#phoenix wright you are so lame

[flyttadigs]

something deeply wrong with me when i carnally desire the fictional guy that regularly says "yipes"

[secretagentspydetectiveninja]

The new trilogy means we finally got official French translations of the fifth and sixth games (the fourth already had one) so I did my thing and played through them, since they're always a lot of fun. Here are some things about French Dual Destinies I thought you might like to know:

Yes, it's set in France as per usual. They are all French people who live in Paris. And yes, that means that in this universe there is a Japanese village themed around yokai within throwing distance of Paris.

Athena lived in America in this version, and therefore peppers her speech with English and Spanish. My favourite unhinged franglais line was "let's get au travail" which I will be using from now on because it's hilarious

Many characters got French pun names again. Simon's name is "Jack Lamenoire" -- Jack, because the French version of Simon Says uses the name Jack/Jacques, and "lame noire" means "black blade". (Also he's not British or anything in this version, he just speaks in somewhat old-timey French.)

He has multiple nicknames for the judge that are all slight variations of "Your Baldness". He doesn't do that "-dono" suffix thing but he does refer to Phoenix in particular as "Maître Wright".

...I don't like pointing out things I didn't like buuuuuut his voice is a huge downgrade. Actually, to be honest, I don't like the new French voices that much in general... idk man they just don't sound very enthusiastic...

Filch's name is "Arsène Loupet", reference to the famous fictional thief Arsène Lupin, which I thought was pretty cool! (Herlock Sholmes was also a reference to that series too btw!)

Athena and Apollo use informal pronouns for each other pretty much from the get-go, but there have been some changes from the previous games: Phoenix now uses the informal "tu" for Apollo (and Athena) whereas in the prev game he didn't, Pearl now uses "tu" for Phoenix as well, and Klavier uses "tu" for Apollo now (but Apollo still calls him the formal "vous" lmao)

SPEAKING OF... SPEAKING OF. The French localisation continues to utterly baffle me when it comes to Klavier (or Konrad as he's called in French). No listen, liSTEN. In the previous game he was specifically stated to be English and did his law exams in England and dropped English words into his speech (and this is still the case in the trilogy version, I checked). But now?? They seem to have gone back on it and in this game he says he's German again, like the in English translation??? But he's still dropping English words into his speech randomly????? Look I already went through the five stages of grief when I found out they'd english-ified him, I made my peace with it, and NOW they change it???????

God and his new French voice sucks too (his old one was actually good)... what have they done to you my poor boy, was making you English not bad enough T_T Oh and he and Athena didn't even get their little language club moment where they both start speaking in the same foreign language?? Like, that just straight-up didn't happen here and I had been waiting for it aauuugh it's cool it's fine it's cool i'm okay i'm--

True to Dual Destinies fashion, there are still typos. In an emotional moment, Apollo took a leave of asbence from the office. Not absence. Asbence.

I can't put my finger on it but Robin's coming out scene felt more... respectful in French? The English translation was done over a decade ago so it feels somewhat dated, maybe that's why... I obviously don't know if she was purposely written to be a trans girl but she very much comes across that way, and it feels like the French translators were aware of that interpretation and took it into account, idk maybe it's just me

THEY GOT RID OF MY FAVOURITE LINE. THE FORESHADOWEY ONE WHERE SIMON TELLS ATHENA THAT THE PERSON SHE WANTS TO SAVE MORE THAN ANYONE ELSE IN THE WORLD DOESN'T DESIRE HER DEFENCE, AND HE'S CLEARLY TALKING ABOUT HIMSELF. THE FRENCH MADE HIM SAY SOMETHING ELSE WAY LESS COOL. I don't wanna be like "FRENCH TURNABOUT ACADEMY IS DEAD TO ME" because most of it was awesome, but man these occasional things made me wanna flip tables

Cosmic Turnabout and Turnabout for Tomorrow were great in French though, so there's that. Clay's French name is "Pierre" which worked surprisingly well because it means stone or rock, and the moon rock was also called that, so like, the phantom had to kill Pierre in order to get the pierre... idk it worked and it was cool

Simon and Athena switch to using informal pronouns for each other very near the end of the game, in the scene where they work together to psychologically mess with the phantom. It's around the time when they start openly calling each other by first name since everyone knows now that they're old friends.

Phoenix and Edgeworth also occasionally refer to each other by first name in this game, which threw me off completely. (Reminder that Edgeworth's French name is "Benjamin Hunter". Just picture Phoenix standing in front of Edgeworth and calling him BENJAMIN. Now you understand how absolutely bizarre it felt.)

Here's the entirety of The Dissin' of Phoenix Wright in French

[ind1c0lite]

Assorted headcanons about Phoenix and the seven year gap because it lives rent free in my head and I must yell

-I made another post about it but Edgeworth was the first to hear about State v Enigmar and Maya was the first to see Phoenix in person after he's disbarred (and the first to meet Trucy)

-Originally Phoenix and Trucys situation was just him fostering her at first, not an immediate adoption of her, largely cause Phoenix was hoping for her sake that Zak would eventually come back to AT LEAST see her, but after like- year 2 of Zak being gone, it turned into an actual adoption of her and she legally became Trucy Wright (although she had started going by that name a few months beforehand)

-The first year for Phoenix was- Well Rough To Say The Least, he ended up getting into a l o t of fights with both Maya and Edgeworth and started really pushing them away (never in front of Trucy but she could tell something was going on) largely cause in his mindset at the time he didn't really think they understood what was going on (which he very much realized was VERY stupid considering who he was talking to) and eventually it ended in both Maya and Edgeworth staging something of an intervention and being like "hey man your being a huge dick to both of us we're trying to help you through this but also whats going on in that head", they ended up finally actually Talking and settled things for once, things got better after that! slowly yet surely

-After the bar association trial, Phoenix was the first to approach Kristoph for believing him, and that where their friendship started (Kristoph was going to just do regular ol stalking instead but decided that being "friends" with him would probably be easier here so he went with it)

- personally my least favourite interpretation of the 7yg is where Phoenix knows that kristoph was the one who framed him all along, like idk it's just not very interesting to me, it's kinda boring ghjkhlj I absolutely where people are coming from with it though but idk hgjkhl it's lame to me

- Even though Phoenix was no clue whether or not he's going to become a lawyer again and pretty much had adapted to his new life, he always has that little thought in his mind that if he becomes one again, everything in his life will get better instantly, he'll be useful again (spoiler alert, it doesn't immediately fix his life! he has Depression)

-Around year 2 was when Edgeworth started bringing over Phoenix and Trucy to Europe (in my mind he spends about half the year in Europe and Half in America), while he DID give the reason that he needed Phoenixs help with a case or two (and that wasn't an outright lie) largely he just wanted to spend time with the two of them and didn't know how else to express it, by year 5 Phoenix caught on to what he was doing and found it VERY funny, after that their trips were much less law focused

-Phoenix met Athena in Europe in Year 3 and kept in contact with her until she arrived in America, and oh BOY can she tell he is very upset

-Eventually he does go to therapy like- after DD, at the insistence of Athena and Trucy (it takes him a bit cause he's one stubborn man but he gets there eventually!)

-He started growing out his hair and realized that he did actually like this hair longer so he kept it!

-While he does not regret making Apollo use the forged ace in court, he does hope that one day they'll be able to mend things since he knows it hurt Apollo a lot, he cares about Apollo but is giving Apollo the space he needs to make that choice on his own, he's very proud of both him and Athena

-Trucy gave him her second earring so they could match! He nearly sobbed when she did that hgjkhl He did have to get his ears pierced to wear it but dw he was very brave about it

ok thats all I can remember rn enjoy HJGKH

[treasure-mimic]

Felt like messing around in photoshop today, so, what started as a want to create some franchise icons for Smash turned into full character mockups, so I put together my 10 most wanted characters for Smash Bros., whatever the next game looks like, and I’d like to post them and talk about them a bit.

Quote is I think my most wanted newcomer to Smash, I really like and appreciate everything Cave Story has done, and I think if you’re talking about indie games, Cave Story has probably had the most influence on the industry. Kids today probably don’t know much of anything about this game, but trust me when I say there’d be no Hollow Knight, no Ori, no Celeste, without Quote.

This one might be a little obvious nowadays, but I am fully behind the Waluigi train. Just one point of contention, I think people undersell his potential by just having him reference different sports games and spin-offs. I think the real play is to come up with a wholly original kit based around being a dirty cheater and trickster with a penchant for explosives.

I’d much rather have Paper Mario than Dr. Mario if I’m being entirely honest with you.

This one’s a bit weird, because I don’t have a huge fondness for Excitebike the game or Excitebiker the character, I’m just enamored with this concept of a fighting game character who fights entirely from the back of a motorcycle. I just think that’s wicked as hell. I’ll take it in whatever form I can.

Metroid Dread is in strong contention for my favorite Metroid game ever, and it did finally give us a character with a body plan and toolkit that lends itself to Smash, outside of Sylux and the Hunters, whom I’m not the biggest fans of. I’ve had some contentious history with the way Smash fans talk about Metroid, so I guess I’ll put it out now that I think if, at this point, you’re not vouching for Raven Beak, you don’t know what you’re talking about.

