reasons why the inklings don’t have movie nights

It's choosing to be kind to people when you're in a bad mood, or when they're being annoying.

It's choosing to be kind to people who your friends don't like.

It's choosing to be kind to people who you don't particularly like.

It's choosing to be kind to people who you envy.

I'm not saying that you can't be a kind person and stand up for yourself, or tell someone to fuck off when they're doing something genuinely harmful, but there are a million petty reasons people use to justify treating people badly.

But that's exactly what kindness is. It's making the effort to treat people well when you don't feel like it.

A slightly belated something for Ace Week, but y’know what, let’s just claim Halloween while we’re at it.

Available on Inprnt and in my Etsy shop!

for example, edgeworth could've easily killed his own father by accident and he still would've been deserving of just as passionate a defense from phoenix because a genuine error shouldn't allow people to ruin his life like that. maya channeling a spirit could have killed that doctor and she still wouldn't be at fault and would still be deserving of defense because she can't be blamed in that situation (or if the prosecution wants to argue she is still culpable because a spirit channeling murder is unprecedented, that's also a fun can of worms to open) but the narrative constantly deems everyone good perfectly scot free.

phoenix constantly tells them they would never do something like that, even when edgeworth "confesses" his dream phoenix insists that edgeworth is not the type of person to ever kill somebody and that he refuses to believe that he would ever do that, when accidents don't take into account what kind of person you are and what you would and wouldn't do. i would have loved for phoenix to listen to edgeworth's confession, or maya's account of the crime, and say "even if that is true i will find you innocent".

but the reason ace attorney gets away with it? is because the alternative they present isn't any less interesting. they aren't avoiding the loaded "i accidentally shot my own dad and now i have to live with that reality" in favour of the easier, cleaner "i never did anything wrong, actually". no, instead they're going with "there's this man who had the perfect crime laid out in front of him with no evidence and no witnesses and literally all he had to do is wait out the statute of limitations to get away with it but he's just so fucking petty that instead of leaving the matter alone he opted to play the unnecessary long game of adopting a child, force-feeding him immense self-loathing and doubt for 15 years until it all builds up to the point where he interrupts his own trial's conclusion to announce himself guilty and ask to be charged with murder even though in a day the case would've been closed forever". instead of maya having to grapple with the fact that her body was used to commit murder outside of her own agency of it, instead she's grappling with the fact that her aunt has been conspiring with relatives she didn't know she had against her because of a decades long feud to end her entire bloodline in an insane chain of events that culminate with the reappearance and subsequent death of her missing mother.

I think vital aspects of Tim include the following:-

He’s a Good Kid (TM). Tim generally wants to live up to expectations and do the right thing and look out for others. He’s polite and sends thank you notes and feels guilty when he has to lie to people. He expects and accepts dealing with the consequences of his choices and actions. That’s not to say he doesn’t act out on occasion or think about doing the wrong thing, but he’s the sort of person that gets held up as a good role model for others.

He’s earnest and works incredibly hard. Tim is the 99% perspiration of achievement. He’s certainly brilliant in some areas but what he is more than anything else is incredibly hard working, and somewhat cautious over his skills until he knows he has them down. He’s one of the best bo fighters in the world not from natural talent but from so much practice and training with the best.

“Someone should do it. I’m someone, so I guess I will do it.” This is rhetorical nuance from ALPOD some people overlook. Tim’s involvement with the Mission has a core of ‘someone needs to step up and do this. And nobody else is volunteering. And I tried to find an alternative, but there’s just me.’ It’s not that he puts himself forward; it’s that he’s willing to volunteer for what he sees as a duty and responsibility that everyone else is trying to sidestep. It’s why he flirts with the idea of no longer being needed, and why every time he does end up in that situation where he has to choose whether to be a civilian or step back up because he can help, he is pulling the costume back on and returning.

He’s extremely socially adept and a compulsive networker. Tim is a gregarious social person. He makes friends easily, he can work with people even when he doesn’t like them, and most importantly he can hold a group together even when there are otherwise tensions in it. Two characters might not want to work with each other, but they’re both willing to work with Tim, and that’s what makes the team or teamup function. Tim isn’t necessarily the team leader, but he’s the reason the team functions together.

something i really love about shinichi's love for ran is how the reason he mentions was never something like "she's beautiful" or "she's kind" (which is still valid btw and i'm sure he does like that abt her too), instead it's these quirky traits that some might even consider flaws (cs i sure as hell know there are ppl in the fandom who hates ran for these exact reasons 😒). Like, he doesn't just accept ran's "imperfections", he LOVES them. Ran just can't do anything wrong with him cause he just absolutely loves everything abt her and i am OBSESSED with it 😭

commence, checkmate.

One thing I did appreciate, though, is that the games did seem to at least include 1) named staff at various locations, which is a general requirement for murder mysteries, I think, and also 2) additional, unnamed characters in the background to fill out the world. The courthouse has security / police officers. The police station has a couple extra desk workers. And so on. I like to see worlds appearing filled out. I'm interested to see if that goes further in other games down the line.

From what I understand, big city courthouses are busy and have a lot of administrative staff, and the staff and lawyers tend to get to know each other through repeated cases. I'd love to see an AA fic told entirely through the outsider's POV of various courthouse staff.

Not just other prosecutors, other judges, public defenders / legal aid counsel / duty counsel, and security guards and police officers. But also the court clerks, the counter clerks and office administrators, the court stenographers and transcriptionists, the judicial assistants, the trial coordinators and scheduling staff, the court staff supervisors and HR people, the records management staff, the IT staff, the janitors, and so on. Also throw in the people who are in and out of the courthouse regularly: law clerks, paralegals, articling students, social service workers of various kinds, language interpreters, etc..

There is a VILLAGE of people inside the courthouse and connected to it who are gossiping nonstop about Phoenix Wright, not just other lawyers, I promise you. That man is Staff Break Room Famous. The clerks have favourite prosecutors for sure (everyone has a "Miles Edgeworth Encounter Story" probably) and the clerks are definitely ranking these defense attorneys on the quality of their paperwork filed with the courts.

Option one: The murder victim was innocent while the killer was an abusive bastard, see Speckled Band. Conclusion, arrest and have the killer charged (Or in the case of Speckled Band, indirectly murder him yourself then shrug and go home)

they were POPULAR

the Victorians LIKED reading about women who won out over shitty men in their lives, even when that plotline reaffirmed a woman’s power and agency or put an active sexist in his place (ie Irene Adler besting Holmes)