#prosecutor miles edgeworth chooses death

[drop-dead-dropout]

this would fix him probably (<- lying)

[trlvsn]

top 10 misunderstood pieces of advice

[doctorsiren]

I think it’s funny how, before I knew about Edgeworth’s note, I would see art on Tumblr that I felt like was trying to convince me that Miles was dead. I knew he wasn’t. I knew he didn’t die because I had seen Edgeworth’s Chief Prosecutor sprite on his wiki page. However, I started feeling like Tumblr was trying to gaslight me into believing he was dead because there would be art of Phoenix or Franziska just crying over Miles being gone, and y’know what? Good on Tumblr for giving me a bit of the Phoenix Wright Experience (TM) in believing this man wasn’t alive anymore.

[lcfrsm0415]

[orokana-bara]

I've been thinking about the first time Miles decided to postpone his suicide. Because I think he did plan to, he just kept postponing and postponing until he realized he didn't really want to.

I'm eventually going to make a full comic about what he was thinking/doing/why he didn't end up doing it. But here's a little teaser.

[babygirlificationn]

Edgeworth wips i will probably never finish + some silly stuff i didn't like enough to post on their own </3

[tacobellabeanburrito]

Another one for research. It’s been a while since I’ve made one of these.

[azalawa-scroggs]

On why I think the "Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth Chooses Death" note was meant literally

I've had this in my drafts for a while after seeing a poll that elicited a little discussion on the topic. I know this is the fandom's majority take on the subject so I'll probably be preaching to the choir, but there (rightly) is discussion about it nonetheless so I felt like giving my arguments.

I'll put it under a read-more just in case people missed the warning in the tags. Considering the topic, naturally, here's a warning for discussion of suicide. Please take care of yourself!

The thing is that Justice For All is very, very ambiguous on that. It does what Ace Attorney is really good at doing - brushing a serious topic then waffling on it until it really doesn't say anything about it, giving itself the benefit of doubt but never making a statement. Both Phoenix and Franziska's dialogue strongly hint that they have a certainty that Edgeworth is still alive, and they're proven right. The narrative doesn't try really hard to sell us the idea that Edgeworth died - Edgeworth is even on the game's box art. I've watched a few JFA walkthroughs hunting for people's reaction to all the Edgeworth talk and his apparent death, and nobody really seems to buy it - either going through great confusion or immediately going like "oh he can't be dead there's no way - he's so coming back."

However. However. It's just impossible to ignore all the subtext that points at the note being real.

The game textually sets up Adrian Andrews as a foil to Franziska. In the parallel Edgeworth draws, Celeste is supposed to represent Manfred - a mentor she admired and whose guidance she lost. But it was a deliberate choice from the writers to have Celeste die by suicide. In the same game that spent a whole game-wide subplot on slowly revealing Edgeworth's apparent death by the exact same means. Edgeworth is the one who gives Phoenix the information about Adrian and Celeste's backstory. And Franziska revealed to us she wasn't seeking revenge for her father, but for her "little brother" - in the parallel between her and Adrian Andrews' stories, it's easy to see Celeste paralleling Edgeworth, not Manfred.

And in fact Adrian is also a clear parallel to Edgeworth himself. He, too, lost the guidance of his mentor and was left questioning everything. In the infamous scene where he interrogates her in the first phase of the trial, he even puts his own words in her mouth.

If you're going to say you would "choose death", that is of no concern to me.

If you consider Rise from the Ashes, Edgeworth's dialogue leaves even less room for doubt regarding his mental state. Compilation:

Edgeworth: Hmph. Some people need very little excuse to think ill of others. It's a fact of life. Impossible to stop. Some of them even go so far as to present me with toys like this… They think it's funny. (Referring to the award he was just given)

Edgeworth: Why, I ask you? Why!? All along, I've done only what I believe is right. I have nothing to be ashamed of! But still... Phoenix: (Wow, I've never seen him this out of sorts...)

Edgeworth: Hmph. I've had to live the past two years with rumors flying around. What's another allegation to me? Ema: Cheer up, Mr. Edgeworth! I'm rooting for you! Phoenix: (That's Edgeworth for you... Always trying to hide his real feelings.)

Edgeworth: There's no excuse for what I've done. Two years ago, I used false evidence to obtain a guilty verdict. That's what it all breaks down to, and nothing I do can erase that fact.

Edgeworth: I'm tired, Mr. Wright. I feel as if… something inside me has died. [...] I know the path I've walked. You don't need to tell me. And the path I've walked... hasn't been a just one. I can't forgive myself for what I've done... and no one else should forgive me either. Phoenix: (Uh oh. I think he's serious!)