Love me some DS VNs, Professor Layton I think at this point has the strongest ties to Nintendo and, since Phoenix Wright got to play in Marvel 3, it should be his time to shine, though I wouldn’t be opposed to any of them.

Honestly, every generation of Pokemon there’s a couple of new mons that I think would make sick Smash characters, and will inevitably get passed up for a lame starter. Nihilego deserves a spot, dammit, she’s more plot important than any number of fire/fighting muscleheads. But if we’re shilling for the most recent gen, you can’t go wrong with a giant hammer.

The Heavy is commonly in talks around Smash Bros. wishlists, especially here in the West, but the obvious problem rears its head pretty quickly. He’s a giant, lumbering, immobile mass whose main weapon takes several seconds to start up and then chews through anything it hits. This is my counterproposal, I think the Scout is just as iconic as the Heavy, comes with a lot of fun weapons and abilities, and actually has some mobility. Imagine using a downward Force-A-Nature shot to recover while spiking someone into the blast zone!

This is for sure a weird one, but once the idea came to me I started getting really attached to it. The number of Enderman variants from Minecraft Dungeons gives the Enderman a surprising amount of variance to pull from, and the Ender Dragon could be its Final Smash.

For the final suggestion, this is for sure a “there’s no chance in hell” but also “it would be really funny”. Scorpion, I think, best represents the aesthetics of Mortal Kombat, a ninja with fire, bladed weapons, and the ability to teleport, which centers him more than Sub-Zero who uses ice, Raiden who uses lightning, and Liu Kang who’s just a martial artist. Leaning heavy on the fire aspect is also a good way to nerf MK’s hypergore for a Rated E10+ game, though that really is the central appeal of Scorpion, trying to shove this edgelord into a kiddy cartoon beat-em-up.

[littledemon55]

Can we talk about how bad the endings of all three Apollo Justice Trilogy games are? 😕 (Obviously spoilers for all three games.) This is just my opinion, I'm not necessarily stating facts.

Apollo Justice, Ace Attorney: A new justice system gets a test run and is supposed to be a huge breakthrough. It's introduced by Phoenix Wright, not Apollo Justice, and it will never be used after this one trial. (Except if you count TGAA's system.)

Apollo and Trucy aren't being told that they're siblings, which would be fine, but yet again this didn't happen in later games either.

Kristoph Gavin's black psych locks never getting explained or his motives in general for that matter.

Klavier Gavin only appears once after this game, as a side character in one case of Dual Destines.

Apollo Justice wasn't the main character in his own game from start to finish.

Ace Attorney, Dual Destines: (I didn't even play this game past the second case. I ended my playthough when Simon Blackquill appeared on screen and everyone collectively lost their braincells.) But I've heard that the police officer is some sort of copycat spy in disguise working for an evil terrorist organisation. If that doesn't sound dumb than I don't know what does.

Ace Attorney, Spirit of Justice:

Apollo: *already said enough*

Wright: *encourages him to do more*

Apollo: *says something lame and obvious, pointing his finger at the queen, what just makes her stumble back*

This entire plot with the kingdom would've been great, if it wasn't as see through as water. Like, seriously, Capcom? It had ALL of the clichés.

Nahyuta Sahdmadhi's redemption felt so dumb and unearned.

Critique to all games: THERE ARE LITTLE TO NO STAKES! NOTHING FEELS EARNED! THE CHARACTERS ARE A MIXED BAG AT BEST! THE FINAL BOSSES ARE ALL UNDERDEVELOPED! EVEN THE MAIN CHARACTERS ARE UNDERDEVELOPED!

(This is my favourite side character btw ↑)

Anyways, I don't recommend these games, except if you can handle badly written plot and linear gameplay that demotivates you to continue playing.

[sheepwithspecs]

Fic Writer Interview

I was tagged by @slusheeduck for this! Thank you for the tag :) I tag @lynmars79, @shivasdarknight, @risingsoleil, and @haku23 (as well as any writer mutuals who want to do it! I can't remember who all posts on Ao3 and who doesn't, lol)

How many works do you have on AO3?

66!

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

733,508!

3. What are your top 5 fics by kudos

Apology: my very first Coco fic, written after I returned from the theater

Week of the Full Moon: a Hellsing fic that's on semi-permanent hiatus until I rewrite it in full (why do people like this one so much?)

Coming Home: another Coco fic

Shadows: yet another Coco fic LOL

Knock Her Socks Off: the only Kill la Kill fic I ever wrote (shameless gamagōri x mako fan)

4. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I try to respond to comments, even if it's just "thanks! glad you enjoyed it!" or something like that. Of course, if people ask me questions about the plot or make specific comments, I will always do my best to answer them (though maybe not always in a timely fashion...)

5. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

I would say probably Paramour. Not to give too much away, but near the end Darklaw has to make a very hard choice. It's up to the reader to decide whether the choice was right/necessary or not.

6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

I usually end up writing best case scenario fics... I think I would choose Surrender, though that might surprise some readers. I think that's the most realistic happy end that this couple would have (realistic = in terms of canon-compliance).

7. Do you write crossovers?

Does it count if you're writing for a crossover game? [Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney] Probably not.... I'm more prone to write AUs than crossovers.

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

LOL yeah.... there are a few that I can think of off the top of my head:

when I was actively writing Hellsing on ff dot net circa 2013-2015 there was this bozo who kept telling me I was going to hell for writing about this evil twisted demonic... vampire anime

comment on a fic with a clearly stated master/slave femdom tag "I tried to read this but it's too much like a degrading bdsm slave relationship!" (woah... really???)

"your ocs are really lame!" thanks so am I 👍

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

aren't there jokes about ace people writing the nastiest smut or something... yeah of course I write it! I actually struggle with it though because I'm ace so I don't really... know what people find sexy? Readers have told me "this was so hot" and I'm literally like "thanks! (was it????)" I love reading smut though so I do what any good art student does (study masters, then try to fit my own style to what I learn).

I really like gfd (gentle femdom) so my writing tends to slant in that direction... What could possibly be more sexy than a loving exchange of power? Especially if you add enemies to lovers to the mix and that exchange involves a larger-than-normal amount of trust and vulnerability > i.e. "yes we literally fight to the death every Tuesday but you're the only person I trust to have me tied up like this" No one asked but personally I think I did very well with the rewrite of All Bets are Off... every time I read it I'm just like "wow op made this so yummy"

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

If I did, I don't know it. Funny enough though someone once tried to flag me that someone stole my work... that someone was me under a different pseudonym... so I've stolen from myself!

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes! I have a pretty laid-back policy; as long as you name me as the original author + give me a link to the translated work, you're allowed to translate my writing into any language.

12. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes, but I'm not sure if any escaped the Skype logs... I don't even know if they're accessible now. But I did co-write fics back in the day with friends! I'd love to do so again sometime.

13. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

Franken Stein x Marie Mjolnir from Soul Eater (For the record i also like Stein x Medusa bc I read either "I can fix him" or "I can make him worse" depending on my mood)

14. What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

Pas de Deux. It's not that I don't think I'll finish, but more that I'm not at the skill level I want to be yet so I can't bring myself to work on it.

15. What are your writing strengths?

Readers say that I'm really good with dialogue but I'm not sure... personally I can't say if it's a strength but I love when I can deep-dive into a character's emotional state and tear apart their personal fallacies while also pretending they are truths for the sake of the narrative... I hope I'm good at that.

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

Action scenes. I can't write fights to save my life. Also setting descriptions.

17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

Personally I learned a lot from reading blogs like Writing with Color and Writing with Disabilities etc. about how to write non-English dialogue (or maybe a variant like ASL). I've tried to incorporate what I've learned in my writing and now I notice things, like when someone overuses foreign language or they write with a very strong accent for the character. Some things I've learned are also contextual! For example, FFXIV writers include accents in their dialogue boxes. That's why I allow Rhoswen to speak with the "ye / fer / n' / 'o" etc. in her dialogue in my fics. But for a character like Father Anderson, in my rewrites it's easier to mention he has a Scottish accent, then maybe include one or two variants in the dialogue rather than having the entire thing be nigh-unreadable.

18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Unpublished: A Bug's Life. I wrote a fanfic comic for my younger brother on notebook paper one day when we were kids

Published: Hellsing. I published a fanfic in 2012 with an OC main character not realizing that people thought that was cringe (but I still got a lot of positive comments for it so!!!) I started revising it in 2015 so there's an unfinished version you can read here.

19. What’s a fandom/ship you haven’t written for yet but want to?

I keep saying I'm going to write for the Paper Magician series but it's genuinely so good that I don't know what I could possibly add to it.

20. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

There's no way I can choose just one fic, so here are my top three:

The Rites of Spring: I think these two should kiss and also dance in the town square. I hope OP finishes it one day.

A Curious Attraction: The original had more words than a standard novel. I hope OP finishes it one day.

Architects of the Ashes: Zenos should not be fixed but he should be put in a sandbox sim. I hope OP finishes it one day.

[fragglerockopinions]

Hello I'd love to ask about your kristoph !!! Tell me about her !!

HELLO!! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ASKING, I LOVE TO SHARE MY SILLY AUS AND HEADCANONS!!

(SPOILERS FOR ACE ATTORNEY 4 AND 5)

So I adore Kristoph Gavin and I got tired of pretending to hate him because the rest of the fandom thinks he's lame and sucks.

