#turnabout sisters just established something so interesting

[muzyoshi]

Miles Edgeworth's Secret

This post is purely for documentation purposes, and also to inform anyone who may not be aware. This post will contain SPOILERS for the end of Phoenix Wright: Trials & Tribulations, so proceed with caution.

During Case 5, Bridge to the Turnabout, while playing as Edgeworth, you are presented the opportunity to peer into Iris' heart. Specifically in regards to a secret she is withholding from Phoenix, someone she was romantically involved with. During which, if the player fails to present the correct evidence specifically for the second Psyche-Lock, an interesting conversation concerning the nature of secrets occurs.

I have seen talk of this dialogue, but no footage or screenshots, so I took the liberty of getting them myself. The full conversation and my further thoughts will be found under the cut.

You MUST present incorrect evidence during the second Psyche-Lock. This dialogue is laughably easy to miss, which is why I could find zero footage of it. (Sorry if the formatting for this sucks)

(Interesting to note: the music stops playing here.)

Incidentally, Iris' secret is that she developed romantic feelings for Phoenix while dating him in college (disguised as her twin sister). Edgeworth affirms her thoughts, confirming that he does indeed have a secret of similar nature deep within his heart and soul; "It takes one to know one." It cannot be said what exactly this secret of his is, but every real plot point behind Edgeworth has been more or less resolved by this point in the series. He found his path as a prosecutor, the truth behind his involvement in the DL-6 incident was concluded, so... What's left? Reading between the lines, this only really seems to lead us to one answer. It has something to do with romantic feelings. I truly can't see it being anything else, even with a critical mind.

Just mere moments ago, Iris had inquired as to what Edgeworth and Phoenix' relationship was. Edgeworth (famously) responds that Wright is a "dear and indispensable friend". Wonder if Iris gleamed something deeper from that comment, then? ;P Keep in mind: she makes these comments directly because Edgeworth avoided presenting Phoenix Wright's profile.

"he just like me fr" - iris probably

Now, just for completion's sake, let's see what happens when you present Phoenix's profile and break the Psyche-Lock.

I have a lot of thoughts regarding this string of text from the two of them. This is a huge reach from an admittedly shipper-crazed brain, but aren't Edgeworth's retorts here... interesting? He does not know this girl, but he knows that the two of them are important to one another. We can assume it's likely that he is pushing for this for Wright's sake, rather than Iris'. At this point it's fair to say that Edgeworth has some basic understanding of her secret (the feelings, at least), and he doesn't benefit from her telling Phoenix her secret. So why is he adamant that she does it? Especially when he's, apparently, holding a secret of similar nature himself? Projecting, perhaps?

"But it's pointless..." "Why would you say that?"

Why indeed.

(EDIT) I was thinking about this feverishly, and I had another thought. What if the "darkness in his heart" and his "secret" has something to do with jealousy? Still in context of romantic feelings... it starts to make sense that this could fit into the puzzle as well. By this point it was already established to Edgeworth that Phoenix and Iris share an intimate connection of some kind, and with all of this pressuring (including the words the two of them share before Edgeworth leaves the Detention Centre), it sort of adds up. "Uncovering the truth" in order to "get rid of the deep-seated darkness in [his] heart" - could this refer to closure? As in, if Iris comes forth to Phoenix Wright with her secret, and there is some level of reciprocation, would this make Edgeworth's own secret/feelings "pointless" to confess? I wonder.

One last note I'd like to make is that this is the first time we view Edgeworth through the 'protagonist lens', and that a great deal of care was put into having the player truly feel like they are Miles Edgeworth in this moment. His mannerisms, choice of words and thought patterns are decidedly very different than Phoenix's when you are in control of them, as I'm sure most people would agree. Therefore, I feel comfortable proposing that a lot of what he says here isn't filler, and in fact is very deliberately worded.

I think this post also deserves a spot here.

Diehard Narumitsu/Wrightworth shippers are likely already aware of this conversation's existence. However, due to the circumstances necessary to see it, I wasn't able to find any screenshots. I hope this was interesting to read, at least... Thanks for reading!

[abluescarfonwaston]

I think Edgeworth did have some care about the truth, but only during the active investigation part of a case. Cos in AAI he's more open to poss during the investigation of Faraday & Rell's murders compared to 3-4's trial where he's just a bitch. I think Gumshoe & Edgeworth both say something about how he trusts the cops to carry out the investigations correctly as well, which would add to his warped 'all def are guilty, therefore I must sentence them' mindset by the time the trials on.

