#in case anyone needs to hear those parallels

[plexiglasssheets]

Scout and Spydad

anyways father son bonding with very brief EngineerxSpy and Engiedad

pardon my shit grammar

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Like in Expiration Date/the comics Spy will let Scout tag along or help him with much reluctance, But as time goes on he does see the *potential* in him to make him a more refined man. One day going to sit in the common room to catch up on his French programs. That for some reason the signal doesn't reach his smoking room, he even asked Engineer to somehow fix the transmission, but the best he could do was the common area TV which was better than nothing. He put on one of his cheaper suits to sit on the musty couch, and hopefully, he prays just to catch up on his dramas without anyone annoying him. Then comes a sweaty scout who was probably outside with Pyro doing something stupid. He comes and sits on the couch realizing it's in French decides to read his comic. Spy just wants him to leave so he can watch his shows. But the kid was being quiet so it was better than nothing.

This became routine, the spy would come to watch his show, and Scout would come in at around the same time, sometimes from his runs, or one of his drives into town with Sniper and Pyro. But like clockwork, he would always be there. Having his comic books or sketch pad tucked under the couch just in case. Spy had gotten used to the company, while he drank his wine and Scout his soda. He just so happens to have a coaster at the ready for the water condensation his sugary beverage.

Scout had also slowly gotten into the shows himself, he knew French and was a bit rusty. But their weekly watchings got him back into it. The two would rant about the direction of the shows, think trashy reality TV, and bachelor-type stuff. How ‘he should have picked her, as they would have worked far better together’. Or ‘this is so rigged, she should have won.’ But they’re saying this all in French so when anyone else tries to come in they just hear the two in what they assume is a yelling match, though far from it.

Engineer decided maybe he should try to get it on Spy’s personal TV, to stop the fighting. So one afternoon as Spy is exiting his smoking room , Engie goes to him and tells him he can get it on his personal TV. But the Spy says he doesn’t want him to go through all that hassle, he's fine with the common room TV. Engineer confused, accepts it and goes back to his workshop, coming into the common room later to see what would make him want to stay. Then it clicked, as much as those two like to pretend to hate each other, they really didn’t. They weren’t best friends but they at least tolerated each other.

Scratch that, they did heavily dislike each other is how engineer would put it. When Spy would come later in the evenings to chat with spy, he’d go on and on about how’ he could civilize that boy’ and ‘if he had the time had be a fine general man’. Or could go down the path of ‘he doesn’t know why he puts up with him for his shows’

Scout complaints paralleled in the afternoons, going to Engie and ranting how he’s ‘always on his case’ and ‘needs to chill’.

But like always, every evening at 4, the two would make there way to the common area tv.

[bernardellinewsagency]

Have any other Galladay shippers gone diving into HSR lore cause you're a little too obsessed with the game and ended up thinking about how you could create parallels between not only Sunday and Dominicus, but also Gallagher and Aelenev (and that you could make it gay)? Or is it just me who's spending too much time wishing we had more lore about the Harmonic Strings?

Putting my ramblings under the cut cause it's long and there's some spoilers in case anyone still hasn't finished the Penacony quests

Sunday and Dominicus, that's pretty obvious. It's the Wisher of the Harmonious Choir that he attempts to bring forth at the Charmony Festival, using his power as well as the Order to spread Ena's influence among all those slumbering within Penacony. When talking about Dominicus, "A Hymn of Charmonic Strings" says "Prayers you suckle from the millions gathered here, and the masses' heartstrings you play," which could very well allude to Sunday's plan of placing everyone into the most perfect dreams they could wish for, dreams they would never wish to wake from. And like, apparently the name Sunday is even derived from Dominicus or something, according to the etymology notes on the HSR wiki page.

But that same readable mentions Aelenev, the Commander of the Eternal Centurion, and first of all that's just a cool fucking name in general. Second of all, there's several points that can stand out when looking upon the full section of the hymn,

"O, Great One of Paradise, Caress this scripture that is stained by blood on the battlefield, and kiss my longsword of bone and soul, Life is howling, and the sharp blade of streaming colors hangs high. Aelenev, do you hear? The soldiers' bones are buried at the end of the world. Comrades' whisper united, and the gospel can be heard for miles long, Blissful rain pours out thus, and one person equals to thousands. Thought they be the invincible steeds and death, they too long for their home deep in their soul."

The main part that I choose to look at is "one person equals to thousands," as there's lots of ways that could be interpreted. There is, of course, the fact that the Family is basically a hivemind, and also how Aelenev was summoned on one occasion and his sword was "unsheathed from the scabbard of 4,630,000 Hounds" which I take to mean as sort of manifested from their collective minds and wills, so to speak. Similar to how Gallagher is a lie manifested from the traits of 52 loyal Family members, no? And longing for a home deep in their soul, soldiers' bones that have been buried, a scripture stained by blood, I personally think that those could easily be taken as references to Mikhail, the revolution that led to Penacony being formed in the first place, and how Gallagher misses those he used to know. Or maybe not references, but they certainly could hold a similar meaning. I don't know, I'm not a fucking literature major or anything, I study animals and nature. This is just me being a massive nerd on the internet.

Anyways, this is mostly just to wonder if anyone else has/is thinking of using these parallels to make really gay stuff. Sunday should get more weird and fucked up with his affection in fics, because I think it would be really fun to see. Have him call Gallagher "my Aelenev" or something, make him want to craft Gallagher into a wonderful embodiment of the Harmony the same way as he attempted to usurp Dominicus' power. Get weird with it!

Or hey go a step further and make yaoi about the Harmonic Strings themselves. I'd do it. I'd fucking do it. I'm insane about this game's lore sometimes.

Also: Robin could be a parallel for Constantina, the singer of the Panacoustic Theater. That just leaves Beatriz, the merrymaker of the Blissful Ball, who I suppose could be parallel to Sparkle? Not to say that all four of them need to be represented by members of the Penacony cast, I'm just coming up with random thoughts about it.

[applestorms]

the demons got to me and i’m thinking about mello again.

god i so desperately wish we could’ve seen him interact with L in canon. near too, but mello in particular— i’ve already written my mello & misa parallels post so i won’t reiterate all that here but, fuck. i think their similarities would’ve been so obvious if we had actually seen mello’s hero worship of L in practice, like more than just his freak out at roger upon hearing about his death.

do you think he would’ve been loud, in his face about it? i don’t think so. i can’t help thinking back to near’s explanation of why L picked the two of them out to be his successors— the two quiet kids at the back of the room, glowering and watching while everyone else asked their questions. the obvious implication is that L picked them out because they seemed to idolize him, to respect him the least. near at least seems to have managed to stick with that mindset for most of canon… but when did mello’s view start changing? was he just better at hiding it? did his feelings ever become more, less mixed? did he worship L like a cold, distant god— or grow to respect the minor points of humanity that seeped out from the corners?

speaking of: how the FUCK did that conversation about the LABB murder case go? how much of that story was actually, directly told to mello, and how much was his own fantasy, filling in the blanks? he clearly projected onto BB. did he join the mafia with that knowledge in mind, that the desperate, inferiority complex-riddled serial killer was the archetype he fit into better than the world famous detective? did he care about justice, any kind of moral standard— did he bloody his hands or find ways to work around it?

mello knew was never going to be L’s successor, not if he played the game according to its established rules. did L ever imply such things to his face? actually, what the hell did L think of near? was he aware of the burden he put on those fucking kids, did he ever care for even a second? did he mistakenly assume his own immortality, even in the face of a supernatural murder?

(clawing desperately at the walls of my enclosure. L getting annoyed at his pet orphanage of super-geniuses for distracting him from his evil boyfriend is one of my favorite fic tropes of all time, if you gimme recs for that i’ll kiss you)

i wonder if mello ever saw the parts of L in near that everyone else seems to unable to see past. maybe he did, but even so— i think he, of all people, was most aware of all the ways in which near was himself. how easily he fit the role but all the ways in which he broke out of it as well, the similarities in their intelligence & methods of thinking but the minor details that meant near could win where L never could. where mello himself never could. he probably knew how that guy functioned better than anyone, maybe even better than near himself, though i doubt he’d ever do much with that knowledge. it’s one of the few places where i see mello & near switching in terms of passivity— mello knowing Everything about near but doing very little about it, paralyzed by his own self-doubt, while near comparatively struggles to claw as much Mello Knowledge as he can, poking and prodding and pushing him in every direction, all while getting continually blind-sighted as he explodes in random ways he can barely fathom.

i like to think that, in contrast with near’s extreme codependence, mello is actually quite self-sufficient. weirdly, he seems to me like the DN character to be the most likely to actually go to therapy at some point. i think he’s a lot more self aware than he lets on, if only because his inferiority complex drives so much of his self hatred, pushing him to always be better, stronger, more independent. i like to imagine that his apartment or room or wherever the fuck he lives is actually quite clean, that he pushes himself to learn how to cook, how to take care of himself. L never sleeps and near probably sleeps too much but mello needs a consistent, solid 7-8 hours a night or he starts getting cranky— the kind of person who functions better in the sunlight, to take from a fic i read recently.

i wonder how much of his life he remembers from before the orphanage. he seems like he might have emotional ties there, but something he’d never or only very rarely speak about— glimpses of a past life that keeps him up at night on occasion, where near is blessed with a complete lack of any earlier memories. mello just seems more inclined towards sentimentality like that, extreme in all his emotions, particularly when they’re utilized for the purpose of self-destruction. he wears a rosary, has a cross on his gun, chooses to die in a dilapidated church. good lord, he chooses to die in a church.

did he grieve matt? he apologizes, yes. but did he already know he was to join him so soon?

i desperately wish to see a version of mello who had the time to commit to his name and chill the fuck out for a while. get some meds, separate himself from the burdens of L, of the rivalry, and allow himself the chance to relax and breathe and properly heal. part of the reason why his death in particular hits me so hard is the fact that it all seems so possible with him, that he has the most potential to genuinely get over this shit— to not just stew in the corners of the earth and let time wash over him (like a certain someone), but actually, literally get his fucking life back.

he’s explosive, yes, he’s neurotic and emotional and lashes out at everyone and anyone he pleases— but in that same way, he’s honest. mello and near do not bullshit themselves in the ways that L and light do so consistently, they don’t bother lying to themselves or putting on airs about the kinds of people they are or the kinds of things they want. they know their place in the world, the expectations on their shoulders.

everybody likes thinking about “L wins” and “KIRA wins” scenarios, but you know what i really want to consider? what the fuck would mello winning look like? i mean, he’s a character whose primarily fucking trait is the fact that he loses, that he’s always second place. i almost feel like mello winning could’ve been one of the best case scenarios— because for mello to truly win, to not just overpower near and tell him to suck it (a situation which would not make mello legitimately happy, just put him in the same situation as light killing L), he’d have to get over the biggest hurdle of his own bullshit and legitimately grow as a person.

i yearn to see a near that got the chance to grow up with his other half, and a mello who got the chance to live for himself again. they deserve that: quiet afternoons to bitch at each other and argue over whatever book they decided to read that week, near whining about having to do chores and mello yelling at him to clean up his fucking legos, matt shaking his head in the corner.

get those kids a fucking happy ending.

[thecoolerliauditore]

pearl needs to run away from Scott. let him GO!!! I promise Pearl, i promise, he doesn't love you. he loves the idea of you. he loves who he thinks you should be. not the real you, not the one with flaws, not the one he traumatized and broke into a million little pieces and had to learn to pick herself back up again, with the help of the very few people who would help her bandaged hands sort through those glass shards. he wouldn't help you then!! he doesnt deserve you now!!!! please girl, LEAVE HIM!!!!

and look. I know she's loyal. I know she'll probably never leave, because she loves the idea of him too, not the person he really is. she loves the memory of her best friend from a past life, not the man who would hurt her and pretends its all her fault. but. BUT hear me OUT.

gems right there. gem, who she wanted to ally with so bad last season. gem who was excited to see her, who welcomed that broken piece of her with open arms and wasn't scared when she met the scarlet pearl. gem, that killed pearl twice, that pearl was still willing to fight a final time, in what would have likely been a third death for pearl. she can go to her. she can GET OUT!!! she can get help, she just has to take that first step. she has to leave herself, but there's someone there she wanted to be friends with last season so bad, she can take that step now!

the only thing holding her back is her own loyalty. she's a dog on a leash of loyalty and now Scott and cleo have the other end. it's just a matter of if she can chew through it to run away or if it'll strangle her first

HELLO anon this is the anon ask that made me lay face up in my bed staring at the ceiling listening to when she loved she from toy story 2 on repeat fyi (it slowly morphed into nonsense speaker the rachie cover specifically over time. always been a pearl song to me but it was a bit melodramatic before this point. if it gets worse i might have to. i might)

It sucks so much it literally it literally sucks. What you said about them both loving ideas of eachother is so on point, they're both chasing something within the other that is innately self-contradictory.

Pearl wants to forgive him, but her version of "forgive" is to forgo her own feelings of spite and not challenge his view on things, which means she can never get the closure she needs to truly forgive him or get back the Scott she knew in LL.

Scott also wants Pearl back, the authentic one he knew in LL, but he also needs to whittle her down (cough) to something acceptable to him (in this case, shamed for her actions during DL) so his narrative doesn't get challenged. But that's not quite the Pearl he knew either! He can't have both a genuine connection with Pearl and have her exist solely as the concept of her he's created in his head, but he needs both and I really can't wait to see how that pans out. This paragraph is insane copium btw I do know I think you're a lot more correct than I am when you say he never actually loved her but I'm delusional. Logical side of me definitely thinks he's comfortable like this and if anyone's going to challenge this dynamic it's gonna be Pearl not Scott but what if man. What if.

Anyway I've seen so many people begging Gem to take Pearl in and I do get it I do. I personally have like one million fantasies about something like that as well. However I am calling on my Martyn Inthelittlewood clause and saying that I also do want to see Pearl deal with the consequences.

