#imo apollo USED to look up to him and then he met him and phoenix manipulated him during his FIRST TRIAL

[corvidcall]

everyone is allowed to do whatever they want forever AND i know the later games retconned things to be this way, but i still lose 2hp every time i see a post implying apollo looks up to and respects and admires phoenix. i know dual destinies and spirit of justice forgot that phoenix treats him like shit but i sure didnt!!!!!! retconning their relationship to just be bladly positive mentor/student sucks so bad. imo apollo should get to punch that guy a second time just because.

[cornertheculprit]

see what i think about the relationship between phoenix and trucy at first is that it was a constant work in progress. phoenix never has and never will pick up a book on parenting and we're talking about the man who was going "(this is so weird this is so weird this is so weird)" while he was asking trucy if she wanted to stay with him + what she wanted to call him and in the beginning it was intended as kind of a temporary arrangement until zak came back (which of course didn't end up happening for a long time. but they didn't KNOW that then) and in that sort of situation i think it's only natural that trucy wouldn't necessarily view him as a REAL dad and their relationship would evolve from that sort of starting point. and you have to remember that phoenix is USED to looking after people at this point yes but not in like. a fatherly manner. he's used to looking after maya and pearl in a manner that, at most imo, could be read as brotherly. his first choice of what trucy could call him if she wanted was not "daddy" but "nick" like they do. and trucy's only a year younger than pearl. so even with trucy calling him "daddy" i actually think for a while there their relationship would've been something akin to an older sibling playing parent to their younger sibling after their parent disappeared on them. as in neither of them know quite what they're doing but the end result is that trucy is safe and happy and loved and that's what's most important.

and of course as time goes on their relationship does evolve into something more father&daughter-like but i think that original element is still there under it all. people get on phoenix's ass about SOMETIMES bringing trucy to the borscht bowl and letting trucy run around with apollo (a guy they Just Met) to crime scenes and the like but honestly you gotta remember that phoenix and maya were letting pearl run all around the city on her own when she was nine. that's just how their little makeshift family Worked. and when pearl got lost she called and phoenix and maya immediately came running! and i think something similar is happening here—it's a situation where phoenix is like. i know you're very observant and i trust your judgment on things so you can do what you want and if you need me just call and i'll come running. is it what a perfect parent would do? probably not! but. and i need everyone to understand me here. trucy is Happy and Safe and Loved and she loves phoenix So Much in return and that is what Matters. since WHEN has ace attorney ever had Perfect Parents. this is NOT the series known for Perfect Parents. but there is no doubt that the love is there. do you understand