#so why not be the guilty defense attorney getting away with it?

[pumpkinsouppe]

Ngl, a game where you play a few cases as Kristoph and try to manipulate the evidence to be in your favor would be pretty fun

[aceof-stars]

One thing I love about Miles Edgeworth is how realistic and practical he is, more than he is moralistic. As much as Miles cares about justice and doing what he thinks is right, he’s not fueled by belief the same way, for example, Phoenix is. And this is one of the things I feel like gets ignored or brushed aside when Miles's character is softened too much.

Both pre and post redemption, Miles puts a lot of emphasis on reality and the bottom line of what people can do in a situation.

In Turnabout Goodbyes, the first thing Edgeworth says in response to Phoenix asking him why he became a prosecutor instead of a defense attorney is: "… I couldn't let myself deny reality like you."

He also doesn't truly believe that every defendant he prosecutes is guilty, contrary to popular belief. In Turnabout Sisters, he says this: ""Innocent"…? How can we know that? The guilty will always lie, to avoid being found out. There's no way to tell who is guilty and who is innocent! All that I can hope to do is get every defendant declared "guilty"! So I make that my policy." Miles is disillusioned with finding the truth and trusting people that he settles for doing all he can hope to do.

And when you think about it, his motivation of finding the truth is an extension of his realism. After all, the truth is quite literally the most objective, realistic thing ever. In 1-3, after helping Phoenix convict Dee Vasquez, he says: "Will Powers was innocent. That he should be found so is only natural… not a miracle." The truth as a motivation is probably a grounding force for him.

When Miles comes back in Farewell My Turnabout, he calls out Phoenix's flawed motivations for becoming a defense attorney by offering realism: "We aren't some sort of heroes. We're only human, you and I. You want to "save someone"? That's something easier said than done, wouldn't you say? You are a defense lawyer. You can't run away from that. You can only fight. That's all you can do." Miles isn't saying Phoenix can't "save someone". Miles is saying that Phoenix shouldn't be so focused on saving someone that he forgets that his job as a defense attorney is only to fight for them.

Side note, I love the way Miles comforts people, he isn't exactly "nice" but he's incredibly kind. His blunt honesty digs at the heart of the matter, and he gives them an extra push because he respects them enough.

And then there's, possibly, my favorite Miles Edgeworth line: "It doesn't matter how many underhanded tricks a person uses… The truth will always find a way to make itself known. The only thing we can do is to fight with the knowledge we hold and everything we have. Erasing the paradoxes one by one… It's never easy… We claw and scratch for every inch. But we will always eventually reach that one single truth. This I promise you." This directly parallels the line he says in 1-2, and it makes me emotional every time I think about it.

The fact that Miles Edgeworth never lost his unwavering realism, in both quotes he acknowledges how untrustworthy people can be, but gained a new purpose.

[ninyard]

picturing neil on the stand digging his nails into his thighs and grinding his teeth trying to not blow up, being so unfamiliar with this ugly kind of anger and rage in his own chest he’s only felt a few times before and not knowing how to stop seeing red

The prosecution are asking him all these questions and he knows if he answers them truthfully how they’re going to spin it to make Aaron look guilty. And if they started asking about Andrew?

“So you walked into the room. You saw Mr. Minyard’s brother on the bed. Was he engaged in a sexual act with the deceased?”

He grits his teeth and counts to ten in french in his head. It wasn’t sex, they know it wasn’t sex. “What I saw-”

“It’s a yes or no question, Mr. Josten.” The attorney crosses her arms. “Did you, or did you not, see a sexual act taking place when you kicked down the door?”

All he can see is skin and blood and a man three times the size of andrew. “Yes, ma’am, by definition, but it wasn’t-”

“And what in particular led you to believe this was something non-consensual?” She paces the floor, interrupting him with an outstretched hand and a pen between her fingers. “You saw two men having sex, and you let your racquet go. Mr. Minyard claims to be certain his brother was being attacked, but is it possible either of you just… misunderstood what you were seeing?”

Neil hears misunderstood leave her lips and he feels the pit in his stomach opening wide. His eyes are begging to search for andrew, but he can’t look nervous. He can’t look angry. He can’t look away. “I saw Andrew covered in blood. I knew who Drake was.”

“Aaron didn’t.” She says, like it’s obvious. “So how did you know, and not his twin brother?”

“Because he told me.”

“He told you? Just like that?” She places some papers down in front of neil, but he doesn’t look. He won’t be able to read it anyway. His vision is too blurry with anger and frustration. “Who else knew?”

“Luther.” He spits his name out like it’s nothing.

“Luther Hemmick.” She pretends to ponder it. “Anyone else?”

“How is this relevant?” He doesn’t mean to snap, but he turns towards the judge who just tells him to answer the question anyways. “I don’t know after that.”

“Do you think he told his therapist?” The defense calls for speculation. “Do you know for certain that he told his therapist, Ms. Dobson?”

“No, I don’t.” He knew he did, there was no doubt about it, but Andrew had never outright told him that. There was no way to say it for certain in a way that a jury would accept.

“Any other friends on the team that you know he told?”

Neil shakes his head. “No, ma’am.”

“But he told you.” She looks over her shoulder towards Aaron for just a second. Neil doesn’t need to look at Andrew to know that he’s somewhere behind him. “And not his brother.”

“They don’t-” He could feel the cages of her trap crashing down around him. She hadn’t even needed to ask the question. Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. He tries to break himself out. “Andrew doesn’t talk about his time in the system with anyone. Aaron’s not special.”

“And Nicholas told us that you had to convince Andrew to even be there in the first place. Mr. Josten, did you know before the night in question that Nicholas’ father was aware of Andrew’s allegations against Mr. Spear?”

The cage bars got smaller and smaller around him. “Yes.”

“So why try to convince him?”

To fix their family. But he can’t say that. He can’t say that.

The defense lawyer calls objection. Relevance? Andrew is not the one of trial here. The prosecution’s lawyer switches her line of questioning.

