#i love that gumshoe is here though i missed him so much

[angeltrapz]

playing investigations again and bratworth is such a little bitch I love him

[biggie-chcese]

concepts for kurumi wendy gumshoe gabs because why the fresh fuck did they not give her any like actually hey kodaka can we talk-

(rain code spoilers btw)(also gab will stop sounding like a word to you)

im gonna try to structure a kurumi gumshoe gab set but i will not be writing the conversations out bc im sorry girl but 1. im not obsessed with her enough to basically write a fic and 2. i think the conversations would still be comparatively dull due to yuma's function being "the normal one" to contrast the rest of the kooky cast and kurumi's function as essentially the same thing but also as a love interest and exposition dropper. but i still wanna at least give a model of what her conversations would be like for funsies. I'll be mixing what i think would realistically happen if they gave her gabs and also what i think should happen. alright let's get started

first off, obviously they shouldnt be available until after ch 2. maybe in ch 3 you get a new gab page and yuma can start finding new gabs out in the overworld (what sort of gem color would she have??? jade? is that too close to vivia's emerald? i dont wanna say some shit like rose gold). im not coming up with locations and hints sorry idc that much.

GAB #1

the first gab is them jumping over the hurdle of "wait we don't really have much interaction besides investigating murders and blushing dumbly" which is primarily what irks me in the game's efforts to push her as a love interest. at least let us watch yuma spend some god damn time with her holy shit WHYYY doesn't she have any fucking gumshoe gabs I'm going insa-

erm anyway let's make em have a casual talk abt something. yuma would probably start off like "this is the first time ive really been alone with kurumi ahh i dont know what to say this is awkward ahhhh" and shinigami gets rightfully annoyed with his cuckly behavior. but in an effort to save the awkwardness yuma asks her about her work as an informant. i think she'd enthusiastically spout off about it and how her grandfather inspired her (though keeping it vague because i think she could save more talk of missing family members for later). maybe she talks about her first forway into her informant work and a certain mishap that occured, yuma has to guess what happened bc she's a little embarrassed about it (this is whwre the dialogue options come in). but it's completely harmless. maybe she got spotted by the person she was tailing and then got a slap on the wrist and sent home. yuma finds it a little endearing, shinigami gives the bond level up message, and there. solid conversation. next

GAB #2

yuma asks her what exactly got her so interested in detectives. did she read heroic novels about them? did she see their noble efforts in the headlines? was she personally saved by one? the possibilities are endless and could all be answered here. actually lets have her teasingly make yuma guess here. poof, there's your dialogue options.

maybe she can even have a little kookiness as a treat and accidentally let the true nature of her admiration for detectives slip for a moment where it pretty much crosses the line of "that's a bit creepy". not towards yuma but still something a bit off putting like obsessively keeping track of her favorite detectives' activities or having information about their personal lives she absolutely shouldn't have (informant + proud participant in WDO stan culture is a dangerous combo) but she also misses doing that because now kanai ward is isolated. yuma could also be like "wait isnt what you were doing then a bit too much?" but it gets dismissed by shinigami telling him they levelled up their bond

Threeeeee!!!

this one should be about aiko methinks. yuma catches kurumi in a down mood and asks what's up and it goes from there. she gives us more detail into her friendship with aiko and maybe she could even actually acknowledge the deaths of those theatre club girls and mention how chillingly quiet the club has gotten. she tells yuma that she tries not to think about it, but the empty space they left behind is immense... yuma's dialogue choices may be to try to cheer up/comfort her. thank you, next

4

perhaps now she can talk about her grandpa (and also maybe drop how that home situation is cause girl where are your parents). she could talk about her mission in finding him cause he must be out there!!! somewhere!!!! this shit could be sentimental or smth. she could say something about kanai ward's nearly extinct species of people who are still fighting for the truth and how even when things are dangerous she remembers that no one else will do it so she's gotta step it up. she'd pivot that over to saying how glad she is that the master detectives are here bc of that, and yuma could have dialogue options where the correct choice is basically saying he admires her for that. idk. next

The Fiverrrrrrr

final gab. i was gonna be funny and say "probably another love confession like fubuki's and then yuma hits her with the nuh-uh" but due to the nature of the epilogue i actually dont think it does exactly that. maybe kurumi is stuck on a small, separate thing she's investigating and she summarizes what's up. i think it could potentially be a more personal problem or at least something she can connect to (another girl in school missing a family member? idk) so that it's a bit obvious she's more frustrated in not finding any leads. yuma helps her out a little in finding a lead (this is where the dialogue choices come in) and after thanking him, kurumi is like "y'know, we make a pretty great team" (flirting, but yuma doesnt read it that way.) shinigami groans and maybe even fusses about how she's yuma's partner but this goes ignored. and of course yuma's dense ass is like yeah i think you have the makings of a great informant and detective and he essentially coworker-zones her. kurumi then asks about how they could still maybe possibly work like this together perhaps maybe 👉 👈 🥹 after solving kanai ward's ultimate secret and yuma happily agrees. this will make his choice in the epilogue to fuck off to florida without much of a goodbye even funnier.

anyway thats it for my kurumi gumshoe gabs thanks for reading

[fraeuleintaka]

AAIC Pre-Order Bonus Trailer

This is the 62nd post in the Ace Attorney Investigations Collection Countdown: 19 days left until release!

Today's topic: the Pre-Order Bonus Trailer for the Investigations Collection!

Another post, another new trailer for the Investigations Collection! We're really getting spoiled here! And I love them all, keep them coming! This time Miles and Gumshoe talk about the pre-order bonus that comes with the collection. I always love it when characters from a game talk about their own game that they're a part of, it's so wonderfully meta. Like the games are just an adaption of their real adventures and they're judging how well they've been represented. So much potential!

The conversation starts with Miles contemplating that he should soon put in the pre-order for his own collection. (You haven't done that yet? Shame on you, Miles!) Gumshoe assures him that there's no rush since you can buy it whenever you want. Miles corrects him (rather confidently) with information about the pre-order bonus, the 5 arranged tracks from I2 you get, and Gumshoe, shocked, immediately runs off to buy the collection before Miles can stop him. He ponders to himself that Gumshoe hopefully knows you can't directly buy the pre-order bonus right now and then says (out loud!) with a grin that he can't really fault him for wanting to see him (Miles) in action so badly.

Once again a wonderfully precious interaction between the two! Of course Miles would know all the information about his own collection and Gumshoe isn't fully in the loop. I love how Miles appreciates his enthusiasm though! It's also praise for himself, sure, but he seems to be flattered that Gumshoe is so excited about the release of his collection (and doesn't want to miss the bonus content). Considering how often he's impressed by and in awe of Miles' deductions during the Investigations games this fits their dynamic perfectly and it's kinda cute to imagine Gumshoe playing or watching a recreation of the cases they solved together and being amazed by Miles all over again. You'd think Miles would be annoyed by this and he does react confused about it sometimes but other than that he's just flattered and even enjoys Gumshoe's praise when it doesn't interfere with a current task. This even goes into their relationship arc in I2 with Miles sort of taking Gumshoe's unwavering support for granted and realizing how much he truly relies on and needs him. It's a wonderful progression and I always love the contrast of Gumshoe's overflowing enthusiasm with Miles' calm rationality in their dynamic. It's one of the things that makes them such a perfect fit and an amazing team.

Now I'm thinking about the entire main cast of the Investigations games buying (or pre-ordering) the collection 😄 Few of them would probably be as excited about seeing Miles specifically in action as Gumshoe is here but I can only too well imagine their reactions to the parts they didn't see directly and the shenanigans Miles got up to in them. Now that's some interactions I want to see!

[heaven-s-black-box]

Wright Anything Agency + Prosecutors Office= Chaos chpt.4

Return to File

Recovery date: May 28th, 2020

Description: The WAA's air conditioner breaks during an LA summer, so they go to the only place they can think of... the prosecutors office. Chaos ensues led by the youngest members of the Wright and Edgeworth families.

Notes: A entry series involving a descendant of a traveler, following the death of her mother it was determined Sky would be better off staying with Miles Edgeworth. This is an OC insert, the fantastical technobabble is just for looks

Related works: Miles adopts Sky, Trucy meets Sky

Chapters: 1 2 2.5 3 4 5 5.5

Word count: 1 794

Back to directory

“You know. As much as I’m not a fan of Khura'in’s weather, it sure beats L.A summers. Like seriously! At least in Khura'in I can add layers, I don’t know what to do here,” Ema shoved a handful of snackoos in her mouth. L.A’s heat bothered her more the more time she spent in Khura’in and she was not a fan.

“I do not find the weather as painful as you claim.”

She glared at him, “How are you wearing a coat?” Her face turned into a look of disgust as she eyed his coat.

“As I said, the heat doesn’t bother me.” Prosecutor Sahdmadhi turned and began walking towards their hotel. Once he turned his back, she threw a small handful of snackoos at him.

“Weirdo,” she grumbled. “Can we at least grab a cab?”

---

The foyer was empty except for the secretarys sitting at their desks. Simon had finally managed to get his hands on a case, he was thankful he didn’t have to do the extra paperwork anymore. Klavier had some music business to attend to, apparently he was trying to set up a solo tour. At least according to the tabloids, he hadn’t actually said anything to anyone other than Edgeworth. Edgeworth was in a meeting from ten until noon, then one until four. He hadn’t said what they were about, and no one could really bring themselves to care, they were probably boring. Apollo had picked up another case with the hopes it would go better then his last one, and the rest of the WAA was in court. 

Prosecutor Sahdmadhi had gone to pick up his case file, which Edgeworth had left for him up front. Meanwhile, Ema had decided to pay the precinct a visit, there were some people she missed. They were going to meet halfway at a burger joint that prosecutor Sahdmadhi had chosen after much consideration. “What does it matter what the rating is?” Ema had asked when he told her to check the rating. “The only people who actually rate restaurants are people who really hated it, or people who got rewards for giving it five stars… Usually.” He’d still insisted she check the rating though.

When he got there, Ema was sitting at a table staring at the menu. He pulled out his chair and sat across from her, making her look up. He put his coat on the back of his chair not wanting to dirty it. 

“I was not expecting you to arrive first,” he said, opening his menu.

“Gumshoe wasn’t in,” she said, “What do you think sounds better? Fries and a burger or potato skins and a burger?” She looked up at him.

“Potato skins? Why would you eat just the skin of a potato,” he looked confused. It was kind of funny.

“Potato skins it is!” she cheered, closing her menu. “So, who’s the defense of our case?”

“It seems Apollo Justice has taken the defense,” he sounded a little distracted. Probably putting way too much thought into what he’s getting.

Ema took a sip of her water and fanned herself. Maybe she should suggest a day at the beach before they head back to Khura’in. Beaches were one of the things she missed about L.A, the other being able to find snackoos pretty much everywhere. There only seemed to be one or two stores in Khura’in that carried her beloved snacks. She briefly wondered if she could bring a box back to Khura’in.

---

Edgeworth let out a long sigh as he left the meeting room. Although he did love his job as chief prosecutor, he wasn’t the biggest fan of the meetings. Especially ones on days like today where the temperature was around sixty-six degrees fahrenheit (nineteen degrees celsius). Draping his coat over his arm, he made his way to the foyer.

“I’ll be stepping out for lunch. If people begin arriving for the next meeting before I return, direct them to meeting room A,” he said to the receptionist before turning to the door.

“Sir, your lunch is in your office.” He stopped.

“Pardon?” He turned back to the receptionists.

“Your lunch is in your office, you have a guest as well. Prosecutor Sahdmadhi also came by and collected the case report,” the receptionist said, before turning back to his work.

“I don’t have lunch plans with anyone today.”

“They said you didn’t need plans to have lunch together,” the other receptionist smiled.

Confused, Edgeworth took the stairs up to his office. Sometimes, usually days like this, he wished he could stomach the elevator. When he got to his office, he opened it carefully. Obviously if the receptionists didn’t know the person, they wouldn’t be sent up, but you could never be too careful. That was especially true with his and Wright’s track record, it seemed whenever they got involved nothing was as it seemed.

Once he opened the door, his questions about his guest vanished. Spinning in circles in his chair was Sky. She stopped when she saw him and reached for something on the floor. She put a bag on his desk and pulled out two containers. Already on the desk were two iced teas from Starbucks, although he normally just got normal tea, he was thankful she’d brought him something iced.

“I figured I’d make your life easier by bringing you lunch,” she smiled. He sat down in the chair across from her and took one of the containers.

“While the gesture is appreciated, the secrecy was unnecessary,” he smiled, opening the container. It was a sub, quick, easy, not too messy, and didn’t need to be reheated.

They sat together and enjoyed Miles’s lunch hour in peace with the fans in his office on. If today was this hot, he was not looking forward to tomorrow.

---

“Daddy, can I go get a drink from the vending machine?” Trucy whined. 

They were taking a quick recess, so Trucy and Wright were sitting in the defendants lobby. Wright was shuffling through papers and Trucy was sprawled out on the couch. Despite there being AC, the court house was big. That meant it wasn’t as cool because they couldn’t have it up too high. It would be too expensive if they kept it at full power, it was the same with the precinct and prosecutor’s office. Wright wondered what would happen tomorrow if they got the heat wave the weather was calling for.

“Sure. Can you grab me something too?” He looked up at her. She was already by the door, hadn’t she been beside him a second ago?

“Yep!”

---

“Y’know you’d probably be waaayyy more comfortable if you took your coat off,” Kay chirped as she followed Simon around his crime scene.

Sebastian didn’t need her, and Trucy had bailed on magic practice last minute, something about the case getting interesting. So she decided to tail Simon instead of sitting around doing nothing. Of course it may have had something to do with the Taka. The bird in question was currently being fed by Kay while he sat on her shoulder. Simon had agreed she could hold him if she sat still, it was a win win.

“I am perfectly fine Faraday-chan,” he grumbled. He was not in fact “perfectly fine” and was actually sweating pretty bad. However, he had nowhere to put his coat so he just had to live with it. Thankfully, the majority of their investigation was inside and they were just about done outside.

---

“Find anything important yet pal?” Detective Gumshoe called down to him.

