnapped twice to be used as leverage against him and both times she was more worried about him than herself. She once jumped in front of a taser to try to protect him. He’s also defended her from murder accusations like four times. Their relationship defines the original game trilogy even more than the Wright-Edgeworth relationship does. Other Ace Attorney games wish they could replicate this dynamic. They got added to a fighting game as a single unit where they work together to fight. They both think they’re the reasonable one in this friendship, despite neither of them actually deserving that title.

Note: This blog is run & followed by aromantics. Insisting any pairs are ~actually romantic~ will not only cause you to be blocked on the spot, but you'll out yourself as someone not safe to be queer around. No one wants to hear how stupid you look with those shipping goggles on.

[transk0vsky]

ohhh yes yes yes maria as franziska *chefs kiss*

and yeah i totally agree! kay makes way more sense! and grace as maya instead! wow! love how your brain works! cant wait to see more!

Ty!! Honestly probably not gonna do much with the idea of the patho ace attorney au unfortunately especially since gave my own character the role of phoenix instead of Artemy for self indulgent reasons. Also I can’t edit sprites that well and a lot of the characters would be different to translate into those easily, However a few more ideas that I’ve thought of are

Artemy is one of the defendants as he’s accused of killing his father like in canon. Rubin would be the witness for that cases because….vaguely gestures.

Victor is a prosecutor since Maria is Franz I’m saying he’s Von karma (sorry victor)

Having a hard time with who’d take gumshoe’s role? So if anyone was ideas go crazy?

Yulia gets to be a defense attorney because I like Yulia! Which means Eva would be an assistant? Also Capella would be an assistant as well! (If you wanna swap in Artemy as Phoenix it works)

Maybe Rubin as badd? From the investigation games?

Willow and Nara would both unfortunately be victims :( and Anna would be the murder for Willow since yeahhhhh….

Also aglaya is a prosecutor since don’t even lie and tell me she wouldn’t be!!!

Thinking Taya as Trucy? And sticky as Apollo? Sorry don’t really think murky would fit the Trucy role tbh

Also either andrey or Peter as murder and also one of them is the defendant in said case.

Okay actually maybe blok as gumshoe? And maybe Saburov as a prosecutor?

Murky as pearl perhaps? Think Pearl might fit her better!!!

Either the executioner is the judge or maybe Gregory? Probably Gregory seeing as he’s got a beard! He’s not bald unfortunately so that sucks! But hey 50/50 works!

Last one is Lara gets accused of murder as well (well she did attempt one so it’s not far off)

[ashe-dreamthief]

brainstorming rambling:

i've been struggling to understand what direction i want to take my game in. lately my visions have been far and few (perhaps due to different meds, idk) but last night i experienced an intense vision. it was not pleasant, but it is what i *needed* to see. so i have decided to build my hypersigil into my game project.

at the very beginning, my game was going to be a yume nikki fangame, but that is extremely limiting and leaves me directionless. the new direction of my game will be the implementation of this magical circuit. the goal will be for the player to help Eira (the character) in the act of casting a spell.

i've been reworking certain graphics & etc because i want to move away from the "yume nikki" look, but i have my goal in place now.

Eira will keep her basic design traits & everything, but i am going to go all-in on the alchemical & astronomical symbology on her (purple) hood. these changes will be too small to incorporate in a game sprite, which is intentional as i plan on keeping her basic design as the main representation.

as for this "new" hypersigil, there will be 10 aspects i will invoke, this will likely be:

red - the shared experience of despair/agony/pain/hunger, the extreme intensity of emotions and how much damage this can have on the human soul. but this pain is helpful, it is a base feeling that connects all life, we are united in our suffering and thus band together.

fire salamander - deeply personal reasons, that is all i am willing to say now.

°

blue/sapphire - reality as it is, the placidity of the world around us. the world as it is, as it will be, as it was, as it never will be....all at the same time. think of a lifeless ocean teeming with life.

kelpie - i don't have much to add for invoking the kelpie. this kelpie will be represented as a seafoam colored horse with a horn, covered in shells, sea life, & etc. kelpies aren't necessarily associated with these concepts, but i am the one crafting this spell and i have decided.

°

silver (i'm not sure on the color yet, i've been struggling to visualize it exactly, but i am on the right track) - the celestial sophia, the accumulation of knowledge itself. knowledge is not action, knowledge is not belief, knowledge is not drive nor reason nor purpose, knowledge simply is.

the owl - in some legends, the keeper of knowledge. in some stories, they're protectors. in others, they are creatures of death. this owl i invoke will be inspired by the spirit of my aunt and how she painted owls

°

white- stillness, perfection, the pleroma, keter, the monad, the unholy divine. the most despicable crime in all existence. i have seen the face of the god machine and is it is not to be glorified. one can use the same structure of the god machine to build their own gods, a path where one begins to find true power.

the seraph/hashmallim - idk quite how i want to represent it, whether i go with 6 wings or 12 (or another number (i might have to do some more studying on gematria)). it will still be animal-like in appearance. perhaps phoenix-like.

the eyes on the hood remain closed.

ALTERNATIVELY: the antelope. i really like the idea and drafts, so i am leaning more towards scrapping the angel designs and doing an full antelope design

°

purple - binah. the innate magical workings of the universe. it is not "magic" as it is the machinations of altering the world to one's own whim, but from a human point of view, that is magic.

rabbit - rabbits are not traditionally associated with this, but the concept revealed itself to me as a purple rabbit. this is why Eira takes on the purple bunny hood.

°

yellow - the shared human experience of passion/drive. godforms and egregores thrive off this energy as yellow is the living aspect of the human imagination. fiction affects reality which affects fiction, fiction does not exist, there is no such thing as causality.

the wind & sky falcon (sparrowhawk) - an entity i have had a few "discussions" with. this is something i cannot verbalize yet. main yellow design in the eyes.

°

rose - connection, the action of becoming one with others, irregardless of quantity.

daoine sith/fae - still conceptualizing this one, haven't drawn any design drafts yet. ideas include the otter-dog, the puca (probably not, already using a couple rabbit designs), winged cat, lynx, carbuncle,

°

green - the very aspect of life itself, the unstoppable force of evolution. a force that cannot be stopped by any means whatsoever. a careless beast that brings about all life but also extinguishes life to incentivize more life. intergalactic wars have raged and will rage all to force the continual "perfection" of the living.

the dragon - specifically i will likely be invoking the plumed serpent.

°

void - the void. the husks. the qliphoth. i can not explain such a concept in so few words. the light created is so blinding that it appears as a void. the center of a unseeable luminous ring that outwardly shines all light.

the shedim - i once made a promise not to invoke these forces, but i will be breaking this promise. sorry ~Mar, but you left me to discover for myself and i have found an alternative path, you will not be "saving my soul", i have already damned myself. perhaps we may meet again someday.

so i shall be invoking the "void bunny" - Eira dismantled her very existence in order to take on and embody these aspects. but the act of dismantling one's very own self means the erasure of everything, past, present, future, what could be, what couldn't be, what never is, and what always is. from this totality of void, Eira had to grasp the lights and build her body, soul, and mind. she is the bunny's shade, a body to carry out her will, to embody all and also embody nothing. her first act was to wrap herself in the garb of the purple light and become once more.

°

light/kaleido - the cosmic dragon of light, maya, da'at with the husks, the dream itself. a combined aspect of all. on its own, it simply exists. but with a grasp upon it, one can alter the very fabric of every reality that ever was, will be, and never is. but those who reach the state of being able to do so, evolve into beings that need not alter the nature of all things, they can simply step outside. an ultimate nirvana

chalkydri/al-mi'raj/the rainbow "serpent"/an entity sharing many different forms. the aspect i invoke shall be the vestage of the winged jackalope. i will not explain my reasons

[dullahandyke]

Ok hi dgs trial 3 part 2

Megundal is constantly doing the 🤨 emoji its killing me....

AND HE SAID QUARE 😭😭 SOBBBB oh I feel like every time this man opens his mouth I'm going to take psychic damage because all I can hear is my father

Also I cant be having conversations in this antechamber all I can think of is the 'losing lawyer has to suck off their opponent' fic

EEJIT 😭 he sounds like he came from a roddy doyle book I read as a child

Ok actually itd b more expedient to just name every piece of Irish slang megundal says that makes me die so thatll be at the end of the post

I chose the 'ja you're guilty' option n ryuu autist... call a spade a spade he does indeed

Man 'the reaper of the old bailey' is such a cool concept but it sucks that the only thing I know abt bvz is 'racist' and 'sucks off ryuu after losing court cases'. Yeah that's right I've had mid-post character development. I've decided that the thing about losing lawyers blowing each other after trials is canon

Also I hate megundal's hat it annoys me. Couldnt he just have been short

The thing abt going into the trial knowing fuck all is fun tho. Very the lost turnabout

Also I do like the idea of 'I don't even know if the client is guilty or not, dont even know anything about the case, but everyone deserves a defense' too bad iirc that doesnt reach its logical conclusion of 'even people you know to be guilty are worth defending' given the whole combatative relationship between defense and prosecution these games have going on. And like obvi I get why its always the prosecution ceding the defense's arguments but it does get to feel a bit lopsided despite all the nattering abt working together to find the truth

OMG ITS JUROR 3 FROM TUMBLR POSTS WHO HATES THE POLICE AND RICH PEOPLE!!!! Its like meeting a celebrity....