I don’t know. I can see Neil getting so frustrated with the prosecutors being prosecutors and just trying to find a way for him to say Aaron did it, him and Andrew hardly even talk, Aaron is guilty, Neil brought it up intentionally to kill Drake, Aaron is guilty, Aaron is guilty, Aaron is guilty.

[attorneys-against-court-violence]

You know you've written an effective & terrifying villain when he's scarier OUTSIDE the court than in.

In court, while Manfred does end up bending a lot of the rules, there are still rules when working behind the bench. The Judge still has enough power to refuse his demands/objections (even if he's too intimidated to try most of the time). He plays the game well and you've seen him do it twice, both of them requiring Maya or Larry to save Phoenix's ass and the latter getting a Guilty verdict before the Judge retracts his decision. But Manfred is still beholden to the rules of the game and not even he has total control over what said rules are.

Out of court? No such luck, buddy. No one's going to kick him out the room for being in contempt or anything so petty. He can get away with anything provided he isn't caught. You know what he's willing to stoop to when he's limited by the rules of the game and even techinically won at one point - just what is he willing to do when there are no such restrictions?

That initial terror is followed by an insulting deflation; he doesn't even remember your name. You, the lawyer who managed to put up a fight against him for two days and dodged a Guilty verdict, yet he doesn't even recognise you when you're both face-to-face. All that hard work? All those last-second narrow triumphs? Those were nothing to him. Edgeworth is going to be convicted for Hammond's death or DL-6, no matter how hard some mere defense attorney and his assistant fight against it. Why even acknowledge their existence when they're practically redundant? Manfred has 40 years of precident on his side and you just have a short string of lucky breaks. You're challenging a god with a pointy twig. Good luck with that!

It helps that he's an absolute unit; the mere physical presence is enough to assure you that you aren't winning any altercation with him if it ever comes to it. He just stands there at attention, facing directly towards you with his eyes locked into yours the whole time (though not calling attention to it as much as Gant's infamous stare). There's just no way around it; you have to look this undefeatable giant dead in the eye in the single worst place you could have bumped into him and give him every reason under the sun to stop you in your tracks.

All of that manages to make him pulling out a NON-LETHAL weapon meant for self-defense a dreadful turn. What's more, it plays into his cunning and foresight as well; there won't be a track of evidence that he attacked anyone in the evidence room so there's no point in trying to press him on it or - heaven forbid - try to get that evidence back. The letter especially he could easily destroy without a trace. The only reason he could even be taken down was Maya snatching the bullet from him without his notice - a clue that doesn't hold any relevance until she nudges Phoenix to make the then grand leap of logic towards accusing Manfred of the murder, which requires an unorthodox explaination of where the second bullet went and an even wilder way of proving its existence.

The encounter with Manfred in the police records room sticks out in my mind for how it sets a man who's terrifying when restrained into a place where anything - from being punched with bourgey knuckle-dusters to being surrounded by mafiosos - could happen to you. It's the most intimidating the living legend had ever been in that case. Other villains will later surpass him by threatening us from inside detention or even beyond the grave, but Manfred's simple yet effective method of shaking you to your core is too memorable to discount because later villains get more elaborate with their schemes.

[kittyoverlord]

Criminal Law Basics incoming:

This is why the standard for proving guilt in a criminal court is Beyond a Reasonable Doubt. There is a ton of discussion regarding what Reasonable Doubt is*, but in general it is the highest burdan of proof that exists in the US Justice system. When creating this standard of proof, the idea was that circumstantial evidence and/or a lack of evidence can be twisted to imply guilt, which would lead to more innocent people being unfairly prosecuted. In theory, the prosecutor has the burden of proof because we should be absolutely certain the the person that we're sending to jail/prison/death is actually guilty. Defense attorneys spend a lot of time working on the best ways to describe reasonable doubt to a jury to help increase the chances of a not guilty verdict.

In this instance, it would be up to the prosecutor to show evidence that the Loam's received this money, it is not the Loam's responsibility (via their attorney**) to provide evidence that they did not receive the money. Sklonda's argument would be likely focus on the prosecutors and cops failing to meet this standard by not providing this key piece of evidence.

Also, I know this is done for story purposes, but this is all flagrant disregard for attorney client privilege, which doesn't go away just because the client died.

*We actually just got a ton of cases back from an appeal decision that determined that judges in our state were using an incorrect analogy to describe reasonable doubt to jurors. On that basis a lot of cases have to be re-tried because the jury wasn't applying the correct standard. That's how important this is.

**Another interesting legal fact, if both of the Loams were being charged with the same crime, they would not both get the same attorney. They would be what is known as co-defendents, and at least where I work, one of them would wind up with a private attorney who is paid for by the state due to the public defender's office having a conflict of interest. This is basically because in theory the best defense for either one of them may be to blame the other one, and so one attorney cannot act in the best interest for both of them. If they both got their own attorney and decided to work together to prove both of their innocence, that's totally fine, but there would be more of a process to ensure that no impropriety was going on. Again, I know this is for story purposes, but just a little fun fact from your local public defender - admin assistant.

[aita-blorbos]

AITA for helping the prosecution find my clients guilty?

I (29m) am a defense attorney. I don’t take on clients because I think I can save them, I take on clients so I can find the truth behind their case. Usually that truth ends up being that they’re guilty. I don’t ONLY take on guilty clients, but more often than not I do. People all over my jurisdiction call me “unethical” and “ruthless”, and have even begun calling me “The Instigator” for often being the reason my clients’ crimes are found out in the first place.

I suppose I should explain a bit about why I’m like this, shouldn’t I?

I was born and raised in Hell, Norway (Don’t fucking laugh) and I was sent away to America at age 15 for some reason. I still don’t know why to this day. I was then looked after and cared for by a detective named Nota Sing who became my mentor.

And then he got murdered in a hit-and-run by the guy he was investigating due to cult connections.

So then I took over the investigation and just when i thought i cornered my mentor’s murderer HE POISONED ME. I ALMOST FUCKING DIED.

When I woke up from my coma and learned that my attempted murderer was NOT in jail, I decided from then on I’d be a Prosecutor in the Defense’s seat. I’d do everything in my power to make sure guilty people are found guilty, even if it means giving the prosecution evidence against my own client.

