#i think i might just draw a maya | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

the-bar-sinister · 17 days

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There's lots of gay subtext in Ace Attorney.

But when looking specifically at subtext that might be intentionally put in the narrative by the creators with the intention that the character in question is actually gay, I think the main character with the most evidence behind this is actually Apollo Justice.

Our other main characters, Phoenix Wright and Athena Cykes both have obvious subtextually heteronormative romantic partners. To an adult, straight, culturally normative audience, Phoenix Wright and Maya Fey read normatively as an obvious romantic pairing. This is also the case for Athena Cykes and Simon Blackquill. In Great Ace Attorney the same can be said for Ryuunosuke and Susato.

I repeat– to an adult, straight culturally normative audience, the romantic subtext between these characters is clear. If you showed these games to an American movie going public, that would be the obvious read by the audience.

Yes, each of these characters, Phoenix, Athena, and Ryuunosuke also have strong queer romantic subtext with another character. (Miles, Juniper, and Kazuma respectively).

However, that's not my point. It's not significant that each of the other three characters has homosexual relationship subtext.

It is significant that Apollo Justice does not have a character with whom he has heteronormative romantic subtext.

The closest thing Apollo Justice has to a "heteronormative romantic subtext" is Trucy Wright– whom we, the audience know is his sister.

And yes, you can make the argument that there is deliberate incestuous subtext between them– a kind of Luke/Leia style relationship with which the audience is teased by the narrative. Dhurke brings it up directly in Spirit of Justice.

However, this is still not a heterenormative subtext, because of its taboo nature. More taboo, culturally at this point, than homosexuality.

On top of the lack of heteronormative romantic subtext, Apollo also is on the receiving end some of the strongest and most overt of the homosexual subtext in the series.

There is of course the famous "meet cute" introduction between Apollo and Klavier–

“I must say, I'm used to being inspected by the ladies... but this is the first time I've felt this way with another man.”

This is without question overt homosexual subtext.

However, there is another, even more subtextually clearly defined moment in Dual Destinies. Honestly, the subtext is all over Dual Destinies in the way Apollo reacts to Clay Terran's death (basically completely losing it) but there's one particular moment that deliberately draws your attention to the relationship in a queer way.

In one of the last cases of the game, everyone is delicately trying to explain to the judge that Aura Blackquill was in love with Metis Cykes (who was murdered) in a queer way. It's a big “they’re lesbians, harold” moment.

And then the conversation immediately turns to Apollo Justice and how he’s just had someone who was “important to him” murdered, too.

The narrative specifically draws you attention to the relationship that Aura and Metis had, and compares it to the relationship between Apollo and Clay.

You are specifically invited to speculate about what kind of important relationship Clay and Apollo had, and why Apollo has been affected so incredibly deeply.

So yeah. Between Clay, Klavier, and the lack of anything resembling a heteronormative romantic relationship for Apollo in the games, I think he has the strongest narrative evidence that he's actually being written deliberately as gay.

#apollo justice #klapollo #claypollo #ace attorney #ace attorney meta #queer subtext #queer reading #queer media #media analysis #media literacy #🔍⚔️

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jayskaiart · 2 months

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and i can finally post all of them together 😭❤️ someday i’ll add more characters…. maybe…. i really wanted to draw athena and juniper :’) but for now i think i will let this series rest! but i might draw more casual outfits in other fanart and comics because i love drawing my faves in silly outfits instead of their canon designs lmfao <3

+ all the improvement comparisons lol! 🩵 [ EDIT: I just realized i didnt put the comparison for maya and franziska 😭 i lost the comparison edits i did back in 2023 and i can’t add more photos here for some reason lol im sorryyyy ] the 2021 drawings were actually some of my first aa drawings, and the first posts that reached the fandom! so they were my introduction to the community and the beginning of the insanity (this is probably the franchise i’ve drawn the most fanart of for now 🥲). seeing the improvement makes me feel really happy and also a bit nostalgic ksckjdkdc i love these games and im very happy i got to play them and join this fandom <3

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xoxoskai · 5 months

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NIKOBRAN HEADCANNONS

to keep you going this last week before God of Fury drops<3

Between all his sons-in-law, Brandon is Kyle's favorite.

Levi's is Mia (cousin-fuckers who stole his son and daughter he'll always beef with)

Brandon and Niko are the type of relatives to wear matching clothes on Christmas because Niko would take up any chance to wear matching anything with Brandon.

If and when Brandon bakes, no one gets a chance to even taste what he made before Niko devours it all.

The only place Niko can fall asleep in at record speed is Brandon's arms.

The only reason Niko teaches Brandon how to drive a bike is so he can put his arms around his boyfriend's slutty waist boyfriend.

Remi is terrified on Brandon's behalf.

"Bran, yes, he's hot but mate, look at that guy! He has some skin on those tattoos!"

Astrid shares Remi's concerns but soon comes to find out that Niko is the biggest goofball of sunshine and almost adopts him.

Surprisingly, the one who takes the longest to accept Brandon is Rai. Because it's not her first time meeting the Kings (hello, she's a far relative) and she's worried that her oldest who is actually tender hearted and plagued by demons of his past, might be crushed beyond repair if Brandon hurt him.

Brandon and Landon think they can get away with tricking their in-laws by dressing as each other but they underestimate the Sokolov-Hunters who told them apart the moment they walked in.

Brandon tried it on Niko once when he first divulged about how Maya and Mia used to do it, but Niko could tell Brandon apart from his "psycho" brother in a heartbeat.

"It's your eyes" He had murmured. "Yours sparkle"

Glyndon is weary of Niko but as long as Brandon's happy, she's happy.

Landon is supremely unhappy.

When Landon first opposes their relationship by threatening Niko, Niko flings back "Remember who you're dating and what I mean to them" back at him.

Niko and Landon almost kill each other multiple times.

If there's someone even more unhappy than Landon, it's Crieghton.

Creighton: "Does this mean I can't fight him anymore?" Elsa: "Why were you fighting him before this?!" Creighton: "Is anyone else hearing this buzzing? I should go check."

Niko goes feral whenever he sees Brandon shirtless and vice-versa but

Niko is always shirtless, so Brandon is always suffering.

Unlike Niko, Brandon doesn't carry him into a dark corner to immediately fuck.

If there's no scene of Brandon asking Niko "Who's fucking you?" Rina, you'll hear from my therapist. And if there's not a single, evil, unhinged Brandon moment where Niko is flabbergasted at the change and is accusing him of being two-faced at which Brandon will laugh, lean in and ask tauntingly "What are you going to do? Tell on me?" I will sue.

Brandon's muse is Niko. (Bitch, I said what I said)

Unlike Landon, Brandon doesn't divulge this piece of information to his boyfriend because he does not want to give Niko even more reasons to walk around with lesser clothes.