I'm so happy you said that she needs to leave herself because goddamn yes she does!! If Gem just kidnaps her that's just taking away her growth! If she does fuck off and join Joel/Gem btw this will be like. an absolutely hilarious parallel to Last Life. Fairy Fort welcome back none of us missed you. Would be fitting for this season.

The collar/leash imagery is so messed up man thanks. Reminds me of this Scott/Cleo fanart I wanted to draw at one point where they're cosplaying as Denji/Makima but in that halloween costume way where they don't know the characters or the implications. Sorry just had to throw that in there.

[mercymaker]

it's a little past 2am so of course I'm going absolutely insane thinking of the wildest little concepts and stories

having @andauril mention the mal multiverse made me think about our many long conversations with @tadpole-apocalypse about parallel universes and all the AUs merging and ways different versions of characters from those worlds interacting with each other.

and now I can't stop thinking about the scenario where mal's astarion ends up landing in parallel world some time after above the vaulted sky. and one of his initial instincts is to find mal in that world. he deludes himself in saying that it's only for a moment. just to see her again. to hear her voice for a moment. if she even exists here.

and she does. although, this mal was never taken by the absolute. she never had the tadpole. she never met anyone from the party, instead remaining deep in the woods and only occasionally wandering outside of the forest out of necessity and curiosity.

this mal only looks like his mal. but she is not her. this is a'sherra's mal.

yet, in that moment, it doesn't matter to him. it's her! it's maleane. alive and breathing and feisty, yes, but she's far from a memory or a ghost or an illusion. she's so real, that in his panic to coax her to his side, to get close to her, astarion lies. and he knows just enough about mal's history to know how to pull at her strings. how to get her to listen, no matter how reluctantly.

the spawn tells her that there's a drow party in the area, looking for someone. he knows that she'd both fear it and also be tempted to seek vengeance. that she would need help. something he could offer.

and, although suspicious at first, mal senses that this strange man, this beautiful stranger, sees something in her. something that makes him sound a little frantic. a little desperate. something that could be used to her advantage.

and so, she decides to use him. for protection. for sacrifice. in case she needs to save herself.

and this reluctant alliance goes on. slowly shifts into something else. part of him realizes just how bad of an idea this is. what a dangerous game he's playing. but there's also that stupid hope lodged somewhere between his ribs like a shard of glass.

she's not his mal. she's not the same. but.. maybe she could be? they'd fallen in love once, under more dire circumstances. maybe they can do so again?

and maleane senses his thoughts, his feelings. she sees the hints of longing. the subtle cracks of heartbreak, streaked across his features. the way he looks at her. the way he wants to get close.

so she allows him, slowly, closer. not because she's reciprocating any of his feelings, but because she wants to lure him close to make him talk. fool him into believing she's slowly growing fond of him so he tells her everything.

and that's how they end up in her bed. he knows it's her first time and so, does everything to make it a pleasant experience for her, getting an opportunity to 'fix' what happened in their original timeline.

and through their many conversations and shared kisses, through what could only appear as bonding, maleane realizes that he lied to her. it's not an obvious 'in your face' confession, but just enough of a hint to sow doubt.

and where his maleane would pause and reassess the situation, allowing him to argue his case and for the truth to come out. this is not that mal. this is ashe's daughter.

and so, that very night, mal lures him into her bed, offering soft touches and kisses in return for his whispers. and once his attention slips for a moment, once he starts losing himself inside her... she jams a wooden stake deep into his chest, blood flooding their bed in an instant.

no, this is not his maleane. and his lies are not met with a confession of her own, like before. this woman is cold and calculated and without the capacity to truly trust anyone. it's a shame that he realized that way too late.

[galakianexplosion]

Okay so; another little one punch man ramble. {SPOILERS! :D}

This is for the non revised lastest chapters in specific, and the monster association arc.

The parallels between Saitama and Flash,

Originaly from a conversation with my friend @kachikirby , it might be extremly obvious to everyone but id like to speak about it anyways! :D

To elaborate a tiny bit more on this and mostly rephrase ; So both have their own foe to defeat; Saitama with Garou and Flash with Emtpy void (motivated to fight god himself).

Both of their enemies is possessed by said god. And both wanted something out of the other party. Garou wanted to fight Saitama at his best and Empty Void deemed Flash worthy enough to be gifted the same "possession". So to throw both off they needed to get a reaction, something that'd break something inside of them.

Both don't have all that much to look to, even if we know less about Flash, i think it's safe to assume he's lonely and focuses on his strenght. Saitama is simillar, a man so bored with his own strenght.

But, both have someone, now you might add that Garou also managed to kill all other heroes (and more) present near him which certainly did not help Saitama feel better, which i will agree with! But the main factor for the whole state he gets into after stays Genos. (It's also heavily heavily implied/basicaly said that Saitama relies Genos for support and all of that) Saitama recieves Genos' core- his heart.

Now Flash on the other hand, despite his messy fall out with Sonic, said Sonic is really the only one he has. They both were each other's only source of "happiness" during the times when they were in the ninja training thing. They both relied on each other and had a whole dream with each other. They both have a very strong history despite their falling out. And even after that they do still care for one another. So, even with what Flash says to Blast about being soft in the revised version, he too, has a weakness in the form of someone else. Flash receives Sonic's head as his dismembered remains falls in the back. His head is even cut in half. In the middle, horizontaly.

Now, hear me out, im pretty sure there's a connection between God and the brain (as well as psychic powers and the moon but anyways,) and Sonic's head was cut in a way that kept said brain intact. I don't have much on this part right now but i do believe theres a link between all of those things---

Also could it be said that there was Heart and Mind (Reason and feelings) parallels

SO

Sonic's dead was false. It's a projection made from Empty Void to Flash, an illusion to break his spirit. WHICH SUCCEEDED. And broke Flash for long enough to able Empty Void to get the cube to touch him.

Meanwhile, Genos' death was fully real. He was really dead when Saitama fought with Garou.

But all turned out alright for the four of them. Flash got saved by Sonic, who was fully alive and well. And Saitama turned back time which allowed Genos to be alive again (and all the other heroes but you know)

So; both also had similar expressions at simmilar time. Faces shadowed out except for eyes. (Saitama's eyes don't appear on most of the pannels however) But both were clearly in a form of distress over someone they care about dying. They're both well aquainted with Death. They're heroes who kill monsters. And Flash also is an assassin.

It can also be said that they would not really have made it out on their own in some ways. Genos' core being there managed, in some ways, to keep Saitama's brain mostly in check (if you get what i mean). Saitama could probably have been way more dangerous otherwise. And Sonic managed to snap Flash out of the possession before God took a hold of him.

Because in the end, God is a convincing little meanie. Taking the form of someone you trust. (Except in psychos case where she fused with someone already gifted by god i believe) (and that homeless emporor who i believe saw a version of god because he perhaps didn't have anyone close to him.) So Flash did see Sonic, like if all his life and troubles were just a bad dream, he was in front of his childhood friend, in a vast field, being reassured by the other he just saw being cut apart seconds earlier.

And both Flash and Saitama know each other. And both lived trough their first encounter with God next to each other (along Manako)

All of this to say that both their parallels are very dear to me. I wonder what we'll see of it in the revised version!

[wen-kexing-apologist]

Bengiyo's Queer Cinema Syllabus

I am currently working my way through Unit 4: Heartbreak Alley, the totally light-hearted, definitely not agonizing section of @bengiyo’s queer cinema syllabus where I get to watch countless acts of violence be committed against queer people. Thank fuck I have Lesbians waiting for me at the end of this unit. The films in Unit 4 are: Bent (1997), Strange Fruit (2004),Boys Don’t Cry (1999), Brokeback Mountain (2005), Parting Glances (1986),Philadelphia (1993), The Living End (1992), Holding the Man (2015), Jeffery (1995), and Boys on the Side (1995).

Today I will be talking about

Holding the Man (2015) dir. Niel Armfield

[Run Time: 2hr 8 min, Available: Google Play, Language: English]

Summary: The warm, funny and achingly sad story of the 15-year-long love affair between Timothy Conigrave and the boy he fell in love with at high school, John Caleo. (IMDB)

Cast:

Ryan Corr as Timothy Conigrave

Sarah Snook as Pepe Trevor

Craig Stott as John Caleo

__

So, as anyone who has seen Ben’s syllabus should know, he was very intentional about setting it up as a lead in to BL. Sometimes I wonder how some of the movies may apply, but I definitely understood where he was coming from with this one…

Ben wanted to show any person going through the syllabus the parallels between BL and Western films that let 30 year olds in terrible wigs play high schoolers. 

He also definitely put this movie on the list because these characters are gay boys in a Catholic school. 

gif by @captnswilson

Anyway, I thought this film was very good, it started off very strong not only with the phone call that cannot be more than two minutes that tells you everything you need to know about the characters, how they are connected to each other, where they are in the present. Especially when you know by the time the phone disconnects that John is dead, especially when the camera cuts to three old men looking at Tim as he tries desperately to call back, a stark reminder that Tim and John will never reach old age. 

gif by @captnswilson

I think the biggest thing I was struggling with in this entire movie was how indiscrete Tim and John were being about their relationship. Like, seriously, full confession, I thought the consequences of their physical intimacy would be because of Catholicism. Shielded by my own age I guess in part, but also hugely because of their lack general lack of fear or discretion, I fully forgot it was illegal to be gay in 1970, when Tim is fully reaching his hand down John’s pants at school, and putting love letters on his desk at school, and giving John hand jobs in his living room, and fucking with the doors unlocked when their friends go out fishing. 

That said, I do appreciate that even under the threats from their school, from their parents, they choose each other over and over again. They are unfazed and unashamed of their relationship and I think that sets the movie up to be all the more tragic because you can kinda tell what’s coming. The fact that they have fought against it all, they have loved each other fiercely and openly and relatively unafraid, makes John’s inevitable death all the more tragic. 

I think the production of this film was really smart, with some really wonderful transitions between scenes and the background music, or a line, or a lingering camera shot. For example when Pepe sends the kiss around the table, and after John and Tim have kissed each other and Pepe tries to take any suspicion of Tim’s feelings away by closing the kissing circle, we hear audio which soon after cuts to mass. The line of course being “To those trapped in the darkness of sin that the light shining in Christ may free them…” The way that John’s father thanks Tim for helping John come out of his shell, only for Tim to unzip John’s sleeping bag, literally opening a casing that was covering John a few scenes later so they can have sex and cuddle during a sleepover.  

gif by @captnswilson

The way the editing supports the discovery, the tension of John’s father finding the letter, while we see John and Tim fucking at the cabin, the friends coming back to catch them in the act, the way the music stops when John’s Dad is interrupted from his thoughts as he starts to read the letter around the same time that Tim slams the door shut on his friends. The way the silence in John’s room from his father is co-opted for the silence in the cabin’s living room with all the boys playing poker as if nothing had happened. The close up of Tim’s hand shaking the man he is interviewing, and then the subtle way Tim wipes his hand against the arm of the chair he is sitting in as if he can catch AIDS just by touching someone who has it. 

I have a thing for movies about AIDS letting their characters bleed. I really love the choice, the knowing that comes with seeing those bright trails of red. The weight to it. I love so many acting choices in this film, the scene of Tim and his mother preparing food after he comes home for his sister’s wedding only to find out that his mother read a letter addressed to him that essentially told him he had AIDS. I love when Tim can’t complete a scene after his acting teacher so thoroughly reads him, and honestly…respect, I appreciate that Tim is willing to admit that. I love the image of John’s father closing the door to their house after John puts his foot down, reaffirms to his dad that he loves Tim and says there is nothing he can do about it. Because the door to their house has bars, and it looks like John’s father is locking himself up in a cage. Trapped inside while John and Tim drive off in to the world. To experience it in its fullness while John’s father cowers away. 

gif by @captnswilson

I think the scenes where John was sick and where he was dying was super well performed. Hell, the entire thing was well performed, but to see Craig Stott go from strong athlete to gasping for breath, so sure footed to unsteady on his feet. I am in love with the blushy little smile that John gives Tim when Tim takes his picture and calls him beautiful after they have shaved John’s head, and glued dinosaur figurines to it. This film does such a phenomenal job of realistically, believably portraying love. 

I’m thankful to the writing for acknowledging sex workers and intravenous drug users, they are our brothers and sisters, they are us, we are all family, and I think it is important that we don’t forget them when we discuss AIDS, and the people we lost to it. 

gif by @captnswilson

I think they handled John’s death very lovingly. I am sure that I would have been bawling if I didn’t end up in a lovely two and a half hour conversation with a friend just before he draws his last breath. And again, the choices here, the loud, agonizing breathing John has when he sleeps, and the way the silence settles in when he draws his last breath. I am glad John told Tim in his own way that he was ready to go. That when he collapsed at home it was so easy. There is no way losing someone you love that deeply isn’t devastating, but at least for me, death is a little easier when I know someone is ready. 

I love that John kept his promise, not to die unless Tim was by his side, and that Tim whispering in his ear “I’m here” was what finally gave John permission to go. (I WANTED TO PUNCH A HOLE THROUGH MY TV WHEN JOHN’S PARENTS DIDN’T LET THE PRIEST SAY TIM WAS ANYTHING MORE THAN A FRIEND TO JOHN.)  I loved that we ended the film with Pepe telling Tim that John was by his side, right before we learn that Tim died ten days after he finished writing his book. 

I should have known, I guess, that this was based on a real story, because of the nature of the material, but for some reason I didn’t. Maybe I missed a title card somewhere or something. But I do think there is something so beautiful about being able to immortalize John, immortalize Tim, and immortalize their love for each other in a book. That their love story was told again through film. That there is no way to deny their love for each other now. 

Favorite Moment 

gif by @captnswilson

Honestly, I really loved the sex scene between John and Timothy near the end of the film when they are back in John’s childhood home to celebrate Christmas with John’s family. John has been receiving treatment for cancer, and is very weak, on oxygen and everything since his lungs have been having a lot of trouble recently. I love that every part of it is so slow and tender, John and Timothy dancing together in John’s room, paralleling the way they danced together at Tim’s sister’s wedding not long after their HIV diagnoses. 

