So I’m playing the second case of Apollo Justice, investigating Phoenix’s hospital room when I notice something a little disturbing.
What we have here is a potted plant. What’s the big deal? In Japan, bringing someone in the hospital a potted plant is a huge faux pas. It’s mostly a no-no for people who are hospitalized due to illness, because a potted plant has roots which is seen as a wish that the patient’s illness will “take root” and be there to stay. But I’m pretty sure it’s still seriously bad form even if the patient is there for an injury.
Then it occurs to me, “wait… are those freaking spider lilies???”
Spider lilies are a symbol of death in Japan. So basically someone gave him a gift that sends the very clear message of “I hope you never heal and end up dead.” I’d suspect Kristoph if he weren’t in jail.
Even if he’s not superstitious and doesn’t believe in or care about symbols and stuff, surely knowing someone feels that way about you doesn’t feel good. But instead of throwing the “gift” away, Phoenix displays it prominently, as if to say “mmm I love gazing upon the hatred of my enemies. My sprained ankle feels better already.” Like… what a power move, damn.
self care is drinking 17 cups of coffee and swordfighting the spirit of a woman who tried to kill you on a mountaintop during a thunderstorm in the middle of the night
I think it’s really neat how the original trilogy lawyers and the new trilogy lawyers think about secrets differently.
On one hand, you have Phoenix and Edgeworth. To them, secrets are an item, kept in a box and locked within your heart. In order to figure out what it is, you have to locate the box, find the key, and unlock it. Whether that’s with evidence and bluffing (psyche-locks) or logic and contradictions (logic chess) you use concrete details to unlock the truth.
On the other hand, there’s Apollo and Athena. They view secrets as a feeling, hidden behind a wall. Something that you repress but still seeps through, however small. They use more subjective tactics based on psychology and an understanding of people as emotional beings. They find the cracks in the wall, and they knock the wall down. Perception finds where the nervousness slips through, and the Mood Matrix sees a person’s emotions as they truly are, not as they intend them to be.
I haven’t quite worked out how this relates to their characterization and worldview yet, but I know it makes sense in Edgeworth’s case, having been raised in a household where emotions were a weakness, evidence was everything, and logic and perfection always ruled.
Oh anon… this is kind of hard to answer because I just sort of fell into it and now I honestly can’t really seriously see either of them with anyone else. Like I have other ships that I like, but when it comes right down to it, if I got to choose one ship from AA to make canon it’d be Narumayo.
At the beginning, I didn’t think much of it. Maya was still really young, and they met under pretty much the worst circumstance. But that terrible circumstance was what brought them so close together and ended up in a very long lasting friendship. They’ve been through so much together, they need each other.
Like I don’t care what your ultimate Ace Attorney OTP is, you cannot deny the fact that Phoenix and Maya love each other. It’s just up to you to decide whether you want to see it as platonic or romantic or maybe one leading into the other eventually.
Okay, originally this was a super long post but, everything I want to say is said way better in a post by the old mod of the Ask Ace Attorney blog:
PLEASE READ IT if you want to know why I ship them so hard. It’s long but worth it.
And since this post is older and we also have DD and SOJ now, let me just add that even though Maya wasn’t in Dual Destinies, the letter Phoenix receives from her cheers him up significantly at a time in the case where he’s feeling hopeless. It’s enough to get him motivated again, just a silly letter from Maya.
In Spirit of Justice, he is yet again blackmailed into defending some asshole he thinks is holding Maya hostage, and he begs Apollo not to accuse his client of murder because he’s scared of what will happen if he loses. And we also get gems like this:
Phoenix is never really violent or even tough but if you remember way back to his freaking college days when he was shoving people down for talking bad about his girlfriend, or when he slapped Lotta in JFA for insulting Maya, I wouldn’t doubt that he means what he says. Don’t tell me Phoenix wouldn’t go on some rampage of revenge if Maya was actually killed or even just injured bad enough. He’d probably break.
Ah there is so much more I want to say but just read the AAA blog post PLEASE.
There has been a lot of demand and a lot of writing and now you finally get it.
This is the driving force behind the whole series and holds a very special place in my heart. Let’s talk about the relationship(s) between our co-stars in the biggest essay yet.
midnight-in-town 