He was currently shuffling around in a mucky ditch looking for evidence. This meant he was in a raincoat and rubber boots which weren’t the most comfortable in this heat. He’d wanted to leave this until the very end, but by then the water could have washed away evidence. The smell was no help either, it smelt like something had died in the water. Maybe a skunk, it smelt bad enough.

“Nothing. I’m about ready t-” he had turned around to Gumshoe and stepped forwards. When he stepped, he heard a disgusting squishing sound and maybe a crack. He sunk just enough for the water in the ditch to flood his boot and he cringed. “Words can not express how disgusting I feel right now,” he said through gritted teeth.

“You okay pal?”

“I think I’m done investigating for a bit. I need to change my socks… and pants… and I think I’ll take a shower while I’m at it.” He pulled himself out of the ditch and grumbled as he sloshed towards the road to hail a cab home.

---

“Trucy!” Athena called from the top of the stairs.

Trucy was standing by the bottom of the stairs doing some card tricks for a small crowd. From what she’d heard, they hadn’t received a verdict yet, but things were looking pretty good for the defense. On her end, it wasn’t as clear. She had been able to create some doubt about her clients guilt, but still nowhere near enough to get a not guilty verdict. Trucy had offered to help look around her crime scene, after all two pairs of eyes were better than one.

Just as she was about to reach the bottom, she missed a step and tumbled the rest of the way down. She could see Trucy cringe as she hit the ground.

“All good!” Athena cheered, hopping up.

---

Miles 8:42 P.M Incase you haven’t seen the news,  it seems there won’t be any trials  tomorrow There is supposed to be a heat  wave and even with air conditioning, ��there would be too many people  in the building 8:50 P.M I just heard Sooooo wanna have a get together? Miles 8:51 P.M Yes. I think that would be ac No. Ignore the last text. This whole week has been a get together 8:52 P.M Oh come on Everyone did do work this week Plus it’s gonna be really hot Too hot to do any work comfortably I was thinking we could go to the  beach Miles 9:30 P.M Fine 9:31 P.M Jeez was it really that hard to decide Miles 9:32 P.M Yes Good night Phoenix Wright

“Hey Trucy?” Wright poked his daughter. They’d been watching T.V together before bed. She looked up from her phone with sparkles in her eyes.

“We’re going to the beach tomorrow?!” She exclaimed. “Yay!” She jumped on him and threw her arms around his neck.

“Jeez,” he let out a chuckle, “Are you two telepathic or something?”

She sat back beside him and stuck her tongue out and pulled out her phone, “I’m gonna let everyone know!” 

[voiidegg]

I HAVE SO MUCH TO SAY. WHAT THE HELL

i was literally screaming at 3am from all these damn revelations and i don’t know how the hell to write it all so i’m putting a cut here. also spoilers :P

APOLLO AND TRUCY ARE HALF SIBLINGS!!!!!! YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW HAPPY THIS MAKES ME!!! U GOT PHOENIX THE DAD, TRUCY AND HER BIG BRO APOLLO AHH THATS SO CUTEEEE

i actually clipped the very moment i worked out they were related but i need to ask a friends permission to post it since her voice is in it too lol (i instantly noticed the bracelets and it felt like something clicked together in my brain)

i was genuinely fucking tweaking when the pic of the gramayres showed up because THAT DAMN SINGER FROM TURNABOUT SERENADE WAS THERE. genuinely fucking tweaking but couldn’t make the connection at the time. i knew it was an old pic bc of zak being there.

also, ZAK WAS THE VICTIM FROM THE FIRST CASE?!!!?!!!?!! AND TRUCY AND PHOENIX KNEW??!!!!?!!??! i knew i recognised that pic on the wall of the agency too much!! it was bugging me for so long!

i am really happy all the magic stuff went to trucy in the end, i was starting to get really bad vibes from the uncle dude. especially with the 7 years ago case. i felt so bad for phoenix, he had no idea that paper was forged.

speaking of that, KRISTOPH. THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL. BLACK PSYCHE LOCKS???? i’ve only ever seen red ones. and the creepy face showing up on his hand… did bro genuinely make a deal with the devil or something?? i was freaked out. everything went back to him it gave me absolute chills. he tried killing a sweet girl :( i love vera sm :(( i cant tell you how happy it made me that klavier wasn’t in cahoots with his brother though, i think i would have been real disappointed in him if that happened. thank god they didn’t go that route. klavier is deffo one of my fav prosecutors (sorry franziska!)

i thought it was well mad one of the jurors was apollo and trucy’s mum. also side note, the mum is very pretty :3 i can see why phoenix chose that though, i honestly gave him not enough credit lol. he’s a smart man.

the end genuinely made me cry. the way phoenix and thalassa spoke of their kids and how phoenix will take care of them and how they’re important to him made me fucking WEEP. phoenix is such a good daddy T^T

and on an unrelated note, seeing gumshoe in the case 7 years ago made me so happy. i missed that teddy bear :3 seeing meekins was another story, no damn wonder zak escaped LMFAO. nah i’m too harsh on meekins i genuinely like the guy he’s funny

100/10 game. on to the next one!!

EDIT: i was also really happy to use the magatama again. i missed it, it was fun to use. that entire section was fucking awesome and i had so much fun playing it

AFTER SO MANY YEARS IVE FINALLY STARTED APOLLO JUSTICE

i know absolutely nothing about this game or the next two and i’ve avoided spoilers for so long and i just finished the first case and i have one thing to say

WHEN DID PHOENIX BECOME A DILF GOD DAMN

also the first case was absolutely bonkers for a first case my god

[im-still-watching-anime]

i finally started playing aa investigations and i’m already completely in love with these mechanics highkey really really fun

[abluescarfonwaston]

Anyway this is @sapphire-wine fault so blame her.

Detective conan ace attorney au where Edgeworth gets reverted to the body of a child after he followed after two men dressed in black he suspected were a part of a smuggling ring. Gumshoe lost him and when Edgeworth woke up he was like 5 again.

Gumshoe finds him in a pile of his old clothes that he’s MANY sizes too small for now. But Gumshoe can’t afford to take care of him! And he Definitely cant go home. He can’t even reach the door handle! Luckily Mia, Wright and Maya are all at this theme park celebrating Wright’s first case win! 

Gumshoe: Hey can you hold onto this for me for a second?

Wright: Huh? Sure?

Gumshoe: *Hands him tiny Edgeworth but in glasses and baby*

Wright: ... *Miles sweating bullets as Phoenix studies him* YOU’RE SO CUTE!

Edgeworth, master of being where the murders are gets Wright and Mia a Lot of work. Edgeworth is trying so hard to track down this smuggling ring and get his body back. Wright laments to... Tails (open to a better/worse fake name for Miles) that the man he studied law to met has suddenly disappeared. Phoenix and Tails share Wright’s bed the first few nights before they buy a second futon. Miles looks at him so sadly. Then Wright starts snoring and he looks less fond.

Miles regularly wakes Phoenix up in the middle of the night with nightmares. Phoenix cuddles him back to bed with all the Dad he will one day master. Talks to Mia about getting Tails into therapy because clearly that kid has seen some shit and is not handling it well.

Miles has to sit through first grade. It is a nightmare of children he does not know how to interact with (just like the first time!) and mind numbing boredom. (Just like last time!) Phoenix gets Many requests from the teachers to ‘just let the kids write his own reports please.’ Phoenix has no idea what they’re talking about.

He’s in a class with uhh Kay, Sebastian, Athena and Cody. They are very impressed by the fact he knows so much about the Steel Samurai and they make him watch the Jammin’ ninja as well. They solve kiddy cases as the Detective Kids. Sometimes these turn into murders/mafia/kidnappings. It’s Fine.

Franziska flies in to see her Father again. (Read: To look for her missing brother that she’s terrified her Father killed.) She is absolutely Brutal in court and Tears Wright and Mia apart. They manage to eke out a second day by the skin of their teeth.

Edgeworth sees her leaving. All rage and pain wrapped up in fury. Scrambles to remember what it was that kid called her that had her preening for Days.

“Hey Ms. Whip Lady!” Oh he was getting hit for that.

The hit never came. “... What is it small child?”

“Would you like to play chess some time with me?”

“... If you would like,” (I am so lonely here) “I suppose I could.” (I just want my brother back) “My little brother loves that game you know?”

“I do.”

Edgeworth sneaking into Lana’s office to find some key evidence about the smuggling ring. Gant Almost finding him. Badd searching for the same group. Shields returning and putting together who Miles is after like 0.5 cases with him and proceeding to almost blow his cover every single time they meet. Edgeworth questioning the system that corrupted him. Badd being Deeply frustrated people keep letting the 5 year old Tails run around the crime scene. (Gumshoe why are you letting this happen?!)

Miles learning that Kay’s father was killed by the smuggling ring to stop the investigation. That Athena’s uncle/brother was framed for murder by them. Realizing that Sebastian’s father is the head of the organization that attempted to have him killed (you thought it was a coincidence we went after you? You sniff around a little too much and Von Karma wasn’t moving fast enough) Cody is- well he’s just a very good boy with a camera and a love of the steel samurai and justice. Miles loves him very much.

Phoenix getting so desperate to just Know if Miles is alive or not that he asks Maya to channel him. (Mia already refused) Maya accidentally pulling Gregory instead and Gregory, lost and confused, comforting Phoenix.

Ema developing a ‘cure’ for his deaged state but unfortunately it only works for a little while. “Phoenix I-” Love you too. He wants to say. But their isn’t time. There is Never enough time.

Them all tearing down the entire smuggling ring and uprooting the deep roots of corruption in their system. The sword raised above the guilty chest of the corrupted and damned ready to plunge it in for one final victory over evil and madness-

When Von Karma kicks the feet out from under him.

And suddenly their whole case is falling apart because their Lead witness is suddenly pleading guilty to his father’s murder and there are so many voices demanding his guilt and so many more asking where Tails went- No one cared about Edgeworth. Edgeworth should just Die. Let him just die boy. Don’t make us force your hand.

Miles curling up that Same Exact way Tails does after an earthquake. Phoenix who was So ready to defend him realizing that Miles has been manipulating him for Months now and leaving the courthouse in a rage. Franziska holding her brother that she’s been looking for so long as his bones Melt back down to youth. A glazed eye boy taking the stand and confessing to his father’s guilt. Mia griting her teeth and not knowing how to proceed.

Von Karma demanding a verdict because It’s rather obvious isn’t it?

Franziska yelling out Objection! Standing against her Father. Shaking and demanding a fair trial for him. Protecting her Little Brother from her Father. From Papa with shaking hands.

(I spent the last months thinking you’d taken him from me once. I’ll not stand by and let you do that to me for Real)

He delaying the trial enough that Wright comes back. Them fighting side by side. The kids yelling out things that Miles taught them. The Ballistic markings Mr. Nick!

Coming together at the last minute to save Miles Edgeworth. Uncovering the truth and exposing the corruption of the system. Miles and Phoenix talking. I wanted to save you. You did.

Edgeworth taking the detective kids out for trips to the museum after its all over. Them being surprised how little their dynamic changes despite the fact he can now drive. He is still an absolute pushover but now he can buy them candy.

Lana and Mia reconnect over this kid they got very attached to (Miles vs Tails) and swapping stories and dragging him mercilessly. Maya dragging Edgeworth in his full adult glory to their (previously established) weekly steel samurai viewing party that Does take place in a mountain of pillows and blankets.

Phoenix sitting up late that first night that Edgeworth went back home and Missing. Missing all the space that was filled by another person. By caring for another person. (Shouldn’t it be a relief? Why am I so empty?) Mindlessly calling Edgeworth who answers because he can’t sleep even though he’s exhausted. (i don’t want to dream and wake up alone.) Come over Edgeworth. Edgeworth sleeping on the futon on the floor and Wright dropping his hand over the edge for Edgeworth to hold. Edgeworth not waking up alone.

Detective Conan au.

[thelowlysatsuma]

thinking Once Again about an ace attorney taz balance au:

nick as taako. he’s nicer than the og flip wizard, sure, but they’re both stubborn, creative, and petty little bitches when they wanna be. they both contain multitudes. (and prior to the adventure, nick used to run a law firm in the town of glamour springs with a man named kristoph gavin. he doesn’t talk about glamour springs anymore)

gumshoe as magnus. rustic hospitality and a heart of gold? check. dumb as a sack of rocks? double check <3 I would have maggey as julia, but i have another role in mind for her, so we’ll see.

maya as merle. okay, hear me out. maya as merle with x-treme teen magatama she uses to cast zone of truth. maya as merle, a devotee of the god of life, misty. maya as merle, a scared teen with too much on her plate who eventually dips and leaves her cousin behind because she just can’t take it. maya as merle, because she chooses joy.

edgeworth as kravitz. this one is just obvious. also fancy boys squad.

there’s a woman in nick’s umbrella. her name is mia, and she’s been as good as dead for a long, long time.

the trio are warned to avoid masked phantoms. eventually, they run across a lich who calls himself godot, and claims to have crawled up from the depths of hell to warn them of the hunger of the world. something about him seems strangely familiar.

working for the bureau of balance isn’t easy, especially when your boss is a hardass like lana skye. under the surface, though, she’s a lot nicer than she appears. and under THAT surface, she’s hiding something.

lana’s assistant only says his title, so that’s what people call him. “judge!” he says. “judge, judge!”

in a far off section of the felicity wilds, there’s a place called hazakura. it can give you whatever you desire — if you can beat some challenges. twins preside over it, identical in all but their hair. they seem sweet. they seem kind. they seem helpful. funny, how people can seem.

there’s a goddess weaving a tapestry. she’s not very good at weaving. she’s not very good at most things. but maggey tries, and when she sees seven threads she knows they’re going to be amazing.

there is a shadow creeping, looming, lurking in us all. her voice booms to the masses and when her words do not sway them, her whip certainly does. franziska von karma is being eaten alive by her own twisted perseverance, her own unhinged determination. she is hungry. she is hungry. she is almost here. (and god, does she miss her only friend)

trucy wright is a magician, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t solve crime in her off hours. she’s not the world’s greatest detective for nothing, you know.

anyways taz balance au please god someone talk to me about this I’m in love with the concept

[rivalsforlife]

The Miles Dadworth Fic Rec List

List last updated: May 14 2021

Hopefully comprehensive list of fics of Miles Edgeworth Being A Father. This can be heavily implied or him outright adopting a kid. Not filtered through for quality, I just picked all the ones I could find easily.

