#jfa spoilers

[battybiologist]

Playing the Original Trilogy Ace Attorney games back to back, it really struck me as early as 2-2 how much Franziska is very bad at the whole "Demon Prosecutor" schtick

What made Edgeworth so tough isn't just how he would run logic circles around you, but also because he shut down every line of inquiry that was not directly related to the case and substantiated with hard evidence. His one weakness was that he still followed the due proceedings of court and the Judge's rulings without a fuss. And, you know, that he still had morals

Manfred von Karma is on a whole other level. He's even more ruthless than Edgeworth, but he's also so intimidating that he essentially takes over as judge in the beginning, and his moral compass was surgically removed because it hurt his shoulder.

But Franziska, while she also controls the social dynamics of the court, lets so much shit fly that Edgeworth would not. If he was the prosecutor, he would have needed hard evidence that Pearl was in the Winding Path, and he definitely wouldn't have let him badger Ini about the sports car she drove all those years ago.

Hell, Edgeworth's most common dirty tactic in the first game is concluding a cross-examination before you can squeeze the info out of the witness. And just in 2-2, Franziska lets, and sometimes forces, the cross-examinations to continue, even when said cross-examination reveals she was concealing evidence.

Even Winston Payne, the jobber prosecutor par excellence, is more ruthless than her IIRC, as in he tried to conclude a trial early before Phoenix could finish his reasoning, whereas the Judge literally tried to declare Maya guilty and Franziska objected

You could interpret this behaviour in many ways. In fact, Phoenix even gives us his own: he thinks she's being arrogant, à la "hit me with your best shot". It would track, as she's been pretty arrogant up until now, but I think it's a little shallow.

My own interpretation goes a little deeper into Franziska's character: We know Franziska has been raised by Manfred "my card PIN is 0001 because I'm number 1" von Karma to believe perfection is the ultimate goal. She HATES lying witnesses, but is perfectly fine with "preparing" testimonies. She's the most volatile and youngest prosecutor to date. Lastly, she felt pressure to live up to the von Karma name all her life, but when her father died, she was more concerned with Edgeworth's presumed death than it

My conclusion: Franziska's truest desire pre-character development is to win fair and square, but because she associates her father with victory, she forces herself to emulate him and tries to play dirty. All of her Manfred-like tactics are done outside of court, where she would be able to think it over, letting her conditioning kick in. But in the thick of legal battle, especially facing Phoenix Wright, who thrives on hectic trials, she would let her heart decide what to do.

#justice for all spoilers #ace attorney #franziska von karma #pwaa spoilers #jfa spoilers #phoenix wright ace attorney spoilers #ace attorney original trilogy spoilers #ace attorney spoilers #i love how almost blink-and-youll-miss-it her characterization is

[boyquiet]

based on this post

#most high effort shitpost ive ever made #ace attorney #matt engarde #ace attorney fanart #phoenix wright ace attorney #klapolloism art #ace attorney spoilers #jfa spoilers

[foldable-mattress]

Ya'll, I can't believe this game hates women. We're gonna act like I haven't been forgetting to post this for the past week

#franziska von karma #maya fey #franziska ace attorney #maya ace attorney #ace attorney spoilers #aa spoilers #jfa spoilers #cw: gore #ace attorney #ace attorney fanart #digital art #art #art by op #fanart #art by me #digital fanart #artists on tumblr #I hope I got all the spoiler and content warnings if not please lmk

[attorneys-against-court-violence]

New Matt Engarde headcanon dropped: The chalice is filled with chocolate milk, not booze.

Makes enough sense too. Engarde is a total manchild who relies on Adrian for most of everything he does in his career; he can't do or say a lot without asking someone else first (whether those people are real is up for debate). Jury's still out on whether Phoenix ever calls him a "Mommy's Boy" - haven't found any evidence for it & I may have missed that line playing the game myself - though between this and his petty competition with Juan, he reads as a very childish man at heart.