I’ve been doing this for the past few years, but apparently according to a blue-clad defense attorney and his red suited employee I’m a “disgrace to the profession” (paraphrasing). I don’t think so, after all without me many murderers would be walking free or get imprisoned before the whole story could get out.

I believe that while what I’m doing is certainly not how a normal defense attorney should do things, what I’m doing is a necessary service in the greater justice system.

But I suppose I’m not asking if I’m in the right, just if I’m an “asshole”.

AITA?

[alynnl]

I have one more Great Ace Attorney AU that I actually came up with as I was actively playing through case 2-3 (Return of the Great Departed Soul.)

My notes aren't quite polished enough to share the long version, but I have a few key ideas I can share.

It all started with a question. "What would happen if Albert Harebrayne got kidnapped and held for ransom?"

And Barok van Zieks gets the ransom note

Only the demands aren't for money, but instead for Van Zieks to get a guilty verdict in an upcoming trial

Kazuma has gone off on "personal business" so he's not Van Zieks's co-counsel this time around

Ryunosuke and Susato are the opposing counsel, of course

The trial is a murder trial because in Ace Attorney, it's always murder

In this case, it's the murder of someone who'd been recently reported missing

The defendant is a young Italian stage magician who was just making his debut (who I really want to come up with a pun name for)

Herlock Sholmes is there. He's been investigating a string of missing persons cases in the background

Stage magic + missing persons cases = a great idea for a title. Adventure of the Great Vanishing Act

After a very stressful first day of trial and additional investigation, Ryunosuke and Susato approach Van Zieks because they know he's not himself

It takes some effort on Ryunosuke's part, but Van Zieks comes clean about the ransom note, and how he doesn't want to lose one of his friends the day he was supposed to get him out of England to save him from the Reaper's Curse

Sholmes arrives and he's heard everything. And he reassures everyone that he can rescue Albert, since he's close to cracking the missing persons case

There's a major moment (reminiscent of Farewell my Turnabout) where Ryunosuke, Susato and Van Zieks agree to prolong the trial as long as they can to give Sholmes enough time to get Albert out of danger

I'm floating the idea of Iris being Sholmes's investigation partner during that part of the story because you can't have a Dance of Deduction solo

Albert takes matters into his own hands and sets off a small explosion (on purpose this time) just to let people know where he is (when in doubt, blow something up!)

This explosion tips Sholmes off to his location, and after a brief reunion, the Great Detective whisks Professor Harebrayne away to the Old Bailey

Ryunosuke and Van Zieks have given it their all in the courtroom. Van Zieks has no doubt that the young magician is not guilty. Sholmes hasn't arrived yet, but there is no other way to stall the trial. He knows he couldn't live with himself, nor would Albert forgive him if he sent a perfectly innocent young man to the gallows

"The Prosecution... Rests."

Ryunosuke can't come up with anything else either. "The Defense... Rests."

Mere minutes before a verdict is called, there is a last minute "Hold it!"

Sholmes arrives, with Albert in tow. "Forgive my tardiness, ladies and gentlemen! I had a very important promise to keep!"

The Judge asks why they're even here, since the trial seems to have reached its logical conclusion

Sholmes goes on to suggest that the proceedings can't end here, since it's possible that the true culprit behind the murder and the vanished Londoners might be sitting in the gallery.

Ryunosuke suggests that both Albert Harebrayne and Herlock Sholmes testify, since they are both important witnesses. "We have a survivor and... The Great Detective who discovered one of the culprit's hideouts!"

Van Zieks agrees to let them testify. He looks at Albert in particular when he mentions he fully supports the idea.

Their testimony and evidence (including the ransom note sent to Van Zieks) point out the actual mastermind

The culprit is desperate (and perhaps foolish) enough to try and attack the witnesses. Sholmes gets Albert behind him, and quickly has the suspect on the ground with a single blow.

The bailiff takes him away, much to the relief of everyone present.

When there's once again order in the court, the Judge finally calls a verdict of Not Guilty for the young magician, who can hardly believe what just happened in his trial

I'm still working on the post-trial scenes. (As much as the other scenes.) But I have a few details worked out.

The young magician will go back to Italy, both to escape the Reaper's Curse and reconcile with his family

Van Zieks doesn't directly thank Ryunosuke and the others but he recognizes their abilities. And he knows when they're in the courtroom, the truth will be brought to light

Albert apologizes profusely to everyone, feeling like he's just caused them all a great deal of trouble once again

Ryunosuke gets the feeling of de ja vu as he gives Professor Harebrayne the reassurance that none of this was his fault at all

Van Zieks can tell how tired Albert is and offers to take him home. "You need food and rest. You've been through a lot, Albert."

Ryunosuke is completely taken aback on how gentle Van Zieks sounds. He accidentally says this out loud and receives an icy glare in return

Barok and Albert share supper together at the professor's home. They also share a conversation.

Barok isn't proud of the way he first responded to the ransom note

Albert tells him "I might have acted the same way, if I was in your shoes."

In the very end, it's seen as the best thing for Albert to leave Britain after all (in this AU he was trying to stay to prove a point.)

Barok quietly agrees. Then he humbly asks Albert to write to him once he's reached Germany, and mentions that he will keep in touch.

At Baker St, Ryunosuke, Susato, Iris and Sholmes are having their own supper. Sholmes excitedly explains how he found a notebook with details about the other missing Londoners in the same building he found Albert Harebrayne. Since then, the rest of the citizens have been returned home

Ryunosuke couldn't believe how tough (and how personal) today's trial became, but he knows as long as he has the others to help him, he can overcome any challenges in the courtroom

Everyone at Baker St. shares a toast with Iris's tea, to victory and unbreakable bonds

[sylibane]

How about 77 for the angst/horror prompts l?

Since you didn't specify a fandom, this turned into Edgeworth slowly breaking down over the course of Turnabout Sisters:

Nothing could go wrong.

It was an open and shut case. You had all the evidence you needed. You had witnesses who would say what they needed to say and not sink your case, especially if they remembered what you told them beforehand. You even had an updated autopsy report, a surprising moment of competency from your detective. You didn’t have a clear motive as to why the girl killed her sister, and you’ll admit that it bothered you a little, but you didn’t want to think about it too much. You didn’t need a motive to end this quickly.

