#fundamental of forensics

[forensicfield]

General Forensic Science: A Comprehensive Book

Welcome to 'General Forensic Science: A Comprehensive Book,' meticulously curated to be your ultimate exam preparation companion. Crafted with precision by seasoned practitioner advocate and forensic book writer Archana Singh, this guide is tailored to cover the essentials of basic forensic science. Designed with the exam-taker in mind, this book encompasses a diverse range of content, offering a comprehensive overview of various forensic disciplines. From fundamental principles to advanced techniques, each chapter is meticulously structured to aid in your exam preparation journey. Whether you're a student venturing into the world of forensic science or a seasoned professional seeking to brush up on the basics, this book is your definitive resource for mastering the essentials of forensic science. Additionally, rest assured that this book has been meticulously prepared according to the syllabus of FACT & FACT Plus Section A, ensuring alignment with your exam preparation needs.

Continue reading General Forensic Science: A Comprehensive Book

[is-the-owl-video-cute]

listen I know a lot of science YouTube is trying to be respectful or whatever since it’s recent however I would love to see a step by step cgi rendition of what happened to the Titan. I know what happened on a technical sense, but I like to physically see it.

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Hello! May I request a lot of latin forensic terms?

The most popular I am aware lf it's "post-mortem"!

Abet - to assist, encourage, instigate, or support with criminal intent in attempting or carrying out a crime—often used in the phrase, "aid and abet"

Actus reus - the wrongful act that makes up the physical action of a crime

Amicus curiae - one (such as a professional person or organization) that is not a party to a particular litigation but that is permitted by the court to advise it in respect to some matter of law that directly affects the case in question

Compos mentis - of sound mind, memory, and understanding

Corpus delicti - the substantial and fundamental fact necessary to prove the commission of a crime; also: the material substance (such as the body of the victim of a murder) upon which a crime has been committed

Functus officio - of no further official authority or legal effect—used especially of an officer who is no longer in office or of an instrument that has fulfilled its purpose

Habeas corpus - any of several common-law writs issued to bring a party before a court or judge; the right of a citizen to obtain a writ of habeas corpus as a protection against illegal imprisonment

Habeas corpus ad subjiciendum - a writ for inquiring into the lawfulness of the restraint of a person who is imprisoned or detained in another's custody

In flagrante delicto - in the very act of committing a misdeed; red-handed; in the midst of sexual activity

In esse - in actual existence

In loco parentis - in the place of a parent

Indicia - distinctive marks; indications

Mens rea - a culpable mental state, especially: one involving intent or knowledge and forming an element of a criminal offense

Modus operandi - a method of procedure, especially: a distinct pattern or method of operation that indicates or suggests the work of a single criminal in more than one crime

Obiter dictum - an incidental and collateral opinion that is uttered by a judge but is not binding; an incidental remark or observation

Onus probandi - burden of proof; the duty of proving a disputed assertion or charge

Prima facie - at first view; on the first appearance; legally sufficient to establish a fact or a case unless disproved

Pro se - on one's own behalf; without an attorney

Res judicata - a matter finally decided on its merits by a court having competent jurisdiction and not subject to litigation again between the same parties

Ultra vires - beyond the scope or in excess of legal power or authority

Hope this helps. Do tag me, or send me a link to your writing if it does. I would love to read your work!

More: Latin Phrases ⚜ Word Lists

[jinxedshapeshifter]

Why Kristoph Gavin Is Like That: An Essay

Alright so common sentiments I've seen regarding Kristoph are "Why is he like that" and "I want to study him in a lab" and I am a psychology nerd, so I decided to analyze Kristoph. Obligatory disclaimer: I am not a psychologist. Wanting to analyze Kristoph's behavior may or may not have gotten me interested in criminal and forensic psychology but I am not a psychologist. I am simply a guy who likes to psychoanalyze fictional characters from the most clinical perspective I can get to without actually being a psychologist. So let's begin.

Part 1: Diagnosing Kristoph Gavin

The thing about Kristoph is I think to fundamentally understand him, you need to diagnose him. In fact, I haven't posted my analysis of Kristoph's black Psyche-Locks because of it. As I said, I'm not a psychologist, but I do enjoy looking through the DSM-5 every once in a while, so I'm going off of that.

When you first look at Kristoph's behavior, you would (understandably) say he's a narcissist. From a purely colloquial perspective, this is absolutely true. However, I also think he very likely has narcissistic personality disorder. To be completely clear, I don't think his behavior is inherently a result of this. I think his behavior is a result of realizing he has a problem (even if he doesn't realize it's narcissism, he does acknowledge that he's fucked up because the reason he gives for killing Zak is "I am an evil human being") and not bothering to get help for it. In fact I'd argue he embraces it. So let's go through the DSM-5's diagnostic criteria for NPD (I don't need to explain where most of these are applicable but I'm going to anyway).

Criterion 1: Has a grandiose sense of self-importance (e.g., exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements) - While I don't personally think the examples provided by the DSM-5 are reflective of Kristoph's behavior (although I think an argument could be made about him exaggerating his achievements, depending on if you think he was forging evidence before the Gramarye trial, which I personally do but I'll get into that later) I absolutely think he has a grandiose sense of self-importance because he canonically has a god complex, which is implied to be why he became a defense attorney; by doing that, he made people depend on him and literally had people's lives in his hands.

Criterion 2: Is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love - I don't really know exactly how applicable this is, and it might've been more applicable when he was younger. However, he was so determined to get a win over Klavier in Klavier's first trial to forge evidence over it, so there's something to be said about him having a preoccupation with success not unlike Manfred I think.

Criterion 3: Believes that he or she is “special” and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people (or institutions) - He literally says this himself. He literally says the jury is made up of "ignorant swine" and says they're soiling the courts, I don't know what else to say on this point

Criterion 4: Requires excessive admiration - I will once again point you to the implication that he became a defense attorney specifically to make people dependent on him. The judge calls him the best defense attorney in town so I think it's safe to assume he's never lost a trial (which I will bring up again later). The nanosecond it's implied Apollo is turning on him and losing admiration for him, Kristoph takes it as a fucking betrayal, specifically saying "Et tu, Justice? You would betray me, your teacher?" Reminder, this is because Apollo decided to listen to Phoenix's testimony.

