#the unicorn tokens are so insidious

[felinetime]

THEY TURNED ANIMAL JAM INTO A GACHA GAME

[ask-the-reaper-conspiracy]

Ayo, idk if Tumblr is still being screwy, but another question for OP. Who is your favorite character and why?

sadly it is but imma make it work

as to your question, I love all of these characters but Stronghart is the one who compelled me to make an actual blog for this group. not to knock the others dfkgkdsfks stronghart's just got a toxic relationship with near every character and that kind of makes him the glue that holds this conspiracy together!

I just dfkgkdgkfdkg I love everything about him. His character design and animations are very intimidating and dignified, with his clock motif kind of capitalizing on the "clock punk" aesthetic that a lot of people associate with the victorian era. and his breakdown animation is freaking dope. I also love that he's one of the few characters in the game whose appearance changes, specifically over the course of the final trial, where his hair loses its unicorn 'do to become the "vortex" of his original namesake.

In terms of personality I find him utterly fascinating. he's cruel and sadistic, megalomaniacal, and clearly has no regard for human life. he unashamedly admits in an escapade that he gave Gregson an impossible task with severe consequences for failure just for fun and called it his "vulgar mischievous spirit". he has an apparent hatred for criminals and believes that justifies the extreme methods he uses against them---a hatred that is not, apparently, class-based since he targets nobles and rich career criminals in both his conspiracies. he will keep a straight face even as he needles Ryunosuke on his discomfort in his presence and intentionally (as I see it) intimidates him in most of their meetings.

he uses people in the most insidious of ways by seizing on opportunities as they happen, pushing someone until they're under his power and he can make them do whatever he wants. I fully believe he was trying to take steps to do that to Ryunosuke in his 3rd case appearance in both games. (by that token I don't think he's very good at planning his evil farther in advance. his short-term "shoot Genshin" idea didn't take into account what would happen if Genshin didn't have the will that he had been long-term trying to wring out of him.)

but he's also very level-headed in most of his appearances and can even appear reasonable and competent as a Lord Chief Justice. he gives you cases when you ask for them, he strives for more effective forensic techniques (which is something the audience would be expected to want as well), and he can have perfectly reasonable conversations with the main cast. he arranged for Susato to go home immediately when he received word her father was ill. in yet another escapade, we learn that he cared enough about one of his birds that he lent her to Gregson for a period of time (which I think it indicative less of him having a soft spot for animals in particular as it is him being appreciative of animals he can use.)

like, none of this makes him a good person by any stretch but it's fascinating to me that he is both obviously evil and does so many irresponsible things on a whim yet also had so much potential to be just the eccentric sort-of-ally you had in the game.

Also his straight-faced seriousness makes it all the more fun when his mask slips at the very end of the game. Even his first evil laugh during the trial like, signals how stressed out he was getting when he realized Mikotoba was there at the autopsy and he never knew.

Finally, it's very interesting to me that of all that he's one of the only Ace Attorney culprits to never kill someone. Likely purely because he sees it as beneath him, but how would it affect him to take a life himself? Even remorseless killers irl can report feeling scarred by the incident on a purely physiological level so it's interesting to think about.