Not bvz with the vampire cloak opening sprite 😭😭😭😭

Also. Bvz 🤝 saïx. Bigoted antagonists who turn good at the end of the story who have the same scar

'Is it not the British way to be chivalrous and kind and give opportunities to foreigners at expense to yourself' megundal you're Irish you cannot be serious. Istg this fucking accent will be the death of me I cannot imagine him as saying anything to that effect and entirely believing it even tho logically I know there were Irish 'I got mine' gobshites... (autism symptom bullet point that reads 'difficulty comprehending different perspectives' appears over my head)

Oh that's right the jury thing... this is awesome

Also regrettably I have to say that bvz is hot. If he was a woman and not racist? Awooga. However he has to get there first before I get him any leeway

Also I've just realised that 'zieks' is probs pronounced more like 'zeeks' than 'zikes'. Huh that's gonna be difficult to adjust to

Also I like juror 4.... typing :)

Also I wanna do voices reading out all the dialogue but that means I have to find like 8 distinct British voices. Bvz is a brummy now

. Why is it the Phoenix wright omnibus

Oh the stained glass eye things before the cross examination are really cool

See my main quibble rn is that the skylight is only clearly visible from one angle when sitting on top of the omnibus, so unless both were sitting together on the same bench for some reason despite seeming perfect strangers, both couldnt have seen it

'I dont like blades' 'then why do you have that katana' 'that's not a blade that's asougis soul' wahhh...

Bvz's wine makes an appearance... love his little scythe wine bottle

BOOO DONT COMMENT ON THE DISPOSITION OF WOMEN FROM THE EAST AGAIN OR I KILL U DEAD !!!

Also I continue to enjoy ryuu's eyeliner

love ryuu pushing up his armband after leaving his sweaty sprite... nice little detail

Omg ryuu pacing once he puts this together ... yesss walk little gayboy

Why did they give juror 3 a sprite where hes licking the knife. Dont like that

Oh boo bvz took off his cloak... he looks less cool now

Omg perjury is a thing in this game you love to see it

Also can we get beppo a blanket or something

Halp me 'could he have just happened to see the exact moment the crime was committed? Some days are just like that'... ryuu pls tell us abt yr day to day

Fairplay keeps eating his cane... boy get some chewlery

I do like that juror 3 getting his knife stuck in the bench is worked into the dialogue. Even the people reading the transcript know that you're shit at knife wielding

Omg ryuu drew the little diagram of the view from the omnibus? That's so cute... artist man

Love it when they object back and forth... fuck yes the girls are fighting

Also it mihjt jusr have been a while since I've aced my attorneys but I feel like the witnesses jn this game are a lot more deliberately deceitful and guilty of other crimes and it's awesome. Yes boy withhold information for malicious reasons

Omg Gina? Is it Gina time?

GINAAAAAAAA YES I SEE HER!!!!!! HIIIII HI GINA!!!!!!!

DONT JUST OUT GINA AS A PICKPOCKET U LITTLE FUCK! could've just said she was a beggar or something

Omg Gina dialogue and theme yayyyyy love her... I enjoy her slight :3 mouth

MEGUNDAL LIST

Also this cockney transliteration is awful

Small detail but I love how Gina is introduce as 15 but the court record says shes 17. Yes girl lie about your age for fun and profit

BVZ LEGSLAM!!

Also 'iron-heeled Wellington' please dear God tell me this man is not wearing metal wellies

Omg the evidence suddenly changing midtrial....yessss that's so awesome

Accidentally pressed twice on one of Gina's statements and only the second time does megundal have anything to say on it.... huh

OPEN AND FAIR COMPETITION IS WHAT A CAPITALIST SOCIETY IS ALL ABOUTTHHWNWJWJAKWQJNQAKKA

Arrived at the first thing that's proper stumped me :( accusing fairplay and furst... girl what do u present I dont wanna have to turn on story mode

Ok I had to look up a walkthru before I realised u had to examine the skylight from the interior... eye see

RYUU TURNING THE LEARNED FRIEND NAME ON BVZ YES GET HIM

Oh this music as we close the trial and ryuu fruitlessly objects is banging

Also as much as hes a lying rich cunt I do like megundal I think his influence over the trial is rlly interesting

WEVE UPGRADED TO FIREWORKS UPON A NOT GUILTYY???? THAT CANT BE OSHA APPROVED (osha does not exist yet)

'Gina really does take forever to load that gun' I AAS THINKING THR SAMS THING.... ryuu you're a man of the people

IRIIIIIIIIIIIS IRIS IRIS IRIS IRIS IRIS IRIS IRIS SHES HEEEEERE IRIS IRIS IRIS! AW HER THEME IS SO CUTE

HELP ME SUSATO HAS A PLEADING EMOJI SPRITE???? NDNSKWKQOQ I HAD NOT SEEN THIS BEFORE

GREGSON SPOTTED

Also the burning carriage... eyes emojiiiii that was cool... magundal you daft cunt

That was a fun case and rlly interesting.... it's taking a while to get the pieces together for the status quo but they're keeping things interesting while they set it up so I dont mind as much

I'll try for the fourth case tomorrow but according to the longplay I've been basing my guesstimates off of, it's long as shit and I have a 2 hour driving lesson in the middle of the day... might try wake super early or something and get done the first section and then marathon it noon til night. The last trial is for sure gonna take me two days, rlly hope mam's fine with taking me back to the city on Sunday instead of Saturday

Chancer

Blackguard (still fucks me to know its spelt like that and not blaggard)

Begorrah

Ara

Be whist

Afore

[vickyvicarious]

I feel Phoenix Wright is among the characters who are like,

"If I didn't have constant anxiety, it'd be over for you."

He already seems impossible from the outside in canon when he's often a nervous wreck. Imagine if that anxiety wasn't there.

Take a look at these three sprites for a second. (It takes a little while, but I promise you'll see the relevance.) They're the confident/smiling forward facing for each person. And... there's some interesting similarities, yes? AJ-era Phoenix's sprite is pretty close to being a perfect mix of Godot and Mia's. His hands in his pockets, midway between Mia's crossed arms and Godot's hands on hips. They're all angling their bodies slightly to the side in the same direction. Mia's head is tilted the opposite way and forward a little; Godot's in line with his shoulders and back; Phoenix is in line with his shoulders but closer to Mia's angle. Heck, even color wise - it's definitely more of a stretch but Phoenix has on a dark jacket and necklace like Mia, but his hat is closer in color to Godot's shirt, and it is also noticeable/bright headwear like the mask.

The reason I bring up these sprites is because... well, in AJ we see Phoenix from the outside for the first time and he really does seem very inscrutable. Knowing him, he's definitely still feeling a lot of anxiety over things, but he doesn't show it and thus we the players don't see it, since he's no longer our POV. I think there are a couple factors at play there as well, because Phoenix certainly seems to have gotten better at hiding his flopsweat moments in that game. You could say there's a certain element of detachment, because despite all his machinations, in the end he isn't a lawyer for any part of that game and so ultimately, the responsibility is no longer his. Maybe that's a factor.

But AJ-era Phoenix (or 'Beanix') keeps coming to mind for me. I realized a few months ago that in that game, his relationship to Kristoph (and the plot itself as well as Apollo) strongly mimics Mia's with Dahlia. However, looking at these sprites got me thinking that he also mimics Godot.

AJ-era Phoenix also returns after a long absence from the legal world, which was forced upon him due to the actions of a poisoner who successfully tricked him (Godot actually got poisoned, Phoenix just disbarred). And when he next shows up in court, he is visibly very different (mask and hair vs. beanie/hoodie). He's also a lot more jaded, and takes an interest in a young new attorney closely linked to the poisoner responsible for his absence. He's secretive, often for what seems like no purpose at all, but has a plan that's only revealed in the final case - which itself was a combination of somewhat longterm planning/buildup, and adapting to unexpected situations right at the last minute. He takes risks and works outside the courtroom/sometimes the law to achieve his goal (the bloody ace isn't exactly the same as stabbing Misty Fey, but, y'know), and in general appears quite different from his past self. However, in the end his goals are very sympathetic, and much more than just simple 'revenge', however morally dubious some of his choices have been.

Obviously, Beanix is not one-to-one with Godot. But I can see a rough sketch of similarities there, and certainly in general attitude/vibe they're more similar than Phoenix and Mia seem to be at that point. Even some of the things Godot says seem like they could be a Beanix quote (this came to mind). I think there's at least enough to go on to say that AJ-era Phoenix is once again a mix of Mia and Godot.

I find this interesting because Phoenix looked up to Mia right from the beginning, and modeled so much of his behavior, strategies, and philosophies after her. And yet, she just as obviously learned a lot from Diego, back when she was the inexperienced new lawyer. The most notable being, of course, the quote passed down to Mia and then Phoenix: "A lawyer only cries when it's all over." (Another Godot quote that seems to apply to Beanix is this one.) And the thing is, Phoenix looks up to Mia so much, and she generally seems pretty knowledgeable and unflappable, but once we get inside her head/play a few cases as her we see she has a lot of nervousness hidden behind her facade, much like Phoenix. Of course, those cases were when she was a rookie attorney, but I think the point stands. Godot also reveals a heck of a lot of issues and self-recrimination later on, but for the most part he's really good at seeming very confident. It's another similarity between all of them.

And yet, Godot's problems are more personal. When it comes to the courtroom, he's actually pretty legitimately confident for the most part. At least, I think so. He loses every case we see him try, but it's not for a lack of ability so much as a lack of care. His strategies are good, if unorthodox for a prosecutor (because he's acting more like a defence attorney). He knows what he's doing in court, and although he definitely gets surprised/owned at times, for the most part he's pretty unflappable and fairly quick to recover. Basically, this meta by @theggning is great and I'm trying to restate it briefly, but go read the whole thing. I also think there's a great argument to be made for Mia being quite similar in court. Less cryptic shenanigans, but the same type of underlying confidence in her abilities/craft to back up her determination to protect her clients. Unfortunately, we've never seen her in a case outside of her rookie ones/being a ghost during brief points in Phoenix's trials, so I can't point to specifics as much.