Oh you've done it now anon. You've flipped my switch. Prepare yourself.

Okay so my saying he doesn't care about the truth at all is unfair. He does. Now i don't think it's totally fair to compare our baby faced aai boy to the man from aa1 who by his own admission did bad things for the sake of his verdict. (How bad? What things? This largely depends on whether you believe the added in later 1-5 Edgeworth about how he never falsified evidence (which to be clear I don't think he'd have been Blatantly illegal. Gumshoe says if he did something bad he'd admit it and we have that proven as true in 1-4, getting off track - Edgeworth is an unreliable narrator especially about himself, but if you think he did do illegal and not just shady shit you're valid)) He had four years drowning in a corrupt system under Von Karma with little to no support. It's more than reasonable to think he may have lost sight of his ideals during that time.

But that's not what you're saying. Edgeworth cares about the truth during the investigation but not during the trial. Yes. Look. Look this is one of the things that makes Edgeworth a Good lawyer by their systems standards. That he trusts the evidence he's given and fights with all he has until the last. (He praises Franziska for being a good partner during 3-5 for this reason)

"I'm not like you and Franziska. You keep coming for me even when you know the truth isn't with you." (Roughly)

They're good prosecutors because they Keep fighting until any doubts are cleared! (Even if that makes them look like villains to the defense) It makes them Terrible to face in court cause if there's any weakness or doubt they'll jump on it. But that's what the defense is supposed to do as well! (Wright literally uses the same moves as them in 2-4, as he should!) Even if their court system has largely forgotten that by aa1. Diego and Maya both talk about pressing for weakness in testimony (even if it hurts your case). It makes Them good attorneys! (Even if it makes them look like villains to the prosecution. Mai- always poking holes in perfectly good testimony. Rude Edgeworth she Just died!)

This is the principal their system. That the sword and shield fight and reveal contradictions until the 'truth' is revealed. Because - and here's what I think is actually so interesting about turnabout sisters - if they hit a point where they don't have enough for the defense or prosecution to call a verdict then THEY INVESTIGATE AGAIN!!!

Why am I so excited by that?! Because in turnabout sisters we see the Prosecution Switch defendants!!! We go from Maya on day one to Wright!!! It's the only (i think?) Time this happens but they don't restart the trial completely like we would. They treat it like Day 2 of the same trial. Because the trial isnt Actually about the defendant! It's about the Incident.

What does this mean? It means that if Edgeworth had gotten that extra day to investigate the case then we get a Real showing of who he is. Because during the investigation Edgeworth is open to different versions of events and changing his stance as information is revealed! It is not his Duty to fight for a verdict, even if he doubts it's validity! It's his and Gumshoes job to bring the appropriate person to trial for the incident and convict them!

Which means if Wright Hadn't read those names and forced a confession we might have had a Very different day three depending on how you interpretate Edgeworth/how broken their system is.

Because there's a non zero chance that Edgeworth Couldn't get Redd White before that point even if he suspected. Edgeworth goes out of his way to Warn you it's a rigged game from the start. They couldn't investigate him! But now he's the star of the show and maybe they Can with that extra investigation time. Have Edgeworth walk up to the bars and release Wright himself. (If Redd White is guilty I'll prosecute him myself) Edgeworth the third day of the trial to get his (correct) verdict and his record stands. (Which is bad for him in the long run but whatever)

Or if the investigation fails, either due to corruption/incompetence be it on Edgeworth's end or Edgeworth's fault (the police) then we get a bad time for Wright where he fights for his life again and we just draw out the screen time by an unnecessary few hours. (Or he losses and everything sucks. Bad ending all around)

Honestly the 'fights for the defendants guilt' thing isn't even the main point. Edgeworth is Supposed to. Wright is Supposed to fight for their innocence until the bitter end. It's why Wright is honestly at his Best lawyer during Engardes case - bud you JOB is to defend and make sure they're given a fair trial regardless of innocence! Don't give up til the gavel sounds!