Here’s how it works: I went through the 29 fics in the platonic Miles&Kay tag on ao3 that weren’t also tagged with the ship (gross), and skimmed through the fics that listed them both in the character tags. I also went through the platonic Sebastian&Miles tag. (Pretty much all the Sebastian fics are under the aai2 spoilers category regardless of how much spoilers are actually in there, just to be on the safe side!) I picked out ones that were either Miles Is A Dad or at least had heavy Dad vibes, and in which that relationship played a major if not were the sole focus of the story.

I didn’t go through Trucy’s tag yet because it’s the largest and also overlaps heavily with narumitsu - and while I love the ship, I wanted to focus on platonic relationships here, and didn’t really want to break down if each fic is more Miles&Trucy focused or narumitsu focused. Maybe later! I also didn’t go through the fics with original child characters for Miles -- though if you have any, lmk and I’ll add in a category for them, it counts as Dadworth too.

In the interest of being transparent as possible, these options are probably going to be biased. I read over or at least skimmed all of the fics submitted here before I put together this list, and therefore, I probably missed some that are tagged under ships that I personally dislike. As long as the ship isn’t something egregious, feel free to recommend it preferably with the Dadworth parts you like pointed out to me, and I’ll add it!

Now that those disclaimers are done… each of the fics below is sorted into one of three categories based on spoilers. There’s the link, followed by the title, author, rating, word count, and completion status (most are complete) along with any notes I thought might be helpful, such as which Dadworth relationship it focuses on but also any content warnings. Check them out and send the authors your love!

If you have any recommendations for the list, whether that’s because it’s on a non-ao3 site, under a ship I avoided, under a Dadworth relationship I didn’t search for, or I just plain missed something… send me a message either here or on twitter @rivalsforlife with a link to the fic! 

Similarly, if one of your fics on this list and you don’t want it to be, let me know and I’ll remove you from it, no hard feelings!

Full list under the “keep reading”.

Relatively Spoiler-Free Recs

… like it’s not going to be totally spoiler-free, but no major spoilers for anything released post-AJ unless stated otherwise.

Surprise Visit, by tellezara. T, 1385 words, complete. Not explicitly Dadworth, but Kay breaks into Miles’s house and meets Phoenix. Background narumitsu.

Means to an End by xtwilightzx. T, 24653 words, complete. Miles + Kay and a little bit of Miles + Trucy, again there’s narumitsu haha oops there’s gonna be a lot of those. It’s a spy+secret agent AU, I kind of just went through the Kay parts when adding it so I didn’t read over a lot of it and it’s been a while since I read it the first time. Not a fluffy piece, so tread carefully!

startling conclusions., by snowweiss. G, 3589 words, complete. Mainly Miles + Trucy and also Kay is there, and again, background narumitsu. 

The Little Things, by TelepathJeneral. G, 1838 words, complete. Miles+Kay, literally tagged “the ‘dad who isn’t a dad’” so. Yeah.

By the Skies, by potatomin. G, 1893 words, complete. Miles + Kay, not outright dad-stuff and can be read as friendship-only but here I am anyways claiming it

Turnabout Road Trip, by AutisticWriter. G, 1032 words, complete. Miles + Kay, not outright dad stuff but there’s a line implying it. Miles and Kay go to the Stonewall Inn, and there’s implied narumitsu.

Dear Kay, by chariset. T, 3790 words, complete. As the name would suggest it’s Miles + Kay. Contains spoilers for Dual Destinies, largely narumitsu focused, and a few lines that are nsfw-ish (for the narumitsu) but nothing graphic.

Jingleheimer Schmidt, by Meowzee. T, 2702 words, complete. It’s an AU where Miles has adopted (younger) Kay, Sebastian, and Ema, running into Phoenix who has adopted Trucy and (younger) Apollo and (human?) Charley. There’s a bit of implied narumitsu in there I think.

The Track Meet, by Auste. G, 2053 words, complete. Kay invites Miles and Gumshoe to her track meet. It’s not outright Dadworth, can be read as friendship only, but it’s implied in a few places.

An Unexpected Embrace, by PaleSkiessss. G, 2493 words, complete. Miles+Kay, there’s a spoiler for the victim of AAI case 4 in there but since I don’t think it’s an outright spoiler it’s here. Warning for kidnapping and hopsitals.

A Real Hero, by agoldengalaxy. G, 1609 words, complete. Miles+Kay, it takes place after aai2 but there aren’t any spoilers for it in here. 

The Single-Dads-In-Law-Enforcement Club, by milesedgeworthy (glassandroses). T, 1063 words at the time of writing this, incomplete. AU where Miles adopts Kay (who is aged down in this). Narumitsu seems to be a future focus, there’s also Gumshoe/Maggey and Mia/Diego. 

Long Known Facts, by Laquilasse. G, 3010 words, complete. Miles+Kay and Miles+Trucy, along with Miles+Gregory (various Dadworth flavours!). Miles turns 36 and reflects on the loss of his father; it’s a little heavy, naturally, but has a hopeful ending. Narumitsu is there as a pairing. Warning for past suicidal thinking.

Looking Past the Blindside, by AuthorForHire. G, 2808 words, complete. Miles+Kay, watching the beginning of Turnabout Succession (hence, AA4 spoilers).

From Borginia, with Love, by Inkblot0Blue. G, 678 words, complete (but reportedly part of an earlier abandoned(?) work). Miles+Kay and Miles+Sebastian, but no spoilers pop up regarding Sebastian.

Found, by BexDaBex. G, 318 words, complete. Miles+Kay, Miles finds Kay crying in the prosecutor’s office.

To the victor goes the spoils, by Verse. G, 499 words, complete. Miles+Kay, Miles spends a ridiculous amount of money on Kay. Warning that, while the fic itself is fine and absolutely dadworth, it is based on a prompt and the prompter mentions it as a ship in the prompt. (Again, the fic itself is fine, just brace yourself for that if needed.)

Making the Most, by digitaldreams. G, 2000 words, complete. Miles+Kay, Miles introduces Kay to Phoenix. narumitsu is in this one.

AAI Spoilers

For fics that contain spoilers for the first investigations game, but not the second.

Room 1202, by AquilaMage, G, 2950 words, complete. A bit of Miles + Kay stuff, but mostly Kay and Trucy sister-like bonding fluff!

Late Night, by agoldengalaxy. G, 1270 words, complete. Miles + Kay, post-AAI.

Turnabout Smokescreen, by chariset. T, 61036 words, complete. This is a multi-chapter casefic, it’s not super Dadworth focused but believe me it is in there, Miles + Kay. Some SOJ spoilers, not very fluffy, and I didn’t read over it before adding it to the list since it’s so long, so there may be some warnings or spoilers that I missed!

Promises, by an orphaned account :(. G, 1390 words, complete. Miles + Kay, Miles signs her promise notebook.

Two in the Bush, by Rosage. G, 4568 words, complete. Miles has adopted Kay in this, and some Kay+Trucy interactions plus Protective Dad Phoenix -- it’s not a fluffy fic, though, deals with moral ambiguity + Actual Yatagarasu Kay.

Spreading Her Wings, by Auste. G, 1542 words, complete. Less Dadworth and more Miles as a mentor to Kay, on her first day as a prosecutor, but I’m counting it in this anyways.

Father and daughter, by thewritingchip. G, 370 words, complete. Miles + Kay. Kay misses her father.

Coming out, by Verse. G, 977 words, complete. Miles+Kay, Kay comes out as trans to Miles. Content warning for an instance of unintentional deadnaming in the fic.

Never Lose You, by Leave_the_cravat. T, 13800 words, incomplete as of the time I’m writing this. Miles+Kay, Miles get shot and his friends/found family wait for him to recover. Evidently, content warning for gun violence and hospitals; more detailed warnings in the chapters.

Here, by lesbiantoddhoward.  G, 1194 words, complete. Miles+Kay, Kay works through some of her trauma post-AAI with the help of Miles. Not outright dadworth, but can be read as such.

AAI2 Spoilers

For fics that contain any amount of spoilers for the second investigations game.

Childswap, by theacegrace, aka me… sorry for the self-promotion haha but it fits. G, 11781 words, complete, has Miles’ relationships with Trucy + Kay + Sebastian (and also background, heavily implied narumitsu)

“family.”, by snowweiss. G, 2403 words, complete, features Miles’ relationships with Kay and Trucy and also narumitsu. No major plot spoilers but some implied ones through aai2 case 3 and 4.

These Children Are Not Objections, But I Will Raise Them!, by organicgold. G, 12368 words, complete. Has a whole bunch of platonic relationships you can see in the tags and also narumitsu. Some plot spoilers re: Sebastian

Edgeworth Gets Glasses, by Pinkstar14, G, 1516 words, complete. There aren’t any aai2 plot spoilers but Ray and Sebastian do show up in this. A bit of Miles and Sebastian, and Miles and Kay. Also Gregory’s Ever-Looming Presence, because technically he’s a dadworth too.

a great thief has to eat too, by polly_perks. G, 1357 words, complete. Some spoilers for cases 4 and 5 in here, focused on Miles and Kay. Miles gives Kay college advice.

Family Found, by MortisBane. G, 2422 words, complete. Spoilers are just General Sebastian things, but it’s outright dadworth with Kay and Sebastian.

Marked, by AquilaMage. T, 2112 words, complete. Kind of like one of those “soulmate AUs” except skin-to-skin contact with someone who truly loves you, whether that’s platonic, familial, or romantic, results in marks. Has some Miles + Sebastian dad stuff, but Miles also has Sebastian and Kay living with him. There’s also the Klavier/Sebastian ship. Warnings for implied child abuse.

That Warm Familiar Feeling, by ShyAura. G, 3091 words, complete. It’s an AU where Kay and Seb are aged down and Miles adopts them. Again warnings for implied child abuse in this re: Blaise.

Sleeping on Talent, by StrawhatsAndDeliberds. G, 10258 words, complete. Mostly Miles + Sebastian focused, but Miles adopts both him and Kay after the events of aai2 (or at least lets them live in his house.)

With a Chip in his Shoulder, by StrawhatsAndDeliberds. G, 80179 words at the time of writing this, incomplete. Much like the one above, Miles+Sebastian focused but Kay is there too. (I’m not sure if this is supposed to be part of a series or not, but it’s similar with Sebastian working through his issues!)

Surprises and Pride, by agoldengalaxy. G, 2848 words, complete. Miles+Kay but Sebastian is there too, I don’t think there are any aai2 spoilers but since it takes place post-aai2 and Sebastian is there, I put it here just to be safe!

Awfully Quiet, by rainingbluegold. G, 1079 words, complete. Miles+Kay and Miles+Sebastian, Miles cheers them up after the events of aai2.

Home Is Where The Heart Is, by JJsADragon. G, 5887 words, complete. Miles+Kay - Miles tries to figure out Kay’s secret about where she’s been staying throughout the course of the investigations games. 

Birds of a Feather, by theacegrace (oh look it’s me again). G, 8738 words, complete. Miles+Kay (with a little bit of Miles+Gregory). Five times Miles reminds Kay of her father, and one time Miles reminds himself of his own.

Warm Welcome, by debestefarewell. G, 551 words, complete. Miles+Sebastian - Sebastian gets a REAL dad.

Of Revelations and Wedding Bells, by Hotel_Japanifornia. G, 1330 words, complete. Miles+Kay, Kay is getting married (to an ambiguous/unknown partner) and Miles walks her down the aisle.

schön rosmarin, by KiwiKat_Writes. T, 13885 words at the time of writing this, incomplete. Miles+Sebastian and some Miles+Kay. Sebastian gets a dog! Warnings for some child abuse (Blaise being horrible), mentioned animal death at the beginning. (I haven’t had the time to read this one in detail yet, so let me know if I missed something.)

Smile Through the Memories, by VonKarmasWhip. T, 2490 words, complete. Miles+Kay, where Miles adopts Kay and deals with memories and doubts about being a father. There’s Gregbadd in the beginning of this and mentions of narumitsu and faraskye.

A Different Kind of Lullaby, by JJsADragon. T, 4101 words, complete. Miles+Sebastian, Sebastian calls Miles in the middle of the night wondering what happened to his mother. Content warning for Blaise being terrible, so implied/referenced child abuse and neglect.

Photosynthesize, by UtterPandamonium. T, 2140 words, incomplete at the time of writing this. Miles+Kay, with Miles and Phoenix and their accidental child acquisitions. No spoilers yet, but I’m putting it here just in case there is. narumitsu and franmaya are tagged as relationships in here.

[nitrateglow]

Thoughts on While the City Sleeps (1928)

I finally got to see While the City Sleeps, one of Lon Chaney’s late career movies. The movie has never been released on home media or streaming, and can only be found on YouTube as far as I know. The print is quite beat up, with large chunks of missing footage and a story that can often get confusing if you have not read a synopsis beforehand. Regardless, it’s an enjoyable crime yarn, well-directed by Jack Conway and featuring a memorable Chaney performance.

Chaney plays Dan, an Irish-American gumshoe out to thwart gangsters terrorizing the city. He also wants to protect Myrtle (Anita Page), a young flapper who hangs out with crooks for kicks only to find herself endangered by the association. Saving her is a bit complicated though, since she’s in love with one of the less homicidal gang members. To make matters more awkward, Dan’s in love with Myrtle too, despite the massive age gap between them.

Most of the film feels like a prototypical police procedural, with Dan investigating crime scenes and interrogating an assortment of crooks. Chaney is thoroughly absorbed in his role and clearly had a ball with it, incorporating even the smallest details to make his performance believable. He’s tough-fibered but not without a tender side. For example, he is willing to give the sole decent crook Marty a chance to clean up his act.