It'd also track with Ace Attorney's tendancy to replace character's alcoholic drinks with more mundane alternatives. Juan's own glass is filled with tomato juice. Godot's bourbon was replaced with coffee and Phoenix's wine bottles are filled with bog-standard grape juice. Having big bad evil man Matt Engarde swirl a glass of what is essentially a treat for children like a Bond villain would line up well with Ace Attorney's humour and potentially his character as well.

Can you imagine being invited to this guy's house and he hands you a whole glass chalice of flavoured dairy product. Are there people out there with a story or two of how they were invited to his room and found him pouring a carton of branded chocolate milk into a pair of drinking glasses to set the mood? Does Adrian die a little on the inside when they sit down for dinner and she eyes him slurping his choccy milk over a well-done steak, praying that her own glass of full-alcohol wine never runs out so she can drown this pathetic little man out of her head? "At least Juan drinks something more healthy than that saccharine swill", one may think to themselves.

This might be the most light-hearted thing I have to say about this guy, enjoy it while it lasts. I have plenty of other thoughts about Mr Engarde and his... escapades.

#ace attorney spoilers #jfa spoilers #gif #matt engarde #adrian andrews #fresh as a spring breeze

[earlgraytay]

this is Nick's second bad sports metaphor of the night

we can tell he's not 100% Here because he's recycling material.... his head just isn't in the game.....

#ace attorney #aa2 #ace attorney spoilers #aa2 spoilers #jfa spoilers #aa jfa #well i guess this is a liveblog: back in court

[characteroulette]

A study on prosecutors -- (previous) (next)

Second, Franziska.

Franziska is a really, really interesting case. Not only is she someone who is coloured by our experiences with our two previous prosecutors (Edgeworth and Manfred), she's also the prosecutor we spend the least amount of time in trial against. Her debut game has her headlining only two of the four trials. She gets exactly one more trial in the next game and even then, it's a single day and not even against Phoenix. She has the least amount of time to make her impression on us, and so every single moment she's onscreen has to count.

And boy, do they ever make it count!

Gumshoe is, once again, our introduction to her presence. I find it a bit weird that they leave enough room for ambiguity on whether or not Manfred's kid is his son or something. Playing with the player's expectations, I guess? It's weird but I guess it's brushed over completely once Franziska is revealed, so it's not too much of a sticking point.

But then we meet her in court and she is as absolutely as much of a menace as advertised. She's as much in control of the proceedings as her father, using her whip instead of his iron fist, and focused wholly on perfection. You get a real bases on what growing up as Manfred's protege would be like from her mannerisms; she acts like a princess, like the only person in the room with any importance, and she wears it proudly. You can't help but admire how much of a bastard she presents herself as. She's willing to get in there and do the work herself rather than relying on anyone else; what a first impression to make.

This is, of course, helped along by her dubiously legal steps. She hides the existence of the second photo, she presents a completely illegal photo only to then claim that it's not actual evidence she's presenting. Her brazen display of dirty tactics is infuriating, it's a reflection on her father's own ruthlessness. It even puts into perspective Edgeworth's own ruthlessness, though he certainly never stepped this far past the line of legality. At least, the way he was presented to us, it never felt like he actually did anything illegal.

The key point, though, is that she makes us feel helpless. About as helpless as Manfred did (and maybe Edgeworth in 1-2, though your mileage may vary on that one). Our immediate response should be to treat her just as hostilely, to suspect her of falling to some sort of ruin just the same as her father.

But then, day two of the trial arrives. And instead of fighting tooth and nail, Franziska starts to go along for the ride.

You might not think anything of it at first. Phoenix certainly doesn't. She's still biting, still snapping and forcing you to prove every argument you throw out there. She isn't one to yield so easily, she demands perfection even when you're unravelling her supposedly perfect case. And yet, with each push, she gives in just enough to allow you footholds. She sees your logic and doesn't discount it. She even follows along, agrees with you as you piece together this mystery.