Edgeworth: ... It's too late for me. No matter what anyone may say, I realized today that I can't change my own mistakes! Not only that, but I don't even trust myself anymore. Chief Gant was right...

And of course:

Edgeworth: If you'll excuse me… there are still some loose ends that need wrapping up. Take care, Chief Prosecutor. Phoenix: Edgeworth! What will you do now? Edgeworth: ... Phoenix: Well, whatever you do, just remember. What happened in this trial can either make or break you as a prosecutor. In the end, it's up to you. Edgeworth: I know... It seems I owe you my thanks too, Wright. But what I face now... is my problem. Phoenix: Edgeworth... I'll be waiting for you in court. Edgeworth:... Farewell.

I've pulled all my quotes from the wiki, which I believe takes the DS version, but the retranslation of the port makes things even more blatant. Instead of "either make or break you as a prosecutor," the line was retranslated as "You can let what happened kill the prosecutor in you, or you can let it help you grow."

I don't know how much more literal you can get.

Of course, none of this dialogue strictly refers to anything but a professional crisis for Edgeworth. But it is a true crisis, one he takes very deeply and personally - it is his entire moral system that is crumbling down. And the phrasing of some of those lines is downright chilling. "I can't forgive myself, and nobody should do it either" "I feel like something inside me has died" "It's too late for me" or even those ominous "loose ends"... Whatever his final conclusion, he is not doing well. That's one thing RftA makes abundantly clear.

But then why are Phoenix and Franziska so angry, you'll ask me? Grief, of course. Why is Franziska adamant he still lives? Grief, of course - specifically denial. Why does Gumshoe know Edgeworth still lives? Several options. Edgeworth contacted him knowing he'd need someone to help him come back once he decided to come back, or Gumshoe is the one that prevented his note from turning literal, or Edgeworth contacted him at some other point for another reason - it could have happened at any point in his little mental health gap year.

It just makes much more sense to me than the alternative. Why leave a note saying he "chooses death" so unambiguously only to rely on a play on words? He was shown writing a perfectly good resignation letter right before that - the note was meant to be one step further from resignation. And why leave his loved ones in the dark, mourning him, for one entire year if he just deliberately left for soul-searching purposes? The man is obtuse when it comes to feelings, and honestly I could see him pulling this, but... not in conjunction with everything else.

And his arc just makes it make so much sense as well. Depression is often a comorbidity of PTSD, which Edgeworth has, as close to canonically as possible without it being spelled out. He is in an extremely fragile place psychologically - two months earlier his trial dragged him across the coals emotionally, his traumatic past revisited and revealed in an extremely public way. His quest for "perfection" was shattered not just through the losses he suffered at Phoenix's hand but through the sudden, deep and complete betrayal of the man who taught it to him. He only had one moral high ground left - the fact that he never knowingly forged evidence - only for that to be ripped away from him too. Of course he could be nothing less than unstable.

So anyway I don't have any fancy conclusion but yeah I can't imagine "Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth Chooses Death" wasn't meant literally. Even though I'm pretty sure that wasn't the authorial intent, I think it must have been somewhere in the works anyway, otherwise there wouldn't be so many hints to it.

[pigeonstatueconundrum2]

[floorpillow]

I've had this in my mind for a while

[kittysauce]

I enjoy mentally unwell lawyers sooooo much

[relicsongmel]

Here's a question for the Ace Attorney fandom about something I've seen a lot of varying takes on and I'm curious to see what people think.

[trlvsn]

tw: implied suicidal ideation, death (in form of a character)

inspired by: the stock photos of identical white men i used as references, that one time i hallucinated a grim reaper, and one always having the choice to start over.

this is not intended as something that promotes or romanticizes suicide, so don't any of you dare misinterpret my 17 hours on ibis paint. this is me romanticizing transformation and change, this is me romanticizing free will and life being a chessboard with every figure as the queen, unbound by the rules and free to go wherever and whenever. it's me romanticizing life, actually, and death as part of it, death of the unnecessary and the tiring and the unhealthy that weighs us down. this is also me being obsessed with the lawyer game. enjoy.

[wrightandco]

inspired by this post by @tadhana-writes | make your own here!

[redtail-lol]

Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth Chooses Death

Yeah so I wrote heavy angst. @snowkit-and-blackquill wanted to read it so here. You are tagged

CONTENT WARNING: Attemped suicide and mentions/mild descriptions of (non-physical) child abuse. You have been warned. Story below the cut

Miles Edgeworth sat in his office. It was late at night and the lights were off. He should have felt better, after Phoenix had acquited him, but he just continued to feel worse. He had to accept the fact that he had followed in the footsteps of Manfred von Karma, the man who killed his father. He betrayed everything Gregory Edgeworth was, to be a spitting image of the man who took his life. That fact was even further cemented earlier that week, when he learned he had convicted someone using forged evidence.