I’m sad so many segments of this film have deteriorated because there are some thrilling scenes in here that would work so much better if we had the full context for them. I’m particularly sad that the print I watched didn’t have a lot of the Polly Moran character, a landlady who’s sweet on Dan. What does exist gives us a great glimpse of some great comic chemistry between the two of them. I’m with Chaney biographer Michael F. Blake in wishing those two had gotten to be a screen team in the mold of Marie Dressler and Wallace Beery.

About the only thing I didn’t like was the obligatory unrequited love subplot. Chaney movies often have him pining after a woman he cannot have and most of the time, that concept at least fits in the story because Chaney’s characters tend to be outsiders craving affection. However, here it feels more like the writers were like, “Well, Chaney’s in this movie, so we gotta have him mooning after Anita Page.” It doesn’t help that Page was 17 at the time of shooting and very much looks it. The two actors work best in the scenes where Dan is more a frustrated father figure trying to keep Myrtle out of trouble. The romantic stuff just falls flat.

Fortunately, the rest of the movie is good enough to overcome that flaw. It’s interesting to see Chaney in a part like this-- had he lived, it might have been interesting to see him in a film noir along these lines (even though he would have been in his 60s by then... but still!). Like I said before, the print of the full film on YouTube is rough but it’s worth checking out if you love Chaney. Here’s hoping it receives a decent release someday.

[collabwithmyself]

1-3: Turnabout Transfix (1/2)

Ray and Maya both teased him about his "old man phone," but in Miles's opinion, it worked perfectly well, so he saw no point in replacing it. It was simple, it was solid, and most importantly, he could still customize a ringtone with it.

This meant that waking up abruptly to a tinny rendition of the Steel Samurai theme song had him in a marginally better mood than if it were a normal, repetitive ringing dragging him out of slumber an hour earlier than usual. He fumbled blindly for the cell phone chiming away on his nightstand and dragged it over to him, squinting futilely at the caller ID before answering.

"Mlejerth," he managed.

"My!" screeched a voice, shouting directly into his ear and startling him into sitting up. "It's a disaster!"

"Wh-- Maya? What happened? Are you in danger?"

"It's the Steel Samurai!" Maya wailed. "He killed the Evil Magistrate!"

"Well, that seems largely out of character for him," Miles mused, rubbing his eyes. "...Wait, hold on, where did you get this information? Why are you giving me spoilers?"

"I mean in real life! Turn on the TV, or whatever it is you old men do to get news!"

"In real--" Miles's sleep-addled brain struggled to comprehend what Maya was trying to tell him. "You... do you mean their actors?"

"Yes! Duh!"

He fell back against the headboard in shock. "You're telling me Will Powers killed Jack Hammer?" Why didn't she say that in the first place?!

"That's what the police are saying! You're a defense attorney, My, do something! There's no way the Steel Samurai would kill anybody!"

"Wh-- Maya, you can't expect me to be able to catch the attention of a celebrity, let alone be picked by him to defend him in court! I've only acted as an attorney in two trials!"

"Yeah, and you beat Sascha von Karma! That's better than a whole resume of cases or whatever! Come on, My, you gotta!"

Miles pinched the bridge of his nose. "You won't stop pestering me until I agree to this, will you?"

"Nnnnope!" Maya popped the P emphatically. "Meet you at the detention center!"

"Yes, I'll see you--"

Click.

"...there..."

What had he just gotten himself into?

⁂

"So this is Global Studios?" Maya asked, hands on her hips as she peered around. "I kinda expected it to be... I dunno, bigger."

"Bigger isn't always better, you know," Miles replied, pushing up his glasses. "They make do excellently with what they have, wouldn't you agree?"

"You can say that again!"

Maya strolled closer to the gate, standing on her tiptoes. "Geez, where's the handle for this thing? You think we might have to climb it?"

Miles gave her a look that he hoped conveyed his lack of amusement properly. "We are not breaking into the studio. I highly doubt they'd let just anyone in, especially after a murder just took place. We might need to go back and get, well, a permission slip from Mr. Powers."

Maya smirked at him. "You just wanna get his autograph."

Miles's ears burned. "It's important to the case--"

A horrible screech startled them both, and Maya sprang back from the gate, reflexively snagging Miles by the sleeve and making him flinch a second time. It took him a moment to recognize the piercing cry as a human voice instead of some furious animal.

"Hey! You there! You wanna get in, you're gonna have to go through me! Honestly, all day I've had to deal with nothing but gawkers and sightseers, it seems like nobody in this city knows how to keep their nose out of things, they've all got another thing coming if they think they can get past me--"

He turned to find a person in blue storming out of the nearby security station and towards them both. Intimidated, but knowing better than to let that show, he straightened up, and beside him, Maya did the same.

"Er, pardon me. I'm a defense attorney, and this is my," Miles hesitated, "paralegal. We're here on behalf of--"

The elderly woman squinted at him, then brightened like a light being turned on. "Oh! What a lovely young man you are, aren't you just a sweetheart?"

Miles blinked at the praise. Beside him, Maya made a sudden retching noise, though he couldn't fathom why. "Er, I'm representing Will Powers," he continued, gesturing to the badge on his lapel, "and I was hoping you could let us in to conduct an investigation? You are the security guard, aren't you?"

"Oh, where are my manners? Wendy Oldbag, Global Studios security, but you can just call me grandma!" The old woman waved a hand at him. (Miles was... not going to do that.) "Why, you're so polite, not at all like most people these days, so pushy and impatient, looking to sightsee just because something horrible happened! No, I can tell you're an honest young man, you wouldn't dream of causing trouble, would you?"

Miles shook his head. Oldbag continued to ramble, so his gaze slipped away from her and towards Maya, who looked positively mortified.

"My, I think she likes you," she stage-whispered.

"Is that not a good thing?" Miles was puzzled. "She'll be more likely to let us in."

"Ohh, boy..."

It took a lot of convincing to assure this woman that they didn't need a personally guided tour, thank you, and it was Maya being her blunt self that eventually got her to take the hint and leave in a huff.

"That was..." Miles searched for the right word as he gazed about the studio grounds.

"Yikes," Maya finished.

"Maya, she was a perfectly agreeable woman--"

"Are you that oblivious, My? She was totally into you!" She threw her hands into the air. "You get such a bad crush you practically block out your memory when Mr. Powers talks to you, but this lady flirting with you doesn't set off any alarm bells?"

Miles spluttered. "She was not flirting!"

"She was totally making kissy eyes at you!"

"This is an entirely irrelevant discussion topic anyways, we should be investigating."

Maya puffed her cheeks out, balling her fists. "You can't just stand there and let weird old ladies creep on you, My!"

"Believe me," he huffed with finality, "I would never let any weird old person get into my head."

They didn't get far before a figure standing under the archway leading to the studios spotted them. The already large detective puffed up in anger when they approached.

"Hey! Aren't you that murderer from the other day?!"

Maya squeaked, bravado evaporating. "Yikes! It's that himbo detective...!"

"I-- I beg your pardon, Maya, what--"

The detective - Gumshoe, was it? - stomped a foot in frustration, chest heaving. "Prosecutor von Karma's real upset because of you! All frustrated and can't focus on work, staring out the window and muttering..."

Maya seemed to regain her resolve. "How is it our fault she's a sore loser, huh? And besides, if anyone's at fault, it's you for doing sloppy detective work!"

This only served to agitate Gumshoe further. "Don't you insult my boss!" he exploded. But then, all at once, he deflated, brows knitting together guiltily. "...I did my best..."

Maya looked thrown. "Um... s-sorry," she stammered. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings..."

The detective shook his head. "Nah, you got a point, pal... I shouldn't be blaming other people like that..."

Miles refrained from pointing out that it was pretty much his job to be blaming other people, along with his boss's. "Well, I suppose there's always the next case."

"Yeah... hey! Speaking of which! What the heck are you two doing here?!"

Maya put her hands on her hips and tried to make herself look bigger. "Well, we're on this case too, pal!"

Gumshoe's mouth fell open in offense. "Hey! You can't just go around calling people pal! That's my endearing character trait, pal!"

"Well, what are you gonna do about it, pal?!"

"Pal, I'm gonna--"

"Are you here," Miles interrupted loudly, "on behalf of Miss von Karma?"

It was the wrong thing to say, evidently, as Gumshoe set his jaw again. "I told you to address Prosecutor von Karma by the proper title! Don't let me catch you saying that around my boss, or you're in for it!"

What an odd thing to insist on, Miles thought, but he nodded along nonetheless. "Well? Are you?"

"Am I what...?" Gumshoe took a moment, most likely replaying the conversation in his head. "Oh! Yeah! Prosecutor von Karma's on this case, and this time, we've definitely got it in the bag!"

Miles remembered the strange, uneasy feeling he'd gotten when staring down that woman in court. How her eyes burned with a disgust and hatred Miles couldn't hope to decipher. How her cold composure had dissolved into furious outbursts and frantic bluffs in an effort to save face as Miles took her case apart. How angry, humiliated tears had pricked at the corners of her eyes, and she'd clung anxiously to her right side like she was preventing a wound from bleeding out.

"I'd be worried about her punching you, My," Maya had said to him, "but I think she might just break her hand trying."

How the scrawny brunette managed to be so imposing, Miles had no idea. Everything about her made his stomach twist, like something was inherently incorrect about her. He almost felt sorry for her, having to be raised by a man like Manfred von Karma, but she had been molded into his likeness - a ruthless prosecutor who sought no less than a perfect win record - which made her his enemy.

Some part of him wondered if they could have been friends in another life - a life where they'd crossed paths earlier.

But Miles had far more important things to worry about than that.

[askaceattorney]

Dear youngbounty,

Co-Mod: I didn’t see any clones, but thanks!

Dear BDC,

Co-Mod: That idea sounds interesting, but unfortunately, I don’t know enough about Dangronpa to be able to pull that off.  I can see if the other mods do, but I can’t promise anything more than that.

I agree with you about the Proto Badger, though.  I hate him more than Dr. Eggman hates “that hedgehog.”  Sadly, it looks like we’re stuck with him for now.  Why couldn’t you have taken him with you, the Mod?

Dear MB,

Co-Mod: I’m glad (and impressed) that you were able to free yourself in such a creative way, but it’s all good.  I used to do the same sort of mockery with submitters’ letters before someone pointed out its potential rudeness, since some of them don’t speak English as their first language, so I've got no room to complain.  In fact, I’m a big stickler about getting my spelling and grammar correct, so please feel free to point out any errors you find.

Dear Anonymous,

Co-Mod: Which ones, specifically?  I know that some of the ones from the Court Record are glitchy (and I failed to inform the new moderator about that), but I haven’t noticed anything unusual in any of the letters.  Show me an example, and I’ll see what can be done about it.

(Previous Letter)

(Link in Letter)

Dear Anonymous,

Mod Vera: That’s a good point! I must have missed that Easter egg. I was also originally going to make a joke about Ga’ran needing wigs for herself, but decided to keep it to something closer to canon.

For real, though, with Maya, Iris, Inga, Ga’ran and now Dhurke, it’s really convenient for spirit channeling disguises that so many people in this world have long black hair!

(Previous Post)

Dear AnthonyDeadman,

Co-Mod: I don’t know if I used this sprite before, but it captures how I feel perfectly, so I’m going with it:

Wait, not that one.  This one:

Actually, they’re both pretty accurate.

This letter means a lot to me, not just because I love knowing that my work and dedication have paid off in some way, but because I’ve been going through some serious struggles lately (more on that in a later post).  Being part of a blog that brings fun characters from an fun video game series to life has been awesome enough, and watching it grow into something bigger than it was has been even more awesome, but being able to provide some much-needed opportunities to laugh, smile, and escape from reality during a time of sorrow, fear, and uncertainty has been nothing short of a blessing for me.  Not to mention it’s helped me to enjoy life in new ways, so thanks for that, Capcom.

What I really appreciate, though, is you and so many others wishing me the best for the future.  It just so happens that the future has been one of my biggest fears for a long time, so hearing this kind of support, even from people I don’t know, is precisely what I need right now.  Allow me to offer my heartfelt thanks for it, and to wish each and everyone one of you the same.  The world needs people who can withstand any sort of circumstance right now, so don’t give any less than your best!

Stay gold yourself, pal.

(Previous Post)

Dear mungeondaster,

Mod Vera: Aw, thank you so much! I’m really happy to be here, and to have Co-Mod help me learn the ropes. I also love Vera! Her appearance is brief, but I do love the withdrawn artist trope, especially with a Pearl-level ignorance of the outside world.

Plus her design is just so dang good! Almost as if she drew herself.

(Previous Letter)

Dear ajanisapprentice,

Mod Vera: Ahahaha, twas I who thought of that! I count that as my first report card as the new Mod!

(Previous Letter)

Dear mungeondaster,

Mod Vera: Oh, you know Nick relied on Maya’s budding big sister energy while he was figuring out single fatherhood. As Maya would say, he’s hopeless without her.

Though my personal favorite new headcanon is Pearls helping Gumshoe win Maggey’s heart. (I still need that fanfiction to happen!)

(The Previous Posts)

Dear yuesworld,

Co-Mod: It’s great to hear from you again!  Dang, it’s hard to believe your first letter was sent 2 years ago.  (As if turning 30 didn’t make me feel old already...)

I both appreciate and admire your dedication toward translating the letters we’ve answered here.  I hope you’re able to continue doing so in one way or another, but even if you aren’t, I’m still glad you’ve been so willing to share our character portrayals with a broader audience.  In fact, we might even have you to thank for part of our increased follower count, so thanks just in case!

I’m glad you enjoyed the essays, too.  I honestly hadn’t considered the possibility that I’d have to write some of those myself after the Mod left, but I’ve had some fun with them, and I hope they helped to make the characters they were about more enjoyable, or at least more interesting.  I’m still planning to finish the remaining requests after my departure, by the way.  Hopefully I’ll be able to post them a little more frequently than before.