John, as weak as he is, as hard as it is for him to breathe, asks Tim to screw him, and we get absolutely the slowest and most intentional sex scene of the entire film (and there are many sex scenes in this film). I do not think that all sex needs to be tender, do not get me wrong, but I did really love the way that with how obvious it is that John does not have much time left, they take their time with this. It is just such a beautiful expression of love between these two. I appreciate too that they make this sex scene beautiful, that sex between an actively dying cancer patient is held as high or higher in beauty and artistry as all the sex Tim and John were having over the 15 year course of their relationship. It is very obvious that this is a last goodbye, but for all that sex has at times been avoided in this film, for the time it brought HIV into their lives, sex is not a bad thing, sex is a necessary and wanted thing, I just liked it as a part of their goodbyes to each other. 

Favorite Quote

“How can you write this play? You’re making assumptions about your status.”

Honestly. What an incredible fucking line. Tim sitting in a room, interviewing a man who is dying of toxoplasmosis because of his HIV status for a play. I am not opposed to people making plays about terminally ill people. I do think it is important to immortalize, to remember, to tell stories. But for the love of GOD you canNOT go waltzing in to a dying man’s apartment, wipe your hands on his chair after you shake his hand because his AIDS disgusts you, and then demand his life story and his thoughts about dying. 

Tim had so much unprotected sex in college, Tim is hiding from the (possible) truth, Tim does not want to know. What right does Tim have to ask others for their stories when he is running from his own? 

Score

9/10

[tavyliasin]

Disability Pride Essays - Enver Gortash, Invisible Disability, and Visible Mobility Aids

Our focus this month has mostly been on our heroes (or perhaps, in some cases and paths, antiheroes, but companions nonetheless), but what about the villains? Gortash might not be the most sympathetic character, given all the morals he doesn’t have, but he’s important, popular, and altogether quite fascinating. This bonus round will take a look at a few of the more subtle details in his character, from the mobility aid to some things people have noticed in how he moves and interacts. There is a lot to be said about his traumatic backstory and how this impacted his life and decisions to where his moral compass does not point where most would prefer, but it would be a disservice to pretend that all disabled people - and indeed all disabled representation - are beyond criticism and are somehow icons of perfection. We are, I’m afraid to say, just as flawed as anyone else~ Which of course does not mean that we’re all out there making plans to dominate the world with a captured Elder Brain. That’s a little much…

What is Gortash’s Disability?

Gortash is far from the youngest of the adult characters, but he is also not of a typical age that one would expect to see mobility difficulties. And that is exactly what we have on the surface - though it is only seen in a couple of scenes, he has a rather ornate cane which is used for walking at times. There’s also an element of mental health with Gortash, and whilst we could do a deep dive into the causes I don’t feel that’s entirely necessary - the effect is in a few subtle details that some players might have missed.

How Do We See The Disability In The Game?

A lot of what we see is in Gortash’s outfit and inventory, though some have also pointed out that the way he walks and uses stairs looks very similar to how someone with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome might move (this condition is characterised by a weakening of connective tissues, leading to a higher chance of dislocation in joints and potentially differences in range of motion as tendons and ligaments are looser). This was fascinating to hear and I feel like I should absolutely go back and look at the scenes to see if I can spot those subtle shifts in motion and posture, though it is important to point out that quite simply you cannot always tell if someone is disabled or in pain just by observing them. There is the cane mentioned before, that is only in a couple of scenes but has made such an impact that it quite often makes an appearance in fan-created works, too. Another key item is his coat, which many refer to affectionately as “The Anxiety Jacket” - this might on the surface seem like a practical item to protect him from the influence of magical effects that cause conditions such as Fear, but many like to see it as a garment that also reduced anxiety and other similar symptoms. We can also see the gauntlets he wears as being a parallel to forearm and hand braces - though they’re not particularly accurate to actual support equipment, there are plenty of people who will wear specifically adapted braces in those areas. They might even have a couple of fingers uncovered as Gortash does, in order to better manipulate objects and prevent accidental scratches/injury from natural reactions like rubbing one’s eye when it’s sore/tired.

How Does This Reflect Real Life?

The cane is a very direct parallel, even in how it is not present in every scene with him. We only see it a couple of times, but it’s there enough for many of us to take note and to perhaps feel a little validation and representation from that. A lot of people who use an aid like a cane may not need it every single day, and use it only as and when required to maintain their strength but without struggling needlessly on bad days or risking making things worse. So whilst an argument could be made that “the cane he uses is only decorative” that doesn’t quite add up, as surely he would have it with him when holding the huge event to impress all the patriars - more on that later though. With the gloves, braces and even compression gloves are common accessibility aids that can support and protect joints and reduce pain. Granted, ornate golden metal is not usually the first choice, but like the cane we can see this as Enver making his mobility aids match his outfit/style. Plenty of us do seek out more stylish mobility aids, or otherwise decorate them with all sorts of things from stickers and paint to badges and keychains. It would be very interesting to see braces or supports styled like Gortash’s bracers and gauntlets. His coat could also be a parallel to how some people find a lot of comfort and anxiety relief from weighted blankets or even weighted garments that apply a level of pressure to the body in just the right way to feel soothing. This is particularly known for anxiety and neurodivergent people, though plenty of others have also found this to be helpful and calming.

Invisible Conditions and The Importance of Appearances

So in the community you might see people talk about Visible Disability and Invisible Illness (illness and disability are interchangeable here). What this refers to is whether a condition is something that people can instantly recognise, and usually won’t question. This might be a mobility aid like a wheelchair or crutches, or a white cane for visual impairments/blindness, or a service dog, or visible braces for joints. There are some borderline ones like walking canes which are a visible signal of disability but might not always be respected as such, particularly if the user looks younger and not the expected elderly person using a cane to walk. But many people who still need accessibility services and options - like disabled parking spaces or to use the lift instead of stairs - may not have any of these visible differences. It may be a heart and lung issue, or chronic pain that doesn’t require a mobility aid, a fluctuating severity condition, mental health and developmental/learning difficulties - numerous conditions can affect people in ways that are not immediately recognisable, so we call them invisible.  When you look at Gortash only having his cane for a couple of scenes and not in others, and how the gauntlets specifically serve another purpose of holding the netherstone, you can argue that his conditions are mostly invisible ones. Or that he is attempting to keep them that way, at least. He holds a position of high regard and clearly to some degree cares about appearances given how ornate his clothing is and how he presents himself as a powerful and charismatic leader of his people.

Were he to walk out in front of the crowds using a cane, it would more than likely turn a few heads, or even appear to be a weakness to those who might use it against him for their own gain. To someone with as large a target on your back as he has, even with all of the power of being Bane’s chosen, it’s unwise to give anyone an opening.  

Mobility Aids and The Anxiety Jacket

There are a lot of different mobility aids that people use in their daily lives, and some are even ones that are not needed every day. It isn’t unreasonable to suggest that actually Gortash’s use of the cane is like a part time mobility aid user - he doesn’t need it every day, but he does need it on a bad day when a symptom is flaring up or he has to do more than he usually would. The jacket might also, as well as acting in a similar way to a weighted blanket, be akin to how some people have favoured clothing items that give them comfort. Something like a jumper or jacket, a hoodie that is comfortable and feels safe to wear. Keeping things stylised, as mentioned earlier, is just another way that people incorporate their mobility and accessibility aids into their personal tastes. It’s similar to how people prefer to choose glasses that they feel look nice - it’s not just about the function of the item, technically any style of glasses will serve the purpose of correcting someone’s vision easily. They’re there all the time, so having them coordinate with your sense of style and taste is logical, and can make you feel more confident and positive about wearing them. It’s the same as anything really - you choose a coat not just for how it keeps the cold and/or rain out, but also for how it looks. Mobility aids aren’t always so interchangeable - it’s tough to afford or even store a whole range of wheelchairs or crutches - so choosing the right one and making it fit is important at the start. Enver’s cane is ornate, and in keeping with the themes of other things he wears all the time. As a game character, naturally he just has the one recognisable outfit, but it’s plausible to say that were he to have a more varied wardrobe it’s unlikely there would be anything that clashes with gold and black as a colour scheme. 

Function and fashion, essentially, don’t need to be entirely separate, even when we’re talking about disabilities. 

City Design and Accessible Buildings

Now, I might be remembering entirely incorrectly on this point, but from my memory and the screenshots I was looking at, it seems like Wyrm’s Rock Keep might actually have full step free access. There is a lift (elevator) that goes up to the upper floors for the coronation and to upper rooms, and I don’t recall seeing steps at either drawbridge entrance or in the doorways to the publicly accessible rooms either. It’s an odd point to bring up, and hardly seems relevant to the rest of the game, but I do want to invite you for a moment to think about the game map and your own local area. In the game, there are a huge amount of places only accessed by stairs, streets that are cobbled and bumpy, a complete lack of accessible routes. Of course it is a fantasy game where there is magical healing, but if you want to go into deep lore then there can still be disabilities in fantasy settings, and magical healing is very expensive. Adventurers end up with plenty of coin, but this is from selling things they find or steal, from rewards for completing tasks that carry a strong risk of death to each, from killing foes and raiding their pockets for loose change (I’m not judging you, it’s a game and they don’t exactly have a Will tucked into their back pocket telling you who to give their coin to). The average citizen, however? The amount needed to pay for high level healing spells or potions is more money than they would make in over 50 years, and that’s if they didn’t have daily living expenses to account for. So to pull that back into the real world, look at the world around you. Each business you enter, notice for a moment - does it have a stepped entrance? Anything more than an inch could prevent a disabled person from entering. Is the speech or conference you are watching being interpreted by someone using sign language? Are there braille marks on important buttons like door openings or bus stop bells? Have textured paths that white cane users need as guides for routes been blocked by anything? Is there enough space for a mobility aid user to safely navigate between aisles and displays in a shop? Sometimes it can seem like there is no need to add accessibility, because you’re not seeing disabled people around who need them. But to that I like to remind people of two key points - first, if a place isn’t accessible, we can’t even try to be there in the first place (or we don’t want to give our business to someone who has not thought of basic access needs), and secondly we are still a minority, so the percentage of us in the population whilst still significant is far lower than abled people.

What We Can Learn From Gortash’s Story

It feels strange to say “hey let’s learn about this unrepentant villain and how he can represent us” but the thing is we do need diverse representation. Just as we shouldn’t have villains be the only characters to portray disability (directly or indirectly), it would also be unfair to have disabled characters only permitted to be pure and virtuous. Disabled people, and disabled characters who represent them, are people. Whole entire people with wants and dreams, needs and desires, faults and flaws and mistakes and everything that makes us all human. We cannot - and should not - boil them down to only being their disability. Gortash can be representative of how people’s conditions may vary, how some days they may need a cane but others they might not. He might be an example of someone who hides their condition, or whose needs vary from day to day. It’s good to remember that in real life someone who is disabled might be able to do something one day, but not the next. It doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be entitled to help that they need to do that thing on the days they can’t, nor should you be assuming they always need the support if it isn’t being requested or used. He can also show us how mobility aids and supports do not need to only be functional. If someone can afford to have a gold inlaid ornately carved cane, why shouldn’t they? If someone wants to have braces or joint supports that are decorated and match their outfits, that should always be an option available to them. I would also like to invite you to take the time to look at the world around you and thing about how things may be accessible or inaccessible to someone with different needs to your own. As a wheelchair user myself, when I started using wheels to get around I was taken aback by just how needlessly difficult it can be. Businesses with steps, curbs not properly dropped to allow for road crossings, vehicles parked too far across pavements and footpaths, even accessible toilet facilities being used to store extra bins or other supplies because there’s more space in there - forgetting, of course, that wheelchair users need that extra floor space to be able to enter, turn, and navigate when inside. If you do notice that a business doesn’t have a step-free entrance, that there’s no lift or level crossing to change platforms at a train station, that a car park has no disabled spaces, please consider speaking up or notifying whoever is responsible for the area.

I’ll round this one off to remind us all that it’s ok to find parts of ourselves in a villain’s story, and even to feel a connection to a fictional villain. Love them, too, if you like - I know I often do~ You can find a whole breakdown of why I feel we like fictional villains - and how this does not make us bad people - right here.

[stranger-rants]

my apologies for the incoming essay, I just think Billy needs more love 🥹

rn im just thinking about Billy sleeping in the Camaro for a few nights after a really bad fight with Neil, except he doesn’t wanna be in the driveway in case Neil decides it’s baseball bat window smashing time, so he parks in the nearest convenience store parking lot and sets up camp for the rainy night with a microwave burrito and a pack of cigarettes. Then he gets thirsty, so he goes to get himself some water, jogging through the rain, but he hears a little squeak, eerily alive, and slips around the back of the store to check it out. It’s a box of puppies, he’s not sure what kind, but they’re all wriggly and crammed inside and crying because they’re alone and cold and sad :( and Billy does NOT want to think about the parallel between them, abandoned by their families and left to cry in the rain, but he can’t just leave the puppies there, either, the rain is starting to soak through their box and they’ll be shivering all night.

So what does Billy ‘I Break Things’ Hargrove do? He picks up the box, hoists it up and lugs it through the rain, right to his car. He’s incredibly lucky to find an old painting tarp shoved under the seat, something he uses to cover it up whenever he parks in the garage because someone has a habit of ‘accidentally’ scratching it. He wraps the soggy box up in the tarp and plops right down into the drivers’ seat with the puppies in his lap, water long forgotten. He cranks up the heat, peering nervously into the box because as little hesitation as he’d had for helping the little things, he’s not very experienced with animals. Neil has definitely never let anything with paws into that house and he was scared of the neighbor’s dog growing up, probably bc it was a big muscly breed and he was just a little kid. He doesn’t really know how to act around animals or interact with them so he just sort of pokes at one of the puppies, one on top of the dog pile that’s looking at him with big shiny eyes. He aims for a head scratch but the puppy’s squirmy, and chomps right down on Billy’s finger. He’s scared for a millisecond, but he realizes the bite doesn’t hurt, and the puppy’s just playing with him. He breaks away with a little breathy chuckle and scratches the puppy behind the ears and the poor little thing just melts, so touch deprived and sad :( maybe he picks the puppy up, testing its weight in his palms, and just marveling at how teeny tiny the little guy is.