The real difference isn't that Edgeworth stops fighting for their guilt - he still puts them through the ringer - it's that he stops actively sabotaging the defense! He's a bitch in 3-4 because he's hiding shit! He's a bitch in 1-2 for that same reason! Diego says it, I'm pretty sure - press the lies even if it hurts your case. Edgeworth attacking Vasquez is him pressing for the lies! (Even though it hurts his case)

Because that's the real thing 1-2 established. They're not actually beholden to the Defendant. These trials are about the Incident. And their job is to clear up all the lies until only the truth remains.

That's just not what Von Karma taught. It's what Miles forgot.

"My father fought for the victim and the accused."

It's what their whole system forgot. Edgeworth only fought for the victim. Hammond only fought for the accused.

They have to do both. To find the truth.

[atopearth]

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Part 3 - Justice for All (2nd game)

The Lost Turnabout Well, that random amnesia to set the game up again for the reader to get used to things again was...random lol. Gotta love the fake dying message that had such beautiful legible writing lol. And I guess these are one of the moments when we should thank parents for using weird and unique spellings of a name, really helps to prove that you’re not a murderer! Kinda baffled with the whole thing though, the defendant and the criminal were both so bland, and the whole case was pretty simple. But, yeah, it’s the first case to get things flowing again so I guess that’s normal! Nice to see Maya back though!~

Reunion, and Turnabout Pearl is an interesting girl…lol. I’m not sure why Mia didn’t want to reveal her aunt as an accomplice for this story, since if she doesn’t reveal it, Maya could be found guilty, especially if Phoenix isn’t able to find evidence for that. Initially, I wasn’t really sure what to think about the whole case being in the village where Maya is from and where she does her training etc, but I guess it’s nice to see her background etc. As for the case itself, although I still suck at knowing when to press statements, I’m a bit better at knowing what to present as evidence hahaha. Anyway, it was obvious that the murderer was the real Mimi who had taken her sister’s face to try and live a new life. So it was easy to know the motives etc, and how she hid in the box behind the screen etc, I guess I was mostly in a bit of a bind in terms of how the murder happened and the reason for the gunshots haha. Otherwise, that was a pretty average case, mostly because I think the witnesses and murderer this time around wasn’t very interesting. Lmao at the daughter von Karma whipping everyone she hates and then whipping Phoenix until he was unconscious when she lost lmao. Hopefully the next case is more interesting~ and I wonder what happened to Edgeworth?

Turnabout Big Top Max…is an interesting character. He looks cool, but dang does he look silly when he reverts to being a country bumpkin lolll. And…I establish that no one in this circus seems normal. Not sure about that daughter of the victim, she looks like she barely cared that her father just got murdered… Great to know that she’s sheltered and so knows nothing about outside of this circus, but dang lmao, she seems to like the puppet more than Max hahahaha. And did Franziska upgrade her whip? It looks different lol. So…Acro has a brother called Bat (loll) who is in a coma after getting bitten on the head by the lion…and this lion got shot by the Ringmaster after it happened… Hmmmm. Oh…Acro is in a wheelchair because he tried to save his brother from the lion… And Bat did what he did because he made a dare with Regina, that if he could do the same thing as her (put his head in the lion’s mouth), she would go on a date with him… How saddening yet ridiculous.

Lmao when Acro comes to court as a witness, and when Phoenix claims that he’s actually the culprit, one of the birds that flies around Acro pecks Phoenix on the head as a background thing lolll. Anyway, once we did more investigations, it was obvious that Acro was the murderer and that his aim was Regina. However, I just feel that the villains this time around in this game have rather dubious motives. I guess it was kinda cool how the “murderer who flew away” came about with the stone bust being pulled up when the coat etc accidentally caught on to it, I just think everything that occurred was still rather anticlimactic though and lacked impact this time around so I couldn’t really like it tbh.. It didn’t help that I didn’t like any of the witnesses lolll. It was understandable how things happened, but at the same time, it wasn’t a very interesting case tbh.

Farewell, my Turnabout Lmao at the Steel Samurai becoming the Nickel Samurai, this show is never gonna end, is it? Omggg Lotta again? Gotta admit, she’s not my favourite witness so seeing her twice in one game kinda kills me lol. On the other hand, I like Wendy Oldbag but she can get rather overbearing lol, so this pairing kills me. When they talked about how the manager Adrian Andrews might be the killer since the ninja actor supposedly hid her mentor’s suicide note, and since she attempted suicide because of how reliant and dependent she was on her mentor when it came to living, I guess it is possible. But I think what hit me the most was when they talked about her “dependent nature”, where she basically always needed someone important enough to her so that she would have a reason to continue living. To an extent, I can kinda relate to that, tbh, although I’m not as extreme as her, sometimes I do feel that if I lost my siblings, I don’t think I’d ever be able to pick myself up.