She's more willing to work with you than you ever expected considering her demeanour in that first trial day. She's just as interested in figuring out the whole truth as you are. It really surprised me, going back to this game and seeing just how willing she is to follow your working out the mystery. She's so agreeable that second day that it speaks of some knowledge, some spot of light in her that flares up in defiance of every method Manfred ever used. She's still too close to the line of illegal, she's still willing to get into some dirty methods herself, but she's not willfully blind to the truth. She's able to understand that what you're proposing makes sense.

She's still a child. She's barely an adult and it shows that she's in far less danger than Manfred or Edgeworth were to that looming darkness.

(Is it her inexperience? Is it her headstrong defiance of falling into the same trap her father did? No matter the reasoning, it makes her less of an antagonist than she should be seen as. It makes it clear that we can reach her, that she's not someone to condemn in the same way we did Manfred.)

We can't really begin to trust her. Not yet. She's a wild card, she's still threatening to crush us under her heel.

But she has more humanity by the end of this trial than Edgeworth or Manfred displayed at the end of their first appearances. And before we know it, we're susceptible to being endeared to her as someone we could form an allyship with.

Case three is kind of a mess overall, but I appreciate Franziska's presence in it keeping these crazy clowns on track. For the most part, at least. She whips even Phoenix into staying focused when Ben, Trilo, and Moe would force us into a detour. Perhaps it's a smart choice in contrasting her with these characters, as it makes her a lot more reasonable looking after her introduction. Yeah, she did something pretty illegal to prove Maya's spirit channelling technique, but she's also taking no nonsense from these clowns and it goes a long way towards me appreciating her presence here in this case. (Anything to get through this painful first day, really.) I really can't blame her for manipulating Moe's testimony because she would have to be crazy to let him explain to the court how he saw the culprit fly off into the sky.

And then we run into her at the crime scene during the investigation and her motivations become loud and clear.

There was a sort of suspicion from the beginning, of course. Phoenix and Maya both told her that seeking revenge for her father made no sense and each time she made no comment towards it. She simply brushed it off and continued on as if they never mentioned her father.

But here, she explains it's not for her father she's doing any of this. It's for Edgeworth.

Edgeworth, whom she believes can't be dead.

It's a brilliant moment, really, tying her in a sibling rivalry sort of dance with our previous rival turned ally. It really informs how her mannerisms and her approach to trials can be so similar and yet so different to Manfred's. How she can be so obsessed with perfection and yet allow us to figure out the truth to each case. She's a perfect blend of both of them and suddenly she's the little sister, the one left behind, the one chasing after something that no longer really exists.

It's almost tragic, really. I started liking her in this moment; understanding a character can go a long way towards endearing you to them.

The second day of the trial is much the same as the second day of case 2's. Franziska is far too willing to allow us to theorise on what happened, challenging us enough to make us prove what we're saying. Her incredulousness at the reveal of the actual method of murder is warranted, but she can do nothing else but acquiesce to the truth of it all.

She's a sore loser. Another flaw in her perfect veneer. Where as in the second trial it was infuriating, this time it's enough to make you feel sorry for her. Someone overstepped her authority, she shot herself in the foot by figuring out the truth and trapping the true culprit in an unwinnable scenario. It was Edgeworth pulling some strings, but she still went right along with it, convinced she was absolutely right.

Thus, we come to the final case of her debut.

It should have been suspicious, looking back, how much of her we saw during the initial investigation. She's running herself to overdrive in order to win this case. Her previous two losses sting far too much; she's willing to fire Gumshoe for it, to charge recklessly ahead, to make a deal that could have killed a woman just to get her victory. Her complicated relationship with Edgeworth comes out in full force with his appearance and oof there is so much good stuff there with him and Phoenix in this scene. (As an aside, I really love how this case portrays Phoenix barely holding himself back from having a panic attack when Maya is kidnapped. It's so good how it portrays his vision going, how it portrays him freezing up, how he can barely hold himself together. Chef's kiss, delicious, I love it, that's got nothing to do with Franziska's character portrayal lol.) She is continually running away from us in this investigation and it shows how doggedly she's working on setting up all her pieces just to topple us.