Brandon gets a tattoo for Niko on his ribs. (cue feral Nikolai)

After which Niko tries to get Brandon's name tattooed on his favorite organ, but Jeremy literally deadlocks the door to his room to keep him inside after Niko asked for opinions in their group chat about his decision.

Niko: You don't think it's romantic? Jeremy, Killian, Gareth, Landon, Eli, Creighton, Remi:

They've definitely rolled around in paint and fucked on a canvas after it. Niko would display it in the entryway of their house if Brandon let him.

They've also joined the mile high club.

After they get engaged, Brandon calls him by his full-name as in "Nikolai Sokolov-Hunter-King" just to piss him off but Nikolai loves being associated to Brandon in every possible way, so it backfires.

Their wedding bands have each other's name inscribed in them.

As does the underside of their ring fingers in the other's handwriting.

Nikolai tries drawing a heart over the i in his name and almost gets smacked.

#legacy of gods #nikolai sokolov #brandon king #nikolai x brandon #nikobran #god of fury #god of malice #god of pain #god of ruin #god of war #eliava #eli x ava #eli king #landon king #jeremy volkov #creighton king #mia sokolov #maya sokolov #cecily knight

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bitterkarella · 8 months

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Midnight Pals: Back in the Fold

[mysterious circle of robed figures] JK Rowling: hello children Rowling: sssay hello to graham lineham Linehan [wearing tinfoil hat]: freemasons run the country Jesse Singal: but mommy Rowling: i know we were all pretending he didn't exisst for a while Rowling: that changes now

Rowling: sssee hiss extreme levelsss of divorcednesss usssed to be a liability to our hate movement Rowling: but now that being extremely divorced hassss gone mainssstream Rowling: he'sss an asssset! Elon Musk: eyyy you know da jews, they maka my wife leave me

Rowling: to think that only a few yearsss ago, cccyberssstalking, death threatsss and appearing drunk on live televisssion were consssidered gouache Rowling: but today, there'sss no bottom! Rowling: and itsss all thankss to your tirelesssss effortsss! Rowling: well done, graham!

Linehan: don't worry, i have a new plan against the trans Rowling: yesss? Linehan: i'm going to rally father ted fans Linehan: see, if you liked a sit com back in the 90s, then you're obligated to join my hate movement Linehan: there's no better way to connect with today's youth

Linehan: Father Ted fans will flock to my aid Linehan: there's no one more likely to be on board with hating queers than someone who liked a comedy that made fun of catholicism

Linehan: after all, think of the success that you had turning all your harry potter fans into loyal terfs Rowling: uhhhh Linehan: i mean, they did all fall in line right? Rowling: Rowling: Rowling:

Rowling: look, i don't need harry potter fansss Rowling: i have new fanss Rowling: fanss of me Rowling: the adoration of the world'sss children meansss nothing to me compared to the adoration of 12 mumsssnet possstersss named rossemary

Rowling: i might have given up the love of the world'ss children but look what i gained Maya Forstater: i'm gonna get that cartoon alien one of these days, i promise dark lord!! just watch! Julie Bindel: [red tape across mouth] mmm Rowling: yeah i Rowling: i really gained a lot

Allison Bailey: [sweating, desperately clutching briefcase] i won't drop it... i won't drop it Tatsuya Ishida: i'm drawing communist lesbian joe biden with a huge dick Elon Musk: mama mia dissa post issa banned for not being racist! oh!! Rowling: yeah Rowling: really gained a lot

#midnight pals #the midnight society #midnight society #jk rowling #graham linehan #julie bindel #jesse singal #elon musk #allison bailey #maya forstater #tatsuya ishida

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syoddeye · 2 months

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14. Assign a fashion aesthetic to this character.

because i can't be Normal, here are 11 mini moodboards + blurbs lmao. thank you canva. some of the photos are low res, that's my b.

disclaimer: this is clearly for fun. i don't want to hear about how wrong i am lol.

Price: Maybe this is because the strong visuals from Ursa Major by @the-californicationist is rotting my brain (affectionate), but my favorite dude likes workwear and high quality clothing. I don't think he prioritizes fashion, but at the same time, he puts on Hard Pants whenever he leaves the house because you never know who he might meet! (You. At the store. Where he gets that pesky can of whatever off the top shelf for you.) Need to commission an artist to draw him as Tom Selleck.

Rudy: Inspired by Bayardo. Rudy likes moto style, worn-in/lived-in clothing, and cleans up real nice. I could see him gravitating more color and knit button downs/polo shirts. I didn't include much western/cowboy stuff, but I imagine Alejandro's aesthetic rubbing off on Rudy since they've known each other for decades.

Ghost: To no one's surprise, his favorite color is black. But, he wouldn't wear clothes that draw even more attention. He's already a big fella, I just don't see him trying to stand out on purpose. He favors darker neutrals, layers, regular cloth or paper face masks, and workwear. Pretty plain aesthetic. Just a Guy™.

Kate: "Sy, that's a lot of Gillian Anderson." AND? What about it? Anyway, I think younger!Kate saw If These Walls Could Talk 2 and emulated Amy's (Chloë Sevigny) style for a number of years. I think with her work and maturation of style, her style is more utilitarian/streamlined, but when she dresses up, ooh baby. Some of Maya Erskine's outfits in the new Mr. and Mrs. Smith show also scream Kate to me. Obviously we have a vest outfit here, because if there is one thing lesbians love, it's utility. /jk

Nik: Similar to Price in that he values clothes that can hold up under normal-to-heavy use. Every outfit does have to highlight a chain. My guy is probably sitting on a small mountain of money, too, but the clothes he picks for himself are unlabeled.

Ale: He's a smooth operator 🎶 No, but to me he's like Soap - Alejandro knows he's good-looking. He has the range and the confidence to pull off most anything. I think similar to Rudy, I imagine him leaning more towards moto aesthetics, with more cowboy/western vibes. Not afraid of color. Lest we forget, he owns a ranch, so throw in workwear, too. Tucked in shirts, belt buckles. Another minor point of inspo is Donald Glover from Mr. and Mrs. Smith.

Gaz: It's coincidence two photos contains glasses BUT I think in my dream world, Gaz dresses the way Elliot Knight's stylist dresses him. Which is to say wonderfully. Gaz tends toward neutrals, pieces that are easy to layer, and can fit into more than one look. He's probably somewhat up on fashion and style, not obsessed, but aware of what he looks good in. Not afraid to chat up a sales associate for help.

Soap: He knows he's nice to look at. He knows his arms are drool-worthy. The moment the weather's pleasant enough, he's sleeveless. I also know he probably dgaf about fashion but let's feed my delusions. Streetwear, athleisure - He's got to be able to move freely, feel comfortable, and show off his build.

Farah: Ignore the bags lol. If anything, she's carrying something crossbody and functional. Anyway, Farah's a leader and has been from too young of an age. I think this translates to how she carries herself and what she wears, yeah? I think she aligns with Soap+Gaz+Ale in the Can Wear Anything group. My soft as fuck HC is that Price gave her a few band shirts at some point in time.