He probably is too busy Experiencing his first puppy cuddle to realize the pup is leaning towards his face, and he’s pretty sure his brain rewires when the sweet little puppy licks his nose. He just.. doesn’t get love from anyone. Anyone, people, animals, fuck, the plant he’d tried desperately to keep alive for a few days died miserably like it was taunting him. His first instinct is probably ew, like omg gross there’s spit on my face lol but he looks down at the puppy in mild disgust and sees those big shiny eyes again and he just.. can’t be mad. He’s so entranced with the pup he’s holding that he’s not really paying attention to all the other little ones jumping at the side of the box but a nip to his hand makes him look down, and he’s greeted with a big bunch of other squirmy, yappy puppies, all as sweet as the one he’s cradling. He definitely hand feeds them little chunks of his food, and he tries very hard not to freak out and yell at them when they gnaw all over him like a chew toy and almost rip his jacket. They’re very eager to climb out of the box but he is not ready for wriggly little puppies loose in his car so he manages to contain them until they’re all snoozing, one of them fell asleep with it’s little puppy paws braced against his chest, standing up against the side of the box. He falls asleep right there, sitting up in his driver’s seat with this box of puppies sitting in his lap. He probably wakes up the next morning to a lot of sweet puppy kisses, and he drives around town and the other surrounding areas specifically hunting for a safe, no-kill shelter bc he knows he can’t keep any of them. And if he starts disappearing more, taking more and more frequent trips outside of town? It’s to visit the little puppies, volunteer at the shelter just to hang out with them and make sure they’re doing okay 🥹

Aww 💜

Billy deserves all the puppy cuddles.

[thecourtscorkboard]

Rise From the Ashes (1-5: Part One)

2005 was a landmark year. North Korea announced it had nuclear weapons, the Xbox 360 was released, and Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney was given a new case—Rise from the Ashes.

Rise From the Ashes (1-5) is the grand finale to Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: a mystery that revolves around a grand conspiracy, a culture of unabashed corruption, and a climax two years in the making. Phoenix is called to defend Lana Skye, a chief prosecutor arrested for a murder that she has confessed to!

Interestingly, Rise From the Ashes was not in the original Japanese releases of the game. It came out alongside the English translations. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney closes on one of my favorite pieces of fiction ever written, no joke. Let's jump right into it!

THE CORE CAST:

Phoenix Wright: Four trials in and already proven to be an incredibly gifted lawyer, Phoenix's sudden hiatus after Maya's departure is finally broken.

Ema Skye: A high school student with a vested interest in forensic investigation, Ema takes Maya's place as Phoenix's assistant and co-counsel. (she's also my favorite character in the series :3)

Miles Edgeworth: 1-3, 1-4, and 1-5 make up a trilogy of incredibly important character growth for Miles, and he's at his best here: his cold veneer is broken, with his need for the truth finally at the forefront, but two paths equally parallel laid before him.

Dick Gumshoe: Dick once again returns as our resident gumshoe, serving as one of the detectives on this case and a vital ally.

THE MAIN CAST:

Lana Skye: The case's defendant and a chief prosecutor. Notably not the Chief Prosecutor and notably cold and callous towards anyone... including her own sister.

Damon Gant: Chief of Police. Veteran detective. Swimming enthusiast. A key character in this case, Damon Gant is the police's poster boy for efficient investigation and operations as well as Gumshoe's boss's boss.

Jake Marshall: A patrolman who has taken control of the investigation through raw Texan power. Has the best theme song in the entire game and a penchant for thinking he's in 1901.

Angel Starr: A key witness with an uncertain connection to Lana. A food truck owner and operator who specializes in boxed lunches and polyamorous relationships.

THE SECONDARY CAST:

Mike Meekins: A police officer who later proves to be an important figure in discovering the truth. Annoying as all Hell, but it's hard not to smile at his passion.

Bruce Goodman: A detective and the victim of this case, found stabbed to death in the trunk of a car in the Prosecutor's Office parking lot. A great detective and a good man.

Neil Marshall: A former prosecutor who was killed at the hands of Joe Darke in the SL-9 Incident. The elder brother of Jake Marshall.

Joe Darke: A spree killer and former businessman executed for the murders of 5 people, including Prosecutor Neil Marshall, in 2014.

A BRIEF RECAP

A thunderclap. The skyline of Los Angeles rushes past the camera, rain falling down in sheets. A person raises a knife and brings it down: and suddenly the camera shifts! Two people are stabbing two other people at two separate locations at the same time? What's going on here?!

Perhaps one of the coolest opening cinematics in the entire series.

Investigation, Day One

It's been two months since 1-4. In those two months, Phoenix hasn't taken a single case: Maya's leaving has affected him that much, it seems. Poor guy. He's still returning to the office every day, and today's no exception. Except... there's somebody here before us!

...and somebody who's getting her news a year late, apparently.

Meet the myth, the legend, the wonderfully AuDHD (SHE JUST LIKE ME FR), Ema Skye! Oh, Ema, my beloved! She'll be our main assistant for this case, but right now, she's just requesting our services. Phoenix moves to say "no" as always, but when Ema brings up her sister, he can't help but think of Maya. Reluctantly, Phoenix agrees to hear her out. Talking with Ema, we get to learn the basics of the case: her sister has been arrested for murder. We also learn that she's a scientific investigator! Or, er, will be. In three years. Right now, she's just a junior. (We also get some 2-4 foreshadowing; if you investigate the window, Phoenix says that the Gatewater Hotel is planning to open up a new branch outside Los Angeles!)

Ema tells us that her sister was seen by a witness stabbing somebody with a knife. Greeeeeat. Welp. Remember 1-4? We've worked with less. We also get to learn Ema's backstory: her parents died in a car accident when she was still young, with Lana being the only family she still has. Agreeing to go to the detention center to talk to her sister, we go there and meet this case's defendant.

Lana Skye, chief prosecutor. No, not Chief Prosecutor, silly; that's Blaise Debe- er... Excelsius Winner. There's chief prosecutors and the Chief Prosecutor. Get it? Got it? Good.* Anyways, Lana has told Ema not to come nor to get her a lawyer: was she planning to take the state-assigned one? Maybe she really did do it.

*My headcanoned explanation for this is that Lana is the chief prosecutor of the district while Excelsius/Blaise is the Chief Prosecutor for the entire State of California.

She's rather adamant about her guilt...

It took place yesterday at 5:15. The witness saw her stabbing the victim very clearly, and it took place in the underground parking lot of the Prosecutor's Office: in the trunk of a subordinate's car, no less. The victim was a detective, stabbed once in the stomach. The victim being a detective... it will be considered a matter of pride for the police department to convict her. They'll go to any lengths... oh, man.

As a chief prosecutor, she oversees every single trial handled in the district. No wonder she's heard of Phoenix! Raising her hand to her chest, Ema notices a bandage: Lana says that she cut her hand open when she stabbed the victim. Greaaaaaaat. So not only is there a witness, there's evidence on her fuckin' body. Moving onto Lana's relationship with Mia, which Ema brought up earlier, Lana gives us a rather frank overview of their relationship.

"Intellectually attracted" my ass.

Lana tells us the facts: she is admitting her guilt. There's no way we can take this case, right? Ema lashes out at Lana, saying that she's being selfish; she's adamant that Lana isn't the killer, lamenting that without Lana she'd be left alone and going as far to say that she hates her sister. Lana turns around, telling us to leave, but not without telling us that it's in our hands now. We're officially on the case! Something definitely doesn't fit, and we're gonna figure out what that something is.

Ema tells us that Lana's changed over the years: she used to be far kinder. What's going on, exactly? In any case, we move on to the underground parking lot. Yep. This is the scene of a murder. White tape and all! We also get to meet our third character of the case: Officer Jake Marshall!

Cue Gunsmoke!

Gah, I love this guy. Officer Marshall seems to be in charge of the investigation; he tells us to leave, but we take a look around. The first thing that pops out is a wallet on the ground. Ema tells us to put it in our pocket. We do, and we take a closer look at it: in this case's first gimmick, 3D investigation! We open up the wallet and see who it belongs to. Sergeant Bruce Goodman, a detective with the police department. Could he be our victim? Trying to investigate the scene a bit closer, we get stopped by Marshall. We get to ask him a question, though. Who owns that car (apparently a Mustang)? Well, he tells us. The car belongs to somebody in the Prosecutor's Office: whoever is in Room 1202. Marshall tells us to stay away, so we do just that, but not before being stopped by... a lunchlady. Huh. A lunchlady calling herself the "Cough-Up Queen", no less. And she has clearance? Apparently she's connected to the case. The images are burned into her eyes; oh, she's the witness! Welp, that's Angel Starr for you.

Angel tells us that yesterday a prosecutor was awarded a "King of Prosecutors" trophy. She has a massive grudge against prosecutors, it seems: just our luck that our client is a prosecutor. Apparently, whoever they awarded the trophy to is the owner of the car; the most "evil prosecutor of all". But von Karma's in prison. No...

Angel tells us what she witnessed: Lana Skye undeniably had a knife and stabbed the victim and Angel saw it happen firsthand. Apparently she even has a personal connection to Lana! Hmm. Something is going on here... asking about Angel, she comes here every day to serve boxed lunches. Her boyfriend works as the security guard, apparently. Her vendetta against prosecutors is pretty deep; wonder if she got into trouble. Anyways, we've expended our talking options, so we head up to Room 1202. Wonder who it belongs to-

Oh!

Apparently Ema knows who Edgeworth is; and has a bit of a crush on him. Don't blame her. The body was indeed found in, in Ema's words, a "nasty bright red sports car"... that happens to be Edgeworth's. Can I just say that I love how much fun Edgeworth is having in this scene? He's very clearly having a blast teasing Ema with her constant slip-ups and I love that for him. In the "that would be my car" line I like to imagine he's trying really hard not to laugh. We get to talking with Edgeworth about the case: he's the prosecutor for this case, and he has to prove her guilt! Edgeworth says that he's surprised he's still in the Prosecutor's Office. After all, rumors have surrounded him for years. Phony evidence, false confessions... the Demon Prosecutor, even though DL-6 is over, still lives. Edgeworth is innocent of both murders; but what about this murder?

Edgeworth was given the King of Prosecutors trophy yesterday, it seems. Edgeworth and Lana apparently worked on a case two years ago: his first big one. It looks like they don't have a good relationship, though. After all... the victim was stabbed in his car with his knife. Man. This winter has been harsh for Edgeworth, huh? The King of Prosecutors trophy is sent to the best prosecutor every year: it doesn't seem like he's a big fan of it, though. I wonder why- actually, nevermind. We know why.

Talking a bit more about the King of Prosecutor's Trophy, Edgeworth tells us he had to go all the way to the Police Department to receive it. He received it yesterday, so we talk about yesterday; it was "cleaning day", when evidence for solved cases is sorted and filed to make room for new cases. He got back at 5:12, only three minutes before the murder. After talking to Edgeworth, we're interrupted by a police officer. He's here at the request of the "Chief", apparently, to give Edgeworth a report. Edgeworth turns him away after learning there's no evidence against Lana in the report, taking his name: Officer Mike Meekins. Edgeworth tells us to leave, so we do.

The Police Department has some weird... thing in front of it. Right: the "Blue Badger", the new mascot of the police force. Ema seems to know about the Blue Badger. Someone's dancing next to it. Running up to us, it's... Gumshoe! Talking to him, we get a little bit more information on the case: he tells us not to defend Lana. Well, about that. At the very least, we do get confirmation that the victim is the card's owner, Bruce Goodman. That's not important, though. Gumshoe's been kicked out of Criminal Affairs! Only the highest-rank people are allowed in the Police Department: the lowest-ranking member is the Chief of Detectives, and the Chief of Police is directing the investigation itself! Is it just me, or does something smell besides the Butz?

Apparently, Goodman wasn't at the police department yesterday. He was assigned to evidence transferal... for a case two years ago. That's rather familiar, isn't it? Apparently, Lana called him out to the parking lot. That's the theory, at least. All the rumors about Edgeworth really kicked up after the murder of Robert Hammond. People are, naturally, suspicious of a nearly-perfect prosecutor. There's a rumor that he's taking the prosecution solely to take Lana's position for himself! Before we leave, Gumshoe tells us something. Officer Marshall was assigned to this case by the Chief of Police himself. Aw, man. Gumshoe gives us a letter of introduction, letting us investigate the crime scene! We give it to Marshall and he lets us investigate! Yay!

We're given the autopsy report: Bruce Goodman was stabbed with a knife once, dying within an hour and a half of 4 PM (so anywhere between 4:00 to 5:30). Yep, that lines up. Sliding on over to the scene of the crime, we find a phone on the ground. Turns out...

This places her at the scene of the crime when the victim was murdered... great.

She tried to call someone. Our phone rang when we pressed re-dial... did Lana try to call us? Nope. Turns out it was just a wrong number. Prrrrrobably. Hopefully. Checking out Edgeworth's trunk, we find a piece of paper: "6-7S 12/2", on Goodman's own stationery. Huh. Weird. As we're leaving, we press the re-dial button on Lana's phone. The Steel Samurai theme starts playing. It was Ema's phone, not ours! The last person Lana called was Ema; why did she hide this from us? Lana hung up right after calling Ema at 5:18. Well... what a way to end our first day of investigation.

Trial, Day Two

We meet Lana in the Defendant's Lobby. She tells us the exact opposite of what Mia told us: to never believe in our clients. We tell Lana that she reminds us of Mia. Edgeworth calls Angel Starr to the stand, running a food truck for her job. We're told that, until two years ago, Ms. Starr was actually a detective! Two years ago... again? What happened two years ago?