Criterion 5: Has a sense of entitlement (i.e., unreasonable expectations of especially favorable treatment or automatic compliance with his or her expectations) - Can I say his cell is evidence of this? No? Alright. He seems pretty fucking upset when he's reminded he's not the defense attorney in Phoenix's case. What does this imply? He acts like he's entitled to acting as the defense attorney during the case. This in comparison to the other defense attorneys who have acted as co-counsel at some point (Mia, Diego, Phoenix, Apollo, Kazuma, Athena) who let the acting defense attorney do their damn job. Like it might even be that no other lawyer acting as co-counsel has ever acted as entitled as Kristoph does that makes it feel like Kristoph comes off as entitled in the first place (in which case, I very much think Kristoph is meant to come off as entitled during Turnabout Trump).

Criterion 6: Is interpersonally exploitative (i.e., takes advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends) - I'm not explaining this. Phoenix's disbarment hinged on this, I refuse to explain this. I already made a post about it in regards to Apollo, I'm not explaining this here

Criterion 7: Lacks empathy: is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others - I think in order to be as horrible as he is, he would have to lack empathy. Idk. Like he obviously lacks empathy but I don't know how to explain it.

Criterion 8: Is often envious of others or believes that others are envious of him or her - Literally his motive for everything. He got Phoenix disbarred because he was upset over Zak firing him.

Criterion 9: Shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes - I will once again direct you to him calling the jury "ignorant swine" in Turnabout Succession.

That is 8 out of 9 criteria he definitely meets and one that's debatable. You only need to meet five of the critera to be diagnosed. The only reason one is debatable is because we don't get into Kris's head. Conclusion: "Kristoph has NPD" isn't an unreasonable assumption. Kristoph having NPD is actually why I haven't posted the analysis on his Psyche-Locks; I didn't think I could explain Kristoph having NPD well in that post and having that explanation is crucial to understanding that analysis (which will be added to this one instead of it being its own post).

As I said at the start, I do not think Kristoph having NPD makes him a horrible person. I think he knows he has a problem, and instead of getting help for it, he embraces it. He chooses not to get help and that choice and him borderline embracing his narcissistic traits is what makes him a horrible person. This is yet another thing that makes Kristoph and Klavier so interesting; Klavier exhibited similar narcissistic tendencies at 17 (although not near as bad as Kristoph) but it feels like he recognized that he had a problem and got help for it. Narcissistic personality disorder can be caused by trauma, and it wouldn't surprise me if Kristoph and Klavier had very similar yet very different responses to whatever traumatic event they experienced. In Kris's case, this resulted in NPD that he didn't get help for and arguably embraces.

Part 2: Evidence Forgery & A Perfect Trial Record

The judge explicitly refers to Kristoph as "the best defense attorney in town" when he asks about Apollo's status as the acting attorney and Apollo refers to Kristoph as a "top-notch defense attorney" when he asks Phoenix why he wanted Apollo to be his attorney. In my opinion, both of these statements would imply that Kristoph has never lost a trial. Even Phoenix has lost trials, and he basically had Kristoph's reputation before being disbarred (which has some super interesting implications actually). This is where Klavier comes into play.

For Kristoph to forge evidence to guarantee a win, he's either not as good a defense attorney as his reputation would have people believe, or he was confident Klavier had a chance to win the trial. If we really think about it, I think the first option, that Kristoph just isn't as good a defense attorney as people think, is more likely, and this also leads into the evidence forgery discussion. He had no qualms about spending $100k on forged evidence. This implies one of two things; either he's forged evidence before or he's von Karma levels of rich. I think it's much more likely that Kristoph forges evidence to make up for the fact that he's not actually as good a defense attorney as people think he is.

He's a year younger than Phoenix, so if we assume he became a defense attorney at the same age as Phoenix (24), he'd already been a defense attorney for two years at that point. Going a bit further, if we assume he became a defense attorney at the same age as Apollo (22) instead, then he'd been an attorney for four years by the time Zak's trial was happening (and he had been an attorney long enough by Zak's trial to be well known, as Klavier says "Ah, figures my bro's more famous in this part of town" when the judge asks if Klavier and Kristoph are related). There's plenty of room for him to forge evidence there, as long as the decisive evidence doesn't require replication of something that would be unique, like handwriting. He could (probably) easily forge a murder weapon or a bloodstain. This would explain why he's so willing to pay $100k for a forgery too. If we keep with the assumption that he forged evidence his entire career but never had to do anything with something like handwriting, he'd probably pay an arm and a leg to get the evidence he needs.

Considering Kristoph is also willing to murder people over a seven year old case, I wouldn't be surprised if he defended people he knew were guilty. Depending on the case, he would probably have to forge evidence at some point.

Part 3: Black Psyche-Locks

Kristoph having black Psyche-Locks when he's asked about why he killed Zak is interesting. It makes a lot more sense if you keep in mind that he is a narcissist. To fully explore Kris's Psyche-Locks, we need to go back to something Spark Brushel mentions in Turnabout Succession's MASON system section.

Spark says that Kristoph started stalking everyone who could conceivably be involved in Zak's case out of paranoia. In Kristoph's brain, this was probably completely justified. His paranoia was specifically rooted in the belief that Zak would appear to someone involved in the case and expose Kristoph's forgery. Kristoph stalked Spark, he stalked Phoenix, he stalked the Mishams, I wouldn't be surprised if he (attempted to) stalk Klavier. If the fact that he forged the evidence that got Phoenix Wright disbarred ever got out, his reputation would be tarnished beyond repair, and to him, his reputation is the most important thing he has. He was so careful about how he handled the forged diary page that nobody suspected anything was even wrong with it except Klavier. All of this adds context to his Psyche-Locks being black instead of red.

I think it's incredibly likely that whether through paranoia-fueled delusion or just not being able to consciously acknowledge that he did kill Zak (which, if revealed and then investigated, could absolutely expose all of Kristoph's wrongdoings, something I think he would've realized), he genuinely didn't realize he killed Zak. I 100% think it's possible that Kristoph genuinely thought he'd killed some random guy on impulse. "But Jinx," I hear you saying, "why would he have gone after Zak if he didn't realize who he is?" As I said, I think it's possible that Kris thought he killed a random guy on impulse. He didn't plan to kill Zak. If he had, he would've been more prepared for it. I think some part of his brain recognized Zak which is what gave him the impulse in the first place, but he didn't become consciously aware of it until Turnabout Succession. Alternatively, he got so far in denial that he managed to delude himself into genuinely thinking he hadn't killed Zak, and he had just killed some rando named Shadi Smith. Phoenix didn't even recognize Zak when he introduced himself as Shadi. If Phoenix, who played poker with and defended Zak and has a picture of him in his office, didn't recognize Zak immediately, why would Kristoph?