Anyway, since Edgeworth is back, it was expected that something would happen to Franziska to prevent her from being the prosecutor. It took a while but I’m glad to see Edgeworth and Phoenix in court together. Omggg, Engarde just turned ugly when he revealed his true self!! He was such a pretty boy too, sigh! It’s really interesting to think about the idea that Phoenix’s client is actually guilty for once. He got an assassin to kill Corrida, and Andrews got wrapped up in this when she decided to “frame” Engarde for it. But I think Celeste (Andrews mentor who committed suicide) was the most innocent victim of all this. She first “dated” Engarde back then but was thrown away, and when she thought she could have a happy marriage with Corrida, Engarde decides to tell the guy that they used to be together, so then Corrida called off the marriage, and that led her to commit suicide. But I think the most saddening thing was that even though she committed suicide, none of these guys she so loved were unhappy, instead they were still consumed in their stupid rivalry, where Corrida wanted to use the suicide note she left to show the world Engarde’s true self. It’s so saddening to think of her life just amounting to them as something like that.

It’s interesting that the last case aims at delaying the trial to save Maya since they already know Engarde is guilty, but at the same time, it’s kinda boring? It doesn’t have the same feel as the other cases where you can reveal more and more pieces of the puzzle on what actually happened, and instead focuses on how they can use everything they can to delay the verdict. Which is…quite questionable tbh. Lmaoo at Shelly De Killer (the assassin) being a witness hahahah, and it was so funny when Phoenix presses on one of his statements and asks what’s his fee, and the judge thinks Phoenix wants to kill him lmaooo. Gotta love it when Shelly gets flustered and the transceiver starts leaking oil or whatever lolll. Anyway, I knew that they’d use the fact that Engarde recorded the murder to blackmail Shelly in order to get the latter to turn against his client since he’s so hung up on the trust factor between clients. I mean, you’ve gotta admire Shelley’s work ethic! Lol.

Anyway, I didn’t like the last case in terms of story and how it played out. I think I much prefer the usual Phoenix uncovering the truth bit by bit without really knowing who the culprit is and how they did it until later, against this Engarde case that was just..such compiled with a crappy villain with crappy motives, he was basically a bad villain with no depth. I liked it that they established that both the prosecution and defence work for the truth. But at the same time, I have to say, I don’t feel like the last case really portrayed what it means to be the defence and the prosecution. I had more expectations on how it would be better handled in terms of having a “guilty” defendant as well, but yeah… Oh well. At least everyone is happy and Franziska might be a bit more like the current Edgeworth and not be so hung up on winning all the time.

Overall, I’d say Justice for All was a pretty lacklustre sequel. It rides on a lot of old characters from the previous game, which can be pretty cool, but I think just like how Powers introduces himself as an underpaid action star (LOL), this sequel was underwhelming to say the least. But I guess the biggest problem were just the stories themselves, they just weren’t very interesting, and the way things happened either felt rather cliche or just kinda over the top in a bit of a ridiculous way, whereas in the previous game, it felt like the cases and how they went about it made more sense and was done better. Also, I think Franziska wasn’t a very “fun” prosecutor either, like, I just don’t think she meshed well with Phoenix. Like, when it came to Edgeworth and von Karma, they both were unique enough that they bring a different sort of bantering and connection with Phoenix in court, whereas Franziska is basically just a whipping monster lol. Anyway, hopefully the next game will be better!

[ultraericthered]

Anime Update 1

Thanks goes to @animebw for the inspiration.

This is something I’ll be doing from now on since I’m on a weekly anime watch schedule where I watch or rewatch episodes of anime I’ve selected for each day. Here’s my current Sunday to Saturday line-up and my thoughts on them thus far:

CLANNAD - So far so...strange. I was a bit taken aback that the male lead of this show has Hinata Hideki’s voice in the English dub, and his dynamic with Greg Ayres’ character is sort of opposite to Hinata and Naoi’s. Half the time I wasn’t sure what was going on, mainly due to some poor editing in the episode and that weird “girl in the illusionary world” poem interlude that came and went very early in. Otherwise it’s okay. Hope to learn more about Nagisa.