And you wanted to end this as quickly as possible. Cases involving family members killing each other made you uncomfortable enough, and having met the victim on a truly terrible day only made it worse. You would not run away from your duty, but you would be efficient about it. Maybe you were even doing the girl a favor, you told yourself, by making it quick, rather than leaving her to drift in uncertainty over her guilt for years.

You barely even processed the concept that the defense attorney could be a problem. When Gumshoe gave you a name, you froze, then remembered that that idiot Larry had been in court the other day. It wasn’t the first time the detective had messed up a name. It would simply be one of the state attorneys that you’d crushed before and you would crush again. It would be over soon.

Then you saw the name on the form before the trial, and the day couldn’t be over soon enough. You almost wished it had been Larry, as if that would have been any better. You even had a moment of denial that it could be someone else with the same name, as if anyone else in the world could have that name.

And then you saw that man standing across from you, and the day slowed to an agonizing crawl.

Nothing could go wrong!

You told yourself it didn’t matter and to do what you’d do to any defense attorney. End it like any other trial. But for all his floundering, he kept picking at your arguments. Even if your updated autopsy report didn’t slow him down enough, and you felt the satisfaction of shoving it in his face curdle into a mix of furious indignation and genuine shame at what you’d missed. And then he had to get one of your witnesses to let slip you’d coached him, and then got the other one arrested for wiretapping, and the judge had to draw this out for another day!

You holed up in your office afterwards with a stack of documents and half your tea collection. You weren’t stupid. You knew something didn’t add up. You tried investigating the victim’s family in an effort to find a motive for her sister and only made yourself more miserable when you realized why the surname Fey was vaguely familiar. Why was this happening? Had some fundamental truth in the universe snapped, and now ghosts were real and haunting you, and fragile little boys had become brick walls in your way, and you were losing?!

When the chief prosecutor called you to inform you that the case against the girl had been dropped, you felt slightly faint. You were ready to argue that you couldn’t admit defeat yet before the chief said that a new, reliable, important witness had come forward and named a new prime suspect in the case. You almost dropped the phone when you heard the name. This felt too good to be true. All your problems from the day solved in one fell swoop.

A little piece of you that you’d slowly buried for years whispered that this was clearly a frame-up. You’d be complicit if you used this evidence. But the rest of you didn’t even care. This wasn’t even fear for your perfect record anymore. This was getting personal. It was easy to accept that he was guilty. Anyone could be guilty of killing someone so beloved to them.

You didn’t sleep at all that night, but that was fine. You were used to working on little sleep, and besides, you didn’t need another ghost following you into court.

Nothing. Could. Go. Wrong!

But that bastard just wouldn’t give up! When you visited in the defendant’s lobby before the trial to more or less tell him to give up, he had the gall to remind you that he’d known you. You threw everything you had at him, but he held on. When you finally had him cornered, he just had to collapse and get himself a recess. He was only delaying the inevitable, you told yourself as you downed a cup of tea in your lobby to stop your hands from shaking.

How were you supposed to know that he had one last piece of evidence up his sleeve? And how the hell should you have expected your new star witness to break down, screaming out his guilt in the face of a ghost?!

You saw another ghost that day, though you didn’t know who haunted that man facing you across the bench. It could have been a man looking at you with a crushing disappointment you couldn’t face, or a boy who died fifteen years ago with that man. You knew he was gone. You were all that was left.

But if a phoenix could rise from the ashes, perhaps that boy would not stay dead.

[maspers]

I think it'd be amusing if there was an Ace Attorney Prosecutor who actually knew when to throw in the towel.

Murderer: This is all just hearsay! That attorney has created this elaborate story to frame me as the culprit. But there's no proof of it! You can't prove a single thing! Prosecutor: Yeah, but who cares? Murderer: What? Athena: WHAT? Judge: WHAT??? Prosecutor: The Defense doesn't need to prove who did it, she just need to prove that the Defendant didn't. Or at least shed enough reasonable doubt on the matter. And she did. I don't have any more evidence to conclusively prove the Defendant did it. So we're basically done here. Murderer: What? You're supposed to be on my side! Prosecutor: No? You're a witness, not a plaintiff. Your Honor, I think we're going to indict this witness of murdering the guy. Murderer: WHAT? WHERE'S YOUR PROOF? Prosecutor: That's for the NEXT trial to figure out. Not this one. Though I hope I get to Prosecute that one too, it seems like it will be fun! Hope your lawyer is as interesting as Miss Cykes over there has been. Murderer: NO! NONONONONONO *has a classic AA Breakdown* Prosecutor: You do realize your reaction is just incriminating you further right? Sheesh, why do none of my witnesses ever manage to keep their composure? Athena: ...Because they're guilty? Prosecutor: That's for me to prove in the next trial! Take 'em away, Bailiff! Judge: This is... highly irregular- Prosecutor: This is literally what we're supposed to be doing. Judge: Errr I guess the Court finds the Defendant Not Guilty! *confetti rains down* Athena: What just happened? Prosecutor: What just happened is you successfully proved that your client was probably innocent, and I get paid to do another trial! Thanks a bunch! Athena: ...But I did have evidence to prove that witness did it. Prosecutor: Great, can I see it? I can use it in the next trial! Athena: I'm so confused right now

[morally-grey-girlbosses]

The top two characters will be eligible to proceed into the bracket!

Propaganda under the cut.

Dahlia Hawthorne:

did a lot of murders and poisonings but they deserved it imo so she’s ok

She has committed so many crimes. And in an outfit that wouldn’t look out of place on Barbie at that. She’s the DEFINITION of girlboss, and she can poison me any time.