Alex: Generally aware of what he looks good in. He relies on his more fashion inclined friends and loved ones to send him ideas or buy him clothes outright because he does not go out of his way to shop. He constantly wears that a single jacket he got One compliment on it six years ago. Like Ghost, he's Just a Guy™. A very handsome one.

Valeria: She's a business woman, right? 👀 Valeria's aesthetic is a mixture of all black everything/glam/utilitarian but make it fashion. In my deepest of dreams, her fashion style is more fluid, and she eats up everything she wears. Again, kind of falling into the idea that confidence makes any style possible on her.

character ask game questions here!

#i made these between meetings on mobile so let's be nice about formatting #sy asks #cod aesthetics #moodboards #john price #rodolfo rudy parra #rudy parra #simon ghost riley #kate laswell #kate laswell cod #cod nikolai #nikolai cod #alejandro vargas #kyle gaz garrick #john soap mactavish #farah karim #alex keller #valeria garza #femalefemur

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byghostface · 2 months

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//long rambling

There is a vent in the last part (about pro ship:/+ wired shipping + block list) it's naturally negative so reading at your own risk.

So in the new Batman and Robin issue #7 Nika's sister making an appearance, got me thinking of other possibilities for sibling characters to come back.

Mostly I’m thinking about Respawn since he is Joshua Williamson's own character. And He made Respawn appeared in the last issue of Robin(2021), he also brought back Mara in that run too (just some appearance in the later issue).

And now Joshua Williamson is writing Batman and Robin, so naturally he can bring some characters back in this run. He had said in an interview that he might have figured out a way(try) to bring back Maya.

Throwback to 2022 of this old wip/art I made, is about what I think the emo teens of Lazarus squad dynamic would look like.

I imagine Nika and Respaw are irritated/tolerate with each other but would stay for Damian because Nika is Damian's girlfriend and they want to stick together. Meanwhile, Damian likes to include his half-brother in some fun activities (Respawn is acting reluctant bc of his own issues but he actually likes to have friends and feel include).

I haven’t finished this art bc I was going to add more wips (with other characters like Rose and Hawke) to make it a post. I didn't finish this art back then bc I was afraid Talia fans would be mad at me for drawing Respawn.

Trust me, I hate that Talia gets associated with Deathstroke like this, but I think Respawn is a confused/mistreated teen character and Damian (bless his heart and soul) still wants to be his brother regarding the whole mess. I will explain/talk more about my thoughts on Respawn as a character and his situations once I finish these drawings and get ready to post them.

Writing/typing words is harder than drawing for me personally. Drawing is like channeling my energy into a picture and forming an atmosphere and hopefully people will understand what thoughts and feelings I was trying to convey. Writing is using more brain powers to choose the correct and cohesive words, so people would not misunderstand what I'm talking about. Especially when English is not my first language, and even so I normally don't talk(write) much in my mother tongue either…(I'm not a quick thinker, it took me a longer time to think things through, writing literally exhausted me physically and mentally more than drawing.)

It doesn't mean I don't enjoy writing, it's just not my first choice to convey thoughts… but considering I can't draw everything I have in my mind and it takes even longer time to finish any art, I just need to write down things first from now on. Tumblr is the only place I can think of that has this longer text feature blog post and I'm more familiar with this platform format. So I will still be here posting my fan content.

(↓Vent, if you want to avoid being block by me then read down below.)

I must say I will forever hate respawn x flatline as ship, cus I know who started this ship and their reasons behind it—Don’t let the new character develop naturally as the story goes, let’s put them in made-up weird situations first so I can prop up my own ship!😍 And get both of the new characters out of the way, since no one would defend them so I can fanon the hell out of them by making them look bad all around!🤞 (What if I stone you first hand🪨🪨💥)

And I will continue to dislike/against any shipping Damian's sibling to Nika. I simply don't like the unnecessary sibling conflict just for romance tropes! So go away boooo I hate you‼️ Not to mention the ignoring of different age range multi-ship hide behind poly… that's straight up proshipping I hate you even more!!👎

Also for people who said Nika should be crush on Damian's mother instead of him… I hate you twisted proshipper rotten smooth brain‼️‼️ She dating a boy her age and has mutual connections with him, why would she crush on her boyfriend's mother instead?? Just because Nika is a big fan of Talia??? So you telling me young ppl can't idolize adults normally without being labeled as romantic nowadays huh??( Not saying you can't crush on adults, but why crush on your boyfriend's mom? ) Your weird ass mind is showing with this ass hc be fr. Again, why would you imagine that? You just wanted to push a fake narrative of Nika being wired so you could have an excuse to make Talia and Damian dislike her (which is not true), but in fact is YOU are the weird one projecting your twist thoughts/hate onto Nika‼️💥🪨��

I will start to block ppl who are shipping/liking respawn x flatline (+proshipper) and STILL interact with me, read the room!! My art is not for you weirdos‼️Go away BOOOO💥 🪨🪨🪨💥💥

Can't believe I need to type this all out cuz some of you weirdos will still do these things and think is okay to interact with me and my post/showing in my notifications BOOO👎🪨🪨💥🪳🪳🪳🩴🩴🩴

(sorry for venting about random weirdos/Nika haters again, and thanks for reading.)

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frenzyarts · 7 days

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Hey! You can 3D model!! Anyone can! It might look daunting but blender is really worth learning even if its just the basics and its super fun too ^-^ you got this!

Sadly I do know the basics, but I still have a ton of issues. I’ve taken classes in college (I think two courses, we were learning maya) and I’ve done some self teaching in blender. But it’s still just so confusing to me 🤷‍♀️

My main issue is that it’s extremely tedious and confusing. I go through a long difficult process that I don’t really understand and what I get for my troubles is a blocky thing that I could have drawn in two seconds. I thought practice would make it less tedious and confusing, and therefore become more fun. But sadly the information slides off my brain so I haven’t been able to improve really, which makes it hard and boring, which makes me want to use it less, a vicious cycle

I think maybe what I need to do is keep searching for software and methods that are more intuitive to me. I’ve heard good things about paint 3D and iirc that’s more drawing based

#blender #maya #3d modling #frenzy post

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mayakern · 2 years

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Hello Maya! I don't know if you've talked about it, but how do you tackle the task of making a pin design?

I've seen many pin designs and as much the difference between artists' styles is understandable there are some that work better. Im guessing it has something to do with simplicity? Because some details might be lost when translating it into the pin and the limitations it conveys.

So the question is, how do you fit a pin design so it works and looks amazing?, because all your body of work is 👌👌👌👌👌

Do you like making pins?