To be fair, the way I write Kristoph in personal stories and art is a lot different than how he is in canon, because my interpretation is a lot cooler and tries to answer some of the questions that canon neglects.

So!! My version of Kristoph Gavin:

Is possessed by a demon. It explains the fucked up scar on his hand and his sudden desire to commit murder out of simple jealousy. It's like a Venom type relationship where the demon can manifest itself outside (but still attached to) his body and talks to him and he responds verbally. • Is the Phantom. This part only works if there is a demon. When I played Dual Destinies and the villain was revealed to have a wounded hand, I got SO excited!! I was like ? Kristoph? Gavin backstory?? Klavier's cameo is going to turn into him being a full witness??? But alas.... - So in my personal silly version of the story, Kristoph, having escaped from prison using the demon's ability to alter his face and mimic voices (and still feeding this demon through murder), is once again upset that someone is trying to find him out. He beats Detective Bobby Fulbright's face in and steals his clothes, dumping his lifeless body outside of the Gyaxa science center. Bobby survives in this, but it takes many months of physical therapy once they're able to identify his mangled face, and many years of surgery to restore his face to even remotely resembling what it once looked like. Simon is there to support Bobby just as much as Bobby desired to support him. Anyway, after upholding the front of the Coolest Defense Attorney in the West for years, Kristoph's stoic mask was destroyed by Phoenix Wright (his ex-fiance), Apollo Justice (his former apprentice), and Klavier Gavin (his hated younger brother, who he could no longer manipulate once the truth was revealed), leaving him a shell of his former self. After escaping from prison and hiding his identity by wearing the faces of others, including Phoenix Wright's, Kristoph Gavin as we knew him was completely gone. The Phantom's breakdown showcased his loss of identity, having been lying for so long that he could no longer remember which face was his own. Kristoph is murdered in the demolished courtroom under the open sky.

UNTIL HE IS RESURRECTED WITH DEMON MAGIC AND RETURNS TO JAPANIFORNIA!!! WITH AMNESIA!!!!????

Also, about Kristoph being she/her, I only headcanon that in the universe where she is normal and not possessed. Both Kristoph and Klavier are she/he/theys and it kind of pisses them off to be so similar lol

My random Kristoph headcanons:

He lives in a quaint old house filled with antiques that probably belonged to their dead great aunt or something. All the furniture is floral print and covered with crinkly plastic. He makes guests take their shoes off at the door.

Speaking of family, his father died when he was very young, and his mother is aggressively Christian. Kristoph was the pride of the family until Klavier was born and subsequently grew into a gifted and multitalented student, prosecutor, and musician. Of course this fueled Kristoph's jealousy of his brother.

His dog, Vongole, is a borzoi! Klavier got custody of her, but he set her up as Kristoph's emotional support animal in prison. For those who don't know, that's a thing in Ace Attorney! Established in AAI, prisoners get esa, like Dogan with his dog and Blackquill with his falcon.

He named his dog Vongole because he loves seafood. It's all he cooks in his house. He can cook, of course, he's a bachelor!

He smokes cigarettes, and probably weed when Klavier visits. He burns a lot of incense to hide the smell.

He is into BDSM. I'm sorry i know that's random but I just think it's extremely funny for the proper serious suit lawyer man to like roping and whipping people. It's a control thing, which is a huge aspect of his character. I will elaborate in a post about this specifically if anyone wants AGNVFJB

He played the clarinet in high school. It is an instrument just as elegant and despised as he is!

His favorite color is pink. The ribbon around his neck is pink and Vongole has a collar to match!

He is queer and omnisexual! (The flag matches his color scheme lol)

He befriended and started dating Phoenix before he found reason to hate him, which is arguably worse than him pulling that shit on a stranger. Phoenix was lonely after Miles went abroad again, and the two got coffee, and it blossomed from there. Kristoph was aware that Phoenix was suspicious of him after a while, but they both held the belief of keeping your enemies close. Phoenix would joke about his food being poisoned every day, and Kristoph would humor him with a faux fake-innocent smile.

He has never uttered the word "love" in regards to anyone but Vongole. Not his mother, not his brother, not his boyfriends.

While they were working together, he and Apollo worked out together. I think this is so fucking hilarious.

This is crazy I know but in the aus where he has amnesia and/or doesn't kill anybody, he trains to become a prosecutor with Klavier. He feels that in order to make up for his disdain in the past and the utter shitshow that was Klavier's courtroom debut, he wants to practice law together so that Kristoph's debut can be with his brother. Also he's dating Shi-Long Lang I KNOW hear me out!!! Miles left Lang for Phoenix, and Phoenix left Kristoph for Miles, so Lang and Kristoph can meet in the middle :) Kristoph needs a strong man with a gun to make sure he doesn't sneak off to poison anyone else. Also I just think Kristoph is subconsciously attracted to weirdos because it's very funny and the pattern started with Phoenix.

He made exactly zero friends in prison. Normally I like to think Prison Gang like Blackquill, Keyes, and Godot are all pals, but he was not at all part of any cliques and sat in his cushy chair in solitary confinement for years, just muttering "Wright" over and over.

His voice sounds like J Michael Tatum's typical fancy gentleman voice!

HE is the one to change his hair after everything. He can't bear the thought of looking like Klavier, who has earned the right to exist exactly how he pleases. His hair is a point of shame now, after it exploded in court. He now styles it as he does in my icon, based on his concept art!!! (DRAWN BY CYANCEES <3333)

[kitchfit]

Year in Review: Games Part 1

This is a series I've been wanting to do for a while. Whenever I finish a piece of media (books, games, movies, comics, maybe art and music in the future) I jot in down in a doc so I can look back on them at the end of the year. I wanted to write my thoughts on them as I finished them, but since you have to start somewhere, I'll be writing simple reviews in retrospect. This is just for fun, but I welcome any feedback.

Pokemon Scarlet

This game released with some controversy. It was an unfinished glitchy mess with graphics still not up to the standards of the Nintendo Switch six years into its lifespan, but tbh this game was fun as hell to complete. I loved most of all the new designs and managed for the first time in my Pokemon career to actually complete the Dex. I usually get worn down on that pretty quick.

The characters were also much more engaging than the previous generation, especially my best boy Arven. The environments were super fun to explore and I got a new favorite little guy (Slither Wings my beloved). Here's hoping the next game has an actual sane development cycle and we get this amount of creativity in a higher degree of quality with better paid developers.

Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations

If you thought I only played games that came out this year, sorry to disappoint. I don't manage to pick up even half of the blockbusters that pop up annually, and go after older games way more often. That being said, I see why AA fans hold this game up so high. I played the first and second Phoenix Wright games last year (which I won't review since that was too long ago now) and this is a nice cap to the original Trilogy.

You get Phoenix's background as a dorky bisexual art student, Mia's first case as a defense attorney, and an honestly heartbreaking quest for revenge through Godot while never stooping to melodrama. (I love his theme it sounds like the Mother 3 Magypsies). Also unlike the first two games, there were zero "filler" cases. Each one was thoroughly engaging and moved the plot forward in a meaningful way. Though, I don't begrudge the earlier cases that fuck around a lot more.

Pokemon White 2

When the OG Black and White came out, I was in the "everything new is lame" stage of adolescence, so when the sequels came out I didn't even bother. Turns out I was the lame one for doing so! In hindsight, Pokemon seemed to reach something of a peak with Gen 5 in terms of graphics and gameplay, and would seek to experiment with new artstyles and gimmicks for the next (looks at watch) 11 years damn.

With the first Black and White, it focused on remodeling classic Pokemon designs and gameplay into something new and modern, and these games add back in most of those classic Mons. The plot is also very action-packed and engaging, and gives a satisfying epilogue for a lot of the characters from the first games. You get to see how the region has changed after 3 years and even get to explore some new parts of Unova, similar to how the Gen 2 games handled Kanto. I hope Gamefreak does something like this again in the future.

Kingdom Hearts: Re:Coded

Prepare for a deluge of this series, and not in any conceivable order. Kingdom Hearts took over my heart, mind, and body Xehanort style for the better half of the year. This title is known for a fun variety of gameplay and an absolute dogshit story. I wouldn't really agree. The game switches up its playstyle pretty frequently, including side-scrolling platforming, railshooting, and turn-based combat but for the most part its classic hack-and-slash 3D platforming that feels kind of grindy, but there's multiple unlockable difficulty sliders that you can use to switch it up if you get bored.

Storywise, there's not a lot for newcomers and if you want to play through all the games as one overarching narrative, I wouldn't blame you for skipping this one. However, if you're already a fan of Sora and Riku's relationship, this has quite a bit for someone to dig their teeth into. The world's are all recycled from KH1, making this one of the two games where you can actually explore Destiny Islands, but they all feel pretty downgraded. The endgame gave me a headache.

Kingdom Hearts

Our best boy's first big boot step into adventure. I watched all of the KH cutscenes for all of the games during a particularly dry season of lockdown, so this was my first foray into the original. The story genuinely holds up to a surprising degree, leaning into the Disney elements more than its Squaresoft side for probably the last time in the series. Its really good groundwork for Sora's introduction as a hero, I especially love the assertion towards the end that it is Sora's choice to help others that makes him worthy of the Keyblade and not destiny. Its a theme that would be both muddied and compounded upon later in the series in a pretty interesting way.