Aura Blackquill:

her brother got framed for the murder of her wife and she became bitter and evil because of it. this led to her holding an entire space center full of people hostage to get him a retrial

So she may have a robot army to take a couple people hostage, and blamed an 11 year old child for killing their own mom (who was her work partner and maybe sort of girlfriend), but in her defense her brother was about to be executed for a murder he did not commit and there was definitely some evidence that pointed towards the 11 year old being the culprit. So what else was she supposed to do? Just sit by while another important person to her is taken away and the real killer gets to go free? She tried to do things right and go through the police but that didn't work, and sometimes when you run out of options and run out of time you have to use unconventional methods. And in the end it worked and the execution was cancelled and the real killer was found (it wasn't actually the 11 year old child, now 18, but that's beside the point), so in the end things were ultimately better as a result of her actions so you can't exactly say she shouldn't have done it. So she did some things wrong but they are also understandable. I don't think she's a bad person deep down, she just got screwed over by the broken justice system.

Kidnapped a bunch of people but it was like. So the courts would do a retrial for her brother because she believed he was innocent (he was) a day before his execution, and so who she believed the true killer was (she wasn't) would take his place (she didn't) Also a lesbian <3

Franziska von Karma was submitted without propaganda, but I know AA well enough to attempt to write my own. She is obsessed with the idea of crafting the "perfect case" and goes so far as to hide evidence, manipulate witnesses, and also physically assault everyone with a whip in order to achieve it. However she was only doing it to avenge her adopted brother and at the end of the game she comes around and ends up delivering the crucial piece of evidence to save the protagonist's assistant from being killed by an assassin.

Dee Vasquez was submitted without propaganda. My attempt: She has ties to the yakuza and blackmailed one of the actors at her studio into basically being a slave to her. When he gets fed up and ends up trying to kill her she kills him in self-defense, making her one of the few "true culprits" in the series who would actually be found not guilty in an IRL court of law.

Ini/Mimi Miney was submitted without propaganda. My attempt: She was overworked to the point that she accidentally killed about a dozen people by switching their meds while sleep-deprived, then felt so bad about it that she got into a car crash, stole her sister's identity, and pretended she was dead for years. Then she killed a guy because she was worried about him revealing her secret.

Jezaille Brett / Assa Shinn:

prime example of god forbid women do anything. like cmon she just killed a bunch of people and left no trail behind so masterfully she up and haunted the entire goddamn narrative. her name is mentioned in secret messages in streets in papers in fear in mystery and we don't know her motivations still; why does she do what she does we do not know, and will never find out. fucking girlboss she's there for one case then the next we see her she's dead. what is up with this woman and why is she so important despite not seeming so ever.

Olive Green:

She qualifies as after her fiancé died from gas inhalation, she had questions about his death and suspected one of his fellow tenants to have murdered him rather than it being an accident. She consequently attempted to murder him. She rocks because we have to stan a vengeful woman!!!!!

Iris Hawthorne / Sister Iris Hazakurain / Sister Iris of Hazakura Temple:

well she’s more morally ambiguous than her sister!!!! she covered up a lot of crimes and lied about her identity to her (long series of hand gestures to indicate how complicated the boyfriend status is) Sorta Boyfriend for. like nine months i think. and she would have gotten away with it too if not for her co-conspirators fucking everything up

[sevenyeargap]

welcome to my very own analysis of edgeworths character and insane rambling on why i write him Like That. first of all i want to rec one of my favorite essay on political theory/legal philosophy of possibly all time aka the discourse on voluntary servitude by la boétie (which you can read here, its also a fantastic text to read in these coronation/anti-monarchy times)

anyway, if you don't want to read it (although it is quite a short and clear read), the main thesis of this essay is that basically a corrupt political system/dictatorship (here called a tyranny) doesn't stay in place because people are afraid of change and rebellion, but because people don't want anything to change, and they're satisfied with their condition, therefore complicit with the system (see also MLK's quote on white moderates "but the white moderate who is more devoted to 'order' than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says 'I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I can't agree with your methods of direct action'")

the tl;dr here is that a system stays in place because no one does anything to change it, and people prefer turning a blind eye to the situation but its not because they're afraid of a new system, it's because they're scared of what it will take to get this new system.

with that being said i think that edgeworths anger and resentment at the legal system post turnabout goodbyes wouldn't be directed at the system right away because he upheld the system. he loved it! (which btw is so so much worse than killing his father. he didn't kill his father but he's complicit in enforcing a terrible legal system!!!!!!!! awful)

and miles loved this system!! i think that even at the worst point of his bratworth era he still believed he was Bringing Fair And Real Justice and was doing The Right Thing. but what happens when you realize this system is deeply, incredibly flawed? when you've spent your whole life fighting for it? deliberately ignoring the ugly parts of it in favor of maintaining a perfect win record?

that's when you choose death!!!! (literally or figuratively depending on how you analyze it.)

i looooove edgeworth celebrating his not guilty verdict but he would start thinking about what he's done. which again is so much worse than simply killing his dad. like he literally says that in rfta

and thats so??? fucking sad!?!!! because how is he supposed to trust in himself now??? phoenix (no matter how good his intentions were) HAS entirely destroyed his whole worldview!!!!!!!! and thus the unnecessary feelings line but you can read more about my thoughts about that line here (tl;dr this line for me a) challenges his views (see supra) b) didn't phoenix "steal" his dream of becoming a defense attorney, in a way? phoenix had the chance to move on and change things for the better but miles... didn't.

ANYWAY edgeworth gets angry at individuals, after turnabout goodbyes, because he hasn't realized how deep the corruption runs yet - he's angry at phoenix, at misty, at everyone who either failed to protect him (misty, mvk, the mvk household, maybe even his own dad for """leaving him behind"""???) OR tried to protect him from this system (phoenix, maya - because how dare they challenge his views on this system he has oh so loved?) also you can read this post here because it really summarizes my feelings about his aa1 arc

every day there is a new media where two people are fighting together for a system. they both come to realise the system is flawed, and while one of them tries to take the system down, the other decides it is still necessary and must be protected at all costs. why is it always the first one who becomes the villain? who is deeply sympathetic but goes too far in their quest for justice? i think for once it should be the second one who is trying so hard to protect the system they believe in that they slowly slip into tyranny

i dont really have a conclusion here but i will say that i think The Note and edgeworths year off were necessary (as tragic as it was) for both edgeworth & phoenix because theyre insane they need some time to think about how much they don't know nor understand each other anymore at this point in time. anyway. thanks for reading?!! i hope this made sense. mwah!