Is there any insight you could share with us?

i’ve talked about this previously, but it’s been a while i think! there’s also a ton of youtube videos like this one that can help you out with the basics. i also strongly recommend buying copies of “welcome to pin hell” and “the inner circles of pin hell” by hannako lambert. she is a true master of the medium and knows far more than i ever will.

enamel pins are really their own medium and how much you can do with them is really just limited by your own understanding and your budget. you can go as simple and cheap as a simple line drawing with the “fill” areas left empty to be recessed metal, like i did for my bee pin.

working like this, because the metal linework is raised and unfilled, has the highest amount of fidelity between your original artwork and the end product. you have to remember that enamel pins are extremely small and so intricate work can easily be lost if you’re not careful.

you can also have the empty spaces filled with enamel, like i did with the anodized version of my bee pin.

this is called soft enamel. this also has a relatively high amount of fidelity to the original artwork. pins like this can also have special treatments of the metal, like the anodization above (i.e. the rainbow), that are only available for soft enamel pin or pins without any enamel. similarly, glitter enamel and similar speciality enamels are only available for soft enamel. i don’t often use soft enamel as it doesn’t suit most of my work, but it was the right fit for the bee pin because the recessed metal/fill did the best job of accentuating the design.

if you fill your pin and then grind down the metal so that it is flush with the enamel, this is called hard enamel. it creates a seamless, cohesive and polished look but because the metal is ground down, it decreases the fidelity of your line work. think of it as a tattoo: soft enamel or no fill is the fresh tattoo, it looks essentially as intended, though if the artist doesn’t know what they’re doing there can already be a loss of detail. hard enamel is like a healed tattoo: the ink will spread and, similarly, when the metal is ground down it may widen slightly. different factories will have different degrees of loss in fidelity depending on the skill of the workers and also how quickly they’re having to work.

the above pin uses a combination of hard enamel and recessed metal (the lines in the leaves are recessed). this is a pin with a very detailed design that can easily go wrong when not handled carefully. the recessed metal not only looks good and cohesive with the metal, but it also preserves a higher amount of line work fidelity than an enamel fill would, allowing me to be a little more detailed in the design. i also used cut outs give a more delicate feel, despite the sheer size of this thing.

and this is what that same pin looks like when made less skillfully. i would only make pins this detailed if you have history with your manufacturer and know the quality of their work—and if you’re willing to eat the cost of a bad batch. we’d been working with this manu for a few years when they sent us this back and let me tell you, i was crushed. this is maybe my favorite pin i’ve ever designs and apart from hating to waste money and material, it’s disheartening to see my work translated so poorly.

with enamel, each color must be contained by metal. it’s like a little pocket that you inject color into it. but, you can also screenprint on pins! this is a bit hit or miss, as pins are tiny and it’s super easy for the screen to be misaligned and have it totally fuck up your design, but when it works it’s really lovely! (the white spots on the mushroom and the yellow portion of the flames are screenprinted)

one of my personal favorite techniques with pins is to use the metal itself not just as line work, but as its own “fill”

these are the most basic techniques, but there’s tons more, including stained glass enamel and pins that are fully 3D sculpted, but i’ve never done those so i’d recommend checking out hannako’s books for info on those.

with all of this, when you work with a manufacturer, you’ll provide them a jpeg not just with the artwork, but with a “guide” for any processes (cuts, recessed metal, metal treatment, screen printing, etc.) and for the pantones. here’s what that looks like (the “x” denotes a cut)

if you plan to make a lot of enamel pins i highly recommend getting the set of pantone solid coated and uncoated books so you can accurately pick colors. also these books are expensive so store them out of the light so that their color remains accurate for as long as possible, because they will fade. 🤪

i also highly, highly recommend that you create a backing stamp for your pins. this is a name/logo that just gets pressed into the back. this not only helps people know where their pin is from, but also protects you in the case that a major company decides to steal your pin design.

and since i’ve typed up this whole informational post for y’all, here’s a quick reminder that my pins are currently on sale 😘😘😘

#enamel pin #enamel pin design #art tutorial #tutorial #artists on tumblr #art #maya draws things #art tips #faq #ask

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c-rowlesdraws · 9 months

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so... many months ago, I drew some characters to try to sell as adoptables, with the encouragement and support of friends more familiar with the adoptables community than me... but I haven't been able to actually pull the trigger on auctioning them off. I don't know why-- it might certainly be a good way to make money, and other artists have great success with selling adoptables-- but I think part of my hesitancy is that I don't like the idea of selling a design to another person and never (according to the adoptables honor system as I understand it) being able to draw that character myself again. That makes me feel a little sad.

I also don't really like the idea of a buyer maybe never doing much with the design, and it just sort of gathering digital dust forever after money changes hands. I know many people who buy adoptables go on to roleplay with them, commission more artwork of them, and other things... but I've also seen toyhou.se accounts that look less like a collection of played-with, living characters and more like the big plastic tub of 90's beanie babies in the storage unit near my parents' house. There's nothing wrong with collecting for its own sake, so maybe I'm just being selfish, but if I'm going to sell off a character forever and not be able to draw them myself again, I want them to be played with, man.

I like the idea of licensing characters a lot better-- it's a lot less money than I could make for a straight-up adoptable, but multiple people could license my character designs (for ttrpg PCs or NPCs mainly, I think) instead of just one person, and I could also keep drawing the characters if I got more ideas for them. Maybe a character design licensing tier for my patreon or ko-fi is the answer, like what Maya Kern does with her dnd character designs? What do you nice people think?

(also feel free to tell me I'm being a neurotic weirdo about adoptables if you think so; I can handle it)

#adoptables #character design #ttrpg #dnd #catie talks #my art

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alpaca-clouds · 10 months

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About the historical apocalypses

A while ago I made a joke. "I do not believe in the Italian language. They should be honest and call it, what it is: Neo Latin." And because I made this joke on twitter and twitter is a fucking hellhole, people got really angry about it.

What got lost in the hellhole, that is twitter, was the point I was trying to make: While, yes, Latin and Italian are different languages, if we were to zoom in at any point in time, it would suddenly become harder to differenciate. With almost any language it becomes super hard to say, at which point it stopped being language A and became language B.

Now, originally my point was kinda more about how we humans tend to draw abitrary lines, because we deal better with clear categories than spectrums. You know, like we do with genders and such.

Buuuut... Let me talk about ancient languages and more the ancient world, because there is this mistake people make in thinking about history... they draw abitrary lines.

The Slow Apocalypse

When we learn about history in school, we also put history into neat little boxes. There is the Ancient times, then there is the middle ages, then the Renaissance and so on. And maybe (probably not) we will learn about the Bronze Age Collaps. All those things. And it kinda makes it easy to think about it as "this was one period and everything within this period worked like so and so". As in: "Oh, the Ancient Egyptians build pyramids." But... yeah, only during a period of those 3000 years that Ancient Egypt lasted, they actually built those.

And we think of the end of the Ancient empires as "and then they stopped to be Roman". But... of course the people didn't. There were Romans around - so people, who spoke Latin as an actual living language - for a long while. Long enough for that language to slowly turn into other languages. There were people around, who believed in the Roman pantheon or the Egyptian pantheon or the Greek pantheon for a long while. Heck, there are still people around who believe in it. And with those I do not mean neo-pagans, but people who for generations have kept traditions alive.