ALL OF THIS TO SAY... as soon as I read your ask, I thought of Godot. I thought of Mia, too. I think that "a more confident Phoenix" would be a lot more similar to the both of them, than to anyone else. You could even say it's a natural extension of his arc, and that it's at least somewhat represented in AJ. In a funny way, you can also read that very same game's events as the reason why he doesn't seem as confident as you might expect him to be once he returns to law in Dual Destinies (his failure with the ace/getting disbarred leading to being somewhat unfamiliar in the courtroom after so long, the pressure of living up to his reputation, the heavy responsibility of protecting his clients again, etc. - you know, vs. the writers just wanting to go back to lawyer!Phoenix and not always thinking too much about his characterization during AJ and how that would develop when they did so). But certainly during AJ, especially from Apollo's outside perspective, I think we get a lot closer to the image of a supremely confident Phoenix Wright.

At least as far as I picture it! I don't think it would make too much difference in terms of him being unstoppable - since like you said, he pretty much already is. But there would be even fewer cracks for his opponents to poke at, and his mistakes wouldn't cut him down as much as they do in trilogy-era. He would inspire the same type of reactions as Godot did when he first appeared... a lot of people feeling intimidated and noticing just how well he seems to know his way around the courtroom, or people getting caught up in his pace and listening to him even sometimes outside their best interests. And, like Mia in the first game with Redd White, he'd scare villains enough to cause issues, probably. But at least he might (also like established lawyer Mia) actually be able to get his clients to pay him well, enough to buy fancy glass lamps if he wanted.

[palant1r]

we just finished the first turnabout serenade trial and klavier is being a bitch: an analysis

I don't think Klavier has a crush on Apollo. I don't think Klavier likes Apollo at all. I think Klavier is trying to get Apollo disbarred, and I think this is the interpretation that makes the most sense with how Klavier acts.

-Klavier has absolutely no reason to believe his brother is guilty. Kristoph was convicted on extremely convenient evidence that could easily have been concocted by the defendant, a man Klavier knows is a forger.

-See his wording when he calls Apollo "the boy who bested my brother." Not "caught." "Bested." As if that trial was a battle of evidence rather than actual truth

-At first, Klavier comes off as very kind and cooperative. But then, when he's no longer in control of the trial and he doesn't believe the defendant could be innocent, he quickly turns cruel and condescending. He constantly says that Apollo doesn't have what it takes, yet is also goading him at all times into presenting evidence.

-He is a lot like his brother. At first, we don't see this because their body language and behavior is so different. But in Turnabout Serenade we see that, just like Kristoph, Klavier is a paranoid control freak who uses his charisma to make everyone else follow his cue in conversation, and we first see his breakdown sprite when Lamiroir says something he wasn't expecting and couldn't control

-I think Klavier thinks Kristoph is innocent, and Apollo is a weak-minded foolish young attorney who was manipulated by Phoenix into presenting false evidence. That's why he goads Apollo saying he should learn to think for himself. Klavier does not know how complicit or knowing Apollo was, but he intends to find out.

-Klavier is more cognizant of the penalty system than any prosecutor we've seen, and actually interacts with it. He seems to have a vested interest in raising the stakes for Apollo, in making the punishments harsher for presenting the wrong evidence

-Unlike past prosecutors who would draw the trial out and force Phoenix to present evidence they already had access to that was favorable to the defense, Klavier seems to want Apollo to present even evidence favorable to the prosecution that Klavier could have led with. He's giving Apollo every opportunity possible to present evidence, and trying to make him desperate enough to fudge or forge it

-Klavier needs to have control of all the information and what everyone knows. He doesn't let Apollo and Trucy onto crime scenes to be nice. He does it so he can know exactly what they know, what evidence they could have found, and what evidence he should keep an eye out for that they couldn't have found.

-Klavier's paranoia about the keys and the guitar makes a lot of sense with this interpretation. If you're trying to catch a man who forges evidence and frames the innocent, of course you're gonna panic when stuff of yours goes missing and turns up at crime scenes, or little incidents happen around you with no explanation. And that's why he asks Apollo if he torched his guitar, even though from our perspective he has no reason to think that

-"But Andy," you may ask, "Klavier makes an effort to be close to Apollo and hang around him, like how he invited him to the concert? Why would he do that if he didn't trust Apollo?"

-Good question. What kind of person would keep his enemy close like that?

-The kind of person with an obsessive need to keep an eye on every situation. The kind of person convinced that anyone they let out of their sight will act against them

-The same kind of person who has regular dinners at the Borscht Bowl Club with a man they framed for forging evidence seven years ago, say

-compare "I knew you didn't have what it takes" to kristoph telling apollo to "not embarrass me"

-the worst part of this theory? Klavier is totally justified. Phoenix is a forger, Apollo presented forged evidence, and Kristoph was convicted using it. He just happened to be guilty. Klavier is perceptive, smart and principled.

-re: klapollo, I think Apollo was genuinely charmed by Klavier in turnabout corner. He thought Klavier was cool and pretty. Like, that's in his internal dialogue. But we're not getting any of that favorable towards klavier internal dialogue in Turnabout Serenade, because he's starting to see beyond klav's carefully constructed mask

-edit: I'm seeing a lot of people say this is negative towards klapollo and...I honestly don't see it that way? like ymmv so I'll remove the klapollo tag to be polite but this isn't negative to klapollo in the same way that pointing out edgeworth's flaws isn't negative to wrightworth. where we're at now, I think the story is definitely setting up the seeds of a relationship between klavier and apollo that is FAR more interesting than just "haha the prosecutor had a crush from the first time they met." and again, while the popular fandom interpretation is that klavier fell first, i firmly believe that apollo had a lil crush in turnabout corner that's evaporating in turnabout serenade, but will turn into a far stronger emotional connection than the superficial attraction klavier was trying to elicit

-anyway i'll probably add onto this but i will die on this hill

[bamfdaddio]

X-Men Abridged: 1981

The X-Men, those back-to-the-future mutants that have sworn to protect a world that hates and fears them, are a cultural juggernaut with a long, tangled history. Want to unravel this tapestry? Then read the Abridged X-Men!

(Uncanny X-Men 141 - 152) - by Chris Claremont and John Byrne, Brent Anderson, Dave Cockrum, Jim Sherman, Bob McLeod and Josef Rubinstein

While I also committed various fashion atrocities at the age of 14 (tye-die and fauxhawks, oh my), even Liberace would find Kitty’s outfits too much. (Uncanny X-Men 149; Uncanny X-Men Annual ‘81)

We dial back from the v. epic scope of the last few arcs. Instead, 1981 is just a lot of fun! We get:

Storm and Emma doing a Freaky Friday!

the X-Men vs. Magneto (again!)

A surprisingly effective Alien rip-off

An dystopian future! (OoOoOoOo)

Last year was the year of the Dark Phoenix, this is the year of Kitty Pryde. That’s not to say Jean’s death is swept under the rug: all throughout, we see her friends mourning her loss or remembering her fondly. (Scott even gets to have a demonic adventure about it.) But in general, Claremont puts Kitty in the forefront, fleshing out his YA-addition to the team. And what would a YA heroine be without a grim dystopia? Roll out the iconic Days of Future Past!

To be fair, 2013 was a dark time for all of us: What Does the Fox Say somehow got to the top of the charts and I was still watching Glee. (Uncanny X-Men 141)

How cool would it have been to see a name like Jonothon Starsmore or Eva Bell on those tombstones?

Anyway, that’s Kate. Kate’s had it rough. Mutants are at the bottom of the foodchain, most X-Men are dead and only a small cadre of resistance fighters remain, Sentinels dominate, and while she is married to Piotr, her children have been murdered. Bleak. Luckily, the rebellion has concocted the plan to shunt Kate’s spirit back in time to prevent this awful future from happening. (You’ve seen Days of Future Past, the last passably good X-Men film, you know what’s up.)

Let’s do the time warp again! 1981!Kitty’s mind gets taken over by 2013!Kitty, who promptly tries to convince the X-Men that a new Brotherhood of v. Evil Mutants will try to kill Senator Kelly, a presidential candidate who tries to put the mutant menace on the agenda. (Mutants tend to blow stuff up when he’s around.) Since the X-Men recently took a literal trip to Dante’s Infero and also befriended a cosmic world-ending entity, they basically shrug and go: “Yeah, this checks out.”

Off to Washington they go (zoommm) and there, they happen upon the Baddest Bitches in Herstory:

“How dare you hate mutants, senator Kelly! We’ll fix that by killing you!” (Uncanny X-Men 141)

This All-New, All-Different Brotherhood consists out of:

Destiny, a blind woman who can see the future. Definitely the eeriest member of this group. Badass lesbian, though that won´t be canon for years.

Avalanche. Greek who makes things shake. Is a long-standing member of the X-Men Rogue’s gallery, but rarely features in the spotlight. I think he got more characterization in four years of X-Men Evolution than he ever did in the comics.

Mystique. Shapeshifter. Ruthless and unhinged, the Cersei Lannister of the X-Men universe. Absolute legend, secretly the wife of Destiny, currently not as unhinged as she’ll be later. Immediately implied to be related to Nightcrawler: it’s the yellow-eyes-blue-skin-combo.

Pyro. Can manipulate fire, not create it. Absolute pillock, in all the best ways of the word. Originally intended as gay, but they decided to make him Australian instead. (?!)

Blob. Big, strong, immovable. We’ve seen him before.

One of the details in this fight I enjoy is that Storm is still struggling with her leadership, although she has a better grip on things than Cyclops:

Wolverine then proceeds to use those iconic but deadly claws about twice per issue for the next, oh, forty years. (Uncanny X-Men 142)

While the X-Men fight the Brotherhood in the present, we cut back and forth to the future. There, the X-Men consist out of some familiar faces - Storm, Colossus, Wolverine - and some surprises: Magneto (in a wheelchair), Franklin Richards (son of) and an unfamiliar ginger girl called Rachel. (She’ll be important later.) We even learn (one of) Magneto’s names: this is the first time he’s canonically called Magnus.