I was almost astonished at how in-depth all of the worlds are, especially Traverse Town. There are a lot more little Disney references and sidequests, like the 101 Dalmation quest, that help the worlds all feel a bit more lively. Also NPCs, which later in the series would become a rare gift. I fucked up on the combat. Did not learn how to do spell shortcuts until midway through KH2. Despite that, it was still fun to wack Heartless with my keyblades six different ways, and it makes me excited to replay it at some point.

Kingdom Hearts II

This is the big boy that every KH fan loves to absolute death. Chain of Memories had already started the series tradition of experimental storytelling, but the mainline sequel takes it to an fascinating and well-executed degree. For the first three hours you are forced into playing a new protagonist with zero context and near zero Disney shit. Vivi is there though and we love him for that. Later on we would see this prologue as the tragic conclusion of another entry in the series, but its initial presence here is jarring in a way you have to piece together throughout the rest of the main game. It would also introduce many of the more headache-inducing plot aspects that are fun to dissect but a pain to explain, such as Nobodies. I see them as ghosts, and no one can tell me otherwise. I wrote a whole absurdist retelling about it.

The worlds are more quantity than quality, I'll be real. About half of them are made up of 4 or 5 flat maps with nothing to do except grind Heartless encounters, (e.g. Mulan.) The other half are a bit meatier but could have benefited from more sidequests and such. You revisit quite a few from KH1 to see how they changed and that's always fun. There's a theme to each of the Disney worlds that add to the narrative, in this title mainly being romance and identity. The identity aspect leans toward the relationship between Sora and Roxas, two separate people who are also one person, while the romance theme hints towards the relationship with Sora and Kairi. Oddly enough, both themes also seem to work towards Sora's quest for Riku, who is in the midst of his own identity crisis while Sora desperately tries to find him. Huh. Interesting.

Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep

This is my favorite Kingdom Hearts game. This was one of the few I was able to play as a teenager and even after all these years I still adore this game to death. It works without knowing anything else about Kingdom Hearts. You don't need to know about Ansems or Nobodies or Time Travel; none of that shit. This is the story of three friends that get torn apart by their own ignorance and one bitter old man on his quest to change the world. Its one story split among three perspectives, and each character you play through the game with you understand the grander narrative. You understand why Aqua's best friend snapped at her, why Terra's little brother is so ready to die. You also get to hear Leonard Nemoy yell "KEYBLADE" in the same cutscene three different times.

I love this game so so much dammit. The combat has a fun collection system where you earn action commands and combine them to make better attacks and healing moves. The worlds in the latter half of the game are also really creative and fun to explore, though you get a limited area to move around in for each character. If you have played previous KH entries, there's a lot of references to make you point at the screen and go "THAS AXEL THAS MY BOY HE'S A LIL GUY HERE." Anyway I'll shut up. Play this game.

Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance

Never ask me to explain the plot of this game. They added Inception to Kingdom Hearts and also Time Travel. And the story is mostly told through unlockable backstory cutscenes including the premise. Yes, the introduction to this game's story is an unlockable. Despite this, the story is pretty effective. This is Riku's second time in the spotlight since Reverse/Rebirth, though the game is once again split between him and Sora. It dissects Riku's character arc in a similar way to Re:Coded, except uhh this one isn't a computer simulation, he is a Dream. Completely different. It asserts his desire to continue as Sora's protector, and realizing this it is him who ultimately triumph's over Angst Teen Xehanort, saves Sora and passes the Key Test. He's no longer on his Way to the Dawn. He's in the light. It's sweet.

The worlds in this game are based around vertical movement. There's a new Parkour mechanic that lets you wall-step-flip around basically everywhere, and to compensate this the worlds are Huge. Since they're dreams, that also means they're pretty empty of anything to really do or explore. They are pretty at least. There's also a pokemon mechanic where you collect lil guys. I did not realize this mechanic also determines Riku and Sora's stats until the final boss, which caught me off guard. I see why this is a lot of people's fave KH game of all time, but its a little too busy for me.

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages

This is an odd one. I first played this game two years ago at college alongside Oracle of Seasons in my spare time. Eventually my phone-I MEAN MY AUTHENTIC GAME BOY COLOR- broke and I thought I lost my save data for both. Turns out I did not and finished through the last few dungeons. This game makes solid use of the time travel mechanic, which is a mix of Ocarina's time travel and Alttp's world jumping. It's fun to jump sporadically between 1000s of years and see the world in different eras. That rock? Used to be slightly over to the left. Would you look at that.

The dungeons had a larger focus on puzzles in comparison with Season's love for combat, which is probably why this is the more beloved twin. Some of the dungeons had me waddling back and forth for too long until I figured out what to do. You can link these games up to get bonus items like the Biggoron's Sword which is fun to complete. After beating both games, you get an extra final boss against Ganon and a scene hinting towards the beginning of Link's Awakening, which is a nice touch. And then Nintendo declared them two separate Links, for some reason. Beh.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D

Oh hey. One of the most beloved games of all time. I have played through this games more times than I know. Probably around like. 6 times I used to boot this game up and play all the way up to the Forest Temple and then restart for some reason, I don't know how many times I actually got to the end.

Its a game that eases you into its idyllic fantasy world before dropping you headfirst into the apocalypse you inadvertently caused in your quest to destroy evil. Its never a melodramatic game though. Its about the loss of innocence. Maturity. Learning that the evil was always there, before the King of Thieves took over the world, before you were even born. It even came from the place you are trying to protect. But there was always goodness too, there was always light. There are always friends to be found in dark places. The style and presentation are peak. The dungeons are rich in aesthetics and well made puzzles. The time travel mechanic is honestly a bit undercooked. But this game is fantastic. Quintessential Zelda.

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventure

I straight-up forgot I played this. Its fun though. Its a relatively short game, but compared to its predecessor, its a huge improvement. The game plays out in stages like the first Four Swords game, but usually in explorable environments, like towns and forests rather than generic volcano and cave themes. You control all Four Links at once, moving them into different formations to move rocks or put fires out. Or you can do it with friends controlling each Link. I did not. :(

I was mainly interested in this games story from a lore perspective. It features the return of Vaati, the Wind Creep who Lova Da Ladies, but with the addition of the Rise of Ganondorf. You are sent to stop him from a wise owl, Ganon allies himself with Deku Scrubs, attacks the Gorons, and is eventually turned into a monster by his own lust for power. It seems more and more like a retelling of Ocarina in a different light. Eh. Maybe I'll write about my Zelda timeline theories in a different post. Not here though

Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory

BACK TO KH BABY! This is a rhythm game, so I don't have too much to say. I've never really played any rhythm game before this, and I'm not sure if this one is on par with the more well-known rhythm titles out there, but I had a good time with it. Its great for people who like Kingdom Hearts music, lmao. You have a lot of unlockable character groups to play through the music with and level them up, but once I unlocked the Days trio I didn't really go for the others too much. Xion my beloved.

The story is hilariously shallow, almost insulted considering its Kairi's first solo outing, technically. She's on her quest to learn all the KH lore she missed out on, and eventually finds a repressed memory of a grown adult monologuing at a toddler for fifteen minutes. Also that her boyfriend is alive so that her boyfriend's boyfriend can go save him. Her boyfriend's boyfriend is also her boyfriend. Fight me.

Kingdom Hearts III

People were. So upset when this game came out. Acted like it was the biggest disappointment since the ill-fated economic crisis of '07. Sure, yea, that's a reference. Well this is the first time I've gone into it and I'm here to say this is probably among my favorite KH games of all time. Strong competitor with BBS. A lot of the criticisms of the story and gameplay weren't wrong per-say, but the issues with this game, such a goofy dialogue, bizarre pacing, and over complicated exposition dumps, are problems with the entire series that fans of the series, in my opinion, have come to see as endearing elements of Kingdom Hearts. Its funny to watch the big cloak guy point at Sora and say "Darkness Light Heart Darkness," and see Sora gasp in fear, while also realizing the importance of that dialogue to the story. It's a feature, not a bug.

The worlds in this game are its biggest asset. They are huge, heavily detailed, heavily explorable areas with tons to discover. Hell, the Pirates of the Caribbean world acts as a slightly smaller Wind Waker. The game adds in most of the mechanics from all the spin offs to give you a lot of toys to play with, such as parkour or sharpshooting, that are easy to forget but a treat to use when you actually remember them.

A central theme of each of the Disney worlds is happy endings. Hercules finally takes down Hades for good. Mike and Sully are able to visit Boo without risk to her safety. The dead Baymax from that one Disney movie gets a redemption arc. Frozen and Tangled play out exactly as their movie which is kind of boring. This correlates with the happy endings the rest of the supporting cast get to experience, including the initially tragedies of the BBS and Days trio in scenes that genuinely got tears out of me. But Sora doesn't get a happy ending. He sacrifices himself to strong-arm everyone else into their perfect circumstance. Literally breaks the rules of time and space to force the universe into saving his friends at the cost of his own life. And then Hell turns out to be Tokyo so its not all that bad. It makes you feel for the boy. This game also lets you play as Kairi in the DLC which makes me happy.