When we hear "Bronze Age Collaps", that also often gets called an apocalypse, we think of it kinda like "Day after Tomorrow and then the world ended", but historically speaking apocalypses rarely (outside of the context of colonialism) went like that. With the Bronze Age it went relatively quick - like 50 years - but... Even after that... The Bronze Age Collaps happened around 1500BC and as you might have noticed: Yeah, those cultures became smaller and less organized. But they did not vanish.

Those apocalypses took place over a century. Not just three months.

Not really Dead

And now we come back to the stupid twitter joke of Italian actually being Neo Latin. Because here is the thing: The old cultures... they didn't really die. At least those, that were not actively erased. And heck, even quite a few of those are still around.

You know. When Black Panther 2 came out, I saw so many people being very confused about Nakia going around and talking to Maya people. Because of that. They do not realize that the Maya are still around. Especially as we think about the Maya - another "advanced civilization" - as dead and destroyed. But it isn't. The Maya are still around.

And... that is true for a good few parts of the Ancient cultures as well. As I said, there are still people around who believe in that stuff. And there are languages, that came from those cultures as well. Things changed. A lot. But if you actually go to those places, you will find that there is stuff that is still around. Festivals, that are still celebrated. Types of music. And shifted languages.

Here is the thing: We should not idealize the past. But... I also think that it is wrong to just act as if everything from back then is gone forever. There are cultures for which this is true. Cultures, from which we only will find ruins buried in layers and layers of earth and dust. There might still be fragments of the Indus river civilization found in India. But we know too little about that civilization to say that they really are. And other cultures might really have vanished, without us even knowing about them today.

But... just think about the Indo-European religion and culture for a moment. We do not know where they lived exactly or how they lived for that matter. But there are still bits and pieces from them around to this day. Bits of their language, of their religion.

Things do not end. They change. And I find that... strangely hopeful.

#history #ancient history #ancient culture #language #linguistics #religion #ancient rome #ancient greece #ancient egypt #culture #cultural shifts #ramble #hopeful #bronze age #apocalypse

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salty-lemon-shark-from-the-sea · 4 months

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Maya and the Three + (Reader) Incorrect quotes (Part 2)

Chimi: Ugh, crushes are so dumb.

Rico: I know. Whenever I’m near the person I like I just start acting stupid.

Chimi: But you’re always acting stupid?

Rico: …

Rico: Yeah, don’t think about that too hard.

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Chivo: Pick a card, any card.

Bone: Fine.

Chivo: Wait, that’s my credit card!

Skull: You said any card.

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Xtabay: I scare people a lot because I walk very softly and they don’t hear me enter rooms. So when they turn around, I’m just kind of there and their fear fuels me.

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Chimi: Everyone knows that Santa is an international designed by the big five corporations to sell tinsel and video games to an unsuspecting public.

(Reader): The whole “childhood wonder” stage just blew right past you, didn’t it?

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Rico: Why is Picchu crying?

Chimi: They saw a leaf on the sidewalk and-

Picchu: IT LOOKED SO CRUNCHY!

Rico: Please don’t say what I think you’re gonna say-

Picchu: AND WHEN I STEPPED ON IT THERE WAS NO CRUNCH!

Rico: NO, NOT THAT!

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Camazotz: Wow you and Cabrakan are home early from the movies. What happened?

Cipactli: We got kicked out because Cabrakan wouldn’t stop yelling diving scores as people jumped off the titanic.

Cabrakan: That last guy had a solid 8, I’m telling you!

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Maya: I regret nothing!!!

Zatz: I regret everything!!!

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Zatz: Name a more iconic duo than my crippling fear of abandonment and my anxiety. I’ll wait.

(Reader): You and me!

Zatz: *tearing up* Ok.

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Queen Teca: So, what’s for dinner?

King Teca, staring at the food they burnt: Regret.

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Vucub: Being half asleep and feeling someone gently plant a kiss on your forehead is one of the purest kinds of love in the world.

Chivo: Unless you’re home alone.

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Chimi: This date is boring!

(Reader) This isn’t a date. I said I was going to the store.

Chimi: Then why did you invite me?

(Reader): I didn’t, I specifically said “don’t come with me,” then you said, “fuck you (Reader) I’ll do whatever I want!”

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Rico: *very seriously* You need to stop doing weird things to cope with the stress. Going outside might help.

Chimi: I went to the park today.

Rico: There you go! I hope you got something from that.

Chimi: *opening their coat* This duck.

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Acat: Zatz is playing hard to get.

Acat: Little do they know, I’m a master at playing hard to get rid of.

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Lord Mictlan: What are you doing tomorrow?

Any god/goddess: Having my day ruined by whatever you’re about to ask me to do.

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Lady Micte: If I ever had a child, I image they would be a lot like you.

Lord Mictlan: Aww, thanks—

Lady Micte: Which is probably why I’ve never reproduced.

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(Reader): Did you get the eggs like I asked?

Maya: Even better!

(Reader): What the fuck did you—

Maya: *holding up a chicken* Her name is Fluffy.

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Lord Mictlan: What have I done wrong?!

(Reader): Everything. For your entire life.

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(Reader): Chivo… Why did you draw a pentagram on the floor?

Chivo: Your text told me to satanize the house before you returned.

(Reader):

(Reader): I wrote sanitize Chivo.

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Rico: (Reader) that's disgusting. You’re only giving free stuff to beautiful people.

Chimi: Yeah, you should be ashamed of yourself.

(Reader): Oh yeah? *gets really close to Chimi* How about a muffin on the house baby?

Chimi, giggling: I’m pretty.

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Acat: Please! Pretend I’m useful!

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Camazotz: Oh Zatz, we have a visitor!

Zatz: Don’t tell me it’s (Reader).

Camazotz: It’s (Reader).

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Zatz: There’s no way they like me back.

(Reader): Maya would throw herself in front of a moving car for you.

Zatz: Maya would throw herself in front of a moving car for fun.

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(Reader): I have so much energy, I want to run a marathon or commit a crime… which should I do?

Barbarian Princess: Please don’t get arrested.

(Reader): No promises! <3

Barbarian King: Why not both? Get creative!

(Reader): Wonderful suggestion, thank you.

Barbarian Princess: Please don’t encourage them, Papa.

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Lord Mictlan: Love is weakness and an evolutionary mistake.

Camazotz: You are literally making a Valentine’s Day card for Lady Micte.

Lord Mictlan, pointing their hot glue gun towards Camazotz: You’re on thin fucking ice.

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King Teca: Don’t mansplain this to me!

Queen Teca: Wh- I’m a woman! I can’t mansplain anything to you!

King Teca: … Well, I’m a feminist, and I believe a woman can do anything a man does!

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Skull, at (Reader): Would you like to stay for dinner?

Bone, from the kitchen: Would you like to stay forever!?!