One of the strengths of Days of Future Past lies in its brevity, the way it tantalizingly taunts us with a brutal but familiar future without giving away too much. It’s single-handedly responsible for all those dark future timelines the X-lines are so fond of which will eventually culminate in time-displaced grandsons from alternative dimensions and the impossibility of a succinct answer to the question: “Who’s Cable?” Too much of a good thing and all that.

Still, what Days of Future Past does so successfully is:

Put the idea of the mutant menace back at the forefront, hammering home the metaphor of mutants being a minority. Mutants being put in camps and being forbidden to breed should - regretfully - make us think of all too many real life equivalents. (Specifically, all of the imagery harkens back to the Holocaust.)

It starkly shows what happens should the X-Men lose, reminding everyone of the stakes. The X-Men are here for a reason: bridging the gap between mutants and humankind. If they fuck up, we end up with mutant concentration camps.

It helps that the X-Men in the future almost all die horribly: Franklin is incinerated, Storm is impaled… It's brutal stuff. The only one to survive is Rachel, who wonders if their plan actually changed the future or if they created an alternative timeline. (It did the latter, sorry ‘bout it, Rachel.)

In the present, Kate chases after Destiny, who trains a gun on senator Kelly. I always wondered how this works: if Destiny saw the future, she knew that killing Kelly would trigger a terrifying future. What in the current Marvel timeline made her decide that the Days of Future Past was better? Did she see her own death? Did she see the Onslaught-crossover coming? The Chuck Austen run? What was it?

In any case, time-anomalous Kate stops Destiny from killing Kelly and the future is safe! For now. Kate disappears, Kitty returns to her body and some of the Brotherhood are apprehended. All is well, for now.

After being a key figure in DoFP, Kitty is also the main character in the Christmas special, which is basically a straight up horror and a pastiche of the Alien-movie.

Seriously, John Byrne still isn’t sure why he wasn’t sued by Ridley Scott for this. (Uncanny X-Men 143)

If you love Kitty Pryde? Read this issue. If you’re not convinced you like 80’s Kitty? Read this issue. It’s not continuity relevant and it’s basically Kitty playing the part of a Final Girl in a horror where she’s being chased by a demon, but it’s so good. It showcases all her strengths and her foibles. Kitty’s intelligent, cute (sometimes preciously so) and brave, but she’s also young, self-conscious and hot-headed. And it's not as if the other X-Men automatically adore her: Storm berates her all the time, she’s afraid of Kurt because of the way he looks (though she grows out of that) and she fights with Professor Xavier a lot. Moreover, she has a clever power-set for a young superhero who faces menaces on a daily basis: a thirteen year old who can go intangible is far less likely to have reality ensue on her and be dramatically offed because she's better at protecting herself.

I’m sure there are people who thought Sprite was hogging the spotlight, but I, for one, say she brings more to the table than, say, Angel. She’s not the Dawn Summers of this franchise.

Scott also gets a side quest. Poor guy can’t catch a break: first the love of his life dies, so he quits the X-Men, then he realizes he can’t do much else than be a superhero. He becomes a sailor on the ship of spunky captain Lee Forrester, is drawn into the sadistic plans of a demon unironically named D’Spayre and then shipwrecks in Bermuda with Lee.

The X-Men, meanwhile, are tormented by a team-up of Doom (who’s currently Latverialess and working on a comeback) and Arcade, that annoying crony. Locke, Arcade’s dom, has kidnapped the loved ones of the X-Men (Moira MacTaggart, Jean Grey’s parents, Illyana Rasputin and Amanda Sefton) in order to blackmail them into getting Doom to free Arcade. Apparently, Arcade accidentally insulted Doom and DOOM DOES NOT FORGIVE THAT FOLLY.

While the B-Squad (Polaris, Havok, Banshee and Iceman) goes to save Arcade’s hostages, the X-Men sneak into Doom’s castle. Well, except for Storm, who doesn’t give a single fuck and simply flies up to Doom, demanding an audience. Doom likes the cut of her jib and invites her to have dinner. (This is pre-Tinder, so this is a legit way of scoring a date.)

If Storm has a flaw (I said if!), it’s got to be her atrocious taste in men. (Uncanny X-Men 145)

The X-Men find Arcade’s cell empty, while Arcade casually saunters up to Storm and says hi. Storm realizes too late that this is a trap: while the X-Men are all trapped in Saw-like traps, Storm is encased in ‘living chrome’.

If you remember she’s claustrophobic, you know why this is a bad move.

While the X-Men free themselves from their traps - Polaris hilariously has to deal with a murderous merry-go-round - Storm is slowly driven mad in her prison, triggering a worldwide tempest. (She causes Lee and Scott to shipwreck.) Under the threat of Wolverine’s claws, Doom releases Storm - or rather, unleashes her.

“Instead of a Dark Lord, you would have a queen, not dark but beautiful and terrible as the dawn! Tempestuous as the sea, and stronger than the foundations of the earth! All shall love me and despair!” (Uncanny X-Men 147)

The memory of Jean brings Ororo back to herself and she starts undoing the superstorm she created. (If only climate change were reversed that easily.) Their confrontation ends by Storm easily forgiving Doom, because she apparently trespassed on his grounds without adequate cause.

Mkay.

All of Arcade’s hostages return to their homesteads, except for Illyana Rasputin, Piotr’s sister: she’s staying at the mansion for a while. Angel, who’s sort of been a part of the team since the Phoenix thing, has had it with Wolverine and his ‘tude, and decides to quit the X-Men : he doesn’t want to be a part of an outfit that has a killer like Wolverine on it. (Or maybe he’s just mad Claremont didn’t give him any storylines: his presence has been mostly pointless.) It’s too bad he left before Kitty started experimenting with her outfits: I bet he would have loved her ugly-ass costumes.

Equally inconsequential is the introduction of a brand new character, who then proceeds to disappear from the narrative for the rest of the year:

Black Tom has tried to kill you at least twice, but him sending you a long-lost daughter doesn’t give you pause? Ugh, Sean, you deserve Moira. (Uncanny X-Men 148)

Intrigued by Theresa? TOO BAD, WON’T SEE HER AGAIN ANYTIME SOON.

Another new character is the lonely, decidedly mutant looking Caliban, who can sense “people like him” and is on the lookout for companions. Like many lonely people who try and grasp at friendship, he decides to overshoot his shot and ruin the night of Storm, Kitty and Jessica Drew at a Dazzler concert. Because he tries to kidnap Kitty, the girls react a trifle aggressively. When they realize their mistake - the eerily pale Caliban is a simpleton rather than a menace - he’s already fled. No mention is made of the Morlocks yet!

There’s also another dull annual where the X-Men team up with the Fantastic Four to save Arkon’s dimension from the Badoon and yaaaaawn. Far more interesting is the landmark issue #150. Slowly, through the adventures of Scott and Lee Forrester, Claremont has been setting things up for the return of a favorite villain. While the X-Men investigate Magneto’s old base in Antarctica on a hunch of Professor X and tangle with Garruk, Scott and Lee survive Storm’s tempest, only to wake up next to a strange island that seems to have been raised from the ocean.

It’s apparently some ancient citadel from a long forgotten civilization with a fondness for squid statues. (I don’t know man, I’ve never been to the Bermuda Triangle, maybe this is just super-accurate.)The tentacles make Lee Forrester feel very amorous, but before Scott can tell her he is way too repressed to just have sex with an attractive someone he’s known intimately for a month or two, Magneto saves his ass by revealing he, in fact, raised this island from the seafloor.

Oh, Magneto. So extra.

My ambitious little mutant demagogue then proceeds to take the entire world hostage, showing how much he’s grown from the pompous, raving madman from the sixties. (Sure, Magneto is still a bit of a madman, but increasingly, he starts being on the right side of history.)

“I’m trying to make Magneto more sympathetic.”

“Just put him on a page with some bigger villains who are less noble, like the Vanisher, Count Nefaria, or…”

“Reagan, Thatcher and Brezhnov?”

“Er.” (Uncanny X-Men 150)

It’s obvious Magneto is being pivoted as a more noble villain, codified into the well-intentioned extremist we know and love today. Not only do we get the first hints at his past, fleshing out his motivations, he’s also not wrong. Humans are historically not great at taking care of the planet or each other.

When the Russians call his bluff and launch nukes at Magneto’s new island, he quickly disarms them. His retribution is swift and ferocious: the entire citadel is a machine that massively amplifies his powers. He sinks the submarine that launched the missiles, condemning the entire crew to death, and he casually erects a vulcano in a Russian city in Siberia.

Damn. Not messing around this time.

Despite his good intentions, Magneto is still definitely in the wrong: not only because of his methods, but as Scott points out: if Magneto unifies the world under his kind of benevolent dictatorship, all of that will simply fall apart as soon as Magnus dies.

In a way, Magneto is just as big a dreamer as Charles is: Charles believes in peace and integration, whereas Magneto believes his iron fist will be enough to make a perfect world happen. Both of them ignore the reality that acceptance is difficult and messy, because you’re trying to change essential human nature: the fear of the other. Magneto believes in big, sweeping gestures that will fix the world in move, while changing the world is also boring, hard work. One step forward, two steps back. Magneto just wants to leapfrog to his ultimate goal.

The X-Men fly over the citadel, returning from Antarctica, and their plane crashes into the ocean. (Magneto does not brook planes over his territory, humans!) The Professor is also nearby, looking for Scott with Moira, Peter Corbeau and Carol Danvers. The X-Men sneak onto the island, but to their horror, their powers are nullified by some machine of Magneto. They reunite with Scott, who formulates a plan to thwart the would-be ruler of the world.

While the rest of the X-Men go to trash the machine, Storm, Kitty and Lee infiltrate the control chamber where Storm finds a sleeping, shirtless Magneto. Once again showing her terrible taste in men, she is not weak in the knees at the sight of a sleeping Magnus: instead, she contemplates killing him.

