#vera ramblings !!

[neon-sunsets]

aa4 is fundamentally a game about trust. about people who trust each other when they shouldn't and don't trust each other when they should, and about the ways that trust can be earned or broken or misplaced.

see, there isn't exactly a lot of mutual trust to go around in the game. let's take inventory: apollo and trucy trust each other; they also trust ema, who comes to trust them during turnabout corner; trucy and phoenix trust each other in their own weird way (like the fact that she doesn't seem all too worried about him apparently leaving her in apollo's care prior to turnabout succession, or that he allows her to run around crime scenes with his new employee). and, by the end of turnabout succession, apollo and klavier at least trust each other to help work towards the truth.

there's also phoenix and kristoph, who are quite a unique case. this is because kristoph obviously does not trust phoenix, is friends with him to keep up appearances and keep an eye on him, but maintains that outward facade of trust. and while I don't think phoenix spent seven years plotting revenge on kristoph, i do think he was suspicious of kristoph's role in the whole thing. so they were friends (as twisted and weird as their friendship may have been) in spite of, not because of, mutual trust - both of them say as much. this weird, shaky, frequently one-sided trust in each other is only fully broken once zak gramarye is murdered. it's a source of grief for both of them. they did care about each other, as much as neither of them wanted to.

aside from those relationships, though, much of the rest of the trust in the game is one-sided. when characters in aa4 trust each other, that trust is frequently betrayed.

kristoph trusts apollo to follow his lead and accuse the right person. the kitakis trust paul meraktis to treat their injuries. wocky kitaki trusts that his fiance loves him. klavier trusts daryan to do both of his jobs. lamiroir trusts machi and romein to keep her blindness a secret. trucy trusts her biological father. and in all of these cases, the person who trusts another is inevitably betrayed or disappointed. the game is packed full of these examples; I probably haven't found all of them (nor is a betrayal of trust unique to aa4, though I think the game has a unique degree of focus on it as a theme).

there are three specific examples of misplaced trust I want to focus on, because they're essential to the plot of the game.

first, before anything else, klavier gavin trusts the brother who is implied to have had a significant hand in raising him (by the anthology comics, but even if you don't believe that's the implication it's clear from their interactions in-game that kristoph feels he has authority over klavier, and that klavier cares a great deal about kristoph's opinion).

then, apollo justice trusts phoenix wright to be the man he is (used to be).

and finally, vera misham trusts her good luck charm to protect her from the outside world.

klavier's trust in kristoph allows him to be used as a puppet in kristoph's schemes. it means he never questions kristoph's role in it all; though he certainly has questions, he blames himself instead of the person who's actually responsible. it breaks klavier's heart, and to a certain extent his faith in his abilities, when he finds out about what kristoph has done.

apollo's trust in phoenix seriously impacts his belief in goodness and truth. apollo trusts phoenix to be true, and just, and righteous - the man he used to be, the man whose court tapes apollo studied in law school. and then his idol hands him forged evidence and has the gall to laugh about it.

vera's trust in her good luck charm nearly kills her, and this is also a case where her lack of trust in the outside world is consequential. she should be able to put more trust in apollo, in trucy, and in the justice system. but she can't, and it makes her fearful, and the one thing she does trust - her good luck charm - is the one thing she shouldn't.

these three examples are driving factors within the story. obviously klavier's (and vera's, by extension) trust in kristoph is important because it sets into motion the events that culminate in turnabout succession. but apollo's trust in phoenix is also crucial because it allows those events to be exposed.

the rest of the time, the characters in aa4 tend not to trust each other. and they generally have good reason not to. the many instances where a character does not trust another character and is totally justified in doing so, are, in my opinion, less interesting. some examples include romein letouse, who had no reason to trust anyone he was working with given the nature of his interpol mission, and drew misham, whose paranoia, though extreme, was pretty much justified given his involvement with kristoph. their lack of trust isn't foolish, it's out of self preservation.

what are more interesting are the really important instances where characters should have trusted each other and didn't.

zak gramarye doesn't trust kristoph, so he gets a new attorney and kick-starts kristoph's murder plot. then he doesn't trust olga orly and knocks her out, which gets him killed. (obviously he had no way of knowing that kristoph was planning the things he was planning, but certainly not trusting olga is his own fault).