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*Acat is telling a story*

Hura: Wow, Acat, this story has everything! Action! Adventure! Romance!

Can: *grunting* Romance?

Hura: I have a crush on them.

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Xtabay: How do I make a date really romantic?

Vucub: Be mysterious.

Xtabay: Okay.

*Later, while on a date with (Reader)

(Reader): So where are we going?

Xtabay: None of your fucking business.

#maya and the 3 #maya and the three #maya and the three x reader

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superpeeboy · 24 days

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Okay! Lego movie christmas carol au incoming! I’m not quite proficient with tumblr formatting and I mainly discussed about this on discord and doodles on paper so this might be hard to read? Sorry!

The important character roles are as follows!

Scrooge - Business

Bob Cratchit - GCBC (i call him cop cratchit because its funny)

Fred (Scrooge’s nephew, if you don’t know CC lore) - Emmet

Jacob Marley - Vitruvius

Ghost of Christmas Past - Unikitty

Ghost of Christmas Present - Benny

Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come - Metalbeard

There’s more under the cut!

Some parts of the story have to change a bit. Notably, the cratchit family has no tiny tim! Its just ma and pa and gcbc. Most characters designs have to change to reflect the time period, but the 3 spirits, who are just the cloud cuckooland guys, get to have their systar outfits on. Just cuz its extra silly!

I’ve also tried to add a bit of christmas stuff to them (GOCPast is usually depicted as a flame/with a flowing dress so unikitty gets a flame on her horn and flowy tail, GOCPresent is just ripped from the starkids christmas carol musical, and GOCFuture always has a robe on but its so obviously metalbeard because metalbeard is huge that its kind of funny) They’re ghosts so they need not worry about 1844 london fashion.

Business’s relationships get kinda wonky because Scrooge has an ex-wife and a sister and nephew. And those are kind of hard to do. Business’s sister is changed to his brother Risky, but since Emmet is the nephew that makes risky emmets dad, so I advise you just dont think about it too hard. And Business’s ex is Maya, which is just the woman upstairs(Maya Rudolph), but shes a person and Business is a LEGO. So again just try not to think about that too hard im doing my best here.

Im a bit shy to share my drawings, they were made in class when i was bored so they are not up to par with the rest of my art. But for this post I’ve quickly made a little lineup with business and 2/3 christmas spirits. (I dont know how id draw metalbeard. He’d just be in a giant cloak.)

I’ve no idea what else to add, it’s really just a christmas carol but with lego movie characters! I started working on rewriting the christmas carol book with this au a while ago and i’ll make sure to share it when im done. But i am a slow writer ha ha. Maybe it’ll actually be done by christmas, that would be more seasonally appropriate. If you have any questions id be happy to answer!

#TLMCC #me

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fioras-resolve · 2 months

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Playing Style Savvy for the first time has been pretty cool, delving into a kind of game we don't usually play and getting to experience the fashion world as trans women. (Incidentally, I say "we," we're a plural system. Please don't get mad, at least not in the replies. I'm Maya, I love fashion, and that's about all you need to know.) But playing it has also called attention to something that I just cannot ignore as a fat trans woman, which is the lack of body diversity. So, let's get into it.

So, I wanna start with a concept I'll call "the world of pretty." This is a fictional setting where just about every character is some kind of attractive. Style Savvy is obviously a world of pretty, but so is Final Fantasy, Hades, a lot of anime, and the portfolios of plenty of artists on this site. And this is a good, fun thing, you know? It gives the work a kind of appeal that's incredibly straightforward to understand, so I don't need to dwell on it for too long.

Here's the thing, though. I am, as I said, a fat trans woman. Not many worlds of pretty include someone with a body like mine, because trans bodies are so often forgotten, and fat bodies are simply excluded from a lot of people's idea of what an attractive person looks like. So when Style Savvy doesn't even let me be an XL, the implication is that my actual body is not worth having in your world. And that's not even to mention the limited or non-presence of people of color in many of these works. When I realize that my own body is excluded from a world of pretty, the illusion shatters.

Now, the fact I mentioned tumblr artists as an example of this might raise some eyebrows. After all, this kind of thinking can easily drive someone to hassle an indie artist about changing their style or preferences. I don't want to encourage that here, and if you've received grief about not drawing fat, trans or PoC characters, I'm sorry that happened, and it shouldn't have. I've been in the position of wanting to have this kind of conversation, but knowing it could easily get drowned out by people who do not fucking speak for me. I just want you to be mindful that, when you make attractive character art for a long time, you inevitably create a world of pretty, for good and ill. I can't tell you how to use that power, but I want you to know that it's there.

And, additionally, there are excuses, some better than others. Final Fantasy and Style Savvy are both inspired by high fashion and normal people fashion respectively, so it makes sense their characters all look like models. Worlds of pretty are very marketable, and it can be a hard sell to break from that mold. And it is genuinely hard to have diversity in your work, in a way I will explain right now.

Okay, look. To give Style Savvy its due... gamedev is hard. I would know, this body does it all the time. So like, if you're making a game with any kind of visual element, you need either sprites (2D drawings basically) or models (Basically 3D puppets with potentially hundreds of moving parts). And these models will almost always require a rig, like, a skeleton with bones and joints, that determines how the model can move.

From a production standpoint, you can crank out new characters from the same base model, much easier and faster than if you spent the time building another model with a unique rig. I can't speak for this exactly, because we've never done 3D dev before, but it's just way less of a headache and a hurdle if you're trying to get the most "content" out of your limited budget of staff and time. It just makes sense not spending the time to make different body types, especially in a game like Style Savvy where they'd also have to do a metric shitton of work modeling all the clothing for each distinct body type. I understand this. We sympathize. But what it means is that fat bodies are not in the games' world of pretty.

(hey, Angie here now) so like, i am not immune to the world of pretty. it's part of why i like the things i do, and it's part of why i picked up style savvy to begin with. even as the illusion shatters, i still like a lot of media and artists that don't really do body diversity. but at the same time, as i was playing style savvy i started imagining a version of it that actually did have what i wanted, and used that to create an even more positive experience. like, imagine playing one of these games, playing a clerk at a boutique, and then a trans woman comes through the door, bashful about her looks but desperately wanting to find something that suits her. i'm imagining a world of pretty that includes all body types, that finds beauty in every body. and i know i can't create this because i'm a lowly game designer... but i imagine it and i start to feel happy.

#game design #style savvy #maya speaks

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fang-and-feather · 2 months

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Ikemen Prince OCs: Main Partners and Children (Linet and Carina)

Linet x Litch - Licht struggled with being a father with his first child. Now that he's more comfortable with it though, they are thinking of having one or two more.

Antonie - Has his father eyes and hair, but everyone says his face looks more like his mother. He is quiet and gentle, even a little shy, but a little overprotective of his sister and friends. He likes reading and fencing equaly and is good at cooking like his mother.

