#synibread

For most of my doodles I use Wendy Xu's brushes on Procreate! Omg they are sooooo nice to use I literally never felt more comfortable with a brush on procreate till hers. Specifically I use her Muji pen mimics but all of them are pretty fun. Highly recommend!!!

Otherwise I also really like Emily Xu's procreate brushes and this one brush on Clip Studio Paint that I use for everything on that app:

YAAYAYYYYY im really happy it reads and thank you so so much for buying it!!! I got the calendar idea from a conversation with a friend but I also wanted to put a lot of thought into the process of ideating and creating it. I was bouncing around the idea of making it like it was Apollo or Phoenix's calendar they were using and writing little notes or scribbles of theirs but I lowkey did not have the time for that LOL ...not sure if you've seen that other apollo walking into Kristoph office artwork I did but that was originally going to be the january illustration but I felt the clean rendered look wasn't really the vibe I was going for and opted for a more graphic kinda look (and it was more fun and quick that way LOL).

At first glance I will say that I enjoyed the side plot cases (magical and storyteller) more than the plot ones cuz oh boy do I love goofy epilogue extras (I love you athena and also shoutout to the blackquill grab, i spat out my water)....and the tiny farts of klavier sprinkled throughout....how do i rewatch that 0.5 sec clip of the klavier objection flashback hrm.... The 3D models look a lot better than aa5 but at the same time they're still kinda ouch (oh edgeworth....) and they really went crazy with the animations (the end apollo pointing beam was so goofy im crying) and I appreciate how they brought back the examination option. All this to say there was a lot to enjoy, especially the silly comebacks of previous game characters interacting with current ones, artistic achievement, and overall ace attorney campy goofy fun. I will say that it takes me awhile to absorb and endear myself to characters post-game as I marinate their motivations and specificities holistically (and have fanworks convince me of their non-canon potential) but zaymn am i scratching my head at the aa6 canon Bro....APOLLOO DONT LEAVE USSS NOOOOO (though the klapollo implications could be legendary I feel like they were pushing it too much I'm not sure if I can accept this as canon). Ok while I will say that it would be a good arc for in his trilogy apollo will have gone through being a fledgling lawyer, facing and overcoming doubt in the system, to coming to his own and establishing his own firm with everything he's learned and believes in....the execution just doesn't really hit?? Or at least not in the satisfactory way the original trilogy did it. Obviously many things play part into this: the change in directors and writers, art style, and accumulation of character cast with the challenging balance of old and new while keeping things fresh but familiar. And I think if anything they kept up the goofy aesthetic of it, but tried to do too much and lost the plot... The original trilogy did this amazing thing where the overarching haunting DL-6 case connects the characters and themes of corruption, loss of innocence, kurain prestige, unfortunate misunderstandings in protecting loved ones, and the clarity of the truth through an honest pursuit of justice. Throughout the games, the characters we meet are all in some form connected and motivated by it directly (edgeworth's evil arc or mia's pursuit in law) or indirectly (edgeworth motivating phoenix into law or mia inspiring diego).

There's so much intertwined history between characters with changing beliefs, each defining what true justice is to them. This all unravels as we follow Phoenix's arc throughout the trilogy entwined with Edgeworth's as they travel their opposing yet parallel paths in defining their place in the world of law and their belief in humanity reflected in each other. By Bridge to the Turnabout they can completely trust in and depend on one another, as Phoenix proves himself against his mentor's mentor, closing the mystery of Misty Fey (albeit her character being more motivation than person) and thus putting the DL-6 case to rest with those it had affected having grown to move past it. I can see what they were trying to do with Apollo and his arc throughout his trilogy, and with the amount of hand passing and developmental time gaps I understand how the story could end up a lot less tight and focused, but yeah I think they just added in way too much and lost the solid core. AA4 was PEAKKK to me (obviously you can tell by the content of my art) cuz you're telling me seven year time skip where spirited jolly Phoenix becomes emo cryptic girl dad + apollo justice the guy you are + evil hot mentor is your prosecutor rival's brother and has a complex with phoenix and is insane but knows how to law + lie detecting bracelet + ema forensics + i love you trucy. If we're talking fresh THISS is a wonderfully tonally fresh sequel to the og trilogy with a colourful cast of new characters that are still connected with old ones--- this connection adding new layers of depth to both.

Apollo's POV is such a fresh experience too, i love a straight man comedy, and it's surprisingly refreshing having a character pursue law for the pure love of the game. And I guess this is in part of what the AJ trilogy's direction was, where it was moreso focused on the theme of the law systems themselves over long term character writing. But this was possible, and even more effective, with the character context, as was proven with Rise from the Ashes where the Gant and Lana's police corruption was combated through Edgeworth and Phoenix's partnership, while also inciting Edgeworth into further reflection on his path. It's through meaningful, intimate history that we get to know and care about these characters, to then care about what they care about. This also similarly applies in a meta way where we care about what the game seems to care about. Apollo's amazingly extensively tragic backstory is dulled by its execution and haphazard care for the people that make it tragic. Rip klavier and kristoph. Clay is introduced at the final case already dead, and while we get those backstory flashbacks, there isn't enough time before and after to really get a sense of their connection. While this is spaced better in SOJ with Nahyuta and Dhurke, this level of backstory with the attention to its development between the cases just doesn't feel like enough to make it believable (also it's insane like wdym you were the adopted son of foreign royalty turned rebel and dumped in America). Compared to the og trilogy, there's just no connection between Apollo's backstories, making them seem one-off and disposable (or that's how it feels like the game treats them).

They also create too many new canons without grounding them in enough pre-established ones that make them feel like they're just floating around and aren't actually strongly tied to the characters. Though there may be something to be said in choosing for new characters to affect existing ones through personal relationships versus not being personally related, but being relatable. That and Apollo's writing? It could be in part from the localization, that and different writers, but his reactions don't feel as believably sincere? Somewhere between impersonal and hyperbolic. (Admittedly though, this would be scrutinizing something that challenged all the games and most visual novel games in matching the game's writing of the character with my voice of them in my head). But I think especially with Nahyuta, him and Apollo did not nearly have enough time together or apparent thoughts of each other for me to care? Dhurke was done better with a stronger influence overall and that death realization hit hard with a cool play on the use of channeling, but I also really wish he hadn't died because I feel like it would've been more interesting to have had him, Apollo and Nahyuta work it out than just killing him off and using the sympathy of death and nostalgia to overwrite years of abandonment.

Nahyuta's motivations too just feel so fuzzy with the revelation that he was doing it all for his sister who he was completely detached from and didn't want her to suffer the same as he did, over helping the father who had raised him and the cause for his whole country? I'm like scratching my head. This might be repetitive but maybe the "defending the prosecutor framed for murder but too guilty from misunderstandings to admit it" route would have been more endearing to his character. Also the whole revolution and religion thing with SOJ was kinda crazy and ig i have to respect them for tackling that but also damn might've been a lil much.

Even if the new theme for the trilogies was the law systems, there's no cohesiveness to that too? WHERES THE JURIST SYSTEMMM though yeah idk how they would continue that in later games. I guess having a foreign law system to help rebuild is a cool new concept, but also doesn't have as much passionate intention going into it, and somewhat painting the culture in a weird light.