I’m happy to report that I’ve been staying healthy and well (although I feel like I keep dodging bullets with people around me getting infected), and I hope the same can be said for you and for everyone else reading this.  I won’t lie, things have been tougher than usual for practically every human being lately, even aside from the pandemic.  Thankfully, we have someone who’s all too familiar with trials and tribulations to provide us with a helpful reminder:

That’s Phoenix speaking, by the way, in case you forgot.

In other words, this too shall pass, as the Persian adage goes.  In the meantime, stay healthy yourself, and thanks for the reminder that we’re not alone in these challenges.

Dear AnthonyDeadman,

Mod Vera: Thank you so much! I’ve also been a fan of this blog for years, for almost as long as I’ve wanted to be a writer! It’s such a weird elated feeling, to go from being a fan of something to working on it. I almost feel like those people starting their first day at Pixar or something!

Mod Kristoph: Thanks for the kind response! I’ll be sure to get some letters in there when I get the chance!

Mod Paups: Thank you!

(Previous Letter)

(Video in Letter)

Dear BDC,

Co-Mod: Me too, except I’d add a few more “nope”s.

Mod Vera: Hahah, same. But I’ve have politeness so ingrained into my being, I’d probably throw in a few “no thanks” just to be safe.

-The Mods

[thelittleredheadedmusician]

Rats!

Rating: G 1,701 words Gen AO3

For @radioactivepigeons who loves Babs being Oracle, Dick Grayson, and rats, written as celebration for her paper! I hope you like it!

Babs glared at her screen. The motion detectors were going crazy in the West Wing, second floor of the Gotham Natural History Museum. The hall where the collection of precious stones and gems was on display behind thick panes of pelxiglas with thick locks and liberal alarms. The problem was the security cameras showed no one there. The footage wasn’t looped or old, she’d already checked, and yet nothing. But the motion detectors going off? In only the West Wing on the second floor? It was almost an annoyance more than anything.

No alarms had been tripped. There was a possibility of malfunction. Except Babs had already piggy-backed into the system and looked for anything out of the ordinary. There was nothing. The motion detectors were genuinely going off, registering actual movement. Except, it made no sense the pattern that they were flashing. She couldn’t trace any path or direction; they were just alerting at random.

Oracle had notified Gotham’s resident vigilantes of the oddity happening at the museum. Since no alarms were tripped, the police hadn’t been called. Babs didn’t think they’d be much use anyway.

Nightwing was the one who answered her request to check it out, slipping into the museum unnoticed except on her screens. “Oracle?” his voice came through her speakers. “I’m here but it looks like all the gems are in their places and the only break-in tonight is mine.”

“Thank you, Detective Wonder, I couldn’t see that myself,” she let a note of dry teasing slip into her voice.

Dick turned to smile at the closest security camera, “Happy to help!”

Smartass. At least it was a good one.

“You’re my hands and feet, Nightwing. So, get to gumshoeing before I boot you for one of my Batgirls.” It was only half a threat and they both knew it.

“Point taken,” Dick laughed. He began a slow trek through the space, looking for anything out of the ordinary and more importantly, anything missing. As he walked, Babs watched the screen showing the motion detectors. If anything, this little exercise was making it all more confusing instead of clearing it up. The sensors registered Dick’s steady and methodical progress and yet still were blinking seemingly at random. So, they were definitely registering movement. But of what?

“Nightwing, is there anything to your left right now? Anywhere to your left, low high?” Babs frowned at the steady blinking of the sensor right next to Dick’s current position and the video feed that showed empty air.

“No. Should there be?”

“According to the security system? Yes,” she sighed. Babs was good at puzzles, genuinely enjoyed them too. Twisting the information this way and that until a pattern appeared. Organizing and sorting until she had exactly what she needed. Taking something apart to see if she could determine how it worked and then put it back together once more. Looking at angles and theories and data. Taking it all in and making something new.

But this? This was chaos. Chaos that was giving her a bit of a headache with the insistent flashing. Not to mention the frustration that was building somewhere between her throat and her chest. In her jaw and her hands.

“O?” Dick said, spinning in a slow circle. “I know this is gonna sound crazy but, do you think this might be something… paranormal? Supernatural?”

Dropping her head into her hands knocked Babs’s glasses askew. “It does sound crazy,” she grumbled. “Except,” she sighed and sat up, “this is Gotham and our line of work so…”

Her fingers darted back to her keyboard, ready to pull up Zatanna or Raven’s contacts. Failing that – and god forbid – she was owed favors from Jason Blood and John Constantine so one of them could figure it out and Babs could wipe her hands of it. Just, she’d probably make Dick stick around to keep an eye on the gems if that was the case.

The call to Zatanna just began ringing through when a flash of white darted across the screen by Dick’s feet. Babs hung up on the mistress of magic and switched back to Dick’s comm. “Nightwing, what was that?”

“Not sure,” and he sure sounded it as he got down on his hands and knees. Dick reached into the shadows and Babs lost sight of what was happening. “Aha!” came his exclamation a few seconds later.

Dick stood again with something clutched between his hands. It was white and grey and wiggling slightly. “Is that… a rat?”

“A rat I know!” Dick sounded downright pleased. Babs hoped that meant he would hurry up and get to the explanation. “Oracle, say hi to Impulse!” he held the rat up to the camera.

“Unless something happened that no one told me about – and that is highly unlikely – that is not Impulse. Impulse is either a five-foot three teenaged ball of hyperactivity or a chaotic eight-year-old. Not a rat.”

Dick was petting the rat and making kissy faces at it. Normally Babs liked his kissy faces but her patience was just about gone. “The rat was named for the former. By the Flash. My Flash. This is his roommate’s rat.”

“Well, Zookeeper Wonder, I’m going to take your word for it but if I call the Pied Piper and you turn out to be wrong, I am sending the recording of this conversation to everyone in my contacts.” Babs trusted Dick; she wouldn’t have been that extreme if she didn’t. Also, it wasn’t really going to be everyone. Just a few key members of the family, Justice League, Birds, and Titans. They would take care of spreading it to everyone else.

The call to one Hartley Rathaway’s personal cell connected and Babs switched on her voice modulator. It wasn’t worth it when running comms, they all knew who she was anyway, but the Pied Piper was a little outside her normal sphere of influence.

“Hello?” was the hesitant voice on the other end.

“Hello Piper, this is Oracle,” Babs said smoothly, watching Dick play with the rat and making her smile.

There was an audible gulp. “How can I help you?”

“You wouldn’t by chance own a rat named Impulse who is currently running around the second floor, West Wing, of the Gotham Natural History Museum?”

A pause. Babs waited.

“Uh, yeah actually? How’d you know?”

“Nightwing is currently giving it scritches.”

The soft sounds of cursing made her smile. Sometimes her job was just fun and even with the headaches she had to admit that. “That would explain a lot. Uh, I am not trying to rob the place if that makes you feel better? I got wind of some of the Rogues going out of town for a heist and thought I could stop them. Think of the rats as my field troops?”

“Ah, so you are the reason the motion detectors have been going nuts.”

“Sorry?”

“No worries. Just, for future reference, a courtesy call would be lovely and the local rodents and birds would certainly be happy to assist in such matters.” Babs smirked at her own joke.

“Right. Of course. Sorry,” there was a distinct wince in his tone.

She almost felt bad, but her scary reputation was more helpful than not. “I’m assuming you’re still in the area and the Rogues have yet to make a move?”

There was a pause, as though he was trying to figure out how to answer in a manner that wouldn’t incur her wrath. Or Batman’s. Ha, as though Babs was going to tell him any of this. No, what Bruce didn’t know didn’t hurt him and if he asked, she’d tell him she and Nightwing sorted it out and instruct Dick to do the same. And for her, he would. Granted, Mr. Rathaway on the other end of the line was unaware of all this.

“Piper?” she prompted. There were other things Babs had to do tonight and while her annoyance had waned and changed into amusement, she still wanted to wrap this up soon.

“Right. Sorry. I’m in Gotham? Fire escape on the building on the other side of the back alley to be exact.”

“Excellent. Do you have a shortwave comm?”

There was a breath of a laugh. Babs smiled; she’d known it was a dumb question too. Wally had a tendency to forget things here and there, which Babs had managed to get her hands on. She knew Piper’s tech and knew it was good. “Yeah. I do.”

“Switch to local channel eight, I’ll have Nightwing do the same and send him out to you. Not that I don’t trust you or your methods, but he is on the scene.”

“No it’s fine, I get it. And I appreciate it.”

Babs grinned. As they talked she had taken the liberty of hacking into one of the cameras on the museum’s rear and used it to locate Piper. Crouched on the lowest platform of the fire escape, a glint of silver that must be his flute in his lap. She could see his face from this angle, the hand he used to hold his phone to his ear pushing the dark green hood back just enough.

“Excellent. Thank you so much, your cooperation is appreciated and let me know if there’s anything I can assist you with tonight. I’m on channel one.”

“No problem. And, uh, thank you.” He seemed a little dumbfounded, eyes going wide on her screen.

“Oh, one more favor,” Babs said before she hung up and switched back to Dick. He didn’t seem to mind being left hanging this long so far anyway, combination of being used to it and distracted by Piper’s rats. “If you could call off your, ah, foot soldiers? I have nothing against rats, but I was this close to calling an exorcist. They’re doing murder on the motion sensors.”

He chuckled softly, just a hint of embarrassed. “Consider them gone.”

Without further ado, Babs hung up and sent Dick to meet him. Thank god it wasn’t a ghost. Magic users just mucked up the security systems for weeks after and she didn’t have the mental energy for all the footage that would need erasing.

[the-hidden-writer]

A Second Chance: Chapter 4

An Ace Attorney fanfic. Read on both AO3 and FF.net!

Summary: Miles learns the identity of his “dead” mother, and the aftermath of that revelation is a tricky one. Especially when his newfound little sister is trying to turn him into a spirit medium.

AKA Miles is a Fey. Miles also doesn’t really know how to family properly.

[Chapter 1] | [Chapter 2] | [Chapter 3]

Comments make my day! :D

The Great Beverage Debate

It had been one hell of a day. Early in the morning, Maya had made a bet with Phoenix to see if he’d get a new case by noon since he was an “unstoppable famous lawyer hero” now. Or something like that. Point is, they didn’t get any new cases, and Maya won the bet. 

At first, Maya had begged to be fed fancy meals for a week. Phoenix had ended up refusing that one (his funds were slowly dying…) and agreed to clean the office’s floor instead.

He didn’t mind too much. It was oddly therapeutic. 

So when Edgeworth appeared at his door, wearing something other than his prosecutor’s suit for once, he’d been immediately taken off guard. Since his face was already flushed from scrubbing so hard, he’d hoped that he wouldn’t notice him blushing. He thinks he got away with that one.

He never saw the reveal coming. Again, he felt like an idiot for not even suspecting it a bit, but he should've taken the news a bit better. Thinking back, he might've sacred Edgeworth off with the way he reacted.

That luckily didn't happen though, and that's how he'd ended up sitting opposite the man at a small table in a café known as "Sugar & Spice". 

Since Edgeworth had offered to get the drinks, and judging by the way he had begun to sip it almost desperately, Phoenix had a suspicion that he'd ordered tea after all.

They'd walked from Wright & Co. Law Offices, barely talking to one another as he led the way. Phoenix had noticed that Edgeworth looked slightly confused when they passed more local coffee shops, which would have saved half the walking time, but he had his reasons for going the extra distance.

"Mia used to come here a lot." He said, snapping Edgeworth out of his window-gazing trance.

"She'd bring me along often enough but I'd see her in here almost every day." He continued wistfully. He missed her.

Edgeworth took another (more gentle) sip of his cup. "It would make sense." He muttered. "She used to work at Grossberg's, correct? It's probably a habit from then."

Ah, trust Edgeworth to always think one step ahead of him.

Now Phoenix was a bit stuck. When he'd offered to get coffee what felt like ages ago, he wasn't sure what he was expecting. To get to know each other better? To spend some time together? Maybe he was just being polite. It was just… seeing him appear out of nowhere like that…

"You look good." He blurted out suddenly. Edgeworth raised an eyebrow. 

"N-No, I mean," he gestured in the prosecutor's general direction, "It's nice to see you wearing something other than a suit for a change. You look great like that."

And he did. His white shirt surprisingly didn't clash against his pale skin, and his pants complimented it perfectly. And he still managed to look so professional. Honestly, he never understood work casual before now.

"Believe it or not, Wright, but I am a human being as well as a lawyer." Edgeworth said in a dry tone that betrayed how tired he actually was.

"Really?" Phoenix replied sarcastically. "I never would've guessed."

Despite his attempt to lighten the mood, Edgeworth didn't smile. In fact, his frown only deepened.

"You know Maya, don't you?"

The only problem with Miles always being ahead of him, is that Phoenix had no idea where their conversations would go.

"Um, yeah? You know her too, though."

Edgeworth shook his head. "No, I mean… you know her well. You're the living person that's closest to her." He paused, and sighed quietly. "What are her interests? Her favourite foods?"

Those were probably rhetorical questions, but Phoenix felt like it would be too awkward if he didn't answer anyway.

"Well she's way too obsessed with Steel Samurai and will eat literally anything that's edible. But she does pester me for burgers most of the time."

He could've sworn Edgeworth smiled, just for a second, but it disappeared so quickly that it was hard to tell.

"See?" He said, as if proving a point that was obvious to only him. "I should know these things! Being a brother comes with responsibilities, and I've neglected those for what, 19 years?" He groaned in frustration. "I wish this had never happened…"

Phoenix looked at him with determined but soft eyes. "You can't neglect something if you didn't know it existed." He stated firmly. "Don't bring yourself down over something you can't control."

The man just sipped his probably-tea.

“When did you find out?” He asked eventually, once Miles was reaching the end of his… British-beverage.

He just frowned, then let out a small sigh. “It was only yesterday evening, but it feels like a year ago. But no, it still hasn’t settled.”

“You told Gumshoe before me?” Phoenix teased, half-joking.

Edgeworth scoffed. “He’s the one who found out first, believe it or not. I’m…” He paused for a moment, not meeting his rival in the eyes. “I’m rather glad that it was him first.”

“Yeah, he’s good at that sort of thing. Breaking news, I mean.”

“If not for anything else.”