It's also not impossible that there are multiple other murders Kristoph's committed that we don't know about. Hell, he tried to poison the Mishams after Zak's trial. At the very least I don't think that was his first time attempting murder. Kristoph's not an idiot, he's just careless (which doesn't surprise me, considering he is so convinced that if he ties his loose ends he won't get caught that he doesn't even tie his loose ends all the way, nor watch what he says in regards to murders he committed). That's not to say he's some kind of mastermind either, but he is intelligent. I don't think he could pull Simeon Saint levels of bullshit but he's very much capable of successfully and skillfully manipulating people. My point here being, if he has murdered other people before he murdered Zak and after he attempted to poison the Mishams, he probably wouldn't be surprised about having the impulse to kill some random guy, making him more inclined to believe he did just kill some guy.

I also think it's worth it to compare how Athena's Psyche-Locks broke in Dual Destinies to Kristoph's behavior. Athena was able to be eased into her Psyche-Locks breaking. She didn't have any reason not to trust the things Phoenix was saying. Kristoph is so paranoid that he doesn't trust anyone. He wouldn't have been able to have his Psyche-Locks broken because he would just deny everything that's being said until he can't deny it anymore and breaks down, something at least directly related to his paranoia, if not also his NPD. This is why I mentioned in this post that breaking Kristoph's Psyche-Locks would always be a bad idea. He'd never get to a point where he'd be able to mentally handle the truth. Kris's trust issues run so deep that he'd never trust anything anyone's saying until the damage is already done and the Psyche-Locks are broken. In Kristoph's case, there's no way to break those fuckers without causing the damage Pearl mentioned as something that'll happen if they're broken when they're not ready to be. I wouldn't be surprised if this is why Kristoph's breakdown in Turnabout Succession is so intense.

Part 4: Kristoph's Personal Relationships

For this section, I'm going to discuss each of Kristoph's relationships separately, then go into what his relationships say about him in general. So let's start.

Kristoph & Klavier

Kristoph and Klavier's dynamic is genuinely one of the most interesting in the Ace Attorney series to me.

Klavier doesn't really talk about Kristoph much, and the same sorta seems to apply to Kristoph. We don't learn anything about Klavier and Kristoph's dynamic until Turnabout Succession, and we know Kristoph didn't talk about Klavier because Apollo didn't even know Kristoph has a brother. When we do see what their dynamic was like in 2019, it's Klavier being used by Kristoph. Kristoph used Klavier to get Phoenix disbarred, and it weighed on Klavier's mind for seven years.

I also think it's worth noting the following exchange from Turnabout Succession:

Klavier: Let's clean out the family closet, eh, Kristoph? Kristoph: You're spinning out of control. Calm yourself before you say something you'll regret. Klavier: Spinning out of whose control? Mine? …Or yours?

Which implies that Kristoph exhibited some kind of controlling behavior towards Klavier. It doesn't surprise me because Kristoph's a control freak. I'd also be more surprised if Klavier wasn't afraid of Kristoph killing him at some point. Additionally, something I mentioned in my Klavier analysis is that in the 2019 section of Turnabout Succession, Klavier does have a good view of Kristoph and even seems to look up to him. He takes Kristoph at his word that Phoenix is going to present forged evidence despite (by 24 year old Klavier's account) finding it weird even then, and keeps him anonymous when he brings up the fact that Phoenix presented forged evidence. Another thing I mentioned in the aforementioned Klavier analysis is that based on Klavier's behavior, he didn't realize Kristoph was manipulating him until sometime after the 2019 section of Turnabout Succession. Something made Klavier realize he was being manipulated. Could be age or that Kristoph did something that made Klavier realize Kristoph was a piece of shit, but no matter what it was, something happened that made Klavier's view of Kristoph shift.

Kristoph & Phoenix

Kristoph and Phoenix are also really interesting to me because Kristoph's end of their friendship is fueled by paranoia, and Phoenix's side is fueled by a desire to keep Kristoph close and basically investigate him. It's toxic on both their ends, and that makes it really interesting. Their dynamic also has a really good example of "Kristoph will lash out if someone even minutely slights him" in both Phoenix's trial and Vera's.

During Phoenix's trial, Kristoph gets so upset over the trial even slightly alluding to the potential for him being present to kill Shadi that the judge has to remind him that Phoenix is his client. Phoenix is also so determined to get Kristoph caught that he forges evidence (technically twice) and revamps the entire justice system (and this was exclusively to get Kristoph caught). They're both incredibly petty with each other. I'm not really sure what to add here, they're just so toxic they should come with a radiation warning.

Kristoph & Apollo

Apollo looks up to Kristoph. Kristoph uses this to his advantage during Phoenix's trial, using the fact that Apollo is loyal to and looks up to both Kristoph and Phoenix to emotionally manipulate him. He then probably tries to use "You would betray me, your teacher?" to further manipulate him, but Apollo's desire to find the truth overrides his loyalty to Kristoph (something Apollo literally tells Kristoph).

Kristoph has one final instance of trying to emotionally manipulate Apollo; he gets Klavier to the point where he essentially shuts down then blames Klavier shutting down on Apollo. This doesn't work of course, and Apollo bulldozes on through anyway.

In general I think we can come to a pretty solid conclusion that Kristoph will either manipulate and gaslight people to get what he wants or stalks them out of an intense paranoia that's directly related to how he sees himself as a result of the NPD he didn't get treatment for. Instead of coping with things like a normal fucking person, he resorts to both physical and psychological violence and stalking.