Storm knows how dangerous he is, but she also knows that he’s a great man who’s fighting for ideals, no matter how misguided. She hesitates too long: Magneto stirs, suspects an attack and tosses her out of the window, to her death.

Magneto quickly undoes the sabotage the other X-Men have wrought to his machine. A fight erupts. Storm, meanwhile, has managed to grab hold of a ledge. She crawls back up and smashes an important-looking computer, restoring everyone’s powers.

The battle turns grim, but Scott sends Kitty away to wreck Magneto’s machinery. She sneaks off, following Scott’s orders and destroying both Magneto's power-up device and all of his plans by phasing though the computer circuitry. Magneto senses this and furiously gives chase. Overcome by rage, he attacks Kitty and disrupts her phasing power with a magnetic bolt, seemingly killing her?

Everything about this story beat is great: mama bear!Ororo, mournful Magnus and even the fact that Kitty’s godawful outfit serves a narrative function: highlighting to us (and Magneto) just how young she is. The fact that Kitty’s Jewish is just icing on the cake. (Uncanny X-Men 150)

And thus, the softening of Magneto commences. 1981 might be a year with wildly varying narratives, but it has given us at least three enduring legacies to the X-Mythos: a new kind of Magneto, a fondness for dystopian futures and the character of Kitty Pryde, who's really come into her own this year.

Ugliest Costume: Kitty! Purposefully, but still. Best costume, by the way, goes to Destiny, with her creepy, creepy golden mask. Just imagine this lady casually strolling across a battlefield, eerily calm and collected, dodging everything you throw at her. Awesome design.

Best new character: I usually pick one character - what good is having a shared award when declaring the best of anything? - but this year, it’s going to one of my favorite couples: Mystique and Destiny. Can’t wait to see more of them.

Most audacious retcon: Blob somehow retroactively becomes a member of the original Brotherhood, which is not what happened. Ever weirder is Xavier pondering that he never met Magneto before his attack in X-Men #1, while their cordially adversarial relationship rooted in a youthful friendship would soon become a cornerstone of the X-Men.

What to read: Uncanny X-Men 141 - 143 and 150 - 152

[robins-den]

okay here is my rarepair submission for @aceattorneyheritageposts because i realized to fully explain it I would need more than an ask.

This is NOT a romantic rarepair, but a familial one. I headcanon that Simon Blackquill and Cody Hackins are brothers. I have had this headcanon for about two years.

Background information: I have never finished AA5. I know Simon is in jail for something, and WHEN he went to jail probably breaks this headcanon, but we've all broken canon worse for our silly little fun. Who cares.

To start with, I present their similarities to the court. Both of them have a deep fondness [ or obsession ] with samurai. Cody Hackins because of The Steel Samurai, and Simon because.... [ shrugs. ] Thus, I offer an explanation: Cody introduced Simon to The Steel Samurai. Simon has an extremely idealized view of samurai, leading to the thought that he's never researched samurai further than for cosplay reasons.

Second, they both have swords. As we all know, owning a sword can only be explained by biology. But to further explain, in Cody's sprites he repeatedly attempts to pulls his sword out, but he cannot because it's so large.

One could assume from this that the sword, fake as it may be, does not actually belong to him, but to someone else.

Simon Blackquill owns a sword. [ I can't find a gif of it in the gif searcher and I don't want to spoil myself by delving through his media tab on the wiki, but we all know it c'mon ] Thus, I offer a guess to the court: Considering the likelihood of getting a sword while in jail, one could assume he owned it before he went to jail. Real swords cost a lot of money. Fake swords do not cost nearly as much. Perhaps Simon bought himself a fake sword while waiting for enough money to buy a real sword [ and blackjack! and hookers! ], and Cody borrows this sword because it looks more real than most plastic swords.

The prosecution would like to offer physical similarities to the court as well.

Black hair, dark eyes. Simon is indeed incredibly pale, but considering they drag him about in chains one could assume that the jail he stays at does not allow for enough time in sunlight because if your inmate is well behaved enough to be allowed to appear in court, he's well behaved enough to be unchained.

Now, you ask, what does this do? What does it prove, what does this change?

I present the prosecutions answer to the court: Cody Hackins takes the place of the AA5 detective, at least in regards to Simon. Cody would be 15-17 in AA5 [ I don't know the time difference between AA4 & AA5 ]. That makes him old enough to travel around on his own and investigate. I have more thoughts but I can't think of how to verbalize them so in conclusion: They would make great siblings, they have similarities, imagine Simon taking Cody to all those Steel Samurai shows and getting even more into it than Cody does.

The prosecution rests.

[ One last unrelated addition: I once had a dream that Dahlia Hawthorne and Apollo whatever his last name is was an extremely popular ship in the fandom, and that knowledge has tormented me for over a year. I very specifically remember there being a small group of people who shipped it on the basis of cucking Phoenix, and everyone else hated them for it. ]

if you have any questions or want detailed headcanons please feel free to ask

[askaceattorney]

Dear Asexual-Deesasters,

Mod Edgeworth: 

If you want to know the answer to that question, go to this link.

Dear Skibot99,

Co-Mod: I’m fairly certain it was The Mod, but I don’t know for sure.  He actually had another one before it, made from an old Ace Attorney musical animation.  I haven’t been able to locate that video, unfortunately, but here’s the old banner:

Ah...  Those were good days.  Good days.

Dear Dawsongfg,

Co-Mod: It’s fine.  Besides, it won’t be too long before those letters are accepted, so maybe we’ll hold onto them until that time.

Dear skibot99 again,

Mod Edgeworth: The Lost Turnabout hands down. All logic is thrown out the window the moment Phoenix had amnesia. It’s clear the Judge knew something was wrong with Phoenix, so why didn’t he call for a recess or check on Phoenix? Not to mention Wellington was annoying. He’s probably the only character I would be hesitant to play as when answering letters, if only because he was so unbearable.

As for Turnabout Ablaze, I do agree that it is a drag to get through in the end, though the entire game of AAI was boring, aside from the game mechanics. As a case by itself, I wouldn’t put it as my least favorite, if only because I did get some funny parts out of it.  It also contributed to the overall story, whereas The Lost Turnabout could just be taken out and it wouldn’t effect the overarching plot.

Co-Mod: I’d probably have to go with Turnabout Big Top.  I honestly couldn’t figure out the part where you have to present Max’s poster without consulting a walkthrough.  Why couldn’t we just present Max himself?  Besides that, the ending was largely underwhelming -- the murder weapon was hidden under Acro’s blanket the entire time, but instead of seeing a screenshot of it there, we just have to imagine it.  Maybe it was a filler case, but that was no excuse for it to end so poorly.  Not to mention one of the witnesses was a literal puppet.

It’s hard truth, Trilo.  Live with it.

Dear skibot99 and Anonymous,

Mod Edgeworth: I… think I heard from her when the localization of DGS was announced? I know Mod Kristoph and Mod Maya introduced themselves when I came into the group. There’s a third person, but I only heard from her once. As for what’s going on with her… I don’t know.

As for the flooding the inbox, it’s fine. I won’t promise a letter or two won’t be deleted, but we may make an exception and I’d hardly consider 4-5 different letters flooding the inbox. However, I do highly suggest lowering your letter sending to no more than three a day to prevent deletion of your letters. The only time I’d say your letters are flooding the inbox is when you’re sending 10-20 of them, especially of the same letter, and we have to scroll down for a while to get to the next letter. We will only choose three out of that pile and delete the rest.

And yes, we do have a few that send us 10-20 of the same letter to multiple characters in the span of five minutes. Geez.

Co-Mod: Mod Paups has had to remain absent for personal reasons, and sadly, has recently communicated to me that she wishes to leave the blog entirely.  Thanks for all you’ve contributed to this blog, Mod Paups, and best of luck in whatever you do next!

(Referenced Letter)

Dear mungeondaster,

Mod Edgeworth: Since I answered this one, I shall answer your letter.

(^ Why do I always use this sprite? ^) Actually, the localization never specified if Manfred Von Karma was born in Germany or not. In fact, we never knew the German part until Justice For All when Franziska Von Karma was stated to have flown all the way from Germany. It never specifies any reason for this and fans were quick to jump to the conclusion that it means the Von Karma family were German, which… isn’t entirely true? Manfred Von Karma never said he lived in Germany and, for all we know, Franziska could’ve lived in Germany to study law or something.

Now, the OG does give us more specific detail on this, being why I answered this the way I did. In the OG, both Von Karma’s were born Japanese, but lived in America or at least have an estate there. It specified that they were originally born in Japan, which would be translated to LA, California in the localization. While using the OG canon isn’t normal here, I will use it, if the localization doesn’t specify things. In this case, it never specified if the Von Karma’s were born in Germany or if Manfred Von Karma lived in America. Since he had to wait out the Statue of Limitations for DL-6, we can assume he lived in LA for 15 years or more. That means he’s American.

I am still getting the hang of writing letters, but I try to stick to canon as much as possible. If you believe we’ve made an error in our letters, feel free to let us know, but also show proof, if we go against canon. We’ll be sure the letter is sent to the right mod or else fix it.

Dear  Bluedragoncody,

Mod Edgeworth: I... don’t know how to feel about that.

Also, I accidentally deleted your previous letter before this one when trying to post it on here. I’m so sorry about that. If you could remember it, would you send it again?

Co-Mod: I’ll just respond to this with an old classic:

Dear Aceattorneyismyjam,

Mod Edgeworth: I-I’m not a pro! I accidentally deleted an important mod question from bluedragoncody, because of my inexperience. Oof! Again, so sorry!

Granted, I am good with digital art and writing essays, but I’m still trying to get the hang of being a mod here. Believe me, I do get corrected on several mistakes I do here. I can’t really call myself a pro just yet. I’ve only just started becoming a mod here last month lol

Dear Dahlia,

Mod Edgeworth: I thank you for your support of this blog and my essay. Manfred Von Karma is also my favorite villain and someone I do feel is underestimated as a one dimensional villain. I think people hate him so much, because of how he ruined Miles Edgeworth’s life without looking at the bigger picture. They focus on the bad things with their black colored glasses without dissecting Manfred Von Karma’s character as a whole. 