pal meraktis doesn't trust alita tiala, so he tries to kill her. wocky kitaki doesn't trust that his parents are trying to help him, so he acts out and gets himself into a lot of trouble. daryan doesn't trust klavier and goes behind his back, becoming so desperate that he resorts to murder. magnifi, zak, and valant gramarye all have levels of mutual mistrust that lead to a murder trial for magnifi's suicide.

apollo and phoenix don't trust each other, and they both have good reason not to, but it makes both of their lives a lot harder and I do think it damages their relationship. apollo isn't sure if he can believe phoenix and phoenix isn't sure if he can trust apollo to be who he needs him to be. that suspicion permeates all of their interactions in aa4. (they're so fucked up in this game, i'm obsessed with their dynamic.)

and, of course, thalassa gramarye doesn't trust that her children will want her in their life, so she hurts them by keeping their connection a secret. phoenix trusts her judgement and shouldn't, so he helps keep that secret. no one in that situation makes the right choice, and though we never actually get to see the fallout, I can't imagine apollo "foster care kid" "abandoment issues" "punched his hero in the face because he betrayed him" justice would react well to this revelation. I think it sets him and phoenix back, possibly right back to where they were in turnabout corner. and while I think they can repair their relationship over time, I do think it's a significant setback. and, importantly, it's a consequence of the same misplaced trust or lack of trust that is exemplified throughout the game.

and what I think aa4 is trying to say with all of this, just as its conclusion in regards to the truth is that the truth is so frequently ugly and upsetting, is that trust can only be useful if it is mutual and invested in. that people have many motivations, some of which we can never hope to know, and that sometimes they will betray us.

and, looking at apollo specifically, I think aa4 is telling us that trust is worth it in the end, even if it hurts when it is broken. apollo trusts each of his mentors and is betrayed by each of them (to different degrees), and yet he ends up in the right place because he trusts them and others. the force of his convictions, his belief in doing the right thing, and his belief in the good within other people carry him through other people's misdeeds.

and, if he hadn't trusted phoenix in turnabout trump, he never would have brought kristoph to justice or found his sister. he never would have gotten the chance to become a full-fledged attorney. aa4 is saying that it was worth it, in the end.

[cha1cedony]

Being both aroace and a huge nerd, it irks me a little that 99% of the asexual and/or aroace headcanons I see (and not aroallo headcanons interestingly, which could be its own post but I digress) are about characters who spend all their time working/studying/etc…. scientists, academics, introverts, shut-ins, even. I assume the common reasoning is that these characters only care about their work and don’t have time for things like relationships and sex. But like. You know that’s not what asexuality is… right 😀

Obviously it’s fine to headcanon these types of characters as ace, but I just always wonder about allo fans’ reasoning for it and what it implies about their opinions of asexual people. When the ONLY characters you can think of as ace are just nerdy, quiet/socially awkward characters with no other canon implications that they’d be ace, to me it just sounds like you think people are asexual because they can’t attract sexual partners? Or because they don’t have time for relationships??

Anyway it just annoys me a little that this is the VAST majority of the ace representation I see, both in canon and fandom. I’m an aroace academic, but I’m not aroace because I don’t have time for people or because I’m shy or awkward or lonely or whatever. I’m aroace because I’m aroace lol

Tl;dr, asexual/aroace people aren’t all innocent nerdy introverts (and aroallos aren’t all extroverts with a long history of one night stands, btw). Let ace characters be loud and stupid. Or try headcanoning a loud and stupid character as ace (you can do it, I promise)

[luckyreds]

Blur - Girls and Boys aka ✨Bob Leckie and his many loves✨

[lesbokyoko]

i think about her often. ohg the nose, her little bloody knees. fucking borzoi looking ass

[da-shrimping-station]

loving the "A rank support frame turned S rank tank" pipeline we got in PGR with Wanshi's new frame

y'all how bad is the situation for 2 of your best medics to swap frames and be at the frontline

Checklist:

✅ hot af

✅ beauty marks

✅ actual certified medics

✅ long hair

✅ can and will fuck shit up when serious

✅ tragic backstory (i mean, who in PGR doesn't)

✅ black + white + accent color

✅ maximum rizz and is pretty straightforward with their intentions towards Shikikan

[turtlelioni]

Krisnix has the potential to be so deliciously fucked up hear me out

We always talk about Kristoph's influence on Phoenix, how it drove him to be this secretive, conniving sleazebag that we see in AA4, how Phoenix had to bear this man watching his every move for seven years and put up the friendship front at least every day every week. Can we talk about how resilient that is of him I couldn't stand to suffer that in silence with all my loved ones away from me. And to pretend you're that bitch's friend without bitching about it to anyone later? self inflicted torture.

but also

Phoenix, for however long he suspected Kristoph of ruining his career, never suspected him as capable of murder. And I don't believe that he was capable, not of the hands-on kind that he commited with Zak, but Kristoph was driven to the edges of his sanity with Phoenix as well. We know that he attempted to poison Drew and Vera Misham almost at the same time he got Phoenix disbarred, and while it was vile, it was all calculated. Flawless. Clean.