Alright ending this here. I've played way too many games this year this isn't even half. Also only including games I've finished, and games with definitive endings. I played Mario Kart 7 but that doesn't rlly end, ya know? Will try to write these weekly, even if no ones reading them. But if you do read them tell me what you think! Gonna switch over to books next week to even it out. I swear I don't just play games. This is the last Kingdom Hearts game on this list too I swear.

[compositionscompilation]

Remediation Done Wright: Ace Attorney

The Ace Attorney series is one of my favorite video game series, and I have… just a couple of thoughts on the various adaptations that have been made. I adore the characters and the story, and I am a heavy stickler when it comes to franchises that I love, and I think it is impossible to truly capture the experience of playing through remediation but people keep trying. This post is taking a look at a couple different adaptations, my thoughts on them, and how and why they differ from the source.

The first game, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney released in 2001 and it is the entry that has been remediated the most, with manga adaptations, a live-action movie, an anime, and several stage plays. A turnabout murder mystery game where you take on the role of  Phoenix Wright, a newbie defense attorney, and you have to prove that your client is innocent as well as collect evidence and piece together who the actual killer is. 

It is a very bright, colorful game full of lots of humor, drama, character, and the most absurd situations that are just… 

...Just uniquely Ace Attorney.

(This video snippet is from the third game but shhhh) 

I feel like that is the briefest, most lame summary I could give but sadly we must move on.

The Movie

In 2012, a live-action movie adaptation of the first game was released, simply called Ace Attorney.

First I do need to point out the obvious and what bugged me the most the entire time I was watching this. WHY IS IT SO VISUALLY DARK?? THEY COULDN'T GET ANY LIGHTS IN THEIR COURTROOM?? I WOULD LIKE TO ACTUALLY BE ABLE TO SEE THE SILLY LITTLE ATTORNEYS IF I'M WATCHING A WHOLE TWO-AND-A-HALF-HOUR MOVIE WITH THEM!!

Where the movie technically could be watched without any prior knowledge of the games, it definitely has some odd moments that only people who had experience with the games would understand.

The movie doesn't try to be overtly comedic until about halfway through, playing itself as a darker, serious, slightly comedic legal drama. Nor does it play into the actual cartoony elements of the series. Not once do you see an iconic "Objection!" or "Hold It!" text bubble, nor do the actors put emphasis into it like in the games; instead they just slightly raise their tones and speak it.

The game relies on hypermediacy, on knowing it is an absurd video game and leaning into that. The movie does not play into this, for the most part, it treats the story as a more genuinely serious legal drama

A big feature of the comedy in the games is the fact that we get to hear Phoenix's inner dialogue and that he often pokes fun at the situations he finds himself in. The movie omits his inner dialogue entirely, though we do see some form of his confusion and emotions through his actor's facial expressions and body language.

The movie had to cut an entire chapter in the middle of the game (though it does get a small reference at the beginning) as well as severely shorten the second case of the entire game, and as a result, you miss out on so much of the character development that you see slowly blossom naturally as the game progresses.

The game’s development was very “on-the-fly”, made by a team of 7 whole people over 10 months, and there was very little backstory, plot, or really anything written beforehand. Series creator and director, Shu Takumi, developed Phoenix piece by piece as each chapter of the game was created. 

When playing the game, you see Phoenix slowly change and develop exactly the way he was created. Little was lost in development or cut because of the short and on-the-fly development. His character is exactly how he was thought up.

When the movie severely shortens and smushes together entire chapters of the game, you lose these details, and you miss out on seeing Phoenix grow closer with his sidekick, Maya (whose character was BUTCHERED in the movie by the way), and with his main rival, Miles Edgeworth.

It makes the dramatic finale where he has to defend Edgeworth in court feel like nothing. They had ONE trial being enemies and then it goes right into Edgeworth having to depend on him. There is no tension built up that makes this truly feel like a big climactic moment. It happens 40 minutes into the movie.

That being said, this was a serious moment of the original game that was adapted really well, despite my disdain for its' abrupt setup.

In terms of the actual plot, the movie truly did not do a bad job of getting the most essential plot points into a two-and-a-half-hour movie, but only capturing these moments leaves it feeling like an empty shell. You miss out on the small little "filler" moments that, while they may not do anything for the plot, but they develop the characters, make them feel more real and alive, and give the audience more time to connect with them.

The Anime

You got to see a snippet up top but there was an anime adaptation of the first three games in the series, which has received mixed reviews from fans.

Truthfully, I have not been able to finish the anime, though I have watched enough that I have seen it cover the entire first game.

Being a television series, the creators were not constrained to a movie runtime, they were able to adapt every episode/case of the original game and most of the growth and development of the characters and their relationships with each other. The anime was even able to add extra details, things that fleshed out the characters just oh so slightly, like Phoenix not having a driver’s license and having to ride his bike everywhere, or that the childhood friend trio of Phoenix, Edgeworth, and Larry all had matching keychains as kids. 

While the anime was a more thorough adaptation compared to the movie, it still ended up rushing a lot of the cases to fit the entire first two games into one television season.

The anime treats newcomers to the franchise as newcomers, it takes them through the story as the games did, with nearly the same main plot points, and takes you through most of the same character development, though re: a very rushed version.

While the anime still has its flaws, it still manages to tell the story in its entirety.

In Conclusion

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney is not a perfect piece of media, it is certainly one that has had lackluster remediations. There is no real thorough way to adapt a video game about being a rookie and figuring things out yourself into a more cinematic story that separates the viewer from solely Phoenix's perspective.

The game contains the characters and the story in their purest form, they were created for this specific purpose while any other form of remediation afterwards has to play with them and tweak them to fit the new media.

By default, through the remediations, you miss out on the interactive features of actually playing through the video game, putting together all the clues yourself, solving the mystery, and feeling the tension that you could make a mistake. It is an entirely different experience watching it all happen in front of you with no control over anything.

This is a situation where the remediations may not fully stand on their own, but they are a fairly decent way to experience the plot in a new way if you previously enjoyed the games.

[princesscolumbia]

I sometimes forget that not everyone has a Historian Mom on one side of the family and a Anglophile Aunt on the other and Deep Saturation in Mormon Church Culture for 20 years as part of their shared experience. 😆

Translation to purely Modern English:

2020, 3 whole years ago. They were such losers way back then, so cringe. No shade on OP, they're 100% correct. If you're old enough to be on this site today, you were alive and queer in 2020. Shut up before you show how much of an idiot you are, you absolute walnuts.

For flavor, GenX culture style:

Whoah! Like, 3 years is SUCH a long time ago! They were absolute posers, or 'cringe' as the kids say these days! Yo, dude! OP is just keeping it real! If you're chillin' here today you were chilling' here 3 years ago, too, dude! Shut your pie hole before someone shuts it for you... ...you absolute lame-o!

For garnish, meme-lord style:

"People were so cringe in 2020" OP: *Phoenix Wright-style reaction* OBJECTION! *picture of queer people in 2020, picture of queer people in 2023* "Corporate wants you to identify the differences in these two pictures." OP: "They're the same picture." Me: OP's right. Y'all standing around like: *Spider-man pointing at another Spider-man meme*

I genuinely cannot express my hatred for people in the lgbtq who hate on the “2020 alt style”, the “cringe froggy mushroom obsessed kids”, the “hehe gremlin” people. Because what’s the purpose?? Especially when most of those “cringe” people are neurodivergent and younger, or new to expressing themselves and the lgbtq generally.

Genuinely, why do you feel the need to hate on them? I’m sure you were in their shoes once. You know? Wearing pride flags round, rainbow laces and bracelets, bunny hats, the “cringe 2020 alt fashion”, getting excited when you see ANYTHING pride related?? That’s self expression, queer joy, and you’re shaming them for it?? Because it’s “cringe”??

Please just take the second to remind yourself that you were them once. Surrounded by all these new and cool identities and new people who are just like you, why would they not want to be proud of who they are?? People who hate on “baby gays” that are only just finding out about themselves and looking more into different methods of self expression through style and behaviour truly will never have my trust.

It doesn’t matter if it’s “cringey” or “weird”, WE WERE LIKE THEM ONCE. Stop shaming people for expressing themselves, because that’s truly just dickriding behaviour. You just want to feel included in the hateful group of cishet, hateful neurotypicals. You just want to have the special title of “oh yeah they’re gay but not THAT type of gay..” be fucking for real. Grow up

What’s even worse is you guys are the same people who say “cringe culture is dead” and “I love emos!!!” STOP. JESUS CHRIST. STOP CHERRYPICKING.

[sugarglider-s]

I made this just so I could call miles a lame ass boyfriend

[catboygirling]

top 5 ace attorney cases (i feel like most people probably have similar lists but still)

I actually have no idea what the general consensus on best cases are! so maybe I'll have some scalding takes in here, who knows.

so, in no particular order:

Farewell, My Turnabout - I feel like I could easily put the final cases from all three trilogy games on this list, but that's boring. so let's just stick with my personal favorite of the three. poor Phoenix just doesn't catch a break with this one. Maya is KIDNAPPED and Franziska GETS SHOT and Miles ISN'T DEAD?? HUH?? Matt Engarde is an excellent villain, he sort of lands right in the sweet spot of "definitely 100% evil but is having So Much Fun." this man gets accused of murder by his own attorney and dramatically sweeps away his bangs and pulls out a glass of chocolate milk. (I don't know what it actually is. probably not chocolate milk but that's the first thing I saw it as.) and while Miles and Franziska don't actually interact much in the second game, I am Constantly thinking about that scene they have at the airport. excellent glimpse into their dynamic, excellent setup for their face-off in Bridge to the Turnabout.