One thing I love about this blog, even before becoming a mod, is that no one here ever portrayed Manfred Von Karma as the one dimensional villain. He can be snappy at times, but as proven in many of our previous letters, he’s also portrayed as being calm when threatened, polite at times and absolutely loves his wife and children. Yes, he’s a terrible person, but that’s what makes him so interesting. He’s a bad, evil person that does good things from time to time. It doesn’t justify any of his horrible deeds, murder included, but it does make him human.

Co-Mod: I’m...going to assume you’re a different Dahlia.  (I’m grabbing a Magatama of Parting just in case, though.  I’m sure you can understand.)

Anyway, thanks for being such a loyal follower!  This blog’s been through a lot of changes since it began, and since I joined it back in 2017, so I’m glad it’s still a good source of enjoyment for you.  I’ve seen all sorts of cringe by now, by the way (some of which I wrote myself), so don’t worry about it.

I’m also glad that the characters still sound like themselves and not like us.  The hilarious personalities and quirks given to them by Capcom’s writers, as well as the humanity in so many of them, make them easy to relate to, and thus fairly easy to mimic.  I may have said something like this before, but I see myself in a lot of them -- in Athena’s fear of inadequacy, in Apollo’s desire for justice in a world where it’s hard to find, in Sebastian’s confusion about where to go next after his world falls apart, and possibly even in the von Karmas’ desire for perfection.  I of course identify with their positive feelings as well -- Phoenix’s smugness when he gets things right, Athena’s joy after pulling off a victory in court, Adrian’s pride after her self-confidence is restored, etc. -- but there’s something about the struggles they face that make them easier to relate to, on top of being that much more awesome in the end.

Unfortunately, I can’t promise anything about this blog continuing on in perpetuity.  For one thing, I don’t plan on being around forever (I’m fairly certain the other Mods don’t, either), and for that matter, there’s also no telling how long Tumblr will be around.  All I can promise is that I’ll give my best while I’m here, and that the love from you and everyone else who shares it here is sure to be what keeps us going.  Thank you for your contribution!

Dear TurqouiseJavelin,

Mod Edgeworth: Hm... not bad ideas. Though, we mods choose our own mod names under the condition that it doesn’t match anyone else’s mod name.

Co-Mod: What Mod Edgeworth said.  Choosing the name “Mod Athena” may or may not increase your chances of being hired, though.  *wink, wink*

Dear Anonymous, 

Mod Edgeworth: Actually, Gregory was stated in the Autopsy to have died by a gunshot. However, you do bring up something interesting. If Gregory Edgeworth realized he was dead and last remembered Robert Hammond strangling him, he wouldn’t think “I died by the shot of a gun.” Since the Detectives weren’t aware that victim had died unconscious, they’d assume the victim would recall being shot and killed. This makes me wonder if Gregory Edgeworth was channeled, but never brought to court to be cross-examined.

There are still holes, but I do like your aspect on DL-6.

Co-Mod: Dang...  No matter how many times you come back to this game, there’s always something new to think about.  I honestly hadn’t considered those details about Yanni Yogi’s trial.  Your explanation makes the most sense to me, but there’s one other possibility regarding Gregory’s testimony -- he may have chosen to lie about who murdered him in order to protect his son from a murder charge.  That’s all open to interpretation, of course, so your guess is as good as ours.

It’s a good thing we’re not actual defense attorneys, huh?

-The Mods

[threelivesthreeworlds]

MO YUAN AND SHAO WAN in the most recent Pillowbook Extra   :   A Compilation   -   because Admin Ro knows you’re gonna ask, so she’s delivering before you ask ;)

i.

     Though Father God did not like Mo Yuan's hands to be covered in blood and for him to stop war with more war, it had only been seven hundred years since Mo Yuan came between the war of the five clans before he led the celestial gods into victory against the Ghost Clan and the Sprite Clan and ended the battles between the five clans that had lasted hundreds of thousands of years. The era of war between heaven and earth had finally drawn to a close.

      After this, the Ghost Clan and the Sprite Clan became subsidiary to the Celestial Clan, and the weak Human Clan became protected by the Celestial Clan as well, even if they did not need to pay tribute or bow to them. The Demon Clan was also confined to the Southern Wilderness according to the treaty signed between the two clans.

     After hundreds of thousands of years of chaos, the universe seemed to welcome a long reign of peace. High God Mo Yuan was about to perform the investiture of the gods of the eight wildernesses at the peak of the nine heavens, ending the era of the old gods and welcoming the age of the new gods to create stable order between heaven and earth. But during this time when he had little time for anything else, the ancestral goddess of the Demon Clan, Shao Wan, who had always sympathized with the Human Clan, had burned through the Ruomu Door that separated the Realms with the ten billion mortal realms with the soul-fire of a Phoenix and sent the Human Clan to the billions of mortal realms. She herself, having used up all of her immortal power, feathered and turned to ash.

      At this time, the evil breath of the ten billion mortal realms had been placated, but it still soared with burning wind and burned, and was not a place where the Human Clan could thrive. But to this, Shao Wan already had a plan - before she gave up her soul, she went personally to Guyao Mountain to ask for the help of the light god Zuti, who had been in seclusion there.

     Zuti went directly to the mortal realms after Shao Wan feathered at her request, and sacrificed herself to the chaos to give birth to all things so that the Human Clan can live peacefully in the Mortal Realms and helped the Human Clan separate from the Four Seas and Eight Wildernesses of the gods entirely, and thus ended their hundreds of thousands of years of relying on other strong clans and inevitable fate of becoming extinguished with time.

      Shao Wan feathered. The Ruomu door opened. The Human Clan moved. Zuti sacrificed to the chaos. The heavens and earth were shaken, and the four clans gossiped among themselves.

      In the Eight Wildernesses, there were clear-sighted elders within the Sprite Clan that privately agreed - according to Mo Yuan's steely methods and unfeeling heart, since the Demon Clan has lost their leader God Shao Wan, he would, of course, take up arms and horses and raze the Demon Clan to the ground and complete his great work of uniting the heavens and the earth. The Investiture of the gods would probably be postponed indefinitely.

     But, outside the bounds of the predictions of these wise elders, the Celestial Clan did not ready their armor and  set up their soldiers. Six days later, the ceremony of investiture happened on time at the peak of the nine heavens.

     On the day of the ceremony, upon the highest seat, High God Mo Yuan wore white robes and his face was like jade. The handsome god, having changed out of the heavy armor and back into light-colored robes, seemed to have returned to the graceful, elegant young man of the Water Marsh palace of learning who had been like the orchid of the mountain. But it was, after all, different. The cruel fight and killing on the battlefield for seven hundred years had painted the orchid with blood, and that grace that had previously been stainless and pure was now mixed with ruthlessness and the stench of blood. The force and power that was hidden deep within his gaze had become the force of a god king.

      The ceremony of investiture continued for seven days. Since Pangu's splitting of the sky and the earth, after nearly five hundred thousand years, in the eight wildernesses, there was, for the first time, gods at their posts, and in the universe there was, for the first time, a tome of rules that decreed the order the five clans must keep, symbolizing the final end of the chaotic and war-filled era of the ancient time.

     Every leader of the three clans, gods, ghosts and sprites alike, were commanded by the young High God who wore light-colored robes but had such a forceful presence and believed deeply that under the rule of this God King, that era of endless, hopeless war really would end, and a peaceful era would arrive.

     But what no living thing in the eight wildernesses could have predicted was that three months after the ceremony of investiture of the gods and the four clans had begun on the right path, the God King they had placed their faith in and relied on disappeared.

      The gods looked in heaven and earth for him for three years, and no one could find any trace of him. Everyone finally accepted that their God King had vanished, abandoning what he had barely built. But no one knew the reason for why he did this.

      Some young god who liked to read plays in his spare time and had a great imagine theorized to his friend: "Do you think his disappearance is due to God Shao Wan? See, God Shao Wan had only feathered for a short while before he decided to disappear. Legend says that during their time at the Water Marsh palace of learning, he had some feeling for Go Shao Wan......"

     His friend did not believe it and offered a great rebuttal: "What kind of feeling? The kind of feeling between sworn enemies? Everyone knows God Shao Wan and our god has always been archenemies. Even if you said that he had suddenly tired of ruling the four clans and left it and ran, it would be more believable! Look at Bi Hai Cang Ling's Donghua Dijun, that's what he's like. Even though he fought beside our god and fought so well I thought back then if our Celestial Clan managed to unite the heaven and earth, whether our god or Dijun was going to rule, soon after Dijun said he was tired of fighting and wanted to go into seclusion at his old home in Bi Hai Cang Ling."

     The young god was reminded by his friend and remembered Donghua Dijun's actions and suddenly thought his friend was very reasonable, and nodded heavily: "The eight saints of the Shouhua Wilderness each have their strange tempers. Our god is also one of the eight saints, so maybe he had a fit of a strange temper too......"

      The god of gossip, High God Zhe Yan who lived in the Ten Miles of Peach Forest and had been the classmate of Mo Yuan, Donghua and Shao Wan, walked past these two young gods after having turned himself invisible. And hearing this conversation, he looked toward Zhangwei Mountain and sighed, feeling wronged on the behalf of Mo Yuan and Shao wan. Though these two had been in a tug-of-war for thousands and hundreds of thousands of years, those in the universe knew none of these and at the end of it all, and at the end when they spoke of the two, could only call them sworn enemies, as if they were nothing else to each other aside from that, as if they had nothing left, and it made him sigh.  

ii.

     It was a few hundred thousand years ago.