[aceof-stars]

I feel very strongly about Recipe for Turnabout, but I don’t think it’s a very good case. I just think it has so much potential to be amazing. 

Trials & Tribulations’ running themes are deception (personas and disguises) and the lengths people will go out of devotion (usually in romantic relationships but Bridge deals with familial). And there’s so much that could have been said about identity, self worth, and being so devoted to someone that you lie to yourself in Recipe.

If Furio Tigre's impersonation of Phoenix was actually really good (and not played off as a joke), it could have done so much to explore Phoenix's identity surrounding being a defense attorney. I mean think about it, Phoenix lives for other people, he doesn’t seem to know what to do with himself when he’s alone, and became a defense attorney to save people. And Furio Tigre ripped that away from him by pretending to be him and getting an innocent person locked up. Everyone thought Tigre was Phoenix. Maggey thought he failed her. It feels straight out of one of Phoenix's worst nightmares. Seriously, why is this plot point only used for laughs?

Viola Cadaverini is probably the most intriguing new character in 3-3 but she’s completely brushed aside. She's a perfect parallel to Phoenix himself. Viola tries to convince herself that Tigre truly loves her, rather than confront the truth that he is paying for her bills and being so kind to her because he's terrified of her mafia boss grandfather. To the point where she stays by his side and becomes an accomplice to his crime. Similarly, Phoenix believed that Dahlia truly loved him. And while Phoenix wasn’t a willing accomplice to Dahlia’s crime, he still hid evidence for her and ate the necklace out of belief in her.

The game itself even acknowledges this connection briefly.

This is what Phoenix thinks after breaking Viola’s psyche-locks. He was scared of her at first but now he sympathizes with her and is filled with new determination to take Tigre down. Phoenix chooses the drink the espresso she prepared, effectively trusting her not to poison him too.

Also side note: Phoenix is really sensitive to betrayal. And it’s really interesting that he seems to hate it because it’s cowardly. Phoenix seems to hate the deception involved in poisoning and betrayal. He’s is terrified of his believing in someone so much, only to be hurt and left alone. (… eyes Phoenix’s reaction to Edgeworth’s note). Yeah it definitely stems from Dahlia.

Now imagine if Viola was the defendant instead of Maggey. That would mean Tigre, the person she convinced herself truly loved her, disguised himself in order to use her as the scapegoat for his crime. Does that sound familiar? Phoenix would probably be scared of Viola at first too. Maybe she reminds him of Dahlia. But slowly come to trust her.

Viola as the defendant would also continue T&T's pattern of guilty or questionable defendants (Ron DeLite being Mask DeMasque, Terry Fawles being in a relationship with 14 y/o Dahlia, and Iris being an accomplice). No case after 2-4 ever critiques Phoenix's misbeliefs as a defense attorney again (that being an attorney is not about saving people but fighting for them, and they everyone deserves a proper defense). But 3-3 could have done that, because Viola was still an accomplice and would have to go to jail for that. Phoenix could have continued to learn that he doesn't have to save everyone, that he has to fight for them and for the truth.

Do you see my vision? Do you see the potential? Recipe for Turnabout could have been a top tier case.

Oh and here's my collection of Recipe's most... memorable quotes. (Aka why is 3-3 like that??)

[shylittlefr0g]

Hello friends.

I have an idea. (From an AU)

I been playing Ace Attorney from a while (I complete the first game and my friend gift me the trilogy, so im playing the other two games) and I still having a hyperfijation with SxF (atleast from now). So, lets combine them.

If you don't play Phoenix Wright, Ace Attorney, you should play it, I recomend it. (and watch out, because i gonna give a few spoilers about the games and they history).

Let's begin.

Let's explain the characters and WHY I choose them.

Anya Forger (as Phoenix Wright):

- Ex-art student on collage, with a terrible ex-boyfriend.

- She became a lawyer after being saved by Sylvia (the Mia Fey of this universe) and having a crush on the-one-shouldn't-be-mentioned (Damian)

- Terrible lawyer, with a horrible luck, and mostly being save because of someone else or when her two neurons make contact the evidence.

- George (Larry) is her best friend, and in her first trial, she must save his ass.

- She actually doesn't look like a lawyer, because she is poor (?), so she has to use an old suit from his father (the green one) with some arrangement to be from her size made them by her mom (disastrous, but it works)

Damian Desmond (as Miles Edgeworth):

- Traumatized.

- He still having a crush on Anya, but he prefer be punched on the ribs that say "I love you" to her.

- After they first real encounter (the second case) Damian send his butler (Ewen) and his personal tailor to make her a good suit (because he wants that his rival to look presentable on court... Because he hates her!)

- Emile (Gumshoe) is his right-hand man, he trust blindly on him (and that's why when Emile misses something, he cuts his salary)

- Wanted to be a lawyer like his mother, but now he only has traumas.

Becky Blackbell (as Franziska Von Karma)

- SHE HAS A WHIP.

- SHE IS A GIRLBOSS.

- She isn't part of the family Desmond (she conserves her lastname) because she is Damian's cousin who wants to revenge the figure of Donovan Desmond.

- The option B is that Franziska is Demetrius, but i like Becky more because she has a whip and can whip Anya on the middle of the court. Pretty fun character.

- She isn't the bestie of Anya on this universe, but they got respect for eachother (Becky considers that she is a very capable woman and fights to achieve her goals, just like her.)

George Glooman (as Larry Butz)

- Idiot.

- He only could be a cheated, accused of murder, and get away with it, all in at least 24 hours.

- He isn't a big friend with Damian since they were kids and they argued about who is gonna takes Anya's hand to marriage. (spoiler: nobody remembers it clearly, they just hate each other because they are idiots.)

- Like Larry, he ended up being an artist.

Sylvia Sherwood:

- Mia Fey for this universe.

- really intelegent.

- Helped Anya on the past and became her tutor/friend when she decided be a lawyer.

- Still watching Anya since Ken (The Maya of this universe) and her became partners.

