#roundpi

(Previous Letter)

Dear Fulbright,

My thoughts exactly, pal.  In fact, I was very close to putting “Theeeeena!  Theeeeena!” as a tag instead of cheering Phoenix.  I love Phoenix as much as any other Ace Attorney fan, but what about Athena and her European relatives, her first case on her own, etc., etc.?  Phoenix has already had his moment in the sun, if you ask me.  As for Larry, he probably would’ve had it already by now if he was ever meant to.  For that matter, would he even realize it if he did?

(Previous Letter)

Dear Bill,

Nah, I was just playing along.  I don’t approve of cheating (although I’m far from innocent of doing it myself), but I figured that wasn’t what actually happened.  It’d be fun to imagine someone actually trying that, though.  “I couldn’t figure out the answer, so I asked a character from a video game.  It doesn’t count as cheating since they’re not real, right?”

Dear patablegecko,

Er...  “Rudy”?  Sorry, I’m not really a professional name-thinker-upper.

(Previous Letter)

Dear Eveshowrtc,

She’ll be fine, but maybe try not to scare her like that right now.  Halloween isn’t for another month yet.

(Video in Letter)

Dear roundpi,

I can definitely see how that might fit into an Ace Attorney tale.  We even saw one example where Maya’s magatama led Phoenix him astray in Justice for All.  The Mood Matrix has even been proven to be almost unreliable if its software is messed with.  That’s probably the main reason why evidence is the only way to bring a case to its end.  It’s the only thing we can count on never to be wrong.

...Usually, anyway.

I don’t if it’s possible to break a magatama, either by cracking it or overusing it, but that’d make for an interesting story, too.  For that matter, what if Apollo’s bracelet or Widget was stolen?  As for Edgeworth..........  Maybe take away his cravat?

(Previous Letter)

Dear jnv11,

Thanks!  That cutscene slipped my mind for a moment there.  I should really start giving out rewards for people who catch our canonical errors, shouldn’t I?  Here, have a cookie.

Dear Random Player,

I’ve heard of it, but never really seen it.  Might as well check it out...

...

...

...

...

...

...Okay, then.

(Don’t look it up if you’re squeamish.)

Dear Anonymous,

I know, right?  Why would you do this to us, Capcom!?

I know you were probably just making a joke, but that pretty much sums up how I feel about Capcom’s Ace Attorney panel.  Having the trilogy remade and ported to consoles and PC is great and all, but...  *GROAN OF PAIN*

Dear Anonymous,

We can’t actually change the tags on letters unless we answer them immediately afterwards, so...

Eh, what the heck?  I’ll go ahead and answer it right now.

(Video in Letter)

Dear Firelord124,

That might be a cartoon, but it’s all too similar to how dictators try to arrange things.  It only works if they can disguise it well enough.

-Apollo Justice

those green villager units

The most polite way is to address them by last name, Garyuu, and by respective title, like Kenji for prosecutor and Bengoshi for def attorney. But generally speaking, most characters just say their last name followed by “san”.

Since Apollo worked for Kristoph, he just calls him “Garyuu-san”, but to Klavier, it’s always “Garyuu Kenji”, probably to distinguish between the two. It sounds like a mouthful every time, but it’s not as bad saying “kenji” as it is “prosecutor” over and over.

Dear Miles Edgeworth,

While we’re talking about outdated items, perhaps you’d care to discuss your attire.

Dear roundpi,

There are currently two of your letters in the queue, and they’re right next to each other -- one to Apollo, and one to Klavier.  We can delete either or both of those if you’d like us to.  It’s hard to say how many letters are from the same people, but we definitely have a few consistent writers -- some who send them at least every other day.  (I can’t blame them, of course, since I used to do the same thing.)

Also, I honestly didn’t realize how changing one word in this blog’s name would give it the same initials as the Wright Anything Agency.  It’s too late to actually change it at this point, but that’s still pretty fun to think about.

Dear Anonymous,

Glad you brought this up, because that’s one of the last things we want to convey about ourselves or this blog.  Sexuality is a topic I generally try to steer away from when answering letters, partly because it’s one that I only have a limited understanding of and I want to avoid saying something that can be easily misinterpreted (again), and partly because it’s a fiercely debated topic, and I don’t want to perpetuate that debate here.

And partly because it’s a discussion I’ve rarely come out of without some serious sparks flying...

With that in mind, unless a character’s sexuality, political views, religion, etc. has been explicitly defined in the game(s) they’re from, we can only make our best guesses about them.  In Athena’s case, judging by what we’ve seen of her in the games (her reaction to Hugh O’Conner’s claim that she likes him, her history of getting love letters meant for Junie, etc.), she seems like a guy kind of girl to me.  There’s every chance that I’m wrong, of course -- in fact, she may not even know herself -- but I imagine that’s at least how she views herself.