Angel tells us that the parking lot is divided into two blocks: A Block, for prosecutors and staff, and B Block, for visitors. She gives her first testimony, stating that she saw Lana stab Goodman in the chest with her right hand. Pressing Angel a bit further, she says that she felt it in the air; apparently her bias against prosecutors comes from her being fired as a detective! Well, doesn't that mean she's biased against the defendant, who's the chief prosecutor? Not with the photo she took of the crime scene!

You, uh... have a stain.

Now, now. Isn't that interesting? After all, I can't see a knife anywhere in this photo. Edgeworth responds with a very simple "Objection." The photo was taken after the stabbing. Starr said that she took the picture the moment she saw the crime, though: but this contradiction isn't much. She just misremembered! Adamant and spiteful, Angel claims that the murder was premediated due to Lana's wearing gloves. Presenting the knife, the courtroom starts murmuring once we reinforce that it is Edgeworth's. Speaking of that knife: if the murder was premeditated, why would she not bring her own knife? "When you plan a murder, you don't forget the weapon!"

Edgeworth is pretty quick to counter, though. After all, it's not his theory. It's solely Angel's. She's very adamant about it being planned, though! Why does she care so much? Angel says that Lana stabbed Goodman over and over, even though the autopsy report only says that he was stabbed once. Wait, Edgeworth takes over our objection! Asshole. Starr says that she just mistook something else for blood, thinking that was from Lana stabbing Goodman; her red muffler.

But she's not wearing a muffler in that picture, is she? Edgeworth takes over our objection. Angel Starr is apparently convinced that there was something red: she's forced to testify about when she apprehended Lana. Lana mentioned the muffler when she was arrested. That's where her confusion came from? Really?

There are a few issues with this testimony. Why would Lana run to the partition? What did she say about the muffler, actually? Well, we don't know exactly, but Angel does tell us that she was on her phone: the phone on the wall doesn't work, remember? And there's our next contradiction. How did Angel know that Lana tried to use the phone? You can't see the phone from B Block: it's behind that partition! She's been lying about her testimony this entire time? But why? Because... she wasn't in B Block at all, was she?! She was in A Block: specifically, the security room overlooking it. Remember that she brought a lunch to her boyfriend, the security guard?

Angel concedes: she was lying! But why? Why would she risk perjury over this kind of detail? Well... the Security Room is inside the building. Remember: what she saw isn't the problem. It's where she saw it! Angel concedes: this is, indeed, where she saw it from. She had to run down the stairs, but the door to Block A was locked. She had to run all the way across to B Block and then run over the chain-link fence separating A Block and B Block. It took her five minutes?! That's a long time for something like this! What in the world would Lana be doing in those five minutes? Why didn't she run away? Angel's testimony seems to be over for the day: alongside court.

Knew it wouldn't be that easy.

Angel brings up Detective Goodman's shoe. Two types of blood were found on it: Goodman's and Lana's. Remember when she said she cut her hand open? Edgeworth says he can't accept the shoe as evidence, claiming it's against evidence law! Rule One: No evidence shall be shown without the approval of the police department! Edgeworth says that her evidence is illegal on that basis!

Angel counters. It was approved by the police apartment today! Aww, man. Edgeworth goes from pretty happy to utterly defeated. Cross-examining Angel, we ask for more information on the shoe. We have a problem with the shoe, though. Not just a problem, actually: a full-fledged contradiction! After all, there's blood on the sole! Why is this a problem? Well, in the crime scene photo, there's no bloody footprints on the ground! Edgeworth reminds us that Angel testified earlier that Lana kicked over an oil drum: those oil drums are filled with water! Trial nearly comes to an end, but Angel pulls out yet another piece of evidence! A photo of the crime scene; complete with Goodman's body, complete with water on the ground! Darn! This really puts us in a tight spot.

There's just one thing we can do; point out a piece of... something in the muffler. Wait! The muffler...? The car muffler! Remember what Angel said earlier, about hearing Lana say something about the muffler? That's a vital piece of evidence we need to review! His Honor agrees; trial is suspended for a thirty-minute recess.

Howdy, pardner!

During the recess, we're greeted by Jake Marshall! Marshall tells us that he's stopped by to watch the proceedings, telling us that Lana absolutely had her muffler on that day; she always did, and she had it on at the awards ceremony. So then what, exactly, is going on?

Court is back in session and Edgeworth. Is. Pissed. He is absolutely livid at something. During the recess, His Honor charged Edgeworth with investigating something; Edgeworth shouts out that whatever his investigation led to was "unacceptable": and somebody interrupts the proceedings...

Remember when people thought he was Apollo's dad?

Everybody, meet the second best character to come out of this case (after Ema, of course): Damon Gant, the Chief of Police! This must be why Edgeworth was freaking out. Gant hasn't visited the courtroom in two years (again...?), and he's dropped by because of Edgeworth. He's bringing in Lana's muffler: it was stuffed in that exhaust pipe! Furthermore, inside of the muffler is a switchblade! Edgeworth remains livid, pissed at Gant: he's blaming his investigators for missing such a vital piece of evidence. He tells Edgeworth to wait, which Edgeworth doesn't do, and then he tells Edgeworth to wait. After all, Edgeworth was in charge of the investigation. He's silent: Gant knows how to shut people up.

We open up the knife (but not before looking at the knife's tag; "SL-9 2"? Hmmm.). The tip is broken and the broken part is bloody; and it was found wrapped in Lana's muffler...? Gant is asked to testify about the knife, and he happily does, saying that the knife has nothing to do with the tape. Unless there's evidence that would connect the knife with Goodman, he can't give us anything. He does say that another detective was killed at the police department at 5:15. Scary coincidence, eh? After all, 5:15 was the exact same time that Goodman was killed! Two murders at once? What's going on?! We decide to exercise our right to cross-examine Gant. Well, what we need to find is a connection between the knife in the muffler (henceforth the SL-9 Knife) and the case at hand. Well... remember that scrap of paper we found? "6-7S"? What if it's upside down? It's not "6-7S 12/2", it's "SL-9 2/21": and SL-9 is on the knife's tag! Where did we find that note? In Edgeworth's car; the crime scene!

Gant is impressed. These two cases were connected: we get a new piece of testimony. The knife was evidence in this "SL-9 case" and stolen from the Police Department's Evidence Room. Well, that's where the detective was killed, right? Not the Evidence Room, but the Police Department itself. A suspect was arrested in the Police Department murder (let's call it Murder 2), but there's still a lot of questions that haven't been answered. We ask for a quid-pro-quo: we'll help out Gant in his case, answering some of his questions, and he'll help us out in ours, giving us information on his own. Accepting our offer, we get to ask Gant one thing and one thing only. We ask him where the victim was found. The... Evidence Room. The Evidence Room?! Wait, that's where the SL-9 Knife came from!

Quid-pro-quos, blank checks... why does this feel like a political thriller?

Phoenix argues that the two cases have a proven connection! In an understatedly cool section Gant points out that it took Edgeworth and Phoenix maybe 20 minutes tops to figure it out when it took the police two days. Edgeworth requests that Gant releases the victim's information: he can't, however, because the crime isn't public. We can get some information, though, under the table. We can't get the victim's name. That's his red line. Well, we can get the victim's ID number, right? The victim's ID number, Gant tells us, is 5842189.

...Wait.

That's Bruce Goodman's ID number! The victim in Murder 1 and Murder 2 were the same person?! What the Hell is going on?! Edgeworth is blows his lid again ('emotionally stable' does not apply to Edgeworth in this case, it seems), absolutely incensed about not being told about this! Gant tells him to wait. After all, the oversight in this case... it's not Gant's fault. It's Edgeworth's. Meekins dropped by to give him the report, after all. Edgeworth tries to argue that Gant could've submitted the report this morning as evidence, but Gant says "no". After all, that'd break evidence law! As the Chief of Police he can personally approve evidence, sure, but there's a second part to that law. Evidence submitted without prior approval must be relevant to the case at hand. And since this file wasn't on the list of evidence provided to the court before trial... there was no way it couldn't have been submitted. There wasn't a connection until Wright pointed out Goodman was killed in two places at once.

With Edgeworth's position on the line and questions raised, trial comes to a close for the day. Edgeworth is given an extra day to investigate (which means that we are, too!) and answer a whole host of questions. How was Goodman killed in two places at once? What was the SL-9 case and how does it relate to this case? What's Gant's angle? If it wasn't Goodman... then who died in the Prosecutor's Office Parking Lot?

With those questions still in the air... court is adjourned.

Investigation, Day Two

Enjoy this silly frame of Ema I paused on.

Ema asks a good question: "what's going on?" Well, Ema, I don't really know myself. Bruce Goodman apparently died in two places at once, even though the two crime scenes are thirty minutes away. We immediately go down to the crime scene to do a bit more digging: and Ema gives us a secret tool! Luminol! This is a magic little chemical that can detect blood stains. Donning Ema's bright pink glasses (that are... apparently red), we find a few stains on the ground where Goodman was stabbed. Isn't this kind of weird, though? Why isn't there more blood? Think of how much blood is on Goodman's shoe: it's more like he stepped in a puddle of the stuff. As Ema's talking about the stuff, we get interrupted by Angel Starr: she's surprisingly cordial with us, explaining that she lied because it "wouldn't sound convincing enough". In any case, Angel still saw what she saw: Lana stabbing a man. We talk with Angel a bit more, and we learn why she was fired: a case called the "SL-9 Incident".

Apparently, SL-9's evidence was due for transference on the day Goodman was killed. After talking about the knife and the crime photo Angel tell us about it: it was apparently this incident that convinced her prosecutors view detectives as disposable tools. Two years ago, something happened: it was a big case, and the police was desperate for evidence. Despite the criminal being caught, convicted, and executed, the police didn't have any truly decisive evidence. Angel has a suspicion that it was forged. Well... who else worked on a big case two years ago? There's Jake Marshall, who Angel is trying to lead us in the direction of (by giving us a Salisbury steak to give to him), but maybe we should also talk with Edgeworth about this.

Angel Starr: detective, lunchlady, webspinner.

Jake and Angel worked together on SL-9, and Ema asks if he and Angel have become an item. Angel denies this, but Ema seems worried: does she have some connection to Jake outside of Lana working on SL-9? If you talk to her a bit more we get to learn that these "boyfriends" of hers are allies: people who still trust her, respect her, and are helping her and Jake in their secret investigation of SL-9.

Now that we've talked to Angel, there's really only one place to go: the Police Department, both to see Jake and see if we can investigate the murder that happened here. The second murder of Bruce Goodman! Gumshoe is in front of the Police Department, wailing about his lack of lunch and running off. He tells us that "he" is having a good cry at the Detention Center now that he's out of questioning: perhaps our suspect in the Evidence Room murder. When we head up to the guard station, Jake Marshall isn't there: guess we're going to the Detention Center! Who's the suspect in the Evidence Room murder? Why, it's...

Poor guy.

Officer Mike Meekins? He's their suspect? Meekins tell us that he went to the Evidence Room: the guard station (Jake's!) was empty. There was a suspicious person in the Evidence Room, and Meekins blacked out; when he woke up, he was in the detention center. Meekins has a bandaged hand, just like Lana. What's up with that? One more similarity between the two murders. Meekins tells us that the detective in the Evidence Room pointed a knife at him before he went unconscious. When he came to, he was alone; Detective Goodman was gone after he cut his hand open! The victim's body apparently disappeared: Meekins insists that he's not the perpetrator, though. So who was...? He tells us that he didn't know Goodman: Meekins works in a small department, devoid of life and other creature comforts. He doesn't know any detectives at all!

Something really weird is going on, but what exactly is it? If it was Goodman in the Evidence Room, then would his ID card trigger Meekin's memory? Meekins says this is "it". When he approached Goodman, he asked for his ID card. Goodman then cut his hand open with a knife and the two started fighting! Well... there's something there. Ema points it out: Meekins didn't see the man's ID card. The body disappeared, as well! There's not just no proof that the man was Goodman. There's no proof that there was a murder in the Evidence Room at all! Apparently, the police are pretty sure that it was Goodman. After all, it's on video. There goes Ema's theory.

We go back to the Police Department, planning to walk into the Evidence Room to check it out. There's somebody already there, though...

So... what's up with his tie? Is it like a bowtie mixed with a necktie, or...

Gant is consulting with the Chief of Detectives, talking about looking through "his" belongings. Probably Meekins. We take the time to talk with Gant. Apparently, Edgeworth's subject to an official inquiry. His reputation's already down the drain... and his own mentor was not only found guilty of the murder of Gregory Edgeworth, but also forging evidence (presumably concealing the DL-6 bullet and destroying the DL-6 evidence). Depending on what the committee decides Edgeworth's career could be in jeopardy. Man.

We also talk with Gant about the murder in the evidence room. "Goodman was stabbed in two locations at the same time": that's what the evidence is saying, according to Gant. It turns out, according to the Chief of Detectives, they were checking out Goodman's belongings: the only thing he left was a half-written lost item report, written the day of murder. Apparently, it can only be submitted to the Chief himself.

Speaking of the Chief, we ask him if we can at least investigate the evidence room. He's a very generous man: hell, he'd give us $50 if we asked! He lets us into the evidence room, giving us a special ID card for guests. We try to go in, but the card reader is turned off. It ain't workin'! Jake comes back to his post. He lets us into the crime scene now that we have a card. Well, now that he's here... we might as well give him his lunch.

We talk with Jake a bit more after he's done eating. We talk about Meekins's not seeing him: Jake says that he's lost his passion for police work after his demotion in the aftermath of SL-9. He doesn't see much need to be a guard; the security cameras do a good enough job for him. Ema asks him about SL-9, but Jake tells her that some things are better off not knowing. Hm. It almost sounds like he's being protective.

Jake doesn't really know what the machines in this room actually do, but he knows about the security cameras. Every six hours, if nothing happens on them, the data is wiped. You need an ID card to enter the evidence room, as well, and that leaves a record. As luck has it, he's got us a list. "5842189", i.e. Detective Goodman, entered the room at 5:14...

...alongside "4989596", presumably Meekins.