     The Water Marsh palace of learning used to have eight legendary figures, titled the Eight saints of the Shouhua Wilderness by the students. Though there were eight memebers of the eight saints, they were split into two parties - one party was made up of four Celestial Clan members, Zhe Yan, Qing Qiu's nine-tailed fox Bai Zhi, Xiluo who had by now entered the Western World, and Father God's son, Mo Yuan, who was their leader. The other party had three members from the Demon Clan. There was Shao Wan, and Xiluo's younger brother Sejia, and Xie Ming who had by now turned into the Underworld. The ancestor of demons, Shao Wan, was the leader of this party.

     Aside from the four gods and the three demons, there was one saint of the eight that did not connect himself to a party. This figure was Donghua.

     At that time, the gods and the demons were sworn enemies, and so the famous group of the Eight Saints of the Shouhua Wilderness always fought amongst themselves, and as the leaders of the two parties that were always fighting, Mo Yuan and Shao Wan were always on the palace of learning's school newspaper, and so at that time Shao Wwan's name was more well known than Donghua's, but according to martial capability, the one who could fight with Mo Yuan was not Shao Wan, but Donghua who did not get into much mischief and didn't get on the school paper.

     Even though he was a ruthless someone who had overcome everything with his two fists and by his own power to become the ultimate fighter in the universe and turned every demon and sprite he encountered into his henchmen, Donghua did not get up to much mischief in the palace of learning. Zhe Yan thought this was  mostly because he didn't show up to school much. When Donghua sometimes came to school, it was to sleep under the Master's watchful eye. In comparison, though Shao Wan was the school delinquent who frequently got up to mischief, this school delinquent never missed a class.

      Donghua and Shao Wan had been friends since they were very young. Zhe Yan remembered that Donghua, who never really showed up to class, would always borrow Shao Wan's notes for the monthly exam. But why would the school delinquent take serious notes? For the first few years of school, Donghua and Shao Wan both failed every class that required note-taking, such as scripture and mathematics and history, and were only not held back because their high scores in archery and tactics and spellcasting dragged back their score average. From this one could tell that they were truly good at fighting.

     Later, the school newspaper reported that the internal conflicts between the Shouhua Eight Saints were on the rise, and the Master, who had the habit of reading the school paper, was extremely worried. Though Mo Yuan was a gentleman like an orchid, during that time, the Master who had been brainwashed by the paper thought he and Shao Wan would break out into a fight every time he looked at them. After a fearful moment of thinking, he separated Shao Wan and Mo Yuan, who had been sitting at the same table, and made Xie Ming Shao Wan's new tablemate, and Donghua, who had previously not had much interaction with Mo Yuan, became his new tablemate.

     Zhe Yan thought it must have only been because they were sitting close together that Donghua copied Mo Yuan's notes twice, and then somehow tied first of their class with Mo Yuan that monthly exam.

     Even though no one said anything, but most of them thought it must have been the work of Mo Yuan's notes, and the notes suddenly became the most precious item in the whole school. But the next month Mo Yuan got sick and didn't come to school, and no one could borrow his notes, including Donghua. Without Mo Yuan's notes, everyone still had their own, and could barely prepare for their monthly exam, but Donghua was a person who did not take notes and had to find someone's to copy. Coincidentally, Shao Wan, whom he used to borrow notes from, was also not at school, and so Donghua copied Bai Zhi's notes, and then came first again that monthly exam.

     Everyone noticed, and of course, Donghua noticed too, that as long as he wasn't so stubbornly idiotic as to copy Shao Wan's notes, he usually could take the top score.

     Zhe Yan remembered that after that Donghua usually copied three people's notes, Mo Yuan's, Bai Zhi's and Xie Ming's. Because they sat close together, he copied most of Mo Yuan's notes. But aside from copying notes, Donghua seemed to have no special relationship with any of them, and didn't speak much to them except to borrow notes and to return the notes.

iii.

     Zhe Yan thought for a moment, and changed up his line of questioning. "Mo Yuan," he paused for a moment to gather his thoughts, "Even though Celestial Clan's ruthlessness has been building up recently, Mo Yuan isn't a god that likes war. The humble gentleman like the orchid of the mountain has never been a warmonger even during tactics lessons, and this you know as well. Not to lie, seven hundred years ago when he decided to walk onto the battlefield and join the war between the five clans, it shocked Bai Zhi and I greatly. But I heard that the night before he made the decision, he met with Father God and Shao Wan, and so in all of these years, I always guessed that Father God and Shao Wan must have said something to him so that he made that decision, right?"

iv.

     With a clacking sound, a black piece fell upon the go board, and Dijun very uncharacteristically interrupted him: "Mo Yuan decided to unite the five clans originally to stop Shao Wan from opening the Ruomu door and feather for the sake of the Human Clan. But he didn't know that fate could not be defied, and the Ruomu door still opened, and Shao Wan still feathered. Everything he sought no longer has meaning, and so of course he won't stay. A man with a heart like shredded ash has done a great service already to wait until the four clans have gotten on the right path, but you would complain that he left without appointing a successor for the Celestial Clan?"

v.

     Within the Water Marsh, they ran into High God Mo Yuan, who had been missing for a long time according to legend. Looking at Dijun's expression, he hadn't seemed too surprised by the fact that High God Mo Yuan was in seclusion here.

     High God Mo Yuan was her aunt Bai Qian's Master, and so ever since High God Mo Yuan had woken from his seventy thousand year sleep from sealing away the Ghost King Qing Cang, Feng Jiu had seen him a few times. Then, the god had been stolid and reliable, peaceful and quiet, and inspired feelings of respect and admiration at a glance. But the High God they had met in the Water Marsh, though he looked no different than he did in two hundred and sixty thousand years, had a different air around him. If she was to say that in two hundred and sixty thousand years, High God Mo Yuan was a piece of jade, then this deity was like a blade stained with blood, hiding its sharpness for exhaustion and without conflict with the world, or else like an orchid nourished by blood, physically situated in a hidden valley outside of the world and heart in endless hell.

     The history books did not record the reason for which Mo Yuan had disappeared after creating the new age of gods, and so Feng Jiu did not know what this matter had to do with Shao Wan, and when she saw this god in such a state, though she was curious in her heart, she knew it was not a good time to ask Dijun.

[bearpillowmonster]

FF6 Review (Overall)

I'm going to rate similar to the way I did FF7 Remake, but in only 2 parts, so there will be an overall review then a separate deep dive into the characters.

I played this game using an emulator and I'm not ashamed of it because I used the FF6 Relocalization project which I'll link

Basically nerd talk and explanation of what that means: It's basically a retranslation of the original SNES script using the GBA port as a base and mixing and matching some of the best parts so there you go. They have a way to mod the PC version to have the OG sprite work because sheesh is that thing ugly and they also have a way to resprite and resound the GBA version but this is the easiest and logical solution to get the best of all worlds. There's also "Anthology" which is the PS1 port that adds some CG custscenes which I just watched off of YouTube because it's only a few of the major scenes.

Anyways, yeah, I'm glad I emulated it especially because of the fast forward function. That first chunk would've been rough without it because you're left just waiting for one of your party's commands to be ready but it eases up as the game goes on because you get pretty busy with the combat.

I'm not a fan of turn-based RPGs which was the main reason I haven't touched a 2D FF game until now so this is my first and oh boy, what a first!

Could you just watch a playthrough or read the story then? I wouldn't recommend it. There are certain things that I feel are better experienced.

Gameplay actually wasn't all that gruesome, as I mentioned, it got better thoughout but I know for a fact that I didn't do everything it had to offer because I see other people doing it online and I just had no idea how. That's not to say it's not newcomer friendly though, I mean I beat the game, didn't I? I think it would've just gotten complicated and made me confused if I learned how to do everything in the game anyway.

I found myself liking some of the mechanics and recognizing some of the systems from games as late as today (I'm not sure if this is where they started but I wouldn't be surprised). The random encounters weren't all bad because of the emulator's speed up function but there were definitely times where it felt a little out of hand with the amount I was getting. (I'm looking at you Cave to the Sealed Gate!) So it's all pretty familiar, though there are "Relics" which are kind of like Materia but each member has 2 each where it gives you an ability, f.e. Reflect, every attack hits, extra power, auto cast protect, heal with every step, etc.

One of the drawbacks of using BSNES though was that there was no toggle for a L or R shoulder button, just turbo and while that's not a big problem, that is the button to Flee a battle, so I just never fled. There is an item that lets you escape any dungeon or battle but I didn't really use it, same with the permanent item that Mog has in the cave (pretty late in the game). I'd rather there be a repel than the warp stone, but I figured that if I just fought whenever the opp arrived then I wouldn't have to grind, which is another thing I hate about RPGs! Luckily, I didn't really feel the need to grind other than for the ending.

Difficulty wasn't really a grind but make sure once you get to the floating island, that you know what you're doing because that level was annoying and I felt a very stong spike in difficulty as soon as I landed on it. Another thing is that sometimes it'd glitch and an enemy would have infinite health so I'd just sit there on fast forward, watching and watching then finally use Libra and no damage was made, might be an emulator thing, might be a game thing and although rare, it still happened.

There are these sections called scenarios where the game branches off into multiple different paths and you can choose which order to follow the specific sets of characters. I really like that aspect and makes it seem less linear and interactive because it's letting you choose how to tell the story. I have a thing for games that let me interact with it (That opera scene is pretty interactive too).

For a 2D sprite game, it has quite a personality with its cutscenes. They can be very cinematic and defintely makes the characters just that more engaging with some of their mannerisms.

Ok, I get it now. The music is bomb. If anything, that would be worth doing a remake for, to get orchestral and updated versions of some of the themes. (I'd probably cry at that opera scene) But Celes' theme is probably my favorite. The PC port has pretty good remixes for the most part though.