Part 5: Conclusion

So here we are. Almost 3k words later. I do not want the takeaway from this to be "Kristoph's a manipulative, violent asshole because he's a narcissist" and if that's your takeaway you need to rethink literally everything I said here. The fact that Kristoph could be diagnosed with NPD has nothing to do with him choosing violence. NPD has nothing to do with him choosing to stalk everyone involved with Zak's trial instead of getting help for his paranoia. I want that to be perfectly clear. The thing with NPD is it can be hard for the person suffering from it to realize they have it and subsequently get help for it. Kristoph's problem isn't exactly that he has NPD. It's that he never got help for the thinking patterns the NPD caused. Had he gotten help I don't think he would've ended up stalking and murdering people. He'd still have NPD, but he wouldn't be near as fucked up.

It's why Klavier and Kristoph are so interesting as characters. Klavier has narcissistic traits but he evidently got help for them, as he's nowhere near as egotistical at 24 as he was when he was 17, although he does start exhibiting those traits again under high stress situations. He's still not completely okay mentally (otherwise he wouldn't regress like that), but he's also better than Kristoph at managing his symptoms when they do show up. Kristoph doesn't even try to get help for his symptoms, which leads to his downfall. Had he gotten help for his narcissism, he might've ended up a bit more like Klavier.

I hope Ace Attorney's prison system has a proper therapy program. I hope Kristoph's able to get help when and if he decides he wants it, because I am personally of the belief that everyone deserves help if they want it, and Kristoph's no different. I don't think he deserves to have Phoenix, Apollo, or Klavier back in his life, and I wouldn't blame any of them for never talking to him again, but that doesn't mean I don't think Kristoph deserves help. He would just have to realize he has a problem first, which I doubt happened soon after Apollo Justice and I'd frankly be surprised if it ever happens. But I hope the offer for help is there if he decides he wants it.

So why is Kristoph Like That? Untreated mental health issues that he's implied to realize is a problem.

*Again, please do not act like I'm saying Kristoph having NPD is an excuse for his actions. He chose not to get help. He chose to stalk people. He chose to kill people. Him having NPD isn't an excuse for that. My goal here was simply to answer "Why is Kristoph Gavin like that?" Do not misconstrue my intentions here or what I'm saying. Kristoph's NPD isn't what drove him to do what he did. Him choosing to embrace symptoms that hurt people did.

[snivyartjpeg]

Yuma Month Day 26 - Role Swap

god i was excited for this one. it first started off as a joke, but the more i thought about it, the more interesting this swap became. so here's my massive lore dump of changes that'd happen in the story beneath the cut (spoiler warning):

i think, fundamentally, yuma and yakou are very similar characters. they're both very protective and kindhearted, with a strong sense of justice and a penchant for attracting terrible luck. because of this, some things would remain the same, such as the NDA's dynamics with their doormat chief as well amnesia!yakou's massive unpaid intern energy. i think yakou would be pretty similar to how he behaved in the light novel- a bit more optimistic and naive, like yuma. but there are two key differences between them that'd make this a different story, especially in ch 4: yuma has a forte, and yakou is very selfish. so here's some changes:

yakou's wife is his shinigami now, as you can see, while shinigami is yuma's dead wife. i think mrs furio would act cooler than shinigami. she'd still be playful, but she takes her job more seriously. also she hands yakou the solution keys normally without throwing up. they still have to do the dance and mouth sword thing tho. and the other stuff. that's just death god protocol

shinigami (or in this case the unnamed Mrs. Kokohead but i will still be calling her shinigami for convenience sake) was a scientist at amaterasu who studied forensics and thanatology instead of regenerative medicine. this also means that the pill she gives zombie yuma is not going to bring him back, but instead grant the zombie homunculi a peaceful, painless, but permanent death

speaking of zombie yuma, he's the homunculus now! yakou is 100% human and also doesnt have a forte. he's still number one, but instead of having a forte he's just that good at solving mysteries

yes this means makoto looks like yakou now. sorry makotoheads. i think he'd have really long, shaggy hair dyed to be like. idk. black or something. also he's more clean shaven bc stubble with a mask on is a sensory nightmare

yuma still cant cook. he subsists entirely on takeout, meat buns, black coffee, and beer. he's still in a lot of debt and under a lot of stress and his personality is essentially "what if canon number one just gave up"

he doesn't smoke though. he tried once and got into the worst coughing fit

imma say it right now. kurumi is not a love interest. yakou likely disguises himself as a faculty member instead (also i think one of the teachers gets a crush on fem yakou bc i just know she'd be hot)

ANYWAY what about chapter 4? im SO glad you asked! because here's where things get spicy!

so, lets start with the dead wife. shinigami catches onto huesca's inhumane research and she's just as adamant about bringing the truth to light as she always is. she blows the whistle, so he blows her up. yuma investigates, but they dont let him look any further, yada yada, yuma stews in his misery for five years

yomi sends in the evidence to motivate yuma to kill huesca, and makoto lets it happen because a dead huesca would be convenient. he even introduces the hitman, fully expecting yuma to make use of him

yuma doesnt. in fact, he wants to kill huesca with his own hands. and now that these detectives are here, he can do it and even return alive. the thing is, he doesn't want to put them in danger, so he chooses to do almost everything alone (sound familiar?)

his plan is simple:

ask desuhiko for a peacekeeper uniform. desuhiko trusts him enough to take "i want to investigate kanai ward's ultimate secret by infiltrating their ranks" as an answer. he does, however, let yakou know about this as an offhand comment before the mystery ever begins

hold fubuki's hand. it doesnt really matter how. she'll gladly allow it because she's fubuki. he stores her time powers and heads out the sub. yakou also learns this as an offhand comment played off as a joke (maybe fubuki affectionately comments about how she never expected the chief's hands to be so soft... idk. there has to be some way for yakou to have this as a future clue)

use his peacekeeper status to sneak into amaterasu HQ and demand a functioning ama-pal from that one creepy researcher

use ama-pal + fubuki's borrowed powers to bypass huesca's security. sneak the bot past the hard-of-hearing doctor and press the button to shut off security

this would probably alert huesca, but since the doctor never received a warning, yuma has enough time to rush in and stab him before he realizes what's going on

leave HQ while still in uniform, dispose of the disguise once he's safe, and return to the NDA like nothing happened. success!