Jake says he can't tell us anything else. We show him Goodman's card, though, and Jake tells us that there's only one copy of each ID card in the world! He agrees to give us the ID Card Record as evidence. We go into the Evidence Room and run into a ghost! Nope, it's just Gumshoe. Turns out that he's been put in charge of the investigation for the day! He gives us the floor plans to the evidence room and tells us that they're gonna use the evidence from yesterday to prepare for Meekins's trial: turns out that Gumshoe's just been kicked out of the investigation. He also tells us that only detectives can open their own lockers and that each one is locked behind a detective's own fingerprint. Neat! Some people don't even know they exist, apparently.

Well, since Gumshoe's here, we might as well talk about his boss. Edgeworth is still with the inquiry committee, and Gumshoe tells us that SL-9 was "the beginning of the end" for him. Hmm. Taking a look around, we see the metal detector and fishing pole from 1-4! Neat! We also see a bug detector; remember this one! We also see a bloody handprint on one of the lockers. Wait, that was Gumshoe's locker! Huh... there might be more bloodstains around the room! Before we look around more, though, there's another evidence locker that's been opened. Some ceramic shards are on the floor: they're SL-9 evidence, apparently. Putting the shards back together, it turns out to be a broken jar; but one of the pieces is missing. Weird. There's also another piece of SL-9 evidence hanging on police tape: a glove.

Well! Time to see if there's any more blood. We look around and find a handprint: or a partial one, anyways. It's from the first locker—the one with a piece of cloth hanging out of it. It can't be the murderer's handprint, since they wouldn't be facing this way if they were running out the room. So... what's going on?

Curiouser and curiouser...

Going over to the other side, there's a lot of blood on the floor at the crime scene. Somebody was definitely killed here. The handprint we find on Gumshoe's locker is also somebody's right hand, not their left. Speaking of the Evidence Room murder, we show Gumshoe the ID list. The second number freaks him out: it's Edgeworth's?! Edgeworth came into the evidence room at 4:40 PM and the victim died within an hour and a half of 4 PM... how strange.

In any case, we present some of the SL-9 evidence to Gumshoe and he agrees to tell us about it. Edgeworth was the prosecutor on his face. That was his "big case"! Gumshoe thinks there might be some loose ends. SL-9 was an incredibly bloody case: a serial killing. Edgeworth built his case around a mistake the killer made. This case both shot Edgeworth into stardom and started the rumors around him. It was the last job Goodman ever did. He was in charge of SL-9... so does this mean he took the knife out himself? Gumshoe runs off. Edgeworth's inquiry committee is letting out soon. Maybe we should also go see him.

When we get there, the bellboy from 1-2 appears out of nowhere. Guess he works here now. Edgeworth is in: he's staring out the window, very very peeved, and says our name without seeing us. Either he's good at recognizing voices or he did that five times and got everybody's name wrong. He got Gumshoe's memo but apparently neglected to flip it over. He's not alright, is he?

Edgeworth's inquiry committee went... not bad. He didn't conceal evidence, they said, there was just a communication error. An official warning was given: "you got lucky... again." Man. Edgeworth is still showing up for trial tomorrow, but control over the investigation was given over to the police department. Any more investigation will be directed by Gant himself. Speaking of the Chief, Edgeworth was told by him to go into the evidence room the day of the murder to transfer evidence from a case solved half a year ago. (A blue screwdriver... half a year ago... I wonder if that screwdriver is from 1-2?) Wonder what that's about: if the evidence was already filed, then why would Gant want it? Weird.

If you spray around Edgeworth's room with luminol, you can find some blood on the floor. Looks like somebody had a bloody nose. Anyways, we talk about SL-9 a bit more with him: Goodman was in charge, but the overall head of the investigation was the Deputy Chief of Police, Damon Gant.

I call ageism, Phoenix!

Phoenix asks a good question: why was the Deputy Chief of Police on an investigation? Edgeworth admits that the methods he used were extreme: he believed that if the murderer was let go, the blood would be on his hands. He denies forging evidence, though. Edgeworth says that he has a code that he follows faithfully: does this mean he didn't forge the autopsy report in 1-2? Anyways, as we're about to leave, Edgeworth asks Ema if she's still studying forensic science. He gives her some aluminum powder for fingerprints! Woot woot! Thanks, Edgeworth. (between you and me, fingerprinting in real life is a lot of fun: take a forensics class!)

We go back to the locker room to look at those handprints. Maybe there's some fingerprints we could lift there? We go, but the fingerprint we lift from Gumshoe's locker is completely blacked out. Whoever left this handprint was wearing gloves! Drat. Looks like there's another fingerprint on the locker besides the bloody hand, though. To nobody's surprise... it's Gumshoe's. Welp, how about we check out that other fingerprint? It's probably just Meekins's, remember he cut his hand open-

Jake Marshall?!

Now why would Marshall's bloody fingerprints be here? Did he commit this murder? That's a question we'll have to answer tomorrow: investigation comes to an end on a very juicy cliffhanger!

Trial, Day Three

So. The victim was murdered in two places at the same time and two people were arrested for the same crime. Lana in the parking lot and Meekins in the evidence room... she tells us that the police are absolutely clueless. Lana tells us that she's struck a plea bargain: if she tells them the truth, they won't seek the death penalty. Fortunately for us, Lana is just as clueless as the rest of us. Unfortunately for us, Lana is just as clueless as the rest of us. We tell Lana about Jake's fingerprints in the evidence room. The signs are pointing to Mr. Marshall being Bruce Goodman's murderer...

Edgeworth starts off pretty strong. It takes 30 minutes to get from the Prosecutor's Office to the Police Department by car and vice versa, yet Goodman was killed at the same time in both places? Impossible. Edgeworth's case for today is going to be around the Evidence Room murder. Edgeworth calls his first witness: the suspect of the Evidence Room murder, Mike Meekins!

Meekins testifies that he was supposed to guard the evidence room that day. He spotted a suspicious man and the two of them fought, with Meekins saying that he "did it". After that, he fainted. A very vague testimony, huh? Pressing Meekins, his job was not just protecting the security office but also protecting the Blue Badger during the transferal process. He had to relocate it to the evidence room. We keep pressing him, and the court comes to a conclusion: it's pretty hard to say if the victim in the Evidence Room was Goodman at all. At least, it would be if Meekins didn't have a video tape!

Apparently, Meekins was given it by the Chief himself. Edgeworth says that he was told that no such tape existed! We take a look at the tape...

Five Nights at Court

Well... someone's in the way. We do see Goodman walking past and opening his locker, with something falling out. Meekins is sneaking up behind him, and we see Goodman cut his hand open and the two of them get in a fight: from the video, though, it looks more like Goodman killed Meekins and then disappeared! What the Hell happened? Edgeworth wants to ignore the footage. It clearly doesn't show much.

Meekins testifies again, saying that there's no question in his mind that it was Goodman. After all, he opened up Goodman's locker, which requires his fingerprints. This is a strong point: each locker can only be opened by the detective it is assigned to. But what if the locker was already opened? The indicator light is open above Detective Goodman's locker! The locker was already open!

The lock wasn't engaged on the locker. This is weird: Edgeworth tells us that the lock is automatically engaged once the door shuts. Ema has a neat idea, though. What if something jammed the sensor? This something would have to be an insulator, since the sensor is electronic. Well... the glove we found earlier is made of rubber, and if you look at the tape you can clearly see something fall out of Goodman's locker!

There's only one conclusion. The person in the tape opened Goodman's locker without any fingerprints. We never see his face. He attacked Meekins when he was asked for his ID card: this man wasn't Detective Goodman! Edgeworth objects. The only thing we have raised the possibility that this man wasn't Bruce Goodman. Edgeworth asks Meekins to testify once more.

Well, here's the thing, Meekins says. Bruce Goodman had to use his ID card to get in. There's only one ID card given to each member of the force, and we know for a fact we know he used his card because of the record. His Honor has a good question: hundreds of pieces of evidence were due for transferal on the 21st. So why was this room so empty? Edgeworth clarifies that this room was used to store evidence from "special cases": extremely violent ones involving members of law enforcement. I guess that means SL-9 falls under that umbrella: which makes sense, given that Gant himself was involved in leading the investigation.

Well, there's already a pretty significant issue. Goodman issued a lost item report, remember? On said item report, he couldn't remember his ID number. What if Goodman lost his ID card and was writing out his report, misremembering his own number? This raises a very key possibility: somebody else stole Goodman's ID card and walked into the evidence room masquerading as him. That would explain the clothes as well!

Somebody's confident...

Edgeworth summarizes are argument. On 5:15, a man disguised as Bruce Goodman was approached by Mike Meekins. This is because the locker in the evidence room was open and Bruce Goodman lost his ID card. There's only one conclusion to be drawn: there was no murder in the evidence room. Make sense so far?

...Wait.

That means the murder that Angel Starr saw in the parking lot was the real one! Lana stabbed Bruce Goodman! We've just argued for our own client's guilt! "Never interrupt your enemy while he's making a mistake," and all that. Oh, but only if it were that simple! Remember when we were checking out the Evidence Room and found that pool of blood? A murder did happen at the Evidence Room: the video tape just didn't show it. Edgeworth is out of options. He considered the Evidence Room murder unrelated. We finally have the upper hand! We know exactly who this "Goodman" was, and we call him to the stand! No rhyme intended.

Edgeworth agrees to our request. We keep the true reason for calling him secret, though. The court agrees for a 30 minute recess for Jake to be subpoena'd.

Here's hoping he can answer some of our questions.

During the recess, Lana says that we've figured "everything" out: even though we haven't really figured out anything. Ema asks Lana why she's not telling us everything. Lana says nothing, though. Gumshoe bursts in and leaves in embarrassment before we call him back. Apparently, he was called here by Lana using our name. He's brought files on the SL-9 Incident of all things! Apparently Lana was a witness in SL-9. There's one more thing, though. Why is Ema's name in here? The rest of the world called SL-9 the "Joe Darke Killings": a distraught Ema storms out of the room. Jake Marshall, Angel Starr, Damon Gant, Miles Edgeworth, Lana Skye, Ema Skye... everybody in this case was involved in SL-9.

Trial reconvenes. It's just us and Edgeworth: we're all alone here. We take the time to go over the SL-9 files.

The perpetrator's name, rather fittingly, was Joe Darke. He was sentenced to death for the serial murders of 6 people; Edward Jones, Jason Knight, Edith Kirby, Rachael Moss, Jeb Bates, and Neil... Marshall. The lead prosecutor was Miles Edgeworth and the witnesses were Lana and Ema Skye. The executive investigators on the case were Damon Gant and Lana Skye; the head investigator was Bruce Goodman; and the secondary investigators were Jake Marshall and Angel Starr. That's all the file tells us.

Anyways, Marshall comes to the stand. He's here to testify about the security room; he says that he was across the street when the "murder" in the Evidence Room happened. We know that's impossible, though. After all, his bloody fingerprints were found inside! Marshall argues that the murderer just touched a place where his fingerprints were: the murderer was wearing gloves, after all.

Pressing his new testimony, Marshall eventually strengthens his argument. We can't see who the person in the tape is. We're openly claiming that it was him now, though, and we have proof inside of the tape itself. There's a white cloth in the leftmost locker that suddenly appears: and he said earlier that was his locker. The locker wasn't already opened, and it only opens with his fingerprints! Marshall didn't know about the fingerprint sensor. That was his mistake! He was in the evidence room during the crime. He was "Bruce Goodman"!

Our first breakdown of the case!

Meekins saw his face, yes, but Meekins did not know who Bruce Goodman was! That's why Marshall attacked him: if he showed Meekins his ID card, then he'd be caught instantly! Marshall stills calls our evidence circumstantial. There's no proof that he dressed up as Bruce Goodman. Ah, but we graduated from the school of Mia Fey with a degree in Thinking Crazy! We don't need proof that he was disguised. We need proof that only exists because he was disguised!

The answer is rather simple. He didn't plan to open his locker; he had to. Why? Because Meekins's blood got on his disguise! That's what the 'cloth' is: it's his jacket! Marshall gives up; we've beaten him.

Marshall confesses everything in one last testimony. He had to do it on that day because of the evidence transferal: he was, and is, still trying to solve SL-9 with Angel. He stole Goodman's ID and a spare set of his clothes, knocking out Meekins and escaping the room by hiding in the camera's blind spots. There wasn't a murder in the evidence room at 5:15. Jake went into the evidence room to steal the SL-9 evidence and investigate it on his own terms; but the evidence was already gone when he looked for it and is still missing. After pressing his testimony more, he says he can't forget about SL-9 for a rather simple reason: the death of Neil Marshall.

It's all starting to fall into place...

...and the killer comes to light.

Neil Marshall was a prosecutor. He was assigned to SL-9 before his death, at which case it transferred into Edgeworth's hands. Neil was ostensibly killed by Darke, but Jake doesn't believe it: nobody could beat Neil in a fight. It was the first time Darke left behind evidence: it was all the court needed, apparently, and the court found him guilty based on Neil Marshall's murder.

His entire personal war against the system was to avenge his brother: he blames not just the police department but also Edgeworth. The Evidence Room murder is solved; there was no murder there, just theft and assault. This, of course, means that Lana had to have murdered Goodman in the parking lot. There's no way that this is a coincidence, though! Lana is in an incredibly tight spot: the only reason she wasn't convicted yesterday was the "murder" at the Police Department. Is it finally over...?

No! It can't be. Ema runs into the courtroom right before His Honor is about to give his verdict: she ran to the Evidence Room to look at the crime scene, but unfortunately didn't find anything. Ema's putting our full faith in us: there has to be one last contradiction here somewhere! Only one question remains. Is there any reasonable doubt? A bloody handprint was discovered at the crime scene. Is there a problem with this?

Well... there's one. Something is missing from the floor plan. The biggest part of the security footage, hiding in plain sight. Where's the Blue Badger? If the Blue Badger was there during Jake's break-in... then how could he leave a handprint there?! After all, it was right in front of the locker! He would've left a bloody handprint on the Blue Badger!

But what does this mean? The only reasonable conclusion is that the blood mark had to have been left before Jake's attack. After all, after that, the Blue Badger was there all day. That means...