- She and Ken are family (aunt/nephew), when she has to keep info, she invites him to eat something. After the first trial, Anya and they were going out to eat, but something happen.

Ken Sherwood (as Maya Fey)

- Took Sylvia lastname.

- symptom of "being at the wrong time and place"

- He was arrested more times that you could imagined.

- Esper still on training. (Always in his hippie-clothes so gets bullied by that)

- Only can use his powers when the situation is crítical. (Only in contact with Mia because she is from his bloodline)

Melinda and Donovan Desmond:

- Melinda (32) was a really good defense lawyer who makes everything to get a Not Guilty sentence. Loved by everyone.

- Her husband, by the other hand, wasn't loved by everyone, mostly because of his tactics has a prosecutor where... Well, you know, cuestionables.

- They had two sons. Demetrius and Damian.

- Melinda was killed by someone non-identified on a elevator. Right infront Damian.

- Since then, Donovan raised his youngest son to be a bastard at court (just like him).

...Play Ace Attorney, pirated Nintendo is morally correct.

[sailor-tri]

have you got any cases for hecate? :3 what's their story in general? I might have missed it/forgotten but how and why did they switch jobs?

Omg! I'm very happy you want to know more about my silly! (Prepare for a lot of lore because I love them dearly)

Cases! I don't have anything concrete yet as I'm still in the ideation phase. I've been focused more on Hecate the person and how they interact with people but, once I get a handle on that I'll definitely get to writing about some cases :) !

As for how they got from being a dancer to a defense attorney? It's a bit long winded, complicated, and subject to change but currently Hecate is originally from New York got into ballet as a kid, got really good at it and was somewhat of a famous ballerina when they were 18 but, they quit suddenly cause they realized they were only doing it in hopes their mom would finally pay them any attention (spoilers it never happened).

Being a prosecutor was a form of escape for them even if they probably won't admit it. It seemed like the farthest thing from being a dancer and they wanted to "seek justice" and put people who did wrong away. Well with that, they earned a name for themselves as the Angel of death, because anyone who received their guilty verdict would end up dead under mysterious circumstances. Unfortunately the mysterious circumstances were just some cloaked guy that ended up killing Hecate in their apartment.

Yeah they died :(

But then they lived and got the ability to see ghosts! (But they can't communicate with them, anything ghosts say is unintelligible so they would have to have a medium or something similar to actually talk to ghosts.) Hecate was actually saved from death by the ghost who would become their assistant, Melin Owe. After a long recovery process in the hospital, they had enough time to really question why they became a lawyer in the first place. Did they want to prosecute anymore? Were they even prosecuting from a place of sincerity?The answer to both of those questions ended up being no, but they still wanted to be a lawyer, so they decided to move to LA and become a defense attorney as a fresh start. But, also because cloak murderer guy is still at large so putting some distance between them was a good idea.

This honestly started cause I thought it would be fun to have a defense attorney that acted more like a prosecutor in court cause I haven't seen that yet.

Hope this answers your questions!

[karmas-chameleon]

When a trial goes wrong, sometimes you just gotta kill a guy over it. Other times a bath and some compliments will work. The bath is probably a better idea tbh

Day 5 of the Awwgust prompts! (Comfort after bad day)

In forty years, Manfred von Karma had never lost a trial. A year after meeting me, he did just that.

I knew, somewhere in my mind, that if it happened once, it could happen again. Potentially, theoretically. I didn't expect another loss anytime soon, of course, but with forging evidence eliminated from Manfred's repertoire of tactics, there was bound to be another loss coming. A case where he could do nothing - nothing legal - to win a guilty verdict. One where no amount of witness coaching and judge intimidating could prove what simply wasn't so.

One day, an innocent defendant would be found not guilty.

And when one particular case began to drag on and on, I suspected such a thing would happen. The signs were there from the first trial, had I been looking. There was nothing concrete, no smoking gun, and not even a non-smoking, non-metaphorical gun. The prosecution was grasping at straws with only a flimsy pretense of certainty that the defendant was a murderer.

Manfred still fought tooth and nail through every bit of it, of course. Every location even vaguely related to the case was turned upside-down in the search for evidence. Every trial ended with no progress for the prosecution, but a continuation to the case for just a little longer. 

I'd never say it to his face in a thousand years, but I saw just a bit of his many foes in him during those trials. He had become the desperate underdog, scrambling for a contradiction, or a tiny bit of evidence that would turn the case around. He did it all with much more grace than any defense attorney, but I knew it would end the same way for him regardless.

Eventually he asked me to stay home. Not just to remain at the office while he went to the courthouse, but to take the day off entirely. I tried to protest, suspecting he'd lose and knowing his mental state would be in shambles from it, but he insisted. I agreed reluctantly, and so I was left home with my stomach tying itself in knots with worry.

I lost count of how many times I considered texting him. I wasn't even sure what I'd say. 

Are you alright? 

I love you 

It's okay

In the end, I sent nothing. I just lay in our bed, tossing and turning and staring at my phone and waiting. The hours went by slowly, but at least I didn't have to wait until the time that work usually ended. 

Manfred walked into the bedroom at just around lunchtime. He was a mess - his hair was in worse condition than it normally was after a night of sleep, and he had bags under his eyes like he hadn't gotten any rest at all - but at least his clothes were only slightly rumpled, and not stained with anyone's blood. I considered that a small victory.

I hopped out of bed and rushed over to him, embracing him without a word. He didn't hug me back. He didn't say anything. Eventually, I pulled away and looked into his eyes, which refused to meet my own.

“Manny…how are you doing?”

“The only thing that can erase this disgrace is death,” he grumbled at the floor.

“...Oh. That bad, huh?” I frowned and took his free hand in mine. “Here, why don't we get you a nice bath? I can scrub you with all my fancy soaps and stuff.”

Manfred grunted, and I couldn't tell whether that was a yes or a no, but he allowed me to pull him along toward the bathroom. I shut the door behind us and began to undress. By the time I was done, he hadn't moved an inch, so I carefully worked his own clothes off of him as well.