soooo.... yakou, on that same day, decides to investigate amaterasu HQ with makoto

all the while, vivia has his suspicions about yuma's actions and keeps an eye on him in spectral mode. he... basically witnessed the whole thing, so he gets up off his ass and decides to follow yakou to the lab because he has a Very Bad Feeling about this

just like canon, he senses the death god and deduces that our protag has been killing off murderers, and so he wants to protect his chief as well as his peace and quiet (his dynamic with yuma would be the same as his dynamic with yakou, since it's entirely believable for yuma to treat vivia with the same kindness yakou did)

yakou tries to speak to huesca, but surprise! security is disabled and he's dead in the lab! no one else at amaterasu liked huesca enough to check on him, so yakou and makoto are the first ones at the scene of the crime. yakou, of course, decides to start investigating this murder

vivia somehow sneaks into the lab (dont ask me how) and confronts yakou, threatening him with his boxcutter and adamantly imploring him to stop pursuing this particular mystery in the same way he did yuma in canon. unfortunately, this attracts attention, and now they're in trouble (maybe even yomi's there to fetch his files). at this point, yakou has enough solution keys, so he panics and goes right into the labyrinth (and maybe others can enter for another reason that isnt coalescence idk)

so... they go in the labyrinth... vivia tries to stop him every step of the way, until the answer is right in front of them

yakou kills yuma with his own hands. there's no stab wounds or toxic gas to leave any doubt. yakou begins to question what good his justice really does. it doesnt even save them from their predicament, just like the other deaths. instead, makoto ex machina comes in to save them, and hands yakou a small black box

when they return to the agency, everyone is heartbroken over their chief, who seemingly died out of nowhere. fubuki tried rewinding time, but to no avail. halara tried everything to wake him up, knowing it's futile. desuhiko stood aside, feeling completely helpless. and yakou and vivia return looking like they just came back from hell

they barely get the chance for a funeral before the knockout gas trap activates... you know the rest

AAAAND SCENE! so that's my extremely long winded lore dump about this au. i thought about it Way Too Much but god it's so interesting to me. i love these characters and swapping them was immensely fun

[weemietime]

It's shit like this that people are using in their claims that there is conclusive evidence of genocide which pretty clearly demonstrates how the evidence they're working with is fundamentally contradictory, flawed and at times nonsensical.

Israel is not "evaporating" bodies with some kind of magical super-weapon. This is gibberish. This guy claims the reason why they aren't continuing to report casualties is because Israel bombs are evaporating bodies. Which would violate the first and second laws of thermodynamics.

The first being vaporizing all traces of evidence, the second being that entropy would decrease as particles decrease. And entropy increases, not decreases. Particles are prone to disperse, they don't magically vanish (with the exception of electrons which have been observed to jump forwards and backwards through time, but not on a macro scale large enough that it impacts how solid objects are).

We do not have weapons anywhere on Earth that can vaporize a human being without leaving a trace. I find it more reasonable that these people are trying to communicate that bodies are being burned, and so they don't have the technology available to keep track of the dead.

But that isn't what they say, instead they claim Israel must have developed a new technology that vaporizes people and leaves no trace of said vaporization (which even if we did vaporize a person there would still be evidence). And yet this would be no different to any other conventional warfare where bombs are being used, and people do not make the same claim that Russia bombing entire cities to rubble is conclusive evidence of genocide.

Even in the Shoah with the crematoria we have forensic evidence of human remains. In the same article they blame Israel for "empowering" looters to steal aid, without bothering to explain how that is done, by who, and shifting the responsibility from Hamas going in and stealing aid, to saying "oh well they are stealing it but that's Israel's fault."

It would be like saying it's the DEA's fault that drug cartels in Mexico are using machetes to behead people and smuggling drugs into the USA. The DEA is fighting against the cartels, and you're now shifting the responsibility of the cartel's behavior which they could stop at any time, to the the DEA for basically not fighting against them good enough?

They also make the claim that Israel intentionally targeted these refugee tents, but fail to mention that the reason why a fire broke out is because Hamas was storing weapons there (which would mean that the cause of the fire wasn't Israel's strike, it was Hamas storing weapons, and it would also mean that the strike was legal [I don't agree with the strike, that isn't what I meant by my prior word "valid," I just meant Legal] because storing weapons there removes the protection under the Geneva Convention).

So when I say we shouldn't say there is conclusive proof of genocide, this is what I am talking about. These things are not conclusive, they are circumstantial.

What we want to do is arrest all the people in charge, put them on trial, present every bit of data that we have, and then see whether or not it rises to the definition of genocide. Or even whether or not it's appropriate to expand the definition so that these things can be prosecuted not only in Israel's case but in every other case like Russia and China.

Then we will be able to say yes we have conclusive proof.

[temporal-discounting]

Apparently some people over on the hellsite formerly known as Twitter have described Ed as a psychopath. Many people have pointed out the racism inherent in this take - and while I wholeheartedly agree with that, I would like to focus here on what psychopathy actually is, and why it is absurd to apply that label to the character we see on our screens in OFMD.

To preface this, I am a research psychologist by training and have done some work on psychopathy. I am by no means an expert, though, so any corrections to how I have represented psychopathy here are welcome. This will be quite a long post, so I'm putting the rest under the cut.

OK, so what is psychopathy? The truth is, it has a very messy status. It does not appear in the DSM-5, which is the diagnostic manual for psychological disorders. Someone with psychopathic traits would likely be diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder (ASPD). But psychopathy as a construct is widely used in the scientific literature - especially clinical and forensic psychology - and it is used to describe a specific type of personality that overlaps with, but is distinct from, ASPD.

At the core of psychopathy is a lack of empathy and remorse; psychopaths see others not as fully realised people with rich inner lives, but as instruments to be used in pursuit of their own goals. Violent behaviour is not necessary or sufficient to be a psychopath but many psychopaths will use violence as a tool to further their own agenda, and they will not feel bad about it.

While 'diagnosing' fictional characters is a folly, in this case I think there is clear canonical evidence that Ed is not a psychopath.

Ed does not lack empathy. He empathises with Stede immediately - the very first thing he does when Stede wakes up is to reassure him that his crew is OK.

And there are numerous, non-Stede examples too. We see Ed empathise with the crew following the fuckery, with CJ when he lies about being mutinied, with Fang when they go fishing together...

Does Ed lack remorse? Very clearly not. His remorse over killing his father is absolutely fundamental to his character. And that remorse has led him to build up walls around the violence he has perpetrated and ordered as Blackbeard ("I didn't kill those guys, the fire did").