Which is why the way he murdered Zak is so fascinating. Kristoph Gavin, the coolest defense in the west, the gentleman attorney, hit this man with a bottle over the head. It's messy. It's desperate. It's his last shred of composure being obliterated, because during the seven years that he stalked and manipulated Phoenix, he was under his scrutiny as well.

He knew that Phoenix suspected him to some extent. Aside from the loose ends that he hoped would be resolved in time, he knew that this man had friends with inexplicable "bring back the dead" powers and that his best friend was Miles Edgeworth, whom he most likely has gone up against. He knew that Phoenix was only playing dumb with him, because whoever could best him at poker every single time could not be a complete fool.

Phoenix drove this cold, calculated killer into a barfight murderer. He brought him to the brink of desperation in trying to cover his mess and they only knew half of the shit each other were doing during those seven years.

Just the poison as symbolism for their whole relationship, man. Phoenix trusting Kristoph at first, slowly realizing what he's really done to him, him poisoning himself in return by being around him- the drinking, the dishevelled appearance, the backroom poker playing, Kristoph becoming more paranoid, more desperate, more risky.

Phoenix was aware of the fact that the man he was hanging out with had the potential to turn him and his loved ones out on the streets, but to find out that he was also a murderer? Capable of both the insidious kind and the hands-on kind? the betrayal. the anguish. just when you build a tolerance to him, he attacks you again.

I could easily see Phoenix develop an even deeper paranoia, having all of his house and belongings tested for poison after AA4.

I could see it actually being there.

[allthecastlesonclouds]

well don't twist my arm or anything <3 (warning: oc rambles beneath the cut)

meet the queer historian adventuring party emotional support group! their resolve is all slowly being whittled away and their group chat is insane <3

Clementine Verity!

Tiefling

Archaeologist, specialty: Solesian Monarchy

Necromantic Wizard Level 4

She says she's going to kill Arthur Aguefort at least once a day and she does truly want to but she's never gonna actually do it. she's also constantly two steps away from sending him a strongly worded letter to let her go invisible in the past for like an hour

she's the one writing the fic asdklfjjklasdfh

Lesbian

grew up in Ashgrove, moved to Elmville after going to college

very very interested in the intersectionality of the solesian monarchy but also like. gets so distracted by the minutiae

"clementine isn't this paper about the tapestries?" "yeah why" "you've gone on about the presence of embroideries in grave sites.." "oh. oh shit that's not. that's not that relevant D:" "nope"

entirely honestly like everyone else here half the spell levels were picked up by necessity for the craft and the other half were just from studying a bunch of spellcasters

Mimi Keenvale

Lightfoot Halfling

Linguistic Anthropologist (especially Common and Halfling and what hybrid languages have come out of them)

Divination Wizard Level 4

"excuse me they asked for no pickles" type energy. honestly for their personal research their skin is clear their crops are watered they have a wonderful sample set around them

she's clementine's partner also

mimi's kind of just along for the ride. she works with evie a lot though because both of their work kind of takes them to a bunch of different places (being the two non-archaeology based of the group

Evelear Lorawynn

High Elf

Cultural Anthrologist (currently very invested in how towns nearby the Necronomicron work)

Divine Soul Sorcerer Level 4

evie <3

immigrant to Solace after being a teenager and spending like. three years in Kei Lumennura. she needed stimulation and to learn things so she went to a nonstatic nonadventuring college

their token straight (she's very much not cis) (she/he pronouns and also she can only explain his gender in elvish that is somehow entirely untranslatable even through a comprehend langauge)

he's married to a lovely half-elf (they all think his name is richmond but nobody's actually sure) she met here in solace and somehow every time there's an unplanned group call they're trying to have a date night

very much "nora baby are you back in the temple again?" "(anguished) I'M BACK IN THE TEMPLEEEE" "oh, god... well babe i gotta go stop my friends from tearing out their hair and skin besides"

so put together and then he misses one (1) trance and it's entirely "aren't you tired of being nice? don't you just want to go apeshit??"