The Stolen Turnabout - is this one one of my favorites because Ron DeLite is super lame and I enjoy that in male characters? maybe. Desirée learning he's an Actual Criminal and continuing to support him anyway is amazing. malewife/girlboss kind of dynamic. the case initially being about a theft and not a murder is a nice change of pace, and also enforces the fact that jesus christ, Phoenix and Maya can't do anything fun together without a murder being involved, even in the one case where they didn't even know anyone died.

The Grand Turnabout - gonna be honest, I'm putting this one here almost entirely because of the logic chess segment with Sebastian. and Sebastian in general. he's a soaking wet kitten I found in a cardboard box, I really like him. all the logic chess sequences are about balancing emotion and information-gathering, but this one really emphasizes it. (also, sorry Sebastian, I did pick that option to call you worthless right at the start and laughed hysterically about the instant game-over.) but there's good outside of that, too! the image of the prosecutor, defense attorney, AND the judge all trying to stall a case at the same time is a really funny mental image. and the mastermind twist was SO GOOD. did not see it coming at all, and taking down Keyes was super satisfying. oh, and the bit where you logic chess Sebastian spawned the phrase "I'm gonna milk this kitten" among my friends, which we use as shorthand for "this guy is so lame and pathetic and sad, I/someone in the narrative should comfort them," so. that's pretty cool.

Turnabout Reminiscence - the Investigations games have REALLY good character interactions, and this one is one of my favorites for that. Franziska and Miles getting into silly arguments about vending machine swiss rolls is the greatest thing I've ever seen. also, special shoutout to that part where Miles has to deduce that noise from the TV could've been heard through the window and you have to like. first establish that scents can travel through the air. I'm so sorry sweetie but my logic button was leaps ahead of yours on that one.

Turnabout Reclaimed - okay, I'm fairly confident that this one is a Take. how many people have even played the dlc? this one immediately gets points for the insane premise of "Phoenix Wright defends an orca." it's so silly, but in a very Ace Attorney(tm) way. see also: Blackquill just taking the case to see how much of a disaster it'll be, Pearl cameo! and HERMAN CRAB. most underrated character in the series. he's such a good witness. he doesn't even lie about anything, which by ace attorney standards, is extremely rare! says his piece, you cross-examine him one time, and he just goes home. and he doesn't believe in romantic feelings, which. neither do I, dude. experiencing aro solidarity in the aa5 dlc case that no one talks about. only complaint is the rapping pirate. fuck that guy.

oh, and Turnabout Storyteller gets a shoutout. the case itself is fun (although very tension-killing, considering we're taking a break from Phoenix literally fighting for his life to watch Athena fight for a noodle stand), but I mostly want to mention that one part where Blackquill breaks his usual animations and Grabs you. that part made me scream laugh and I have a gif of it saved on my phone forever.

[write-like-wright]

u asked for requests so im here to comply😳could you maybe do a ”should you date them” with the defense attorneys in the series?? or just generally some other characters?? bc the prosecutor one added like 20 years to my lifespan lmao. hope u have a great day!!

I'm so glad you liked it!!! Here's the sequel, just for you <33

Original post here

Should you date them: Ace Attorney defense lawyers edition

Phoenix Wright

yes, you really should

probably one of the best, if not the best, boyfriends in the series

wanna get married? husband material

wanna have kids? father material

has a tendency to casually adopt children actually, could be an issue at some point

worships you

you know how some guys brag about how they'd die for you?

Nick would unironically die for you

may even come close a few times but I'm pretty sure he's canonically invincible (eating poisoned glass and falling off a burning bridge, who?? tis' but a scratch!)

massive gossip

gets home after an investigation and immediately starts like "you won't believe what I found out about Gumshoe today"

somehow surprisingly mature and good at keeping secrets in spite of everything

has a lot of really cool friends!!! and larry

have you seen those shoulders tho?? mans built like a dorito, smashing through massive wooden doors n stuff

biggest monthly expense is hair gel

claims his hair is natural but you know better

don't be the big spoon, he will poke your eyes out

can somewhat read your mind tho? a bit off-putting but ok

marry him before Edgeworth someone else does

Mia Fey

hell yeah, dude

cool, calm, collected

has literal superpowers

successful business owner at 27!!! unironical #girlboss

went from being a lame rookie to a literal legend with her own practice and an apprentice in, like, three years

she's so smart, I fear her

has the fashion sense of a female character drawn by a cis man... oh, wait

god help whoever tries to hurt you

will literally kick their ass to hell

family-oriented

believes in second chances

took phoenix under her wing after everything, mia has the patience of a saint honestly

drops cool oneliners in everyday speech like a marvel character

curve lovers rejoice

doesn't mind being called dorky nicknames

major wife material

Diego Armando/Godot

I already covered him in my prosecutors list,, literally did not occur to me to split Diego and Godot into two lists

but to sum up, if I had to choose between the two, I'd go for Diego

i like my men like i like my coffee - tall, dark and bitter

^^ eats up pickup lines like those

Apollo Justice

Polly is such a sweet babey boy, please be nice to him

short king

low on confidence, makes up for it by being loud

*voice cracking* HE'S FINE!!!!!!!!!!!!

your neighbours will hate him

such a pushover, will do anything you ask of him

sensitive boy, not afraid to cry

pretends not to be dorky - is very dorky

consumes nerdy media almost exclusively (canonically a Whovian! but Capcom can't say that)

bikes everywhere and is apparently good with a hula hoop

Polly got cake is what I'm saying

have you seen his cool street style clothes?? sk8er boi

very grounded, literally

might play around and hold your hand for comfort

won't come to visit you if you live on a high floor, sorry

cat dad!!! cat pics!!! yes!!!

about 7 different tragic backstories

new secret family member drops every week

stares at you when you speak sometimes

is he jealous of Klavier?? does he have a crush on him??? who knows but it's funny watching them interact

bicon

spends way too much time on his hair

someone please date him, he deserves some love

Athena Cykes

holy childhood trauma batman

been through a lot

total empath

if you're sad, she's sad

can kinda read your mind... why is this such a common thing in AA games?? I like my privacy

super energetic

will drag you to the gym, take you on hikes, practice wrestling moves on you...

you will always be sore but also in the best shape of your life

has minus 25 chill

incapable of keeping secrets from you

her weird goth convict uncle threatens you every once in a while

she promises he means it in a friendly way

loves europop

way too accomplished for her age, everyone in this game is so smart, help

i feel like she'd enjoy theme parks idk

date her, she's baby and she needs some TLC

Kristoph Gavin

no

he's scary

thinks he's better than you

thinks he's better than everyone

has the audacity to wear white shoes with a blue suit??? are you going to prom????? sir????

obsessed with phoenix wright to an alarming degree

perfectly manicured nails!

the kind of guy who warns you never to go into his basement

nice on the outside but it's all fake

deeply rooted issues even he's unaware of

if you like drillbit hair consider Klavier instead

Ryunosuke Naruhodo

world's biggest baby

secretly a bitch

loves to clown on people

fake it till you make it

has no clue what he's doing most of the time

very determined in spite of that

everyone loves him

so many cool friends

cries at the thought of your bare ankles

physically incapable of walking by a shop and not buying something he doesn't need

"look, i got you a gift!!" "awh, how sweet! ...what is it?" "i don't know, i'll ask Mr Sholmes when he gets home!"

good with his tongue

may be somewhat trapped in the closet

has literally zero chill

remember when he just casually chased armed robbers??

must be a family trait

Iris interrogates you about your intentions with her brother

she has a gun

you have no privacy at his place

Sholmes crashes your dates

his bromance with Kazuma sometimes drops the "b"

becomes ultra cool eventually

hop into that time machine and date Ryu's ass, but be prepared to deal with period-appropriate homoeroticism and misogyny lol

Extra little shout out to Kazuma Asogi for that one time where he was a defense lawyer for, like, an hour and a half and somehow managed to cram 50 of the horniest one-liners in the game in that very limited time. Date him.

[kayfarafey]

So, I just saw this email in my inbox:

Posted something good, huh? Of course it'll be good...

Seriously, I love the whole fic. The way they are relating to each other, how Phoenix is talking about Trucy...Very touching and relatable. I like this here in particular:

"Still, the human mind tended to dig its nails into traumatic memories and drag them out into the light as a reminder of the agony one’s been through, trying to keep the recollection sharp so the body still knew what to do if it happened again."

"He’d come to terms with those things years ago, but the mind remembered, always foisting them upon you at your most vulnerable, chronic and incurable, no matter how long you went without a relapse."

This is just so universally applicable. In real life, definitely, yet we can also apply it to any AA character who has a particular traumatic backstory. Barok comes to mind, but there are others, of course. It's real. Many of us have been there at least once in our lives. Thank you for these words.

I can also appreciate how calm and reasonable Edgeworth is in this fic. Or the subtle yet significant change from Edgeworth to Miles, and from Wright to Phoenix.

Question for you: When you're not writing fics, do you prefer calling him Edgeworth or Miles?

