#dillian

Dillian is so feminine and beautiful, and while many authors would portray beautiful and feminine antagonists as straight up evil, stupid and without humanity, Diana Wynne Jones avoids that stereotype.

Dillian loves her brother Archer, treats her employees well, is intelligent, well organised, realistic, organised for Howard and Awful to be rescued from Shine (even though that was partly motivated by Dillian wanting Quentin’s two thousand words) and stands up for herself damn well with Shine.

I really dislike how Dillian is power hungry and insults Shine’s weight. Being power hungry is bad regardless of your gender, and people shouldn’t be given a free pass for being power hungry because they’re men. I notice sexist fanfiction and original fiction that excuses male characters for being power hungry but those writers condemn female characters for being just as hungry for power.

Note: I didn’t like how Dillian fed Howard fake food and left him hungry and had Maisie Potter steal Quentin’s words, obviously. Just because I admire how well written Dillian is doesn’t mean I agree with everything she does.

I noticed that some sexist older authors wrote women villains as overestimating their intelligence and portraying women as the root of all evil but Diana Wynne Jones never does that with Dillian.

(Links in the Letter)

Dear kuromajinevil,

Both at once, my friend.  For those who don’t know, Auryn and Scarlet Study are the individuals who created the English fan translations for Prosecutor’s Path and The Great Ace Attorney, respectively (I didn’t know that myself until I looked it up just now).  That sort of dedication to a video game series is an absolute joy and inspiration to fans like me.

(Previous Letter)

Dear Anonymous,

The letter before that one was sent to Apollo before his trip to Khura’in in AA6, so it only made sense to keep it in that time frame for this letter.  Otherwise it would mean a huge time skip happened, and he probably would’ve forgotten about the first letter by then.

I’ll go ahead and write what he might have said after SoJ in case you’re curious about it, though:

“That’s a good point, I guess, but it’d probably need a few more fighting sequences and car chases before it’d be marketable.”

(Previous Letter)

Dear astralshiver,

Ahhhhh, of course.  A recipe for disastrous turnabouts, in other words.  Thanks for explaining that to me.

Also, yeah, sorry for glossing over that part of your question.  I’m not sure who the most popular side character is, but unless I’m mistaken, the reigning champion appears to be Klavier Gavin, with a whopping 78 pages of letters involving him.  If he sounds too “main” to be a side character, there’s also Shelly de Killer with 46 pages.  Oddly enough, the Butz is tied with him there.

I’m not sure how I feel about that.

I definitely love AJ’s Pursuit theme and both of the Mood Matrix’s tunes, and I think they’re both awesome for their respective contexts, but so far, no song has impacted me the same way as Keep Pressing On.  It’s both powerful and energetic enough to make me want to start cheering for the defense (and even start clapping along to the beat), especially when it starts playing right after the tide turns in their favor.  The other songs you mentioned are also great ones, but I generally prefer fast-paced tunes that engage the mind and the ears all at once.  Speaking of which, I forgot how beautiful the piano sounds in the Mood Matrix songs.

And thank you again for the encouraging words!  They’re always a big help.

Dear scnineven,

You know, that’s actually a good argument.  The Mod came up with that rule before I was here, saying the Asinine Attorney episodes were “non-canon window dressing,” but now that you mention it, none of those categories are canon either, so...

Would anyone have any objections to them being answered here?  I’ll gladly do it as long as everyone remembers to treat it as non-canon.

I did play those episodes, by the way.  They’re pretty hilarious.

Dear Anonymous,

It’s sort of strange, now that you mention it -- I like seeing the number of letters in the inbox decrease, since it means submitters can see their letters answered sooner, but I don’t actually want it to reach zero.  It’s sort of a “moderator paradox” in that sense.

No need to feel bad about it, though.  For one thing, I don’t answer every question that comes through -- just the ones that don’t break the rules or have a potential to cause problems.  Secondly, I finally have some help!  Mod Paups is here to provide some much-needed support, and I couldn’t be happier for both of us!

Dear Christianthepupbot,

Glad you asked!  There were a total of four applicants, and believe me when I saw it was a very tough decision to make -- they were all dedicated fans of the series, and they all submitted very good answers to the test questions I gave them.  My biggest reason for choosing Mod Paups was her sheer enthusiasm for Ace Attorney, as well as for this blog.  I’m betting it’ll serve her well here.