...That... means...

Boom.

Goodman wasn't stabbed at 5:15! He was stabbed earlier: remember that giant pool of blood we found? A murder did happen. It happened before Jake, or even Meekins with the Blue Badger, came in! We get an awesome back and forth between Phoenix and Edgeworth here: objection-objection-objection. There's one undeniable fact. Goodman's murder had to have happened before 5:15. After all, it happened in the Evidence Room, and the ID card record proves that nobody came in after Meekins was assaulted!

Edgeworth is suspected for a second by His Honor and Jake, but he quickly shoots down that hypothesis. The killer has to have been whoever owns the "777777" number: but we don't know who it belongs to. It belongs to somebody with a clearance level Captain or higher. The only way to know for sure is if we launch an official investigation against this "executive officer". That means... well, I think we might know who our murderer is. Goodman walked in with 7777777!

Marshall asks Lana a question. He's not about to ask about her ID number. He's asking her about SL-9: in the trial, did she use legitimate evidence?! Edgeworth asks her himself, given that he was in charge of the investigation. Lana skirts around the question, but eventually gets to the point. In the SL-9 trial, two years ago... she fabricated evidence to get Joe Darke convicted.

A nightmare come true...

Edgeworth is distraught. The courtroom is in chaos. The courtroom simply will not calm down. Trial is forced to be adjourned with so many questions still in the air! What will happen to Edgeworth now? How and why exactly did Lana forge evidence? Who owns 7777777: and why did they kill Bruce Goodman?

This day comes to an incredibly bittersweet close. We now have a lead on who the true killer is, but at the cost of jeopardizing Edgeworth and Lana's careers...

Investigation, Day Three

Ema tells us what she had to do with the SL-9 Incident. On the night that Neil was murdered, Darke tried to kill Ema. Neil saved Ema's life, but Darke killed him: a terrible storm came through that night, and Ema saw Darke raise his knife Neil when the lightning lit up the room. This must be why Lana forged the evidence: Ema being attacked sent her over the edge. The question remains. Did Edgeworth know that the evidence was faulty? The answer is probably—hopefully—not. After SL-9, Lana became cold and distant: it affected her that much.

Ema fell unconscious after seeing Darke attack Neil: when she woke up Lana was holding her in he arms. Darke had been taken in for questioning when Ema was attacked: he tried to run away during the interview, running into Lana's office after getting into the elevator. After all, the elevator was right in front of the detective's office. Before Lana was a chief prosecutor, she was a detective! We go to visit her at the Detention Center.

Part Two can be found here.

[dewvorce-flowers]

get to know me

Tagged by @mikathemad thank you! 💙

Do you make your bed?

I would have to leave it for that, no? (Actual answer being no, unless guests come to visit since my bedroom is also my living room)

Favourite number?

3 and 5 because three represents my siblings and me and five includes my parents too lol, but I'm also fond of 7

What's your job?

Studying to become a teacher, but while the job is something I already worked as and enjoyed the studying is hell. Also working as a "children gymnastics coach" aka parents drop their kids of in an elementary school and we play games for a couple of hours.

If you could go back to school, would you?

No, it wasn't necessarily bad but I much prefer my life now

Can you parallel park?

I could do it well the last time I drove a car but that's two years ago now(the day I got my license). Since my family doesn't own a car and none of my friends have one I just never got to drive again lol

Do you think aliens are real?

At all? Yes

On earth? Eh

Can you drive a manual car?

Yes, but see note in regards to the parking answer. (Actually only drove a automatic car once and that was to get it to a parking lot, where I could swith to manual lol)

Guilty pleasure?

Social media and fanfiction, I know I shouldn't feel guilty over it, but that's far easier said than done :(

Tattoos?

One day I will find the time to actually look at and consider design ideas. Till then the answer is no and I just have to admire them on other people.

Favourite colour?

Genuinely don't have one. Depends highly on the context.

Favourite type of music?

I like certain sounds, structures in songs but not in a way that applies to any type of music or I can describe with my non-existent knowledge. I just know I when I hear it.

I do listen to anything from opera, musicals, german 80s till 2010s, kurdish and turkish 70s to 00s, pop, rock, rap, folk etc

Do you like puzzles?

Yes!!

Any phobias?

Mild claustrophobia.

Favourite childhood sport?

Football(goalie) and swimming. Miss them both but might be able to start with swimming at least soon-ish.

Do you talk to yourself?

In my head. Outside only when I get so caught up I mumble silently/slightly move my lips.

Unless I am around people and we are organising stuff, then I count out my own To-Do list out loud and stuff like that.

Tea or coffee?

Cocoa. Had like two or three sips of coffee in my life lol

Tea can be nice when I have a cold or need something less sweat.

First thing you wanted to be when growing up?

Teacher and I had the dream of becoming a star goalie(knew that was never gonna happen even as a child)

What movies do you adore?

How to train your Dragon, Monty Python(both Holy Grail and Life of Brian), Rise of the Guardians and "Drei Haselnüsse für Aschenbrödel"(Czech/German Cinderella movie)

Of course there are many many more movie, but those are the ones, where I truly lost track of how often I watched them.

Thanks so much for tagging me! I'm gonna tag (if you want)

@maxkeplers @brocksfaber @tkaptains @dwisp @lovethegoalies @dream-leaf @jeynearrynofthevale

(and anyone else who sees this and wants to do this, please tag me in that case!!! Always love to get to know more people but am horrible at remembering urls)

[marshmallowprotection]

Hi hello I'm here to request a little analysis! I've wanted to do this for a long time but I was always a bit afraid to lol

I've been following you for YEARS and I'm pretty sure I've gone through the entirety of your SE Suit Saeran posts in full many times -along with having saved and read your one fic with him with your oc! I wouldn't dare call myself an expert by any means but I feel like I have a really good grasp on his character and I like to think I could comment with him well >u<

But I would really love to hear your input on the person he is today, versus the person he was while at Mint Eye. He's in two very different places in his life and that greatly affects lots of things. How is he different? How is he the same? What does he still struggle with? Is he as boisterous and aggressive? Is he more depressed and solitary? How would he respond to someone showing a strong desire to be close to him in a situation where mc met him after the cult?

Please just feel free to ramble about him!! I hope it's okay to ask for this. I don't see many Grave posts anymore and I would love to hear from you. I hope this post makes it through ! !

SE Suit Saeran is still, at his core, based on Suit Saeran.

He is a little bit different but not all that much. Those changes are largely in part because he has been doing his best to survive in the background, constantly flickering in and out of consciousness for as long as he can remember. Saeran, in this case, SE Saeran, has been at the helm for a long time, but he’s always been there… watching… sitting on the edge when things get tough… but that’s just it.

After Saeran escapes Mint Eye and is forced to live with Saeyoung, there’s no reason for someone to be strong no matter what happens next to survive… there’s nothing but apathy in the bunker. That's how Saeran is handling his recovery for a large part of the time after being out of Mint Eye. Apathy is detachment and that detachment helps a huge part of his broken heart. It's better not to get his hopes up, but at least in the bunker, he doesn't have to live with:

SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST.

So, where does that put Grave, whose very existence comes from the need to survive no matter what Rika threw at them? It puts him back at rock bottom where he doesn't know how to exist. He lashes out at anyone and everyone, sans the MC if they already know Saeran, but they're not wholly immune from his meltdowns. They're just not high on his shit list. He doesn't know how to live without fighting, and that is a huge part of Grave's existence.

Learning how to survive without fighting for it.

His core struggle is true to his character no matter what timeline he's in, and that's not something we can wash away. He isn't as boisterous as you might expect him to be, but he's more like a feral cat because if you push him too hard? He's going to bite. He doesn't want people to tell him what to do. He doesn't want anybody to tell him what to do, because there's so much happening in the world now that he is fully conscious once again, and he needs some semblance of control over his autonomy.

It’s the same for SE Saeran.

There is only so much control they have because of the situation, and they need as much as they can get. 

If you respect his space and allow him to decide what he's comfortable with, he's more likely to let you stick around than he would be if you did the opposite. You need to allow him to decide what he is and isn't comfortable with.

For the most part, he likes to be alone, because it's easier to be alone than to be around people who just don't understand what it's like to have your mind move a mile a minute.

Sometimes, he just wants to sit by himself and work on something and if somebody wants to do the same thing with him by sitting there and working on their own thing, that is largely preferable to sharing an activity with another person. Parallel play is a love of his. Once he warms up to you, he might offer to do an activity with you now and again, but he likes that you two can exist in the same space without always needing to be glued at the hip.

As far as getting close to an MC that wasn't in Mint Eye… hm. I know I've talked about this before at some point, but it's going to be hard to get close to him no matter when you met him. I don't think you have an advantage if you were in Mint Eye, nor do I think you have one if you meet him afterward. It's going to be difficult regardless simply due to the fact that Grave is wary of trusting anyone, even those who might be deemed safe by Saeran.

If you're willing to put in the work to respect him, he'll put in the work to understand you, it's as simple as that. Just be aware of the fact that he holds on to a lot of the more volatile memories, and that can make it hard for him to get close to other people. It's not because he wants to lash out at people, it's because he's afraid of lashing out at people again. He and Saeran carry the memory of hurting Jihyun (or in the case of my MC, hurting her in V’s stead on accident) and that memory is as heavy as a boulder.

[bumblingbabooshka]

id love to hear about your ideal tuvok-seven and tuvok-b'lanna relationships!!!!

THIS IS VERY LONG AND /ALL/ OFF THE DOME PLEASE FORGIVE ME. Seven&Tuvok: Tuvok is the first person on board who Seven forms a friendly bond with. They understand one another’s methods of communicating very well. They’re both seen as cold and unsocial by others. Tuvok is excused from this because he’s Vulcan but Seven is constantly told she’s wrong for this because she’s human. Perhaps a bit of resentment from Seven about this but it’s not a huge problem. Tuvok is one of the few people Seven feels she can relax in front of

(B’Elanna too - though they argue more than Tuvok/Seven that’s another kind of relaxing. She can talk to her like a friend where they’re on equal footing rather than the Doctor or Janeway who tend to talk ‘down’ to her by which I mean they present themselves as being a mentor figure and Janeway is also literally her boss).

Seven does not need a father figure or another mentor in my mind. She has enough of that, EVERYONE is that. I know people view Tuvok showing care for Seven as fatherly but I personally view it as more friendly concern. In my mind Vulcan parenthood or Tuvok’s particular brand of fatherhood seem to stem more from teaching. (Ex: The children from Innocence or his lessons with Kes). Tuvok does obviously care about Seven but not in what I perceive as a fatherly way. It’s far more interesting to me that Seven is often helping/protecting Tuvok or that they’re often in some kind of dangerous situation together. I think it’d be interesting to lean into that more. Like, it’d be sort of sweet if the relationship Seven finds confidence in caring for someone else in was with a Vulcan. I know they have that whole borg children thing, I couldn’t care less about that honestly. The Naomi-Seven relationship is cute enough on its own! 

Both Seven and Tuvok go to and through hell for each other.

My personal favorite Tuvok-Seven moment other than Comfortable Silence one we all know and love is the one where Seven believes the borg are calling her and she tells Tuvok to get out of the shuttle so he won’t be assimilated. Tuvok then says no, he’s not leaving her. It’s just so fucking sweet to me. Both of them. Seven’s like ‘I want to spare you this’ and Tuvok’s like ‘I’ll walk headfirst into this for you’. 

I see both Seven and Tuvok as traumatized people, both of whom would probably deny this citing either ‘borg’ or ‘vulcan’ as the reason this is so. However they both seem to suffer a lot, especially when it comes to their minds. Tuvok even parallels Seven’s initial trauma in being fully assimilated into the borg yet this never comes up between them. Look more into that!! What was that like?? They both suffer traumas, in some cases even similar (Repression, Retrospect) or the same traumas but the reaction of the crew to those traumas is very different with Seven being badgered about her emotions & reactions and Tuvok being left alone with his. I just think it’d be nice for them to have a certain solace. Tuvok would have a shoulder to lean on Seven would have someone who wouldn’t be expecting anything out of her.

Regarding the Borg thing: If ANYONE could understand how being part of an interconnected network of minds would be comforting it would be Tuvok. If ANYONE could understand how being suddenly and traumatically separated from that network via the actions of a certain captain Janeway could be confusing and painful it would be Tuvok. Not that I think Tuvok blames Janeway, I don’t at all. He’s Vulcan (it would be illogical) and also Kathryn’s #1 stan so I think that could again be a point of friction between them. Tuvok doesn’t push Seven in any direction but doesn’t ever admit that Janeway could be wrong. I think at one point in Year of Hell he literally tells Seven she shouldn’t disagree with her? But just Tuvok’s general behavior in the show (like not commenting on her attempting to torture information out of a guy and going on a bloodthirsty quest for vengeance in Equinox) shows that despite what lipservice the show pays to him being her ‘moral compass’ in earlier seasons he mostly just agrees with her after that one instance of him going against orders. He has a tremendous amount of faith in her and would probably encourage that same faith in Seven. That or he’d just excuse himself from the issue by saying he’s Vulcan and can’t really comment on what it means to be human.

Long story short Tuvok is in desperate need of characters he’s not seen as a mentor figure for and Seven is in desperate need of characters that aren’t trying to mold her into what their vision of a good human/starfleet officer is. I think they could and should find that in one another.

B’Elanna & Tuvok: Both B’Elanna and Tuvok have a lot of similarities in their backstories that are unexplored. They both at one point wished they were not the race they are (for different reasons and to differing degrees as Tuvok grew out of this and B’Elanna still has it). They were both sent to a temple to better connect with their heritage. They both quit Starfleet (at different times). They both are seen by people chiefly with regards to their species ‘It’s because [s]he’s Vulcan/Klingon’ and they have both taken issue with it in the past. They both seem like they have had a complicated relationship to humanity with B’Elanna lauding it and Tuvok loathing it (not actively in canon I mean in the past for Tuvok).