Ed's behaviour towards Lucius and the crew from 1.10 through to 2.2 could be construed as using violence instrumentally to achieve one's own goals. But the narrative makes it pretty clear that this behaviour is attributable to an acute mental health crisis - not to an innate personality type. And crucially, he feels remorse about this behaviour. He tries to make amends. He tries to do better.

Finally, Ed's entire arc of wanting to leave piracy behind would be very difficult to reconcile with him being a psychopath. He is unwavering in this desire from the moment we properly meet him - so much so that he is willing to leave behind the only person he has ever loved.

In summary, Ed is empathetic, he is plagued by the violence he has committed, and he wants to be a better man. These traits are wildly inconsistent with a psychopath.

So, er.... thanks for coming to my TED talk, I guess?

[linghxr]

Another 50+ crime, suspense, & mystery cdrama vocab words

This is a follow-up to my post from last summer sharing 50+ fundamental vocab words. I just finished 《隐秘的角落》 The Bad Kids and 《沉默的真相》 The Long Night, plus I watched 《猎罪图鉴》 Under the Skin last year. So let's take a deeper dive with 50+ more words!

Definitions are adapted from MDBG. I tried adding standard 国语 pronunciation too but might have overlooked some. 请多多指教！

Format: 简体 | 繁体 读音 | 台湾读音 (Simp.) | (trad.) (pronunciation) | (Taiwan pronunciation)

The crime

主谋 | 主謀 zhǔmóu - mastermind / ringleader

共犯 gòngfàn - accomplice

杀人犯 | 殺人犯 shārénfàn - murderer

凶杀 | 兇殺 xiōngshā - to murder / assassination

当场 | 當場 dāngchǎng - at the scene / on the spot

勒死 lēisǐ - to strangle

死者 sǐzhě - the dead / the deceased

案发 | 案發 ànfā - (of a crime) to occur or take place

出事 chūshì - to have an accident / to meet with a mishap

遇难 | 遇難 yùnàn - to perish / to be killed

逃跑 táopǎo - to flee from smth / to run away / to escape

包庇 bāobì - to shield / to harbor / to cover up

勒索 lèsuǒ - to blackmail / to extort

The evidence

罪证 | 罪證 zuìzhèng - proof of guilt / evidence of a crime

佐证 | 佐證 zuǒzhèng - evidence / proof / corroboration

证明 | 證明 zhèngmíng - to prove / to confirm the truth of

目击者 | 目擊者 mùjīzhě | mùjízhě - eyewitness

人证 | 人證 rénzhèng - witness testimony

物证 | 物證 wùzhèng - material evidence

作证 | 作證 zuòzhèng - to testify / to serve as evidence

销毁 | 銷毀 xiāohuǐ - to destroy (by melting or burning)

死因 sǐyīn - cause of death

解剖 jiěpōu | jiěpǒu - to dissect / to autopsy

血迹 | 血跡 xuèjì | xiějī - bloodstain

指纹 | 指紋 zhǐwén - fingerprint

遗物 | 遺物 yíwù - remnant

The breakthrough

吻合 wěnhé - to be identical with / to agree with

直觉 | 直覺 zhíjué - intuition

突破 tūpò | túpò - to break through / to make a breakthrough

疑点 | 疑點 yídiǎn - a doubtful point

异常 | 異常 yìcháng - unusual / abnormal

意图 | 意圖 yìtú - intent / intention / to intend

推断 | 推斷 tuīduàn - to infer / to deduce / to extrapolate

质疑 | 質疑 zhìyí | zhíyí - to call into question

站住 zhànzhù - to stop / to halt

住手 zhùshǒu - to stop / to stay one's hand

口供 kǒugòng | kǒugōng - oral confession / statement / deposition

The truth

如实 | 如實 rúshí - truthfully / according to the facts

实情 | 實情 shíqíng - the actual situation / the truth

坦白 tǎnbái - honest / forthcoming / to confess

大白 dàbái - to be revealed / to come out (of the truth)

开脱 | 開脫 kāituō - to absolve / to exonerate

翻案 fān'àn - to reverse a verdict

清白 qīngbái - pure / innocent

���辜 | 無辜 wúgū - innocent / innocence / not guilty

不在场证明 | 不在場證明 bú zàichǎng zhèngmíng - alibi

放走 fàngzǒu - to release / to set free

The system

法官 fǎguān - judge (in court)

检察官 | 檢察官 jiǎncháguān - public prosecutor

看守所 kānshǒusuǒ - detention center

公安局 gōng'ānjú - public security bureau / police department

派出所 pàichūsuǒ - local police station

法医 | 法醫 fǎyī - forensic investigator / forensic detective

制服 zhìfú - to subdue / to check / to bring under control

配合 pèihé - to cooperate with

传唤 | 傳喚 chuánhuàn - a summons (to the police) / subpoena

布控 bùkòng - to deploy surveillance / to put under surveillance

举报 | 舉報 jǔbào - to report (to the police)

出警 chūjǐng - to dispatch police to the scene

[audarcy]

writing is a messy process. analyzing it is forensic. i could never understand someone who says something like "its literally not that deep" or "i doubt the writer was actually thinking about that" or "maybe they just did that for no particular reason" because that's such a fundamental misunderstanding of how writing works.

blood splatter forensics can glean a lot about the force, positioning, method, means, etc of an attack. the character of a blood splatter left over from a grisly crime--the spread across the floor, the size of individual drops, the density, etc--can be reverse-engineered to understand the nature of how and why the blood ended up where it is. you can look at a spray across a wall and, judging from where the drops traveled, say "the victim was struck with a brutally hard, swinging blow."

and imagine how stupid a detective would sound if they then turned to you and said "i don't think it's that deep. you really think the killer thought to put every single drop of that blood on this wall? maybe the victim's blood just did that."

[frogsrneat]

♥️ Art resources ♥️

Hey I put together a beginner art resource list! Feel free to share, save, etc. but a lot of people don’t know where to start:

Man is this a holy grail it includes free programs, online courses, tutorials, and scholarships (us based):

A big thing you are taught early on is just hand/eye coordination. Speed drawing, or “gesture drawing” if you’re fancy, is the best practice you can do on a regular basis.As much as you hate hearing “just practice”- it matters.