He really was Manfred von Karma.

He couldn't accept that. The man who killed his father, who put him and Franziska through years of emotional abuse, who cared little for truth and justice and only for his win record... He became him. He became him because he didn't really know who he was. He was just... A shell, molded into Manfred's image. And now he didn't know who he should be.

Miles had everything ready. He couldn't write out his feelings in a suicide note, because he didn't want anyone to know how weak he was. He had written a simple one: "Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth chooses death." He had the gun, loaded. He didn't even notice he was crying until he reached for it and felt the tears land on his hand. He grabbed it, and looked at it for a while. His mind kept flashing back. The day his dad died... The feelings he'd had for years, believing he killed Gregory... Manfred fueling that belief... Him and Fran, being screamed at, shamed, humiliated, and hurt through the things they loved... He still remembered Manfred burning Franziska's favorite stuffed toy and destroying his steel samurai collection when she had got in a fight with her father and Miles stood up for her, and Manfred shredding a picture he had of him and his father and snapping Franziska's phone in half when he found out both kids were gay. He remembered all the ways he'd turned into his mentor, putting his most loyal detective well beneath the poverty line, being ruthless and borderline cheating in court, and viewing a guilty verdict as a win for him, and a not guilty verdict a failure, rather than both being the truth being found and justice carried out. Miles put the barrel in his mouth, ready to finally die. He accepted that he really died back when he was 17, and after years of being a shell, he was ready to join his father. He went to cock the gun and heard a click.

The door!

"Hey, Mr. Edgeworth, are you still here sir- M-Mr. Edgeworth!"

Gumshoe.

The detective ran to his boss, who slowly pulled the gun out of his mouth. He couldn't look him in the eye. Gumshoe took the gun, unloaded it, and slightly kneeled down so he could be on Edgeworth's level.

"Mr. Edgeworth... Are you okay, sir?"

"Of course not, you imbecile..!"

"Sorry! Stupid question, I know... But what's going on, Mr. Edgeworth, sir? Why... Why would you have that gun in your mouth? Why would you want to die...?" There was sincerity in the detective's voice. He felt cared for, and he wanted to sob and tell the detective everything he was feeling... But he couldn't. He couldn't let anyone know the pain that weighed so heavily in his heart. He could hardly stand that anyone had caught him so weak...

"I don't know who I am," the words fell out. "I'm just a carbon copy of Manfred von Karma. I hate him and yet... I cannot deny that I am him."

"Nonsense, Mr. Edgeworth! You're nothing like von Karma!"

"That's complete and utter bullshit. In every way, I became him. And now, my whole view of the world has been turned upside down by Wright, and I..." his voice faltered, and he could do nothing but sob. He felt so ashamed, crying his problems onto poor detective Gumshoe. "...Now I don't know what to do. I'm lost. I... It's too late to go back and honor my Father. But I don't want to continue being Manfred..."

Gumshoe gave him a sympathetic look and helped him stand. Miles nearly collapsed in the detective's arms, feeling so weak and vulnerable already.

"I'll dispose of this here, and then we can take a month off. Just you and me, on a nice vacation... And while I will have to come back, you can have as much time as you need to help discover yourself, okay?"

"Discover... Myself?"

"Yeah! I mean, just because you can't be Gregory Edgeworth don't mean you gotta be Manfred von Karma. You can be Miles Edgeworth! He's still somewhere, deep inside your heart... You just gotta find him again!"

"...There's a lot more than just my identity crisis that I have to sort through, detective..."

"Well, I'll be there for ya if you need me. Come on, let's go. Let's get you home."

Edgeworth left with Gumshoe, looking back on the dark office where he almost ended his life. He felt... Strange. Hopeful. And incredibly grateful.

"Detective."

"Hm?"

"...Thank you."

"...Oh, uh, of course Mr. Edgeworth! I- I couldn't just leave you there, y'know."

He smiled at Gumshoe, despite the fact tears were still streaming down his face. He wasn't ready to tell him everything yet, but perhaps he would tell him during their vacation. He was scared of the unknown future ahead of him, but he was glad he had one at all. Everything is gonna be okay for once...

Phoenix hadn't heard from Edgeworth in a week. He figured he'd drop by his office, to see if he was swamped with work or needed help with anything.

"Edgeworth?"

The office was vacant and silent. He started snooping around, as Phoenix Wright would do, and found a note left on his desk. Dread filled his mind and he read the words:

Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth chooses death.

[bl00000g]

FUCK.

Happy Fools Day!