He remained still as a particularly forlorn statue as I got the water running at a comfortable temperature and mixed in some scented oil. I gathered my other assorted bath and shower supplies, along with Manfred's shampoo and conditioner, preparing for a long remainder of the day. When everything was ready, I dragged him over to the bathtub. I was almost expecting to have to help him in, but he did that part himself, and I joined him in the tub by his side.

He sank down into warm, lavender-scented water and closed his eyes, looking as depressed as I'd ever seen him. I lay my hand on his shoulder, ready to massage any tension out, but his muscles were loose and limp. He didn't even have the energy to be tense.

“They used to call me a god, you know,” Manfred muttered. “At the courthouse, I was the ‘god of prosecution’. I'd hear it whispered in the halls. Never again. I don't want to hear what they're saying now.”

“Aww, Manny…” I squeezed his shoulder and lowered myself down to sit closer to him, my legs resting against his and my arm draped across his chest. “You haven't changed, not to me. You're still, um…godlike.”

His eyes opened just slightly as he squinted at me skeptically. “Is that so?”

“Well…yeah.” I wasn't entirely sure where I was going. I supposed I'd keep rambling until I started to cheer my husband up. “I mean, I haven't really seen any other prosecutors at work, but you're incredible. I doubt anyone else can make the judge fall over himself trying to please the prosecution like you do.”

“Hmph.”

“And nobody else scares the defense like you. Those attorneys are terrified of you, Manny. And they should be.”

“Hmm…” Manfred closed his eyes again and stretched his legs, still frowning, but slightly less severely. “What else?”

I blinked at him. Somehow, what I was saying was working; I could feel his muscles slowly beginning to stiffen up under my hands, becoming less of a dejected blob and more a person. I just needed to press on.

“You’re the best when it comes to investigations, too. You know none of those detectives would get anywhere without you, right?”

“Idiots, the lot of them,” Manfred said with something approaching a smile.

“Fools, really.” I smiled and pulled away briefly to grab a bottle of body scrub, taking a bit to massage his shoulders with. As I rubbed it in, gently on his right and with a bit more force on his left, he let out a quiet hum. “You’ve put away so many criminals, Manny. Just imagine what Los Angeles would look like without you, huh?”

“A lawless hellscape,” he muttered.

“Mm-hmm. You're the best this city’s got, by far. Or the state, the country…I could keep going.”

“Please do.”

“The best prosecutor in the world? And the universe, I guess, unless we find aliens with a similar judicial system. Even then, I doubt they'd be as good as you.”

I thought I saw a grin as I moved from Manfred's shoulders to his chest. Praising him, and laying it on as thick as possible, was doing wonders.

“You look so stylish when you're working too,” I said as I ran a hand along his chest, toying with the curly gray hairs there for much longer than strictly necessary for a relaxing massage. “And I'm not just saying that because I'm your wife. I've seen the kind of crowds your trials bring; I'm willing to bet that not all of those people are just there to see your prosecuting skills, y'know? There's gotta be someone else appreciating the eye candy.”

Manfred snorted and opened his eyes as he gave me a sly smirk. “It seems the god of prosecution still has one loyal worshiper, eh?”

“Always.” I smiled back at him. “You feeling any better, Manny?”

“Somewhat. Keep working your way down my body and I'll see if the thoughts of death have subsided when you get to my toes.”

“I was gonna wash your hair too, if you want.”

“Even better.” He closed his eyes and sank down just slightly in the tub, which I hoped was a sign of relaxation and not muscle-weakening despair. “And don't skimp on the praise.”

"I would never."

I'd have to think of plenty more to say to fill the time - the truth, exaggerations of the truth, and possibly compliments that wouldn't apply to my husband in any reality. I could already picture myself telling him how gracious and humble he was. But I'd do it, and with a completely straight face, if it meant making his nightmare of a day a bit more pleasant.

[v-thinks-on]

Phoenix Wright sits dejected behind the glass of the detention center visitor’s room, under the watchful eye of the guard and the security camera. At least his beloved Dahlia is safe, but somehow it doesn’t feel so much like a victory.

“How could you get him found Guilty?” a loud, angry voice echoes from outside the door on the other side of the glass. “You were against Payne, of all people!”

“I didn’t see you jumping to help! If not for your ‘victory at all costs’ maybe we could have caught her before any of this ever happened!” The second voice, Phoenix recognizes as his passionate, young lawyer, Mia Fey.

She strides into the visitor’s room, followed by the last person Phoenix expected to see.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Wright-” she begins.

Phoenix doesn’t give her the chance to finish, leaping to his feet with a grin. “Miles! What are you doing here? I thought-”

Immediately, the police officer moves to restrain him, but Miles waves the officer down.

“Miles?” Mia says dubiously, glancing between Phoenix and the friend he thought he might never see again.

However, Miles won’t meet his eyes. He looks away, the confident public facade of the ‘demon prosecutor’ gone, so anyone could see the pained young man underneath.

“I’m taking over your defense from this incompetent rookie,” Miles declares, though he doesn’t sound very pleased about it.

“Hold it! She believed in me and fought for me until the end,” Phoenix protests. “It’s really my fault…”

“Yeah, if Mr. Wright hadn’t eaten the key piece of evidence-” Mia catches herself arguing and takes a step back. “Mr. Edgeworth, aren’t you a prosecutor, anyway?”

“It doesn’t matter, I can’t risk you failing again in the appeal,” Miles says, simultaneously heartening and discouraging.

“Why do you care so much about Mr. Wright anway? I thought all you cared about was putting people away, guilty or not.”

Miles turns away again, but Phoenix jumps to his defense. “I can’t believe that! Everyone may think you’re the demon prosecutor, but it’s because of you that I’m studying to be a defense attorney! Or was, anyway…”

Miles scoffs. “See where your foolish naivety has gotten you? Now you’ll see first hand what it really means to be a lawyer.”

Phoenix braces himself to stand up to the boy - now a man - that he always admired so much. “I appreciate it, Miles, but Mia is my lawyer. If you want to help, then you’ll have to work with her.”

“Wait a minute!” Mia tries to protest.

But Miles answers sharply and definitively, “Fine.”