My least favorite kind of letter is one that includes a huge list of questions, or requires a bunch of research to answer accurately.  Not that I mind learning things, of course, but it bugs me when I have to take over fifteen minutes to answer one letter.  That isn’t meant to discourage people from sending letters of this sort -- I just prefer it when they’re kept on the short side.

Also, as mentioned before, I’m still going by the name “Co-Mod,” even if I’m sort of the head honcho around here now.  Once a Co-Mod, always a Co-Mod.

(Dang it, why didn’t I pick something cleverer?)

Dear Dillian,

Well, I somehow skipped over your letter, so I guess we’re even.  Also...

Can someone tell me why Phoenix needs a holiday to receive abuse?

(Previous Letter)

Dear Inferno,

It was me, and yes, it was Engarde who blackmailed someone for the last time.  That’s what he got for betraying someone who murdered a star, kidnapped a girl, and injured three police offers for him.  Quite the jerk, isn’t he?

Dear jnv11,

Taken care of.

Dear Inferno,

It's my pleasure to keep this blog going, I'm sure I'll enjoy it here, thank you!

Dear BadnesstheHuman,

Oh I'm glad she's your favorite! I sure hope to do her justice ^^ nice to meet you!

Dear Certainly Bobby Fulbright,

I chose Lauren Paups because I feel its a character that I really connect to, besides that I just love her character design and personality.

I was originally going to choose Modot or Mod Meele, but for some reason Lauren came to mind and I chose her instead, and I'm very happy I did. ^^ Thank you for the warm welcoming!

-Co-Mod and Mod Paups

Except I think it is exactly the same thing. If we can’t see the complexity of humans, we dehumanize them. Toreth causes a lot of pain, and some joy.

Until “First against the wall”, he is a cog in a bigger machine. Many of us would avoid doing his job, but he has few actual alternatives, none of them serving a cause that could be defined “good” (A bodyguard to corporates? A sab?)

There could be a case for refusing to do “the dirty work” - if we all objected, no one would - but more often than not, most people think this sort of thing “must be done”, but wouldn’t want to get their own hands dirty. (For example, think of the many people who wouldn’t work in a slaughterhouse, but aren’t vegetarian).

Starting “First against the wall”, I can see a case for Toreth as holding personal responsibility - but even then, it could be argued that he tried to make the system more humane (for his own reasons, admittedly, and yet).

Yes, he breaks his own P&P - but higher ups approve of it. And according to B-C, many others find ways around it.

The thing is, for me, the real heart of the matter is - in real life, people who led much worse things, who killed millions, who led wars and genocides - were still loved by family and partners. Still showed kindness, still had a soft side.

Does it mean we have to forgive them? Of course not.

Does it mean they shouldn’t pay a price? Of course they should.

What it means, though, is that to understand evil, we must accept it is not outside of ourselves. That we can’t just shun it by killing or imprisoning or just not talking to people who do evil. That the only way to overcome evil is education, and courage, and compassion. Standing up for the persecuted, seeing the humanity of others, and supporting the change we want to see in the world.

Who has responsibility over atrocities? Those who plan them, those who preform them, those who quietly support them, but also those who say nothing, who do nothing.

In a totalitarian regime, saying something is a big risk. Tarin takes that risk. Warrick avoids it. Were Warrick to talk Toreth into moving to the private sector, would that serve any purpose? I&I would still be running - Warrick would have an easier feeling about his partner, but would also have less protection from his own rash actions. 

And this is what the series is about, I think. When doing the moral thing entails a great risk, what would you do? If you could end up bringing the velvet revolution, or a violent era of terror, or end up dying for nothing, like the students of Tienanmen square - and you can’t know which one will be it?

Would you take the risks Tarin takes? Or would you just twist your nose like Dillian, not wanting to be too aware of it, because you know you won’t take that risk?

Honestly, I respect Tarin, and I respect Warrick. Both acknowledge the situation and pick their actions accordingly. Dillian doesn’t want to think of a rotten system, so it’s easiest to place the blame on individuals. I’m not buying into that.

If the system wouldn’t want Toreth to torture - or the rest of I&I to find substitute methods of abuse and sleep deprivation - no one in I&I would do it. (They’re actually afraid of Justice, for crying out loud). As long as the system supports it, fighting the individuals is futile. That’s why “the unrest” was (somewhat) effective - it didn’t target Int-sec employees at home, it targeted I&I itself.

Dillian makes a new Year’s resolution

Warrick talks with Dillian about Toreth.