Dragon Ball - Started this on episode 30, which kind of plays out like another beginning with some ham-fisted exposition by the narrator at the start. The episode itself was mostly just groundwork for what’s to follow. Always fun to watch Emperor Pilaf and his gang’s antics, and does Chris Sabat’s take on Colonel Silver sounds like he’s semi-channeling Alan Rickman?

Toradora - This show is actually a lot more enjoyable than I remembered it, and much of it has to do with not only Minori’s wacky weirdo moments, but how the two leads bounce off each other, especially in the dub where Erik Scott Kimerer and Cassandra Lee Morris just kill it. In contrast with straightforwardly tough and “cool” Tsunderes like Chitoge Kirisaki, Taiga is a bizarre, klutzy, hopelessly awkward mess of a Tsundere and I adore her for it. For this rewatch, I’ll be most interested in seeing how the show’s second half holds up for me now.

Excel Saga - This show, however, is exactly what I remembered it being - total absolute lunacy that it revels it and it makes me enjoy it along with it. Jessica Calvello has gotten more of a career in recent years and I’m glad, since her early work as Excel in this dub is the stuff of LEGENDS. I also enjoyed how the first episode just bounced around to different scenarios without sticking to one single plot for Excel to follow, but not only did a lot of the seemingly random shit pay off later in some way (like Good Excel getting arrested for having killed Bad Excel back in a completely different scenario), but the end of the episode actually set up all the threads that will be reurring in this show (Pedro’s life wasn’t reset so he’s still a ghost, Pedro’s family are living their life fine without him, Ilpalazzo has personal desires beyond just conquest, Nabeshin is on the run, and Excel’s wacky apartment neighbors are going to end up working for the heroic counterpart to ACROSS). That was surprisingly clever writing.

Ace Attorney - Seeing the “second case” following of the first...yeah, I think “Turnabout Sisters” should’ve just been the first as was intended, as when you put “The First Turnabout” before it and it establishes more the relationship that Phoenix Wright and Mia Fey have, then Phoenix’s response to Mia’s murder in the following case seems shockingly underplayed given what we’d just seen. As for the dub, only Eric Vale in the role of Phoenix Wright has particularly impressed me. Maya’s voice sounds obnoxiously try-hard in matching up with the Japanese VA, and I’ve not heard enough of Edgeworth’s voice to make a full judgment but the lack of a British accent for him is glaring. Still, it’s a decent anime adaptation thus far.

Nadja of Tomorrow - The takeaway from the first episode would be “appearances can be deceiving.” The show makes itself look like a fluffy, cutesy old fashioned novel-esque Shoujo anime right from the start. By the end of just the first episode, we have crooks breaking into a building full of children, the building catching fire, the crooks chasing after the child heroine, and the child heroine ending the episode passed out and in the care of total strangers. That is QUITE the left turn from what you’re expecting, but one that sets the tone for a great story. Of the characters seen so far, George is my favorite due to his Engrish speaking showmanship.

Mobile Fighter G Gundam -  This one’s also pretty much exactly as I remember it. The English dub has sooo many hokey or over-the-top voice acting performances, and there are parts of the show that are just so freaking stupid and ridiculous but presented with such unironic sincerity that you can't help but unironically love all the absurdity and laugh with the show rather than at it. For God’s sake, there’s a part where the Italian detective basically tries to drown the main hero in a pizza. And then at the very end of the episode, that pizza actually comes back in the episode’s finishing scene! It’s so fucking stupid that you can’t not love it!

[justicedefended]

you know, i feel like it was a huge disservice to apollo's character that capcom couldn't even establish him and klavier as friends and instead had them interacting as mere acquaintances / colleagues in dual destinies... but at the same time they made sure to work it in there that apollo thought phoenix and miles were best friends in aa6?

like this goddamn piano man invites red boy and his not - sister - who - is - actually - sister to his concert. he comes to the waa the next day and apologizes for his attitude and how much of a disaster it was when the lettuce man ended up shot dead. ( the lettuce man who bled out in front of apollo but somehow didn't fuck him up even a little bit lmfao. )

he also tells apollo that he's been requested as machi's defense and i always felt like while lamiroir was informed by apollo that he's a lawyer, klavier may have cemented the deal on apollo becoming machi's legal representation because he knows apollo won't settle for anything but the truth, however ugly or difficult it is to unearth from under a mountain of goddamn lies.