And, hey! You know the quickest way to endear us to someone we're nearly convinced on? Just have them get shot!

In all seriousness, it is a shocking moment, hearing that De Killer's "gift" to us was having her shot. It sets up an immediate reversal of roles; yes, we never planned for this, we didn't even ask for this, but we're the ones employing the barely legal tactics now. We're the ones who have some dirty methods clinging to the backs of our minds in our efforts to win at all costs.

Being cast in the same light as she was in that second trial is another great moment of understanding. Suddenly, you can't fully blame her for what she does. Condemning her would mean condemning ourselves, even when the circumstances are vastly different. At least, that's certainly how I felt. I can't blame her for her illegal tactics when I'm out here with a gun to my head. It's the same sort of pressure, isn't it? To be hounded by an perfectionist who accepts only victory. To be hounded by an assassin with a noose around our girl's neck.

Clearly, Phoenix also understands this on some level. Otherwise, why would he take her flowers when going to visit her in the hospital? (Phoenix is such a kind person he's even willing to make nice to someone who whipped him into unconsciousness. Another point towards endearing Franziska to us, really.)

The ending of this case and Franziska's big damn hero moment really seal the deal. She comes in at the last second with everything we need both to prove Engarde's guilt and save Maya from De Killer. Her inability to understand our joy afterwards also speaks of a want for growth, a want to chase this light we've shown her, but her headstrong nature won't allow it. Her conversation with Edgeworth at the airport really seals the deal, too. She's become our ally, whether she wanted to or not.

Honestly, I think she's all the more fascinating for her stalwart refusal to admit that she's as endeared to us as we are to her. She's the type of character I've grown to love writing, so she definitely made her impression on me with this.

Her appearance in the next game is such a triumph, too. She's the same headstrong, defiant wild card, but she's accepted her position as our ally. She speaks of crushing Phoenix, of finally having her chance to battle against him and Edgeworth, yet it's undeniable how much fun she's having while we walk around with her. It's undeniable how she's working with Edgeworth in the same manner she did on the second day of her trials when fighting Edgeworth in court. She's here and she's going to make it our problem in an affectionate way.

Anyway yeah I love Franziska she's such a fun character.

#Momo writes stuff #Ace Attorney #Franziska von Karma #Essay time for Momo #Anyway I wanted to write this but went on a 2k Edgeworth rant lol #I LOVE FRANZISKA SO MUCH #SHE'S A FUCKING TERROR CHILD #I am a big fan of terror gals #Clearly lol #Here's my 2k words Franziska rant lol #She's so much fun believe me pls #JFA spoilers #Some spoilers #Character analysis be like #Literary analysis be like #Literary analysis brain goes brrrrr

[andromedan-prince]

Who really died in that crash?

#aa #ace attorney #aa jfa #jfa spoilers #aa spoilers #mimi miney #ini miney #Tw broken bone #Idk man something about her…

[probablygayattorneys]

People think the whole “Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth chooses death” thing was because of the whole SL-9 incident, but that was only one contributing factor. The true straw that broke the camel’s back was the next day, Gaspen Payne stole his lunch from the breakroom fridge and he had really been looking forward to it.