For the first time since leaving the office, both men laughed. Phoenix felt a stab of guilt for making fun of Gumshoe, but if Miles was even slightly happy then he was happy. He was still playing host after all, even if he wasn’t the one paying for the drinks.

"I'm sorry, I'm not the best person to talk to about sibling stuff." He admitted. “I think he has a sister? Gumshoe. You could always talk to him.”

There, he felt a bit better now. He could sleep peacefully.

“N-No, that’s alright.” Miles answered, though still sounding quite unsure. “He’s done enough already.”

“Hey, speaking of Gumshoe…” Phoenix had been meaning to bring this up since the moment it was mentioned, but knew that Edgeworth would be too prickly to answer. Hopefully the definitely-not-coffee had softened him up.

Miles waited for him to continue, but Phoenix noticed that he looked nervous. And he knew when Edgeworth was nervous, from all the time they spent as kids- not to mention in court.

“...he said something about a letter.” He finished, before hastily adding: “It sounded important.” when Miles almost broke his cup in surprise.

“I-It was nothing!” Miles spluttered.

“Yeah, sure.” Phoenix said. “And I guess this is the part where you forget that I have a magic stone that tells me when you’re hiding something?”

Sure enough, ever since Gumshoe’s… dramatic arrival back at the office, a large red psyche-lock had encased itself around Edgeworth. It wasn’t the first (when he’d used his magatama on others, he’d always notice the large number of locks surrounding his friend but never knew how to bring it up), however it was the first time he’d watch one form right before his eyes. Which meant it was purposely being hidden from him specifically, and not one of the many things that Edgeworth bottled inside of him.

He almost felt horrible after he saw the horror flash across Edgeworth’s face in that moment, and his posture suddenly became defensive. 

...Again, he knew too well what that looked like.

“Damned spiritual nonsense.”

“It’s not nonsense, and you know it.” Phoenix countered before draining the remains of his actual-coffee.

“I mean, you literally used it the other week, didn’t you?”

Edgeworth said nothing, which he took as a confirmation.

“It’s weird, right? Sometimes I wonder if Mia ever used it. I mean, she wore one around her neck, and mine had to be charged for me to be able to use it because I’m not a Fey or anything-”

“Hold on,” Miles interrupted, suddenly alert. “For you to be able to use it?”

Now Phoenix was confused. “Yeah? I think? Pearl taught me how to use it, but even then it kinda took some practise.” He smiled fondly at the memory. “Even now I still have to remind Maya that not everyone was born with spiritual powers, y’know?”

Edgeworth waited.

“Oh, you mean-”

“Just another reason I should have realised the obvious sooner.” Miles said, his tone dripping with exhaustion. “I was shocked when they appeared out of nowhere.” He scoffed. “Thought I was finally going mad.”

The excuse that Edgeworth had been working late came to Phoenix’s mind, and he felt a pang of guilt. The guy had gone through a lot, and had probably not slept, and now he was interrogating him. 

“I’m sorry for asking.” He sighed, trying his best to sound genuine. Because he was.

“No, no, it’s okay.” Said Miles, before putting down his cup and sitting up straight. 

“The letter was in the box that Detective Gumshoe found, along with those photographs. It was addressed to me, and-”

“To you?”

“Don’t interrupt, Wright. Judging by the tone of the letter and some of the specifics mentioned, it seems like it was written by Misty Fey quite soon after DL-6. It was a vaguely detailed account of her expressing her sympathies and telling me the truth about who she was, though by the way it was stored it appears she had no intention of ever sending it.”

That wasn’t what Phoenix had been expecting. Alright, so he didn’t know exactly what he was expecting, but it was not this.

“So…” He said, trying to stop his new grin from spreading, “...no forbidden love letters from your parents? Romeo And Juliet style?”

He regretted that comparison as soon as it came out of his mouth, since he had no doubt that Edgeworth would have read Shakespeare at some point. But fortunately any deeper meaning flew over his head for now, since his frown had gone. Miles still wasn’t smiling, but it was a start.

“Ever the optimist, aren’t you Wright?”

“When’s the last time you called me Phoenix?”

“I’m going to go home.” He said, avoiding the question completely. Or maybe just choosing to ignore it. Probably both.

“Oh, okay. Get some rest.” Was Phoenix’s slightly dejected reply.

“Thanks for the coffee-” 

“Thank you for the co-”

They’d both spoken at the same time. Phoenix felt the heat rushing up the back of his neck as Edgeworth’s eyes widened and he stood up from his chair and turned to leave, obviously quite embarrassed too. 

“HOLD IT!”

...and he turned again to face Phoenix, who had found a sudden determination.

He was going to expose this faker once and for all.

“You think you can fool me that easily, Miles?”

Miles looked dazed.

“Well, I know the truth. You just said ‘Thank you for the coffee’ which is polite, and I appreciate it, but you got the coffee for both of us. You’re a tea person! You’re freakin’ British! The way you sipped at it with the same look on your face, the way you carefully kept your hand on the cup until it was finished so I couldn’t see properly, the way you tried to disguise it with the amount of milk added… you ordered tea. It’s the only explanation. So TAKE THAT!”

Edgeworth was stunned, his face blank as he presumably processed the demise of his deception. 

And then he smiled. Then the smile cracked open, and Edgeworth laughed.

It had been so long since Phoenix had heard him genuinely laugh. Sure, he’d had his fair share of smug/maniacal laughs in court, but this was a soft, dorky-yet-still-classy, laugh. One so rare that Phoenix wished he could record the sound.

And it was perfect.

Once the laughter died down, Miles exhaled. “Guilty. You should really think about becoming a prosecutor, Phoenix.” He said, still smiling, as he turned on his heel and walked away.

Phoenix felt warm inside as he leaned back in his chair and watched him go. He was so happy with his win, that he completely missed exactly what Edgeworth had said to him.

...It was only when he stood up to leave himself did he notice the remains sitting inconspicuously inside of Edgeworth’s cup.

A thick, dark sludge of coffee grounds.

“Motherf-”

[spam-monster]

helsa week 2020 day - modern

Objection! Hold it! Wait, what?

Or

I was going to write a nice story about Elsa bumping into her sister’s asshole ex at Disney World but he’s carting around a bunch of kids (his nieces and nephews) and is clearly exhausted and terrible at this so she ends up tagging along just to make sure one of the kids doesn’t end up falling over a railing or something when he’s not paying attention and they end up bonding…how the heck did I end up writing an ACE ATTORNEY AU?!?!

(still might write the theme park au at some point, but not today apparently)

(warning: this will probably make zero sense if you aren’t familiar with the plot of the first Ace Attorney game.)

 ---

Lobby 2, before the trial of Olaf Oaken

Prosecutor: Elsa Arendelle. Defending Attorney: Anna Arendelle.

“Quite melodramatic, isn’t it? Avoiding your little sister for years, only to end up facing off with her in court?”

“Are you doubting my abilities, Prosecutor Westergard? Sister or not, I can assure you it will not make a difference to me. I shall get the criminal declared guilty, as always.”

“Just checking. Wouldn’t want my big brother’s favorite protégé getting distracted and making a mistake.”

The blonde woman turned to glare at the smirking red-head next to her.

“Ah, yes. There’s the famous ice queen-glare that makes witnesses shake in their boots!”

“Would that it worked on fellow irritating prosecutors as well.”

The door to the lobby slammed open as a large mousey-blond man fell through followed by a large brown dog barking excitedly, interrupting the two. “Oof – I have the reports you wanted, ma’am!” He motioned excitedly as he looked up, then stopped as he saw the other man. “Ugh, what’s he doing here?”

“Detective Kristoff, you’re late.” She said. Then “Hello, Sven” as she turned to greet the dog warmly. “Hans was just leaving.”

Hans sighed. “Fine, I guess I am. Good luck out there, Elsa.”

“That’s Prosceutor Arendelle to you-“

“Yeah, yeah.” he waved, already out the door.

---

Lobby 1, after the trial

“Anna…I hadn’t expected to see you again after all these years…in retrospect, it would have been better that we not have met.”

---

Police Department, a few cases later, the day before Elsa Arendelle’s trial…

“You’re really taking Elsa’s case?”

“Of course I am! I know she didn’t kill that guy! And why are you prosecuting her, aren’t you guys supposed to be buddies or something?”

“Buddies? Hah! Just because Mister Westergard’s big brother is her mentor doesn’t mean they’re buddies! Guy doesn’t even have buddies, he’s just a big jerk-“

“That’s Prosecutor Westergard to you, Detective Kristoff. And although we are…acquaintances, I have been assigned to prosecute Miss. Arendelle’s case, and that is what I intend to do. If you truly believe her to still be innocent after hearing all the facts tomorrow in court, then I expect you to prove it.”

“…You think I’m foolish for believing in her, don’t you?”

“I think you’re so desperate to believe that the sister you remember still exists somewhere inside her that you would defend her from anything, even if she stabbed you through the heart herself.”

“Well, you’re wrong, mister! Anna’s gonna kick your butt in court tomorrow, and then you’ll be sorry, you big meanie…meanie!”

“It’s okay, Olaf. Prosecutor Westergard…I am going to finish my investigation. I will see you tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow then, Miss Anna.”

---

Detention Center, Visitor’s Room, Two days later…

“…What are you doing here, Westergard?”

“Prosecutor…no, Elsa. Did you do it?”

“…Does it matter to you what my answer is? You’re still going to try to get me declared guilty tomorrow; I’m sure your brother is already upset that Anna’s been able to drag out the trial for this long.”

“Elsa…”

“…Don’t look at me like that. Like you’re having second thoughts.”

“What if I am?”

“You’re not. I know you too well. You love lulling people into a false sense of security and then betraying their trust and turning everything against them.”

“…Well, I wouldn’t say I love it…”

“…”

“…Alright, maybe I do enjoy it a teeny bit too much. But only when I’m actually sure they’re guilty.”

“You’re always sure everyone you prosecute is guilty. You have no reason to believe any differently of me.”

“…Just…just please. Answer me, and I’ll leave you alone.”

“…No.”

“No?”

“I didn’t kill him.”

“…Okay…Goodnight, Elsa.”

---

Next day, in court, just before the verdict is declared…

“That time in the elevator, seven years ago…I still have nightmares…your honor, that man did not kill my parents! …I did.”

“Elsa, no!”

---

Lobby 2, a few minutes later…

“Ha! Finally, a chance to redeem yourself, little brother! Let us see that foolish girl try to defend her sister from this!”

“…”

“…Why so glum, Hans? This is your chance. Haven’t you been waiting for an opportunity to finally defeat Elsa Arendelle and take her title as King of Prosecutors?”

“Yes, but…not like this. And isn’t she your protégé as well? Why are you so eager to have her declared guilty?”

“Are you…questioning me, little brother?”

“I…no. Of course not. I’ll…go start preparing my case.”

---

An hour later, Lobby 1

“Wooo! Did you see that! You verbally kicked his butt, Anna!”

“Yeah, pal! That was great!”

“Thanks Olaf, Detective Kristoff!  At this rate we - …Elsa? What’s wrong?”

“It’s Hans. Why…would he be trying to make himself look this bad?”

“…You think he’s doing it on purpose?”

“Anna, I’ve known him for years. Even when he first started taking cases, Hans was never this clumsy and unprepared.”

“Maybe…is it possible he’s…trying to help you, somehow? I mean, I know it sounds ridiculous, it’s Hans after all, but…Kristoff?”

“…The bailiff just told me…apparently Prosecutor Westergard isn’t feeling well. Chief Prosecutor Westergard will be taking over for him.”

“His big brother? The guy who was Elsa’s mentor? But why…Elsa, do you know?”

“…Hans…he got himself kicked out on purpose. He acted so incompetent that the Chief Prosecutor had no choice but to step in. Anna…he was there that day, wasn’t he? Maybe…maybe Hans thinks he know something we don’t, and this was the only way to get him into court.”

“…Right. Well, we’ve gotten this far. Let’s do this.”

“Be careful, Anna. If Hans is ten times more ruthless than I am, his brother is ten time more ruthless than that…”

“It’s okay, Elsa. I’ve got you. I won’t let you down!”

---

The next day

Headlines: CHIEF PROSECUTOR WESTERGARD FOUND GUILTY OF MURDER

The Chief Prosecutor, known for being undefeated, has been found guilty of the murders of the late defense attorney Iduna Arendelle and Detective Agnarr Arendelle. It was said to be a crime of passion, revenge against them for tarnishing his almost-perfect record in court. It seems he tried to frame their eldest daughter Elsa, who was trapped in the elevator with them at the time, for the crime; but their younger daughter and Elsa’s sister was able to reveal the truth about his heinous schemes…  

 -----

So yeah. Basically Anna = Phoenix, Elsa = Edgeworth, Kristoff = Gumshoe, Hans = like a weird mix of Franziska and Klavier, Olaf = Maya (and Larry?(I mean as in person Anna and Elsa both knew when they were kids)), Sven = Missile the police dog

I was going to do Elsa as the defense attorney and Hans as the rival prosecutor at first, because if you’ve ever played an Ace Attorney game you know of the…”tension” between these characters, but “believing in a person so much even though you haven’t seen them in years that you defend them on blind faith against all odds” is just so Anna that I had to do it this way.

Maybe after Elsa gets her name cleared she ends up becoming a defense attorney and redeems Hans in the same way? Who knows. Also, I seem to have a running theme of “Hans’ asshole big brother is the real big bad” going here.

...Maybe the quarantine has got me a bit loopy, and that’s why I keep coming up with all these ridiculous au’s this year lol.  

[wardencommanderrodimiss]

Witches, Chapter 21: post-trial wrap-up. No, seriously, finally, it’s over. It’s been....3000 years....

[Seelie of Kurain Chapter Masterlist] [ao3]

[Witches Chapter Masterlist] [ao3]

----

It’s all there, on the record, to end the case, to make the next trial go smoother: the victim, Jack Shipley, slipped and fell and Rimes couldn’t pull him back to safety; Orla and Sasha did nothing wrong, and neither did Ora, a year ago. Azura Summers’ death was a heart attack. Two accidental deaths, and Rimes trying to get revenge on the wrong orca for something that never needed to be avenged. All this pain and agony, all because the victim wanted to keep it a secret that there were two orcas.