why else would a world famous singer hire a fucking rookie attorney whose only reference on paper is a fucking convicted murderer???

also apollo somehow, SOMEHOW ( ??? ) being oblivious to all klavier's been through is such bullshit. in turnabout succession he even says to himself how he has to pull the doubt and darkness out of klavier while the guy is falling apart at the bench. apollo is insensitive and rude, yes, but he's not unobservant??? HE SEES THINGS? LITERALLY SEES PEOPLE'S DISCOMFORTS AND FEELINGS???

but i mean. i get it. i do? capcom didn't care about giving apollo his own 'crew' after shu takumi was removed from / left the ace attorney projects. phoenix gets larry and miles and mia and maya and pearl and apollo gets a dead best friend and we never get so much as a reference to the kitaki's ( wocky specifically ) or vera or machi ever again.

but at least we get trucy and lamiroir? i guess. not that the writers give an actual shit fuck about the gramarye's lmfao. nvm magnifi being fucking INSANE and so interesting because of it. guy tried to bully his apprentices into murdering him in a public setting??? lol.

and it's of my opinion that aa6 wasn't about giving apollo roots so much as it was about having a good overaching storyline that they worked red man into so people would get off capcom's case about him not having a set backstory... or something??? i don't know.

i don't know where i'm going with this either i'm just sad about red man and purple man and the gramarye bloodline and their squandered potential and the loose ends and badly resolved / retconned plotholes and details from aa4 like all the time.

[askaceattorney]

Dear Inferno,

It’s funny you should suggest something like that for April Fools’ Day, because it’s very similar to the idea I have for Halloween.  I’ll keep yours in mind, though.  I saved a copy of your letter on my desktop before blacking out part of it, in case you’re wondering.

And yes, I’m planning to stick with the “Co-Mod” moniker for now, even it’s technically a contradiction.  Thanks for asking.

Dear astralshiver,

Unless I’m mistaken, the character who’s received the most letters is none other than the man himself, Phoenix Wright!

As of now, there are 626 pages of letters either written to or involving the blue-clad lawyer (going by the hashtag results), and his popularity doesn’t seem to be dropping anytime soon.  The reasons seem pretty obvious to me -- he’s had the most screen time out of all the game’s protagonists, plus he somehow manages to be a generally cool kind of guy from one game to the next (after his college days, at least).

My favorite soundtrack is, and likely always will be, the Pursuit theme from Dual Destinies, Keep Pressing On, with Lying Coldly and Turnabout Sister’s Ballad coming in second and third, respectively.

And thank you very much for the compliments!  I love each and every one of these characters, and sharing that love with other fans is what motivates me to be as accurate as I can with their letter responses.  Thanks for being a part of that with me!

(Previous Letter)

Dear trearoos,

That’s fine.  You can share whatever you feel like sharing, but I always like seeing how others portray certain characters from an established video game universe (or universes).  Have fun with it, whatever you decide to do with it.

Dear Hey, this,

Not as stupid as me calling you that and including it as a hashtag.  I don’t mean to brag, but I can probably out-stupid anyone on the internet.

(Previous Letter)

Dear Anonymous,

It doesn’t break any of the blog’s rules, and I have no objections to it, so sure!  I’m always down for some more creativity in letters.

(Previous Letter)

Dear jnv11,

Those are good points, but Edgeworth was only referring to what was proven about her in court.  Plus I sort of forgot those details about that case, so...yeah.  Sorry for that.

Dear ACTUALLY Mothmouth,

I’ll do my best with it.  And don’t worry about Edgeworth -- he’s a king of retorts.

(Previous Letter)

Dear BadnesstheHuman,

I’d love to do something like that more often, but right now I’m doing all I can just to keep the queue of normal letters filled.  Hopefully it’ll be easier once I’ve got some help on board.

Speaking of which, for anyone who isn’t aware, I’m still accepting applications for a fellow moderator here on Ask Ace Attorney!  For details about what to send and where to send it, see this post.

I’m hoping to have someone picked by Monday, but that isn’t set in stone, so there’s still some time left to give it a shot if you’re interested.  Don’t be shy!

-The Co-Mod

[might-be-tiny-gt]

Let’s talk about this, because this is a really interesting problem that requires creative thinking to work out. I’ve been overthinking the hell out of this and will post the results of my ramblings under the cut. Disclaimer, these are pitches as to how to work around some of the plot issues and not set in stone head cannons. So please feel free to share your ideas too!