The best online art course I can think of. It will literally go step by step in teaching you commands and digital painting:

YouTube anatomy holy grail:

The Loomis method for the construction of the head is very popular because it is easy to learn and remember and can be applied to any drawing of the head.

Loomis also has many published books under his name. I’m not saying you can get free books here but if you could well. Careful of fake links with this site, if you don’t see the single login.re it’s the wrong one.

If loomis method books aren’t your style and you are more of a video person try this (this is the first on a short series):

If you know me I’m barely cracking the surface with digital art but I’m actually trained in professional forensic art and hyper realistic portraits , so here is info on traditional art by media.

Little proof of some training, but if you like this, this is woodless graphite pencils on vellum- just a slightly better quality than a pencil and paper :)

Finally here are some amazing pose references. Adorkastock had moved from Pinterest and is working on their own website so check them out here:

Taco is single handed my my go to for simplified anatomy and it goes my section of the body (people have made Pinterest copies that is separated by parts of the body) but I highly recommend buying it if you’re able!

I hope that this helps at least someone find a resource they needed or wanted! Feel free to dm me or repost with comments or more resources!

[fraeuleintaka]

I really like how Portsman's self-obsession comes through in so many different things. He seems so much more focused on sports and training than his actual job (probably because he seems very good at it). He treats his partner as an accessory who's mostly there to prop him up (giving the same nickname to all his partners as if they were pets because it "sounds better" with his own name!). He fills his entire office with his trophies and awards. (Which I also expect Sebastian (Eustace) to do until a certain incident in I2 btw.) He comes across as really friendly and chummy at first but that's only surface-level. Even with the way he "mourns" his partner: He instructs one of the forensic officers to take pictures of him saying goodbye to "Jim". He's entirely focused on looking good and looking like he cares but has zero honest interest in anyone beyond himself. In that way I also read Portsman's complimenting of Miles upon their initial meeting as his attempt of buttering him up (with the underlying thought being that Portsman himself would love to hear something similar if he were in that position) to "make friends" but with no honest intention behind it.

We don't know much about Faith and his relationship with Portsman from his perspective but the way he was killed suggests that he wouldn't expect his own partner to be corrupt or to shoot him dead should he discover it. I wonder what Faith was like and what he thought of Portsman's shadier actions (like refusing to prosecute certain cases or some evidence suddenly being missing). Their conversation in the case intro mirrors some of Miles' previous beliefs (Portsman states that he needs to get defendants declared guilty) and Faith questions how far Portsman's willing to go for that. That would imply that he has some idea about Portsman's actions not all being above board but that he's accepted what he's seen so far because he saw them as necessary or justifiable in pursuit of a "noble" goal (and not the result of corruptness that they actually were). There's also no implication (though that could be because of circumstances) that Faith really minded the way Portsman treated him. Their relationship could be read as a distorted version of Miles' & Gumshoe's own, a well-meaning and trusting detective puts his faith (ha!) in an arrogant prosecutor surrounded by rumours of forged evidence and shady dealings who doesn't treat his partner as well as he should - with Gumshoe's faith being justified because Miles is a good person at heart who corrected his wrong course while Faith's was not and ended with him being killed because Portsman is fundamentally selfish and egotistical.

[mossy-green-aka-ferrythem]

It's so interesting how Faust speaks. She speaks in Third Person, but sometimes she speaks about Faust as if Faust is another contact of hers... she definitely is doing some alternate reality type shit with her IDs and what not. Hard to articulate but like. She has an ID that knows of the events of LobCorp and even Day 50 (To think she went through it all and made it all the way to Day 50 in just Regret EGO is a WILD thought btw), she has one that experience the fall of a LobCorp Branch firsthand (which if I am not wrong, is implied to be a Faust that has failed, due to how shaken she is from everything she has experienced without proper preparation), she has one that spearhead's Nagel Und Hammer's genocidal campaign, she has one is close collaboration with Wuthering Heights.

She has an ID intimately aware of the functions of W Corp, and is always ready to offer an explanation on it. In fact I bet that ID is 00 for a reason, she's FAR less interested in combating the empty deformed husks of those who once had hopes and dreams, torn apart from the WARP, and more interested in observing the functionality of it all it seems. Hell, even Faust seems rather shaky when faced with the stomach-churning reality of the WARP Trains.

She has the 7 Association ID, which is an Association based off of doing Forensics and collecting information on a case, what better way for Faust to get general info than from the 7 Association? Also her Zwei ID clearly seems to be more heavily based on her paying attention to the work that goes into being a Zwei Fixer. Also, being Zwei fits her, because of that sword she constantly hauls around. Also the Salsu ID, all about experiencing the BL story.

Really it's hard to profile it all but it's really interesting how Faust exists as a spectrum. All IDs are fundamentally like this, but the way Faust handles it all is... interesting to put it lightly.

[lyxthen]

Title: Updated Autopsy Report

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

Archive Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence

Relationships: Mitsurugi Reiji | Miles Edgeworth/Naruhodou Ryuuichi | Phoenix Wright

Tags: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Implied/Referenced Self-harm, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied Sexual Content, Suicidal Thoughts, Past Relationship(s), Post-Gyakuten Saiban 4 | Apollo Justice, Getting Together, Non-Linear Narrative, Purple Prose, Phoenix Wright Being an Asshole, Miles Edgeworth Being an Asshole, Corrupt Lawyers, (but it's fine because they are in love), Execution, Character Study, Miles Edgeworth has Anger Issues

Summary: “Come on, Miles, I'm not naïve. I know you bribed the forensics team to get your damned updated autopsy report. I don't give a fuck. Not anymore.” With that he laughed, softly, as though forging evidence to incriminate the innocent was a most harmless, silly mistake. The sort of thing one did on an average Sunday morning after making waffles and putting on Steel Samurai reruns. “I'm not nearly as good as you think I am, either.”

Miles Edgeworth thinks he is fundamentally, irrevocably evil. Luckily for him, the most noble person he knows is fundamentally, irrevocably evil as well.

[bitchfitch]

you see. There's this fundamental issue with my personality where I will not bother my mother (doctor) about literally anything going wrong with my personal health. She did not find out I was hospitalized for internal bleeding until I had to turn down a mother son brunch bc I couldn't eat solids. I just didn't think to tell her bc like. why would she care there wasn't anything she could do or needed to do. This has been a problem my entire life.