#phoenix wright: ace attorney #miles edgeworth #gaspen payne #phoenix wright: justice for all #rise from the ashes #JFA spoilers #just to be safe #if you don’t know prosecutor miles Edgeworth chose death #well I’d hate for this to be how you learned

[maimreddwhite]

woe. ini be upon ye

#ini miney #ace attorney #jfa spoilers #shes scrunkly

[handbagman]

im still mad that at the end of farewell my turnabout (matt engards case jfa) when it was confirmed matt did it phoenix didnt just drop everything walk out the defense stand and run to the witness stand to ask shelly where the fuck maya was it woulda gone like

phoenix: im done. im DONE. WITH THIS FUCKING CASE. *hops over desk to grab walkie talkie at witness stand* WHERE THE FUCK IS SHE

shelly: she'll be at the court in 40 min max

phoenix: THANK YOU. *walks out court*

he shouldve been able to curse out matt im so pissed ace attorney doesnt swear

#ace attorney spoilers #jfa spoilers

[aubyrei]

happy 5 year anniversary to matt engarde's prison sentence. if shelly didn't get to him first i tried to copy the style for the aa1 case.. thingies.. whatever they're called. i kinda failed, but it's okay. i still like how this came out

#aa2 spoilers #aa jfa #aa jfa spoilers #justice for all spoilers #ace attorney fanart #ace attorney #adrian andrews #ace attorney spoilers #matt engarde #will powers #pearl fey #phoenix wright #franziska von karma #maya fey #shelly de killer

[attorneys-against-court-violence]

For the AA ask game, 97, 16, and 5!

97.

Does the Steel Samurai really count as non-human if he's played by a human actor? My musings aside, it's a toss-up between the two best birds in the franchise: Polly and Taka.

Polly is the centre of the single funniest moment in the first game. He's not only cross-examined in a court of law but also retrained by the prosecutor in that trial to not ruin his plans. That moment was the biggest car-crash of a testimony which spoke volumes about both Manfred and Phoenix and it's fantastic. He even holds a bit of emotional significance, being named after Yani Yogi's fiance who left him while he was pretending to be brain-damaged and reminding him why he's even in this situation to begin with. The bird is pretty much the only one in his corner after that trial... yet he only serves to remind Yogi of what he lost and why.

Taka is similar, in that he's Simon's only companion during his incarceration & has strong ties to the event that lead to his situation. The difference being that, while Polly is pretty one-note and dim, Taka is sharp and feels like he has a mind of his own. He's ruthlessly loyal and helpful to Simon, acting as both a literal weapon against fools in court and a weapon against Simon's despair. He shuts down inferior birds in his presence, happily demonstrates his melodic screeching against an orca, looks surprised when Simon slams the desk, and accepts his affection and orders with no objections. I love him dearly.

16.

There aren't many culprits in AA that I'd trust with my coffee, let alone a prison breakout, though my money's on the phantom in terms of practicality. Long as he isn't still freaking out over his lack of identity, his training as a spy means he has a good amount of skill in escaping from capture. Second to him would probably be Shelly, but I'm dubious on how much he counts. Plus his expertise is more in not getting caught in the first place and from what I know? He hasn't broken into prison to shank Engarde yet. Maybe he has, though I wouldn't know.

5.

This is going to have to be a "so far" answer, so apologies if your favourite doesn't cross my mind!

But who to choose... there's a few I'd call top-tier in my mind...

My mind's on either Marlon Rimes or Damon Gant. They're both polar-opposites in terms of how they operate as culprits so it's difficult to say which one I think is better. Guess they'll have to answer for their respective trilogies!

Damon Gant is corruption incarnate. While Redd White had a strangle-hold on law officials through blackmail, Gant's corruption was internal. This was someone who worked in the police department doing terrible things to gain near absolute control over proceedings at the precinct. Someone who's willing to sacrifice others in the name of catching someone he suspected greatly but could not prove his suspicions with hard evidence. Having this man at the top of the food-chain and giving him strings to tie around the Chief Prosecutor is a recipe for one truly corrupt police force, especially with how they're liable to arrest people on suspicion alone. And the scariest part? He's a human being. He's a goofy old man who enjoys swimming, goes on lunch dates with other law officials, lends people money with no ulterior motive (at least I hope not). He's an incredibly selfish person, outright stating that he only cares about himself, but a person nonetheless. That doesn't change when the big revelation hits. There's no sympathy for Gant but he feels more human than a good few other culprits in the series.