Sofia - Looks like a mini version of her mother, but with her father's eyes. She is extroverted, curious and kind. She loves animals. She's good at games and quite eager to learn new things.

*Carina x Leon - Leon is a big family kind of guy. He wouldn't mind having more children, but Carina is not sure about it

Aurelie - She is exactly like her father in appearence and personality, but some would say worse, with her mother also being strong willed and adventurous. She is considered too stubborn and difficult to deal with. She is great at helping take care of her younger siblings, but also sometimes lead them into her adventures.

Lucas - Also looks like his father, but is a lot more tame. He's extroverted, friendly ad curious, loves group activities, but is more prone to stay at home unless led on by somene else (usually Aurelie)

Elise - Has her mother's hair and her father's eyes. She is a romantic and loves both romance and adventure books. She is especially interested in foreign countries.

Hugo - Looks like his father with his mother's eyes. He's surprisingly a little more introverted. Loves magic tricks and board games. He's the peacekeeper of his siblings and friends.

Maya - Looks more like her grandmother so she looks quite unique among her siblings. She loves music, but is considered too loud for a girl.

Alain - Looks like his mother. He's a try everything kind of guy, and as the youngest, with lots of role-models and influences, he still hasn't discovered himself. Except for his taste for meat like his father.

I haven't planned anything for Yara yet, since I'm still testing if I will keep her with Clavis. Writing for it has been going way too slow

A big thanks to @keithsandwich, @bicayaya and @queengiuliettafirstlady for helping me to decide on partners for Linet and Carina.

*Fantasy AU Carina's partner is Silvio instead I might make a new post for them at some point...

This is just a surface idea that I might explore and even make changes to later. I wanted to have had the ability to draw them but...

#ikemen prince #ikepri #ikepri oc #oc: carina #oc: linet #ikepri next generation #licht x oc #leon x oc

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characteroulette · 8 months

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A study on Prosecutors --

(On AO3) (next)

So the Ace Attorney series has a vast cast of colourful characters. From their protagonist to their one-off witnesses for a trial, there's bound to be one or two who catch your eye. A main draw for many are the prosecutors in particular and a lot of thought goes into making them appealing to us. They're our villains, but they have to be likable enough for us to want to spend time with them. So, from start to beginning, here's a personal analysis on how each games uses every narrative trick available to it to make us like their villains.

First, Edgeworth.

He's introduced to us in a very specific way; someone who's all ready tied quite personally to our protagonist. There's an air of mystery to him even as you enter the first day of the trial; Phoenix knows him somehow and there's dark rumours surrounding him. The first day of the trial does its best to "prove" those rumours true! Everyone knows about the famous "updated autopsy report" scene and what follows. Another important factor in this is the cross-examination with the bell boy. Edgeworth does use underhanded methods to win his cases, so it seems to us. He's really willing to bend the rules in order to get the culprit declared guilty. (He's right, of course, for wanting that update for the autopsy report. We saw it in the intro ourselves; Mia didn't die instantly when Redd White hit her. But it's a sting to us and it goes to prove his methods aren't the cleanest and so all we can think of is how despicable this move is, how brilliant it is for him to throw us off completely.)

And then, the second day of the trial. He confronts Phoenix before the trial specifically to almost warn him that there's no mercy. He comes to show off to the player that there's a deep seated darkness in him, just not in the way we might have thought from that first game. And Phoenix's manner towards him is crucial to our own feelings towards him; Phoenix doesn't get upset or even react much differently than he had when talking with Gumshoe about it. He merely says, "You've changed." And then Edgeworth walks away and the trial can begin.

Edgeworth fighting against Redd White starts the important trend of Edgeworth not being quite as in control as he likes to think he is. He can't control any of his witnesses and it's a crack in his affect. It's the first sign towards him being less than the demon he presents himself as, the first moment we get to see there's something endearing buried beneath his coldness. It also brings his ruthlessness and quick thinking back into sharp focus; the very moment Redd White is about to confess, he tells White to do so. To confess, in fact, to a different crime; to placing the wiretap. It's a brilliant move that sets everyone off-balance, it handily explains White's involvement without him having to be the murderer, and it gives White the second wind he needs to drive Phoenix (and us) into a corner, to deserve our deus-ex-machina that follows. As a personal note, this is the moment where I started really liking his character. It's such a brilliant bastard move that I couldn't help but like him immediately for it. Oh, this man is actually a bastard, I thought to myself. I'm going to enjoy grinding him down completely as this game goes on. (Exactly what the story wanted from me, I'm sure.)

But with Mia's help, we win the trial and save both ourselves and Maya. The mystery is left hanging in the air: who is Edgeworth to Phoenix and what happened to make him fall so far to darkness?

This isn't a question that will be answered in case 3, but this is where the writing goes into overdrive to endear us fully to our prosecuting rival.

The first day of the trial is a comedy of errors. We get to witness firsthand how much careful control Edgeworth places in his methods, in his scripts, and how lost he is without all that. He's floundering so hard with Wendy Oldbag, who makes strange assumptions in her testimony that he has to run with and omits important things due to forgetting or just not being allowed to say. It becomes a bit of a game for him as well; he's figuring out what exactly happened just the same as Phoenix is. He starts working with Phoenix right at the end, just for a moment, after his own witness lied about the full scope of things.

This is important, this glimpse of working together with Edgeworth. It's a hint, a taste of what's to come, and it's masterful in how quietly it's slipped under our focus. We're reeling, too, after all, from Oldbag's sudden truths.

But we need to investigate some more. And so we head on into the second day.

I don't think I can overstate enough how well each Gumshoe anecdote goes towards endearing us to Edgeworth. Having a character with 100% faith in someone as darkly presented to us as Edgeworth is goes such a long way in demonstrating their humanity. Edgeworth may appear ruthless and dubious, but he's so goofy. He crushes a cup full of hot coffee and burns himself!! He stands at a window and mumbles Wright's name to himself over and over!! He's just as much of a trainwreck as everyone else in this universe and it goes so far towards endearing us to him, to building up our own trust of him when it's needed most.

Trial day two is one step forward, two steps back for Edgeworth. He's managed to find stability in Sal Manella's testimony, he knows this proves that only Will Powers could be the criminal here, and yet everything falls apart once again when Cody takes the stand. Once again, Edgeworth finds himself floundering and scrambling for ways to discredit Phoenix's methods of questioning Cody. He tries to make his belief in Powers' guilt work, but Phoenix throws it all into his face. By the end of this day, there's practically no way Powers can be found guilty of this murder. And so Edgeworth is left in shambles, no longer able to cling to his belief that everyone is guilty, that if he just gets a guilty verdict for everyone then he can make up for his own failings.

(We get a glimpse of it, but the real reveal is yet to come.)

(This investigation day, I feel, is where Gumshoe is cemented as our lovable oaf of our friend. He saves us from Dee Vasquez's yakuza/mafia men. He gets his big damn hero moment and gets to be a little in awe of it himself. This is the moment, right here, where we can really just fall in love with Gumshoe. It's another small point towards our endearment to Edgeworth, albeit one that's a detour into a different character study.)