Nora Matthews

Human

Archaeologist (Focus on the [Ancestral] Giant Pantheon) (most specifcally Ankarna but she is also intensely invested in the Fall Sibling as well)

Circle of the Moon Druid Level 4

Worshiper of the Raven Queen

she's so close to breaking down sobbing at kristen applebees' feet if she ever meets her. what do you meannnnnn you and your friends revived TWO gods??? over your SCHOOL BREAKS??? she's been trying to get to fallinel the past year and a half since Cassandra's name reappeared

was so close to being shatterstarred well and truly she spends so much time in that goddamn temple and when she saw the name reappear. i fear she began sobbing and proclaiming she was going to "destroy the building with her own two horns" before turning into a ram and needing to be restrained by the rest of the group

there's a reason their groupchat is named "i'm back in the fucking temple"

she's been trying to figure out who ankarna was for 17 years

polyam, two partners (neither of which are in this field)

Jotar Bonesweaver

Dwarf

Archaeological Anthropologist (specifically burial practices around Spyre)

Necromantic Wizard, Level 2; Grave Cleric Level 2

Worshipper of the Raven Queen

joey!

she's from Mount Shieldgaze

has the interesting experience of Hates How Hair Feels but also Knows Hair Is Important To Identity so. she's playing with it (she is actively in her. 40s)

very tense relationship with clementine. they're besties but also if You Touch My Stuff I'll Kill You <3 they work really closely together out of the six of them, along with Vera, so it happens. vera ends up being the mediator and they are so tired of this bullshit

She and Nora pray together! absolute asscrack of dawn praying time and if the whole group is together at least one person's going to wake up grumbling because they can hear them from the next room before remembering Oh That's My Friends and falling back asleep

"I know Kalvaxus was like a pretty bad guy but seriously i think he was onto something with that poison tea do you think if we brought poison tea into that fuckass school aguefort would drink it"

Vera Willem

Human

Archaeologist (Solesian History) (Also invested in the monarchy but more interested in the spread of different inventions)

Spirits Bard Level 4

Harbours an intense hatred for Arthur Aguefort that fae's never acted on but dear LORD does he want to sometimes

she settles for meaningless threats. "i'm going to blow up that entire school just to get these fuckass adventurers out of the way they keep killing my interviewees" "vera you can't murder that many children" "shit"

Harroway Bay originally, moved to Bastion City for college and then to Elmville where she met Clementine and Mimi

they're solidly the middle ground person of the group and god do they hate it

[veradragonjedi]

NEW NAME ALERT!!!!!!

Vahrona/Vahron.

[akuma-tenshi]

"the idv fandom has a severe sexism issue and needs to stop complaining every time any female character does or gets anything" and "idv fans who swing really hard in the other direction and hate male characters for being male characters are just as bad and need to stop as well" are statements that can and should coexist

[fox-guardian]

tis the season for my hands to get soso dry and ouchies

[bucked-it-up]

What if buck and Tommy have little routines they do like they watch/catch up on certain channels on set days and rarely deviate from it. They have a set day to go to the park, once a month they take their cars to be cleaned. They always eat breakfast together when they can. Without fail, they will always call each other once a shift. They fall into a cleaning routine easily, Tommy does the laundry on set days and Buck hoovers. They alternate taking the bins out. They just fall into little routines and tasks fitting together like a jigsaw.

[veraisaplant]

Guys, I just need one second of your precious time to look at the bread my mum made.

[lesbokyoko]

eules are the type of mfs to go “yessir!! 🫡” to any order in unison and then scramble off in 30 directions

[uniquezombiedestiny]

looks around. anyone wanna hear me talk about my silly timelooper

[berryblu-arts]

Me when the kiddos grow up *sob*

[blueberry-bubbles130]

Now I haven’t seen a full episode of Monster, yet I really want to.

But someone who loves old paintings, I cannot understate how obsessed I am with this portrait of Vera Cerna.

Like it’s so pretty, but carries this heavy and depressive atmosphere to it. The colours that are both muted and soft.

I love paintings of people so much because it’s a snapshot in time. Whether it be happy, neutral or this melancholic atmosphere, it’s a glimpse of a time long gone.

I just cannot love it enough. It’s so beautiful and I must use it as inspiration.