It never needed to happen this way.

Sometimes Phoenix thinks it’s easier to deal with cases where one of the parties involved was actively a malicious murderer. Because it hurts, god does it hurt, if the victim or killer is someone that they knew, loved, trusted, and Phoenix has both been the one in pain and the one trying to console his clients, but at least there’s a feeling that justice was served. Someone got what they deserved, in the end.

No one deserved this nightmare.

The court officers don’t escort Rimes out right away; Sasha, out of the defendant’s chair, out of suspicion, hurries forward to speak with him. He doesn’t even seem to notice her approaching. He might not have blinked since Phoenix told him about Azura’s heart condition, since Rimes himself realized that everything he did just hurt innocent people, and demanded to know why Phoenix couldn’t just let him be called a murderer and punished as such. Yeah, he’s criminally liable for a lot, and everyone here knows it, the judge has even said it, but - he did not want to kill Jack Shipley, and that still means something. Rimes doesn’t deserve a death penalty like Rimes seems to think he deserves.

“Hey, Marlon,” Sasha says. He jumps, slamming his shin into the witness stand. He really didn’t notice her. “When this is all done, y’know - served out your sentence and rehabilitation - you’d better come back to the aquarium, you hear?”

“But…” He doesn’t even say anything else. He lets everything that’s happened in the past half an hour stand for itself.

“We’re pirates, remember? Cap’n Orla’s Swashbucklers! A pirate crew’s not gonna care about criminal records in hiring!” She seems to be deliberately missing the point. Rimes doesn’t say anything else. “Hey. Marlon. That whole, um, hulking out thing - you didn’t - that wasn’t some kind of catastrophic deal, right? You - you okay?”

And of course he isn’t, not in the broad scheme of things, and of course Sasha isn’t okay in that sense either, but she only means one thing and that’s the thing that Phoenix has been wondering, and Blackquill has already been escorted out of the courtroom but Taka is perched just off to the side, listening in too. What did he bargain away, thinking he’d gained something useful?

Rimes slumps until his forehead hits the witness stand. “Had’ta give up being a vegetarian,” he mumbles.

“Wait,” Athena says, “do you mean you had to give up meat or you had to—”

“I was a vegetarian.” Rimes doesn’t lift his head. The way he’s doubled over hurts Phoenix’s back and neck by proxy. “But I have to eat meat now.”

Whether he was a vegetarian for personal or religious reasons, or health reasons, or something as simple as he thought raw meat was gross to look at and hated cooking with it and had to functionally become a vegetarian (like Phoenix his first year having a kitchen except takeout sushi isn’t vegetarian and ramen and pizza aren’t a healthy vegetarian diet) - whatever it was, going back to meat in the diet is some sort of sacrifice. And that so often is the cornerstone of a deal: a sacrifice. Giving something up. A name, a soul, a skill, a principle, some cash for an all-you-can-eat buffet—

And it could’ve been so, so much worse for Rimes. He’s lucky. 

“I made the deal for strength,” he adds, still hunched over, like his spine has been wrenched out of him and replaced with jelly. “I thought - I thought I could be strong enough then to help. But I wasn’t strong enough to hang onto the captain, and all the rest - physical strength didn’t matter. Didn’t help me at all.”

Which, Phoenix wouldn’t be surprised if whichever fae gave him the magatama knew that it wouldn’t. It’s a human thing - and a fae thing, it’s a people thing, to not know what would actually help. What they really need, versus what they think they need. 

Sasha steps around the witness stand and pulls Rimes around into a hug, his head slumped down onto her shoulder instead of the stand now. Phoenix hears, and thinks he isn’t supposed to, Rimes’ ragged repeated “I’m sorry”s and “It’s my fault”s.

“Yeah and you’re still my friend, y’know that,” Sasha says.

The magatama slips from Rimes’ hand and hits the floor, shattering with a sound like it’s made of glass. Rimes shudders and trembles and his whole body shrinks, back down to the man he was before.

-

“You never cease to surprise me.”

Down the hall, at the top of the stairs, Athena is excitedly introducing Sasha to Trucy, and re-introducing Sasha and Apollo. Taka is long gone. And Edgeworth stands next to Phoenix, arms folded, drumming his fingers, and Phoenix can’t tell if he’s angry or begrudgingly impressed or wholeheartedly impressed. “So when Blackquill came to you to tell you that he was going to prosecute an orca, did you regret lengthening his leash at that point?”

Edgeworth shakes his head. “Prosecutor Blackquill was with me at the time. We were discussing - a case.” If it was Blackquill’s case specifically, Phoenix thinks he would have said that, but this just sounds like there’s even more, other cases, behind the scenes, above the security clearance of absolutely anyone. “And then I have a call from Detective Fulbright that he has a case that may be able to go to trial, and Prosecutor Blackquill is of course interested in that.” He shakes his head a second time. “If you think Blackquill is a thorn in your side in court, believe me, he is just as much of one to be outside of it.”

“That sounds consistent with what I’ve seen.” Phoenix glances around again to be sure that the hawk isn’t anywhere around. “Wait, you met with him - at your office? One-on-one? Without Fulbright around?”

“Yes, I have. Several armed officers on the other side of the door, of course - Detective Gumshoe stringently insists—”

“Good,” Phoenix interrupts. He should buy Gumshoe dinner for that. Someone has to keep Edgeworth’s dumb ass in one piece. “And Blackquill knows he’d still be rotting only in prison if not for you, right? And that if he—”

Edgeworth’s pale eyes flicker sideways at Phoenix. “Your concern is appreciated and entirely unwarranted and unnecessary. Prosecutor Blackquill, assuredly, has nothing against me, unlike certain others who you spent significant one-on-one time with.”

Oh. There it is. That gulf always between them, sometimes near closed and then it yawns, and they are here and here is further apart. “Good,” Phoenix repeats, more faintly than before. “Is there anything new you can tell me about him that would help?”

“Unfortunately not. He’s very stubborn in regards to his own murder case - as I said, a thorn in my side.”

“And maybe an ache in your head and a pain in your ass, too?”

Even if Edgeworth is, maybe not mad at him, but frustrated enough with him to bring up Kristoph, Phoenix is pleased to know that he can still make him snort in amusement. “I’m in particular agreement with His Honor about your need to watch your language.”

“Just in court though, right?”

“No.” Edgeworth turns his head to fully affix a glare on him, and Phoenix wilts. “In general. I can only imagine that good things would come of you choosing to fully speak and act like the lawyer that you are.”

The lawyer that he hasn’t been for eight years. The lawyer that Edgeworth pushed him to be, again. “All else aside,” Edgeworth adds, “such as and especially the orca, and that you are an utterly ridiculous man lacking a modicum of good sense and decorum—”

“That’s a lot to throw aside.”

Edgeworth ignores him. “—I am happy to see you standing in court again. You deserve this.”

“I—?” Are you sure? Do I really? After everything I’ve done? Everything that you know I am?

“You do,” Edgeworth says. “And I look forward to seeing what you do next, so long as you do not decide that you will - try and outdo yourself in finding a more outlandish defendant.”

“Hey, if they show up at my office, who am I to turn away clients? It’s not like I’ve ever had enough work to really be choosy with it. You’d said that yourself plenty of times.”

“Though I can’t say I expected an orca to be the logical conclusion of your manner of conducting business.”

They’re an Anything Agency. This was the place they were going to end up. “Would you think better or worse of me if I tell you I didn’t know the client was an orca at first, until we got to the aquarium and Ms Buckler introduced us to said orca?”

“You went all the way out to meet the client without having asked such basic information as name or species - yes, that does sound exactly like you.” He doesn’t answer whether that’s better or worse, just makes it clear that he knows Phoenix well enough to not be surprised. The more Phoenix thinks about it, the more he’s surprised that he didn’t ever get himself into a situation like this before. Maybe it could be said that there’s a lesson here, but he thinks he’s going to deliberately not learn it. “And the fact that from that, you pulled two victories, and cleared up the truth of a guilty man who was nevertheless not guilty of murder - also, very much like you.”

“You don’t need to flatter me,” Phoenix says. “I’m already on board to help you out with whatever, remember?”

He knows it isn’t flattery - or if it is, it isn’t hollow, because Edgeworth doesn’t say anything he doesn’t mean - but he’s still locked into deflect, deflect. Edgeworth knows how much Phoenix feels he doesn’t belong here. He’s not going to address it straight-out - that’s not his style, that’s not their styles, but he knows, and he still thinks that this is exactly where Phoenix does belong. 

The one word he wants to say, thanks, sticks his throat shut, but he hopes Edgeworth knows anyway.

“Hey, Boss! Hi, Mr Edgeworth!” Athena waves them over. “Boss, Sasha wants us to come back to the aquarium one last time so Orla can thank us in person, too! And we should probably pick up Pearly, right?”

Not that Pearl is limited in her movements in a way that necessitates them picking her up in a car, but if she’s still hanging around the aquarium, she’d probably be happy to see them and come back to the office with them. “Sounds like a plan,” he says. “Catch up with you later, Edgeworth.” He gives his friend a solid thwack on the shoulder.

“I can give Trucy and Mr Justice a lift back to your office, then,” Edgeworth says. Trucy beams; Apollo, terror-stricken, glances between Edgeworth and Trucy and seems to resign himself to  whatever this fate is. Phoenix would like for Apollo to get to know Edgeworth better, but can’t blame him for the fear. Edgeworth’s scary even before he got the title Chief Prosecutor to cement it.

“Oh, Prosecutor Edgeworth,” Athena says. “There’s something I wanted to ask you - can I email you later?”

“Ah - of course.” Edgeworth still glances at Phoenix, raising an eyebrow, doubtlessly wondering what question she has that she isn’t going to the nearest adult in her life, the one right next to her. Probably something about cars or Europe or any of the other gaps in Phoenix’s life experience, something that she figures he’s too much of a mess to have an answer to. Maybe it’s something about Phoenix’s badge, the losing of it, that she wants to know without tipping Phoenix to the fact that she’s digging into his ugly past like this. Or maybe it’s the what the hell about Blackquill she wants to know. There are lots of questions it could be. 

Phoenix shrugs back at Edgeworth. It’s sort of like they’re co-parenting another daughter. No real way around that now, and Phoenix follows her out of the courthouse as she hurtles herself down the stairs.

-

They arrive back in the orca pool room in time to catch the middle-end of a lecture Dr Crab is giving Sasha about taking her health seriously and taking it easy until her condition is fully, properly managed. She sits at the edge of the pool, patting Orla’s nose, her hair soaking wet, like she just jumped straight into the pool upon her return. “I was thinking Orla and I would put on a mini show for you when you got here,” Sasha says to Athena, “but that’s obviously not happening.”

“I’m inclined to agree with the doctor,” Phoenix says.

“He’s a vet, not a people-doctor!” Sasha protests. Jokingly? It sounds like a joke. 

“And you, Miss Selkie, are as much seal as you are human.”

“Not at the same time!” She stands up, careful with her footing, no doubt thinking about the victim slipping and falling to his death. “But, really. Phoenix, Athena, I cannot ever thank you enough, and your office, and Pearl, too.” Sasha waves at Pearl, who is sitting with Rifle and the penguin chick, Sniper, over by the wall. “All of you! Thank you, thank you, for what you did for me, and Orla, and the aquarium, for everyone. You found us the truth, you got us closure - made me realize this guy isn’t so bad after all!” She elbows Dr Crab. 

“Not sure I’m happy about that one.” Crab steps away from her second nudge. 

“You really helped us out a ton, Pearls,” Phoenix says. “Definitely couldn’t have done this all without you.”

“Oh, it was nothing!” She starts to cover her face with her hands and decides to duck behind Rifle instead. “I’m sure you could have won without me, Mr Nick!”

He could have, yes - but not to this same end. He couldn’t have proven Rimes was trying to save Shipley in the end; he wouldn’t have had the time or patience to plaster fingerprinting powder over everything. But he’s not one to look a gift debt-forgiveness in the mouth, either, so he doesn’t point that out. Dr Crab’s eyes narrow, wondering, no doubt, how Phoenix got such a tricky, powerful faery to like him so much that she writes off all this investigation and assistance as nothing. What he had to lose to gain that. Phoenix shrugs back at him, and they watch Sasha and Athena head over to Pearl, Sasha animatedly explaining something to Athena and half holding her back from charging down Rifle. 

“And thanks for spilling almost all of the aquarium’s secrets like that,” Dr Crab adds dryly. 

“I’m only a little sorry,” Phoenix says. Better to be honest.

Dr Crab waves dismissively. “You said you would, and I was prepared for that. I’m almost glad I’ve got less to hide now. That writer lady, now that she’s not crusading after Orla anymore, said to me that she thinks that the aquarium’s in the right with the TORPEDO, and the law’s wrong, and she’d take up our case to advocate for its legality.” He grins, just slightly. “So we might be able to wiggle free of any serious consequences.”

“That’s—” Phoenix pauses to think over what he was about to say. “Speaking as a lawyer, I shouldn’t say that’s good, but I’m glad to hear that anyway.”

“I’m pretty good at keeping secrets, so don’t worry, I won’t go blabbing on you.” Phoenix laughs awkwardly, while Dr Crab’s face doesn’t twitch. He seems very serious. “Though, speaking of secrets, buddy, if you can keep your mouth shut when you don’t have a case hinging on it, I’ve got to tell you, there’s one thing you didn’t get quite right, back in that courtroom, and I wasn’t about to go correcting you on it.”

There’s a tanuki standing in front of Apollo, saying very similar words, and the blood left both Apollo and Athena’s faces, and if Apollo had vomited right in Filch’s face it wouldn’t have been much of a surprise. But Phoenix - Phoenix doesn’t know what he feels. Not this time. Dr Crab, unlike Filch, didn’t perjure himself willy-nilly all through this trial. If he held something back—

“Go on,” Phoenix says. His voice is strangled even to his own ears. Crab gives him a curious and suspicious once-over. 