...Woah, that got Persona-esque all of a sudden.

In any case, if anything we post here comes off as homophobic, you have my word that it isn’t meant to be.  We also don’t want to emphasize one headcanon over another (whether it’s mine, yours, the Modthorne’s, or the Mod’s), but sometimes we just have to pick one and stay consistent with it.  If it disagrees with yours, then it’ll just have to disagree, but that’s our reasoning behind it.

Dear Ethan Starbright,

Really?  Huh...  That was how it looked when I found it in the queue, so unless you’re thinking of a different letter, I have no idea how that happened.  Sorry.

Dear Director Hickfield,

I always assumed it was something the Mod came up with for Apollo’s hair.  I can check to see if it’s based on an actu--

I don’t feel so good...

Dear yuesworld,

Please do!  And thank you very much for helping to increase our audience’s scope this way.  It’s very considerate and humbling for us when someone offers to do something like that.  Much appreciated!

My physical response to this letter was way more emotional than that, by the way.  It looked something like this:

(Only without the hair-touching.)

Dear rogerthegg,

I didn’t realize who you were, actually.  Good on you for joining Tumblr!

I do my best to keep an open mind with how Capcom develops its characters, but if I were in charge of how Athena’s life and career continued on from Spirit of Justice, it’d probably be something along these lines:

We’d see her a few months after the events in Khura’in, looking as cheery and confident as ever, but slightly older and more mature-looking.  As we heard her voice narrating, she’d shove the doors of the courthouse open with a look of pure confidence, wave to the policemen as she climbed the stairs (being extra careful to watch her step), and wait for her moment to enter the courtroom.  She’d then walk up to the defense’s bench with a smile, slam her fist into her hand, and announce proudly, “The defense is ready to go, Your Honor!!”

Then Widget would ruin the mood by blurting out, “I’m so sleepy!”

During the trial, she’d learn that her defendant is from somewhere in Europe (whatever country you prefer), that he/she is a friend of her family there, and that some unusual things have been going on with them.  This would lead her to request a leave of absence so she can visit them, perhaps taking Phoenix or Simon along as a chaperone.  From there, she’d find herself in a series of new situations, including (but not limited to) having to defend a member of her family from murder charges, having Widget stolen from her and being forced to do a therapy session without him, discovering a hidden crime ring (that a member of her family might be involved in), and so on.  In the end, she’d come out of it with more knowledge about herself, being a lawyer, and holding on to her faith in others until the bitter end.

It could be that I’m just anxious to see what sort of people she’s related to and if they’re as wild and energetic as she is, but I’d also love to see how Athena handles herself in a new environment, especially one as culturally (and visually) diverse as Europe.  That’s just my idea of a good Athena-centered game, though -- I’m sure there are plenty of others out there that would be just as exciting to see.  I mean, it is the Cykester we’re talking about here.

Here are a couple of letters that I found particularly heartfelt, plus another that was heartfelt and silly at the same time.  There are plenty more that were written before I got here, of course, such as this one and this one.  I love how this blog gives us a chance to see how some touching non-canon character conversations might take place.

(Previous Letter)

Dear Lice Hice,

You’re correct.  They’re called Happy-Happyists, which is probably the most ironic name possible for a cult that wanted to “paint the town blue.”  Or maybe that was on purpose.  Who knows?

The tag was actually referring to the cult of Athena, which apparently existed in different parts of ancient Greece.  I was completely unaware of the Aum Shinrikyo cult and the parallels that could be drawn between them and the one in Earthbound.  Sometimes truth really is stranger than fiction, isn’t it?

(Previous Letter)

Dear Anon,

....................

Dear Inferno,

Yep, it has the link in there.  Thanks for asking.

-The Co-Mod

Dear Polly,

Thanks, Polly!  Here, wanna cracker?

I used to be somewhat anti-ship. But because of a certain piece of evidence, my anti-ship goggles cracked. It’s in pieces now. Hint: It involves presenting the photo of Jove

Same here. For the longest time, I always sought stories, games, movies, tv shows, etc. where there was no explicit mention of romantic relationships because I didn’t care for them. But then I gradually realized just how impossible it is to avoid any romantic theme, let alone ignore it. Finally, it was by my friends’ urging that I gave in and tried it for myself. (This was back when Myspace was still popular.)

By now, I’m very open to all sorts of ships. I like switching them up every now and then, just for the heck of it. And sometimes, they don’t even have to be living creatures...

Okay, so they’re crackships, but let’s be honest, crackships are the best kind.