B’Elanna from a young age viewed humanity as Good. Full stop. No matter how much humans hurt her the lesson she seems to take away from it is that she needs to change, not that humans should change. She covered her ridges, she lies about not knowing Klingon, when she knows her baby will be born with her features she’s TERRIFIED of how her daughter will be treated and tries EVERYTHING in her power to “fix” (HEAVY air quotes) her and make her socially acceptable to humans. 

Tuvok on the other hand, when faced with similar (though not as dire, sustained or internalized as B’Elanna) issues went the opposite way. He grew to really resent how humans pushed their own beliefs and values onto him. I think it’s interesting how he mentioned humor specifically, implying that Tuvok has and had his own sense of humor - of personhood - that humans didn’t understand and thus ignored or viewed as lesser.

Now for how these elements would interact…B’Elanna in her dreamscape in Barge of The Dead places Tuvok as the arbiter of What is a Good Klingon which I interpret as meaning she views him as very upright and traditional. This makes sense as we see Tuvok is a very staunch person. In canon he doesn’t struggle at all with his cultural identity. He is Vulcan and he’s at peace with that no matter what anyone has to say about it - unlike B’Elanna. He even has a holoprogram of a temple which is interesting when you take into account the fact that B’Elanna denies her cultural spirituality.

I think B’Elanna would see Tuvok as a bit intimidating and very frustrating. He’s stubborn like her and I can’t imagine them working well together. They don’t interact much but the two times I can remember him doing so he says something that could be interpreted as very hurtful (though the narrative hates B’El- doesn’t see it that way).

1 After B’Elanna tells him a painful story about her past in which she was bullied to the point of snapping and attacking another student Tuvok immediately uses the same jeer to incite her to anger yet again. After he intentionally does so he criticizes her for being angry and says she’s too easily riled up.

2 After B’Elanna is acquitted in Random Thoughts Tuvok says something along the lines of “You know for a brutal and illogical Klingon you actually control yourself somewhat well.” and B’Elanna says “Thanks??” which…B’Elanna…you can punch him, it’s okay. I know you don’t punch people but you can do it just this once. Again, I don’t see them being either father/daughter or mentor/mentee. (I assume them having a father/daughter bond is just conceptual as Tuvok IS a father and B'Elanna has a bad relationship with her own) They don’t interact with one another much and seem like they would aggravate each other as they’re both stubborn and kind of similar. I think in fact that Tuvok constantly being relegated to ‘Mentor Figure’ is side-eyeingly similar to the ‘Magic N*’ trope by which I mean Tuvok is used in both canon and fan narratives ONLY to advance other characters’ stories, give them advice etc but his own personhood remains unexplored or seen as unimportant. 

I think B’Elanna-Tuvok could really bring that out. Both of them being just two people. B’Elanna and Tuvok arguing, learning about one another, coming to respect each other. B’Elanna questioning Tuvok and his ideas and Tuvok being unused to that, caught off guard - and through that questioning and response we learn more about both of them as people.

Tuvok, at the end of the day, is not a therapist. He’s just some guy who’s part of a culture which is known for controlling themselves. He doesn’t even seem to really WANT to do what little exercises of control he does with B’Elanna (he says Chakotay insisted). Tuvok is not a people person and doesn’t seek out interactions with others. When he talks to others they often view him as either cold (perception of Vulcans) or superior (Tuvok-specific trait) neither of which I think B’Elanna would jive with well. 

I think it would be very interesting if B’Elanna called Tuvok out on how he’s implied to view Klingons. I think she’d be way more likely to do this with Tuvok because he’s not a human. Like, imagine if after rising tensions Tuvok makes one little comment too many and B’Elanna’s like “Hey. Do you remember when you were an ensign and people kept making these comments about YOU??? Do you think maybe you’re doing the exact same fucking thing right now to me???”

ALSO one last thing I find interesting is (I’m sorry) LITERALLY ONE line in Innocence that’s NEVER brought up again. Tuvok saying that he used to believe in the concept of a katra and the Vulcan afterlife but “in recent years” he’s begun to experience doubts. Let B’Elanna and Tuvok talk about spiritual doubts.

At the end of the day I DO ABSOLUTELY want them to be friends. I want them to stick up for each other when a human makes a little comment. I want them to have each others fucking backs. Maybe it's not the fact that I'm Vulcan or You're Klingon that's the problem.....maybe it's the whi- humans...that are wrong. This could also connect to Seven's personal journey with humanity. Seven seeing that two people she cares about have been hurt by humanity and humanity's perception of them could be an interesting thing for her to notice and think about in regards to what sort of person she wants to be.

[lady-harrowhark]

I have a theory about the arm! I think John used the arm to ‘regrow’ the whole of G—. I think that G— being at the epicenter of a nuclear explosion would mean that the majority of (if not all of) his matter was vaporised, and therefore there would be nothing for John to resurrect. If he had the arm beforehand, he had a G— ‘blueprint’ with which to reform him completely. What do you think?

It makes total sense to me! I'm curious how much of the John chapters in NtN align chronologically to the main narrative - basically just wondering if when he said he still has it, does that mean he still had it during the events of GtN/HtN/NtN? Or is that only true in the dream/bubble/whatever? If it's true in the "real world" timeline, I'm just imagining John propagating G— like one of those spider plants. Ya know, just stick the arm/clipping in some dirt, wait for a plant/person to grow, take another clipping/arm. Which like, not that I think that's what happened necessarily, BUT if we want to put on our recreational thought experiment tinfoil hats for a second, that would actually be kind of a slick parallel to John crafting Alecto, in part, out of dirt as well.

Just letting some thoughts spiral out here, and I'm too lazy to check any of this against the text so apologies if I'm misremembering anything in this stream-of-consciousness infodump:

Lyctors supposedly can't regrow limbs, but we do see Harrow's thumbs regrow, and Harrow's able to regrow a limb to some extent for Ianthe. We know Harrow's GOOD and she's worked out that Lyctoral healing relies on the nerves and she's then able to replicate that for the bone arm, but I have wondered about the logistics of that. Like can Lyctors just not regrow their OWN limbs? In which case, that doesn't seem like that big of a barrier (provided you're on good terms with one of the others), and the way Harrow phrases "I didn't bother about the meat" seems to imply she COULD have attempted it but didn't. It definitely could have something to do with Harrow and Gideon's connections to Alecto and John respectively, meaning a typical Lyctor couldn't do that but Harrow can. Would have loved to have seen everyone else's initial reactions to the bone arm. I've seen a few people musing about whether or not Ianthe could have fleshed it over herself but I don't really have any further thoughts on that. We also don't know where Ianthe's temporarily transplanted flesh arm came from.

The other incident that comes to mind is the reference they make to Cassy "taking half her finger off" while cooking and not telling anyone until after they'd eaten. Which like, idk, I feel like you might notice if someone was missing part of their finger at dinner, but maybe not, or maybe "took half her finger off" was an exaggeration. Orrrrr maybe she did and it regrew. Anyway, I'm just thinking that IF it's possible for John to regrow/reform/whatever someone from part of their body, it would make sense that he wouldn't want any of the other Lyctors to know about it. And he certainly wouldn't want anyone else attempting it, much less succeeding at it. I think we only ever hear that Lyctors can't regrow limbs from John (via Ianthe), but I wouldn't be surprised if that wasn't true, or not the whole truth. If Mercy and Augustine had started figuring that out (or knew to begin with), even bringing up that story about Cassy might have been a way to subtly needle at John (sort of similar to the way Cristabel and Alfred get brought up during dios apate minor, actually).

I also think the way John refers to the arm as "material" is an interesting parallel to Augustine's quip about needing John's genetic "material", especially after the way that both John and the narrative position the Lyctors and the resurrected bodies as he and Alecto's "children". I've seen some discussion about whether Lyctors could be sterile, which, if true, adds another interesting layer. Specifically, we see that Pyrrha thought Wake's baby was hers/G1deon's and that she wanted that baby, and it does tug at the heartstrings to think that perhaps there is some of G1deon's "material" remaining that could conceivably (pardon the pun) be used for some form of reproduction whether literal or more abstractly. I don't think it was an accident to specify that Gideon arrived in the kind of container one would use to "carry a transplant limb" and then be named after the figure that John takes a limb from; that description could have just as easily been "the kind you'd carry a transplant organ in", but it wasn't. Maybe it's plot relevant, maybe it's just another way to symbolically link the two within the narrative.

So anyway, that ended up spiraling pretty far out from what you originally asked but the tl;dr is yeah that sounds super reasonable!

[chronicler-of-narrative]

(Disclaimer, all critiques thrown at Tumblr user alteredsilicone, otherwise known as Artie, are made with comedic intent and are exaggerated for the sake of comedy. Me and her are, at least from my POV, great friends and I only intend to entertain with my sarcastic quips aimed at her)

Welcome once again, fellow Tenno, to an oc showcase!

This time we have a perfect example of @alteredsilicone 's "parenting skills" (aka Child Neglect), Camelia Meister (as pictured above by her mother back when she gave a damn about Camelia)

In case it wasn't obvious, this oc is hers, but given that Artie so callously abbandoned Camelia, I'll be the father that stepped up and take her in as my very own void kid.

So some information (will change eventually, this is just the current vibe) :

Camelia is a bubbly, electric-themed Main Character Tenno (in other words she's currently the protagonist Tenno, the one who tames Umbra, completes all of the quests, etc. Combining that with her allgnment being eclipse, we can see that currently, shes a bit of a (excuse my French) 'slice of white bread'.

Her current (pun not intended) Warframes are Volt Prime (from before the Awakening), Nova Prime (After Awakening) and Gyre (post AOTZ), with her drifter also having a few favorites who for the sake of being concise, shall be ommitted. I plan to keep this entarauge going forward, however I will give Gyre to Drifter Camelia, as not only does it set up a good Drifter Operator contrast, but it also makes sense considering drifter's ties the Zariman.

Speaking of her drifter, I am dissappoined to say that, as of right now, her very vigilant mother (obvious sarcasm is obvious) decided not to give drifter Camelia any backstory to speak of, thus it shall fall to me to give her one once the time is right. Also worth noting is how operator Camelia is not alligned with any of the 6 syndicates, instead focusing her goodie-two-shoes nature on helping the Ostron and Solaris people (btw, did anyone else hear a ragged whisper calling Artie a "coward who couldn't commit her darling daughter to a single interesting idea due to her being the mc"? No, just me?)

Some early explorations on how I intend to season her character (aka make her into anything other than a cardboard cutout with pink electricity symbols scribbled on it with crayons) include:

-Making her follow New Loka and Perrin (the former because feel like shed be genuinely that kindhearted not to realize theyre luteral eco-fascists, and the latter definitely not because I want to terrorize Artie's new golden child, Viri, with the sins of her maker's past)

- New War induced Trauma

- Making her drifter a nuisance (as I often do) , and potentially give her some ties to Sythel and Mathila (cause peppy and electricity, plus theres some cool themeing you could draw from those two emotions)

- Maker her an exciteable little rapscallion who ends up electrifying hordes due to the sheer power of enjoying life

-Have her interact with The Chronicler (cool parallel, and nice dynamic given their contrasting traits

So yea, thats about it, feel free to leave any opinions you may have in the notes, and I wish you all a good day!

And also, Artie, if youre reading this which I assume you are, you owe me child support in the form of giving me a piece of drifter Camelia art for future reference .

🔫 This is a threat (polite request for a doodle you need not adhere to)

[soweirdondisney]

I've heard that Disney+ will be removing some of it's content. Do you think there is any danger they will remove So Weird, or other disney channel shows or movies? I really hope not. The disney channel stuff was a huge part of the reason I got disney plus, since I probably own most of the theatrical movies anyway, so I don't need disney+ for that.

(For anyone who hasn’t heard the news, Disney plans to decrease what it creates for Disney Plus in the next two years AND remove content that doesn’t get a lot of views in order to save money. Think of what happened with Warner Bros./Discovery/HBO Max last year.)

I think there’s a 60-40 chance right now that So Weird could be removed. The DCOMs are probably safe though.

Disney Channel celebrated its 40th anniversary a few weeks ago and one of the PR tactics was to have ESPN ask a question about DCOMs and then have their other Disney-owned properties answer. I don’t believe they would have bothered doing that if they had it in mind to cut them out.

Also, Disney wants to cut royalties and music licensing fees. They’ve already gone through the trouble of replacing songs in their DCOMs (Bewitched in Rip Girls, Youngstown in Genius, etc.) and in the case of The Other Me where *NSYNC was replaced at launch now the movie is gone entirely.

So Weird’s original music belongs to Disney BUT it was only the second season - with SheDaisy and The Moffats - that went missing back in 2019. Those songs are "live" performances cut between scenes so the rights would have to be paid.

Other than EvD, who is mostly remembered but still out of the spotlight, there aren’t any “notable” stars. (No offense to Dionne and Mackenzie but it's safe to say Disney isn't keeping the roofs over their heads.) And despite the similarities and connections to Sulphur Springs, Halloweentown, Parallels, etc. the show is rarely included as recommendations along with them.  

Note how Double Teamed - with EvD and Levis costar Mack - isn't even first.

What might help is that the residual checks are small (i.e. budget friendly) and with the upcoming Goosebumps series, having So Weird as an original, dark 90s throwback could be useful if Disney wants to maintain some sense of history in their quasi-rebranding to “expand their audiences”.

Plus (no pun intended)

they did include it in their original launch lineup to begin with

we hear often from people who say they watch it frequently

so while little watched it is consistently so

season two did return shortly after

and it's been left alone since

to the point where our livestreams marathons haven't been hit with copyright takedowns

I imagine the highest payouts go to Henry Winkler for being an EP, but what monster would keep a check from that guy?

Then again, we've spent more time watching So Weird OFF Disney-owned platforms than we have with the last three years on one. And if WB can scrap a $90 million dollar movie now would be a great time for Disney to erase any memory pre-2001 in favor of "general entertainment".

As for other Disney channel shows, it might be a case by case basis. There's also the possibility of a "Disney" show moving to Hulu or vice versa until the merger is done. And that won't be until after January 2024. The news only broke this week.

Thanks for the question.