Could this use a remake? It's a trivial matter because I think a good majority of fans want it to be remade and I understand why but at the same time I understand the other side of the argument as well. This was the last 2D FF game and that's special, in a way, the story kind of reflects that. And I think with all the personality comes a bit of caution because you might see something in these characters or scenes that may be misinterpreted or done differently in a remake, similar to how you read a book and just imagine how it's playing out. I think it lays enough ground so that you don't "have to interpret" like with most NES games (how the Super Mario Movie was born) from an outsider's point of view, it may first seem that way though. (myself included (yes, I know this was SNES era. Shut up!))

What would I want out of a remake? I would want the airship to return and be able to move around freely but keep the towns pretty faithful (which makes for more linear opportunities). I could see Edgar's tools being used similar to Barrett's but we have "First Soldier" now which is a 3PS Battle Royale, why not have his tools play similar to that? Then actually give him story opportunities to pick up his tools rather than "just because you bought them" It would be a nice natural progression. I would suggest the same with Sabin and Cyan, have them learn their Blitz and Bushido moves by being taught by Duncan, you do learn one move from Duncan in the vanilla game but I'd see it as more opportunity to build your characters and make it feel rewarded. So, in those aspects, I would like to see FF6 remade or improved but as for everything else, they should keep it a lot similar to the original than FF7R did. I think that's where a lot of the criticism with FF7R came from (as well as what I mentioned in the previous paragraph) While I'd prefer a gameplay overhaul similar to what they did with R, I'd rather keep the essence. There aren't sequels or spinoffs or anything of this game so this is all it has (unless you count the ports but that's minimal).

In the CHARACTERS section, I compliment the side-quest system but I would like there to be a better indication as to "what" you're doing, rather than just looking up the next steps or be left to travel around until the goal is clear. They have the quest completion menu as well as waypoints in FF7R, I could see that being put to good use in a game like this. It would also be cool to actually "visibly" wear the gear that you equip to your character but I understand why that isn't utilized in most of the games (probably makes for better character models) especially considering most of these characters' costumes could use an update. You didn't get to use the Magitek suits nearly as much as I thought you would from the marketing and even the dang cover and logo, so a remake could improve on that as well. Another small complaint is that it doesn't tell you what the items do WHILE you're in battle, only when you're in the menu, sorting them and while some are staples like Phoenix Down, I still don't remember what the heck a 'Gold Needle' does.

Overall I'd probably rate the FF games that I've played (but maybe not finished all of) as such: FF7 > FF13 > FF6 > CRISIS CORE > FF15 > FF12 but I think 6 and 13 are kind of interchangeable because if you said one over the other, I wouldn't really argue.

[scottymcgeesterwrites]

Final Fantasy V Review

Year: 1992

Original Platform: Super Nintendo

Also available on: PlayStation One (Final Fantasy Anthology), Game Boy Advance, Steam (updated graphics)

Version I Played: Game Boy Advance

Synopsis:

Bartz is a drifter, riding across the world with his chocobo – Boko. One day, the wind seems to fall. Lenna’s father, the king of Tycoon, goes off to make sure the Wind Crystal is all right, but doesn’t return. Meanwhile, a meteorite falls. Lenna and Bartz check it out separately, where they find each other and a man named Galuf with amnesia. Together they figure out that the world is falling apart – the crystals that drive wind, fire, earth and water are dying out. They stumble upon a pirate hideout led by Faris, and together they seek to restore the world and uncover the mysterious forces behind the destruction of the crystals.

Background:

Once again, this Final Fantasy game was originally unreleased outside of Japan. Unlike II and III, the developers thought that the game was a different tone than the others and the vast job system would be too complicated for Western audiences. The West didn’t experience Final Fantasy V until 1999 with Playstation One’s Final Fantasy Anthology; a compilation of both V and VI. One notable change from the Japanese version is the name Bartz. The original name for Bartz in the Japanese release was translated as Butz, but because Americans are immature and laugh at such a name, they changed it in the localization to Bartz.

Gameplay:

Holy capitalism, Batman – so many jobs!

Not only that, but each job has abilities that you can mix and match! Every time you level up a job, you earn a new ability for that job. You can switch those abilities across jobs.

The possibilities are seemingly endless!

The gameplay is the most fun I had with customization in a while in any video game RPG. The best part is that the Job System is so rewarding by the time you reach the third act of the game. It gives you such a variety that it allows you to approach battles from many different angles. There’s no one way to be a badass and deal destructive damage.

It’s so much fun that once a year, Final Fantasy V gamers join in “Final Fantasy Five Four Job Fiesta”. It’s a challenge where you are randomly assigned four jobs in the game and have to finish the game ONLY with those four jobs. I’ve joined in the challenge myself and it’s a great way to come together with Final Fantasy players.

I had fun unlocking the legendary weapons and hunting down the most powerful summons - this time naturally without looking anything up. I find it interesting to say that I had legit fun hunting down all the extras. Sometimes in other Final Fantasy games I get weary over hunting for some extra, higher powered spells and summons. I sometimes even wonder if I should bother going after them. The vast Job System in Final Fantasy V keeps you occupied for the entire game and more. I finished the game and there are still some jobs that I haven't even touched. Luckily, the Game Boy Advance version adds some extra dungeons after you complete the game.

Graphics:

The sprites in this game look a bit rough around the edges. They also come off as too small in my opinion. The same is said of the Game Boy Advance version. Regardless, it now looks like an actual SNES game. Unlike Final Fantasy IV, it has more color, structure, and doesn’t look faded.

Something irked me though about the sounds. I never have anything bad to say about the sound effects, but for some reason, in this game, the battle sound effects were meek. Even when someone had a sword, the attack sounded puny.

The PlayStation One version has an FMV sequence that look awkward and ugly as fuck, just like the FMV sequence for the PlayStation One version of Final Fantasy IV. As much as I love Yoshitaka Amano, trying to transplant his style into 3D is not a good idea.

Story:

The story transcends that of Final Fantasy IV. Where Final Fantasy IV can feel weak or simple at times, Final Fantasy V delivers a strong, emotionally charged storyline.

It starts simple. Once again, the world is in danger because the crystals are in danger – but this time because humans are misusing their power and breaking them. So this is a rare Final Fantasy game without any evil empires or rebellions.

Out of all the Final Fantasy games, I had heard the least about what happens in V. Heck – I knew more about II before going into it, mostly because of what people said about the Star Wars parallels. It’s been a long time since I went into a Final Fantasy game completely blind. I kept it that way and was very pleasantly surprised.

I can see what the developers meant by a “change in tone.” Final Fantasy V is probably the funniest of them all. It’s not campy – just humorous. Galuf loves to share puns. Bartz can be a klutz. The characters bicker a lot during their journey. One part actually made me genuinely laugh out loud when you are in a certain underground place searching for clues:

Despite the lighter tone, each character has a pretty sensitive, delicate backstory. I cared for Bartz’s personal history with his parents. I worried about whether Lenna’s father would die or not. I wondered what Galuf forgot and who Faris really was. There are dashes of tropes here but none of them stand out too much. You have to remember that tropes themselves are not inherently bad – what matters is how you utilize them. There’s no hokey romantic subplot thrown in either, which is extremely rare in a JRPG.

It was so rewarding to go into it blind because there was even a shocking death. I thought maybe they would be all right in the end through some Disney cop out.

No. That person is dead. Dead as a door nail. Never coming back. I also enjoyed the bit where they tried to revive said dead person with spells and phoenix downs. They finally imply that there can be a point where someone can go beyond and it’s too late to bring them back.

The henchman Gilgamesh is very memorable and lovable, probably the most memorable character of the entire game. He serves as great comic relief while not being at all annoying. I kept hoping he would show up.

My only real complaint, if I’m ever forced to say anything bad, is that Boko wasn’t really an asset in the story, at least not as much as I assumed he would be.

The story is unfortunately very overlooked. I can understand that maybe at the time American and other Western gamers may have found the third act strange – especially after learning about the villain Exdeath’s true nature. Compared to the other Final Fantasy backstories, it’s a little out there, and something tells me it relates to Japanese mythology. But today? You’d be sorry to miss out on it.

Music:

Final Fantasy V’s main theme is somewhat reminiscent of Final Fantasy IV’s main theme. They have this melodic soaring feel with a continuous beat. “The Four Warriors of Dawn” in Final Fantasy V is reminiscent of “Red Wings” in IV. Meanwhile, the biggest and most interesting display is “Battle with Gilgamesh”. (sometimes titled “Clash/Battle on the Big Bridge”). The piece opens up with some intense drumming. While the later orchestrations and adaptations of “Battle with Gilgamesh” are pretty good, nothing seems to capture the tempo and umph of the original.

“Dear Friends” is probably the most endearing tune in the soundtrack. It’s played at the end and gives a really bittersweet feel. The Distant Worlds concert version is extremely bittersweet. It has a sweet, gentle guitar, and it reminds me of how Uematsu said one of his inspirations was Simon and Garfunkel. “Dear Friends” definitely has that folk tune.

Exdeath’s theme song gives a heavy rock vibe. That heavy rock vibe was last heard in the opening segment of the final boss fight in Final Fantasy IV. The rest of the score has a lot of drumming incorporated, partially due to the fact that pirates are involved in most of the plot. Ultimately, this Final Fantasy score broke out all of Uematsu’s classic and hard rock inspirations – and it’s fucking awesome.

Notable Theme:

“Battle with Gilgamesh”

I have replayed this song over a thousand times by now.

Verdict:

Definite must-play. It’s the most underrated Final Fantasy game. The Kob System can be overwhelming, especially if you have never played a Final Fantasy game before. I wouldn’t suggest playing this for beginners – more after you get your hands wet.

Direct Sequel?

Yes. And No.

While not a video game, Final Fantasy V did receive an anime sequel titled Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystals. It’s technically the first sequel to a Final Fantasy game. The anime is set 200 years in the future, with the heroes of the original game having become legend. Critical reception of the miniseries was mixed.