THERE WILL BE SPOILERS FOR JUSTICE FOR ALL AND ESPECIALLY TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS BELOW, DON’T READ IF YOU DON’T WANT TO BE SPOILED!

Making Trials and Tribulations Work in the Rattorney AU

The Dahlia/Phoenix Relationship

- Solution one, Phoenix and Dahlia are complete strangers and don’t meet until Bridge to the Turnabout. Simple, but boring.

- Maybe, Phoenix briefly lived in the Hawthorne house, shortly before the events of Turnabout Reminiscence. He pitied her terrible home life, but wasn’t around long enough or attentive enough to catch on to Dahlia’s true nature.

- If Phoenix meets Mia before or during Turnabout Memories, he could make attempts to vouch for Dahlia’s innocence only to discover her true nature as the case progresses.

- If Phoenix meets Mia after Turnabout Memories, he could vaguely hear about Dahlia when Mia talks about old cases. Maybe she explains everything, or maybe Mia’s doesn’t say much about her encounters with Dahlia, just enough for Phoenix to make the connection between Dahlia and Iris in the beginning of Bridge to the Turnabout.

- How does Turnabout Memories occur if Phoenix can’t be the defendant? Stick with me, let Larry Butz be the defendant. Phoenix’s behavior in this case can easily be something Larry does. Quickly falling for a girl that’s taking advantage of him and getting caught in the crosshairs of her evil schemes.

- This also allows for Mia to have an established dynamic with Larry, making the events of the First Turnabout a bit more personal for Mia.

- Maybe Larry can learn about Phoenix around this time as well, so later in the timeline Phoenix and Larry can have a similar friendship? Toleranceship? As in canon.

The Diego/Godot Dilemma

- If Phoenix doesn’t become a lawyer in Mia’s stead, then what motivates Godot’s turn into a prosecutor?

- The easiest fix is to have Godot become a prosecutor to look after or even test Maya.

- A good way to strengthen this motivation is to establish a parallel conflict for Maya, that being her future as either a lawyer or the master of the Kurain channeling technique.

- Back tracking to Justice for All, specifically Reunion in Turnabout, with Maya busy being a lawyer, this case practically ceases to exist as, logically, Maya would be too busy with defending to accept an invitation to perform a spirit channeling AND Morgan would not have any motivation to frame Maya for murder because if Maya per sues law full time, Pearl would be next in line to become the master.

- One way to make this case work is to have Maya conflicted on the future she wants. She loves defending along side Nick, and it connects her more than ever to her sister. On the other hand, spirit channeling is her family legacy and her strongest tie to her mother, in addition, if she doesn’t at least attempt to strengthen her powers, she may never be able to channel Mia again.

- Instead of Maya leaving at the end of Turnabout Goodbyes, she stays for Rise From the Ashes, making Reunion in Turnabout her first time properly returning to Kurain Village since Mia’s passing. Maya agrees to a spirit channeling; either to test her skill, as a transition into her proper training, or maybe out of obligation to her family legacy. Whatever the case, Maya doing this channeling leads Morgan to believe Maya wants to become Master instead of leave and become an attorney, thus Reunion in Turnabout happens.

- Back to Godot, when he wakes up, he hears about what happened to Mia and how Maya became an attorney in her absence. Maybe he does extensive research and learns about Maya’s conflict between choosing lawyer and spirit medium. Thus he becomes a prosecutor, not to protect Maya exactly, but to test he resolve and see if she’s truly capable of becoming a lawyer. Maybe it’s for a more selfish reason, maybe he thinks that by facing Maya in court, he might be able to see a bit of Mia’s fighting spirit in her sister and find some peace with Mia’s death.

Bridge to the Turnabout

- Ah Bridge to the Turnabout, probably the biggest hurdle when I comes to making this AU work. There are two major reasons why this case can’t work as is in this au, and they both involve the titular bridge.

1. Who’s trapped on the other side of the bridge, being absent for a majority of the case?

2. Who falls from the burning bridge into the river, putting them out of commission for the first investigation and trail of the case?

From a story telling stand point, the whole reason why Maya is M.I.A (oh I just got the pun for Mia’s name….) for most of the case is because she is a key witness to the murder. If she was able to testify from the get go the case would be finished much sooner and probably not have as big an impact.