And thus, we come to the third trial day. Our strongest, most definitive look into Edgeworth as something more than just our villain/rival of the game.

It's stated right out the gate that Powers cannot still be considered as the guilty party. That Edgeworth's approach to this particular testimony has to be different, focused on proving her lack of involvement but unsure of where to go from here. He lets Phoenix and Vasquez run most of the show, watches as Phoenix engages in a battle of wits with her, and flounders all the while in what he's supposed to do here. He shouldn't be needed, after all. There's no way Powers can be guilty, so what is he even doing here?

Seeing Phoenix falter, however, brings him the answer. In a sudden move, he throws out an objection. He stalls the trial because the truth, the full truth, has yet to be pulled from this witness. The full truth is within their grasp and after seeing Phoenix claw at it so desperately, he has to see it to the end. He can't let it hang in uncertainty; he has to figure this out or it will eat at him like so many other things in his life. (His father's death. His own guilt. His first two trial experiences. SL-9's darkness. So many unanswered questions hang over his head that we've yet to become aware of, and still they inform his turn here in this moment. They fit together to form this picture of a man who has been shown the light of truth which can dispell his own doubts and he latches onto it in a desperation, in a moment of casting aside his own helplessness in the face of all the darkness he's accrued inside him. He wants to find the truth! He's cast it aside for so long in his efforts to punish himself for a crime he believes he committed and yet still, yet still, he can't help but stumble forward into that light at the first moment he's allowed. He wants to believe in Phoenix, he wants to believe in something besides his own demons, and it shows in his stumbling, in his floundering, right in this moment.)

Because of his efforts, Dee Vasquez slips up and allows us to dig into her lie. Because of his moment of accepting the light of the truth, Phoenix is able to prove Powers' innocence.

Another iconic scene, Edgeworth comes to us after the trial and tells us in no uncertain terms to get out of his courtroom. He's not lying when he says he's been saddled with uncertainty and unease; after all, if Phoenix was able to show him this truth, then it brings up a doubt he never wanted to acknowledge.

*How many innocent people has he convicted in the past four years?*

*How can he say what he's doing is right when the truth he's been fighting for has never been the full truth?*

We've inadvertently cracked him wide open. We've inadvertently shown him a reflection of his own darkness and he could no longer stomach what he saw.

Which leads perfectly into our next case where we get to put all of this building endearment and trust into practice by defending Edgeworth from that looming darkness.

First off, everything about the scene between him and Phoenix in the detention centre is perfect. If you assumed he would give in so easily and allow us to defend him, then you haven't been paying attention to him. He's so stubborn he didn't give in to assisting us prove Vasquez's guilt until it was literally the last moments of the trial. He's been actively avoiding any revelation in his life for years. Of course he'd reject us outright. Even when Phoenix makes a heartfelt plea, is his usual irreverent self with his misplaced humour, Edgeworth won't even tell us a single detail.

But we, and Phoenix, know better than to give up. We know that, to get him to admit to anything, we have to dig deep. (A wolf who pursues the truth like it's an illness; Phoenix is a great character, too, because we're the ones who drive him to this in our own endeavours to Know.) So we investigate and learn and when we return, he has no choice but to admit that we're the only ones whom he can place his trust into.

We're the only ones willing to take his side. A favour in return for another; he doesn't remember, but it's important enough to Phoenix that we also begin to understand what exactly drives these two to be so Normal(tm) about one another. We begin to see that Edgeworth is less detached than he likes to believe himself.

It all comes very much into sharp focus the moment we meet Manfred von Karma. (Here's another thing the Ace Attorney series does really well: a contrast in mentors. We see how Mia teaches and nudges Phoenix and us along, how she can be stern and gentle in the same breath. She's clearly fond of Phoenix and treats him accordingly. A huge contrast in everything about Manfred and Edgeworth's dynamic. Edgeworth respects him deeply, but he doesn't seem to have any regard for Edgeworth at all. He talks about Edgeworth in a detached and unfeeling way so much that you could find yourself wondering if he knew Edgeworth at all if not for how many cues Edgeworth clearly takes from him. The difference in mentorship of Grossberg to Mia and Diego to Mia, of Kristoph to Apollo and Phoenix to Apollo, are also fascinating but I'll dive into those some other time agh.)

First of all, it's in their similar poses, it's in the way Edgeworth introduces us to the idea of Manfred. Second, it's Manfred's actions which reflect sharply right back onto Edgeworth. Suddenly, the way Edgeworth conducted his witnesses in the second case makes so much more sense when watching how Manfred controls Lotta and Gumshoe with his iron fist. It becomes apparent that Phoenix is outmatched when we can't find anything to gain a foothold and we're nearly at the end of our rope. We've come too far to back down here! We've grown too endeared to Edgeworth to let him down in this moment! There's darkness in him and we have to shine our light onto it, to reveal to him that he's not the demon he portrays himself as!

(I really feel Phoenix's desperation when he says, "I'm the only one who sees the real Edgeworth. I'm the only one who can help him!" Because he's right. We're the only ones who can help, who are willing to help, whether it be by playing the game and continuing the story or by seeing that same light in Edgeworth that Phoenix believes in so fervently.)

But despite everything leading up to this truth of Edgeworth's innocence, despite all our belief, Edgeworth himself can't believe it. It drives us, drives Phoenix to dig in further, to claw out the whole truth no matter how messy and ugly.

I cannot overstate enough what a masterclass of buildup and payoff 1-4 is to Edgeworth as a character. It's a culmination of how surprising it is to suddenly regard your main antagonist, your main rival whom you've fought against for the past two cases, as your ally. It takes some kicking and screaming to get Edgeworth to even be forthcoming to us about everything, it takes hard proof and full bluffing of a whole theory before Edgeworth tells us the whole truth. But we know he will. We trust him to trust us in turn because this is where the whole thing has been leading to.

And the catharsis to proving Edgeworth's innocence even against his own despair cannot be overstated either.

It really is no wonder that Edgeworth is a fan favourite. The leadup to his being fully instated as a mainstay ally is just absolutely beautiful in its execution. At least, it is to me.

(Edgeworth's continual growth as a character in his consecutive appearances are great, too, but by that point we've been endeared to him so of course we're happy to see his returns. Or annoyed, idk this is about my experiences lol.)

Anyway yeah, Edgeworth is great and the buildup of him becoming our friend is really good.

#Momo writes stuff #Ace Attorney #Miles Edgeworth #Some spoilers #Essay time for Momo #HOLY SHIT #I DIDN'T MEAN FOR THIS TO GO SO LONG #sobbing pls read my labour of love....#Hey I uhh like Edgeworth lol #Had way more to say on him than I expected #Now this is a proper fucking essay #Character analysis be like #Literary analysis be like #Literary analysis brain goes brrrrrr

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