“The calendar with the meeting with Jack, seven am at the orca pool - that’s mine, yeah, and I did go to that meeting to wait for him, yeah. But.” His silence might be dramatic, or a last assessment of whether Phoenix is trustworthy, and he adds, “That meant the orca pool at Supermarine Aquarium, not here.”

“The Supermarine Aquarium?” Phoenix repeats. “That’s the dolphin therapy place, right?” Athena explained animal-assisted therapy, and that aquarium across town in particular, sometime last evening, while they compiled their last investigatory information, but Phoenix checked out mentally in the middle of it. And something about an open-ocean marine sanctuary too, for whales that had been rescued from bad conditions at other institutions but couldn’t live fully on their own in the wild. He has no idea what relevance Athena thought that had. She just likes to talk about whales. “I didn’t even know they had an orca.”

“They don’t,” Dr Crab says. “They’re just harboring her for us.” It doesn’t click right away. Crab goes on. “When I told you about how I’d fake Orla’s death if I had to - I have full confidence I’d be able to, because Jack and I already did it once. Ora’s been living there the last year - we tried to send her into the wild, but she didn’t want to leave Orla, and Orla didn’t want to leave us, and we couldn’t exactly just have an orca hanging out around in the harbor for everyone to keep running into.”

“And that’s why you and the owner were making those mysterious payments,” Phoenix says faintly. DePlume had some wild ideas about conspiracy involving that, but she couldn’t dream this up. 

“Yep. Couldn’t exactly force that on the Supermarine’s budget, since she’s our orca, so we’ve been paying them for all her food and care. And orcas eat a lot.” 

“I’d believe it,” Phoenix says, still thinking of someone else, someone who eats a lot and puts a serious strain on his wallet when she does. 

“Since you’ve proven now that Ora was innocent all along, I figure we’ll bring her back here sooner rather than later,” Dr Crab says. “Not that I know how to budget and run an aquarium, and Sasha doesn’t, either. It’ll be a hell of a learning curve with Jack gone, but I don’t plan on going anywhere - but for now, I think it’d be better if you didn’t go saying anything about what I just told you.”

“Don’t worry,” Phoenix says. “I’ve been told I’m very good at keeping secrets.”

The bitter bend to the words would be hard to miss, but Dr Crab doesn’t move a muscle in his face. “Good. Hey, Sasha,” he calls over to her. “I’ve got my rounds to make and check in on the rest of the animals. Don’t do anything crazy as soon as I turn my back.” To Phoenix, he adds, “You seem to garner some sort of respect among young women in their early twenties, apparently, so I’m tasking you with making sure Sasha doesn’t start trying to show off.”

The average age is more like late teens, and the amount of actual “respect” he gets is up for strenuous debate. “Guess you have to be some sort of a crazy show-off to go get a job working with orcas when you’re a selkie.”

Dr Crab huffs. “Azura wasn’t like that. And I think your one in yellow is contributing to the feedback loop.”

“Athena’s got a - competitive spirit, yeah.”

“I don’t suppose I’ll be lucky enough that this is the last I see of you,” Dr Crab says. “Sasha’s keen on giving all your crew lifetime tickets, if we don’t run our place into the ground figuring out the management side.”

“I learned to run a law office on the fly,” Phoenix says. “Not really the same, but best of luck to you. And thanks for all your help, Dr Crab. I appreciate you being mostly honest.”

Dr Crab snorts, casting one glance back at Sasha and Orla, and he leaves. 

Hell of a fortuitous thing, the doctor’s name. Herman Crab, marine veterinarian, weirdly cool with sea witches and selkies and fae. Phoenix doesn’t think names as given determine a trajectory in life, but the fae pick them deliberately. Courtney comes to mind. Or humans who escape the Twilight Realm and aren’t sure how they’re supposed to call themselves other than after what they are or what they do. Eldoon’s father comes to mind. (He wonders how Thalassa got her name.)

But like hell he’d ever ask. Azura‘s story was something Sasha asked, something relevant to all their questions. Case closed. Phoenix isn’t going to cast around trying to find someone with a more fucked-up story than his own. No one wins in that kind of game. 

“Hey, Boss!” Athena calls. “Come feed Orla with us!” She and Pearl and Sasha take turns grabbing a fish from a bucket and tossing it to the orca. Phoenix watches her snap her jaws, full of bright white sharp teeth she doesn’t need to use because she just swallows these little fish whole. Thinks of someone else with a mouth full of teeth, not taking the time to chew. Wants to say no thanks. He could tell his girls it’s time to leave and head back to the office. 

“All right, fine,” he says, and Sasha springs up with a fish ready to drop in his hands. “What do I do?”

-

Trucy is very quiet after Prosecutor Edgeworth leaves them back at the office. Apollo asks her if she’s okay and when she says “yeah” she doesn’t even manage to infuse it with her usual mask of cheer, and her fingers twitch red when she says it, her hand flitting up toward her diamond brooch and stopping. It would be easy to call her on it and she knows it, but there’s an unspoken social contract that has slowly coalesced between them all to let little things slide. Athena going quiet and staring off into space or furiously dragging legal textbooks off the shelves and paging through them; Trucy staring at the portrait of her father above the piano or at Phoenix’s desk and the bottom drawer there; Phoenix poking his head into whatever room the rest of them are gathered in if there’s a sudden silence like he’s afraid something happened, or several moments Apollo watched him studying for the Bar where he’d put his head in his hands and dig his hands through his hair about to pull it out. Apollo doesn’t know what makes Athena tick but the others he knows too well, and they let each other have breathing room. 

Close to an hour later - it’s past five but Apollo doesn’t want to leave until Trucy has some company - she comes back and hops up onto Phoenix’s desk. “This is the first time Daddy’s been a lawyer since he’s been my daddy,” she says. “It’s his first trial that I’ve ever seen.” She unclips her cape from around her shoulders and tosses it into what looks like empty air, but it falls draped solidly over a wisp. “I was there for his - his last one, but he wasn’t my daddy then, and I was only paying attention to my other daddy to make a diversion for him to escape if he needed it.”

Apollo nods, silently. 

“You know something, now, Apollo? I’ve been here half my life now. I’ve been Trucy Wright just a bit longer than I was Trucy Enigmar, and I’m gonna be Trucy Wright for the rest of my life and it’s only gonna be longer and longer now. And I love Daddy and I don’t want to be anywhere else but it’s…”

“Still weird?” Apollo asks. She nods. “I get that.” When he was sixteen it would’ve been about half his life away from Khura’in, except he didn’t have another loving father to ease the sting. Trucy was luckier. 

“Did you ever have somewhere you stayed enough to miss it?” she asks. And then hastily she adds, “Never mind, you don’t have to talk if you don’t wanna.” He must have shown panic on his face, panic or pain, but those don’t narrow the answer to her question down. Panic and pain are responses that fit either meaning, that he spent his whole life never setting roots down to have a home, or he’ll spend the rest of his life aching for somewhere long gone. “You’re welcome to stay here forever, you know! You’re like family now!”

It’s a weird sentiment, all considered, that Apollo knows all about the Gramaryes and absolutely does not want to be a part of that, and he also knows that Phoenix is a mess masquerading as a person, and - and yet. It’s not about Apollo, and what he thinks, so much as it is something for Trucy, figuring out how to build a new family out of the ashes her old one left. The Gramaryes brought Apollo to this law office in some roundabout way, like they sent Trucy to Phoenix. Like Apollo can sometimes manage to think that if Dhurke hadn’t sent him away, he wouldn’t have been there for Clay. Or Trucy. Or anyone else.

“Um, thanks,” he says, and she beams, and though it had already been slipping away, he pushes further aside, for some other far future time, the thought of finding another law office to work at. This one case is not enough to expect he’s being pushed aside. And it would break Trucy’s heart and he doesn’t have enough friends that he can afford to do that. 

“Here, come look at this,” she says, waving him over conspiratorially, the moment passed. “Daddy left this picture out on his desk. He must’ve been thinking about old times, too.”

Apollo joins her at Phoenix’s desk. “What am I looking at?”

“Uncle Larry argues a lot with Daddy and Uncle Miles about whether they look any older than they did back then,” Trucy says, holding out to him a photograph that she brought in earlier. “You can be the impartial judge!”

The three of them still wear the same colors, whenever this photo was taken. Larry shoved off behind the other two - did Apollo know that Phoenix’s flighty artist friend knew Edgeworth? -  wearing an orange suit jacket thrown over what might be a t-shirt. Edgeworth, smiling, and Phoenix, with a golden badge tiny on his lapel. At least eight years ago. Then there’s a taller man in a dark green overcoat off to the right, and to the left, in front of Phoenix and Larry, a girl with long black hair and big, dark eyes, wearing robes almost identical to Pearl’s. “Who’s this?” Apollo asks. 

“That’s Detective Gumshoe,” Trucy says. “He’s one of Uncle Miles’ best friends. They’ve worked together since ever. And that’s Maya, one of Daddy’s friends.”

“Is she—?”

“Yeah.” It’s easy to know the question. “I didn’t know that for a while about her, though. He didn’t say. And she didn’t come around enough for me to notice. Not like Pearly visits us.”

“No?”

Trucy shakes her head. “I met her the day I came to live with him and maybe one or two other times and then - Uncle Miles says she used to be here at the office all the time, helping Daddy with his cases and stuff.”

A fae mentor and why not a fae co-counsel too. “Maybe she got bored after he was disbarred,” Apollo suggests. That sounds fickle enough to be fae rationale. 

“Pearly said they had a huge fight about him being disbarred and stopped talking so much to each other. About how he was handling it or something. I don’t know. I think Pearly said that Maya wanted to help.”

“I don’t think I’d be brave enough to give one of the - the Fair Folk, the silent treatment,” Apollo says. But he’s not sure he could brace himself well enough for the repercussions of accepting their help either, and thinking about all of those leaves him to trip and land on a euphemism for their name instead. Only some days is he brave enough to call them what they are.

“I’m not sure I would either,” Trucy admits. “But Uncle Miles talks like he and Maya got along well enough and he liked her well enough and he never sounds like he’s afraid of her when he’s always very weird about magic stuff and all of Daddy’s… everything.”

Apollo looks back down at the picture, into the face of the fae girl, her smile that looks like a human smile. “Do you think she still looks this age?” he asks. “Do the fae age like people do?” Or is their development slow the way humans growing up in their realm are?

Trucy shrugs. “Pearly seems to age the same as me, but I don’t know if she does that because she has me as a model for how people grow up, or if she actually would like that.”

There in the photo, behind the fae girl, Phoenix isn’t quite as gaunt and hollow in the face, and next to him Edgeworth isn’t wearing glasses, but though Edgeworth is smiling they both look exhausted, like they haven’t slept well in days, like they’ve been ground down to ashes. “I don’t think they look that much older,” Apollo says, tapping the picture, bringing them back to Trucy’s original question. “I mean, they look really tired there, and that’s about the same.”

“Is that what being old means?” she asks, eyes downcast, twisting her fingers together. “Perpetual tiredness?”

“Oh yeah. Once you turn twenty it’s over. It’s just wanting to constantly go back to bed.” Trucy whimpers. “Enjoy the next four years because that’s all you’ve got.”

“Nooo.”

“Oi! Apollo!” He didn’t hear the door open but there’s Athena appearing in the doorway, hollering at him. “Are you being mean to Trucy?”

“She’s always being mean to me!”

Trucy exaggerates her pout even further, fishing for sympathy, but when Phoenix follows Athena in he bursts out laughing. “Mr Nick!” Pearl scolds, and Phoenix jumps, literally jumps, away from her, avoiding her smack on the arm and knocking Athena into her desk. “You can’t be so mean to your own daughter!”

Trucy breaks into a fit of giggles. “Hey, so, Trucy, Apollo,” Athena says, hoisting herself up on her desk and dropping down behind it out of the way of Phoenix and Apollo. “Guess who’s got free lifetime admission to the shipshape aquarium now, and for friends, too!”

“Ooh, I know who you should invite.” Trucy kicks Apollo in the shin. He knows exactly the answer she has in mind. 

“Vera,” he says. 

“Oh you know I bet that would be fun,” Trucy says. “That’s not what I was going to say, also.”

“I know you weren’t.” He can’t really leverage himself to kick her back, so he knocks his shoulder into hers. Phoenix is giving them a weird look - not like he’s mad that Apollo is beating up on Trucy in turn. There’s nothing angry at all. Just kind of fond and kind of sad, and when he notices Apollo’s puzzled expression, his face immediately snaps back to lazy-eyed and closed off, a look Apollo’s seen less and less of in the past few months, but it’s always still there, the poker face underneath everything.

“So the answer is you and Mr Wright,” Apollo says to Athena, “because you’re the ones who defended her, right?”

“Ugh, nein, non, no, no,” Athena says. “I wouldn’t be bragging about it if you weren’t included! Sasha says everyone at the agency, and Pearly too! And whatever friends you want to bring, because I also specifically asked that too!”

Trucy kicks Apollo again. Apollo shakes his head. 

“We’ll all go together sometime!” Athena says brightly. “And I was thinking, y’know, Mr Wright, I’m really glad you let me come on board here. I love working with all of you!”

“I - uh, yeah, of course.” Phoenix definitely was not prepared for that. There’s another weird look on his face, hesitation, and again he smooths it away with a bit of deliberate effort. “Glad to have you.”

“Good not to be the new kid anymore,” Apollo says with a grin, and Athena sticks her tongue out at him. “And Trucy’s probably glad to have two new kids to heckle.”

Trucy kicks him again. 

-

“Really, anyone? Just - whenever I want to come back, I can bring anyone with me?”

“Of course! I don’t know when the Swashbuckler Spectacular will come back, with my health, or anything like that, but you all will be the first ones to know! And your whole office is welcome and anyone you want to bring along, I’ll hold the front row just for you! Because any friend of yours is a friend of mine, Athena.”

“I - yeah, of course. But - thanks. When this is all sorted out, for you guys here and me with - and everything, there’s someone who I always wanted to visit with and never got a chance.”

“Then c’mon! I’ll look forward to meeting them.”

“Y-yeah, heh, I - yeah.”