Marlon Rimes is also fantastic for being remarkably human in his writing, though for different reasons. He is a man driven by intense grief and anger for the loss of Azura Summers. While the orca didn't kill Summers, the poor timing of her heart attack meant that the orca was held under suspicion for her death. Rimes had every reason to believe the orca had done it, and following that? Summer's understudy Sasha Buckler is training another orca with the same level of trust and love as Summers - trust that Rimes believes was misplaced. This is a tightly-knit group too, so Rimes was likely seeing a friend & friend of his love get close to what he saw as a murderous animal. It's not a series of events he wanted to see repeated, so he tried to get the orca killed... which resulted in tragedy as yet another person Rimes knew died due to the orca; the Captain rushing to save her from dying due to a lack of water to hold her weight. His assumptions about Ora and Orla weren't true - the revelation no doubt destroying him internally as he welcomed the death penalty - but it was reasonable at the time. He's not a bad person, nor a corrupt one. Rimes was a man who cared about the safety of his collegues and made a dreadful mistake trying to protect them & avenge Summers. Being redeemed at the end is only the icing on the cake.

Soooooo.... I suppose the best culprits to me are the ones that are the most human! Ini Miney would also make the cut in this regard, though two was already pushing it for the answer. I already pulled the double-answer stunt for the first question! Hahaha!

#let your heart be heard #ask game #ask games #ace attorney spoilers #dual destinies spoilers #jfa spoilers #rfta spoilers

[earlgraytay]

and now we swing from "actually halfway nuanced depiction of trauma and mental health issues" to "yeah, there's a couple-hundred-year-old assassin family called the De Killers and a special government task force is hunting them down"

oh, ace attorney, never change...

#ace attorney #ace attorney spoilers #aa jfa #jfa spoilers #shelly de killer #miles edgeworth #farewell my turnabout

[effen-draws]

A Fey family portrait that I did before I finished the third game and then later found out was incorrect... BUT I trust that you'll be able to suspend your disbelief for a few moments!

#ace attorney fanart #ace attorney trilogy #ace attorney #aa #is the fey clan fucked up or WHAT?! #maya fey #aa jfa #aa spoilers #pearl fey #mia fey #morgan fey #misty fey #ace attorney jfa #effen's art

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

I need the 12 year old Rangi with her mother lore dropped like yesterday FC Yee. Don't leave me hanging. TT0TT

#rangi #rangi sei'naka #rangi seinaka #hei-ran #hei-ran sei'naka #hei-ran seinaka #please theyre so funny TT0TT #is it because she didn't have military rank until rangi was like 14 or something???? jfdkls;jfa #i'll take like 8 fics of them bickering please #screw it spoilers #shadow of kyoshi spoilers #shadow of kyoshi #i know i talked about this before but that was my first read through! TT0TT I'm taking a second look! #i have more thoughts now! #did rangi go on travels with Yun before? i feel like she must've once or twice #she mentions going to other places in the earth kingdom #i need to know #did hei-ran not give her shit during that time? (she must've) #i need a series of rangi/hei-ran travels pre Yun and during yun kaljsfdlkjafsakf #rangi must've graduated at like 12/13 and then finished the junior corps at like 13/14 then she meets yun/kyoshi #wait where does Rangi/Hei-ran sleep? Kyoshi lives in the estate #do they not live in the estate? #please tell me Rangi/Hei-Ran are on an indefinite camping trip in a tent right outside the estate TT0TT #please that'd be so funny akljdfskjf;a #it'd explain how Kyoshi had never seen Rangi in normal attire too fkdasjdflf;k #please I need Rangi/Hei-Ran to be just such CREATURES! #ok ok last post for awhile #(don't mind the random meta/analysis in the tags on the pre Kyoshi novel events TT0TT)