Admittedly I don’t have any perfect solutions to resolve this but I have a few ideas that could be mixed and matched to make the class flow better.

- Miles could defend for the entire case, let the first half of the case play as normal and then have Phoenix join him during the second half.

- The Dahlia Hawthorne switched p;aces with Iris twist was written with Maya in mind, so if we remove Maya from this position, who can be the spirit medium channeling Dahlia in court. It could be Pearls, have her missing from the whole case and have Maya and Phoenix piece together her involvement with out questioning Pearls. But the dead give away to this twist would be the hair color. Iris and Maya have black hair so when Dahlia is channeled through Maya, you can’t tell the difference, Pearl’s hair would be a dead give away.

- The other option is Misty herself. Misty is a powerful Medium and has black hair, if she channeled Dahlia in court, there’s no way anyone can tell the difference. Big problem being that Misty is our murder victim an thus, can’t testify in court.

- BUT WHAT MISTY FEY WASNT THE VICTIM!?!?

- This is a thought I’ve been thinking about for a bit, have Misty live and Misty could be the tragic killer by the end of the case, forced to get blood on her hands to protect her daughter.

- But if Misty is the Killer than who’s the victim?

- Truth is, the only person I can think of to take Misty’s place as the victim and not only make the most narrative sense but the most emotional impact is having Godot be the victim. Of course having him be the victim still means that he can not be the prosecutor in the final case, nor will any of the development from the final case be coming from him directly, at best it’ll come from what people can infer based on evidence which isn’t as impactful.

- For anyone wondering how the murder itself would work with Misty and Godot switching places, I though maybe Maya figures out something about the plan and channels Dahlia herself. Misty finds her, and maybe not realizing that Maya is the medium channeling Dahlia, confronts her. Dahlia gets violent and Misty is forced to defend herself. Godot witnesses this, and realizing that Misty might injure Maya, steps in the way of a fatal blow. Have the rest of the murder and cover up play out like in game.

- With Godot gone, Franziska will be the obvious choice to prosecute the full case.

- Once again, this isn’t a perfect solution, but it’s an idea.

The entire third game needs a lot of changes to fit into the ratattorney au. Like, nick and dahlia can't really have a relationship. There's no organic way for them to meet, he can't exactly wear or swallow the necklace, and does any of it really track if the whole time she coulda just... Stomp? Furio tigre can't impersonate nick if nobody knows who he is. Bridge to the turnabout kinda... Can't work at all as is.

The stolen turnabout is the only one that comes out mostly unscathed.

[eisoj5]

For the fic writer questions!!! 10, 11, and 14!

XD Okay, friend. Turnabout and all that. XD

10. What’s a theme that keeps coming up in your writing?

Hmm. I am a qualitative researcher, so my one major outlier kind of messes up my ability to make claims about themes that persist, lol. I guess one theme might be something along the lines of “ordinary people just trying to live their lives.” 

Also, uh, tropes. XD

11. What kind of relationships are you most interested in writing?

ESTABLISHED ONES! Where the characters know each other really, really, really well, and it’s more about how they’re going forward through life together rather than the beginnings, because….well, I’ve been married a long fucking time now, and I never exactly understood how dating worked in the first place XD

(That being said, I am now….10k words into yet another slow burn mutual pining situation, dear lord please send help lol)

14. You’re applying for the fanfic writer of the year award. What five fanfics do you put in your portfolio?

HA. Okay. I think I can demonstrate a range with these (but since I didn’t write five fics yet this year, they’re from...my whole life, really): 

1. For obvious reasons, i guess i’ll know when i get there

2. riches are the least of it (The Sisters Brothers)

3. the dresses and the endless toasts and the crying (Elder Scrolls Online) 

4. What Keeps The Light (Journeyman/Sarah Connor Chronicles) 

5. …huh, picking a fifth is really hard. There’s some crack-y stuff I’ve written for Yuletides past that I’m still quite proud of because of how remarkably silly they are, and then there’s…OH, right. Lemme go find it. 

Yeah, okay. So I wrote this SEVENTEEN YEARS AGO, and while I still think it’s an interesting, weird little thing, it mainly shows…growth. XD (Also, a stellar example of why epithets are…interesting to work with.) Here is Chasing Safety, an X-Files fic I wrote after the Season 8 finale. 

Ask me other questions about fanfic!! :D