"'I am not interested in what else I could have,” Edgeworth said firmly, “if it is not you, Phoenix Wright.'"

Edgey, this is so profound.

ZIEKSY. LOML. THANK YOU SO MUCH.

aa brushes around trauma a lot but doesnt exactly follow through (especially in the main games but dgs does not go anywhere near as hard with kazuma's death as it should) and that's kinda lame! phoenix especially doesnt get a lot of closure so i wanted to throw in an "of course he empathizes, and that's what makes it so significant that edgeworth is letting phoenix support him in this way" sort of thing

the way people react to grief and trauma is never linear and it's important to recognize that even though it hurts and even though it feels like you're regressing, sometimes its just your brain going "jesus christ, remember that thing that was horrible? i sure do. don't forget that it happened; don't let your guard down" and it doesn't mean you're any weaker for it, AND it doesn't mean that you should feel bad about that reminder affecting you!

also as for whether i refer to him as edgeworth or miles outside of fic:

[browniefox]

Color Theory

@wrightfamilyweek Day 2 - Investigation/Hijinks

In which an anniversary is coming up, so Trucy makes some plans.

You can also find this on AO3 right here :)

“Have fun at work, Daddy!”

Trucy runs up to Daddy and hugs him around the stomach. He kisses the top of his head.

“Mmhm, I expect your homework to be done and you to be in bed by the time I get home, alright? No exceptions!"

“Of course!”

“And no trips to Germany, alright? I’m sure you can hold off for another few months.” Daddy teases. Trucy sticks his tongue out at him and he ruffles her hair before going out the door. In a few months, she is going to actually get to go with Daddy on one of his trips to see Miles, a reconnection between the two of them since Trucy's own little trip a year ago.

As the door closes, Trucy runs over to the window and waits until she sees Daddy riding down the street on his bike, officially out of the building. Her homework is already done, most of it finished during class time and the rest of it finished up during recess and on her way home from school. Walking while writing had made her numbers come out a little odd, but it didn’t matter, because now she had hours and hours of time to work.

She stops by the fridge, staring up at the calendar. It’s four weeks away from the date circled in red, and two weeks from the date that sits ominously empty. It’s plenty of time, though.

Trucy makes a lap around the office, double-checking that the windows are locked just like Daddy does every time before leaving. Everything seems safe and sound, so she grabs her backpack and leaves, making sure she has the spare key and locking the door behind her. Daddy won’t be home until late, but she’s still going to make care to be home with plenty of time to spare. The meer idea of putting him through the same fear of last year sits in her chest like a promise.

It’s a few bus-stops to get to Gummy and Maggey’s house. They’re both out at the moment, so Trucy finds the spare key in the fake rock and lets herself in. She’s spent a lot of time over here by now, and the couple has spent alot of time over at the office, the big and towering man she’d met at the airport transforming into a familiar and lovable family friend.

She skips over to the closet, pulling out the supplies stuck in there. Streamers and confetti, magic wands and fake flowers, tumbling out from where Gummy had helped her shove them in last time. She looks down at the supplies and begins organizing it into the different acts that they’re associated with. There’s a lot of pieces, a lot to get over to the Wonder Bar eventually. Keeping so much of it over here makes it harder to practice back at home, but that’s kind of the point, even if it’s really annoying.

Gummy and Maggie came home after an hour, setting their things down and chatting about their day while Gummy starts dinner. The smell fills the house, warm and comforting. Trucy likes the Gumshoe house. It’s not too big, but not too small either. Gummy and Maggey used to clean it up before she came over, but they’ve stopped making that special little change for her, and so she gets to see it all lived in, a sock strewn here, a few dishes left out, pillows lying wherever they were last placed. Small things that make the place not a house but a home. She’s never had a home like this one, and oh there are sometimes where she’ll be lying on the couch and imagine what it would be like to stay here.

She knows she could.

Daddy has made it clear that if she ever felt dissatisfied with the cramped office, with him, all she has to do was say something. Gummy and Maggey have mentioned, before, that they’d be willing to take her in if anything ever happened to Daddy. Gummy had laughed about all the sorts of injuries Daddy tended to accrue, recounting a story about Daddy getting amnesia before a case - Trucy knew that one, she’d read it a bit ago.

Trucy doesn’t want to leave the cramped little office.

After dinner, Trucy uses Gummy’s phone. Gummy and Maggey know how to set up her stuff for a performance by now - they’ve already agreed to be her stage crew for the performance. While they’re doing that, Trucy calls up Aunty Maya.

“How’s my favorite magician doing?” Maya answers, and Trucy can hear the smile in her voice.

“Working on her next trick.” Trucy replies. Maya makes a humming sound.

“Well, things are going well on our end over here. Are you sure about the color? You don’t want to go darker?” Maya asked.

“Nope! It’s, well, there’s a reason for the shade.” Trucy says. She can hear Maya hum in understanding over the receiver.

“Well, I’m almost finished with it, although I’ll probably come up soon just to make sure everything is right. Pearly says hi, by the way.”

“Oh! Is she there?! Is she there?! Hi Pearls!” Trucy shouts over the phone and gets a distant and soft ‘hi Trucy!’.

“When I come down I’ll bring Pearly with me, don’t worry. If I didn’t,she might just run the whole way over there anyway!” Maya laughs and Trucy laughs along.

“If everything’s working out, then I’m gonna have to go. I need to make sure the rest of the show is ready to go!” Trucy says.

“Alright, alright, just say you’re afraid I’m going to start prattling on about the new season of Rubber Samurai. But you know there-”

“Love you Aunty Maya bye!” Trucy hits the end call button still chuckling to herself. She hopes that Aunty Maya makes true on her promise to come back down and to bring Pearls before the big day, but if she doesn’t then Trucy guesses she can wait that long, even if it’ll be agonizing.

She stares at the next number for a long long while before finally hitting the call button.

The phone rings once, twice, three times before he picks up.

“Gumshoe, this had better be fucking import-”

“Hi, Miles!” Trucy chirps. There’s silence on the other end.

“... who is this?” Miles grumbles.

“Trucy Wright!”

“Trucy?!” Miles sounds a little more awake now.

“Yup!”

“Ms. Trucy… why are you calling me at… three in the morning?” Miles groans.

“Th… three in the… OH!” Trucy gasps, feeling her face flush in embarrassment. She’d completely forgotten to take into account time differences. “Oh my god, Miles, I’m so sorry, it’s pretty late here and-”

“It’s, it’s fine Ms. Trucy. Just tell me what you were calling about… from Gumshoe’s phone? Is your father alright?” Worry creeps into Miles voice.

“Oh, yes, Daddy’s fine! Daddy’s just at work right now, and I went over to Gummy and Maggey’s! We had spaghetti and meatballs for dinner, and then we’re gonna play a card game, and then Gummy is gonna drive me back to the office ‘cause it’s all dark now!” Trucy says.

“Ms. Trucy, I don’t mean to sound rude, but again, it is three a.m. here…” Miles sighs.

“Right! Right, um… Mr. Edgeworth, do you think you could help me with a little something.”

“I’m going to need a bit more information than that.”

Trucy rattles off her little plan into the phone. Miles stays silent for the entire explanation, only grunting here and there to assure her that he is still awake and listening on the other end.

“... this is very short notice.” Miles says.

“Oh,” Says Trucy, looking down at her feet, “Well, that’s okay, I’m sure together, the rest of us-”

“I never said I wouldn’t do it, just that next time you’re planning something like This, please, tell me about it a little more ahead of time.”

“Okay! Yeah! Next time! And this time… you can do it?” She double checks.

“Yes, you can count on me, Ms. Trucy.”

“Thank you! Um, I’ll let you get back to sleep, thank you!”

Trucy skips back into the kitchen, where Gummy and Maggey have set up a board game. She still has her show to practice a bit more, and even now thinking about it she’s a little nervous, but she’s found she’s more excited. It’s coming together.

oOo

“Please, Daddy, please, come and see my show tonight? Pleaseeeee?”

Phoenix lets out a long sigh. Trucy is bouncing around in excitement in front of him. She’s already done her stage makeup, and he’d helped her put little weaving braids into her hair. Most of it will be covered up by her hat, but there are usually moments during the performance where the hat comes off, and so she needs to look amazing no matter what’s going on. Phoenix is fine to help her with this, but on today of all days, all he wants to do is sit in his office, read through old case files, and mourn what he has lost.

He was disbarred two years ago. That both feels like too much and not enough time. For the most part, he likes to think that he’s been coping with it well. He’s been working, and raising Trucy, and he’s had some other little things in the works, but on today of all days, it’s so hard to focus and not feel the ache of what was taken from him, of what he’s lost, of those who have come to his door in the past couple years looking for help and having to be turned away.

“Trucy, baby,” Phoenix starts, trying to let her down easy, but Trucy stomps her foot.

“No, Daddy, please, just, just come? To the show? Please?” She begs.

She’s been 'off' all week, too quiet and then too talkative in bursts that serve to confuse Phoenix. Now, there’s something almost akin to fear in her eyes, and it tugs at Phoenix’s heartstrings.

“Alright, sweetie, let me just,” He looks down at himself, still in sweatpants and a hoodie. He’d meant to get dressed today, but even now he’s struggling to find the energy to get into something better, and eventually he just says lamely, “Put some shoes on.”