But. I will bother her with hypothetical questions about how fictional traumatic injuries should be handled, Constantly.

This has gotten to the point that I am not allowed to ask her writing questions until I give her an update on my current health.

this is a problem. because the minute I leave a doctor's office. Everything they said that wasn't an explicit instruction or a diagnosis just leaves my head Instantly. Bc none of those other words mean Jack shit to me.

so I'm having to reconstruct the last month of medical issues like a forensic pathologist so I can ask her how dubious it would be to drug a kid with crushed opioids while he's got a brand new head injury so his arm can be sewn shut by a dude who lost his medical license ages ago.

[1960z]

so, case 3! holy shit dude. I feel insane right now.

so first to talk about contained narrative and not all the overarching stuff, I thought it was really great stuff. they managed to pack so much into this one without it feeling too busy. the individual characters are great. enoch drebber has so much depth to him for just a one off villain. he really is intimidating in a lot of ways. and throughout the 2nd trial day, you totally understand why he turned out the way he did. like of course he’d be angry, odie asmam ruined his fucking life and then continued to be a terrible person for a decade and got away with it.

courtney sithe was also fantastic. I loved getting to explore the idea of what if the most basic and taken for granted facts about the case were manipulated, and the person that gives you such fundamental information, aka the fucking autopsy, was actually the murderer. they set it up really well too, with non forensic personnel of scotland yard being disallowed from investigating the crime scene and that being a huge block - but also I wasn’t expecting it at ALL because I just assumed there was no way it could have anything to do with the actual murder itself but it did. it’s a reminder that these institutions don’t always have people’s best interests as well as the pervasive issue of forensic evidence often being treated as this inherently objective, never wrong smoking gun, when often it isn’t.

harebrayne was an amazing defendant too. I mean he was very likeable, a silly little guy if you will, but something great about his character is that he also brought more understated elements of van zieks’ character to the forefront through their previously established relationship. according to harebrayne, when he knew him van zieks was a very kind and compassionate person which is certainly not the current perception most people have of him as this literal demon prosecutor.

but also… when you look at a lot of van zieks’ actions up until this point that doesn’t actually seem that hard to square up. despite this intimidating and mean air he gives off, van zieks has always treated ryunosuke a lot more fairly to begin with than most AA prosecutors start out and has never tried to block the pursuit of truth with any decision he’s made in court. he says a lot of awful shit to ryunosuke granted, but his actual actions have never reflected any sort of mistreatment. there was always more there if you looked for it, and through his relationship with albert, that’s on full display here. he knew albert was innocent, he didn’t for a second doubt it which is why he headed the prosecution because that way he knew there would be no behind the scenes corruption, something we’re increasingly aware is a problem. and he didn’t go soft on the prosecution either, he still performed his duty to the highest ability, but he also trusted in ryunosuke to find the truth. it really brings out what kind of person he is

the overarching plot elements at play are also handled masterfully here, just enough is revealed for it to feel as if we were given some truly watershed moments but also there’s so much we still don’t know. like I said, I was expecting them to really drag out the kazuma stuff, but they didn’t and I’m actually really grateful for that, I think it works better that way. we’re not made to wait for the huge payoff we all want when he shows up, we get it at the end of the case and it’s done amazingly. but there’s still so may questions, particularly surrounding the why and how of it all that keep me hooked.

same with the professor and the reveal it was kazuma’s father, who was also studying as an exchange student at the same time as jigoku and yujin. I still have no idea what anyone’s end goal is yet, but I do now understand why they were being so cagey and protective.

overall, a fucking fantastic case I enjoyed my time with it so much and I can’t wait to get to case 4! here’s the updated tier list

[fierceawakening]

You know, I said it already earlier, but I’m still really wondering how prison abolition IS supposed to work for rapists, anyway.

Like it seems like we’re agreeing that putting someone away in a box is an unjust punishment for not asking for consent. And that logic seems sound.

But when you actually study people who commit crime, whether it’s rape or abuse or whatever, you run into the problem of recidivism: someone did a bad thing, got caught, got imprisoned. How likely are they to do it again later?

Some people aren’t at all. If someone takes responsibility, or made a disastrous mistake, they’re highly likely not to repeat it.

But some people do bad things in part because they hold beliefs that allow for them.

Those of you who’ve followed me for a while likely know I’ve been closely following the Ruby Franke/Jodi Hildebrandt child abuse case. These were a wealthy Mormon momfluencer and a licensed therapist, both affluent and white. So not the sort of people who we usually think we’re saving with prison abolition really.

Anyway, they pleaded guilty to horrific child abuse. They basically got it into their heads that because the children acted defiant and wet the bed into adolescence (both likely responses to being abused imo), they needed to be abused severely and frequently until they stopped.

Anyone else see a flaw in that logic?

Anyway. The current buzz on this is about how long they should be in prison, and determining that will be based on whether the parole board thinks they’re likely to reoffend.

And I was watching a YT on this case by a forensic psychologist, just giving his take as an interested guy with relevant training. And he said that based on how long they’d abused the kids, what they’d said in the immediate aftermath of their arrests, and the whole elaborateness of the religious beliefs that justified it (essentially, a kid doesn’t pee and poop himself after a certain age unless a demon is making him do it), that he considered it very likely Ruby is CLAIMING remorse because she knows it’ll lighten her sentence, but very unlikely her beliefs have changed.

He didn’t say it was impossible they COULD change. He said he’d worked with offenders of various sorts and some do! But that it takes a lot of time, because the person has to be willing to look at, question, and rethink things that to them are fundamental, and that’s never easy and rarely fun.

(It took me YEARS to stop thinking all the things I’d been told by a high control group for example. It took time even once the group rejected me. That’s how invested I was.)

So back to prison abolition. You’ve got a rapist. He’s served his time. Or maybe he hasn’t. Maybe we’re just throwing the doors open because it’s about time.

How are you making sure he’s invested in a process that leads him to rethink how he understands sexuality and intimacy?

How do you keep people safe while he goes through that process?

If we really do recognize, as we very much should, that rapists are people, how do we give them space to change like people while keeping others safe?