He gets a pair of beat-up sneakers on and walks outside with Trucy, who is still vibrating with energy. He considers for a moment that perhaps he should buy a new pair of shoes, but then he sees Trucy’s cape, starting to look thread-bare in places and sitting so much shorter on her than it did two years ago. It used to fall to cover her almost completely in a mysterious sort of way, but now you can see her entire hands. Trucy has told him before it’d be fine, her cape had been too long anyway, but maybe he should start to consider how to get her something new and nice. Things for himself could be put off as long as they needed to be.

The ride down to the Wonder Bar is quiet between them, Trucy sitting on his handlebars with careful balance. The first five times they did it, Phoenix had been worried about her falling off or something, but now it was routine if they had anywhere they both had to be and didn’t have the time to puzzle through bus schedules or the budget for a taxi.

Phoenix recognizes some of the people in the Wonder Bar, and Mr. Wunderbar himself comes over and greets.

“Ah, Ms. Wright, so glad to see you! Your assistants are already backstage.” Mr. Wunderbar says. Phoenix’s brow furrows.

“Assistants? You mean the your staff?” Phoenix asks.

“Alright thanks Mr. Wunderbar Daddy find a seat love you bye!” Trucy says in one breath and runs over to the stage.

“This way, Mr. Wright. Trucy asked that we have a table upfront reserved just for you.” Mr. Wunderbar leads the way to one of the tables close to the stage, which does indeed have a a ‘Reserved’ marker on it. Phoenix feels suddenly self conscious in his outfit. He’d been planning to sit in the back, where nobody could see him, and he feels like everybody in the bar, waiting for Trucy to perform, are staring at him.

Mr. Wunderbar took his order and then slipped away. Phoenix drumms his fingers on the table, a cowardice sweeping through him with such force that he almost gets up and walks away. Something odd is going on, and it's making him even more nervous.

“Oh good, Trucy was really worried you wouldn’t show up.”

Phoenix jumps at the familiar voice, and spins around to see Maya and Pearls.

“Wh- hey, what are you two doing here?!” Phoenix jumps up and hugs both of them, “And especially what’s Pearls doing in here?”

“Mr. Wunderbar says that so long as nobody at our table orders drinks, he’ll allow it this once.” Maya says, sitting down, and Pearls sits on the other side of Phoenix, sandwiching him between the Fey’s.

“But why are you two-”

“Now Nick, do you really think we’d let you spend today on your own to mope?” Maya sets her hands on her hips. Phoenix looks away. He doesn’t point out that they didn’t last year, because it’s not their responsibility to look after him. Maya has her own life she’s living. She had texted and called him, though, regularly, throughout the day, at random intervals. She threatened that if he didn’t pick up any of the times, she’d be coming over right way, “I’ll admit, though, clearly we came mostly to see Trucy perform. Right Pearls?”

“Yeah! She’s so amazing, Mr. Nick! And we also had to bring the-” Pearls starts to say, but Maya puts a finger to her lips and shushes Pearls, who’s mouth slams shut.

“... alright, enough of this, what’s going on?” Phoenix asks more plainly.

“So she still hasn’t seen fit to tell you yet?”

And then, slipping into the fourth seat at the table, is Miles. Miles, in California, in the flesh, in the Wonderbar.

“M-Miles! What are you doing here?”

“Your daughter had a simple request, and I obliged.” Miles sniffs, “You look,” Miles regards Phoenix and Phoenix looks away, wishing he’d brought something to cover his head as well, “Alright, all things considered.” He ends.

“No need to sugar coat it, Miles.” Phoenix laughs bitterly.

“I’m not. You seem to forget you’re not the only one who has gone through some trying times.”

Before Phoenix can formulate anything to say to that, the lights in the bar dim. The curtain lifts, but there’s a sheet behind it, so that all once can see of Trucy is her silhouette.

“Now introducing… Trucy Gramraye!” The announcer booms, and there’s some applause, even though nothing’s happened yet, Trucy still not seen.

“There are times that we, in life, come to a crossroads,” Trucy’s voice booms through the speakers over a mystical sounding soundtrack, “ Where we our lives take sudden changes.”

Oh, Phoenix thinks, heart plummeting to the bottom of his stomach, a theory forming in his mind, She wanted me here for her Last Show. Did something happen that made her want to stop being a magician? He’s tried to be supportive, even though he’s had some trouble keeping track of the supplies she needs, and how to help her out, with her teaching him far more than he can possibly teach her about this stuff. He’s offered to get in touch with Max Galactica, but Trucy had made it plain her opinion of that magician.

“Sometimes, you need to say things. And sometimes actions - and appreances - speak louder than words.”

Phoenix almost wants to stand up, to shout at her that no, he doesn’t want her to give up her magic just because she thinks it’s going to make him happy, but he’s frozen in his seat as the sheet of paper hiding his daughter from view is torn through and fog comes rolling out… but she’s not there.

In a puff of smoke, Trucy appears on top of his table. She winks down at him, the spot light finding her.

Her red hat and cape and bag are all gone, replaced by pale blue versions. New, lovingly crafted, and Trucy puts her hands above her head in a pose.

“I am Trucy Gramarye, but your little witch in red is now a magician in blue. Sorry if I startled anybody by coming… out of the blue like that?” Trucy says. She smiles, twirls around, and in another puff of smoke she’s gone. The room goes dark.

The spotlight finds her back on the stage, still in the strange blue uniform.

“Wh-what- when did she-”

“You know, in Kurain, we have to make all our own clothes.” Maya says with a mischievous little smirk.

“You mean you-”

“She wanted to put together something to make sure you weren’t too sad today.” Maya explains, smiling.

Phoenix does his best not to cry so that he doesn’t miss any bit of the show.

When it’s done, Mr. Wunderbar brings over another chair and Trucy sits with them. Phoenix spends the evening surrounded by his friends, by his family, and staring at Trucy’s new outfit. Blue, just like his old suit, he thinks.

“Do you like it?” She asks, surprisingly shyly, right before bed. Phoenix grins, picks her up, and twirls her around.

“You look amazing sweetie. You know, you didn’t have to go through all that just for me.”

“I didn’t do it just for you.” Trucy defends, “I did it because I wanted to! And because I love you!”

“I love you too Truce.”

Tomorrow morning, reality will set in again. He’ll have work, and maybe all the grief he was able to put off today will make a forceful comeback, but tonight he knows he’s loved, and that Trucy wants to be a part of his world, wants to be a part of his broken little family, and maybe that’s all that really matters in the end.

[malewifeklaviergavin]

Apollo with the Phoenix + Trucy + Miles family for December writing prompt number 5 🥺

(Traditions)

Apollo wouldn't say he never baked. He was sure if he really sat down and thought about it, he'd find some memory rolling around somewhere of him baking a cake or maybe even making a pie. Cookies? He was sure he could handle cookies.

"...Trucy what's the difference between a tablespoon and a teaspoon again?" Apollo whispered, eyeing the cookie recipe as if it were gonna bite him. Okay, maybe he wasn't the best baker. But this had to be perfect; it was his first Christmas as part of The Family. Even if Mr. Wright and Prosecutor Edgeworth weren't exactly his parents, Trucy was like his little sister and they were her dads and so he wanted to make a good impression. And that started with making good cookies.

"Oh don't worry about it too much. You're just measuring sugar, right?" Phoenix replied cheerfully from where he was setting up the baking tray. "Too much sugar is fine. Too little is fine. As long as you don't put in, like, a bunch of salt it'll be okay."

"Wright that is exactly how baking doesn't work." Edgeworth interrupted, looking exhausted as he crossed the kitchen over to Apollo. "Teaspoon is smaller than tablespoon. See, here." Edgeworth carefully plucked the measuring spoon set from Apollo's hand. "The largest spoon says TBS, that stands for tablespoon. This one says TS, which stands for teaspoon."

"Oh." Apollo said a little lamely, feeling stupid. It was kind of obvious in hindsight. "Sorry, I don't... really bake."

Edgeworth paused and frowned. "That will have to change. A young man like yourself should know how to bake." He said thoughtfully. "We tend to bake sometime every few weeks. I know you appreciate consistent routine, so how would you feel as to joining us every other week for baking? Say Thursday nights? Between the two of us, we might actually be able to stop Trucy and Wright from eating all the dough."

Trucy scoffed around a mouthful of cookie dough. "Good luck with that!" She joked, sliding the bowl over to Phoenix, who proceeded to also scoop out a fistful and shove it in his mouth.

Mouth agap, Apollo foundered for a moment. "Are you sure? I don't wanna intrude."

Phoenix looked up from the bowl of dough with an easy smile and reached over with his clean hand to poke Apollo's shoulder. "You're one of us, kid. Besides, it's a family tradition. You'll have to practice anyways so next Christmas we can make ever better cookies."

'Next Christmas? They want me there for their next Christmas?' Apollo wondered in shock, eyes flicking between the three expectant faces staring at him. He'd never had a Christmas tradition before. He's never had any family traditions before. 'Maybe...' Apollo thought, smiling as Edgeworth helped him measure out the sugar and explains how to cream it with the butter. Nearby, Trucy was making cookie cutters disappear into her hat as Phoenix cheered her on. 'Maybe it's time to start a new tradition.'